Tambopata National Reserve and our own Tambopata Ecolodge Private Conservation Area protect the wild flora and fauna of the Amazon forests that are our home, in southeastern Peru. We are located to the south of the Madre de Dios River, in the districts of Tambopata and Inambari, in the province of Tambopata. The National Reserve borders our own Conservation Area, and is also bordered to the east by Bolivia, and to the south by Bahuaja Sonene National Park.
In the forests we help to protect, the guests who visit us to enjoy our sustainable tourism based conservation initiative can observe many rare species, including peccaries, tapirs, anacondas, ocelots and jaguars. Tambopata is also a birdwatchers’ paradise: more than 600 bird species have been recorded just within the National Reserve, which outnumbers all the species that have ever been recorded within the entire continental United States.
In the forests, rivers and lakes of Tambopata, biologists and naturalists have also identified 103 species of amphibians, 169 mammals, 103 reptiles and more than 200 species of fish, as well as huge numbers of invertebrates, including 112 species of diurnal butterflies and 151 species of dragonflies and damselflies.
Threatened species protected by the National Reserve include giant river otters and the magnificent harpy eagle. Wildlife observation can be enjoyed at any time of year. There are advantages to visiting the rainforest in either the rainy or dry seasons, when different species are particularly active or easier to observe.
The climate of Tambopata is typical of that found across the Amazon forests of South America, with an average annual temperature of 26ºC, ranging from 10ºC to 38ºC. Maximum temperatures of up to 38ºC can occur between September and October. Annual precipitation varies from 1600 to 2400 millimeters; the driest season runs from April to December, while the heaviest rains tend to fall in January and February, although of course in tropical forests rain may fall at any time of year.
At Tambopata Ecolodge, we have been working to protect the rainforest for more than thirty years, while inviting travelers to make the trip from Lima or Cusco and stay with us at our comfortable eco-lodge, to enjoy the many fruits of our successful sustainable ecotourism project. The many threats to the flora and fauna of the tropical forests of Peru continue, and together with Peruvian government institutions such as the Ministry of the Environment, we remain fully committed to nature conservation through responsible tourism. At Tambopata Ecolodge, we believe that carefully managed conservation supported by the income from tourism is a truly effective way to stem the tide of destruction which sees vast tracts of Amazon rainforest removed each year across South America.