The wild Heath River marks the remote Amazon border between Peru and Bolivia. Bordering two radically different ecosystems of rainforest and lowland savannah, it runs through the heart of the Tambopata-Madidi reserve areas of Peru and Bolivia, a vast and largely inaccessible wilderness totaling more than 13,700 sq. km./5,290 sq. miles.
Little has changed here since the American doctor Edwin Heath first explored and named the river in the 1880s, and the eccentric English explorer Colonel Fawcett formally surveyed the distant frontier in 1910. Traveling there today is like going back in time to before cars and roads were invented.
Heath River Wildlife Center is the only eco-lodge on this river. And it offers the world’s only large macaw clay lick accessible in half a day from an airport with daily connections to the outside world.
Only ten minutes by boat from the lodge, a comfortable floating hide just 30m/100ft from the lick, allows us to witness one of nature’s most spectacular displays – a tumultuous gathering of brightly-colored macaws and parrots. Visitors have seen up to 260 macaws there at a time, which makes it one of the top five of the world’s 100 known licks.
The Lodge
Though very traditional, the lodge in Sonene does not sacrifice comfort in the least. Guests enjoy roomy, private, double-occupancy bungalows with electric fans and en-suite facilities with hot showers. The combination of the most accessible and most photogenic large macaw lick and the warmth and uniquely traditional hospitality of our Indian hosts make Heath River Wildlife Center and Sandoval Lake Lodge the Amazon’s best value in wildlife and authentic rainforest adventure.
Programs:
Two Ecosystems: Rainforest and Savannah - 4d/3n
This is a short, active wildlife observation adventure in one of the most remote and fascinating parts of the Amazon, where rainforest and savannah meet.
Two Eco-Systems: Rainforest and Savannah In Depth - 5d/4n
Sandoval Lake Lodge & Macaw Clay Lick 5d/4n
Sandoval Lake Lodge & Macaw Clay Lick 6d/5n
Rates in 2020
2 Ecosystems
4d/3n- Rates are based on double occupancy. For single rates, please inquire.
- Fixed departure rate, applies to departures on Mondays and Thursdays. Private departures (at a higher rate) on other days available on request.
2 Ecosystems
5d/4n- Rates are based on double occupancy. For single rates, please inquire.
- Fixed departure rate, applies to departures on Mondays and Thursdays. Private departures (at a higher rate) on other days available on request.
HRWC & SSL
5d/4n- Rates are based on double occupancy. For single rates, please inquire.
- Fixed departure rate, applies to departures on Mondays and Thursdays. Private departures (at a higher rate) on other days available on request.
HRWC & SSL
6d/5n- Rates are based on double occupancy. For single rates, please inquire.
- Fixed departure rate, applies to departures on Mondays and Thursdays. Private departures (at higher rate) on other days available on request.