Yanachaga Chemillén National Park

Yanachaga Chemillén runs along the ridge above Oxapampa, covering around 122,000 hectares from lowland forest at seven hundred metres to páramo above three and a half thousand, which is why the species list is so long: several hundred bird species, spectacled bear, woolly monkey, jaguar in the lower sectors, and one of the richest orchid floras in Peru. Unlike most Peruvian parks it has several sectors reachable by road with marked trails, control posts and basic facilities - San Alberto above Oxapampa for cloud forest and birds, Huampal lower down on the Huancabamba river, Paujil in the lowlands. It forms the core of the Oxapampa-Asháninka-Yánesha biosphere reserve alongside Yánesha and Asháninka communal reserves and the odd Austro-German settler towns of Oxapampa and Pozuzo. Trails are steep and permanently wet, and registration at a control post is required before entering.

What you actually see

• The altitude range - seven hundred to over three thousand metres in one park.
• The orchids - among the richest orchid floras recorded in Peru.
• The sectors - San Alberto, Huampal and Paujil, each reachable by road.
• The biosphere reserve - the park at the centre of a larger protected complex.

When to go

May to September, though cloud forest is wet all year. Register at a control post before entering. A day for one sector, several days to see more than one.

Honest expectations

Steep, muddy trails and near-constant rain in the upper sectors. Large mammals are present but very rarely seen. Facilities are basic and sectors are far apart on poor roads. Guides are needed for anything beyond the marked paths.

Nearby

Oxapampa is the base; Pozuzo and the Yánesha reserve are north.