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Published: December 12th 2006
Manu National Park is the largest in Peru covering close to 20,000 square kms. The park spans an altitude of 4200 meters to 150 meters above sea level and is quite inaccessible. As a result there is a huge amount of biodiversity within the park which hasn’t been ruined. There are also indigenous groups within the park which have had minimal contact with the outside world, and access to most of the park is forbidden.
Day 1 - up the brown hills
We left Cuzco early in the morning travelling by bus up the hills of the Sacred Valley. The narrow dirt road snaked its way up the steep hills offering fantastic views of the valley. We stoped at a town on the plateau which had its Sunday markets in full swing. The main street had all sorts of stalls set-up along it. Products ranged from fruit and vegetables to DVDs of the latest movies. Locals, many dressed in colourful clothing (particularly the women) strolled along the street.
Further along the road we stoped at the stone funeral towers of Ninamarca or Chullpas. We continued on to the impressive colonial town of Paucartambo. Around the main part of
The Chief (Day 5)
His ancestors where converted by missionaries hundreds of years ago.town all the buildings are white washed and the streets where particularly clean and tidy. The place doesn’t seem to get too many tourists, as we walked along the streets some of the old ladies would stop to stare at us. We had lunch here before continuing on to the cloud forest on the eastern side of the Andes at which point we started making our way down the mountains.
We reached the lodge in the evening. The lodge had everything we needed including hot water and beer (warm though), the beds where covered in mosquito nets. Later it would start raining and continue to do so for the next 20 hours.
Day 2 - rain in the cloud forest
The rain continued and so we had to skip the mountain bike ride and a chance to see the national bird of Peru the Cock of the rock (I’m not sure why they made this bird the national bird when Peru has the Condor!). We continued on by bus down the cloud forest. Eventually we reached a small jungle town where we stoped to buy bread. The houses here are made of wood with corrugated iron roofs,
and no longer of adobe bricks as they are around Cuzco. The bread was delicious, it had a sweet taste.
In the next town we ditched the bus and did some white water rafting. This was great fun and not too rough since the water level was up from all the rain. We caught a motor boat the rest of the way to Erika lodge.
In the afternoon we did a flying fox trip through the canopy of the rain forest. Great fun but unfortunately we did not see any animals as hunting is permitted around this area and so the animals are too timid and rarely seen. Later on we played soccer in the mud, I played goal keeper and my only long pants got covered in mud so it would be shorts for the next couple of days. We finished the evening with a night walk with lots of insects spotted.
Day 3 - shipwrecked (almost) in the Amazon Basin
We set off in the boat, early on into our trip the boat crashed hard into what sounded like a rocky bottom. It lurched to one side and for a brief time I though
it was going to tip over sending my camera into the river. Next loud grinding noises where heard and my next fear was that a hole was going to be punctured in the wooden boat. The crew and guide all jumped into the river and pushed the boat free, saving the day and my camera.
There was not much life along the Madre de Dios river. We glimpsed the occasional shack along the banks some with thatched roof. A lot of birds such as vultures hovering above the river, but the mammals are elusive here as hunting is permitted. At one point we passed a petrol outpost, trading petrol is worthwhile here as there are tax concessions
Eventually we reached Boca Manu the tourist town at the mouth of the Manu river where it joins the Madre de Dios. This town has grown to a size of about 100 families over the years since tourists started coming to this part of Peru. The two main sources of income for the town are the shops for the tourists as well as boat building workshops. There is also a school here, but no church.
Our lodge for the night
was a little further down river. In the evening we went for a walk, and the guide showed us a tree which consists of thousands of roots anchoring it into the ground. Further along the guide told us to stay quiet at one point and moments later a lot of noise of branches and leaves moving was heard overhead. Then in a clearing up ahead I got a glimpse of the monkeys passing through!
Day 4 - lost in the jungle (for a little while - maybe)
Another early start and this time we made our way upriver on the Manu river into the actual reserve. We stoped at a clay lick where parrots lick clay (surprise surprise) to make them resistant to the poisonous planets which they eat in the rainforest. While we where there a raptor flew in and scarred all the parrots away.
At the ranger station all the visitors into the reserve are signed in. We spotted a tarantula here, it curled itself into a ball as soon as it spotted us. Once back on the river we passed countless turtles (these would sit on stumps in the river and dive into the
water on us passing) and caiman.
The lodge in the reserve was more basic with cold water and no electricity. The huts where still very comfortable with two beds to each hut, and I got a hut to myself.
In the afternoon we walked to Lake Salvador where we got on a small catamaran. This lake is absolutely spectacular with its peaceful, still waters forming a huge horse shoe. It’s an ox bow lake forming when the Manu river shifted its course and left part of its old path behind to form a lake. We watched the sunset on the lake, before making our way back to the camp in the dark. We seemed to get lost for a while as the return trip took around three times as long as the trip to the lake and we seemed to be walking of track for part of it. At one stage someone offered the guide a compass but he insisted that we weren’t lost and that he didn’t need the compass. I tried to make bets on how many more minutes the guide would take to admit that we where lost. He did eventually find the way back
to the camp. As we stumbled through the jungle bright glowing insects flew past us, some where an LED green colour while others an LED orange colour which looked quite artificial.
Day 5 - back at the lake
In the morning we returned to Lake Salvador (it was back to the quick 15 minute walk). This time we spent a lot of time watching the giant otters hunting for fish. Once a catch was made they would hold the fish with their front flippers in front of their mouths and eat the fish. We also spotted monkeys in the trees around the lake, including some black spider monkeys up high in the trees. Spider Monkeys are the largest species of monkeys in Manu.
In the afternoon we did a walk to a nearby lodge which is run by some local Indians. Along the way we came across a group of red howler monkeys which seemed to stop to watch us for a while, not far above us. Once at the lodge the chief demonstrated some instruments which his people made, there was also jewellery which included red howler monkey teeth which could be purchased. An older German
tourist in our group purchased a head band and then did a little war dance in front of his camera. Then he purchased a bow and arrow and loaded / cocked the bow, so everyone moved to the back of the hut just in case.
Day 6 - encounters with giant rodents
In the morning we travelled by boat to Lake Otorongo, another ox-bow lake, a smaller one. We got to see some more giant otters, these swam close to the peer when we first arrived to have a better look at us! Further along there is an observation tower giving a great view of the lake and the canopy. There is another lodge near the main river here where we where shown 3 bats sleeping in the roofs of the sleeping platforms.
Continuing down river towards Boca Manu we spotted two ant eaters on a sand bank. It was a male and female pair and they where chasing each other! Further along on another sand bank we spotted a group of capybaras. These are the largest rodent in the world, the size of a dog and weighing up to 60kg.
Once back in Boca Manu
I feed a large green parrot some Doritos by hand. The parrot was very gentle but hated being touched so I couldn’t place it on my shoulder but it did sit on my knees. We played soccer again, Peru vs Rest of the world and lost 3-1… We had a farewell dinner in the evening and I got to try some jungle juice, spirits with lemon juice I think.
Day 7 - the flight back
Throughout the morning our hosts had trouble reaching the airport. As the morning dragged on their calls of “Airporto airporto” became more and more frantic as they tried to find out what time our plane would arrive over the CB radio. It looked like it was stranded in Ica and wouldn’t arrive at Manu until the afternoon, but then things changed and we headed for the airport at around noon.
The airport was just a short boat ride away from our lodge. It consisted of one building near the runway, the floor raised with no walls, just a steep roof. This single room building served as the control tour (with the CB radio), the check-in point as well as the departure lounge.
Everyone and their luggage was weighed, my luggage and I where the heaviest at 101kg. The plane landed and they took the luggage on wheel barrows to be loaded onto the plane. We soon boarded the plane and where off.
The plane was just a small 12 passenger, propeller driven Cessna. As we lifted off the view to the left was just jungle going all the way to the horizon, on the right hand side the Madre de Dios river snaked its way through the jungle (I was on the left hand side). Eventually we reached the cloud forest, it was cloudy here again and then the brown hills around Cuzco. The plane was thrown around a fair bit around here, and loud warning beeps could be heard from the controls. We landed safely and the adventure was over.
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Manu wannabe
non-member comment
Nice post!
Good blog - great photos. What tour operator did you book with and would you recommend them? Did you book in advance or when you got to Peru?