Tambopata - A Shelter of Extraordinary Natural Riches

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Tambopata - A Shelter of Extraordinary Natural
Riches
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It was about noon when three friends of mine and
I landed in Puerto Maldonado in September 2008.
The plan was to stay 3 days at a Jungle lodge
located within the Tambopata National Reserve,
one of the world's most virgin forests that
shelter a large variety of plants, animals and
human beings which has not yet been touched by
modern life. Its diversity is due to its three
different ecological systems the Andean eastern
watershed, the Amazon plains and the Collpas
Tambopata.
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A father and son from the United States joint our
party of four. During the one-and-a-half-hour
drive to the port, Jhin explained to us the
different ways of burning trees for reforestation
purposes which we saw along the way while
enjoying some banana chips and Brazilian nuts.
At the port, we took a boat ride along the
Tambopata River and ate a Peruvian version of
Chinese rice folded in banana tree leaves, very
good! Once we arrived at the other end, we walked
a short trail before reaching the Jungle lodge.
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Back at the lodge, we all went to get a well
deserve cold shower and were back at the dining
area to eat and learn from our first nightly
lecture prepared by the lodge staff which covered
conservation threats, opportunities and projects
in the Tambopata national reserve amazonicos .
After dinner, we explored the river's edge,
scanning the shores with headlamps and
flashlights to catch the red gleams of reflection
from caiman eyes. After lunch, we took a short
trail and a boat for five minutes downriver where
a farm and ethno botanical garden lies. It is
owned and managed by charismatic Don Manuel from
the neighbouring community of Condenado.
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Most of these mammals are active at night but
rarely seen we were lucky to spot a small
caiman. On the way back to the lodge as well as
in every trail, Jhin pointed out with his
flashlight tress, frogs, monkeys and birds whose
shapes and sounds are as bizarre as their natural
histories. On the way back to the lodge, we
stopped at a 25-meter scaffolding canopy tower
which has been built upon high ground, therefore
increasing our horizon of the continuing primary
forest extending out towards the Tambopata
National Reserve.
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reservas_at_monteamazonico.com
AV. LEON VELARDE No. 141 A HALF BLOCK FROM
THE PLAZA DE ARMAS, Cusco Peru
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