The Explorer’s Inn is an award-winning eco-lodge in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. Founded in 1975, it was one of the first in Peru to offer visitors the chance to experience the rainforest at first-hand; to this day, the Explorer’s Inn continues to offer outstanding opportunities to see Amazonian wildlife, being located inside the Tambopata National Reserve, regarded by some scientists as the most biodiverse place on Earth. World records in bird, butterfly and dragonfly biodiversity are among the marks set in the rainforest immediately around the lodge.
The Explorer’s Inn has a total of 70 beds in single, double and triple bedrooms spread out in a series of thatched bungalows, built on raised platforms to protect from flooding. Each bedroom has a porch, complete mosquito netting, and a private bathroom with shower, toilet and washbasin. The fruit trees scattered around the Inn, along with some native plants and flowers in the lodge itself attract an assortment of butterflies, birds, insects and mammals. Together with the dispersed nature of the accommodation, visitors can thus witness a fascinating array of Amazonian wildlife without even leaving the Inn. The main lodge building, which includes the dining room, bar and reception, is built around a living ironwood tree, known as shihuahuaca by local people who believe the species to be sacred. The Inn also houses a laboratory, enabling much of the biodiversity research that has helped to make us famous over the years.
But the most important thing about the lodge is its stunning setting at the confluence of the La Torre and Tambopata Rivers, 40 long miles upriver from the bustling frontier town of Puerto Maldonado, in the province of Madre de Dios. Within easy walking distance of the Inn lies Cocococha, a peaceful oxbow lake. The undisturbed ecosystem here supports a family of giant river otters along with other endangered species such as black caimans.
Bird life is particularly prolific; 620 species have been recorded in the area immediately surrounding the Inn — an all-comers’ record. You will not cease to be amazed by the variety and colors, whether you are a professional ornithologist or a rainforest neophyte. Walking our extensive network of trails is an experience never to forget; encounters of various monkey species are common, and you have a good chance of glimpsing other mammals such as peccaries, agoutis, anteaters and coatis. Very occasionally, lucky guests at the Inn have even sighted jaguars, arguably the rainforest’s most magnificent as well as its most elusive inhabitants.
Red and Green Macaw (close-up) 5
Red-brocket Deer 2009-04-09
