Refugio Amazonas

Refugio Amazonas is Rainforest Expeditions' family-friendly option, and it earns its keep by being further in than most. The thirty-two-room lodge sits in a couple of hundred hectares of private reserve in the Tambopata buffer zone, which means a boat run of around four hours up the Tambopata River to get there — deeper than Posada Amazonas, and you feel the difference in what shows up. The clay-lick access is the draw: macaws and parrots arriving in noisy waves, best caught from the canopy tower at first light. It's comfortable enough for kids without pretending to be a resort, and the package format keeps the planning off your plate. The extra hours on the river are the price of admission and worth paying. Verdict: the one to choose when you want the clay licks and don't mind the longer boat.