| Officially created in 1990, the Tambopata - Candamo National 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 National Reserve has been the subject of numerous TV documentaries. We invite you to enjoy a tour in one of the world's largest macaw and mammal's clay-lick. You may also visit the pristine Sandoval Lake near to our lodge . During the trip a person could walk for a mile through the rainforest 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 insects and animals species and, the warm and humid climate of Tambopata .
As the Manu National Park , 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"). In our tour you will observe hundreds of macaws, monkeys and tapirs, swamps filled with palm trees in which bird colonies nest, and rivers with sandy white beaches for camping in Tambopata . 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 tiger beetles species. birds of Wasai
In 1996, part of the area near to 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.
At the Tambopata National Reserve is located El Chuncho Clay lick (Collpa). "Collpa" is a quechua name for places where many animal species congregate to eat mineral rich soil. Scientists believe that this behaviour complements these animals diet. 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. During the tour you will see hundreds of macaws and parrots species that 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 Tambopata forest.
El Chuncho Clay Lick is a low cliff located along a tributary of the Tambopata, is a 5 hour upstream trip from Puerto Maldonado (40 minutes from WASAI Lodge). You should camp a day in advance in order to make an early morning tour to visit the observation point .
Heath Pampas : They are located near the border with Bolivia and contain large grassland areas over 100,000 has. There is 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 that shows these unique features within the Tambopata 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.