Manu Tour – Reserved Zone 5 Days / 4 Nights

Departures: Thursday and Saturday

Recommended Season: March to November

Day 01:  Cusco – Cloudforest

Leaving Cusco you head over the Andes and visit the village of Paucartambo (8-hour journey). Climb to the highpoint of the Manu Biosphere at about 3 530 m before descending to the cloudforest. You will spend your first night in the camping huts of Posada San Pedro. (L-D).

Day 02: Cloudforest – Atalaya – Manu River

Transfer by bus to tropical lowland rainforest. Here at the small village Atalaya, you change into a motorised canoe to navigate down the turbulent Alto Madre de Dios River to Boca Manu. As night falls you make camp on one of the beaches. (B-L-D).

Please note:

• The clay lick activity reaches its best from August to October and decreases during the months of May and June.

During the dry season (June-September) the water level on the river does not always allow for a floating blind and it will then be sitting on the ground.

Day 03 & 04: Lake Salvador and Lake Otorongo

In the morning of the third day you turn up the Manu River. You reach your campsite deep inside Manu in the afternoon. During this time, you will hike through virgin forest and explore one of the most beautiful lakes of the Manu basin, Lake Salvador, by catamaran. There is a chance to see a huge variety of colourful birds, numerous species of monkey and with luck, a family of giant otters. A five-hour hike through the forest takes you to Lake Otorongo and a 20-meter high observation platform that overlooks the lake. (B-L-D).

Day 05: Salvador Lake – Boca Manu

After a final walk through the forest surrounding Lake Salvador and return back down the Manu River. At Boca Manu, return to Cusco over the rainforest and the Andes by light aircraft. (B).

After lunch at the Center you will explore the forest trails with the emphasis on visiting the fruiting and flowering trees. Possibility to encounter more monkey species as well as numerous species of birds. Again, before or after supper, those explorers still with enough energy will have another chance for an additional visit to the Tapir clay lick. (B-L-D).

FOR CLIENTS TAKING A SEVEN-DAY PROGRAMME

Day 05: Salvador Lake – Macaw Lick

Joining the Madre de Dios River you arrive at Blanquillo, near the clay lick for macaws, where you spend the night on a beach.

(B-L-D).

Day 06: Macaw lick

Watch the dazzling spectacle of hundreds of parakeets, parrots and macaws eating clay. In the afternoon, you visit another one of Manu’s beautiful oxbow lakes, Cocha Blanco. The night is comfortably spent in the Jungle lodge Tambo Blanquillo. (B-L-D).

Day 07:  Boca Manu – Cusco

A short boat ride takes you to Boca Manu airport and your return flight over the rainforest and the Andes to Cusco. (B).

FOR CLIENTS TAKING A NINE-DAY PROGRAMME:

Day 7: Boca Manu – Pantiacolla Lodge

You will continue by Alto Madre de Dios River for about 5 hours. Opportunity to appreciate great views of the Andes. The next two nights you will stay at the Pantiacolla lodge, right at the foot of the Pantiacolla Mountains.

Day 8: Pantiacolla Mountains

This day you will 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: Staley-Cloud forest- Cusco

Back on the boat early in the morning, you head upstream to Atalaya where the bus is waiting to take you back over the Andes to Cusco.

INCLUDED

• Excursions as described, transportation, entrances, specialised tour guide.
• Accommodation with breakfast.
• Meals where stated (B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner).
• Transportation Cusco / Manu by private vehicle and Boca Manu / Cusco by plane.

NOT INCLUDED

• Services not specified in the programme, extras and tips.
• National flights Lima / Cusco / Lima.
• Local airport taxes (US$ 6,05).