Tingo María National Park

Tingo María sits where the Andes drop into the Amazon basin, and the national park protects the wooded limestone ridge above the town. The ridge is known as la Bella Durmiente, the sleeping beauty, because from the right angle it reads as a reclining human figure. Inside it is the Cueva de las Lechuzas, a large cavern whose name means owl cave although the birds that fill it are oilbirds, nocturnal fruit-eaters that navigate the dark by echolocation and make a noise like machinery. Parakeets and bats share the space. Outside, short trails run to waterfalls and pools in humid transitional forest.

History

In 1940, two years after the town of Tingo María was founded, some of the forest was spared from development, and in 1950 the Cueva de las Lechuzas National Reserve was created here. The national park followed on 14 May 1965, taking in the Bella Durmiente massif, the cave and the forests around them, and in 2000 its area was fixed at 4777,8 hectares (Wikipedia, Tingo María National Park).

What you'll find

• Cueva de las Lechuzas - a large cave loud with oilbirds, parakeets and bats.
• La Bella Durmiente - the limestone ridge whose profile reads as a reclining figure.
• Forest waterfalls and pools - short trails to swimmable water in the humid lower forest.
• The transition forest - the belt where Andean and Amazon vegetation meet on the slope.

When to go

May to September is drier and the trails hold up better, though rain arrives in any month in this belt. Visit the cave in the morning when the birds are settled inside, and leave the flash off, since it disturbs them badly. The town is hot and humid all year, and afternoon storms are routine from November onwards.

Practical notes

The cave floor is guano-covered, wet and slippery, and the smell is strong enough that some people leave within minutes. Lighting is deliberately poor. The park is small and at weekends feels more like a municipal recreation area than wilderness, with the pools full of local families. Mosquitoes are persistent and the humidity is relentless.

Nearby

The Huallaga river runs past the town, and the road north continues towards Pucallpa and Tarapoto.

Key facts