Peru Guide
The Jungle
Pampa Hermosa
Pampa Hermosa is a stunningly beautiful lodge and similarly breathtaking reserved forest area of Pampa Hermosa. Covering some 11,000 hectares, this reserve is blessed with a fabulous jungle-style lodge (T01/225-1776, Esignori@terra.com.pe, Wwww.pampahermosalodge.com; From $50), offering an exceptionally comfortable stay in verdant virgin cloudforest; advanced bookings only. Accessible by 4x4 vehicles (the lodge managers can arrange transport), it takes around two hours to reach from San Ramon, crossing the Puente Victoria bridge and following first the Oxabamba river, then climbing up beside the bubbling Ulcumayo gorge. Local combi-colectivos only go to Pampa Hermosa (also known as Nueva Italia) on Thursday and Saturday mornings, leaving the Parque de los Enamorados in San Ramon around 5am (4–5hr).
Within twenty minutes' walk of the lodge, Peru's national bird – the vermillion cock-of-the rock (Rupicola Peruvian, or gallito de la roca, as its known in Peru) can be seen every afternoon between 4.30pm and dusk. Several impressive waterfalls dissect the reserve's unusually rich vegetation, including orchids, royal palms, lianas and giant ferns, and the reserve also boasts what is considered to be the oldest cedar tree in South America, fondly known as el abuelo (the grandfather); totally breathtaking, it's so wide at its base that it takes sixteen people to circle its circumference hand in hand. Various treks using local hill paths can also be planned to start or finish at Pampa Hermosa, which is only a few hours' walk from the end of forest cover and the start of mountain scenery; the Andean community of Ninabamba is less than six hours' trek. Slightly nearer, a trek to the tiny settlement of Alto Peru offers possible glimpses of spectacled bears and access to pre-Columbian remains dating back at least 5000 years.