Our five-day tour to the Manu Reserved Zone takes you to the heart of the Amazon rainforest. This area is the largest in the renowned Amazon rainforest that dominates South America, covering 1,532,806 hectares (1.5 million hectares).
It is one of the most visited regions in the Peruvian Amazon, not only because of its proximity to Cusco, the gateway to Machu Picchu, but also because Manu National Park is home to an incredible variety of flora and fauna.
The Amazon rainforest rises from 290 meters above sea level to 4,200 meters above sea level in the Andean highlands. It is divided into three zones: the Manu Core Zone, the Manu Reserved Zone, and the Cultural Zone. Access to the Manu Core Zone is restricted to scientists and researchers. UNESCO recognized Manu as a World Heritage Site in 1987.
This five-day excursion to the Manu Reserved Zone, with our local team, takes you to the heart of the Peruvian rainforest. You'll be able to appreciate the biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest. The experience also includes numerous activities such as birdwatching, jaguar spotting, night safaris, survival classes, and much more.
We are a family-run tourism company based in the Manu rainforest village of Palotoa. We are proud to employ local people, as they possess extensive knowledge of the flora and fauna, culture, and indigenous traditions.
Manu National Park: Covers an area of 1,716,292.22 hectares and is listed as one of the largest national parks in South America.
Manu National Park: Covers an area of 1,716,292.22 hectares and is listed as one of the largest national parks in South America.
On this first day of the tour, very early in the morning, around 4:00 AM, we will pick you up from your hotel in Cusco. Then, in our private tourist transport, we will take you from the Andes to the Amazon. As it is a long journey, we will make a few stops at some interesting sites along the way.
Our first stop will be in Paucartambo. It is a folkloric town where people still maintain their customs. Most speak the Quechua language.
From here, we will head to the Acjanaco Pass, the entrance to Manu National Park and the Amazon rainforest, from where you will have a panoramic view of the Amazon basin. We will descend through the cloud forest.
We will make a brief stop here. The region is home to the Andean cock-of-the-rock, Peru's national bird. Here you can also observe different species of monkeys, such as the woolly monkey. After enjoying the first views of the Rocky Mountains, we will continue our journey to the port of Atalaya, passing through small farming villages. From Atalaya, we will change transportation and begin our adventure, a two-hour motorized boat ride along the Madre de Dios River to our lodge in the forest. There, we will accommodate you in a cabin with a private bathroom for your first night, surrounded by the sounds of the jungle animals.
Our staff will serve you a delicious dinner.
Early this morning, we will depart from Palotoa Amazon Lodge and travel for approximately four hours in our motorized boat along the Madre de Dios River. During the journey, we will enjoy a delicious breakfast. Continuing our journey, we will leave behind the crystal-clear waters of the Madre de Dios River and enter the clay waters of the Manu River.
We will make a brief stop at the Limonal Control Point, where we will present our entry permits to the park rangers. After a short introduction to the tour, we will navigate the Manu River for five hours. The riverbanks are teeming with nesting birds, herons, Orinoco egrets, and egrets feeding. We may also observe white and black caimans.
More than one hundred sandy-colored nightjars rest during the day on logs and beaches. Jaguars may also be spotted here. This region is home to red howler monkeys and squirrel monkeys. During the trip, we'll have lunch sitting on our boat in the heart of the jungle. In the afternoon, we'll arrive at the Casa Matsiguenka lodge, located on the banks of the Manu River.
The lodge is run by the Matsiguenka ethnic group. Around the lodge are numerous interesting trails, where your guide will provide interpretation during the excursions.
We'll spend the afternoon exploring some fascinating trails in this pristine area of the Amazon rainforest. Then we'll visit Lake Cocha Otorongo, which features a 20-meter-high observation tower in the treetops. From there, you'll enjoy a panoramic view of the lake and the wildlife. You might also spot giant otters.
We'll return to the lodge for dinner. After dinner, you'll have the option of taking a nighttime jungle tour, where you can observe more nocturnal animals. We'll travel by boat during the night tour, so you'll also have the opportunity to spot black caimans, olingos, ocelots, and other wildlife.
After the tour through the lowland rainforest, we'll return to the lodge to rest and spend our second night.
We will be serving you a typical Amazonian breakfast, then we will be spending the rest of the morning at Lake cocha Salvador. We will be canoeing on the lake and from the floating platform you will be able to spot wildlife of the Oxbow lake.
Here, we will also see Agami Heron or Sungrebe, brown capuchin monkeys and more. There are specially constructed stones that jot out into the lake.
From here you will get to see families of giant otters that inhabit here. These are the world’s largest freshwater carnivores remaining in Manu. Each of these animals consume between 4-5 kilos of fish a day. You will often spot them eating fishes on the lakeside.
We will be spending the rest of the day hiking on the trails and looking for the thirteen iconic species of monkeys. The region is also home to many medicinal plants.
After exploring Lake Salvador, we will have another beautiful activity. It consists of observing parrots and macaws on a cliff, which is called macaw clay lick. This activity is very preferred by bird-loving tourists, and bird watchers. There we will spend 2 hours in a hiding house to see these beautiful birds.
On this trail, we will also spot groups of Peccaries. They are a species of new world pigs. We will then see the sunset and return to Casa Matsiguenka lodge for dinner.
After breakfast, we will be checking out from Casa Matsiguenka Lodge and sail for four hours down the Boca Manu river. Often you will be able to spot many distinct animals on the shores. We will also make a stop to visit Lake Brassco, which attracts a lot of biodiversity, where we will have the option of seeing more animals in their natural habitat. We will then continue on Madre de Dios river for five hours till we reach our own Palotoa Amazon Lodge.
The lodge nestles in the heart of the rainforest. The location makes it ideal for local conservation groups and bird watchers to set base and explore the rainforest. After dinner, we will be doing a night walk to spot some nocturnal creatures here.
This day we will wake up early for a delicious breakfast at our lodge. Afterward, we will have time to pack our belongings. Then we will take a motorized boat to the port of Atalaya, where we will board our car for the journey to Cusco. We will stop along the way for our last lunch.
We will arrive in Cusco in the afternoon, around 5 pm, and we will drop you off at your hotel or wherever you prefer.
Absolutely a fantastic jungle experience! … We loved the treehouse and the environment around the camp. A lot of biodiversity, high amount of bird species etc. And Vidal, what a guide!
We do not recommend going on this tour … The itinerary felt careless, and our guide was not very engaged … Days 1 and 5 were solely travel days, which was not mentioned on the website either.
