Amazon Science Program
5 Days / 4 Nights
Amazon Science
Resume Overview:
This five-day program is designed for those interested in the scientific and technical aspects of rainforest preservation, offering hands-on participation in active conservation, research, and reforestation projects.
Day 1: Arrival and Introduction to the Reserve After your arrival in Puerto Maldonado and a boat transfer to the lodge, the afternoon begins with a guided walk to understand the local ecosystem. The evening features a river cruise to observe caimans and learn about nocturnal wildlife behavior.
Day 2: Wildlife Management and Research The day focuses on the Taricaya Wildlife Rescue Center, where you will learn about animal feeding, enclosure enrichment, and rescue management. You will also participate in bird monitoring at the Canopy Walkway and a technical talk on current conservation strategies.
Day 3: Biodiversity Monitoring and Agroforestry Activities include wildlife monitoring using camera traps and a census of local butterfly species. You will also assist in the maintenance of agroforestry systems and seed collection, contributing directly to our reforestation and sustainable land-use projects.
Day 4: Reserve Patrol and Specialized Projects The morning involves trail clearing and reserve patrolling to understand habitat protection. Depending on the season, you may participate in the Taricaya turtle repopulation project or wood-related research within the Mahogany Project, followed by a final night walk.
Day 5: Breakfast and Departure After breakfast, you will be transferred by boat back to Puerto Maldonado. Our staff will assist with your transfer to the airport or bus station to ensure a timely departure, marking the conclusion of our professional services.
Program Includes
- Pick up and drop off, for airport, bus or hotel in PEM.
- River transfers to and from the Lodge (1h to 1.5h motorboat ride).
- 04 Nights of accommodation in Amazon Planet Ecolodge.
- Meals, from lunch on the first day to breakfast on the last day
- Guided tours (max 8-10 pax per guide).
- Entrance fee to the reserve.
- Activities according to ongoing projects.
Activities Included
- Day and night walks through the jungle.
- Conservation talk.
- Bird monitoring on platforms (Canopy Walkway) and with mist-nets (banding)
- Animal Feeding, enclosure enrichment, rescue center management, husbandry at the Taricaya Wildlife Rescue Center.
- Wildlife monitoring with camera traps.
- Fruit tree Collection and seed collection from the forest and neighbors.
- Maintenance of agroforestry systems and reforestation.
- Wood work around the Mahogany Project.
- Trail clearing and reserve patrol.
- Butterfly census
- Taricaya turtle repopulation project (Ends of July thru start of Nov)
Recommended add-ons (additional cost):
- Ese-Eja Tribal Experience
- Fishing testing
- Yoga & Forest Bathing
- Jungle Bike Trek
Detailed Daily Itinerary
Arrival to Puerto Maldonado. Pick up from Padre Aldamis Airport in Puerto Maldonado, bus station or hotel in the city. Transfer to our office to repack only the necessary for your jungle stay. Make sure you have all the elements you will need for your stay. Check the travel guide where you will find a l ist of what to bring to the jungle to prepare beforehand for your trip .
Travel down the Madre de Dios river through the heart of the jungle surrounded by the flora, fauna and breathtaking scenery of the Amazon jungle before arriving at Amazon Planet Lodge ( Approx. 1 hour).
12:00h - Transfer IN: When all guests of that day arrive before 11:00h. Arrive at Amazon Planet at 1:00 PM to check in at the main house and enjoy a refreshing fruit water and lunch. After lunch, settle into your private bungalow and rest before your first activity.
2:00 p.m. - Transfer IN: When some guests arrive after 12:00 p.m. Arrive at Amazon Planet at 3:00 p.m. for a quick check-in at the main house and enjoy a refreshing fruit water to begin your first activity (our staff will bring your bags to your bungalow). You will settle into your cabin after the activity.
3:45 p.m. - Forest walk. Start your first activity with an introductory walk into the surrounding jungle with your guide and group to discover and learn about the incredible ecosystem we are a part of (Approx. 1 hour).
6:30 p.m. - Conservation Talk. Join your guide at the main house to talk and watch some videos about the conservation work we are a part of with Taricaya Ecoreserve and that you will experience directly in the next days.
7:30 p.m. – Dinner and enjoy delicious Amazonian cocktails at the bar. Rest and end of the day.
THE ENERGY IS WITH SOLAR PANELS. SAVE ENERGY, TURN OFF THE LIGHTS AND THE FAN WHEN YOU ARE NOT IN THE ROOM AND BEFORE YOU GO TO SLEEP. PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE THE FAN ON ALL NIGHT OR YOU AND THE REST OF THE GUESTS MAY WAKE UP WITHOUT POWER THE NEXT DAY. SAFE WATER AND USE IT WISELY. SEPARATE YOUR WASTE. RESPECT NATURE.
7:00h - Breakfast is served.
7:45h - Taricaya Rescue Center. The day begins with an excursion through the forest parallel to the river until reaching Taricaya Research Center. You will visit one of the main conservation projects in the Reserve, the Taricaya Wildlife Rescue Center. Find many different wildlife, including macaws, toucans, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, jaguarondies, river turtles and tortoises, Andean spectacled bears (rescued from a circus), and more. The animals you visit are in enclosures, which is the necessary first step in their rehabilitation process to be released back into the wild if possible. Some animals are residents who cannot be released for their own well-being or for human safety and are given a good quality of life at the centre.
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A RESCUE CENTER NOT A ZOO!!!! These animals are in the process of rehabilitation before being released back into the wild, we do not support or tolerate animals in captivity for tourist attraction purposes! Taricaya has single-handedly repopulated these parts of the jungle with animals that have been able to return to the wild, including the black spider monkey that became extinct in this area, through the first Wildlife Reintroduction Program in Peru.
ANIMAL FEEDING! Assist professionals (biologists, veterinarians, interns) and volunteer in preparing the diets, distributing food, cleaning and caring for the sheltered animals. Learn about each animal's program and wildlife management techniques. If there are babies, help in the husbandry area to take care of them and give them their food or milk if applicable (approximately 3 hours).
11:30h – End of activity and forest walk to return to the Lodge.
13:00h – Lunch is served followed by a break.
14:20h – Back to the Rescue Center, this time to collaborate in the enrichment of environments and animal training if applicable. You will help decorate and/or change structures and objects in the animals' environments to contribute to their stimulation and comfort in their area. Share fun anecdotes about life in the jungle and working with animals (approx. 2 hours).
17:00h – Return to the Lodge and rest.
18:30h – Night walk. We will go out to explore the forest at night and observe the nocturnal animals especially adapted to the darkness and that are only seen at this time. We will look for frogs with the possibility of capturing them for identification (1 hour).
19:30h – Dinner and enjoy delicious Amazonian cocktails at the bar. Rest and end of the day.
ENERGY IS WITH SOLAR PANELS. TAKE CARE OF THE ENERGY, TURN OFF WHEN YOU DO NOT USE THE LIGHT OR FAN.
05:00h - Canopy Walkway. Start your day with an in-depth excursion to the Taricaya Ecological Reserve along an original protected primary forest surrounded by trees over 300 years old while your guide will explain the history and biology of the flora and fauna through the view. And the sound. Arrive at our first platform located 15 meters high to access a 90 meter long suspension bridge, which takes you to the Canopy platform, the highest tree platform in South America. Located 45 meters high at the top of an ancient Kapok tree, it is not for the faint of heart and is a great challenge for adventure seekers. We enjoyed the amazing view of the forest from above! Under the direction of the staff in charge, with the help of binoculars, Birds of Peru guide and the bird data sheet, observe everything that happens around you, identifying and recording the species of birds that pass by. The view from this platform is truly unforgettable and you will be able to learn about this diverse and beautiful group of jungle animals. Great chances to see macaws, parrots or toucans and much more. (approximately 2 hours).
7:30h – Breakfast at Taricaya.
8:30h – Camera Traps. Explore the jungle on a walk to look for the camera traps located in various points of the Reserve to monitor mammals and other species that live and pass through there. Once the cameras are located, we remove the memory card, insert a new one and confirm that the camera is active. Or we move the cameras to a new location if appropriate (approximately 1.30 h). At the Taricaya research center we review the collected cards to discover the animals that the camera captured. We identified the species and number of individuals collected following the respective monitoring format. Both videos and photos you can see jaguars, pumas, tapirs, huanganas, monkeys, coaties and much more (1 hour approx.)
11:30h – End of activity and return to the Lodge.
13:00h – Lunch is served followed by a break.
14:30h – Mahogany project. In the afternoon you will learn about the agroforestry project with mahogany as an alternative to regenerate a productive forest for sustainable use by local families. We will use the lathe, a tool to carve wood and make beautiful ornaments or utensils, with the mahogany trunks that have been harvested from the plantation. Create your own design and you can leave it as a donation or take it home as a souvenir of your experience (approximately 2 hours)
17:30h - Return to the Lodge and rest
19:30h – Dinner and enjoy delicious Amazonian cocktails at the bar. Rest and end of the day.
SAVE ENERGY AND WATER and USE IT WISELY.
7:00h – Breakfast is served.
8:00h – Fruit collection. We will get on the motor boat to the agroforestry systems of Taricaya, to see this model of sustainable agriculture and collect the fruits that are to be harvested there. We will visit the farms of some neighbors on the other side of the river to harvest the fruits available there with their consent. We return to Taricaya to transfer the collected fruits to the Rescue Center that serve to supply food to the sheltered animals (approximately 2.5 hours).
11:00h – Enjoy the refreshing adventure of getting into the river and floating down from Taricaya to Amazon Planet. With your vest on it is super safe and relaxing to let the river take you away enjoying the nature around you. It is a unique and very fun experience.
13:00h – Lunch is served followed by a break.
14:30h – Butterfly census. We explore the forest along the Taricaya trails to check the butterfly traps, change their location or place new ones. If we find butterflies, we identify them with the Guide and release them later. We will also be monitoring the soil in search of shihuahuaco seeds, a very important timber tree. The seeds are used to germinate new seedlings for reforestation in the agroforestry system (approximately 2 hours).
17:30h – Return to the Lodge and rest.
18:30h – Night cruise. Prepare to search for alligators along the riverbank under the moonlight. We will look for different types of alligators such as the white alligator, black alligator and dwarf alligator as they rest along the river banks at night. On an open night you will enjoy the incredible sky full of stars (approx. 1 hour).
19:30h – Dinner and enjoy delicious Amazonian cocktails at the bar. Rest and end of the day.
7:30h – Check out of your bungalow. (Leave your bags packed and ready for our HK staff to take to the boat and PLEASE don't forget anything in your room)
8:00h - Breakfast is served The boat is ready to depart at 8:30 am.
9:00h – Travel upriver back to the city.
10:30 a.m. – Arrival at home/AP office, transfer to the airport and end of our services. If you have a later flight, feel free to stay at our home/office, we recommend places to visit for a city tour and organize a later airport transfer following your flight or bus schedule.
THIS IS A SPECIAL PROGRAM, AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE TO LEARN UPFRONT ABOUT THE CONSERVATION WORK AT TARICAYA AS YOU DIRECTLY PARTICIPATE IN THE DAILY SHORES OF THE DIFFERENT PROJECTS, DIRECTED BY THE STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS OF THE RESERVE.
This program is only available from Monday to Friday. Weekends are free days for staff and volunteers at the Reserve. Animal feeding is the only project activity done on the weekend.
The list of activities (*) are all the possible ones you may join.
Not all may be scheduled during your stay.
The actual activities during your stay will vary due to season and weekly roster plan of the reserve projects based on urgency or importance.
The above itinerary is an example of what you may experience.
Some Activities are subject to change at short notice due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances beyond our control.
The order of activities is variable depending on the arrival date and tour availability.
In the event that you do not wish or are unable to participate in an activity, you can choose to stay at the Lodge.
