The Tapiche Reserve then and now: a comparison by visitor Alex O'Connor

Here's a comparison of the Tapiche Reserve then and now by Alex O'Connor, one of the very first guests ever to visit in 2011 and who came back (and brought his mom!) this past January 2020. Thank you, Alex, for your longtime support and friendship!

To accompany his trip report, a photo collection of some of the animals we saw during his stay. Photos by Deborah Chen

---

I first went to Tapiche Reserve in 2011 on my first trip to Peru and Latin America in general. By total chance I ended up being the very first guest to walk through the door at the newly opened Green Track Hostel in Iquitos, a city in the middle of the northern Peruvian Amazon only accessible by plane or boat. Here I met the owner, Murilo, who told me he had just acquired a large part of the rain forest which he had turned in to a reserve, kicking out illegal loggers and hunters. He asked me if I would like to go and said that I would be the very first group to go there. It sounded pretty interesting and I was keen to see the Amazon so off we went, myself, him, two Irish guys and a Swiss girl. It was a gruelling 12 hours or so by boat to get there in full sun and later intense rain.

In hindsight, we didn't really see that much, a few species of birds and one species of monkey. I was just happy to be in the jungle. Murilo said he was surprised that I came back (with my mum!)!

The second visit (January 2020) was a different story and shows just how quickly the Amazon and nature in general can recover with a good conservation effort. The people at Tapiche have been working hard to keep hunters and loggers off the land but also offering them jobs where possible as guides or building the lodge to try and show them there is another way. They also had a much faster (and more comfortable!) boat and we got there in less than 10 hours

This time we saw so much more, it's hard to believe I was in the same place. High lights were 7 or 8, maybe more, different species of monkey, pink and grey dolphins, countless different birds and (my new favourite animal) giant Amazonian otters.

Goes without saying that if anyone wants to see virgin rain forest (sadly becoming a rare thing) and the creatures that inhabit it then get in touch with Tapiche.

Also want to add that I believe you can volunteer there too, they have a programme where they collect turtle eggs to stop them getting poached and sold for food. Turtles get incubated and released when they're big enough. Get in touch with them for better info on volunteer opportunities.