Pacaya Samiria, Lagunas, Loreto Region, Peru

5Lacubita 5:00 PM Aug 5, 2017

Best jungle trip ever
I have never written a review this long but my current level of thrill is such that I want to share as much info as possible. Being a wildlife lover, I have traveled over ten times in the Peruvian jungle (including Manu, Tambopata, Bauaja- Sonene and Tingo Maria National Parks, Explorama and Explor Napo Camps and Tahuayo River Lodge) and in my opinion, without any doubt, the 6 day Samiria River trip (in the Pacaya- Samiria National Reserve), I have just completed, ranks at the top. I wanted to introduce my 7 year old son to the rainforest and invited also my two older sons aged 29 and 25, with whom I have always travelled through the jungle in the past. Unfortunately, my 25 year old could not take vacation time to join in, so we ended up being just three. I decided for Pacaya- Samiria after talking with an adventure travel expert friend. I googled thoroughly to find the best routes and operators, finding out that the vast majority of people enter the reserve through Nauta (two hour drive from Iquitos) either staying at campsites reached via motor boats called pequepeques, going to fancy lodges or aboard the super high end cruises with AC, renowned chefs, etc. that cost around US$ 1,300 per person per night. Neither of those options appealed to me, so I continued searching until I found great reviews of Huayruro Tours (Peruselva) in Tripadvisor. On their website I learnt that they enter the reserve from the southwest and only use canoes as means of transportation. I contacted Miguel Gonzales, the owner, who gave me all the required info to make a decision among the various tours he runs. I found him very honest and customer oriented and after several emails decided to go with his company in the 6 day alternative. All of his tours start near Lagunas and can take between 2 and 30 days going down (the first half, and then up) the Samiria River, a tributary of the Marañon, that later joins the Ucayali forming the Amazon. Pricing is very attractive at 160 soles per day per person, all inclusive. On July 27, we flew from Lima to Tarapoto (one hour) were a taxi was waiting for us to take us to Yurimaguas (2 hours, 80 soles). We slept at very nice Hotel Río Huallaga (200 soles) and left the next morning at 7am on a motor boat to Lagunas (6 hours, 40 soles each). We spent the night at decent Hotel Eco (75 soles) and were picked up by our guides at 8am to begin our 6 days journey. The complete trip is done in a dugout canoe propeled by our two amazing guides Leandro and Ronald. By not using a motorized vehicle you can see, hear and smell the amazing jungle as is, enabling unparalleled opportunities to watch wildlife. We saw four monkey species, bats, sloths, otters, squirrels, manatees, dolphins, caimans, turtles, anaconda, loro machaco viper, iguana, lizards, frogs, eagles, hawks, toucans, guacamayos, parrots, herons, storks, fisher birds, wood peckers, paiches, eel, butterflies, worms, spiders, ants, bugs, centipedes, etc. Each day we navigated between 4 and 6 hours, always stopping at a nice spot to have lunch. I must say this is not a trip for everybody. We slept on a basic bed only the first and last nights. The other nights we slept over a rather thin mattress on the floor of huts without any walls, though protected from bugs with moskito nets. Basic showers are available on the same two nights than beds. Elsewhere you can bath, and swim by the way, in the river. On the camp we slept the third night, there were no toilets; everywhere else toilets need to be flushed with a bucket filled with river water. Our two expert guides went many extra miles to ensure our experience was perfect. Without them I doubt we could have seen a quarter of the creatures we actually spotted. They cooked delicious meals, including special requests by my 7 year old. Most days we ate fresh fish, which Leandro had speared moments ago. Meals also included: bananas, tomato, onions, eggs, rice, noodles and fruit. On three nights, after dinner, our guides took us to spot caimans and other nocturnal wildlife in our canoe. On two days we also went on amazing forest walks. I strongly recommend Huayruro Tours. They are extremely knowledgeable, reliable and customer oriented and will provide an experience you will never forget. Definitively, we will be back in a couple of years including my absent this time son. We are planning to go on a longer trip, perhaps during the rainy season, when the river surface will be some 3 meters higher, providing a very different landscape.

5Marius M 5:00 PM May 16, 2019

Tibilo Tour, authentic and fair treated guides and fair prices
We booked our 3 day trip into the jungle in Yurimaguas with Miguel from the agency „Tibilo Tours“. We were a bit sceptic in the beginning, because there was no big office, but he seemed to know what he was talking about, so we booked the tour and didn‘t regret it. It was absolutely amazing. Joicy and Georgy were expecting uns in Lagunas the next day. Georgy showed us the city after we arrived and made every wish come true. We slept in Joicys house for free the first night, whicht was okay but very basic. Georgy and his wife were our guides for our jungle trip. Even though they didn‘t speek english, it was quite easy to understand them and we felt very safe with both of them. Their knowledge about the jungle is fascinating and both of them are very good cooks and prepared the things we wished for and liked. They also explained, that corruption and taking advantage of the guides or the tourist (f.ex. Lying about what they are going to see in the jungle) is a serious problem. People shouldn‘t pay more than 150 soles per day for their tour. Tibilo tours seems to be very fair and treating their people well. One more reason why we absolutely recommend this agency. Tibilo Tours Calle Belen 104 FB: tibilo tours lagunas Whatsapp: 0051 929 137 127 Phone: 0051 947 522 601 / 0051 994 460 854 / 0051 910 927 182