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Puerto
Maldonado |
Overview |
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THE NEWEST MANU ADVENTURE 5 DAYS AND 4 NIGHTS TOUR |
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Departures from Cusco
: Every Thursdays
Per Person Prices:$1978 based on Single Occupancy
Per Person Prices:$1630 based on Double or Triple occupancy |
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Note: We require minimum two
passengers traveling together If single traveler ask for the supplement.
This itinerary offers
the complete lowland rainforest experience, taking us by air and then
motorized canoe to Manu Wildlife Center, This lodge is located east of
the Manu River on the north bank of the Madre de Dios River and offers
the Amazon’s finest, in-depth wildlife safari. The lodge is famous for
its abundant and varied wildlife, with its own Tapir clay lick, a nearby
macaw and parrot clay lick, two nearby oxbow lakes and two tall canopy
viewing towers among its impressive highlights. The Lodge contains 22
double-occupancy fully screened private bungalows with hot showers, a
large fully screened dining room, and a bar with hammocks for relaxing
with the comfort of the our Amazon’s finest wildlife lodge, next day in
our rustic, Manu Wildlife Tented Camp in the heart of the Manu Biosphere
Reserve.
Only 20% of the entire Amazon has rich, floodplain soils that produce
high yields of rainforest fruits, and therefore support dense
populations of monkeys, macaws, and all other vertebrates and
invertebrates. Of this 20%, ONLY ONE PERCENT is both protected by
biological reserves AND has regular jet or turboprop flights. Manu
Wildlife Center is the finest lodge in that “one percent of 20%” – which
explains why Condé Nast Traveler Magazine found it to be “the most
intense wildlife experience in Amazonia”.
Manu National Park, Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, Manu Wildlife Center
Private Reserve, and Los Amigos Private Reserve comprise a single,
continuous complex of protected areas in Manu province —the best
protected section of the one percent of the 20%. The oldest of these
units, Manu National Park, boasts the coveted status of UNESCO World
Heritage Site. The entire complex covers 2.5 million hectares/6.2
million acres, almost the size of Belgium or the U.S. state of Maryland.
The region includes vast areas inhabitated only by either uncontacted
tribes or a handful of intrepid scientists.
In this vast area we find 1,000 of the globe’s 10,000 bird species (200
more than all of the U.S. and Canada combined), 15,000 of the world’s
250,000 flowering plant species, and hundreds of Jaguars. To put all of
this in conservation perspective, this protected area is TWICE AS LARGE
as all Costa Rican reserves —in fact, fully half the size of ALL of
Costa Rica.
In Manu we navigate the waters of an isolated oxbow lake, home to Giant
Otters, caimans, monkeys and an endless variety of birds. Our trip ends
downriver with the Amazon’s finest wildlife viewing opportunities, at
Manu Wildlife Center. This lodge offers the finest Tapir viewing in ALL
the Amazon, as Tapirs are nightly visitors to the lodge’s mud wallow.
After a canoe and van journey we return to Cusco aboard in a commercial
flight. |
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Duration 5 days and 4 nights
Departures Thursdays
Activities Jungle excursion (see detailed program below)
Airfares Included, Cusco – Boca Manu - Cusco
Meals Included as specified below
Customizable YES, feel free to ask for extra services |
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Day 1: Flight from
Cusco to Puerto Maldonado-Colorado -Manu Wildlife Center
A transfer service from your hotel to Cusco airport will be followed by
a 35-minute commercial flight to Puerto Maldonado, then you will be
transfer by van to Santa Rosa Village we will get there in about three
hours journey aprox., we will cross the Inambari river for a 15 minutes
by boat, then we have one hour more by car from this place to the Boca
Colorado Village, followed by 03 hours motorized boat journey ride
upstream the Madre de Dios river in between we plan on a delicious boxed
lunch at the beginning of the boat journey to Manu Wildlife Center.
After dinner there will be an enchanting night walk along the trails, in
search of the nocturnal birds and animals of the rainforest. (Box Lunch,
D)
Day 2: Manu Wildlife Center: the Macaw Claylick, and and Manu
National Park (Manu Wildlife Tented Camp)
Another early start (inevitable on wildlife expeditions), is followed by
a short boat ride downstream. We take a 20-minute trail through palm
plantations to a cut-off channel of the river, where we find the Macaw
Lick. A spacious hide provided with individual chairs and a convenient
place for cameras and binoculars is our ringside seat for what is
usually a very spectacular show. We enjoy a full breakfast here while
waiting for the main actors to arrive.
In groups of twos and threes the big Red-and-Green Macaws come flapping
in, landing in the treetops as they eye the main stage below —the eroded
clay banks of the old channel. Meanwhile the supporting cast appears:
these may included Blue-headed, Mealy, Yellow-crowned, and
Orange-cheeked Parrots— and the occasional villain, a menacing and
unwelcome Great Black Hawk.
The drama plays out in first in tentative and then bolder approaches to
the lick, until finally nearly all the macaws, parrots and parakeets
form a colorful and noisy spectacle on the bare banks, squabbling as
they scrape clay from the hard surface.
(Please note that the clay lick is most active from August to October
and less so during the months of May and June.)
Around 9:30 am begin our boat journey in the motorized canoe trip up the
Madre de Dios River, after reaching the village of Boca Manu and the
turbulent union of the Alto Madre de Dios and Manu Rivers 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, into the lake-rich
lower Manu River of the Manu National Park. The pristine quality of the
forest is instantly apparent, with abundant birdlife and no signs of
outside development.
After some seven 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 3: 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, looking like giant Guinea Pigs
as they browse 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
monkeys 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 50ft 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, Chestnut-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 4: Manu National Park (Manu Wildlife Tented Camp) to Manu
Wildlife Center Tapir Claylick.
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.
In the afternoon we make our first acquaintance with the rainforest,
exploring some of the 30 miles of forest trails that surround the lodge.
We have an excellent chance of encountering some of the 12 species of
monkeys, including the Spider Monkey and Emperor Tamarin, which inhabit
the surrounding forest, later 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 50-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 5: Manu Wildlife Center to Cusco – Departure day
We leave our lodge very early on the three-hour 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 Maldonado. A van or bus will drive us to the
airport in Puerto Maldonado, in approximately four-hours more, From here
you fly 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 SEVICES |
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INCLUDES: All hotel and lodge
accommodations based on double or single occupancy. All scheduled land, lake and
river transportation. All transfers. All scheduled excursions with English-speaking
guide services. All entrance fees. Meals as specified in the itinerary. B=Breakfast;
L=Lunch; D=Dinner.
NOT INCLUDED IN THE FEE
International or domestic airfares, airport departure taxes or visa fees, excess
baggage charges, additional nights during the trip due to flight cancellations,
alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages or bottled water, snacks, insurance of any
kind, laundry, phone calls, radio calls or messages, reconfirmation of
international flights and items of personal nature. |
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Mon-Fri 9 Am - 6 Pm ET
please allow pop-ups
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Call Centers |
NORTH AMERICA TOLL FREE
Monday - Friday
From 9 am to 6 pm ET
1 888 671 2852 voice
1 888 671 2853 voice
Discounted Airfares Toll Free
1-866-856-8368
1 480 247 4242 Fax
United Kingdom - TOLL FREE (Freephone)
0-800-098-8450
Australian Customers TOLL FREE
1-800-194078
Rest of the world
+51 1 4443027 - 4457704
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