Bahuaja Sonene National Park

Bahuaja-Sonene covers 1,091,416 hectares of Madre de Dios and Puno, from river terraces to mountains, between Madidi National Park across the Bolivian border to the east and Tambopata National Reserve to the north. Its eastern sector, protected since 1983 as the Pampas del Heath sanctuary, holds the only humid tropical savanna in Peru, about 8,000 hectares of floodplain grassland where aguaje palms stand in islands of vegetation; marsh deer and maned wolf live here and nowhere else in the country, and from December to March the rains turn the pampas into a huge swamp. More than 600 bird species have been recorded, among them seven macaws and the harpy eagle, with more than 180 mammals, including giant otter, giant armadillo, bush dogs and jaguar, and black caiman up to 6 metres long. The name joins the Ese'eja words for the Tambopata and the Heath, rivers whose basins the Ese'eja have lived in for three to four thousand years.

Background

Bahuaja-Sonene National Park lies in the Peruvian regions of Puno and Madre de Dios, across river terraces, hills and mountains between 500 and 2450 m, and its main rivers are the Heath, the Tambopata and the Candamo. It borders Madidi National Park in Bolivia to the east and Tambopata National Reserve to the north. Its trees include the Brazil nut, rubber, Spanish cedar, mahogany and the aguaje palm, and among its birds are the blue-and-yellow and scarlet macaws, the harpy eagle, the horned curassow and the jabiru, with the giant otter, tapir, marsh deer, jaguar, maned wolf, puma and bush dog among its mammals.

Source: Wikipedia, "Bahuaja-Sonene National Park"

Highlights

• The Pampas del Heath - the only humid tropical savanna in Peru.
• The savanna species - marsh deer and maned wolf, found nowhere else in Peru.
• The clay lick on the Heath - macaws and parrots, 10 km from the San Antonio post.
• The giant otter lake - a family of six otters, 6 km from the San Antonio post.

When to go

May to October. From December to March the pampas flood, cold southern winds called friajes can bring low temperatures in June and July, and rafting on the Tambopata runs from June to September.

Good to know

The Tambopata rafting route from Curva Alegre to Puerto Maldonado is 142 km long and takes about nine days, camping on the river beaches. It is hot, averaging about 30 °C and reaching 38 °C, with some 2,400 mm of rain a year.

Nearby

Tambopata National Reserve adjoins it to the north and Madidi National Park in Bolivia to the east; Puerto Maldonado is the starting point for the Heath.

Key facts