The real, wild
Amazon.
Ten days in Tambopata National Reserve and Lima with a National Geographic Explorer, an accomplished wildlife photographer, and a guide who has spent twenty years working this stretch of rainforest. Three to eight guests. Nothing promised. Everything possible.
You don't have to be a photographer to come on this trip.
You can just bring yourself. Spotting scopes are provided. Walk away with a hard drive of our images for your social media — Brian's, mine, the trip's. No camera necessary, no skill required. Just show up.
For photographers, this is the field trip you've been waiting for. Macaws by the hundred at the world's largest clay lick. Giant river otters at sunrise. Sloths along the Tambopata River. Caiman after dark. A jaguar slipping along the riverbank if luck is with us. We'll be in the field at 4:30 AM more days than not.
Nothing is promised. This is the real, wild Amazon. That's the point.
Three guests, three guides. We meet in Puerto Maldonado for dinner. The next morning, we head out on a day trip with Joselio, my friend and longtime co-guide. Then eight days deep in Tambopata National Reserve. We finish with one optional day in Lima — paragliding off the Pacific cliffs, a Barranco stroll, and a farewell dinner before you fly home.
scaling guide team
+ optional Lima day
around your schedule
+ optional add-ons
(PEM, Peru)
A visual sense of what's coming.
A few frames from prior expeditions in the Amazon. The light, the water, the faces of the rainforest at the right hours.
Why this trip works.
A National Geographic Explorer. An accomplished wildlife photographer. A Peruvian guide with twenty years on this river. At four guests or more, we scale up — Brian joins, and Joselio brings a second local guide so we can divide and conquer the field.
Ben Horton
National Geographic Explorer based between Park City and Cabo San Lucas. Editorial and adventure photographer with two decades of fieldwork in the kinds of places AI can't replicate. Will be in your ear on composition, light, fieldcraft — and out of it when the moment calls for silence.
Brian Treitler
Accomplished wildlife photographer joining as co-host on groups of four or more. A second pair of expert eyes on every shot. Especially valuable on the high-action days at the macaw clay licks and on the lake at sunrise — when the action is everywhere and you want a guide-photographer in the boat with you.
Joselio
My friend and longtime co-guide. Twenty years working this stretch of the Amazon. Speaks English and Spanish. Knows where the wildlife actually is — that's not luck, that's fieldwork. On larger groups, he brings a second local guide so the group can split and we don't bottleneck on a single boat or blind.
Want to know what you're actually walking into?
Read the photographer's guide to shooting in the Amazon — gear that survives the humidity, settings for low-light wildlife, what to wear, what not to bring, and the kind of details you only learn after years of doing it.
The same approach we'll bring to your trip.
Read the Guide
What you're actually signing up for.
The Amazon doesn't care that you paid to be here. It's hot. It's humid. The trails are muddy. The mornings start before sunrise. You will sweat through everything you brought, and then keep going.
Most days involve walking through jungle for two to four hours at a stretch. The boats are open. The lodges run on generators, not central A/C. Mosquitoes are a fact of the place. Repellent is your friend.
"This is the real, wild Amazon. The conditions are part of why the work is good."
You should be
- Comfortable on your feet for a few hours at a time on uneven ground
- Willing to wake at 4:30 AM more than once
- OK with rain, mud, heat, and bugs — none of it dangerous, all of it real
- Adaptable when plans shift around weather, light, or wildlife
- Generally fit — no athletic background required, but you should be moving regularly at home
You can skip any day you want.
If a particular morning is too much — too early, too hot, too rough — stay at the lodge. The wildlife around the lodges is genuinely excellent on its own: monkeys in the canopy, birds at every tier, caiman in the water below the deck. We'd rather you take a day off and love the rest of the trip than grind through a hard one and hate the whole thing. No pressure, no judgment, no missed-day fee.
What you don't need: photography skill. Technical fitness. Expensive gear. Spanish. A young body. The trip is built so anyone willing to show up can get something extraordinary out of it. The hard parts are part of why the work is good — and why you'll remember it.
What it costs. What you get.
Two pieces. The core Amazon trip. An optional Lima day on the way home. Whether or not you take the Lima day, all guests in Lima after the trip are treated to a farewell dinner at an authentic Peruvian restaurant — the trip ends together.
What's included
- All Amazon lodging — Hotel ENAI, Colpas Lodge, Sandoval Lake Lodge
- All meals from Day 1 dinner through Day 9 breakfast
- Joselio as your local guide — full 8-day program
- Ben Horton as photographer-host (Brian Treitler joins on groups of 4+)
- Spotting scopes provided — no gear required to enjoy the wildlife
- All boat and ground transport from Puerto Maldonado onward
- Tambopata National Reserve entrance fees
- All tips for guides, drivers, and lodge staff
- Access to our trip photos for your personal social media use
- Concierge: pre-trip planning calls, gear advice, flight booking help
- Welcome kit: branded Buff, DEET-free repellent, printed itinerary
What's included
- 1 night at a boutique hotel in Barranco
- Breakfast and lunch on the malecón
- Paragliding tandem flight over the Costa Verde cliffs
- Barranco walking afternoon — street art, mansions, the Bridge of Sighs
- All in-city transfers and restaurant reservations
- Evening airport transfer for your flight home
- Group farewell dinner at an authentic Peruvian restaurant
How it works.
Group Size
3 to 8 guests. Confirmed once we hit minimum group, dates locked together.
Custom Dates
Dates built around your schedule. Best wildlife in shoulder season — Apr–May or Oct–Nov.
Deposit
50% non-refundable to confirm your spot. Balance due 30 days before departure.
How Day 1 actually goes.
The clearer the first day is, the easier the rest of the trip feels. Here's how it works.
Where to fly into
Puerto Maldonado airport (PEM, Peru). Most international guests route through Lima (LIM) and connect on a 1.5-hour domestic flight on LATAM or Sky Airlines. I'll help you find the right routing.
When to arrive
Day 1 — anytime before 5:00 PM local time is ideal. Most flights from Lima arrive PEM between 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM. That gives us time to settle in before the welcome dinner.
Where we meet
I (Ben) will meet you in person at PEM arrivals. Look for a sign with your name. From there, a 10-minute drive to the hotel — no taxis, no logistics on your end.
Where you'll stay in Puerto Maldonado
Hotel ENAI — a quiet riverside spot with a pool, secure storage for your gear, and easy access to town. We use it as our base on Day 1, and again when we return from Sandoval Lake on Day 8.
Welcome dinner
Day 1 around 7:00 PM at the hotel. Casual, easy, no agenda — meet the group, talk through what's ahead, calibrate gear and goals. Early to bed because Day 2 starts soft but Day 3 starts at 4:30 AM.
What you handle yourself
What we actually do.
Every morning early. Every evening at the right light. Built around Joselio's program, refined for photographers.
One of the few places left
that hasn't been over-photographed.
Pick your dates. Let's go make some pictures.
Email Ben to Reserve