Places to stay in Puerto Maldonado

Alan Lee With its growing population and a migrant workforce from Cusco and a migrant consultant force from Lima, there are a number of accommodation options now to be found in the growing town of Puerto Maldonado. These range from some of the simpler versions catering for woodcutters and agricultural labourers on a tight budget just needing to spend the night in town to sell their wares, to those with hot-water and air-conditioned rooms. A popular gripe with the folk in town is that although maybe 40000 tourists pass through the city every day, very few stay and appreciate their little boom city of which they feel very proud. Likewise, project volunteers and researchers do have the option to stay at the Rainforest Expedition’s office at La Joya. But for the purposes of spending any time in town to enjoy a few local meals and the night life, it is worth spending the money on a hotel in town as the taxi costs and time taken getting to and from the office almost cover the cost of one of Puerto Maldonado’s cheaper hotels. Hostal Imperio, two blocks from the market, charges only S20 for a single room with shared bathroom. There are even cheaper options if you don’t mind sharing your room with more than a handful of cockroaches – Hospedaje Orient on the plaza, where you can also enjoy the sounds of popular disco Teokas without actually having to leave the comfort of your room. For comfort, private bathroom, television and fan, Hospedaje Luciana has proved to be a popular choice amongst volunteers of the Macaw Project. The owners are very friendly and the accommodation clean and comfortable. Rooms can be S30 with a discount, and are S50 for a double. Only one block from the plaza, the location is very convenient. Similar prices are charged by Hotel Amarumayo, a little less than a kilometre from the centre of town on Ernesto Rivera. This hotel has an open garden and used to be one of the only hotels with a swimming pool, but most of the more comfortable hotels now have pools. They are after all very popular when the tropical sun really gets to work. Should the heat become too much there are 3 hotels in town that offer air-conditioned rooms. Hotel Don Carlos is close to Puerto Tambopata and although I have visited the pool (S5 for a day entrance), I have never stayed there. It is a bit of an apartment block and as it is out of the way has never attracted my attention for a stay. However, they do have a pet Yellow-crowned parrot for anyone wanting to do some poser shots. I have generally preferred to stay at Hotel Cabana Quinta, on Calle Cusco and about 3 blocks from the plaza. This 3 star hotel has a choice of air-conditioned rooms and non-airconditioned rooms. Prices start at 80 soles, with 100 soles for a double, non-aircon room. The more expensive rooms have air-conditioning and hot showers, which can be a blessing during a friaje. The stay is well worth the price at it includes their famous buffet breakfast, a small pool, airport transfer (or transfer to Rainforest Expedition’s offices in La Joya), and wireless internet access in the lounge and dining areas. There are 3 computers for public use in the lounge. The hotel has beautiful gardens and rooms are discretely arranged so a degree of privacy is assured. However, on our last extended stay my wife and I decided to cut short our stay there when $40 went missing from our room and management made little effort to follow up the issue – our room was being cleaned by the same person the day after we reported the event! As a result we decided to investigate options at Hotel Wasai. Hotel Wasai caters mostly for the tourists engaged in their tours, and is fairly quiet during the off season – we often had the complex to ourselves. With rooms costing $40 for a single and $48 for a double (without aircon) and with a more modest breakfast and no internet, one can see why Cabana Quinta is the hotel of choice for businessmen and most travellers to Puerto Maldonado. However, as a tourist to Puerto Maldonado, Wasai has to be considered. The bungalows are individually set out on the banks of the Madre-de-Dios river with amazing views of the confluence of the Tambopata River, especially at sunrise. The gardens are well planted with Heliconias and Costus, which attract hummingbirds. The gardens line a cascading water feature that runs the beneath the bungalows to the swimming pool. The area is naturally cool due to the Pashaco trees that form a green umbrella from the sun. And most importantly, the hotel has a resident population of at least 3 adult sloths (Bradypus variegatus), one of which had a baby at the time of our visit. Although very difficult to spot as they spend most of their time sleeping high in the denser parts of the trees, on one occasion we found one dangling from the hand rail eating hibiscus leaves. On another occasion while I was working on my laptop in my room, I heard a crack, and watched a sloth fall from the palm tree next to our window on a large palm leaf. Despite the fall of at least 10m, he was only dazed, and managed to climb back up. Breakfast is served on a platform with a view of the river and with a small bird table where the bananas attract a number of tanagers. The following is a bird list compiled from a week long stay at Hotel Wasai in Puerto Maldonado, from 28 December 07 to 5 January 08. Red-bellied macaw Chestnut-fronted macaw Cobalt-winged parakeet Dusky-headed parakeet Tropical screech-owl Pale-vented pigeon Rock pigeon Blue-tailed emerald Gray-breasted sabrewing Sapphire-spangled emerald Bluish-fronted jacamar Barred antshrike Black-billed thrush House wren Buff-breasted wren Violaceous jay Smooth-billed ani Grayish saltator Palm tanager Blue-grey tanager Silver-beaked tanager Red-capped cardinal Straight-billed woodcreeper Tropical kingbird Eastern kingbird Short-crested flycatcher Boat-billed kiskadee Saffron finch Chestnut-bellied seedeater Blue-black grassquit Yellow-browed sparrow Grey-breasted martin Fork-tailed palmswift Short-tailed swift