Calipuy Reserve

Calipuy is two protected areas side by side in the La Libertad highlands - a national reserve and a national sanctuary - and each protects something specific. The reserve holds the largest population of wild guanaco in Peru, the northernmost of the species, isolated far from the main Patagonian range and numbering in the hundreds. The sanctuary protects a stand of Puya raimondii, the largest bromeliad in the world, which grows for several decades as a spiny rosette and then throws up a flower spike up to ten metres tall carrying thousands of flowers, sets seed, and dies - a single reproductive event at the end of a long life. The Calipuy stand is one of the largest known. Both areas are high, dry and remote, reached by rough tracks with four-wheel drive and local guidance, and neither has visitor facilities. Guanaco are wary and seen at distance.

What you actually see

• The guanaco - the largest and northernmost wild population in Peru.
• The Puya raimondii - the world's largest bromeliad, flowering once at the end of decades.
• The high dry country - páramo and rocky slope with almost no settlement.
• The two areas - the reserve for the guanaco, the sanctuary for the puya.

When to go

May to October, the dry season - tracks are difficult in the rains. Puya flowering is unpredictable and does not happen every year in any given stand. Two days minimum.

Honest expectations

Rough four-wheel drive access with local guidance needed; no visitor facilities. Guanaco are wary and seen at distance. Puya in flower is a matter of luck. High altitude and cold at night.

Nearby

Santiago de Chuco is the base town; Trujillo and the coast are west.