Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion — Local services in Tambopata

Overall, I really liked my time there and wish I had opted for an extra day (I booked the three day, two night option). I like interacting with nature in controlled settings, I’d be more of a glamper than camper and so this place fit the bill exactly. It offered accommodations that were far superior in quality to any other hotel I stayed at while in Peru, truly five star experience. All of the activities were well planned and executed by expert and highly knowledgeable staff, particularly my wonderful naturalist guide Flor. She was kind, patient, and eager to explain to us as much about the forest as we wanted to know. I was fortunate to see a family of red howler monkeys, small yet still disturbingly large spiders (for me an arachnophobe), black and white caiman, and had a nice long and up and close encounter with a capybara, as well as a plethora of bird species. This being a pretty developed human settlement on the edge of the jungle (only a few miles from a city), most animals understandably kept their distance from us and stayed out of view. So don’t come expecting to see everything wherever you go like a zoo, this is real life jungle with wild animals, some times you’ll get lucky and sometimes you won’t. I’m terms of service, I was content. Staff were always friendly and welcoming. The food was pretty good every meal. They offered a variety of dishes, many of which were Peruvian inspired but also a few basic North American dishes (e.g. spaghetti) for those unwilling to experiment with new tastes. The other guests were also nice. My guide group consisted of a mother daughter couple from Spain, myself, and a newly wed couple from the west coast (by way of China) and we got along well and had a blast. Every night I came back to my cabana to find my mosquito netting dropped around my bed, turned down, and three lamps lit (two on the porch and one tucked in the bathroom) to provide me some light throughout the night after the generator switched off. That’s another thing about this place that I thought was a nice touch, even though it’s a five star hotel they made efforts to blend it into nature as much as possible. There wasn’t a single window in my cabana, only netting and a thatched roof separating “inside” from “outside”. It felt like sleeping outside with nice breezes sailing through the room, constant views of the outside vegetation, and relaxing (and sometimes creepy) noises from the invisible insects and animals in the jungle all around me. Seriously, those howler monkeys sound more like the special effects from a horror movie than animals, especially at dawn, 😂. If I had to register some constructive feedback for improvement, I’d say the prices for drinks and gift shop stuff is exorbitant. I spent 276 soles or about 70 USD on two cocktails, a shirt, and a book. I also think the resort is missing a HUGE opportunity by not offering night time astronomy tours. There are such great views of the stars here (if you can find a clearing unobstructed by the dense tree cover) that such an activity could easily become one of the most requested. Please management, consider adding this as a standard activity and start training your staff for it. I’d go back for that and to also sign up to stay at their planned “tree house” cabana opening next year where you’d get to sleep a night in the tree canopy among the monkeys and the birds. Sounds awesome! Anyways, I’d recommend you try this place, I doubt you’d be disappointed. Well...

I am still thinking about my stay at Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion.

Intro/Transfer/Check-in:

Transfer was seamless and professional. Isabel and others [dressed in uniforms, which really made Inkaterra stand out vs the other lodge pickups] were already waiting for me once I touched down in Puerto Maldonado airport. From there we drove about 20 mins to the Inkaterra dock and rode by boat to the lodge. Once at the lodge I was greeted with a cold drink, we discussed logistics, I was introduced to my excursion guide, and was shown to my room.

Room:

Despite the awesome cabanas, I chose to stay in the main house (room 30) and do not regret it!

Pros- proximity to dining area for meals, tea time, etc. so wifi actually worked in my room from time to time. I did not notice any noise issues – things get very quiet after dinnertime, no rainforest sounds either. No need for mosquito net because there were no bugs.

Cons- lack of privacy should someone walk past your room during the daytime and your blinds are open. However, this can easily be fixed by putting up a sheer curtain or roping off the hallway area during daytime hours (there is no reason for anyone to walk that way anyway).

Excursions:

My guide Uriel had the lucky task of dragging me, a NYC-bred scaredy-cat, through all of my excursions. Uriel possesses a wealth of knowledge and thoroughly answered my many questions and I enjoyed our discourse quite a bit - I learned so much not only about the jungle but about an entirely foreign way of life, which certainly broadened my worldview.

Uriel was also very patient with my fear of bugs/animals/heights (as earlier mentioned, I am a scaredy-cat!!), and at every step urged me to go at my own pace. The rainforest is awe-inspiring and I am so glad I took the leap to enter… I felt at peace with the surroundings in a way that is difficult to put into words...

Lake Sandoval and Canopy Walk are the two main excursions and so 2nts/3 days is ideal amount of time for this lodge. Maybe Inkaterra could also create a ¼ day excursion to look at plants in the wild for those city dwellers that collect houseplants in our concrete apartments 😊 (follow me follow me!).

Food:

Terrific! For each meal you are given a menu of gourmet dishes to choose from. I am gluten-free, and was touched by the special effort that the kitchen took to craft special breads and other options for me. Wesley was especially attentive, which I appreciated very much.

Check-out:

Transfer back to the airport was just as professional; the team stays with you (and prints out everyone’s boarding passes!) to help with every possible thing until you are past security. From start to finish, I did not have to think about or worry about a thing.

Other:

Unsure if I got lucky with the weather, but I did not get bitten. I also wore the same permethrin-treated clothes for three days straight (loose fitting pants and long-sleeved shirt, with waterproof hiking boots), so who knows. I also used those insect wipes...

This lodge, located in the forest beside the river, is well designed with meshing to keep insects out, yet a feel of being close to the outside. The bar area however was a bit small, not well organised (despite best attempts from the staff) and had very uncomfortable stools. Music in the restaurant was too loud and seemed unnecessary in a natural environment. ||Our room was pleasant with a wood finish and a comfy bed but no sound insulation from people walking (normally) on the floor above - very loud! Also, although the toilet paper was folded into a point, there were cobwebs under the table - so more attention to cleaning and less to the fancy bits would have been better.||Electricity and hot water are (understandably) for set hours only and the WiFi was fine.||The food was absolutely excellent (in keeping with another hotel in the Inkaterra chain which we had stayed in earlier in our trip) with a great choice of largely veggy and plant-based dishes - imaginative and prepared to a very high standard. There was a good supply of drinking water with meals and in the eco centre.||All lodge staff were friendly and helpful with Sergio especially so. ||Our 3-night package included a number of excursions. They were led by general nature guides rather than experts who weren't very good at ensuring people saw the the wildlife they were pointing out. If you have target species - forget it! I tried engaging with them on seeing some specific birds but they made no effort to help. Often they wouldn't even identify birds to species level and even in one case, just declaring "night bird"! Furthermore, on the excursion to the canopy walk, the guides did not deal well with a very noisy family, putting them on the walkway before everyone else, meaning any wildlife was long gone by the time the rest of us got there.||This was all particularly frustrating as there are very few options for independent birding around the lodge, with lots of restrictions on where you can go (despite many interesting trails being there). Despite this, with no help from the guides, I managed to see many species around the lodge including plenty of Hoatzins, Chestnut-tailed Antbird, Pale-legged Hornero, Swallow Tanager, Spotted Tody-Flycatcher, Amazonian Motmot, Forest Elaenia, Black-fronted Nunbird, Buff-throated Woodcreeper, Reddish Hermit & Rusty Margined Flycatcher. It's a shame that the guides can't / won't make an effort to find the wealth of birdlife around the lodge, for the benefit of visitors.||So, although we felt the lodge was quite good and the food excellent, there were a few short comings there and wildlife opportunities left something to be desired. You could find this frustrating if you're a keen...