Three extraordinary, contiguous Amazon reserves lie only a 25-minute flight from Cusco - the great Tambopata Madidi Wilderness on the Peru-Bolivia border. Taken together, these parks are two-thirds the size of Costa Rica and protect the most species-rich natural habitats in the world (January 1994 and March 2000 cover stories, National Geographic Magazine). No other company can offer you as much wildlife viewing in the greater Tambopata-Madidi region.
The intimate Heath River provides the fastest and easiest route to the uninhabited, unhunted core of these parks, a vast 2.5-million-acre (one-million-hectare) wilderness full of the five top predators of the Amazon--Jaguar, Giant Otter, Black Caiman, Harpy Eagle, and Anaconda. The unhunted region of Manu (the other great Peruvian nature reserve) is only 750,000 acres (300,000 hectares) and demands more money and time to visit.
The Heath River features the world's most accessible large macaw lick, which has registered up to 260 large macaws in one day, making it one of the five largest recorded macaw licks in the world. Though all five of these licks are spectacular, the Heath Lick is by far the most economical to visit, making it ideal for a short Amazon itinerary to combine with the Inca sites of Cusco and Machu Picchu. The Heath lick is the only one of the five that can be reached the same day that you fly by jet from Cusco, thus saving one or two nights over other licks.
Travelers enjoy warm pancakes and coffee while viewing the photogenic Heath Macaw Lick from a comfortable floating blind anchored only 100 feet (30 metres) away, a fraction of the distance from which one views the more remote clay licks in Tambopata. Finally, the rainforest on both sides of the Heath River is fully representative of the world's most biologically diverse habitat--the Amazon forest at the foot of the eastern slope of the Andes.

Province of Madre de Dios

Capital: City of Puerto Maldonado
Altitude: 250 m.a.s.l.
Distance: not available

The province of Madre de Dios is located in the southeast of Peru. The territory embraces high and low jungle zones.

Madre de Dios is mainly a province with abundant virgin jungles, subjugating landscapes and countless micro-climates. It is possibly the least eroded and exploited area of the Peruvian Amazons.

A land with wide, slow rivers and beautiful lagoons surrounded by the most exhuberant vegetation: Madre de Dios has the best soil of the Amazon jungles, being chestnut and rubber production its main income source. Also, this region shelters native tribes for whom the advance of civilization has not yet arrived.

The main settled groups of the region are the Huarayos, Mashcos, Piros, Amahuacas, Yamanahuas, Amaracaes and Machiguengas.

The small city of Puerto Maldonado, capital of the province, was founded at the end of the 19th., century and just in this century has it started to be inhabited by Andean migrants from Cusco and Puno.


Tourist Site Attractions:

Castañales lake, located at 11 kilometers from the city. The favorite place for bathers during the summer.

Valencia lake, located at 60 kilometers from Puerto Maldonado, almost at the Bolivian border and the town of the Laberinto. It is characterized for being a place with a great variety of trees and fish. This allows the natives of Huarayos to dedicate to the fishing of doncellas, palometas, dorados and piranhas.

Sandoval lake, located at 8 kilometers from Puerto Maldonado. It is located at the right banks of the river Madre de Dios. In the surroundings there are swamps where the aguaje tree grows. It is characterized for its varied fauna and exotic flora. Besides being rich on fish for the temperature of its waters.

National Park of Bahuaja-Sonene, located at 95 kilometers from Puerto Maldonado. It has a surface extension of 1.091.416 hectares.

National Park of Manu, located at 650 kilometers from Puerto Maldonado. It has a surface extension of 1.532.806 hectares. It was declared Biosphere Reservation in1977.

Currently it is divided in three management cathegories: - National Park (considered intangible zone). - Reservation Zone of Manu (apt to eco-tourism). - Cultural Zone in Bajo Manu (with a native population of 41.394 inhabitants).

Due to its natural isolation, the Manu bears many species considered national and world wide endangered, like the jaguar, the oso de anteojos, the river wolf and the black and white lizzards. It is considered that it bears the biggest and most varied bio-diversity of the planet. Trees that surpass 45 meters of high and 3 meters of diameter can be seen.

The National Park of Manu is currently inhabited by 30 peasant communities and many native Amazon towns.

Access to the zone is difficult and expensive. It is advised to get there from Cusco in organized tourist visits.

National Reservation of Tambopata Candamo, with a surface extension of 1.478.942 hectares, it is located at 37 kilometers from Puerto Maldonado between the provinces of Cusco and Madre de Dios.

It has a great diversity of habitats and forests with world records in zoological groups. There are 750 species of birds and over 1.100 species of butterflies.

In the area of Tambopata, Sandoval lake or Peque Peque stand out, and the canoeing circuit is considered one of the most exhiting and beautiful of Peru.

The National Sanctuary of Pampas de Heath (102.109 hectares) has peculiar flora and fauna resoureces, like: wolf of crin and the swamp deer. The trip on motorized crafts takes from six to eight hours.

Tres Cruces is a high view-point famous for its spectacular downs and the "rayo blanco", that shows the effect of three suns at the same time. This light-games occurs during the winter solstice (22 of June).