The Wandering Hart

One thing I really wanted to experience while in Peru was spending some time in the Amazon rainforest. For those unaware, the Amazon stretches into Peru and I’ve been told by many people seeing the Amazon from Peru is easier and safer than from the Brazil side.

The closest city to the area most tourists will go to is Puerto Maldonado. If you search for places to stay near there you’ll get plenty of results and Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica (and their sister resort Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion) are likely to be some of the top results. The Inkaterra properties aren’t cheap (right now prices are around $400 per night) but they do include your guide and all meals and from my experience they’re worth it!

On the first day we were greeted at the airport along with several other families and brought to the Puerto Maldonado port to take a boat 45 minutes up the river to the resort. We were greeted at the resort with cold towels and a cold juice before being brought to our cabanas.

The cabanas themselves are beautiful! Each has a set of hammocks, bed, and bathroom area. We splurged to also get the larger Tambopata Suite with a private cold dip pool and extra shower area, which honestly was worth it in the amazonian heat. This suite will however run you about $670 per night.

In addition to beautiful cabanas, we were provided with 3 excellent meals per day taken in their dining room. Breakfast included both a buffet and a la carte menu while lunch and dinner were always both 3 course meals and roughly the same menu was available each day. All non-alcoholic drinks were also included and wine, beer, and cocktails were available for an additional purchase. Everything available was excellent and the menu was just large enough to guarantee some variety, but personally I loved their beef empanadas and tres leches cake to order them each once per day while there!

Of course the best part of the whole stay was the included excursions further into the Amazon. The resort provides a planned set of excursions for you to attend throughout with a small group of other patrons (our group sizes ranged from 4-10) and led by your assigned guide. They did a great job balancing down time with interesting experiences but of course you’re also always welcome to skip excursions for more cabana time.

We went on 6 different excursions in our 3 night stay with our guide, Henry (who was incredible! Request him if you can!). My personal favorite was the trip to Lake Sandoval. The lake is a short boat ride up the Madre de Dios river from the resort and located partially in the Tambopata National Reserve. The excursion included a short boardwalked hike through the reserve and then a canoe trip along the edge of the lake. Throughout the excursion our guide did an amazing job pointing out wildlife and made sure we were having a great time.

We also enjoyed a canopy walkway walk on Inkaterra’s own canopy bridges near the cabanas, a night walk through the nearby forest to spot tarantulas and scorpions, a tour of a working farm down the river, a tour of Inkaterra’s garden near their other Amazon property, and a large night boat ride to spot white cayman. All the excursions were interesting and including some great wildlife spotting opportunities. In our trip we managed to see cayman, capybara, capuchin monkeys, red howler monkeys, countless bird species, tarantulas, and more!

Overall, I’d say this is one of the pricier options for seeing the Amazon but if you want to see it in style and guarantee a great experience I’d highly recommend Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica. And I’d recommend checking out the Peruvian Amazon in general – it was definitely easy and safe and was an incredible experience!