Conservation in Action at Tapiche Jungle Reserve

The Tapiche Reserve is a rainforest conservation project focused on preserving primary forest, restoring disturbed areas with native vegetation, and providing eco-sustainable job options to local people in an area dominated by logging and poaching. Your visit funds local salaries and helps us protect this precious place.

We don't catch, domesticate or otherwise manipulate wildlife, and when we fish we keep only enough for sustenance. We believe wild animals belong in the wild, and we use binoculars and telescopes to observe animals in their natural habitat from a respectful distance.

Accessible only by waterway, the Tapiche Reserve is situated 404 km up river from Iquitos, Peru. The day-long journey into the jungle takes you through increasingly remote areas, away from touristic centers, and into territory seldom traveled by outsiders. The trip from Iquitos to the Reserve includes navigating up the Amazon, Ucayali, and Tapiche Rivers.

Day 1. The journey to the reserve begins early in the morning, traveling 3 hours up past the Amazon River to the Ucayali River, arriving in Requena for lunch. Then we navigate up the Tapiche River for another 4 hours. The Tapiche is a narrow river with a unique landscape, giving us the chance to observe wildlife on the river side, such as herons, several species of toucans, macaws, egrets, wild ducks, storks, grey dolphins (Sotalia fluviatilis) and pink dolphins (Inia geoffrensis).

Day 2. Light breakfast at 05:00, then embark on a 10km trek through the terra fime forest deep into the Reserve, where we will marvel at gigantic centenary huimba (Ceiba pentandra) trees. We may encounter South American coati (Nasua nasua), saddleback tamarin (saguinusfuscicollis), common squirrel monkeys (saimiri sciureus sciureus), and other land mammals. Second breakfast will be picnic style around 09:00, providing the fuel we will need to complete the trek and return to the lodge for hot lunch around 13:00.

After our long morning hike, you can relax in a canoe that your guide will row silently along the edge of the jungle, looking for animals that come to the water to catch the warmth of the last sunlight. Return to lodge for hot dinner.

Day 3. Light breakfast at 5am followed by a 12 km trek along the Chambira creek, where the giant otters (Pteroneura brasiliensis) make their home during the dry season. The hike will take us deep into a different side of the Reserve through an amazing ciliar forest. Second breakfast will again be picnic style. There is a great concentration of mammals in the area, including the rare red uakari monkey (Cacajao calvus rubicundus) and red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus). Along the way, we will also discuss medicinal plants growing in the wild and learn about their preparation and use. Return for hot lunch at the lodge around 1pm.

In the afternoon we will take the canoe again along the Tapiche River to what we call "dolphin corner", a spot where the pink dolphins (Inia geoffrensis) and gray dolphins (Sotalia fluviatilis) come every afternoon to hunt. Return to the lodge for hot dinner.

Day 4. All day out. Light breakfast at 05:00. We will travel by canoe along stunning primary Gallery forest to arrive at the Garza Lagoon. Second breakfast is picnic style. On the Lagoon it is possible to observe the great black caiman (Melanosuchus niger) in broad daylight. We will fish for our lunch, which is often red-bellied piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri) grilled fresh over an open fire. After enjoying views of the expansive lagoon with lunch, we will continue canoeing into the swampy areas of the reserve, which is the territory of more black caiman, dusky titis (Callicebus moloch), large groups of red howler monkeys, and all kinds of eye-catching jungle birds. Return at sunset for hot dinner at the lodge.

Day 5. Full breakfast at the lodge. Return transport to Iquitos.

Description	Distance
Pacaya Samiria National Reserve	100 km