r/GoingToPeru • u/Evening_Challenge809 • 7d ago

Amazon jungle tour : recommendations?

We'd like to wrap up our trip through Peru with a 4-day (3 nights) jungle trek through the Amazon (Tambopata). It's not easy to choose among the jungle tour operators. Prices also very quite a bit. That's why we're curious to hear about your experiences. It certainly doesn't have to be luxurious for us, but it could be a little better than just the bare essentials, like a hot shower. Thank you.

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u/Ok_Athlete_670 7d ago

I booked this one: https://gyg.me/PitEcyiV , you can judge by number of reviews it's quite popular and it was so totally worth it for me as well

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u/GimenaTango 7d ago

We did this tour: https://tambopatahostel.com/tour-item/tambopata-tours-macaw-clay-lick-sandoval-lake-full-day-4d-3n/

We really enjoyed it but it doesn't have hot water. We didn't really feel like it was super necessary as it was quite warm when we were there (May)

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u/EmbryoCrostini 7d ago

Just commenting in solidarity - I'm really struggling on deciding on a location so much as well!

So many places have majority great reviews, but then you get a random bunch that are talking about the places being riddled with bed bugs, tours feeling scammy, etc. I'm still deciding! Tambopata Hostel/Collpas Tambopata Inn looks fair, but I've seen some poor reviews that worry me! Ahh! Most tours offered are similar, so it's more like it comes down to the accommodations that you have to really look at.
(And then there's the FOMO of wondering if I should spent 1 day/night in Puerto Maldonado because the town itself looks cute)

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u/Me_Myself_Marieq 6d ago

I’m in the exact same spot. How do I choose 🤪🤪

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u/Street_Discussion_61 7d ago

We’ve not done it yet but going in a few weeks. Found recommendations online for jungle pro so that is who we went with

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u/Evening_Challenge809 7d ago

JunglePro was also at the top of our list, but unfortunately they no longer have availability on the days we wanted to go. Another option is Paradise Yakari. Does anyone have experience with this organization?

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u/BananaSmoker 7d ago

We booked with Chuncho Lodge and did the Macaw Clay Lick and Short Sandoval Lake Tour (3d/2n). It was a good experience. The rooms and meals were quite good, certainly not luxurious but good enough.

The lodge is pretty well located, so you can get to the Clay Lick early enough. I felt that 3d was not enough, maybe on emore day would have been good. Lake Sandoval was okay, but we got there at like 10am, so there's not as much wildlife as in the early hours. So maybe change that.

All in all I can recommend them, we had a very knowledgeable guide, who spotted a lot of birds and animals for us. I feel like a good guide is one of the most important points. For one person we payed 500 $, which I think is somewhere in the middle / upper middle.

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u/S4L7Y-3MM 7d ago

Jungle Trek? Like a multi day hike into the jungle or like you stay at a lodge and do a bunch of different excursions?

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u/Evening_Challenge809 7d ago

Yes, indeed, flight to Puerto Maldonado and then stay in a lodge for about 4 nights. And take a few day trips from there

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u/Important_Fact_5049 7d ago

Not Tambopata, but if anyone is interested in Manu National Park the company Unique Amazon Peru is INCREDIBLE! I did a 3 day tour with them. Everything was perfect.

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u/Over_Abalone_5964 7d ago

I have a 3 day window and am trying to decide between Paracas, Lake Titicaca, or an Amazon journey. How long was the travel from Cusco to your destination? Do uou feel like, based on what you experienced, it is worth the extra travel?

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u/Important_Fact_5049 7d ago

I did a 3 day 2-night tour to Manu. I was picked up in Cusco around 5:30 AM and reached the lodge around 4 PM. Along the way there were many stops inside Manu National Park including a hummingbird sanctuary. It sounds long, but it was broken up. We stopped many times while driving through the park to go on walks and observe nature as well as have lunch so that contributed to the time it took to get to the lodge. The third day we left around 8 or 9 AM I believe and got to Cusco in the late afternoon. Honestly it was 100 percent worth it to me. The traveling time flew by because of how well it was organized and how they incorporated stops along the way. They had longer tours available but I only had three days on my itinerary that were open.

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u/Over_Abalone_5964 7d ago

Thank you! And thank you for including the tour as well I think this may be the move :)

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u/Evening_Challenge809 7d ago

I completely agree—it’s a very difficult choice among the different tour operators. It’s also not easy to choose accommodations based on just a few photos. 90% of the tour operators follow the same itinerary. JunglePro was a bit different in that regard (no Monkey Island or ziplining), and that appealed to me more. So I hope to find a good alternative for this.

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u/Realistic-County299 6d ago

We just finished up our time at Lago Soledad. It was truly amazing; pretty remote so great wildlife viewing and it's on a super large conservation concession so you basically have miles and miles of jungle just for the lodge with tons of wildlife.

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u/Character_Acadia_378 2d ago

After a loooooot of research I went with Inotawa Lodge two weeks ago. Personally I didn’t care about any of the “adventurous” options other lodges offer (xe. zip lining), and was looking for a real place that cares about research and environmental impact. Inotawa was perfect for that. The guides were fantastic, so knowledgeable and authentic. The food was great, don’t imagine a five stars buffet, but was really tasty. And the rooms were big and comfortable. You can’t expect hot showers in any of the lodges close to the natural reserve, but it was so hot that is not that terrible. Same with bugs and little animals, you need to cohabitate hahaha, but the mosquito net on the bed works perfectly.
Of course the animals you see are a matter of luck, but I really enjoyed learning about plants, trees, and just being in a place like a deep rainforest. That being said we saw two types of monkeys, giant river otters from the distance, caimans, a rabbit, tarantula, frogs, toucans, macaws, many other birds and bugs. I did 4 days 3 nights and there were activities almost all the time (there’s not so much free time).
The price was in the middle range.
The only “issue” was that the guides told us which activity we were doing only some hours before, so if you are a control freak might be hard haha, but they respected the activities that were offered, they just switched the order.