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THE MANU
The Ultimate South American Wilderness
Saturday 23rd July -
Thursday 11th August 2011
(20 days)
Machupicchu Post-Tour Extension to Saturday 13th August (2 days)
Leader:
Matt Denton
Group Size Limit: 8
Tour Category: Easy to Moderate
Nowhere in the Andes will you find such an easily observed lek of Andean Cock-of-the-Rocks as the Manu cloud forest, located just five minutes walk along a flat road and with a wonderfully designed viewing hide (Pete Morris)
(Note: This is a summary of the tour. For more information please download the detailed itinerary. The button is at the top right of the page.)
A visit to the Manu, which extends from the High Andes to the Amazonian lowlands, is one of the world’s great birding journeys! Situated at the periphery of the upper Amazon basin, the splendid Manu National Park boasts the planet’s richest biological heritage. Spanning the entire humid east slope of the Andes and including vast tracts of adjacent Amazonian lowlands, it holds the astonishing number of over 1000 bird species, or more than ten percent of the world’s avifauna, within the boundaries of a single protected area!
One of the wildest and remotest places on earth, it still holds Amerindian tribes that have never been contacted by outsiders and a multitude of rainforest creatures that form an intricate ecological network, the secrets of which man is only just starting to reveal. Habitats range from steamy lowland rainforests to luxuriant subtropical forests, moss-draped cloudforests and contorted elfin woodland at the treeline, each sheltering an entirely different set of birds.
For a long time this wilderness was virtually inaccessible, but new lodges now enable us to sample a broad array of life zones and elevations in some comfort. Even for those who have previously visited several corners of the vast Amazon basin, this adventurous tour offers a treasure trove of new and exciting birds and mammals.
We will begin in Cuzco, ancient capital of the proud Incas, where a visit to a fine marshland area and nearby puna grassland will provide us with a sample of birds that have adapted to the rigours of living permanently at elevations of over 10,800ft (3000m).
A spectacular Andean road then takes us to the cloud-forested slopes of Peru’s eastern Andes, where an astonishing lek of the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, a parade of iridescent hummingbirds and swirls of colourful tanagers form only a fraction of the excitements. Amidst breathtaking mountain scenery, a short stay at the upper edge of the cloudforest and then a longer stay at a lodge at lower elevation will enable us to spend several days sorting through an overwhelming variety of montane birds, many of which can only be found here and in adjacent northern Bolivia.
Reaching the headwaters of the Alto Madre de Dios, we will visit the hospitable Amazonia Lodge, an abandoned tea plantation set amongst a carpet of unfolding green foothills. Now covered with second growth habitats of various ages amid tracts of primary forest, the former plantation offers excellent opportunities to see a wide variety of antbirds along with representatives of many other families.
Next we travel down the Alto Madre de Dios through a series of fast flowing stretches of water, passing large gravel bars often attended by pairs of gracious Fasciated Tiger-Herons. We will break the journey at the hospitable Pantiacolla Lodge, where riverine Cecropia woodland holds the mind-boggling, near-endemic Scarlet-hooded Barbet and dense bamboo stands hold the endemic White-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher. Not far from the lodge is a salt lick visited by raucous groups of Blue-headed Macaws in the early morning.
We shall begin our exploration of Manu National Park proper in the pristine lowland rainforests surrounding Manu Rainforest Lodge, where each venture along the surrounding trails is sure to yield up a variety of new and exciting birds. Located in an area presumed to be one of the great Pleistocene forest refugia, these forests hold a number of little known and localized birds, including the tiny Amazonian Parrotlet and the exquisite Black-faced Cotinga. With the absence of hunting, large showy birds such as guans, macaws and toucans are still to be found easily, and nowhere else in Amazonia does one have similar opportunities for viewing forest mammals. Thirteen species of monkeys roam the forest canopy and playful groups of the endangered Giant Otter make their home in the quiet waters of oxbow lakes. Even the sight of an Ocelot or a Jaguar along the meandering Manu river is not unimaginable here in this incomparable lost world.
From Manu Rainforest Lodge we will move on to the Manu Wildlife Centre, another superb lodge at the fringe of the national park. Here patches of impenetrable bamboo provide shelter for a series of bamboo-specialist bird species including Peruvian Recurvebill, Bamboo Antshrike and the recently-described Manu Antbird. Floodplain forests hold the secretive, near-endemic Rufous-fronted Antthrush, while an amazing canopy tower and an extensive network of trails will allow further exploration of the rich Amazonian avifauna. This is also the location of an even more spectacular clay lick, this one featuring up to 100 Red-and-green Macaws and literally hundreds of Blue-headed Parrots along with various other parrots and parakeets! Join us on this exciting South American journey for what should be the ultimate Neotropical wilderness experience!
During the optional extension we will visit the ‘lost city’ of Machupicchu, one of the world’s most extraordinary and famous archaeological sites, and home to Inca Wren and other birds. Upon flying back to Lima, a visit to the verdant Lomas de Lachay and the arid coastline will enable us to look for some typical inhabitants of this starkly different habitats.
Birdquest has operated tours to the Manu since 1993.
Accommodation & Road Transport: The hotels in Lima and Cuzco are of normal Birdquest standard. Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge, Amazonia Lodge, Pantiacolla Lodge, Manu Rainforest Lodge and Manu Wildlife Centre are delightfully-situated, comfortable but fairly simple lodges (they lack electricity, so lighting is by gas or paraffin lamps). Bathroom facilities are shared at Amazonia Lodge and Pantiacolla Lodge. At Pillahuata we will either stay for one night in a simple research station with shared bathroom facilities (if they are accepting guests) or in a tented camp (with tents available for twin or single occupancy) specially set up for us by our local agents. Road transport is by small coach. The few roads we will travel range from reasonable to poor (in the roadless Amazonian lowlands we will travel by boat).
Walking: The walking effort is easy to moderate.
Climate: Rather variable. At low and middle elevations many days are warm or hot, dry and sunny, though on other days it can be cool and overcast. At high altitudes conditions range from cool to decidedly cold in the early morning. It may well rain at times and it will be rather humid at lower altitudes.
Bird Photography: Opportunities are worthwhile.
Linking Birdquests: This tour can be linked with Central Peru in 2011. Please contact us for further information.
Pricing
Pricing is available in £ | $
Tour Price: $6810 Lima/Lima. Post-Tour Extension: $750. Price includes all transportation (including all flights inside Peru), all accommodations, all meals, bottled water, some drinks, all excursions, all entrance fees, all tips for local drivers/guides and for accommodations/restaurants, leader services.
Single Room Supplement: $855. Post-Tour Extension: $114.
Deposit: $660. Post-Tour Extension: $80. If booking more than 12 months before departure, the initial deposit is only $220.
Air Travel To & From The Tour: Our in-house IATA ticket agency can arrange your air travel in connection with the tour from a departure point anywhere in the world, or you may arrange your own air travel if you prefer. We can tailor-make your itinerary to your personal requirements, so if you would like to travel in advance of the tour (and spend a night in an hotel so you will feel fresh when the tour starts), or return later than the end of the tour, or make a side trip to some other destination, or travel business class rather than economy, we will be happy to assist. Please contact us about your air travel requirements.
Pricing is available in £ | $
Striolated Puffbird is one of the many specialities we will likely find from this tour’s outstanding selection of forest canopy platforms (Pete Morris)
The Manu cloud forest is a great place to see Golden-headed Quetzal (Pete Morris)
…as well as the stunning Grey-breasted Mountain-Toucan (Pete Morris)
The Manu is THE place for macaws with greater numbers here than any other part of the Amazon. Only in southern Peru does one find clay licks visited by large numbers of macaws such as these Red-and-green Macaws providing one of the Amazon’s great spectacles (Matt Denton)
14 photos
View Gallery Photos From THE MANU
The waterbird spectacle along the sandbars of the Rio Manu in Manu National Park always includes good numbers of breeding Orinoco Goose (Pete Morris)
Game birds from the Manu cloud forest, such as this Andean Guan, are not hunted (Pete Morris)
The swift waters of the upper Rio Madre de Dios always have good numbers of Fasciated Tiger-Herons fishing in the rocky shallows (Pete Morris)
One of the classic Neotropical raptors is the snake-hunting Laughing Falcon (Pete Morris)
It is not all humid forest, as we begin the trip birding the arid high country near Cusco where we usually find small numbers of Bare-faced Ground-Doves (Pete Morris)
Shining Sunbeams are also found in the arid highlands (Pete Morris)
With luck we will find the uncommon Band-bellied Owl in the Manu (Pete Morris)
Ladder-tailed Nightjars often roost along the brushy edges of the oxbow lakes (Pete Morris)
The lovely Sparkling Violetear is the most aggressive hummer at the feeders (Pete Morris)
The garden of Amazonia Lodge is probably the best stake-out in the world for the unreal looking Rufous-crested Coquette (Pete Morris)
…and in many years the gardens also host a pair of nesting Chestnut-fronted Macaws (Pete Morris)
White-throated Woodpecker is a speciality of western Amazonia (Pete Morris)
Little Cuckoo is a skulking denizen of second growth forest edge (Pete Morris)
The far reaching calls of Lemon-browed Flycatchers are usually a good sign of bird activity in the Manu foothills (Pete Morris)
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