Getting There:
To get to the Explorer’s Inn you meet in Puerto Maldonado (most choose to fly in) at the Explorer’s Inn office. Folks who have reserved ahead of time and let the company know your flight information are picked up at the airport and transported to the office. From the main office you board a larger vehicle (we had a 15 passenger van that we shared with another group) and are driven (roughly an hour long drive) to the river launching. As the eco-lodges are all located hours up river all guest and their luggage must ride long motorized boats to the resorts. The boat ride is fantastic. We saw many animals, got to know our guides better, and had a chance to see a rain forest from an interesting perspective. After a quick stop at a guard house where all visitors are checked into the biological reserve, you are at the Inn.

Accommodations:
Explorer’s Inn is setup with a main lodge (with some electric lights) surrounded by sets of four unit bungalows. Each bungalow (see a picture of ours) has a deck that faces into a large grassy lawn. The doors to the individual units are on the deck. Each of our rooms ( and likely all rooms at the Inn) contained two single beds with mosquito netting, candles, and a private bathroom with flush toilets and a shower (cold water only). There is no electricity in the rooms. While candles are provided we strongly recommend a small flashlight or headlamp. The rooms were serviced every day and were very clean and bug free for being in the middle of the rain forest. The windows and doors are screened so as long as you’re careful not to leave doors open for long periods of time you shouldn’t have any problems. Over the course of our five days at the inn the only “visitors” we had in our rooms were one small frog and a beetle. The beds were decently comfortable and the rooms in general did a very good job of providing a comfortable authentic rain forest experience. One thing we found in handy was having ear plugs to muffle the rain forest sounds at night. While the sounds were soothing at first, they can prevent you from having a decent sleep when you’re not used to them. Each bungalow has a deck and an assortment of comfortable chairs to sit and enjoy the view.

The main lodge, the center of the resort, is a large round building that houses a small nature museum on its top floor. We found the lodge to be a great place to play cards, meet other tourists, and talk with the guides and resident naturalists doing research at the Inn. The main lodge is also where all of your meals are provided.

Food:
We found the food to be phenomenal. All meals were multi course meals that featured local produce and local dishes. The food was well prepared, well presented, and delicious. While there were some dishes that were new to us we found them to be tasty and not too-far off our normal North American eating habits. Vegetarians and other food preferences were accommodated without problem. All food and drinks (aside from colas and alcoholic beverages) were included in the package price.

The Package:
The package that we booked with Explorer’s Inn was called the Jungle Expedition. This package included three nights at the Explorer’s Inn and one night camping four hours upriver on a remote island. This package includes three meals a day, transportation to and from the airport, and all of your activities at the Inn. We would strongly recommend this package as we found the days flew by and any shorter of a trip would not do the experience justice. We strongly suggest bringing extra cash to tip your guide. The guides are worth the tip and rely on that cash as part of their income.

The Experience:
While you’re at the Explorer’s Inn you’ll have a great mixture of adventure, nature, and relaxation. Some of the highlights of our stay were:

• Caiman Spotting on the Tambopata River at night
• Row boating on the Oxbow Lake
• Hand feeding bananas to wild Saddleback monkeys
• Night walks in the jungle
• Local Sunday soccer game
• Being led through thick jungle by an expert trail man with a machete
• Seeing hundreds of Macaws at a little known clay lick
• Camping in the middle of the rain forest
• Swimming in caiman infested waters
• Willy and Wowie the resident Macaws
• River Sunsets
• Kilometers and kilometers of jungle trails
• Enjoying a cold beer on the bungalow deck on a hot afternoon

Wildlife Spotting:

• Giant Otter
• Caiman
• Many bird species (Macaws, Parrots, Egrets, Hawks, etc)
• Monkeys (Saddleback, Spider, Howler, Owl)
  Capybaras
• Jaguar Tracks
• Half eaten boar (by the Jaguar)
• Frogs
• Butterflies
• Ants
• Spiders (including the resident tarantula)

General:
Overall we immensely enjoyed our experience at Explorer’s Inn and would recommend to anyone. The only issue we had with the entire experience was a slight mix up with our payment. For some reason record of our payment was not passed on to the agent who was working directly with us. We were able to provide the necessary records and their staff had the mix up figured out within a few minutes.

Some thoughts and suggestions to make your trip all the more enjoyable:

• Bring lots of bug spray (sand chiggers on the beach are especially annoying)
• As long as it’s relatively dry the rubber boots they provide are not necessary. A good pair of running shoes or light hikers will be fine.
• Bring and wear sunscreen
• Bring quick drying clothing as it is very humid.
• Bring extra batteries for your camera as there is no where to charge them
• Bring extra money for colas and alcoholic beers. These are kept cold in a freezer in the lodge and are a welcome escape from the heat
• Willy, the blue resident macaw, is friendly and will not hurt you. Wowie, the red resident macaw, is mean and doesn’t take well to tourists. (see a picture of the two)
• Bring a light pair of pants for jungle walking. You’re often in tall grass. (see a picture of us in tall grass)
• Take a low side effect Malaria pill (we found Malarone to be great). The guides however claim that malaria is not much of a problem and actually advise folks who are getting sick from the effects of their pills to discontinue taking them.

See all of our photos from Explorer's Inn.