Rainforest Expeditions' properties are on the Madre de Dios river as well, a tributary of the Amazon, so it is the Amazon basin. The farther upriver you go, the better the sighting chances for wildlife - the boat up to Tambopata before us had a swimming jaguar!

We saw in ten days (in two places, Explorers Inn and Tambopata Research Center,) everything from caimans, giant otter, hoatzin, ocelot (night walk - be aware there are very poisonous reptiles, such as fer de lance / terciopelo , the bushmaster / shushupe and green tree viper /loromachaco, that can be encountered), howler monkeys, you name it, not to mention 13 parrot and macaw species at the collpa (clay lick).

Mammal list

Birds lists

Reptiles list

At Tambopata we were so far out I photographed some large capybara-like rodents (Dinomys branickii or pacarana) visiting under the lodge - the Smithsonian asked for, and got, my photos because they had no photos and thought these critters had gone extinct! We were 'way above the last of the gold sluicers.