Day 1 - arrieve Puerto Maldonado to Posada Lodge
Transfer to the Lima or Cuzco airport for your flight departing to Puerto Maldonado. The Posada Lodge staff will meet and transfer you to the Posada general office to drop off excess baggage. Puerto Maldonado is situated at the confluence of the mighty Madre de Dios and Tambopata Rivers and is a bustling, booming tropical frontier town. Its principal activities are gold mining, Brazil nut collecting, timber extraction, agriculture and ecotourism. After a brief survey of the town we will depart on the 2 hour boat trip by motorized canoe to Posada Amazonas. Depending on the arrival time of the plane we will have a boxed lunch aboard the boats or have lunch upon arrival at Posada Amazonas. During our voyage we may see bird species typical of the river or forest edge such as: Black Skimmer, Pied Lapwing, Capped Heron, Jabiru Stork, Roadside Hawk, a several species of kingfishers, swallows and flycatchers. When we arrive at Posada Amazonas we will unpack and unwind. Posada Amazonas is a luxurious yet unobtrusive 24 room lodge owned jointly by Rainforest Expeditions and the Ese'eja Native Community of Tambopata. We will receive a short orientation and a complete briefing of the lodge and the Ese'eja Ecotourism Project before our afternoon activity: Ethnobotany. In this activity, we will hike the trails around Posada Amazonas with an EseŽeja native, who will explain to us the everyday uses of forest medicine, construction, food and fiber. Evening excursion with over night at Posada Amazonas Lodge. (L/D)

Day 2 - Posada Lodge to TRC Lodge
The morning starts with a early trip at dawn for a visit to the Tres Chimbadas oxbow lake. After an early breakfast we depart, fifteen minutes from Posada Amazonas by boat and a 30 minute walk take us to the lake shore. From here we take a long, easy canoe ride around it. wildlife to view include giant river otters, turtles, hoatzin, and wading birds. The giant river otters that are seen in Tres Chimbadas belong to a resident family of nine. As we approach noon, animal activity decreases, and tropical sunlight makes it irresistible to take a swim on the lake, so pack your swimsuit. Afterwards we travel up the Tambopata River for 3 to 4 hours into the pristine heart of the reserve. After the first hour we will leave the final traces of human habitation behind as we cross the northern boundary of the 700,000 hectare, completely uninhabited, protected Tambopata National Park. Differences in wildlife abundance will be noted immediately: we will begin to sight macaws, herons, kingfishers and cormorants frequently and improve our chances of encounters with capybaras, caiman, storks, ducks and other wild life found in this region. Boxed lunch on the boat. When we will arrive at Tambopata Research Center in the early afternoon, we will be greeted by the Chicos, our flock of semi-wild, rescued macaws. After we have settled in our orientation session will be held to inform you of the program as well as answer any questions you may have. After this we will hike the 1.5 mile Bam o Trail, a trail that is famous for the abundance of rare birds that live exclusively in this habitat and are endemic to southern Peru. It is also will end our hike at the overlooks which are good places to observe, allowing the photo lovers to take incredibly beautiful macro shots. (B/L/D)

Day 3 - TRC Lodge
At dawn we will cross the river and enjoy the world's largest macaw clay lick where hundreds of parrots and macaws of up to 15 species congregate daily. The January 1994 issue of National Geographic features an article on Tambopata Research Center and the Tambopata Macaw Project. When the morning sun clears the Amazon tree line in southeastern Peru and strikes a gray-pink clay bank on the upper Tambopata River, one of the world's most dazzling wildlife gatherings is nearing its riotous peak. The steep bank has become a pulsing, 30-foot-high palette of red, blue, yellow and green as more than a thousand parrots squabble over choice perches to grab a beak full of clay, a vital but mysterious part of their diet. More than a dozen parrot species will visit the clay lick throughout the day, but this midmorning crush belongs to the giants of the parrot world, the macaws." You can expect to see ten to twelve of the following members of the parrot family: Red-and-green, Blue-and-gold, Scarlet, Red-bellied, Chestnut-fronted and Blue-headed Macaws; Mealy and Yellow-crowned Amazons; Blue-headed, Orange-cheeked and White-bellie Parrots; Dusky-headed, White-eyed, Cobalt-winged and Tui Parakeets and Dusky-billed Parrotlets. This show will continue until the macaws sense danger, usually in the form of an eagle, and depart simultaneously in an explosion of sound and color. Around mid morning, when the most intense clay lick activity is over for the day, we will return to TRC for breakfast. After breakfast we will hike the 1.5 mile Ocelot Trail, a trail which exemplifies the quintessential rainforest . Although it is general rain forest ecology. This forest, which is good for veiwing monkeys and Collared peccary. This trail is the one which most often many swamp, a nesting colony and preferred roost for Blue and Gold and hen macaws will land on the nests and stand there for several minutes. After a lazy afternoon with the macaws we will hike back (B/L/D)

Day 4 - TRC Lodge to Posada Lodge
We will wake up at dawn once again to visit the macaw clay lick and then return for breakfast. At mid-morning we will depart for Posada Amazonas, having a boxed lunch on the boat. As soon as we get to Posada Amazonas Lodge, we will unpack and do our last activity: WeŽll visit a native slash and burn farm. Slash and burn agriculture systems are often thought of as wasteful because the fields are burnt, cultivated for a few years, and then abandoned. Many resident studies, however, have shown that this is far from the truth. The secret of their success is mixed planting in small patch, so that the crops are not decimated by disease and pests spreading through monocultures, the use of a mixture of herbaceous and woody crops, and the genetic diversity of their crops. After our visit, we will be able to understand why the EseŽeja cultiva on system is sustainable over the long term. Later we will return to Posada Amazonas for dinner and overnight. Another video will be displayed this evening at the dining room. (B/L/D )

Day 5 - Posada Lodge to Puerto Maldonado
A early a.m. departure up the Tambopata river and transfer to the Puerto Maldonado airport for your departing flight to Lima or Cuzco. (B)