Visiting the Amazon with kids
One of the Amazon’s top jungle lodges, the Reserva Amazónica is perfectly set up to receive families.
For children even more than adults, there is nothing like witnessing wildlife in its natural habitat, especially monkeys.
If travelling with young kids can be daunting, then taking them to the Amazon might sound impossible. It’s actually, however, easier than you might think, thanks to the Reserva Amazónica, one of Peru’s top jungle lodges. Although most such lodges and Amazon River cruises stipulate no kids under six or seven, Reserva Amazónica welcomes them. It has everything you could need to make them feel welcome, from cribs and highchairs to specialist guides who will go out of their way to ensure that even the youngest members of the family can learn and marvel at this remarkable ecosystem’s exuberant spectrum of animals and plants.
For kids, the jungle is just one huge playground; animals you can observe here, even in just a 48-hour stay, include multiple species of monkey, caimans, and parrots and macaws of just about every color in the rainbow. On night-hikes, your guide will also point out some giant tarantulas too. The experience is a genuine eye-opener for members of the family of all ages, but especially kids. And if the youngsters get bored of the wildlife, there is also a treasure hunt designed just for them.
The refuge is one hour downriver from Puerto Maldonado, a jungle town that is a short hop by air from Lima or Cusco. The lodge’s staff pick up (and drop off) guests at the airport. Like most top tier jungle lodges its prices are all inclusive, including the expert jungle guides for you and your children. The only extras you will have to pay during your stay at the Reserva Amazónica is for alcohol, tips and, of course, any souvenirs you buy in the lodge store or from local communities.
The lodge has dozens of rooms, all opening directly onto the rainforest, to allow you to see — and above all, at night, hear — the myriad species that live there, making a nocturnal crescendo of clicks, whirrs and other weird sounds.
To visit the Reserva Amazónica as part of your unique, individually tailored itinerary, contact the Peru Empire Company at travel@pec.pe or on +51-1-700-5100 or, if you are in the US, 347-713-7030/34.
