Puerto Maldonado in the Peruvian Amazon

This December 26th, the department of Madre de Dios in southeastern Peru will celebrate its founding anniversary. Celebrations include singing, dancing and street parades, with the largest events taking place in the capital city, Puerto Maldonado. The area boasts lush landscapes, famous sunsets, wide rivers, and lakes and lagoons surrounded by tropical flowers and palm trees. Its most famous attractions are the virgin jungle of Manu Biosphere Reserve, Tambopata-Candamo  National Park, and scenic Lake Sandoval.

Visitors to Manu can expect to see many tropical birds, including blue and yellow parrots which congregate at the local clay licks and the national bird of Peru, the Cock of the Rock, with its showy mating dance. Native reptiles include the cayman and the emerald boa, while some notable mammals are the long-legged maned wolf, oncilla (tigrillo), and the highly elusive jaguar.

Manu is one of the most bio-diverse areas in the world (only recently surpassed by Bolivia’s Madidi National Reserve for the most bio-diverse). You can take a tour which will allow you to explore its rivers and paths as well as visit an indigenous community. There are a variety of ethnic communities which live in the area, although the Machiguenga and Huacaria are the most well-known.