Peru's Amazon: Macaws, Monkeys, and the Madre de Dios River

The Madre de Dios region of southeastern Peru, bordering Bolivia and Brazil, contains some of the most biodiverse rainforest on Earth — a consequence of its position at the foot of the Andes, where the mountains create a range of altitudes and microclimates that support an extraordinary diversity of species. The Manu National Park, which covers 1.7 million hectares of the Madre de Dios basin, is one of the most biodiverse protected areas in the world, with over 1,000 species of bird, 200 species of mammal, and 15,000 species of plant recorded within its boundaries.

The clay licks of the Madre de Dios — exposed riverbanks where mineral-rich clay is accessible — are among the most spectacular wildlife spectacles in the Amazon. At dawn, hundreds of macaws and parrots descend to the clay licks to consume the minerals that neutralise the toxins in their diet of unripe seeds and fruits. The Blanquillo clay lick, on the Madre de Dios River, regularly attracts over 600 birds of 20 species, including the scarlet macaw, the blue-and-yellow macaw, and the mealy parrot — a display of colour and noise that is one of the most extraordinary wildlife experiences in South America.

The giant otter — the world's largest otter, reaching up to 1.8 metres in length — was hunted to near-extinction for its pelt in the 20th century but has recovered in the protected oxbow lakes of the Madre de Dios. The otters live in family groups of up to eight individuals and are extraordinarily vocal, communicating with a range of calls that can be heard from hundreds of metres away. Watching a family of giant otters fish in an oxbow lake — diving, surfacing, and consuming their catch with evident relish — is one of the most entertaining wildlife encounters the Amazon offers.

The Tambopata National Reserve, adjacent to the Manu National Park and more accessible from the town of Puerto Maldonado, offers a similar range of wildlife experiences with a shorter and less expensive journey from Cusco. The reserve's lodges are connected to the river by a network of trails through primary rainforest, and the wildlife — tapirs, peccaries, capybaras, caimans, and over 600 species of bird — is as impressive as anywhere in the Amazon. The Collpa de Guacamayos clay lick within the reserve is one of the finest in the region.

The canopy walkways that some of the lodges in the Madre de Dios have constructed in the forest canopy offer a perspective on the rainforest that is impossible from the ground — the upper canopy, 30 to 40 metres above the forest floor, is a world of its own, with its own community of birds, insects, and mammals that rarely descend to the ground. The harpy eagle — the world's most powerful eagle, capable of catching monkeys and sloths in the canopy — is occasionally seen from the walkways, and the view over the unbroken forest canopy stretching to the horizon is one of the most powerful reminders of the scale of the Amazon.

The indigenous communities of the Madre de Dios — the Matsigenka, Yine, and Harakmbut peoples, among others — have lived in the rainforest for thousands of years and have developed an intimate knowledge of its plants and animals that is increasingly recognised as a valuable resource for conservation and medicine. Some communities offer cultural tourism programmes that provide visitors with an introduction to their traditional knowledge, crafts, and way of life, and the income from these programmes provides an economic alternative to the illegal gold mining and logging that threaten the forest.

The best time to visit the Madre de Dios is during the dry season from May to October, when the rivers are lower, the trails are less muddy, and the wildlife is more concentrated around the remaining water sources. The wet season from November to April brings heavy rain and flooding that can make some areas inaccessible, but also brings the forest to life with breeding birds and flowering plants. The journey from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado takes one hour by plane or 10 hours by road — the road crosses the Andes and descends through cloud forest to the Amazon lowlands, and is one of the most dramatic drives in South America.