Capital: Puerto Maldonado City.
Altitude: 250 m.o.s.l.
Airport: International Airport Padre Aldamiz.
Distances: Not available.
The province of Madre de Dios is located in the southeast of Peru. The territory embraces high and low jungle zones.
Madre de Dios is mainly a province with abundant virgin jungles, subjugating landscapes and countless micro-climates. It is possibly the least eroded and exploited area of the Peruvian Amazons.
A land with wide, slow rivers and beautiful lagoons surrounded by the most exhuberant vegetation: Madre de Dios has the best soil of the Amazon jungles, being chestnut and rubber production its main income source. Also, this region shelters native tribes for whom the advance of civilization has not yet arrived.
The main settled groups of the region are the Huarayos, Mashcos, Piros, Amahuacas, Yamanahuas, Amaracaes and Machiguengas.

In Puerto Maldonado it is interesting to visit:

:: SANDOVAL LAKE
Located at 8 kilometers from Puerto Maldonado. It is located at the right banks of the river Madre de Dios. In the surroundings there are swamps where the aguaje tree grows. It is characterized for its varied fauna and exotic flora. Besides being rich on fish for the temperature of its waters (26ºC).

:: NATIONAL PARK BAHUAJA-SONENE
Located at 95 kilometers from Puerto Maldonado. It has a surface extension of 1.091.416 hectares.

:: TAMBOPATA CANDAMO NATIONAL RESERVE
With a surface extension of 1.478.942 hectares, it is located at 37 kilometers from Puerto Maldonado between the provinces of Cusco and Madre de Dios.
It has a great diversity of habitats and forests with world records in zoological groups. There are 750 species of birds and over 1.100 species of butterflies.
In the area of Tambopata, Sandoval lake or Peque Peque stand out, and the canoeing circuit is considered one of the most exhiting and beautiful of Peru.

:: THE NATIONAL SANCTUARY OF PAMPAS OF HEATH
(102.109 hectares) has peculiar flora and fauna resoureces, like: wolf of crin and the swamp deer. The trip on motorized crafts takes from six to eight hours.

:: TRES CRUCES (THREE CROSSES)
It is a high view-point famous for its spectacular downs and the "rayo blanco", that shows the effect of three suns at the same time. This light-games occurs during the winter solstice (22 of June). The access is through Cusco.

:: MANU NATIONAL PARK
Located at 650 kilometers from Puerto Maldonado. It has a surface extension of 1.532.806 hectares. It was declared Biosphere Reservation in 1977. Access to the zone is difficult. It is advised to get there from Cusco in organized tourist visits.