emd

I would like to hear from people who have gone to Amazon lodges from Puerto Maldonado.

I am going to Peru for the 1st time w/my 18 yr old son (before he goes off to college) and he is quite a good photographer. Would like to do a 3 day/2nite stay and have a comfortable stay w/decent to good food, and see a decent amt. of different plants and animals, whatever can be expected in a few days.

I have read here about Cortes Maltes Amazonia (RBCal) but what other options have you all been to?

And RBCal, please tell me more about Cortes Maltes, what was it liek, how long you stayed, what animals did you see, how were the staff and guides, what were the rms like, etc.

P_M

Hi emd, here's a thread about lodges that might be of interest to you:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35142760

emd

Thank you, P_M, very helpful, as is your trip report!

KensingtonGirl

We stayed at Inkaterra's Reserva Amazonica Lodge last month and loved it. It is about an hour downriver from Puerto Maldonado, has a canopy walk and does trips to Sandoval Lake in Tambopata National Reserve. In comparing notes with someone who stayed at another lodge, we saw more wildlife but they saw Macaws at the salt lick which we didn't. Our naturalist was great at finding and explaining the wildlife. Food was good and the cabanas were wonderful. I can't say enough nice things about all of the staff. It was just a wonderful introduction to the Peruvian rainforest.

emd

Thank you, KensingtonGirl. How long was your stay at Reserva Amazonica? Was it long enough or did you feel rushed and wanted more time?

It looks very nice. What kind of cabana did you get?

emd

and what wildlife did you see??

KensingtonGirl

We were there 3 days/2 nights before a 9 day trip to the Sacred Valley.

First day was flying in, boat ride to lodge, settle in and a river by night wildlife spotting tour (caimans, possum and family of capybaras). Next day was a trip to Sandoval Lake - there we saw macaws, toucans and other birds, a black caiman, white caimans, bats, and howler monkeys but couldn't locate the river otters that day. The 2nd day we also visited a native family and that night did a rainforest by night tour where we saw many small bugs and tarantulas. The naturalist investigated noises off trail and said it was a monkey (believe an owl monkey) but we couldn't spot it. Next day, before we departed, we did the canopy walk and saw birds and on the way back saw a group of small monkeys (forgot what type they were). Around the lodge there were some other birds such as parrots and small wildlife including a tapir. Also in town, they have a butterfly house which they stop at while they do registration. We were assigned to a naturalist who was amazing at spotting wildlife and also being able to very succinctly describe where to look for it in the forest.

We had a Superior Rio cabana. Very nice though at night you can hear the gold miner’s boats at times on the river. It was exceptionally hot while we were there with no rain. There is electricity in the cabanas most of the day but goes off at night around 10 and comes back on about 4:30AM since for the early morning activities there is a 5 AM wakeup call.

On the third day, we had to depart by boat back to town about 9:30 in the morning since our flight was at noon. Even though it is called 3 day/2 nights the first and last day are more travel days. For this trip which was primarily a hiking trip in the Sacred Valley it was the right amount of time. If we were going for a longer period of time I would probably go to a different part of the Amazon but we felt since we were going to Cusco it was worth seeing this part of the Peruvian rainforest which it definitely was.

emd

Thanks so much for the details, Kensington. I am trying to decide whether to splurge here or at MP Peublo hotel in Aquas Caliente. Your info will help re the decision.

chacheetah

Hi, we also stayed at Amzazonica Inkaterra in May. Though we loved the lodge itself and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful, we were a bit disappointed in the lack of wildlife (of course we had been to Africa, which pretty much spoils any other wildlife adventure!)

Our cabanna was huge and lit at night with candles and lanterns; very romantic...As it was away from the river and very private, we did not hear the gold mining noises going on, but walking along the river, it is quite disruptive..We were wondering if it was scaring the wildlife away.

We just looked at this part of the 2 week journey (on to Sacred Valley, MP, Cusco) as downtime from jet lag as we really did not see much in the way of Amazon wildlife that we had pictured.

I have seen other photos from different areas of the Amazon on this forum so it just may have been the 3 days we were there.
The lodge and Lake Sandoval were lovely; the canopy walk was nice, but having also spent 2 nights at Machu Pichu Pueblo lodge, also Inkaterra owned, I'd recommend spending my money there. It was awesome.

Cc