From Cusco we travel through traditional Quechua communities and through the spectacular eastern ranges of the Andes before beginning a breath taking descent from 3500 meters to 1600 meters above sea-level to our comfortable lodge in the orchid laden Cloud Forest. This is an excellent location to watch the strange and beautiful Cocks-of-the-Rock as they display at dawn - a wonderful sight as up to 25 bright red-orange males dance and sing attempting to attract the favours of the duller, burgundy coloured females. We then continue by road and boat to a lodge in the Andean foothills where we spend the night.
Our journey continues by river, past the last folds of the Andes into lowland rainforest. We visit the native community of Diamante, home to the Piro culture, before arriving at our rainforest lodge.
The following morning we travel up the Manu River and will spend the next three days in a tented camp as we explore the Manu Biosphere Reserve. Jaguar are occasionally seen, and there are two oxbow lakes with families of Giant Otters. Thirteen species of monkeys, including the Woolly Monkey, can be found in the surrounding forest, and there are usually good sighting of peccaries (a species of wild boar).
We continue by river, back down the the Manu River to the Madre de Dios River which we follow south eastwards to Manu Wildilfe Centre where we spend the next three nights.
Daily activities are determined by your bilingual naturalist guide and include a visit to a macaw clay lick where hundreds of Parrots and their larger relatives, the Macaws congregate, exploration of an ox-bow lake in search of a family of Giant Otters, and trail hikes in search of some of the twelve species of monkeys and other fauna which inhabit the surrounding rainforest. There will also be the opportunity to explore the rainforest canopy from one of two canopy towers, and visit the world's largest known tapir clay lick.
Our journey ends with an early morning boat transfer to Boca Manu and a flight back to Cusco.