Sandoval Lake Lodge
Description
Pricing
Itinerary
Sub Trips
Hotels
Located a 25 minute motor canoe ride down the River Madre de Dios from Puerto Maldonado, Sandoval Lake Lodge is a perched above what many rainforest specialists feel is the most attractive lake in southern Peru, if not the entire Peruvian Amazon. The whole complex is housed in one structure and includes 25 double occupancy rooms (all with private baths), hot showers and a spacious dining room overlooking the lake.
No other lodge in the Tambopata-Madidi is on the banks of a protected oxbow lake. The Sandoval Lake Lodge is built out of ecologically-correct driftwood mahogany and is owned jointly by a non-profit conservation group and five families of indigenous Brazil nut collectors. For a more relaxed, complete introduction to the rainforest, we recommend a two night stay. However, with easy access from Puerto Maldonado, it is possible to spend only one night in the rainforest and still get a good preliminary idea of the splendor of the Peruvian Amazon.
Day 1
Lima – Puerto Maldonado – Sandoval Lake Lodge
Take the flight from Lima to Puerto Maldonado. Upon arrival, transfer to the river port on the Madres de Dios River. A 25 minute journey down the Madre de Dios River by motor canoe brings you to the beginning of the trail to the Sandoval Lake Lodge. From here, the trail take you on a 2-mile walk or rickshaw ride through secondary forest, until we reach a small canal where we board canoes and are paddled 220 yards through a flooded forest of 100 foot tall Mauritia palms. As the canal opens onto the shimmering surface of the lake, we transfer to a catamaran and are leisurely paddled across half of the lake to the lodge.
After lunch and a brief rest to avoid the early afternoon heat, we once again board the catamaran and set off to explore the entire west end of the lake. Here, 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. We return to the lodge around nightfall for dinner.
After dinner, we return to the canoes to look for 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 and marvel at the brilliance of the sky.
Day 2
Sandoval Lake Lodge
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 which frequent the lake and are most active at this time of day. 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 and photographs of the pre-historic-looking Hoatzins.
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 which live in the forest near the lake, such as the brown capuchin monkey.
There is a final chance after dinner to try and spot some black caimans on the lake or to go on a short night walk through the primary forest.
Day 3
Sandoval Lake Lodge – Puerto Maldonado – Lima
After a dawn breakfast, we will take a final, shorter paddle around the west end of the lake to try to glimpse the giant otters before returning to Puerto Maldonado to take the flight to Lima.
Suggested Hotels by City and Category *
|
Cuzco
|
| 3-star |
Casa Andina Classic, San Agustin El Dorado, Rumi Punku or similar. |
| 4-star |
Costa del Sol Picoaga, Novotel, Casa Andina Private Collection (oxygen available) or similar. |
| 5-star |
Inkaterra La Casona, Libertador, or Suite at the Casa Andina Private Collection inc. oxygen, matrimonial beds only, or similar. |
| Deluxe |
Monasterio (Orient Express), Casa Cartagena or similar.
|
* Subject to confirmation at time of booking
3 days , from £480
| Occupancy Type |
Standard |
| Double | £480 |
| Single | £558 |
Prices shown above are per person, in Sterling (Ł).
Peru
Sandoval Lake Ldoge
Amazon
Monkey
