Manu (5 Day)

DAY 1:  (Thu) CUSCO - MANU WILDLIFE CENTER
An early transfer from your hotel to Cusco airport will be followed by a 45-minute commercial flight to Puerto Maldonado. From there you will have a 3 hour van transfer to Santa Rosa Village. From there we will cross the Inambari River by a short boat ride, followed by an hour car ride to the Boca Colorado Village. Here we will board our motorized boat for lunch and enjoy a final 3 hour journey upstream the Madre de Dios River 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. (L,D)

DAY 2:  (Fri) MANU WILDLIFE CENTER (Macaw Claylick, Canopy Tower & Tapir Claylick)
Rising before dawn, we take a 25 minutes boat journey downstream to the Blanquillo Macaw Lick, the only large parrot and macaw clay lick in the Manu area. From a nearby hide we are offered excellent views and photo opportunities of hundreds of medium-sized and large parrots arriving first at the lick, followed by the large Red-and-Green Macaws arriving to eat the clay. Please note that the clay lick is not as active in May, June and July. After lunch at the Center we continue to explore the miles of forest trails surrounding the lodge, and spend the late afternoon up a 112ft/34m Canopy Tower. Here we watch the last frantic activity in the rainforest canopy before night settles and we return for dinner. Later we set off along the “collpa trail”, which will take us to the lodge’s famous Tapir Claylick. 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 17ft/5m 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, a rare photographic opportunity. (B,L,D)

DAY 3:  (Sat) MANU WILDLIFE CENTER (Cocha Blanco and the Wildlife trails)
After another early morning departure by boat and short hike from the river, you have what promises to be an exciting visit to Cocha Blanco Oxbow Lake. This lake has populations of a variety of aquatic life and water birds, including the prehistoric-looking hoatzin and the possibility to see the resident family of giant otters. After returning for lunch at the Center your guide is available to further explore the forest trails for more wildlife encounters. Alternatively, time is available to independently practice your abilities and experience this expanse of rainforest habitats on your own. 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. (B,L,D)

DAY 4:  (Sun) MANU WILDLIFE CENTER (Cocha Camungo & Big Tree Canopy Tower)
Rising at dawn you will board the motor-canoe to visit the Camungo Oxbow Lake. In addition to touring the lake by catamaran to look for the resident family of giant otters and other lakeside fauna, we will explore the forest trails and visit the 40 meter or 130ft/40m Big Tree Canopy Tower. This platform provides a beautiful view of the Camungo Lake as well as the forest canopy, and on very clear days it is possible to look over the rainforest to the Andes. After lunch at the Center we will explore the forest trails with the emphasis on visiting the fruiting and flowering trees that our experienced naturalist guides have been monitoring. Here we will hope 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)

DAY 5:  (Mon) MANU - CUSCO
We leave our lodge very early for the three-hour return boat trip downstream to the Colorado Village. Breakfast will be served on the boat and this is the perfect time to take advantage of valuable early morning wildlife activity along the river. In addition, 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 four hours to the airport in Puerto Maldonado. From here you fly to Cusco, where your jungle adventure ends. Arrival at Cusco Airport, reception and transfer to your hotel. (B)

**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.

Key: (B)reakfast, (L)unch, (D)inner