Pilpintuwasi Wildlife Center Review

Pilpintuwasi is a wildlife center where you can visit rehabilitated monkeys and other animals that are difficult to spot on an Amazon jungle tour.

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How to get to Pilpintuwasi Wildlife Center

It’s a quick 15-minute journey across the Amazon River to get to Padre Cocha Village, where the wildlife center is located. You have two options: local or private transfer.

Local transfer

You have to take a boat across the river to reach the village where the wildlife center is located. Head to Puerto de Nanay to get a boat to Padre Cocha and get on whatever boat people tell you to (and hope that it leaves soon). Some taxis won’t want to drive you all the way down to the port because the road turns into a dirt road, so plan to walk the last 5 minutes.

Note that when we visited in August 2024, the boat port had plans to change location because of the newly constructed bridge. You may need to ask around where to get a boat from.

I’m sorry I forgot our ticket price but I think it was 10 soles!

We had a funny experience on the boat because our boat driver was basically deaf and blind from the way he was acting. He crashed into another boat as we were trying to get out of the dock. Everyone was yelling at him and he did not care at all. It was a funny experience (and no one was hurt.)

Private transfer

If you don’t want to deal with the local transfer, when you get here, there will be men coming up to you to ask if you want a private boat ride. You can negotiate with them to get a private transfer to take you across.

In Padre Cocha Village

Once you get across the river, there are some motorcycle taxis available to take you to Pilpintuwasi. We opted just to walk, following GPS. There are some signs along the way and we saw a cool parrot.

History of Pilpintuwasi

The Pilpintuwasi Wildlife Center started off as a butterfly sanctuary and now also hosts animals that are either too domesticated or previously abused and unable to survive in the wild. Obviously, we only know as much as the guide tells us, but many of the animals were kept illegally as pets or in zoos or circuses around Peru. The authorities know of this center, and when they find or confiscate animals, they usually bring them directly here.

The intention of the wildlife center is to have the animals go back into the wild, but some of them will live out their lives at the center because they are too domesticated.

The  Pilpintuwasi Tour

Tours are run whenever there are enough people and a tour guide available. Luckily a tour was just ending when we arrived. We waited a couple of minutes and, by chance, some other people arrived right after us, so we all went together. Our guide was really insightful and provided a lot of interesting commentary. For foreigners, the cost is 30 soles per person.

What to See in Pilpintuwasi

At Pilpintuwasi, there are lots of interesting animals I would not have seen in the jungle. You may not see all the animals I saw because hopefully some of them would have been rehabilitated and released back into the wild. The center works with a vet who comes often to check up on the animals.

Also, even though the animals are in cages, it was not that easy to take photos of them so you can check out my videos on Instagram for better vibe, but that is the way of wildlife…

Red monkey

One of the star attractions of the wildlife center is a red monkey, and you will likely see him when you visit.

Red monkey as we entered

He used to live in a zoo and really likes humans. At Pilpintuwasi, he’s actually free to come and go because the layout of the center puts visitors in enclosed walkways (like tunnels), while the monkey. So technically, he can leave the sanctuary at any time, but now he’s become too lazy and too dependent on humans for food.

He can be quite aggressive. He does not like men, and if a woman stares at him for too long, he will pee on you.

The red monkey literally followed us throughout the entire tour, and it was very difficult not to look at him because he is just doing crazy things all the time.

There are two red monkeys at the wildlife center. The second red monkey is more chill and you may only see her at the beginning of your tour.

Butterfly Conservation Area

In the Butterfly Conservation area, we learned about butterflies and got to see how they go through metamorphosis—from caterpillar to butterfly. It was a really beautiful experience. Some of the cocoons literally looked like gold!

You’ll have to see them for yourself, it doesn’t really show up well in photos.

Sloth

There was a baby sloth whose Mama was killed. It was brought to the wildlife center by the police once the criminals were captured.

Primates

There are pairs of monkeys that were used in circuses.

And some crazy chimpanzees that seemed unnatural to me. Their arms and legs were so long!

Illusive animals

We saw a giant anteater. He was apparently injured and will be released back into the jungle soon. However, their tails are also sold for just 700 soles as brooms in fancy houses.

We also saw an ocelot that was kept as a pet until it attacked and killed its owner.

And we saw a jaguar that was kept at a zoo for years. Apparently, he couldn’t even jump or catch anything when he first arrived, but the guides, vets, and trainers have been working with him, so now he can catch a live chicken and walk around.

Heading back to Iquitos

Head back to Iquitos the same way you came—we left by 3pm. On the way back, we ran into our guide from the Amazon Jungle Tour, who owns a bar. It’s this building on your way to/from the port in Padre Cocha.

Our guide, Welister, happened to spot us while we were walking around since he returned home when he dropped us off in Iquitos. What a small world! He also gave us a small tasting of homemade camu camu liquor.

Thank you, Welister!

Near the port, you can visit Nanay Market with local food. We tried some fish and rice.

I also had a rice and chicken+olive ball, which is a traditional food here. It was really good. There was just a tiny piece of chicken inside, which was kind of funny. People usually have it for breakfast.

We weren’t too worried about food safety and had no issues, but if you’re sensitive, I’d be cautious and maybe stick to spots your guide recommends—like on a Belén food tour (like we did too!- read about our experience here)

If this tour doesn’t seem like your vibe, you can also visit the Amazon Rescue Center for manatees.