PUERTO MALDONADO (Amazon)

Puerto Maldonado is located to south east of Peru, along the Madre de Dios River; the area is probably less explored by man. The variety of soils and microclimates has led the development of a diversity of plants. Covering almost 4 million square kms, the Amazon basin is one of the world’s largest and nature densest areas. Rivers flowing down from the Andes to make the Amazon the world’s largest river in the world. In the reserve are protected more tan 2,500 fish species, 1,500 bird species (including 32 parrot species – 10% of the world’s total), 50,000 species of plants; 200 mammal species, 90 frog species, 1,200 butterfly species, 94 fish species, 135 kinds of ants, 40 termites species, 39 varieties of bees and 10,000 species of higher plants. At least 15% of the world’s oxygen is produced here.
Puerto Maldonado is surrounded by wide rivers and small lakes of beautiful vegetation, with a population of more than 90000 people; here lies the best quality soils of the Amazon. The Tambopata Reserve protects habitats from the Peruvian highlands until the cloud forests (lowland rainforests of the Amazon basin). The world’s largest known mineral clay lick, where hundreds of parrots and macaws congregate daily to ingest the detoxifying clay, is also within this reserve. Looking down from the Andes one gazes out over a vast sea of green that stretches out into the horizon of endless unparallel beauty.

TAMBOPATA & MANU NATIONAL PARK

The Manu National Park, along with the Tambopata National Reserve, are Peru’s most important ecological areas, and are just a short flight from Cusco or Lima. The bio-diversity is so great here, most species have not yet been named. This ecologically rich region is home to hundreds of species of birds, insects, cats, monkeys, reptiles and fish, as well as thousands of plants and flowers. The Manu National Reserve has been recognized by Unesco and the World Wildlife Fund. Tambopata and Manu are the main destinations for travelers, which can be arranged from Puerto Maldonado, a small jungle town with daily flights from Cusco, Juliaca, Arequipa and Lima. The only way of transportation is by motor boat or canoe, through the rivers of the Amazon.

IQUITOS & AMAZONAS RIVER

Iquitos is the capital of Loreto, the largest department of Peru. A city submerged in the Peruvian Amazon Region, spreads out like a huge, green seemingly endless cloak. This city and its surroundings constitute one of the most important tourist attractions in the northern Peru. Iquitos is the most important city on the banks of the Amazon River, and much of the architecture of the 19th century. Connected with Lima and other cities only by air and by the Amazon River. Excursion can be arranged from Iquitos to a number of typical jungle lodgements, with visits to native communities such as the Bora and the Yagua. This part of the Peruvian Amazon Region is home to one of the largest hydrographic system in the world, the Amazon Basin, which begins in the Andes Mountain Range (Arequipa Peru) where the Amazon River is born, the river with the largest volume of water in the world. It is formed by the confluence of the Ucayali and Marañon Rivers, close to the City of Nauta.