It is located in southeastern of Peru, near the border with Bolivia and Brazil, the rainforest is more accessible from Cusco city. This region was known as Antisuyo during the Inca Empire, has had a history of natural resource extraction, which began with the rubber boom and recently the exploitation of gold, and finally the exploration of hydrocarbons. Despite all this activity, 98% of the territory is comprised of virgin forests. It is the territory with the lowest population density in Peru. Madre de Dios has three protected areas: Manu National Park and Reserved Zone, Tambopata-Candamo Reserve and Bahuaja Sonene National Park. Comprising 3.5 million hectares of Amazonian forest ecosystems protected and represents the largest and richest areas for biodiversity in the world. Have been recently created two additional areas: Amarakaeri Communal Reserve and Purus Reserved Zone with similar large extensions.
Puerto Maldonado
It is the capital of the region and the starting point for trips to Tambopata and Las Piedras and Madre de Dios rivers. There are daily flights from Lima or Cusco. For the most adventures, there is a road from Cusco that takes 15 hours by bus.
This capital was founded in 1912 and is the most important town of the southern forest. It is located at 210 m.s.n.m. approximately at the confluence of the Tambopata and Madre de Dios rivers. The high season for tourism in Puerto Maldonado is from May to November.
Sandoval Lake
Located into the Tambopata National Reserve. It is a great place to see a great variety of wildlife including kingfishers, parakeets, small parrots, herons, caimans, turtles and giant otters. It is at 8 km. from Puerto Maldonado city and approximately one hour, including 15 minutes by boat downstream the Madre de Dios river. Sandoval is the most beautiful lake of the Amazon. Fishing is not allowed even for tourists. A trail of 3.5 kilometers through a secondary forest where you can see many birds, monkeys and many species of butterflies, will lead us to this amazing lake.
Chuncho and Colorado Macaw Clay Licks.
They are geological formations where large number of macaws and other animals are feeding the clay of the walls rich in minerals. Located in Bahuaja Sonene National Park at 5 and 6-hour trip by boat from Puerto Maldonado.
Las Pampas de Heath
It is located on the border with Bolivia, high grasslands cover large areas of over 100,000 hectares and there are no forests, only small shrubs grow, rich in wildlife, there live two endemic species: a type of fox called Maned Wolf ( Chrysocyon brachyurus) and the Deer Marsh (Blastocerus dichotomus ), is also frequently to observe large jaguars and anacondas. During the rainy season the area is flooded. It is the only area in the Peruvian rainforest with savanna characteristics, it was considered initially a National Sanctuary and was subsequently included at Sonene Bahuaja National Park.
Native Communities
There are 5 language groups and over 30 ethnic groups scattered throughout the department, some of them living separately from the original clans and mingled with the foreign population, but still there are many people who live into the reserves or communities. There are also several groups that have not yet been contacted, they are nomadic groups living in the northern area of Madre de Dios Department and do not wish to have any contact with us for fear of our violence, guns and diseases. |
