 Officially created in 1990, the Tambopata - Candamo Reserved Zone is located east and south of Puerto Maldonado. It comprises 1.5 million hectares (3.5 millions acres) of the Madre de Dios and Puno regions.
The Tambopata Reserve has been the subject of numerous TV documentaries. We invite you to visit one of the world's largest macaw and mammals clay-lick. you may also visit the pristine Sandoval Lake. In this region a person could walk for a mile through the rain forest and never find two trees of the same kind. Much of this diversity is due to the special layering of plant life, the millions of species and insects and animals, the hot, and humid climate.
 Like Manu National Park, the Tambopata National reserve protects a diversity of landscapes and wildlife, including pristine oxbow lakes with herons, kingfishers, caimans and giant otters, spectacular waterfalls with swimming holes, amazing clay licks ("collpas") visited by hundreds of macaws, monkeys and tapirs, swamps filled with palm trees in which colonies of birds nest, and rivers with sandy, white beaches for camping. All these wonders attract tourists, scientists and wildlife photographers. (animals of wasai)
The Tambopata - Candamo region holds several world records in flora and fauna species numbers for the 5,500 hectare region: 545 bird species, 1122 butterfly species, 151 dragonfly species, and 29 species of tiger beetles. birds of Wasai
 In 1996, part of the area near Bolivia was declared Bahuaja-Sonene National Park. This new addition will result in the largest bi-national park, since Bolivia's Madidi National Park is right across the border. The Tambopata - Candamo Reserved Zone can be visited all year-round.
El Chuncho Clay lick (Collpa) "Collpa" is a quechua name for places where many species of animals congregate to eat mineral rich soil. Scientists believe that this behavior complements the diet of these animals. However, others believe that the ingestion of soil reduces the toxic effects of some wild fruits and seeds.
 The most spectacular "collpas" are the Macaw Clay Licks that have made the Tambopata - Candamo Reserved Zone famous. Hundreds of individuals of several species of macaws and parrots gather in this place. "Collpas" are located on open, vegetation-free cliffs that are continuously shaped by dynamic rivers. Some of the common species spotted in these places are the blue-and-gold, scarlet, red-and-green macaws, and blue-headed parrots. Monkeys, tapirs, deer and capybaras also visit collpas, but they are more frequently observed at clay licks along creeks and stream borders inside the forest.
El Chuncho Clay Lick is a low cliff located along a tributary of the Tambopata, 5 hours upstream from Puerto Maldonado (40 minutes from WASAI Lodge). You should camp a day in advance in order to make an early morning visit to the observation point.
Heath Pampas: They are located near the border with Bolivia and contain large grassland areas of over 100,000 has. There are no forest, only shrubs. The fauna is very rich and two endemics species can be found here such as a type of fox known as mane wolf and a type of wetlands deer. This is the only area showing these unique features within the Peruvian rainforest and because of this, it was initially considered as a National Sanctuary and more recently was made part of the National Park Bahuaja Sonene |
