Puerto Maldonado Wild Life in the jungle

A remote settlement even for Peru, Puerto Maldonado is a frontier colonist town with strong links to the Cusco region and a great fervour for bubbly jungle chicha music. With an economy based on gold - panning and Brazil - nut gathering from the rivers and forests of Madre de Dios, it has grown enormously over the last twenty
years from a small, laid - back outpost of civilization to a busy market town. The lure, inevitably, is gold. Every rainy season the swollen rivers deposit a heavy layer of gold dust along their banks and those who have been quick enoguh tho stake claims on the best stretches have made substantial fortunes. In town, the main street, Leon de Velarde, immmediately establishes the town's stage - set feel, lined with bars, hardware shops, and a pool - room. At one end is the Plaza de Armas, with an attractive, if bizarre, Chinese pagoda - style clock tower at its centre, and along another side a modern Municipalidad where, not much more than several years ago. If you're considering a river trip, or just feel like crossing to the other side for a walk, follow Jiron Billingshurt, or take the steep steps down the Plaza de Armas to the main port, situated on the Rio Madre de Dios one of the town's most active corners.