Tambopata Research Centre
Tambopata Research Centre (TRC) is a simple yet comfortable 18 bedroom lodge which was built more than fifteen years ago with the object of lodging tourists and researchers alike and of protecting the adjacent macaw clay lick. Because of its remote location in uninhabited wilderness housing stable populations of endangered wildlife, the small scale of its infrastructure and operations and the presence of researchers and naturalist guides, Tambopata Research Center is an excellent headquarters for in depth explorations of Amazonian nature and wildlife
TRC is located in a half hectare clearing in the middle of the uninhabited portion of the Tambopata National Reserve, adjacent to the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park and 500 meters from the world’s largest macaw clay lick.
Tambopata Research Center requires at least four nights because of the travel time. It is four hours upriver from Refugio Amazonas. To get to TRC you must overnight at the Refugio Amazonas on the way in and out.
Tambopata Research Center is built using a combination of traditional native materials (wood, palm fronds, wild cane and clay) and architecture and modern day eco-lodge technology. The lodge consists of one wing of 18 rooms connected by raised boardwalks to eight shared bathrooms, the research quarters and a dining room. The dining room is an open building that doubles as a bar.
Rooms are small and hold two beds. The walls dividing each room are built using cane, and extend from the floor to about 2.5 meters height making each room private. The side that looks out to the forest does not have a wall or screening of any kind, acting as a large window facing the forest.
The reason they have been able to incorporate this “luxurious” design into the lodge is because mosquitoes are not really a problem around the lodge clearing and the open section allows for an intimate contact with the rain forest.
Doors are replaced with drapes. Rooms are not soundproof. Each room has beds, mosquito nets, bedside tables and a rack of clothes hangers. Bathroom are shared, and have no hot water.
Tambopata Research Center has no electricity. Light is provided by numerous kerosene lamps and candles. A generator is turned on once a day to recharge batteries for guests or lodge facilities. At night it is very dark, so we recommend good flashlights.