Sandoval Lake Lodge

Tour Payment Adult from $ 795.00 / Child contact us 50% Deposit Prices In USD$, per person and based on double occupancy, unless otherwise noted. Prices subject to change. Prices based on 4% cash discount. Accommodation 3 nights & 4 days at Sandoval Lake Lodge in double occupancy Group Size No Minimum, No Maximum Meals Included All meals, (B) Breakfast, (L) Lunch, (D) Dinner at lodge Transport Private shuttle/van, motorboat, canoe Boats are 20ft long, roofed canoes with 55 hp outboard motors Local Domestic flight is not included in this itinerary. Price fluctuations and seasonal availability limit our capacity to guarantee rate/departure times. This domestic flight can be arranged through Adventures to Peru prior to departure for an additional cost. Notes 1. A moderate fitness level is recommended on this tour. 2. Due to the unpredictable nature of the rainforest, day-by-day activities may vary due to local conditions 3. Single Room supplement US$ 50.00 per night 4. We reserve the right to change the order of activities. 5. Local Domestic flight is not included in this itinerary. Price fluctuations and seasonal availability limit our capacity to guarantee rate/departure times. This domestic flight can be arranged through Adventures to Peru prior to departure for an additional cost.

Day 1 Sandoval Lake Lodge (L,D) Upon arrival from Lima or Cusco, a local representative from Adventures to Peru will welcome you at the airport and transfer ten minutes to our Puerto Maldonado headquarters office. While enjoying your first taste of the forest in our gardens we will ask you to pack only the necessary gear for your next few days, and leave the rest at our safe deposit. This helps us keep the boats and cargo light. 

We’ll then transfer to Madre de Dios River port. We’ll board our motorized canoe for a 45-minute journey down the Madre de Dios River arriving at the riverside trailhead to Sandoval Lake Lodge. From here the trail takes you on a 2-mile (3,2-kilometers) walk through secondary forest, until we reach a small canal where we board canoes and are paddled about 200 meters through a flooded Mauritia Palm forest. As the canal opens onto the shimmering surface of the lake, we transfer to a catamaran and are leisurely paddled across half the lake to the lodge. After lunch and a short siesta to avoid the early afternoon heat, we will learn about the history of the lodge and the philosophy of its founders. In the afternoon, we’ll again board the catamaran and set off to explore the entire west end of the lake. Here, again in the flooded palm forest we drift to the sounds of hundreds of Red-Bellied Macaws as they return to the palm forest for the night. This macaw species is found locally in parts of the Amazon, always living in flooded palm forests like what we find at Sandoval Lake. At 500-800 birds, this flock of Macaws at Sandoval Lake is currently the largest reported in the world for this highly specialized macaw. As night falls we’ll board canoes in search of the large and extremely rare Black Caimans. If it is a clear starlit night, we will also be able to float in the middle of the lake to marvel at the intensity of the sky and listen in on the sounds of the forest.

We return to the lodge for a short video or slide presentation and dinner. At any point, you may perhaps step out from the bar to marvel at the wide variety of nocturnal moths, beetles and praying mantis attracted to our black light in the lodge clearing.

For those with excess of energy, our guide will take us on a short night-walk into the forest surrounding the lodge. Overnight at Sandoval Lake Lodge Day 2 Sandoval Lake Lodge (B,L,D) A pre-dawn wake-up call will enable us to be on the lake for sunrise and a hopeful encounter with the family of Giant Otters who frequent the lake and are most active at this time of day. Sandoval Lake offers abundant wildlife including over 40 species of birds resident to its lake borders, most of the fish-eating water birds around the lake actively fish in the early morning as well, and this outing should provide excellent views of the prehistoric looking Hoatzins, which are easy to observe and photograph at close distance from the canoe or catamaran. After returning for a late breakfast we’ll set off into the cool under story of the tall virgin forest near the lake to see some towering wild Brazil Nut trees and a demonstration of how our hosts collect, open and commercialize this important natural product. After lunch and an hour or so to relax we once again board the catamaran to explore the eastern part of the lake, where we might see one or more of the five species of monkeys who live in the forest near the lake, such as the Brown Capuchin Monkey and Squirrel Monkey. 

Before dinner we will again enjoy an informative natural history video or slide presentation.

We will leave after dinner to try and spot some Black Caimans on the lake, or to go on a short night walk through the primary forest. 
Overnight at Sandoval Lake Lodge Day 3 Sandoval Lake Lodge (B,L,D) Today is a day dedicated to you. Many visitors fall in love with the Lake and its extraordinary environment. So if you prefer to sleep in you may do so. For early risers, if prior outings on the lake have failed to produce an encounter with the Giant Otter family, you’ll have the opportunity to get an early start and visit the Lake at dawn once again. Breakfast at the lodge will be followed by a slow trek through the understory of the forest on a specialized trail circuit. Learn and discover palmicho, the plant that supplies the roof-thatch for local homes and our lodges, Candlestick Ginger for anti-inflammatory medicine, the historically important Chinchona, or Quinine tree, whose bark has saved countless thousands from the throes of malaria, and numerous other vital plants. This route includes both wild forest and a small botanical garden dedicated to cultivation of some of these species. After lunch back at the lodge we can take a break, and then in the cooler late afternoon set off by boat to the starting point for a walk through the most virgin and secluded forest of the area, on the lake’s north shore, under, perhaps, the pink glow of another glorious sunset. This evening we’ll have dinner and have our final opportunity to search for Black Caiman along the lakeshore, or go for a last short hike night hike. The choice is yours! Overnight at Sandoval Lake Lodge Day 4 Sandoval Lake Lodge Departure Day (B) Today is departure day. After breakfast we’ll make the short paddle around the west end of the lake to try and glimpse the Giant Otters before crossing the Lake to our footpath, short hike and motor canoe back to our Puerto Maldonado Headquarters. We’ll make a quick stop by the office to pick up your personal belongings and large luggage before continuing on to the Puerto Maldonado airport. Adventures to Peru services end upon arrival at the Puerto Maldonado airport.

Please note that the program may vary slightly so as to maximize your wildlife sightings, depending on the reports of our researchers and experienced naturalist guides based at the lodge.

Local naturalist multilingual guide service for duration of the trip Airport arrival AND departure transfers All accommodations in double occupancy Privately owned land/river transport along the route Entrance fees for included excursions Excellent Meals One entree of chicken, beef, local fish or pasta and fresh salad. A variety of rice and bean dishes, hot vegetables, bread and butter A choice of desserts including local fruits such as papaya or pineapple or prepared desserts such as rice pudding or flan Complementary coffee, tea and drinking water are available 24 hours a day Bar service, including soft drinks, is also available at guest expense Reconfirmation of ongoing flights

International and/or Domestic Flights Visa and passport fees Insurance All meals (see above) Alcohol, Drinks Tips & Gratuities Optional activities/day-tours/excursions International departure taxes and excess baggage fees