Accommodation

Since my trip in 2015 and more recent trip in 2016, some of the following information has changed as the lodges are continually changing, worth pointing out until this page is amended.

Artists will be allocated a beautiful room in the guest section of the lodges and have access to every amenity normally reserved for clients, including spacious en-suite bathrooms and hot water. (at Refugio and Posadas - toilets and showers and in a separate section but still lovely at TRC). However you do need to consider that the rooms only have 3 walls and are not sound proof in any way. As cooling breezes find their way through and wildlife flies, trots or crawls by, you will appreciate that this is truly a room in the rainforest, and an immersive experience.

A birds eye view of a room. You will also have mosquito nets over your beds. If you are open to sharing a room with another artist, it allows us to welcome more residents.

The residency runs off two rooms made available to us throughout the rainy season. This allows us to welcome two artists at any one time but if two artists are happy to share a room, we can welcome more. Many artists have expressed a preference for working at TRC  (Tambopata Research Centre) because the presence of researcher there gives continuity and camaraderie, less easy to achieve with a constantly changing set of tourists. Please read the blog entries by other artists under news and consider what your preference might be. Also note that you may very occasionally (may happen 2-3 times per season) be asked to move at short notice to give priority to paying guests. If this is the case, you will be invited to express a preference as to which lodge you want to move to, or whether you prefer to stay put and move to staff accommodation (very spartan with much less privacy). In any case, you will find the staff trying very hard to make you feel welcome.

All three lodges are extremely similar to one another in terms of accommodation and each has its own special features as you can see from the comparison page of the Rainforest Expeditions website. 

Rooms with three walls?

Even at the TRC, where the rooms, are smaller, the rooms feel large and generous because they are open on one side to the forest. Thus it is a bit like sleeping on a veranda. The rooms are separated by thin walls and by en-suite bathrooms at posada and refugio (at TRC, the bathrooms are the same but grouped in a separate building) and the walls are quire thin. So you can hear both conversations or snores of your neighbours. The noisiest aspect is however the jungle. If you think that will be an issue, bring earplugs!

The rooms don't have doors, only curtains. Here you can also see that the walls are really just bamboo partitions.

The rooms do not have electricity. Instead the third wall (to the walkway that links the rooms) has little openings in which the staff light petroleum lamps at night that illuminate both the rooms and the walkways. In your room you will also find a candle in a candle holder which allows you so save on torch and headlight batteries. At night, without any light, it is so dark you can't see your own hand.

The walls between the walkways and the rooms have petroleum lights that light both from nightfall to about midnight, after which you need a torchlight, a headlight or a candle to find the toilet or your shoes. Or your own hand.

The bathrooms all feel light an airy. The showers have plenty of hot water but the real luxury is a cold shower. The lodge provides ecological soap and shampoo that is compatible with the water system and the environment. Towels and bedlinen are also provided.

The shower and toilet. There is of course also a sink and some shelving for storage in the bathroom.

The rooms have a small desk and sometimes a hammock as well. It is up to you to work out what you need to work with. The lodge will do its best to help you find a larger desk, a board to paint on, etc… Kurt joked that it would be easier to find a sewing machine (I know a few artists for whom that would be essential, actually) that an easel. And I have seen a large monitor make its way to the TRC by boat. In any case, it's best to discuss this in advance.

You will not have a studio per se: the rooms are very spacious so you can set up a desk in one end of your room or you can take some work and sit in the dining room, at one of the large tables there. If the lodge is very full, you will have to clear the tables for dinner, something you need to negotiate with the staff.

Dining room, looking towards bar. Not used much in-between meals so it should be possible to work on some of these tables too.

 

Common areas

All the lodges have large and spacious common areas, open on all sides to the rainforest. A large dining room which has large solid tables where you might be able to settle down in between meals, sitting areas with comfortable sofas and arm chairs and lots of hammocks which are the best when it is really hot and humid as any little breeze is free to flow all around you.

The lounge area up under the roof is beautiful place to look out at the forest from.

The hammock area. Best place to read a book.

The common areas (dining room, sitting area, bar) have electricity where you can charge electronic devices for a few hours a day. There is wifi for a few hours a day but not enough bandwith to upload more than a few photos a day. But you can read your email, at least...

The dining room is candle lit at night.