Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [390]
ORIENTATION
The town is fairly compact. The small airport is 7km north of the town center, while buses arrive and depart from individual offices on Tambopata, some twelve blocks north of the center. Small river ports on both the Ríos Tambopata and Madre de Dios close to the town center serve the closer jungle lodges; more distant lodges are served by a jetty at Infierno, a 45-minute bus ride away.
Information
IMMIGRATION
The border town of Iñapari (Click here) has regular border-crossing facilities to enter Brazil.
Oficina de migraciónes (immigration office; 57-1069; Av 28 de Julio 467; 8am-1pm Mon-Fri) To leave Peru via Puerto Heath for Bolivia (Click here), get your passport stamped here. Travelers can also extend their visas or tourist cards here.
INTERNET ACCESS
Internet is slower here than in other Peruvian cities, and costs about S2 per hour.
UnAMad (Av 2 de Mayo 287) Best of several places downtown.
ZonaVirtual.com (Velarde) Near Plaza de Armas.
LAUNDRY
Lavandería (Velarde 898) Wash your repulsive jungle rags here.
MEDICAL SERVICES
Hospital Santa Rosa (57-1019, 57-1046; Cajamarca 171) Provides basic services.
Social Seguro Hospital (57-1711) A newer option at Km 3 on the Cuzco road.
MONEY
Brazilian reais and Bolivian bolivianos used to be hard to exchange here. There is now a growing presence of Brazilian visitors since the opening of new bridge link at Iñapari, and Brazilian reais are becoming more commonplace.
Banco de la Nación (Plaza de Armas) Limited facilities; has a Multired ATM that does not take all cards.
BCP (formerly Banco de Crédito; Carrión 201) On Plaza de Armas; changes US cash or traveler’s checks and has a Visa ATM.
Casa de Cambio (Puno at Prada) Standard rates for US dollars.
POST
Post office (Velarde) Southwest of the Plaza de Armas.
TOURIST INFORMATION
Sernanp (57-3278; rn_tambopata@sernanp.gob.pe; Av 28 de Julio, cuadra 8) The national-park office gives information and collects entrance fees (if you’re going with a tour, guides sort this out); standard entrance to the Tambopata reserve zone is S30 but increases to S65 for visiting areas away from the riverside lodges.
Tourist Booth (airport) Run by the Ministerio de Industria y Turismo; provides limited information on tours and jungle lodges.
Sights & Activities
Although the strangely cosmic, blue Obelisco (Fitzcarrald & Madre de Dios; admission S2; 10am-4pm) was designed as a modern mirador (lookout tower), its 30m height unfortunately does not rise high enough above the city for viewers to glimpse the rivers. The view is still fantastic: a distant glimmer of jungle and plenty of corrugated-metal roofs can be admired! Photos displayed on the way up document such historic moments as when the first mototaxi arrived in town. The tower is often closed during rainstorms: water from the roof drains down the stairwells, making them impassable.
The Madre de Dios ferry (per person S1; dawn-dusk), at Puerto Capetania close to the Plaza de Armas, is a cheap way of seeing a little of this major Peruvian jungle river, which is about 500m wide at this point. The river traffic is colorfully ramshackle: peki-pekis (canoes powered by two-stroke motorcycle engines with outlandishly long propeller shafts) leave from the dock regularly, tracking at an almost impossible angle of 45 degrees to counter the strong river current. Brazil-bound drivers can ferry their vehicles across on wooden or metal catamarans to a rather desultory-looking ferry ‘terminal’ on the opposite side. Commit the sight to memory – when the Interoceanic Hwy comes to town, a huge bridge will span the river here, making all this chaos a thing of the past.
About an hour southeast of Puerto Maldonado is Infierno (Hell!), home and hub of activity for the Ese’eja tribespeople. It’s a lively, spread-out settlement, which is establishing a reputation for its ayahuasca rituals, conducted by local shamans. Ayahuasca is the derivative of a hallucinogenic jungle vine, used to attain a purgative trancelike state by witch