San Pedro de Putina Punco accommodation from NZ$2,115

Staying at TRC offers total immersion into the jungle: we bathed with hummingbirds thrumming overhead, and woke up to troops of Tamarin monkeys passing by our room - it’s just wonderful to be surrounded by so much nature. The guides, biologists and excursions all offer further opportunities to see more and understand more wildlife. Of course, nature will also visit you in your room, with bugs, geckos, frogs and bats frequent visitors - but this is why you come to TRC and not some other lodge removed from nature. If you don’t want the odd ‘roach mooching around your bathroom, don’t come here! If you want to guarantee you’re doing all the activities you want to do in the limited time you may have at TRC then I’d recommend a private guide; though if you’re lucky you’ll find your group will have similar interests as you and you’ll be able to do a lot of what you’d like! Our guide, Listen, was super enthusiastic, knowledgeable and tried so hard to squeeze as much into our itinerary as possible. I also managed to spend some time with Jeffrey, who specialised in birds and was a great help with my bird watching and was able to join us on the macaw Claylick which was a wonderful experience. We had the bigger room, which had a bath and two queen beds, just for the two of us, this was helpful to try and stay cool during the day - it does get very hot and sticky! The food was super fresh and all vegetarian (mostly vegan), with just two additional meat/fish options.