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Enjoy a taste of daily life in the Peruvian jungle. Spend a few days visting a local town, trying local flavors, all the while savoring the surrounding nature.
Travel by boat on the river, clay lick platform, local cooking class, reforestation workshop, harvest fresh crops, learn from local family members.
We’ll pick you up from your hotel early in the morning in a private van, and travel through the Andes Mountains. Breakfast is in the charming town of Paucartambo. You can enjoy a hot drink, eggs, pancakes, juice, and more. Breakfast isn’t included in the price of the tour. The trip will continue into the Cloud Forest, where the scenery and climate change quickly. In the Cloud Forest, there will be chances to explore and look for wild animals like monkeys and birds, including the bright-red Andean Cock of the Rock. In the late afternoon, we’ll arrive at Pona Lodge for dinner and some time to relax.
After breakfast, our journey continues into the jungle. Passing through the small towns of Patria and Pilcopata, there will be a chance to stop at a basic pharmacy or shop if needed. Our boat will be waiting in the port town of Atalaya. The trip down the Madre de Dios River is a beautiful way to enjoy the jungle. Along the way, we’ll be on the lookout for animals on the riverbanks, such as water birds and capybara. In the late morning, we’ll pay a visit to a local hot spring, and enjoy lunch on the boat afterward. After a couple more hours, we’ll arrive close to Nuevo Eden and walk from the riverbank to the Bungalow. After settling in, it’s time to go to the camouflage house for the night to watch for tapirs and deer at the clay lick. You’ll sleep in a sleeping bag, be given a mosquito net, and have a boxed dinner while enjoying the darkness and sounds of the jungle.
We’ll head back to the Bungalow early in the morning for breakfast and prepare for a day learning about local life in Nuevo Eden. After a tour of the town, we’ll have a cooking class led by one of our family members. You’ll prepare a local dish called “juane” using local flavors from around the bungalow. After the cooking class, you’ll have some time to rest and enjoy the swimming hole and other activities in the bungalow. In the late afternoon, we’ll meet another family member for a reforestation and farming workshop. Dinner will be prepared in the bungalow. After dinner, your guide will lead you on a night walk to search for tarantulas, snakes, frogs, and other nocturnal critters. A proper flashlight will be very helpful to enjoy the night walk.
After breakfast in the bungalow, your guide will lead you on a nature hike, spending a few hours searching for monkeys, admiring huge trees, and learning about the rainforest. A hearty lunch will be waiting for us in the bungalow. In the afternoon, we will have a few options for local activities to choose from: visiting the local school, going on a creekside fishing trip, or visiting the riverbanks of the Big River. After dinner, we’ll have a bonfire with the family.
We’ll leave the Bungalow early in the morning, where the boat will be waiting to retrace our steps upriver to Atalaya, then back to Cusco. We have plenty of tips for restaurants for a post-jungle feast.
– Private Transportation: 4×4 pick up truck or van, boat
– Bi-lingual tour guide from the area
– Accommodation: lodges, tents
– 3 meals per day prepared by a professional chef: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
* note: final dinner will be in Cusco after completion of tour and isn’t included
– Daily snacks: fruit, cookies, crackers, juice, fruit.
*Let us know if you have any dietary requests or allergies
– Rubber boots**, Rain poncho
– Drinking water (bring a reusable water bottle to fill up each day)
– First Aid kit
**If you wear boot size 47 or bigger, let us know. These sizes of boots are not available in Peru