2 Best Sights in The Central Highlands, Peru

Just south of Tingo María, in the midst of the Huallaga Valley, you'll find this small but verdant bio-reserve, which in recent years has seen a growing influx of eco-travelers from all over the world. The 47-square-km (18-square-mile) park is home to numerous highland and rainforest species, including parrots, primates, and bats, but its star residents are the guácharos (oilbirds), who inhabit a huge system of limestone caverns known as La Cueva de las Lechuzas (Owl Cave). The rare, nocturnal guácharo is a black-and-brown, owl-like bird with a hooked beak and a 1-meter (3-foot) wingspan. The best time to see them is at dusk when they take flight toward the cave's mouth. The cavern also has abundant stalactites and stalagmites for geology aficionados, as well as a network of platforms to facilitate viewing.

In addition to its subterranean charms, the reserve boasts numerous waterfalls, swimming holes, and hiking trails. Locals swear by the therapeutic qualities of the Jacintillo sulfur springs, and there are campgrounds where visitors can pitch tents or rent one of the park's bungalows.

This reserve is at the center of the Peruvian puna, a high-altitude swath of the Andes which, at 3,900 to 4,500 meters (12,792 to 14,760 feet), is one of the highest regions in the world inhabited by humans. Its boundaries begin about 10 km (6 miles) north of the town of Junín along the shores of the lake of the same name, which, at 14 km (9 miles) wide and 30 km (19 miles) long, is Peru's second largest, after Lake Titicaca. Most visitors arrive via day tours from Tarma, but anyone traveling overland from Huánuco via Cerro de Pasco will pass through the parkland.

Flat, rolling fields cut by clear, shallow streams characterize this cold, wet region between the highest Andes peaks and the eastern rainforest. Only heavy grasses, hearty alpine flowers, and tough, tangled berry bushes survive in this harsh climate, although farmers have cultivated the warmer, lower valleys, turning them into an agricultural oasis of orchards and plantations. The mountains are threaded with cave networks long used as natural shelters by humans, who hunted the llamas, alpacas, and vicuñas that graze on the plains. The dry season is June through September, with the rains pouring in between December and March.

The reserve is also the site of the Santuario Histórico Chacamarca (Chacamarca Historical Sanctuary), an important battleground where republican forces under Simón Bolívar triumphed over the Spanish in August 1824. The battle consisted entirely of hand-to-hand combat, without firearms, and the routing of the Spanish cavalry by patriot forces virtually assured Peru's independence, which came in December of the same year at Ayacucho. A monument marks the victory spot. The sanctuary is within walking distance of Junín, and several trails lead around the lake and across the pampas.

Bird fans stop here to spot Andean geese, flamingos, and other wildlife on day trips from Tarma.