New Tour to Manu Biosphere Reserve by Bus 7d/6n

Note: This tour starts and ends in Cusco and goes all the way to Manu Biosphere Reserve by the "Inter oceanic Road" that joins Brazil and Peru, this tour combines the Reserved Zone of Manu Park with the largest Macaw Clay Lick in the Cultural Zone.

This Tour  includes the following activities	Tour Map
Bird Watching Caiman Searching Turtle Searching Jaguar Searching Visit to a Macaw Clay Lick all Nights in Lodge Trekking in the Jungle Night Walkings Survival lessons Visit to Paquiza. Jungle exploration inside the Biosphere Reserve

Tour itinerary

Day 1: Cusco - Mazuco - Blanquillo Reserve

We will leave Cusco very early in the morning, driving through traditional Quechua communities along the Inter Oceanic Road that unifies Brazil with Peru. This journey to Mazuco will take about 6 hours, once we get to Mazuco we will cross the Inanbari river in a small motorized boat and from there we will take a car  to Colorado. Once we get to Colorado, a  mining town, we will sail up river in our Motorized 60HP  Boat to our lodge in Blanquillo Reserve.
We will reach the lodge late in the afternoon.

Day 2: Blanquillo Reserve - Macaw Clay Lick - Hummingbird Lodge

Activity at the Macaw clay lick begins about 5:30 am as medium sized parrots arrive with the dawn, pair by noisy pair, and land in the treetops above the lick. Hundreds of screeching birds clamber about in the branches in preparation for their descent to the riverbank. Eventually, cascades of green, blue, and red parrots circle down to the clay wall. About 7:00 or 7:30 am large macaws start to arrive. After about 40 to 100 have gathered and deemed the lick safe, they begin to descend. This colourful and noisy scene continues for 20 to 40 minutes while the birds eat their fill of clay or until danger arrives in the form of a hawk, eagle, jaguar or ocelot.
There are normally between 80 to 100 macaws and 600 or more other parrots. This is truly one of the world's great wildlife spectacles. In the afternoon we will continue wailing up river until reach our lodge where we will spent the second night. (optional night walk)

Day 3: Humming bird Lodge - Manu Biosphere Reserve

Today we will continue our journey along the Manu River as far as the Matshiguenka lodge, inside the Reserved Area, passing Limonal, the Park Ranger Station, where we will register before entering the Reserved Area. In the course of the trip we will see birds, toucans, macaws, parrots and some mammals such as capybaras, tapirs, peccaries and many varieties of turtles, caiman and, if we are lucky, an impressive, lone jaguar. We will arrive at our lodge in the mid-afternoon, near the Salvador oxbow-Lake, where we will spend two nights.

Day 4: Manu Biosphere Reserve - Paquitza

After breakfast we will sail up river from our lodge, in the way we will have chances to observe the wildlife of the area, monkeys, jaguars, caimans, turtles. Paquitza is the last Park ranger office, around there we can explore some of the trails, on the trails we have changes to observe a very rare type of pocket monkey called "Emperor Tamarin", the area is one of the few places where we can observe them, in the afternoon we will return to the lodge sailing down river with our motor turned off, this will allow us to have more chances to spot animals along Manu River.

Day 5: Manu Biosphere Reserve all day

An early morning start will have us paddling in small canoes or on our floating platform in the tranquil oxbow lake, Cocha Salvador, as the morning mists rise. We may encounter an Agami Heron or Sungrebe and Brown Capuchin Monkeys feeding on fruit. We may also see a jaguar, giant river otters - called river wolves, and hoatzins (prehistoric birds). The otters can reach 6 feet in length and weigh up to 70 lbs. and consume between 9 to 11 lbs. of fish daily. They are one of the rarest animals on earth and only remain common in Manu. We will be on the lookout for some of the 13 species of monkeys found here. The sound of red howler monkeys through the mist may make our skin crawl while parrots will be seen flying high overhead. After lunch we walk trails which pass through terra firma forest as we look at the complex ecosystem that surrounds us. Our ecologist guide will explain how the plants and insects interact with the forest. We will be on the lookout for some of the smaller inhabitants of the jungle, such as the emperor or saddleback tamarins. We may even cross paths with a group of Peccaries, a species of wild boar found here. In the late afternoon we may swim in the river as we watch the sun set. Overnight at Casa Matshiguenka Lodge.

Day 6: Manu Biosphere Reserve - Hummingbird Lodge

Today we will walk from camp through the forest to another oxbow lake, Cocha Otorongo - "Jaguar Lake", to experience another chance to see further wildlife. We may encounter troops of monkeys especially the Common Woolly Monkey. We’ll pay special attention to the plant life and listen carefully for rustling vegetation and fruits falling to the rainforest floor indicating the presence of animals or large birds. After a leisurely lunch we take our canoes for a 4-hour trip down river until we reach Boca Manu for the night. Overnight at Boca Manu Lodge.

Day 7: Hummingbird Lodge - Mazuco - Cusco

Today we will start our journey back from the Jungle to Cusco.  After we sail for a couple of hours we will reach Colorado mining town, from here we will continue our trip to Cusco by car. We will arrive to Cusco between 6pm to 9pm.