With a surface area of 274,690 hectares, there extends throughout the southeastern region of the department of Madre de Dios in the province of Tambopata, the Tambopata National Reserve.
This National Reserve is protected by the Peruvian state since it is a lovely landscape inhabited by the greatest diversity of flora and fauna that can be found on the planet.
In the Tambopata National Reserve we find a great quantity of exoticanimals, such as the river wolf or giant otter, peccary, anaconda, tapir, jaguar, ocelot, etc.: there are 590 different species of birds, which are more than the ones that exist in the United States.
The place where this reserve is located, Madre de Dios, has three extremely important conservation areas in its lands:
1.The Manu Biosphere Reserve: that has been declared by UNESCO as a Natural Heritage Site (1987).
2.The Tambopata-Candamo Reserved Zone: in this area one finds various animals at risk of extinction such as the harpy eagle and the giant otter.
3.The Bahuaja-Sonene National Park: more than 450 species of birds co-exist in this park.
If you have the desire to travel in order to get to know this reserve, we recommend that you do it from Cusco towards Puerto Maldonado, traveling some 45 minutes by plane, so that later you may travel by boat through the river that will take you from Puerto Maldonado towards Tambopata.
Remember that before you travel between zones you should be vaccinated against yellow fever and present the vaccination card as soon as you get to the airport at Puerto Maldonado; furthermore, if you have yet to be vaccinated, you may do so at the airport, where the service is completely free.
It is recommended that you take a lot of insect repellent and some type of malaria medication in your luggage.
A good season to visit this reserve and a place as magical as Madre de Dios is the dry season which consists of the months between June and October, since the other months of the year it rains a lot (between January and March).
Take light clothing, pants and big, loose shirts, a hat and sun block to protect yourself from the sun and comfortable shoes to allow you to perform long walks. After all of this, the only thing left for me to say is that you enjoy this marvelous experience.
