| Duration 5 days and
4 nights
Departures Every Thursday (From May through November)
Activities Jungle excursion (see detailed program
below)
Airfares Included, Boca Manu - Cusco
Meals Included as specified below
Customizable YES, feel free to ask for extra
services
Day 1: Cusco to Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge.
Our overland journey begins at 3,400 m / 11,150 ft, with an
early departure from the highland city of Cusco. 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 Cusco valley and the Paucartambo
valley, to a maximum altitude of 3,900 m / 12,790 ft. 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 near here 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) in full, raucous
courting display. (Box Lunch, D)
Day 2: Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge to 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. (B, Box Lunch, D)
Day 3: Boca Manu to Manu National Park (Manu Wildlife Tented
Camp).
In the morning we may join other eco-guests arriving by air from
Cusco. 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 here, 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 InkaNatura’s Manu
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. (B, Box Lunch, D)
Day 4: Manu National Park (Manu Wildlife Tented Camp): Cocha
Salvador & Cocha Otorongo.
Today we visit two lakes near our camp. Park authorities
determine the time of our visit to Cocha (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 ft 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 4Kg. of fish
that each individual consumes daily.
Cocha Salvador is the largest of the area’s lakes, at 3.5 Km, 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. (B, L, D)
Day 5: Manu National Park (Manu Wildlife Tented Camp) to Manu
Wildlife Center and 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 Cusco. After ninety more minutes
downstream we arrive at 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 the
Amazon, our research has identified from 8-12 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 m / 17 ft 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 10-m-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 10-20 m / 33-66 ft)
away below the platform. Most people feel that the wait is well
worth it in order to have such a high probability of observing
the rare and elusive Tapir in its rainforest home. (B, L, D)
Day 6: Manu Wildlife Center to Cusco – Departure day
We leave our lodge very early on the two hour and half return
boat trip downstream to the Colorado Village, the breakfast will
be serve on the boat while you enjoying early morning wildlife
activity as we go, of course this is a perfect time to take
advantage of valuable early morning wildlife activity along the
river, in aditions this journey allows us to see several lowland
native settlements and gold miners digging and panning gold
along the banks of the Madre de Dios River. We will stop in the
far-west type gold-mining town of Colorado to start our overland
journey to Puerto Carlos for 45 minutes, then you will cross the
Inambari River for 15 minutes boat trip to Santa Rosa, finally a
van or bus will drive us to the airport in Puerto Maldonado
City, in approximately two-hours and half, from here you fly by
a commercial airplane to Cusco, with a pickup and transfer
assistant to your hotel your jungle adventure ends. (B)
Important notes:
•Please note that the program may vary slightly so as to
maximize your wildlife sightings, depending on the reports of
our researchers and experienced naturalist guides based at the
lodge.
END OF OUR SERVICES
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Towering canopy platform |
