Machu Picchu - Lake
Titicaca
(11
days/10 nights)
Machu Picchu - Lake
Titicaca
(12 days/11 nights)
Machu Picchu - Lake
Titicaca
(14 days/13 nights)
Colca Canyon - Machu
Picchu
Lake Titicaca
(16 days/15 nights)
Archaeological & Ecological
Treasures
Galapagos - Machu Picchu
Lake Titicaca (or Amazon)
(18 days/17
nights)
Colca Canyon - Amazon
Machu Picchu - Lake Titicaca
(22 days/21 nights)
Machu Picchu
(10
days/9 nights)
Machu Picchu
(13 days/12 nights)
Machu Picchu - Galapagos
(15 days/14 nights)
Galapagos - Machu Picchu
(18 days/17 nights)
Manu National Park
(8 days/7 nights)
Enchanted Isles of the Galapagos
Galapagos
(11
days/10 nights)
Galapagos & the Kingdom of Quito
Galapagos - Andes
(16 days/15 nights)
Galapagos - Amazon
(16 days/15 nights)
Historic Haciendas of the Andes
Cotopaxi - Antisana
- Otavalo
(7 days/6 nights)
© 2011 Inka's Empire Corporation.
All rights reserved.
With Manu Wildlife Tented Camp
Amazon Rainforest, Peru
Red-and-Green Macaws
at the clay lick, Manu National Park.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
One of the world's most dazzling wildlife spectacles...
When the morning sun clears the Amazon tree line in southeastern Peru and strikes a gray-pink clay bank on the upper Tambopata River, one of the world's most dazzling wildlife spectacles is nearing its riotous peak. The steep bank has become a pulsing, 130 foot high palette of red, blue, yellow and green as more than a thousand parrots squabble over choice perches to grab a beakful of clay, a vital but mysterious part of their diet. More than a dozen parrot species will visit the clay lick throughout the day, but this midmorning crush belongs to the giants of the parrot world, the macaws.
-- Charles A. Munn, Macaws: Winged Rainbows, National Geographic, January, 1994
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, Manu Cloud Forest, Manu National Park.
Photo: Peru Verde.
A naturalist's tour-de-force...
-- Ellen Douglas, LuxuryLink.com, July 2004
Land Price (7 days/6 nights)
Private US$ 3,590 per person
Expeditions depart every day but Sunday. We also offer 4-day/3-night and 5-day/4-night tours, which omit the road portion of this itinerary through the cloud forest and forested Andean foothills, as well as 6-day/5-night and 8-day/7-night versions of this tour.
The land price includes escorted transfers, private excursions with a naturalist guide (a birder guide is available at additional cost), entrance fees, specified accommodations, all meals (see details), all land and water transportation, and travel insurance for guests through the age of 59 years (over that age, there is a supplementary fee). All prices are per person based on two people sharing a guest room. For a detailed description of our services, see Opulent Itineraries. Season: May through November. Please note that a yellow fever vaccination is recommended but not currently required.
Map
Detail Map
2 Nights
Intra-Tour Air Flights & Fares
Air fares are in addition to the land price.
Boca Manu - Cuzco charter flight in a Cessna Grand Caravan: US$ 220 per person
Lobster Claw Heliconia (Heliconia rostrata), Manu National Park.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Amazon Bio-Trip with Manu Wildlife Tented Camp
This is one of the most fascinating nature trips in the world. Our overland route crosses an extraordinary range of life zones from highlands to lowlands, taking us through an array of ecosystems found nowhere else on the planet in such close proximity. We see high-altitude farming valleys and traverse stark highland puna, plunge through layers of grassland, elfin forest, layers of lush ever-changing cloud forest and lowland tropical valleys where farmers cultivate coca and exotic fruits. All the way, we pass through the habitat of innumerable bird species. Then, our journey winds its way by river through lowland rainforest, taking us to a remote jungle village, a tented camp in the heart of Manu, the Upper Amazon basin's greatest national park, and finally to the comfort of the Amazon's finest wildlife lodge.
Only twenty percent of the entire Amazon has rich, floodplain soils that produce high yields of rainforest fruits that can support dense populations of monkeys, macaws and all other vertebrates and invertebrates. Of this twenty percent, only one percent is both protected by biological reserves and has regular jet or turboprop flights. Manu Wildlife Center is the finest lodge in that "one percent of twenty percent", which explains why Condé Nast Traveler Magazine found it to be "the most intense wildlife experience in Amazonia".
Manu National Park, Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, Manu Wildlife Center Private Reserve and Los Amigos Private Reserve comprise a single, continuous complex of protected areas in Manu province -- the best protected section of the one percent of the twenty percent. The oldest of these units, Manu National Park, boasts the coveted status of a World Heritage Site. The entire complex covers 2.5 million hectares (6.2 million acres), almost the size of Belgium or the U.S. state of Maryland. The region includes vast areas inhabitated only by either uncontacted tribes or a handful of intrepid scientists.
In this vast area, we find 1,000 of the globe's 10,000 bird species (200 more than all of the U.S. and Canada combined), 15,000 of the world's 250,000 flowering plant species and hundreds of Jaguars. To put all of this in conservation perspective, this protected area is twice as large as all of the Costa Rican reserves -- in fact, fully half the size of all of Costa Rica.
In Manu, we navigate the waters of an isolated oxbow lake, home to giant otters, caimans, monkeys and an endless variety of birds. Our trip ends downriver with the Amazon's finest wildlife viewing opportunities, at Manu Wildlife Center. This lodge offers the finest Tapir viewing in all the Amazon, as Tapirs are nightly visitors to the lodge's mud wallow. The mornings feature clay licks and fruiting trees teeming with parrots and macaws. A network of trails, two towers for forest-canopy viewing, and two adjacent pristine lakes round out the perfect rainforest experience. After a short canoe journey, we return to Cusco aboard a modern, radar-equipped, turboprop aircraft.
Please note that all rainforest itineraries may vary slightly so as to maximize wildlife sightings, depending on the reports of our researchers and experienced naturalist guides.
Frog, Manu National Park.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Highlights
Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge
Day 1: Cuzco - Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge. Set off for the Manu cloud forest, passing over two Andean chains of almost 13,100 feet in elevation and descending the eastern slope of the Andes. After passing pre-Inca ruins and one of Peru's most colorful pueblos, we plunge downward through swirling mist and clouds to emerge in a forest of dwarf, evergreen trees. Overnight in the Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge.
Day 2: Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge. Visit the display ground of the blazing-red Andean Cock-of-the-Rock. The rest of the day can be spent exploring the forest trails, observing high-elevation cloud-forest birds, Woolly Monkeys, Brown Capuchin Monkeys or even a Spectacled Bear. Overnight in the Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge.
Amazonia Lodge
Day 3: Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge - Amazonia Lodge. A second opportunity to witness the Andean Cocks-of-the-Rock before searching from the road for cloud-forest birds and Woolly Monkeys. After a three to four-hour ride, reach the Alto Madre de Dios River, switch over to a cargo canoe and continue downriver to the Amazonia Lodge, a famous birdwatching destination. Overnight in the Amazonia Lodge.
Manu Wildlife Center
Day 4: Amazonia Lodge - Manu Wildlife Center. Time for a short hike before leaving in our motor-canoe for the 8-hour river journey to the Manu Wildlife Center, with wildlife-viewing possibilities on the way. Afternoon exploring the diverse forest trails around the lodge, encountering some of the 11 species of monkeys. Short excursion to observe nocturnal life in the rainforest. Overnight in the Manu Wildlife Center.
Day 5: Manu Wildlife Center (Macaw Clay Lick & Tapir Clay Lick). Boat journey to the only large parrot and macaw clay lick in the Manu area. After lunch, continue to explore the forest trails and spend the late afternoon up a 34-meter canopy platform. Hike through the night forest to the Amazon's largest known Tapir clay lick. Overnight in the Manu Wildlife Center.
Day 6: Manu Wildlife Center (Excursion to Cocha Blanco). Visit the Blanco Oxbow Lake, with populations of a variety of aquatic life and water birds. After lunch, further explore the forest trails for more wildlife encounters. This evening, search by boat along the riverbank for caiman and other nocturnal life. Overnight in the Manu Wildlife Center.
Day 7: Manu Wildlife Center (Excursion to Cocha Camungo). Visit the Camungo Oxbow Lake. Look for the Giant Otters and other lakeside fauna, explore the forest trails and climb the 40-meter canopy platform. After lunch, visit the fruiting and flowering trees. Encounter more monkey species as well as numerous species of birds. Before or after supper, another chance to visit the Tapir clay lick. Overnight in the Manu Wildlife Center.
Day 8: Manu Wildlife Center - Boca Manu - Cuzco. Leave by motor-canoe for the two-hour return trip to the Boca Manu landing strip. Flight to Cuzco. Arrival, reception and transfer to your hotel.
Details
Manu Cloud Forest, on the eastern side of the Andes, Manu National Park.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge
Location: Peru Verde Cloud Forest Reserve, Manu Cloud Forest, Peru. Reserve size: 11,000 acres. Wildlife it protects: Andean Cocks-of-the-Rock, Common Woolly and Brown Capuchin Monkeys, Spectacled Bears, cloud-forest birds and orchids.
The Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge is located in the pristine Manu Cloud Forest on the verdant eastern slopes of the Andes. Opened in 1997, it is named after the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, Peru's large, bright-red national bird that puts on a colorful, noisy mating display adjacent to the lodge every morning. Spectacled Bears, Woolly Monkeys, Brown Capuchin Monkeys, quetzals and a host of other colorful birds inhabit the surrounding forest, and a bubbling mountain stream tumbles past the lodge.
Situated at an elevation of 5,000 feet (1,600 meters) in the cool, mosquito-free Kosñipata Valley, close to the wild Cusco-Shintuya road, the lodge protects and supports a 11,000-acre private cloud forest reserve. It consists of 10 bungalows and a separate complex with a large dining room. A local highland family staffs the lodge, and they also work as rangers, patrolling the private reserve.
Accommodation is in the double-occupancy bungalows, each of which has a spacious interior, private bathroom, screened windows with mosquito nets and its own balcony. Meals are served on the fully screened dining platform. The lodge cook prepares hearty dishes using fresh fruits, vegetables, grains and meat. Vegetarian and other special diets can be provided upon request.
The incredible 110-mile drive from Cuzco to the lodge passes through the finest transect of Andean habitats in South America. The drive typically lasts 8 hours, including stops in Andean towns and opportunities to walk and experience on foot the upper cloud forest habitat. Often we will take even more time to savor the unforgettable scenery, excellent birding and abundant cloud forest flora.
Madre de Dios River near Boca Manu, Manu National Park.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Manu Lodge
The Manu Lodge is constructed entirely of fine mahogany cut from logs left on the beaches of the Manu River by the annual January-March floods. The lodge is elevated on reinforced stilts and is divided into two communicating blocks -- A and B. Block A is in three levels -- a spacious lower level containing a bar, meeting area and a dining room-lounge for up to 44 people; a smaller second level containing two double rooms with a magnificent vista of the lake nearby; and a still-smaller third level that features an observation room. Block B contains ten double rooms spaced along a wide, screened porch. The entire lodge, including both blocks and porches, is screened and accessible from outside through screened double doors. The kitchen, showers and latrines are located away from the main structure in clean, comfortable buildings. The Manu Lodge is outfitted with as many amenities as the Peruvian Government allows.
Manu Wildlife Tented Camp, Manu National Park.
Photo: Peru Verde.
For the hardy explorer... Manu Wildlife Tented Camp
For birders and wilderness enthusiasts intent on experiencing the wildest habitat of the Manu jungle lowlands, we recommend boating far up the Manu River to stay at the new Manu Wildlife Tented Camp, near Lake Salvador. The largest and most beautiful of the 13 oxbow lakes of the Manu River, this lake is Manu's prime wildlife viewing location. The itinerary offers excellent opporuntities to observe flocks of beach-nesting birds and to search for a Jaguar lurking on the riverbank. Our Tented Camp may replace or be added to a stay at the Manu Wildlife Center.
The Camp is a simple but comfortable, low-impact lodge located inside the Manu National Park. Nestled almost invisibly in the forest, it features spacious, double-occupancy, room-size tents with hinged, lockable doors and solid wooden floors. Each tent measures 16.5 x 10 x 7 feet (5 x 3 x 2.2 meters), and is fully-screened. The floor is raised on wooden stilts to provide maximum ventilation and coolness as well as protection from flooding and insects. A palm-thatch roof completes the structure. Each of the extra-long twin beds has a mosquito net. The Manu Wildlife Tented Camp also features an elevated, screened dining room with wooden floor and a separate complex of shared hot-water showers and flush toilets. See a detailed description of the itinerary.
Tocón Monkey, Manu National Park.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Hands down, the most intense wildlife experience in Amazonia...
-- Condé Nast Traveler, December 2002
Manu Wildlife Center
Location: Adjacent to the eastern border of Peru's 4.5-million-acre Manu National Park and the northern border of the 1-million-acre Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, a national protected area. Reserve size: 29,000 acres. Wildlife it protects: Jaguars, Lowland Tapirs, Harpy Eagles, five species of macaws, Black Caimans, Giant Otters and 11 species of monkeys.
By far the richest, most extraordinary biological transect in the Amazon, or the world, starts in Cuzco and runs northeast by road and river to the great Manu Wilderness. Manu offers by far the greatest quantity and diversity of animals and plants in the world. No other destination in Peru or beyond can compare. Nowhere else can you enjoy superbly intact tropical habitats from Andean grasslands and cloud forests down to foothill and lowland forests.
Manu boasts the highest bird, mammal and plant diversity of any park on Earth, including 1,000 of the world's 9,700 bird species, 200 species of mammals and 15,000 species of flowering plants. The most photogenic spectacles are frolicking Giant Otters, 1,000 parrots and macaws at a riverbank clay lick, dancing Cocks-of-the-Rock, 11 species of monkeys and huge Lowland Tapirs at a forest clay lick. Manu Wildlife Center currently offers the world's finest viewing of this elusive animal, which elsewhere is harder to see even than the Jaguar, which also is a frequent sight in Manu.
In terms of wildlife for your money, our Manu itineraries offer the greatest payoff of wildlife per dollar of any rain forest site in Latin America. Other New World rain forests may be somewhat less expensive than Manu, but none of them offer Manu's tremendous wildlife diversity. For travelers who want the finest rainforest experiences in the world, Manu offers the ultimate "bio-trip". All trips start and end in Cuzco and include all air and ground transport, food, lodging and guided rainforest outings.
What Luxury Link has to say about the Amazon Bio-Trip.
As featured on PBS: Manu: Peru's Hidden Rainforest.
As featured on PBS: The Real Macaw.
One of hundreds of bird species, Manu Cloud Forest, Manu National Park.
Photo: Peru Verde.
Day 1: Cuzco - Manu Cloud Forest
Our overland journey begins at 3,400 meters (11,150 feet) with an early departure from the highland city of Cuzco. Today's destination is the lush cloud forest region where the Andes fall away to the Amazon basin. This is a day of scenic drama and striking contrasts. We first visit a mountain wetland habitat teeming with migrant and local waterfowl, before crossing two mountain ranges between the Cuzco and Paucartambo valleys, to a maximum altitude of 3,900 meters (12,790 feet). Finally, we follow a sinuous ribbon of highway on its plunge through an extraordinary world of forested cliffs, waterfalls and gorges. We take leisurely stops to see mountain villages, a hilltop necropolis of chullpas (pre-Inca burial chambers), and the abrupt ridgetop of Ajanaco, which marks the final high point where the Andes begin their swoop into the Amazon basin. In clear weather, we will see a breathtaking panorama of cloud forest and mountain giving way to the lowland rainforest plains far below us.
After a picnic lunch, we descend through the startling and rapid environmental transformations characteristic of the tropical Andes, passing from grassland and stunted trees through elfin forest, until we wind through a lush and magical world of overhanging trees, giant ferns, monster begonias, countless orchids and bromeliads, and a diverse and teeming birdlife.
We make frequent spontaneous stops, perhaps spotting a brilliantly feathered quetzal, a trogon, or the wild turkey-like Guan. We reach the comfortable Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge in the late afternoon, the best hour to visit the nearby viewing platform for the display ground, or "lek". This is usually the highlight of a long, full day, a chance to see Peru's dazzling national bird, the Cock-of-the-Rock (Rupicola peruviana) in full, raucous courting display. Overnight in the Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge.
Brown Capuchin Monkeys, Manu Cloud Forest, Manu National Park.
Photo: Peru Verde.
Day 2: Manu Cloud Forest - Boca Manu
Rising early, we have a second chance to view the Cock-of-the-Rock display, and then scout for birds and, perhaps, Brown Capuchin or Woolly monkeys along the nearby road. Or we can take a secluded nature walk on a short trail loop to the river and back. After breakfast, we continue our drive, as mountains give way to low rolling hills and farmland. At Patria, we visit a plantation of coca grown legitimately for the Peruvian coca leaf market. At midday, we reach Atalaya, a tiny port where the Piñipiñi River meets the Alto Madre de Dios. Now, the lowland rainforest part of our journey begins. Rivers are the highways of the rainforest, and henceforth we will travel in large, comfortable dugout canoes shaded by canopy roofs and driven by powerful outboard motors.
As we follow the river's broad, rushing course past the last foothills of the Andes, our ever-changing route offers sightings of new birds -- terns, cormorants, White-winged Swallows and flocks of nighthawks flushed from their daytime lairs by the sound of our engine. Splashes of brilliant yellow, pink and red foliage dot the forest-clad slopes around us, and the breeze is laden with the heady perfumes of the tropical forest.
At our overnight lodge near Boca Manu, a new array of forest sounds awaits our ears. As night falls, the whistling call-and-response of tinamous gives way to the loud shrill of cicadas. Overnight in the Manu Lodge.
Bromeliad, Manu Cloud Forest, Manu National Park.
Photo: Peru Verde.
Day 3: Boca Manu - Manu Wildlife Tented Camp
In the morning, we may join other guests arriving by air from Cuzco. We make a short visit to the village of Boca Manu, riverside capital of the remote and sparsely populated Peruvian province of Fitzcarrald. The main activity here is building dugout boats for travelers on the river, and we see how these sturdy craft are made. Logging is prohibited, so the resourceful villagers work entirely with lumber brought downriver by floodwaters.
Now, we turn northward up the chocolate-brown waters of the Manu River into the lake-rich lower Manu National Park. The pristine quality of the forest is instantly apparent, with abundant birdlife and no signs of outside development.
We check into the park at Limonal ranger station and then proceed upstream, as our boat driver steers skillfully through shallows and driftwood snags. Orinoco Geese and Horned Screamers strut on the beaches, Capped and White-necked Herons patrol the shoreline, and countless sunbathing turtles dive off their log perches as we approach.
After some six hours on the river, we reach the Manu Wildlife Tented Camp, a simple but comfortable, low-impact lodge nestled almost invisibly in the forest. Time permitting, we will take a short walk before dinner to stretch our legs and enjoy our first encounter with virgin rainforest. Overnight in the Manu Wildlife Tented Camp.
A walk on the forest trails, Manu National Park.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 4: Two Lakes in the Manu National Park
Today, we visit two lakes near our camp. Park authorities determine the time of our visit to Cocha Salvador (Lake Salvador); depending on this schedule, we will visit Cocha Otorongo earlier or later in the day.
Our trail to Cocha Otorongo begins some 30 minutes downstream from the camp. This brief river journey to the trailhead can always offer the chance of a thrilling wildlife sighting. Perhaps, we will spot a family of Capybaras, the world's largest rodent, browsing on the riverbank, or if we are very lucky, a solitary Jaguar might stalk slowly off an open beach into the forest, flicking its tail in annoyance at our intrusion.
On the short trail to the lake, we may spy one or more of the park's 13 monkey species leaping through the canopy high above. And some of the trees which form that canopy -- such as kapok, ironwood and figs -- will astound us with the vast size of their trunks and buttressed root systems.
These are oxbow lakes, formed when the river changed course, leaving a landlocked channel behind. The lakes are abundant in fish and wildlife, and provide optimum habitat for caimans and the Giant Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), one of the Amazon's most endangered mammal species.
This lake enjoys maximum protection, and boats are not allowed. However, it features two dock platforms and a 50-foot tower from which to scan the trees and marshy shoreline for monkeys, kingfishers, Anhinga (a large, long-necked waterbird), and countless other species. We have a good chance of sighting the resident Giant Otter family as they dive for the four kilograms of fish that each individual consumes daily.
Cocha Salvador is the largest of the area's lakes, at 3.5 kilometers, or some two miles long. It is also home to a family of Giant Otters. We cruise the lake on a floating catamaran platform, which offers superb new perspectives of lake and forest. The lakeside trees are often alive with monkeys; Scarlet, Chesnut-fronted and Blue-and-gold macaws beat a path overhead; a variety of herons and egrets scout the water's edge; and the reptilian eyes and snouts of caimans, motionless as logs, may be spied beneath the branches. Somewhere on the open water or in among toppled bankside trees, we may spot the sleek heads of the shy Giant Otters. These social animals play and fish together, and we may see them sprawled on a fallen tree trunk, dozing or gnawing on a fish. Overnight in the Manu Wildlife Tented Camp.
Giant Otter, Manu National Park.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 5: Manu National Park - Manu Wildlife Center (Tapir Clay Lick)
We set off downriver at dawn. At this hour chances of wildlife encounters are excellent. We return to the Limonal park station to file our wildlife report before leaving the park. After reaching the turbulent union of the Alto Madre de Dios and Manu rivers and then the village of Boca Manu, we may drop off some passengers returning to Cuzco. After ninety more minutes downstream, we arrive at the Manu Wildlife Center -- the exciting final stop of our journey -- in time for lunch.
After an early afternoon rest, we set off along the "collpa trail", which will take us to the lodge's famous Tapir Clay Lick. Here, at the most active tapir lick known in all of the Amazon, our research has identified from 8 to 12 individual, 600-pound Tapirs who come to this lick to eat clay from under the tree roots around the edge. This unlikely snack absorbs and neutralizes toxins in the vegetarian diet of the Tapir, the largest land animal of Latin America. The lick features a roomy, elevated observation platform 5 meters (17 feet) above the forest floor. The platform is equipped with freshly-made-up mattresses with pillows. Each mattress is covered by a roomy mosquito net. The 50-meter-long, elevated walkway to the platform is covered with sound-absorbing padding to prevent our footsteps from making noise. This Tapir experience is unique and exciting because these normally very shy creatures are visible up close, and flash photography is not just permitted, but encouraged.
The hard part for modern city dwellers is to remain still and silent anywhere from 30 minutes to two or more hours. Many prefer to nap until the first Tapir arrives, at which point your guide gently awakens you to watch the Tapir 10 to 20 meters (30 to 60 feet) away below the platform. Most people feel that the wait is well worth it in order to have such a high probability of observing this rare and elusive creature in its rainforest home. Overnight in the Manu Wildlife Center.
Choro Monkey, Manu National Park.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 6: Manu Wildlife Center (Macaw Clay Lick & Cocha Blanco)
Another early start (inevitable on wildlife expeditions) is followed by a short boat ride downstream. We take a 20-minute trail through palm plantations to a cut-off channel of the river, where we find the Blanquillo Macaw Lick. A spacious blind provided with individual chairs and a convenient place for cameras and binoculars is our ringside seat for what is usually a very spectacular show. We enjoy a full breakfast here while waiting for the main actors to arrive.
In groups of twos and threes, the big Red-and-Green Macaws come flapping in, landing in the treetops as they eye the main stage below -- the eroded clay banks of the old channel. Meanwhile the supporting cast appears: these may include Blue-headed, Mealy, Yellow-crowned, and Orange-cheeked Parrots -- and the occasional villain -- a menacing and unwelcome Great Black Hawk.
The drama plays out at first in tentative and then bolder approaches to the lick, until finally nearly all the macaws, parrots and parakeets form a colorful and noisy spectacle on the bare banks, squabbling as they scrape clay from the hard surface. (Please note that the clay lick is most active from August to October and less so during the months of May and June.)
In the afternoon, we visit Cocha Blanco, an old oxbow lake full of water lilies and sunken logs. As we circle the lake on our catamaran, we might encounter the resident Giant Otter family on a fishing expedition or troops of monkeys crashing noisily through the trees. Wattled Jacanas step lightly on the lily pads, dainty Sun Grebes paddle across the water, supple-necked Anhingas air-dry their wide, black wings and, perhaps, an Osprey scans for fish from a high branch.
Amongst the bushes near the waterline, Hoatzins, which look like rust-colored, punk chickens, announce their presence with distinctive, bizarre wheezing and grunts. Woodpeckers, tanagers, macaws, toucans and parakeets all finally come swooping in to trees surrounding the lake. Many of them roost around the lake for the night. Overnight in the Manu Wildlife Center.
Leaf-cutter ants use leaves to cultivate their fungus gardens, Manu National Park.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 7: Manu Wildlife Center - Cuzco
After an early breakfast, we leave on the two-hour boat trip to the Boca Manu airfield, enjoying early morning wildlife activity as we go. From here we fly in a Cessna Grand Caravan to Cuzco, where our rainforest adventure ends with a pickup and transfer to our hotel.
Extraordinary explorations.
© 2011 Inka's Empire Corporation, Luxury Peru Travel & Peru Tours. All rights reserved.
