Do not hesitate to give us a call. We are an expert team and we are happy to talk to you.
+51 950 195 252
info@exploreperutrek.com
Explore the Amazon Basin’s large national park, which encompasses about 20,000 square kilometers (12,427 square miles) and is one of the greatest sites in South America to witness a breathtaking array of tropical species. In 1977, Unesco designated Manu as a Biosphere Reserve, and in 1987, it was designated as a World Natural Heritage Site. Only with a guide and a permission is it possible to enter.
Because the park is isolated and relatively inaccessible to humans, it has not been used by rubber tappers, loggers, oil corporations, or hunters, which is one of the reasons it has been so effective in maintaining such a wide tract of virgin rainforest and its species. The Manu National Park is without a doubt the world’s most pristine primary rain forest; this area of Peru’s rainforest is home to numerous kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, fish, insects, and trees, orchids, ferns, and other plants. It also has multiple oxbow lakes and clay licks, where hundreds of birds, including macaws, graze on the clay. The Amazon allows guests to gain insight into rural amazonian life as the expedition goes through relatively distant settlements, allowing them to learn about the Inca’s intriguing culture.
We are a fully locally owned tour operator based in Cusco. Our guides are locals from the region. They have an excellent knowledge about the inca ruins, flora and fauna of Manu National Park.
We offer the experience, both as a small group tour and as a private tour. We invite you to take a moment to check out our reviews on Tripadvisor.
Cusco Hotel Transfer
0600 AM
We will begin our journey to Manu by picking you up from your hotel in Cusco. On board our bus, we will travel to the south of the city, passing through gorgeous communities until we arrive at Paucartambo. On the route, we’ll stop at Ninamarca’s sector, where we’ll witness circular structures are known as “Chullpas,” which serve as funeral structures where old settlers buried their dead.
We’ll proceed down to the cloud forest or cloud because of the fog, which will give you the feeling that you’re above the clouds. The Cock of the Rocks, Peru’s national bird, lives in this forest, as do other kinds of birds, mammals, reptiles, and other creatures. With hope, we’ll be able to see the only bear in South America, Oso de Anteojos, as well as other birds, mammals, reptiles, and other animals.
At dark, we’ll arrive at our Pilcopata lodge, where we’ll spend the night.
We proceed by bus to the tropical lowland jungle around dawn, pausing to visit a coca farm along the route. We get into a boat and travel down the rapid Alto Madre de Dios River after arriving at the little settlement of Atalaya at 650m. Then we take a 30-minute stroll down the Alto Madre de Dios River to one of the most beautiful lakes. Traditional balsa rafts may be used to go around this little lake and see the great rainforest diversity of aquatic birds, including the moscovy duck, neotropic cormorant, anhinga, white-necked and crested herons, and the prehistoric-looking hoatzin. The water is usually clean enough to see many tropical species that we are familiar with from our home aquariums. Squirrel monkeys and other monkeys are frequently seen in the surrounding forests.
Pantiacolla Lodge’s rainforest is unique in that it is the meeting point of the Andes and the Amazon’s lowland tropical rainforest, allowing you to witness a diverse range of birds and plants from both zones, as well as endemics to the area. Your first stroll will be at night, when you’ll search the forest by torchlight for insects, lizards, snakes, and the world’s only nocturnal night-monkey, known as a ‘douricouli.’ Pantiacolla Lodge is where we spend the night.
Early in the morning, at same time the howler monkeys begin their morning ritual of howling a boat takes you to a nearby parrot lick where you can see at least seven species, including blue-headed and yellow crowned parrots, white-eyed parakeets, and small blue-headed and chestnut fronted macaws.
Following that, we visit Pantiacolla’s trails to see more of the park’s 600 bird species, including the pale-winged trumpeter and the piping guan, as well as its eight monkey species, including the dusky titi monkey and the elusive monk saki monky, and other mammals like white-lipped and collared peccaries, ocelots, squirrels, bats, and red-breasted deer. On the shady pathways, glasswing butterflies are common, as are Callicores and Panaceas in the open areas. With luck, one will come upon the morpho butterfly, which is known for its iridescent blue wings. After we go to Ranacocha, or “Frog Lake,” at night to seek for tree frogs, poison dart frogs, and other frogs. Panctiacolla Lodge is where you’ll spend the night.
We go for a stroll in the morning on one of the many trails around the lodge, hoping to spot more monkeys, coatis, or possibly a tayra searching for tiny animals in the woods. We can now recognize some of the forest’s trees, including the ceiba (kapok), capirona (naked tree), and other palm species. The boat brings us to the Shintuya Hot Springs for a pleasant mineral bath after lunch, before continuing on to Atalaya. We take the bus back up the Andes from here. We stop at an orchid garden along the road, which was created with great care and devotion by a local resident. Finally, we spend the night at Posada San Pedro.
We go for another walk through the forest early in the morning; it is alive with life, as it always is, and we are familiar with many birds, monkeys, insects, trees, and plants by now. We walk until our bus arrives to transport us to Cusco. We arrive in the middle of the night.
For 5 days enjoy the incredible landscapes of Manu!