Some moments in conservation happen only once. In late April 2026, deep inside the Peruvian Amazon, 15  capuchin monkeys will be released into the wild for the first time after years of rehabilitation at Amazon Shelter. Five people will be there to witness it. This is your chance to be one of them.

These capuchins arrived at Amazon Shelter as orphans, confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade, or rescued from lives in captivity. The team at Amazon Shelter has spent years rebuilding their social bonds, restoring their instincts, and preparing them for exactly this moment. In the month leading up to the release, a full pre-release enclosure is being constructed deep in protected forest along the Las Piedras river corridor, the same pristine ecosystem that Junglekeepers has been protecting with boots on the ground for years. The capuchins will spend their final weeks of rehabilitation inside this enclosure, acclimatizing to the sights, sounds, and smells of a forest that is finally, truly, theirs.

Your participation makes all of this possible. The cost of this expedition might seem high, but that is because it funds the construction and installation of the pre-release enclosure, a full month of food and veterinary care, the presence of Amazon Shelter's wildlife team in the jungle during the release, and the weeks of preparation work that go into a responsible, science-led reintroduction of this scale. This is not a donation with a jungle trip attached to it. This is the actual mechanism by which 15 animals go free.

Beyond the release itself, this expedition follows the Junglekeepers model you may already know: patrolling protected forest alongside trained rangers, exploring one of the last untouched stretches of Amazonia, and spending real time in a place most people will never see. But at the center of it all is a single morning in late April that you will carry with you for the rest of your life.

Because this expedition is built entirely around a single conservation event, it is coming at you quite close to the actual expedition date, it's short notice, and there are no alternative dates, this is the one. Once these five spots are filled, they are gone.

The deposit to secure your spot on the trip is non-refundable for any reason. 

The balance of payment is due no later than 45 days before the trip begins. The balance of payment is non-refundable for any reason 45 days or less before the trip begins. 

The meeting point for this trip is Puerto Maldonado, Peru (airport code PEM). Please wait to hear from us before booking your flight. 

You will be staying at a hotel in town on the day of arrival and the night before departing, so your flight times can be any time during the day. 

To enter Peru, your passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond your stay. 

Land at the airport and take a short ride to your hotel. Your expedition leader will meet the group for a welcome dinner to walk through the plan for the coming days, introduce you to the story of the 15 capuchins, and answer any questions. Rest well. Tomorrow the jungle begins.

Early morning departure. The group takes a 4-hour drive followed by a boat ride through pristine rainforest to the Junglekeepers ranger station. After settling into your Cabin, your guides will lead a first walk through the trail system surrounding the station. The forest here is staggering in scale and biodiversity, and this first afternoon is your introduction to everything that has been worth protecting.

In the late afternoon, you will your guide will brief you on the protocol for the coming days: how to observe without disturbing, what the release team is watching for, and what the morning of the release will look like.

The days leading up to the release are spent immersed in the ecosystem these monkeys are about to join. Mornings and afternoons alternate between walks, wildlife observation, river and stream exploration, and accompanying the rangers responsible for providing for the capuchins as the Amazon Shelter team completes their final assessments.

Your guides will lead you through the trail network used daily by the Junglekeepers rangers, explaining how they patrol, what illegal activity looks like and how it is reported, and what it means to maintain a protected corridor of this size. Nights bring night walks for an entire new environment, star-gazing above the canopy, and the unmistakable sound of a jungle fully alive after dark.

Activities across these days include day and night hikes, river and stream walks, macaw lick observation, wildlife tracking, fishing, swamp exploration, and more.

This is the plan. Plans change. But if everything goes well, this day will be one you will remember forever.

The wildlife veterinarian and rehabilitation staff will be present throughout. When the doors open, what happens next belongs to the capuchins. You made it possible. Your role now is simply to be a witness to something that has taken years to make possible, and that, in part, your presence here has made real.
The rest of the day is yours to absorb it. There are no scheduled activities, we will keep this day as wide open as possible to let the experts do their work, and for the group to soak it in. After that, hammocks, the river, the trail if you want it.

A few more days in the jungle. Morning boat ride, afternoon free for wildlife observation or a last walk through the trails. The Amazon Shelter team will share a debrief on the release and early behavioral observations of the group as they begin to move freely through the forest. One last night walk to capture the mystic of the forest one last time.

Pack your bags and say goodbye to the Las Piedras. The group heads back down river and overland to Puerto Maldonado, arriving in the afternoon. Dinner together in town.

Your Tamandua expedition leader will see you off to the airport. Until next time.