The Manu biosphere is a carefully protected area of rainforest that is arguably the biodiverse area of the entire Amazon, and certainly one of the most naturally abundant national parks in the world. There are over 1000 species of bird, 200 species of mammal (including 13 species of monkey) and many tens of thousands of flowering plants. Species, commonly spotted here include giant otters, hyacinth macaws, monkeys and lowland tapirs. This is also an area in which the jaguar makes its habitat and can sometimes be seen.
The Manu Biopshere is one of the premier wildlife spotting locations in all of South America and one of the world’s most special and important natural wildernesses. Guiding Peru has designed a 4 day Manu Amazon Rainforest tour to provide visitors and tourists a memorable experience of exploring the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Manu World Biosphere Reserve.
The Manu National Park is considered the best wildlife destination in the Amazon, which you will fully explore on this guided tour. During this professionally guided tour of Manu, you will enjoy spending your days viewing the red and green macaws, monkeys, tapirs, Capybaras, Cayman, jaguar and other fascinating resident wildlife.
Day 01: Puerto Maldonado - Colorado - Manu Wildlife Center
Day 02: Appreciate the Mammals Clay lick
Day 03: Get on a boat tour and see wildlife
Day 04: Learn about native vegetation
Day 05: Manu Wildlife Center - Puerto Maldonado
The Manu Wildlife Center is a very important national reserve of Peru. The ecological wealth that it has is vast. Here you can find more than 15,000 species of plants, and 1000 types of birds. Regarding the flora of the Manú, we will say that up to 250 varieties of trees have been found in only one hectare. On the other hand, in terms of fauna, there are about 99 types of reptiles, 140 species of amphibians and 159 of mammals. But, that's not all, it also has 300 species of ants, 650 types of bees and 1307 of butterflies. Within this territory, there are 30 peasant communities, whose mother tongue is Quechua.
Arriving to Puerto Maldonado, our transfer service will take you to Santa Rosa Village along a two-hour and a half journey. Then we will cross the Inambari river for 15 minutes boat trip to Carlos Port, here you will start your overland journey to Boca Colorado for 45 minutes by car, followed by four hours and a half motorized boat trip ride upstream the Madre de Dios river. Finally, we arrive to Manu Wildlife Center for lunch. Later we start exploring some of the 30 miles of forest trails surrounded by the lodge. We could 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. After dinner there will be an enchanting night walk along the trails, in search of the nocturnal birds and animals of the rainforest.
After a delicious breakfast we walk through the forest for some minutes, where we find the Macaw Lick project. Carry your cameras and binoculars to appreciate the scarlet Macaws, that come flapping in groups of two and three, landing in the treetops. After, we continue walking and exploring on the network of trails surrounding the lodge then we return for lunch. Later, we would appreciate the vegetation around the lodge. At the afternoon, we arrive to our Canopy Tower. On its platform we will have the opportunity to feel the adrenaline flying like a bird in the middle of beautiful jungle. Then we set off along the “collpa trail”, which will take us to the famous Tapir Clay lick. Here we will recognize the most active tapir lick known in the entire 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. This material absorbs and neutralizes toxins in the vegetarian diet of the Tapir, the largest land animal of Latin America. This experience is unique and exciting because tapir are normally very shy creatures and no visible up close.
We set off early for a lake full of water lilies and sunken logs. As we visit the lake, we might encounter the resident Giant Otter family on a fishing expedition, or troops of monkeys crashing noisily through the trees. The Wattled jacana step lightly on the lily, dainty Sungrebe paddle across the water, supple‐necked Anhinga 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 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. After lunch at the lodge, we offer an opportunity to search for caiman and other nocturnal life along the riverbank by boat accompanied by our guide.
After breakfast we will explore on the network of trails, having more emphasis in visiting trees with flowers and fruits, we will learn a lot from resident and naturalist guides. During the day we expect to find more species of monkeys, as well as also numerous species of birds. At the afternoon, you will have another opportunity to visit the Observation Tower as weel as the Tapir Clay lick.
We leave our lodge very early on the two hour and a half return boat trip downstream to the Colorado Village. We will enjoy the breakfast at the lodge or in the boat while you enjoy the wildlife activity around the river. In addition, during the journey we will see several native settlements and gold miners digging 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 the bus will drive us to the airport in Puerto Maldonado City.
