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Note: We require minimum two passengers traveling
together If single traveler ask for the supplement.
Manu Wildlife Center
By Commercial Flight Cusco/Puerto Maldonado/Cusco
4 Days / 3 Nights
This lodge is located east of the Manu River on the north bank of the Madre de
Dios River. It is reached by a 45-minute flight from Cusco aboard a modern,
radar-equipped, turboprop aircraft, followed by a 90-minute motorized canoe ride,
and offers the Amazon’s finest short, 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.
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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
45-minute commercial flight to Puerto Maldonado, then you will be transfer
by van to Santa Rosa Village we will get there in about two-hours and half
journey, you will cross the Inambari river for a 15 minutes boat trip to
Puerto Carlos, here you will start your overland journey to Boca Colorado
for 45 minutes by car, followed by four hours and half 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 Clay lick, Canopy Tower & Tapir
Clay lick.
 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.)
We return to the lodge for lunch, and then we continue to explore and
discover the rainforest, its lore and plant life, on the network of trails
surrounding the lodge, arriving in the late afternoon at our 34 m / 112 ft
Canopy Tower. On its platform we witness the frantic rush-hour activity of
twilight in the rainforest canopy, before night closes in.
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 10-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 3: Manu Wildlife Center: Cocha Blanco and the Wildlife Trails.
 We set off early for Cocha Blanco, an old oxbow lake full of water lilies
and sunken logs. As we circle the lake on our catamaran we might encounter
the resident Giant Otter family on a fishing expedition, or troops of
monkeys crashing noisily through the trees. Wattled Jacanas step lightly on
the lily pads, dainty Sun Grebes paddle across the water, supple-necked
Anhingas air-dry their wide, black wings, and perhaps an Osprey scans for
fish from a high branch.
Among the bushes near the waterline, Hoatzins, which look like rust-colored,
punk chickens, announce their presence with distinctive, bizarre wheezing
and grunts. Woodpeckers, tanagers, macaws, toucans and parakeets all finally
come swooping in to trees surrounding the lake. Many of them roost around
the lake for the night.
After lunch at the lodge our guide is available to lead us on freewheeling
expeditions in search of further wildlife encounters, or we may take one of
the lodge’s many trails on private and personal excursions to commune with
the spirits of the rainforest.
This evening, from the late afternoon until after Dinner, we offer an
opportunity to search for caiman and other nocturnal life along the
riverbank by boat (If the level of river allows it) (B, L, D)
Day 4: Manu Wildlife Center to Cusco – Departure day
We leave our lodge very early on the two hour and half 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 additions 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 Carlos
for 45 minutes, then you will cross the Inambari River for 15 minutes boat
trip to Santa Rosa, finally a van or bus will drive us to the airport in
Puerto Maldonado City, in approximately two-hours and half, from here you
fly by a commercial airplane 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. |
