This is an exceptional Amazon rainforest tour. It explores Manu Biosphere Reserve in Peru, which is one of the best rainforest reserves in South America. This tour brings you closer to the rainforest and cloudforest of this important world heritage site.
Day 1: Leaving Cusco after breakfast we travel through traditional Quechua communities and through the spectacular eastern ranges of the Andes to the village of Paucartambo, passing snow-peaks and small Andean farmsteads. We will have time here to look around this picturesque village and visit local craftsmen famous for their production of masks used in local festivals. We then ascend to the last pass overlooking the Amazon Basin and begin the breath taking descent from 3500 meters to 1600 meters above sea-level to our comfortable lodge in the orchid laden Cloud Forest. This is a spectacular journey passing cascading waterfalls and multicoloured birds along the way. In the late afternoon, we'll walk into the lodge to the sounds of Quetzals, Trogons and Gray-breasted Wood-Wrens.
Day 2: Pre- breakfast walk to a nearby spot in the Cloud Forest where the strange and beautiful Cocks-of-the-Rock display at dawn. This is 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. After visiting this lek we return to the Lodge for a leisurely breakfast and continue in our all terrain bus to the Madre de Dios River and our motorized dugouts and we begin our journey down the river, past the last folds of the Andes, to it's confluence with the Manu River. We’ll pass settlements and native communities during the trip. Just before we get to the village of Boca Manu we pass the native community of Diamante. Their culture is Piro and this is the largest settlement in the area. There is a small handicraft shop here, which offers hand painted fabrics, necklaces of seeds native to the region and a small selection of weavings and ceramics. A stop here must be pre-arranged through your guide. Passing the village of Boca Manu we arrive at tonight’s destination -a small, locally built and managed lodge. The lodge is across the river from the tiny airstrip of Boca Manu. The two species of Tamarin monkeys are here -the Saddleback and Emperor. The latter with their long, white moustaches are a rare and precious sight. There is a trail system we can explore if time permits.
Day 3: Well fed and rested we leave Boca Manu and the relatively clean waters of the Madre de Dios behind and enter the clay laden waters of the Manu River. With a brief stop at the park ranger station at Limonal to present our permits we travel for about five hours up the Manu. Beaches, especially in the dry season, are loaded with nesting birds and feeding Herons, Egrets, Orinoco Geese, Terns and Skimmers to name but a few. Some beaches will host sunning White and Black Caimans (South American relatives of the Alligators) and breeding Side-necked Turtles. Hundreds of Sand-coloured Nightjars roost during the day on logs and beaches and there is a chance of encountering a sunning Jaguar - the world’s third largest cat. In 2001 one in three of our trips saw Jaguar in Manu. We will see some species of primate on this river trip, possibly Red Howler Monkeys or the smaller Squirrel Monkeys. After having lunched by the river we arrive at our Tented Camp near the lake of Cocha Salvador. We'll have the afternoon to explore some of the trails through the pristine rainforest in the area. A visit to the lake of Cocha Otorongo is planned, where observation piers and a 20 meter observation tower in the rainforest canopy overlooking the lake are available for observing wildlife. We will also be on the lookout for a large family of Giant Otters that inhabit this lake. Before or after dinner an optional excursion into the forest at night is available with your guide in search of nocturnal creatures. The lakes are full of eye-shine of the large Black Caiman and if we are lucky we may encounter an Olingo Kinkajou or even an Ocelot on the trails. Certainly the night time noise of tree frogs and insects in the forest is an experience not to be forgotten. Night at Cocha Salvador Tented Camp. There are flush toilets and ambient temperature shower facilities and large walk-in tents on raised roofed wooden platforms with cots for sleeping and mosquito nets.
Day 4: After breakfast we'll spend the morning at the lake of Cocha Salvador. Some of the time will be spent canoeing the lake on a floating platform observing ox-bow lake animal life from the water. We may encounter an Agami Heron or a Sungrebe and Brown Capuchin Monkeys are usually feeding on fruits nearby. Specially constructed piers that jut out into the lake enable us to look for a family of Giant Otters that live here. These, the world’s largest freshwater carnivores, remain common only in Manu, having been hunted to extinction throughout most of their former range. Each animal consumes between 4 and 5 kilos of fish daily and often they can be seen eating large fish on logs at the lakeside. The rest of the day will be spent walking the trails in the area in search of some of the 13 species of Monkey found in the forest here. Your guide will explain some of the basics of rainforest ecosystems and point out some of the medicinal plants of the area used by local, indigenous groups. We may cross paths with a group of Peccaries - a species of wild boar found here. A late afternoon swim in the river near the camp as the sun sets.
Day 5: Today we'll walk very slowly from camp for 4-5 hours through the forest to Cocha Otorongo. We may encounter troops of Monkeys. This is a particularly good trail for Woolly and Black Spider Monkeys. We'll pay special attention to the plant life on this walk and take it slowly listening for the rustle of vegetation or the soft sound of fruits falling to the rainforest floor that may betray the presence of animals or large birds. We'll be met at the river by our cook with a picnic lunch and then board our motorized dugout for the 4 hour trip down river to Boca Manu for the night. The river trip may hold surprises and we'll be attentive for any wildlife on the beaches. Night at the lodge at Boca Manu.
Day 6: We continue downriver to Boca Manu accompanied by parrots and macaws. On arrival at the airstrip we board for the flight to Cusco. We fly over jungle, then snow peaks and glaciers to Cusco, where we transfer to our hotel.