A guide to visiting the Amazon rainforest
01 September 2023 (534 visits)The Amazon occupies around 40% of South America. Its many ecosystems span eight countries and cover approximately 6.7 million square kilometers. Unparalleled in their scale and diversity, the Amazon’s forests are home to one in ten of the known species on Earth.
Visiting the Amazon rainforest is high on many people’s bucket lists when they are planning to travel in South America. But its huge size can make it hard to know which country is best to visit. To help you organize, your rainforest trip, below we offer a quick guide to visiting the Amazon basin.
The best places to visit in the Amazon rainforest include the different river port cities that serve as gateways to explore the jungle. However, although more than 60% of the Amazon is located in Brazil, other important gateways are found in Peru. While many of these gateway cities have some of the best options for booking excursions, cruises and eco-lodges, none can rival the town of Puerto Maldonado for sheer accessibility to some of the most biologically diverse rainforests not just in Peru or South America, but in the whole world.
At Tambopata Ecolodge, once our guests have arrived at Puerto Maldonado airport on a short, scheduled flight from Cusco or Lima, the adventure really begins. We meet all our guests from the local airport –or from the town’s bus station if they decide to travel by land from Cusco- and after a quick stop at our office in Puerto Maldonado, we drive them to the river port for their first introduction to the Amazon rainforest: the boat journey into primary forest to our jungle eco-lodge.
In comparison to the vast tracts of rainforest in Brazil, with us travel to the Amazon jungle in Peru is quicker and more cost effective. Puerto Maldonado is served by regular flights from Cusco and Lima, and can even be accessed by road from Cusco. This means that it's easy to combine your visit to our rainforest eco-lodge with other iconic sights, such as Machu Picchu, during one, short Peru holiday.
So, if as part of your Peru vacation you want to spend 3 or 4 days in the rainforest and really get to experience the Amazon, remember that at Tambopata Ecolodge we offer great access to the biodiverse Tambopata National Reserve, the services of expert local nature guides, comfortable lodge accommodation, and great food!
We look forward to welcoming you as our guest!
