Explorer's Inn
Located on the southern bank of the Tambopata River (12deg 50'15''S, 69deg 17'30''W), at the confluence with the La Torre River, and at a distance of 30 km SSW of Puerto Maldonado, EI (Explorer's Inn) was built and began operating in 1975. It was the first ecotourism venture to operate along the Tambopata River at the time.
In 1977, the Peruvian government granted private protected area status to 5.5 km2 of rainforest around the lodge which became known as the Tambopata Reserve Zone (Stewart 1988). Through its Resident Naturalist Program, which offered free room and board to graduate biologists in exchange for guiding guests, EI has been very successful in combining tourism with research. Investigations undertaken in the late 1970s and early 1980s found that this area is unique and harbours particularily high levels of species richness. The total length of the trail system habitually used by tourists at this lodge is 40 km, and is the oldest and most extensive in the area. A total of nine distinct forest types can be clearly recognised around this lodge.
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With 84 of the 104 known life zones on the planet, Peru is one of the 17 megadiverse countries on earth. Overall it ranks in the top four, and is first in birds with 1,701 species, second in primates with 34 species, third in mammals with 361 species, and fifth in reptiles and amphibians with 297 and 251 species, respectively.
In the south of the country lies the province of Madre de Dios, with a population of 100,000 and which is dominated by lowland Amazon rainforest considered by many to be one of the most biodiverse regions of the Amazon, if not the world. The provincial capital of Puerto Maldonado is already recognised by the Peruvian Congress as the Biodiversity Capital of Peru.
In Madre de Dios are located the two protected areas at the centre of our photography workshops, the Tambopata National Reserve (TNR), created in 2000 with an area of 274,690 hectares, and the Bahuaja Sonene National Park (BSNP), first created in 1996 and subsequently extended in 2001 with a current area of 1.09 million hectares. Both protected areas derive their name from the Tambopata River, which the local native Ese'eja people call Bahuaja. The river is born high up in the Andes in the Sandia region of Puno (close to lake Titicaca) and subsequently flows northwards until its confluence with the Madre de Dios River at the town of Puerto Maldonado.
Come join us and find out what it means to have over 1.3 million hectares of pristine Amazon rainforest wilderness on your doorstep.
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