Tambopata (Peruvian Amazon) on a Budget: How We Did It

If you want to experience the Amazon without spending your entire travel budget in one go, Puerto Maldonado in southern Peru is a great option. It’s one of the main gateways to the Peruvian Amazon, along with Iquitos in the north, but far more budget-friendly and easier to reach from Cusco or Lima.

We decided to explore the Tambopata region on a tight budget for 6 days (5 nights), and honestly, it turned out to be one of our favourite parts of the trip. Despite April being the shoulder of the wet season, we had very good weather overall and it wasn't too busy yet. Tambopata can be visited the entire year through.

Getting to Puerto Maldonado

You can fly from Lima or Cusco, but we went for the overnight bus instead since it's much cheaper. We booked with CIVA on Busbud, paying just 50 soles (~13 USD). The journey takes around 11 hours, and there are multiple departures per day. We got lucky as our Busbud account had some credits, so we paid only 2 dollars for our trip to PM.

CIVA has two evening buses from Cusco, both arriving in Puerto Maldonado early the next morning.

Where We Stayed: Don Jaime Hostel

We booked 5 nights at Don Jaime Hostel for $160 USD total. It’s located just outside of Puerto Maldonado, in a quieter area surrounded by forest. Not quite as deep jungle, but you’re already immersed in nature.

The hostel organises affordable day tours that you can choose yourself, unlike most eco-lodges that charge several hundred USD per night with fixed itineraries.

From Puerto Maldonado, you can reach the hostel by taxi or tuktuk (cheaper). A tuktuk costs 20-30 soles and the ride takes 20 minutes. You can ask Jaime to book the ride in advance. We advise to go to a supermarket and marketplace first to get food, since there is a kitchen in the lodge that you can use. The breakfast (15 soles), lunch and dinner (30 soles) are quite expensive. 

Even without tours, the wildlife around Don Jaime was impressive. Within the first hour, I spotted a spot-legged poison frog (getting a photo was a mission). Dozens of green parrots were munching on fruit trees overhead, and a few blue and yellow macaws flew by.

Here is the price list for the local tours:

• Searching for caymans and capybaras on the river: 125 soles
• Sandoval lake full day tour: 175 soles
• Adventure (kayak, zip line and monkey house): 150 soles
• Parrot and cayman watching +  piranha fishing: 140 soles
• Macaw clay lick: 560 soles
• Walk in rainforest (day or night): 75 soles

That night, we did a self-guided night walk along the nearby road and saw a bunch of frog species, most of which we still haven’t identified, 2 kinkajous (they got really curious when we got closer), a brown-eared woolly opossum, and 3 bamboo rats.

On day two, I spent the morning photographing butterflies along the riverbank clay. They gather to lick minerals from the clay, which gives you the best chance to catch them sitting still, perfect for photos.

River Tour: Caimans but No Capybaras

I joined a sunset boat tour hoping to see capybaras. Sadly, no capybaras showed up. But we did spot:

• A few baby white caimans
• Some river turtles
• Several bird species, including a pair of blue and yellow macaws flying overhead

Day Trip to Lake Sandoval: The Highlight

Hands down, the best part of the trip was the day tour to Lake Sandoval. We had insane luck with sightings. Here’s what we saw in one day:

• Two tarantula species: chicken tarantula and pinktoe tarantula (goal achieved)

• Brown capuchins
• Squirrel monkeys
• Howler monkeys

• Giant river otters (the only pod existing in the lake, so very rare to see!)

• Black caimans
• Bullet ants
• Blue morpho butterflies
• Sunbittern, red-necked wood rail, hoatzins, and more macaws

Night Tour

We joined one of the organised night tours, but to be honest, we wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. The tours don’t really go into the best habitats for spotting animals, they mostly stick to the road and cleared areas. Weirdly enough, we actually saw just as much (if not more) by quietly walking the road near our hostel ourselves. If you want to try that too, bring a decent headlamp, walk slowly, and scan the bushes and tree branches for eye shine. That’s how we spotted an Amazonian pygmy owl and a pink-footed tarantula just hanging out near the edge of the path.

Parrot Watching

The early morning parrot tour is 100% worth it. It starts at 4:30 a.m. (yes, painful, but worth it), and as the sun rises, you’re surrounded by parrots flying, calling, and generally going nuts. By the end of the tour they started quieting down, so being there early really makes a difference. As a bonus, we also saw black caymans just floating around our boat.

Budget Breakdown

Here’s a breakdown of our total expenses for the 6-day stay in the Peruvian Amazon. This is based on two people traveling together and sharing costs. We cooked all our meals ourselves to save money. Our total spending was 1882 soles or 503 USD or 251.5 USD per person.

Final Thoughts

Puerto Maldonado is definitely doable on a budget. We stayed at a local hostel just outside of town, booked tours directly to save on costs, and still got to see a ton of wildlife, without breaking the bank. While some of the more expensive lodges take you deeper into the rainforest, if you’re a bit resourceful, you can still get a really good Amazon experience without spending hundreds a day. Bring a good flashlight, wake up early, and be curious, you’ll be surprised by how much you can see.