Peru - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 822

9

Wildlife reserves around
Puerto Maldonado
Madre de Dios boasts spectacular virgin
lowland rainforest and exceptional wildlife.
Brazil-nut-tree trails, a range of lodges,
some excellent local guides and ecologists
plus indigenous and colonist cultures
are all within a few hours of Puerto
Maldonado. There are two main ways to
explore: either by arranging your own boat
and boatman, or by taking an excursion
up to one of the lodges, which is more
expensive but also more convenient.
Less than one hour downriver from
Puerto Maldonado (1hr 30min return) is
Lago Sandoval , a large oxbow lake, home
to caimans, giant otters and a host of birds.
It's best to stay here overnight and do a boat
ride on the lake in the early morning - the
best time for wildlife-spotting, though it's
also possible to do the lake as a day-trip.
Take one of the recommended tours (see
p.824) or hire a boat (around S120) to
drop you of at the start of the trail (about
1hr to the lake) and to pick you up later.
Bring your own food and water.
Further along the river, 60km from
Puerto Maldonado, lies the huge Lago
Valencia . It takes at least two days to visit,
and its remoteness increases your chances
of seeing wildlife, both while gliding
through the still lake and along the
hiking trails around it; the lake also
features excellent fishing opportunities.
South of Puerto Maldonado, Río
Tambopata flows into the heart of the
Reserva Nacional Tambopata , where you'll
find several excellent lodges, as well as the
indigenous communities of Infierno and
Batimore. The remote Parque Nacional
Bahuaja-Sonene is even further upstream
(6hr minimum) and features some of the
best wildlife in the Peruvian Amazon as
well as the Tambopata Research Centre,
located next to the Colpa de Guacamayos
- one of the largest macaw clay licks in
the Amazon. To visit the reserve and the
national park, you will need to book
a guided tour at one of the lodges.

Switzerland) on the foothills of the
eastern Andes, MANU , declared a
Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1977,
features a uniquely varied environment
of pristine rainforest, from crystalline
cloudforest streams and waterfalls down
to slow-moving, chocolate-brown rivers
in the dense lowland jungle. Manu is one
of the most biologically diverse places in
South America; rich in macaw clay licks
and otter lagoons, it's also home to
thirteen species of monkey and seven
species of macaw.
Manu is reachable via an arduous
six-hour bus journey from Cusco along
a bumpy dirt road, followed by several
hours along Río Madre de Dios, making
it a destination for serious jungle
enthusiasts with at least a week to spare.
The reserve is divided into three parts:
the cultural zone , encompassing the bus
route and several villages within the
cloudforest; the reserved zone , with
the jungle lodges and oxbow lakes,
located along Río Madre de Dios and
Río Manu, accessible only as part of
a guided tour (see box, p.828); and the
restricted zone , consisting of pristine
jungle, home to several indigenous
communities and uncontacted tribes,
and completely off-limits to visitors.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO
The highlights of most visits to Manu
include the trail network and lakes of
Cocha Salvador (the largest of Manu's

WHEN TO VISIT
Any expedition to Manu is very much
in the hands of the gods, thanks to
the changeable jungle environment.
The region experiences a rainy season
from December to March, when the
road into the park is particularly
susceptible to landslides, so is best
visited between May and August when
it's much drier, although at that time the
temperatures often exceed 30°C/86°F.
Bring a jacket just in case, as roughly
once a month the jungle experiences
several days of friaje - a cold spell that
can bring the temperature down as low
as 12°C/54°F.

MANU BIOSPHERE RESERVE
Encompassing almost 20,000 square
kilometres (about half the size of