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9 Days/8 Nights or 7 Days/6 nights or 5 Days/4 nights
In by bus, out by plane or bus
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
MANU - THE BIOSPHERE RESERVE
9 Days/ 8 nights or 7 Days / 6 nights or 5 Days/ 4
nights
In by bus, out by plane or bus
Difficulty of tour: Easy - Moderate
Start Point: Cusco
End point: Cusco
Manu Reserve is Peru's largest protected area and
straddles the boundary of the Madre de Dios and
Cusco regions. Manu encompasses more then 4.5
million acres of pristine tropical-forest
wilderness, ranging in altitude from 3450 meters
(12000feet) down to the lush cloud forest and into
endless low land rainforest at 300 meters above sea
level (approximately 900 feet). This stunning
variety makes it worth a visit. Manu’s “Cultural
zone” hosts a number of jungle lodges and several
indigenous groups. In the cultural zone any one can
enter, where as for the uninhabited “Reserve zone”,
a permit is required for entry.
Manu is a precious rainforest that has remained
untouched because of its remote location. This means
there is a lot of ravelling involved in these trips,
both by bus and boat. However, in compensation for
this, you will find yourself in an unequalled
rainforest with its entire flora and fauno intact.
Our tours have fixed departure dates for individual
travelers. These are the variants:
MANU Reserved Zone: Cloud Forest, Lakes Salvador & Otorongo
The shortest tour option is for 5 days, going to
Manu by bus with an
overnight stay in the cloud forest, then a 2 day
visit to Manu's Reserved Zone, and a return to Cusco
by plane approx. Midday on the 5th day*.
MANU Reserved Zone: Cloud Forest, Lakes Salvador & Otorongo, Macaw Lick. The second tour option lasts 7
days entering Manu by bus with an overnight stop in
the cloud forest, 2 nights in Manu's Reserved Zone,
a visit to the macaw clay lick in Blanquillo, and
returning to Cusco by plane in the morning on the
7th day.
MANU Reserved Zone: Cloud Forest, Lakes Salvador & Otorongo, Macaw Lick and Pantiacolla Lodge.
The
third tour option lasts 9 days, traveling to Manu by
bus with an
over night stop in the cloud forest, 2 nights in
Manu's Reserved Zone, a visit to the macaw clay lick
in Blanquillo, two nights in Pantiacolla Lodge in
the Pantiacolla Mountain Range (in the Andean
foothills) and returning to Cusco by boat and bus.
This tour is relatively cheaper because it does not
have a return air flight.
DAY 1: Cusco-Cloud Forest
Leaving Cusco early in the morning, we begin an
8-hour journey over the Andes by bus, stopping for a
coffee at the beautiful colonial village of
Paucartambo. Continuing on we climb to the highpoint
of the Manu Biosphere at about 3,530 m before
descending to the cloud forest. In these mysterious
surroundings we take a hike to the incredible
Cock-of-the-Rock to see the males performing for
women. We spend our first night in the rustic lodge
Posada San Pedro (appr. 1,600 m).
DAY 2: Cloud Forest-Atalaya-Manu River
At daybreak we continue by bus to tropical lowland
rainforest. Here at the small village of Atalaya
(650 m) we change into a motorized canoe to navigate
some 5 hours down the Alto Madre de Dios River to
Boca Manu. As night falls we stay in a basic lodge,
or camp next to that lodge, depending on
availability.
DAY 3 & 4: Lake Salvador and Lake Otorongo
On the morning of the third day we go up the Manu
River for 6 hours into the heart of Manu Reserve
Zone. From this vantage point we will have great
views of riverside birds, sunbathing caiman, and the
enormous aquatic guinea pig and the capybara. We
reach our camping huts deep inside Manu in the
afternoon. This will be our base for the next two
days. During this time, we will hike through virgin
forest and explore by catamaran one of the most
beautiful lakes of the Manu basin, Lake Salvador.
There is a chance to see a huge variety of colorful
birds, numerous species of monkeys and with luck, a
family of giant otters. There is another hike in
this rich forest that will end in Lake Otorongo with
a 20 meter-high observation platform overlooking the
lake. At night we can explore the forest with our
flashlights or go moonlight caiman-spotting on the
lake.
DAY 5: Lake Salvador-Boca Manu
After a final walk through the forest surrounding
Lake Salvador (flight schedule permitting), we
return down the Manu River. At Boca Manu, you return
mid-day to Cusco by light aircraft, if you are
participating in the 5-day trip.
(The
Cinereous Harrier is a hunter of the high Andes
grasslands.)
** If your tour is of 7 or
9 days, it continues as follows:
Lake Salvador-Macaw Lick
Joining the Madre de Dios River we arrive at
Blanquillo, near the claylick for the macaw birds
and here we spend the night in the jungle lodge
Tambo Blanquillo.
DAY 6: Macaw Lick
At sunrise we head to the macaw lick to watch the
dazzling spectacle of hundreds of parakeets, parrots
and macaws eating clay on a clay wall. In the
afternoon we visit another one of Manu´s beautiful
oxbow lakes, Cocha Blanco. Going back up the river
we stay in a basic lodge, or camp next to that basic
lodge, depending on availability.
DAY 7: Boca Manu-Cusco
Today you fly over the rainforest and the Andes to
Cusco by light aircraft, if you are participating in
the 7-day trip.
** If your tour is 9 days,
it continues as follows:
Boca Manu-Pantiacolla Lodge
We continue on up the Alto Madre de Dios River for
about 5 hours. Here we get great views of the Andes.
For the next two nights we stay at the Pantiacolla
lodge, right at the foot of the Pantiacolla
Mountains.
DAY 8: Pantiacolla Mountains
This day we hike through a very special rainforest:
this is where the Andes and the lowland tropical
rainforest meet, providing the visitor with a chance
to see a good selection of birds, insects and flora
from both zones, as well as some endemics.
DAY 9: Atalaya-Cloud forest- Cusco
Back on the boat early in the morning, we head
upstream to Atalaya where our bus is waiting to take
us back over the Andes to Cusco.
Included:
•
Naturalist guide in English and Spanish
•
Transportation Cusco/Atalaya by private bus (5 & 7
day tour)
and back Atalaya/Cusco (9 day tour)
•
Transportation by private boat: Atalaya/Lake
Salvador/Boca Manu
(5 day tour) – Macaw Lick/Boca Manu (7 day tour) – Pantiacolla
•
Lodge/Atalaya
(9 day tour)
•
Flight
Boca Manu/Cusco (5 & 7 day program)
•
Overnight in lodges and camping huts
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Meals
(breakfast, lunch and dinner)
•
Water
at any time and warm drinks with meals
•
Guidebook for rainforest of Manu – Talking About
Manu
•
Entrance fee reserved zone
•
Airport
tax (5 & 7 day tours)
Not Included:
•
Soft
drinks and beer
•
Personal expenses
Program Departures:
•
Sundays
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