Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion

offering gentle activities in the surrounding forests

Set on the south bank of the Rio Madre de Dios around 10 km east of Puerto Maldonaldo in southeast Peru, Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion is a very high quality lodge.

The property was constructed on the site of a Catholic Mission dating from the 1950s, set on a former cacao and rubber plantation. The 819 hectare private reserve acts as a buffer zone for wildlife moving between Tambopata National Park Reserve and the Rio Madre de Dios.

The lodge is centred on a two storey main building in a clearing in the forest, known as the Casa Grande, which also features the Nua Spa.

Rooms

Guest accommodation is in 30 rooms, which come in two specifications …

The 25 Cabana Rooms, which extend over 45 sqm, are raised up off the ground and have lofty thatched ceilings with electric fans.

The five lower-cost Standard Rooms are just 19sqm and are contained within the main Casa Grande.

The fact that the rooms only have fans and no air-conditioning means that they are liable to become uncomfortable in these high temperatures and humidities.

Activities

Inkaterra Hacienda Concepción offers a relatively wide range of guided activities, including …

• Motorboat safari
• Canoe safari
• Night motorboat safari
• Clay licks for parrots and macaws
• Hides
• Forest walks
• Night walking safari
• Canopy walkways
• Farm walks

The Tambopata Amazon area is usually reached by air into Puerto Maldonaldo, usually preceded by Cusco and followed by Lima, meaning that it tends to fit into the tail end of an exploration of Peru.

The usual stay duration is 3-4 nights.

Seasonality

The best time to visit Tambopata is generally considered to be the Apr-Oct dry season.

Although this area is dominated by tropical rainforest (which is usually indicative of a pretty stable year round climate), Tambopata actually experiences quite a considerable seasonal range.

Temperatures are quite stable year round, with peak daytime temperatures typically rising to around 31C/88F (peaking around 37C/98F), with nighttime temperatures dropping to 17C/63F. Given the high year round humidities, these night conditions can be quite sticky and uncomfortable (yet air conditioning is notable by its absence). During the Nov-Mar rainy season those nighttime temperatures can be a few degrees higher, which doesn’t help.

If you don’t enjoy high temperatures, then Jun-Jul is the best bet, since southerly winds can bring in slightly cooler fronts.

But the biggest seasonal difference is rainfall. During the Nov-Mar rainy season the precipitation rises to around 300mm/6” per month, which is pretty high. Downpours can be torrential and enduring. Whilst there’s still a lot of sunny weather around, it is possible to have consecutive days of overcast weather.

During the converse Apr-Oct dry season rainfall drops to around 75mm/3” per month, which means there are still regular showers, but they tend to be light and intermittent, with sunny weather prevailing.

Getting there

The Tambopata area can be easily accessed by internal flights into Padre Jose Aldamiz Airport in Puerto Maldonado, notably with regular connections to Lima and Cusco.

The lodge is accessed by a combination of road and motorboat transfers.

accessed by air from Cusco and Lima