The Arazas River is a new river that we opened last year near the town of Marcapata. This river starts in the mountains and falls drastically until reaching the jungle in a few kilometres. It is a class 5 river with a lot of slope and not to much eddies making it a new jewel of Peru being in my opinion its on the level of Abismo and Pachachaca.
How to get there
To get there from Cusco is very easy you have to go to Puerto Maldonado and do not deviate from the road at any time within four hours you will reach the town of Marcapata where you will be able to see the river. There are different put-ins because the river is done in two days. The first day you enter the Puente Amacho close to Marcapata village (altitude 1728 m), and you can go out in the next town to eat a little and continue in the afternoon. The second day you enter at the Io bridge. The take-out of the first day is in the Puente Io and the take-out of the second day is in the Cappiri bridge close to Quincemil (altitude 658 m). You can also leave before depending on the weather and the desire because the river runs close to the road.
Day one section
In this section have three mandatory portages, which are easy to walk on the left side. We spend approximately six-and-a-half hours on this section.
Day two section
The second day was a bit different, the river have more volume from its tributaries and it was more pushy than the first day. You just have two mandatory portages and a really good rapids – after six hours of a good kayak you will reach Puente Caipiri.
Water levels
the best times to go to the Arazas I think it is now in November, December that the rainy season starts but you do not want it to be too big.
Where to sleep
It is very easy to find hospedajes (lodgings) as the river runs along the road passing different villages with accommodation with a value of 10 to 15 soles. Another option is to go to Quincemil that is a bigger town in the middle of the jungle half an hour of the take out.
