MANU TENT CAMPS AND MANU WILDLIFE CENTER (Peru)

Manu National Park is located in the provinces of Manu and Paucartambo, Peru (Departments of Madre de Dios and Cuzco respectively), comprising lands on the eastern slopes of the Andes and on the Peruvian Amazon. It protects some of the Earths most important wildlands: Andean grasslands, elfin forest, cloud forest, and lowland Amazon rainforest.

The park contains more species of animal and plants than any other part of the world: 1000 species of birds, 13 species of monkeys (including the charismatic mustached Emperor Tamarin), several species of macaws and parrots, the Harpy Eagle, Black Caiman, Tapir, the endangered Giant Otter, Black Caiman and the impressive Jaguar.

The area has a wide range of climates : from cold in the highlands to hot in Amazon rainforest. There is a rainy season from December to March. In addition Manu National Park is also home to indigenous tribes of Amazonian indies some of them are uncontacted yet. The best known ethnic group is the Machiguenga.

Manu National park was Internationally recognized as a Biosphere Reserve under UNESCO and the Biosphere Programme in 1977 and it was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1987. The tented camp features hermetically-sealed screened tents with hinged, lockable doors and solid wooden floors.  Each tent measures 16.5x10x7 feet (5x3x2.2m) and the floor is elevated above the ground on wooden stilts. Each of the extra-long twin beds in each tent has a mosquito net.  Our camp in Manu also features an elevated, screened dining room with wooden floor and a separate complex of shared hot-water showers and flush toilets. For those who prefer not to venture out a night, each tent has a private enclosure equipped with a sturdy, plastic-and-metal camp toilet.

DAY-BY-DAY

Day 1:  Cusco/Boca Manu/Manu Wildlife Tented Camps at Park (Saturday)

Early in the morning our representative will pick you up from your hotel to transfer you to the Cusco airport. A thirty-five minute flight takes you to Boca Manu.  Here you will join a group and take a motorized canoe for 5-6 hours to the Wildlife Tented Camp near Cocha Salvador.  We will stop at the park station and register. On the way up river, we will have the chance to observe beaches with different birds, black caimans, capybaras, turtles, etc.  That afternoon we’ll arrival at Manu Wildlife tented camp.  We will start exploring some of the trails in the primary forest and search for monkeys. After dinner, visitors with enough energy can explore other trails looking for different species including insects and frogs.  (B,L,D).

Day 2:   Manu National Park (Sunday)

Today starts with a visit Cocha Salvador where we will take a canoe or catamaran outing on the lake to look for the famous endangered Giant Otters. We’ll also observe birds and monkeys searching for food. The rest of the day will be spent exploring other trails through different types of forest. There is an excellent chance we’ll observe monkeys.  (B,L,D).

Day 3: Manu National Park/Manu Wildlife Center (Monday)

We’ll leave very early and motor down the Manu River to Boca Manu (here some of the people will take the flight to Cusco).  After some time exploring the Boca Manu community, we will take a motorized canoe for the 90 minutes journey down the Madre de Dios River to Manu Wildlife Center.   Late afternoon will be spent exploring some of the 30 miles of forest trails that surround the lodge. On these trails you have an excellent chance of encountering as many as 12 species of monkeys, including the Monk Saki and Emperor Tamarin which inhabit the surrounding forest.

We can return for dinner back at the Center, or pack our meal for the leisurely hike about 60-75 minutes through the night forest to the Amazon’s largest known tapir clay lick. Here we climb a 17 by 17 foot observation platform perched almost 20 feet above the lick itself where we will wait for the lumbering tapirs to arrive. Then, using powerful flashlights, we hope to observe and photograph them in action.  Our scientific reports reveal that tapirs usually arrive at the clay lick between 9:00 pm and midnight. Once at the lick, they stay until dawn. (L/D) 

Day 4:   Manu Wildlife Center (Tuesday)

Rising before dawn; we take a 25-minute boat journey downstream to the only large parrot and macaw clay lick in the Manu area.   From a blind we are afforded excellent views and photo opportunities of hundreds of medium-sized and large parrots arriving first at the lick, followed by the large Red-and-Green Macaws arriving to eat the clay. 

Please note: The clay lick activity is at its best from August to October and decreases during the months of May and June.

After lunch at the Center, will we continue by boat and a short hike from the river, to what promises to be an exciting visit to Blanco Oxbow Lake.  This lake has populations of a variety of aquatic life and water birds, including the prehistoric-looking hoatzin. We might even see the resident family of giant otters.  Alternatively, time is available to independently experience the rainforest habitats on your own.

This evening there is an opportunity to search for caiman and other nocturnal life along the riverbank by boat. (B/L/D)

Day 5: Manu Wildlife Center/ Cusco (Wednesday)

After an early breakfast, we’ll leave at dawn by motor canoe for the two-hour return trip to the Manu landing strip. We will take advantage of the valuable early morning to look for wildlife activity along the river.  From here you will fly to Cusco, where your jungle adventure ends.  On arrival at the Cusco Airport you will be met and transferred to your hotel where there will be a goodbye reception. (B)

Important note: 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.