Complete Manu National Reserve

Leaving Cusco after breakfast around 7:00 am 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 with its colonial stone bridge and handsome plaza. 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 multicolored 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. Night at our selected Cloud Forest Lodge

A pre- breakfast short drive to a nearby spot in the Cloud Forest, where the strange and beautiful Cock-of-the-Rock’s displays at dawn. This is a wonderful sight, as up to 25 bright red-orange males dance and sing, attempting to attract the favors of the duller, burgundy colored females. After visiting this lek we return to the Lodge for a leisurely breakfast and continue in our bus to the Madre de Dios River and our motorized dugouts and begin our journey down the river, through the last folds of the Andes past the isolated Pantiacolla range where the lost gold mining city of the Incas, Paititi reputedly lays hidden!. Arriving at El Dorado Lodge we´ll explore one of the trails at this charming location.. Night El Dorado Lodge

If there is activity, we may visit a clay lick where many parakeet and parrot species eat clay in the mornings. Also the smaller macaws such as the Chestnut-fronted and the scarce Blue-headed Macaws can be found there. Heading down the Madre de Dios River after breakfast, 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 of Amerindians in the area. We turn up the Manu River leaving the relatively clean waters of the Madre de Dios behind; we enter the clay-laden waters of the Manu River. We’ll check in at the park ranger station at Limonal to present our permits and may visit an overgrown oxbow lake where many Parrots and Macaws come in to roost. We are now deep in the pristine Manu National Park and Rainforest. We head upriver – as deep into the park as allowed, to Cocha Salvador. 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-colored 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 2016 one in three of our trips saw Jaguar in Manu. We will see some species of primate on this river trip, possibly Colombian Red Howler Monkeys or the smaller Black-headed Squirrel Monkeys. Night at our selected tented camp.

A full day at Cocha Salvador. Some of the time will be spent canoeing the lake on floating catamarans observing ox-bow lake animal life from the water. We may encounter an Agami Heron or a Sungrebe and Shock-headed & Large-headed 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 and few other places on earth, 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. This morning we have time to explore the trails in the area and 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. Night at our selected tented camp.

We can explore the trail system at the lodge in the morning before heading downriver river to Manu Wildlife Centre Lodge. Your leader will point out plants and trees used by indigenous communities for day to living and more importantly medicinal cures. We should arrive in time for lunch and a shower (hot water). The afternoon is set aside to relax or, if you want, to explore a trail through the untouched forest to a canopy platform and an observation tower. The canopy platform is accessible via a spiral staircase so everyone can get to enjoy the rainforest canopy. Those who wish can participate in a night walk with your guide in search of nocturnal animals and visit the Tapir Lick. Tapirs, the largest South American land mammals are frequent visitors with up to 12 animals visiting in one night. We watch them from the comfort of mosquito nets and mattresses from our specially constructed blind. Other nocturnal creatures are always possible. The adventurous, on consulting with your leader may pass the night here and walk back to the lodge at dawn for breakfast. Night at the Manu Wildlife Center.

Early in the morning we’ll make an early start for the Blanquillo Macaw Clay Lick. This is truly one of the world’s great wildlife spectacles as hundreds of Parrots and their larger relatives, the Macaws, congregate at this traditional locality to eat the mineral rich clay that is essential to their digestion. The Blanquillo Macaw Clay Lick is a section of the banks in the Madre de Dios River 6 meters high and 250 meters long. Hundreds of Orange-cheeked, Blue-headed parrot, Mealy and Yellow crowned Parrots other species parakeets attend. A little later in the morning, Red and Green and Scarlet Macaws arrive. Not only birds use this clay wall as a source of needed antacids. Mammals such as Tapirs, Red Brocket Deer Colombian Howler Monkey can be found. Eating clay is mainly to neutralize their pH, which has been acidified as a consequence of eating green fruits and also to absorb various nutrients of clay, which are not found in their daily diet. The observation platform or blind is a platform-observatory 8 meters high and 50 meters long This blind/hide is very well located only 50 meters from the clay lick wall, which allows extraordinary photos and due to its positioning, it’s possible to take very sharp pictures when the early morning sun illuminates the lick. The blind counts on comfortable swivel chairs and a long table used for equipment support. A hearty breakfast is served in the comfort of this location. To enter, you have to arrive early in the morning (5:20 am) and walk for about half an hour (at a normal pace) through a trail that crosses secondary forest. The noise alone is incredible and the sight of these brightly colored birds at the lick is a sight not to be forgotten. Here too are groups of Black Spider and Capuchin Monkeys. We head back to the lodge for lunch and a siesta in the hammock area of the roomy cool lounge area of the lodge. In the afternoon we can explore the forest, lakes and trails around the lodge. We’ll explore trails where groups of Manakins, perhaps the most enigmatic of neo-tropical birds, perform their strange mating dances. We may want, to explore a trail through the untouched forest to a lookout point on a cliff over the river to watch roosting flights of Parrots and Macaws as the sun sets or along quite trails looking for primates such as Emperor and Wedell’s Saddleback Tamarin’s, and we have seen the rare Goeldi’s Monkey and the strange Pale-winged Trumpeter e have seen repeatedly in this area. We’ll be on the lookout for Gray’s Bald-faced Saki Monkey, an uncommon and rarely seen monkey of the terra firma forest that is occasionally seen here. Night at the Manu Wildlife Center

Early morning start as flocks of birds pass over the boat, and we may see a Capybara, the world’s largest rodent. Our destination Boca Colorado, a frontier gold rush town, where we’ll take local transport for an hour to the Inambari river and by paved road to Puerto Maldonado in order to catch the afternoon Airbus flight to Lima or Cusco