Day 1:
Lake Valencia
We’ll meet
you at the airport and take you to the Wasai
lodge, where you’ll receive a friendly welcome, complete with a tropical
beverage. Later, after an
informative talk by one of the guides you’ll have the chance to store any
luggage you wont need on the expedition and we’ll embark on the journey to
Valencia Lake. It lies an hour
and half from Puerto Maldonado, plus a walk of about 3 km, to the shores of
the Lakes. After getting settled
into to our accommodations at the refuge we´ll rest a bit, then head out to
observe a special spot where the birds gather every evening to spend the
night. This place is called
“The island of birds.” It
is the safest place for the birds to rest/spend the night, because it is
inaccessible to the jungle´s predators.
Afterwards we’ll watch the sunset behind the jungle trees in a
spectacular display of colors.
We’ll return to the refuge to dine.
After dinner we’ll head back to the lake in canoes to observe dozens
of caimans, some great than 5 meters long.
We’ll overnight in the refuge on the shores of the
lake.
Day 2: Valencia
We’ll wake
to the sound of howler monkeys and macaws moving through the refuge and get a
very early start, 5am, to the macaws Collpa, or clay lick. We’ll observe as many as six species of parrots and other
birds such as toucans, wild turkeys, and the many other species that come to
the lick to ingest the minerals and salts they need to neutralize the toxins
they’ve accumulated from the fruits and seeds they eat in the jungle.
This clay lick is also, sometimes, visited by mammals such as monkeys,
Capybaras, peccaries, and tapirs.
That
activity will last until about 8am. Afterwards
we’ll return to the refuge for breakfast, and a brief rest before
initiating a new activity: A 5 kilometer circular path on which, if we’re
lucky, we’ll spot Trumpeters, tapirs, monkeys, peccaries, turkeys and other
animals. Our expert, local
guides will show us medicinal plants, and some the largest trees in the
forest. Then we’ll return to the refuge for a succulent lunch.
After
lunch we’ll rest and you’ll have the afternoon free to fish and enjoy
your surroundings.
That
evening we’ll have a special send off dinner.
Day
3 Sandoval Lake
Once
again we’ll wake to the songs of the birds and howler monkeys.
After breakfast we’ll gather up our gear and head out to navigate
Lake Sandoval, and we’ll have another opportunity to encounter birds and the various fauna
that inhabit the shores of the lake. After
an hour and half of exploring the lake we’ll arrive at a path that will
take us around the lake, then we’ll walk back to the shore where will take
a canoe to explore it’s edges, enjoying it’s incomparable beauty.
With any luck we’ll spot the resident family of otters, and the
return of a great quantity of Macaws and Parrots to their nests high in the
palm tress on the shores of the lake. At
dusk we’ll initiate our journey back to Puerto Maldonado, just in time to
enjoy a barbecue send off there.
Day 4
Breakfast
and transfer to the airport.
