The Jungle Highway Route

0: Specifications of the route 3. Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil @-9.973999,-67.807568

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1: Línea 2

2: Línea 4

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3: Línea 7

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4: Línea 11

5: Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios, Peru

6: Iberia, Madre de Dios

One of the effects of the Highway is the growing network of side roads that facilitate illegal logging.

7: Heading to Brazil

Leaving Puerto Maldonado on the Interoceanic Highway takes us across the Continental Bridge.

8: Heading towards the Pacific Coast

The view facing West, towards Lima and the Pacific.

9: From Puerto Maldonado to Iberia

Brazil nut trees tower above all other vegetation.

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Harvesting the valuable Brazil nuts offers a sustainable and profitable use of the jungle.

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Slash and burn techniques destroy the jungle alongside the Highway.

Source: flickr.com via Connectas on Pinterest

10: Heading towards the Pacific Coast

The Interoceanic Highway disappears into the jungle.

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A sudden rainstorm surprises us.

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11: The "blue towns"

The ¨blue towns¨ serve as temporary homes for thousands of gold miners.

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When the gold runs out, the miners move on and the “blue towns” are abandoned as quickly as they were built.

Source: flickr.com via Connectas on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Connectas on Pinterest

 

Source: flickr.com via Connectas on Pinterest

12: Cobija, Bolivia

Poor roads mean the fuel needs to be trucked in through Peru, so the Bolivian Army has been put in charge of the distribution of gasoline.

13: Marca de posición 9

The new shortcut from Cobija to the Interoceanic Highway is caked in red dust.

14: Marca de posición 10

The road is being built directly through some of the thickest jungle.

A three-toed sloth tries to cross the road and is surprised by the unusual invaders.

15: Rio Branco, Brazil

Parts of the final destination, Rio Branco, showcase the new modern Brazil.

16: Marca de posición 12

Solitary Brazil Nut trees stand watch over the human devastation.

17: Iñapari, Peru

Over one hundred Haitians trying to enter Brazil are stuck in Inapari.

18: Brazilian Border

From the Brazilian border it is only 2 days' drive to Puerto de Illo on the Pacific coast.

19: Mechanized agriculture

As you enter Brazil you begin to see evidence of highly mechanized agriculture.

20: Heading to Soberania

The strict controls of the police and the army are not enough to contain narco-trafficking from Peru through Bolivia to Brazil.

21: Marca de posición 17

22: On the brazilian side