Where: Tambopata National Reserve, Peru

When: November 3-10, 2012

Tuition: $3200

Deposit: $800 (full tuition is due 90 days before the workshop)

Class Size: 10

If you have any questions, or if you wish to register for this workshop, please email Ian Plant (ianplantphoto@gmail.com).

Looking to take your creative expression to the next level? Creative Vision Photo Workshops are designed to challenge you to reach new heights with your nature photography. Join Creative Vision instructors Ian Plan and Richard Bernabe on an intensive, multi-day field instructional workshop that will help you create photographs you've always dreamed of making!

All photos courtesy Jeff Cremer/Peru Photo Tours.

The Destination

The Tambopata National Reserve is a 275,000 hectare conservation unit created by the Peruvian government in 1990 to protect the watersheds of the Tambopata and Candamo rivers. It is adjacent to the huge 1 million hectare Bahuaja Sonene National Park. Both conservation units protect some of the last untouched lowland and premontane tropical humid forests in the Amazon. This Connecticut-sized area of pristine forest contains 600 bird species, 32 parrot species (10% of the world’s total), 200 mammal species, 1200 butterfly species and over 10,000 species of vascular plants. Within Tambopata lie three lodges – Posada Amazonas, Refugio Amazonas and Tambopata Research Center. They are a small part of the network of organizations and communities that are attempting to protect this amazing wilderness.

Sample Itinerary

DAY 1

•    Opening reception at Puerto Maldonado Headquarters; transfer by Boat from Tambopata River Port to Posada Amazonas

•    The forty five minute boat ride from the Tambopata Port to Posada Amazonas will take us deep into the rain forest.

•    Boxed lunch & orientation: Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips. 

•    Photography Lecture: After lunch we will have a photography presentation to discuss tips and techniques for photographing the rain forest.

•    Dinner

•    Night Photography: Night walks are great for photographing insects and frogs. We may be able to find praying mantis, cicadas, leaf mimicking grasshoppers as well as huge toads, shiny green tree frogs and bizarre horned frogs.

•    Overnight at Posada Amazonas

DAY 2

•    Breakfast

•    Photography at the PAL parrot clay lick: This clay lick is only a twenty minute walk from Posada Amazonas. From a blind located about twenty meters away you will see dozens of parrots and parakeets descend on most clear mornings to ingest the clay on a river bank. From the blind next to this lick, even the amateur photographer can take good pictures of these wonderful birds.

•    Lunch

•    Photography from the Tower: A thirty minute walk takes us to this 30 meter tall scaffolding tower, which will add a whole new dimension to our Amazon birding experience: the forest canopy. We will wait for a canopy mixed flock to appear. We will see lonely raptors riding the thermals. This is your best chance for hawk-eagles and even harpy!

•    Dinner

•    Photo Review Session: After dinner we have time to pick our best photos and load them into the computer for a slide show. We will have time to analyze and talk about the day’s photography. Any questions about camera/lens usage, composition, etc. can be addressed.

•    Overnight at Posada Amazonas 

DAY 3

•    Breakfast

•    Photography at Tres Chimbadas oxbow lake: Tres Chimbadas is thirty minutes by boat and forty five minutes hiking from Posada Amazonas. Once there you will paddle around the lake in a catamaran, searching for the resident family of nine giant river otters and other lakeside wildlife such as caiman, hoatzin and horned screamers. The lake provides wonderful opportunities to photograph majestic trees, water reflections and, if we are very fortunate, animal life.

•    Transfer by boat from Posada Amazonas to Tambopata Research Center: Six and a half hours by boat from Posada Amazonas, in the pristine heart of the reserve, lies the Tambopata Research Center. As we cross the confluence with the Malinowski River, we will leave the final traces of human habitation behind. Within the 700,000 hectare uninhabited nucleus of the reserve, sightings of capybara, caiman, geese, macaws and other large species will become more frequent.

•    Boxed Lunch

•    Orientation: Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips.

•    Photography from Overlooks: A three to five kilometer hike will lead us to overlooks commanding magnificent views of the Tambopata winding its way into the lowlands. The forest on this trail, regenerating on old bamboo forest, is good for Howler Monkey and Dusky Titi Monkey. The overlooks provide excellent panoramic photo opportunities of the Tambopata winding its way down from the highlands. On a clear day, it will even be possible to view and photograph the snow capped Andean peaks in the distance. At each overlook we will have good chances of encounters at eyelevel at 30-50 yards with large turkey-like birds called guans and chachalacas, or toucans, or macaws roosting on the trees.

•    Dinner

•    Overnight at Tambopata Research Center

DAY 4

•    Macaw Clay Lick Photography from the Beach: On most clear mornings of the year dozens of large macaws and hundreds of parrots congregate on this large river bank in a raucous and colorful spectacle which inspired a National Geographic cover story.

•    Breakfast

•    Photography in the floodplain forest: This five kilometer trail covers the prototypical rain forest with immense trees criss-crossed by creeks and ponds. Amongst the figs, ceibas and shihuahuacos we will look for Squirrel, Brown Capuchin, and Spider Monkeys as well as peccaries. TRC is located within this habitat. Our principal focus will be general rain forest shots as well as portraits of the huge trees that are scattered throughout this forest.

•    Lunch

•    Photography on the Pond Platform: Ten minutes upriver from the lodge is a tiny pond with a platform in the middle. Opportunities to photograph beautiful birds will abound, as the lighting and visibility of the pond is excellent and these birds´ habits are predictable over short periods of time.

•    Dinner

•    Overnight at Tambopata Research Center

DAY 5

•    Breakfast

•    Photography around the TRC clearing: We will photograph herps around the TRC clearing: frogs, snakes and lizards. The chicos, a flock of semi-wild, hand reared macaws will provide additional photographic opportunities as they fly about around the lodge.

•    Lunch

•    Photography from the palm swamp tower: Although macaws nest from October to April, there are different degrees of macaw activity at the swamp year round. From this vantage point we can photograph Blue and gold macaws landing and roosting on their nest holes in dead palms. The nests are all less than fifteen yards away, and only a yard or two above eye level. As the sun sets behind the birds´ golden chests we will have opportunities for close ups of superb quality.

•    Dinner

•    Night Photography

•    Overnight at Tambopata Research Center

DAY 6

•    Breakfast

•    Transfer by Boat from TRC to Refugio Amazonas: A three and a half hour boat ride brings us to Refugio Amazonas.

•    Boxed Lunch

•    Brazil Nut Trail and Camp: A few minutes hike from the lodge is a beautiful old growth patch of Brazil Nut forest that has been harvested for decades (if not centuries) where the precarious remains of a camp used two months a year by Brazil Nut gatherers can still be experienced. We will be demonstrating the whole process of the rain forest's only sustainably harvested product from collection through transportation to drying.

•    Dinner

•    Overnight at Refugio Amazonas

DAY 7

•    Breakfast

•    Transfer by Boat from Refugio Amazonas to Tambopata River Port

•    Transfer fro  Tambopata River Port to Pto Maldonado Headquarters

•    Transfer Puerto Maldonado Headquarters to Airport

•    We retrace our river and road journey back to Puerto Maldonado, our office and the airport. Depending on airline schedules, this may require dawn departures.   

Fitness Level

As noted above, we will do some hiking on this workshop. Hikes will typically be easy to moderate in difficulty, although decent physical fitness will certainly facilitate your enjoyment of this workshop. Every participant must complete and sign a standard liability waiver and medical form before participating in this workshop. 

Getting There

Participants are required to get to Puerto Maldonado. To get to Puerto Maldonado, one usually must travel from Lima or Cusco first before reaching the Padre Aldamiz (PEM) airport in Puerto Maldonado.

Entry Requirements

A valid passport is required to enter and depart Peru. Tourists must also provide evidence of return or onward travel. Visit the Embassy of Peru Website for the most current visa information. Peru does not require any immunizations for entry, although it recommends vaccination against Yellow Fever.

 What's Included

- Photography instruction

- Double occupancy lodging (single supplement $500)

- Local transportation to and from Padre Aldamiz airport

- Meals

What's Not Included

- Airfare to and from Puerto Maldonado; transfer from airport to hotel

- Any applicable visa fees and local airport taxes   

Recommended Equipment

- Wide angle to normal zoom lenses (in the range of 17mm to 200mm)

- Longer telephoto zoom for wildlife (100-400mm)

- 400mm or 500mm lens with 1.4x teleconverter

- Electronic shutter release

- Sturdy tripod

- Sunscreen

- Raingear

- Waterproof boots

- Bug repellant; headnet

- Pack to carry photo and personal gear while hiking

- Water bottle

- Clothing for warm weather

About the Facilites

Posada Amazonas is built using a combination of traditional native materials (wood, palm fronds, wild cane and clay) and architecture and modern day eco-lodge technology. The lodge itself consists of a complex of four sections: rooms, dining area and kitchen, relaxation area and internal support facilities. The entire roof of the lodge is constructed using high quality crisneja palm fronds, whereas the floors are of tropical mahogany. The rooms complex is built of four 9 X 24 meter structures with six rooms per facility, for a total of 30 bedrooms. The walls dividing each room are built using cane, and extend from the floor to about 2.5 meters height making each room private. The side that looks out to the forest does not have a wall or screening of any kind, acting as a large window facing the forest. The reason we have been able to incorporate this "luxurious" design into our lodge is because mosquitos are not really a problem around the lodge clearing and the open section allows for an intimate contact with the rain forest. A second small window on the opposite side, set up very high, keeps the rooms well ventilated. Doors are replaced with drapes. Rooms are not soundproof. Each room has a private bathroom with cold water only. Rooms and bathrooms are separated by drapes. Each room has beds, mosquito nets, bedside tables and hammocks or lounge chairs. Rooms are decorated with bas- relief wood-carvings representing stories and characters from Ese-eja traditions. Common areas are open and spacey and offer ample area for resting and socializing. They include a dining room and bar, a reception lounge with souvenir shop, and an interpretation center.

Tambopata Research Center is built using a combination of traditional native materials (wood, palm fronds, wild cane and clay) and architecture and modern day eco-lodge technology. The lodge consists of one wing of 18 rooms connected by raised boardwalks to eight shared bathrooms, the research quarters and a dining room. The dining room is an open building that doubles as a bar. Rooms are small and hold two beds. The walls dividing each room are built using cane, and extend from the floor to about 2.5 meters height making each room private. The side that looks out to the forest does not have a wall or screening of any kind, acting as a large window facing the forest. The reason we have been able to incorporate this "luxurious" design into our lodge is because mosquitoes are not really a problem around the lodge clearing and the open section allows for an intimate contact with the rain forest.. Doors are replaced with drapes. Rooms are not soundproof. Each room has beds, mosquito nets, bedside tables and a rack of clothes hangers. Bathroom are shared, and have no hot water.

Refugio Amazonas is the latest addition to Rainforest Expeditions Tambopata portfolio. As a charming 32 bedroom lodge, it is well placed immediately adjacent to the Tambopata National Reserve. Surrounded by a mosaic of waterways and habitats and a worked Brazil Nut concession Refugio Amazonas presents an ideal balance for naturalist exploration and observations of sustainable forest use by local populations. In collaboration with ANIA an environmental education NGO, Refugio Amazonas caters for families with children of all ages. Accomodations are similar to Posada Amazonas.  

None of the facilities have regular electricity. Light is provided by numerous kerosene lamps and candles. A generator is turned on once a day to recharge batteries for guests or lodge facilities. At night it is very dark, so we recommend good flashlights. All facilities provide self-serve three course meals. Meals consist of soup or appetizers, salad, main course, and desserts combining Peruvian and international cuisine. All fresh fruits and salads are thoroughly disinfected before serving. We also provide at all times unlimited amounts of boiled, filtered, cooled drinking water, coffee or tea and we provide fruit juices during the meals. If any visitor has special dietary requirements, we are happy to make individual arrangements, but please notify us. 

Deposit Required

An $800.00 deposit will be required with the balance to be redeemed no later than 90 days before the workshop.

Questions?

If you have any questions, or if you wish to register for this workshop, please email Ian Plant (ianplantphoto@gmail.com).