Looking for any feedback from fodorites for the Refugio Amazonas near Puerto Maldonado ... Has anyone stayed there? What was the Amazon experience with this outfit? I see some real good reviews on TripAdvisor but wanted to double check here as well ... Any words of caution? Any highlights to share? We will be 4 adults and 2 kids (6 yr and 4 yr old) going there at the end of December for the 4 days 3 nights package ...

Refugio is a nice place but there is a dearth of wildlife

compared to Manu Biosphere Reserve might check out

www.inkaterra.com Manu Wildlife Center for better experience

U can do it from Cusco and skip all the expense and dodginess

of flying/negotiating your way through dodgy Puerto Maldonado.

Many fake TA reviews beware there manuadventures.com for me.

Happy deciding!

www.inkanatura.com the Manu link sorry...

Inkaterra does win for upscale lodging also best at MP

if it is all about the hotel and money is no object.

Large Mammals especially light years better at Manu

Qwovadis ... I had contacted Inkanatura for Manu Wildlife Center ... They have travel time for 7 hours from Maldonado, they no longer go from Cusco and their Boca flightstrip has closed down ... They themselves were sounding hesitant about having 2 kids with us and traveling 7 hours ... So not sure if that is an option for us ...

So we are deciding between Inkaterra and Refugio ... Thinking that Refugio is more interior so maybe better wildlife than Inkaterra ... So unable to decide ... Hoping to some feedback from some more fodorites who have stayed at Refugio ...

Also, are there any other good options from Maldonado?

Topping...

We first considered going to Puerto Maldonaldo. It seemed to be a lot easier to get there from Cuzco than going to Iquitos. We finally decided that if we were going to Peru, we wanted to be on the Amazon. We ended up flying to Iquitos and stayed with Explorama. Your guide will meet you at the airport and take excellent care of you. We had a wonderful time with our guide Armando, who LOVES the river and jungle and loves sharing it. The price for a 3 day, 2 night TGIF weekend special was about $285 per person for everything (except tip). I can't compare it with the ones you mentioned, but I am really happy we chose to go there.