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).