http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Peru , Cusco , Manu National Park en-us Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:45:51 +0000 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:45:51 +0000 After Salkantay we gave ourselves a few hours of rest and then set off for our next adventure Manu Biosphere. Rest is overrated anyway and we were really excited at the thought of spending eight days in the jungle. Having been born and bred in the tropics I thought that the insect factor would not really faze me I was going to be proved very wrong indeed. Read on reader...We left at 4.30 http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-433510.html Just got back to Cusco from the Manu National Park in the rainforest. First.... Obama won Huzzah Great news we were nervous in the forest about the elections before we got communication at some point the next day. I had figured it would be crazy in the states but Im hearing from friends it was more than I imagined. Moving on....My group included a Swiss couple a Spanish couple and another http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-342385.html 17 29 October Back in Cusco. Shockingly enough the Cruz del Sur bus arrived on time at five in the morning and we got a transfer with the hostel owner Yuri to the hostel. Had a quick shower and somehow managed not to go back to bed but instead headed into town for breakfast and to book a rainforest tour.We got a pretty good deal on an 8 day trip to the rainforest coming in and out by bus a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-339508.html So we decided to brave it. We are going to overcome our fears of spiders snakes and other kind of creepy bugs and venture into the amazon basin in the hope of seeing some monkeys. We decided a tour into the Manu national park was the best place for us to get into the jungle and again our tour was a bright and early 4am start. The first day we travelled up to San Juan where our first ecolodge wa http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-335218.html We had an 8day trip into the Peruvian Amazon to an area of primary rainforest untouched by man called the Manu Reserve zone. On the first day we met the other three people in our group and I think it's fair to say it was clear from the outset that we were never going to bond. The first signs came with the rubber boots incident. Simple really. We needed to borrow some rubber boots aka we http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-302867.html Jungle Trip into Manu National Park We had a long drive to get to the National Park through stunning mountain scenery and tiny villiages. At the edge of the Park we looked down into the Cloud Forest an area of jungle with perpetual cloud coverage. This was a stunning sight as we looked down into the valley where the clouds were hovering. We then continued down into the jungle on a tiny track http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-277733.html After my week of relaxing in Arequipa I managed to get myself booked onto a Jungle tour with my friends Shelly and James. This was to be a completely different jungle experience from the rescue centre as it was very much geared towards the tourists. Not something I would normally be interested in but I had four days to use up and was curious to see the amazon from another perspective plus I fanc http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-231337.html We feel a bit like frauds filling this in now we are back in the UK but here is the last entry for your enjoymentAfter another night in Cuzco we headed off for the Amazon basin and Manu Biosphere Reserve. After another early morning seems to have been too many of them this trip we started out on what would be an 8 hour bus journey up and over the Andes and into the jungle.On the way up we sto http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-215361.html Hey guys I survived the amazon albeit with many mosquito bitesIt was an awesome tour there were only four of us a couple from Australia and another canadian girl from ontario. There was alot of traveling involved the first day I think we were on the roada very bumpy road for about 8 hrs and then we took a boat for another 45 min to an hour. We had enough stops along the way though to make http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-214978.html On Monday we flew from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado which Jez and Stu have taken to saying in a Terry Cristianstyle Manc accent for some unknown reason. You remember him from The Word which is not far from the Bolivian border i.e. in the Amazon Jungle.From there it was a 45minute journey on a motorised canoe then a 45minute walk through the rainforest then a 30minute canoe ride until we eve http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-210762.html I cant say enough about our amazing 7 day trip up and over the Andes from Cuzco into Manu Biosphere Reserve one of the many lowland river areas that eventually drains into the Amazon. We went from high altitude grassland to cloud forest and then by boat down the Rio Madre de Dios to the actual park. Our group of 6 had a great guide who grew up along the river. The birds The plants The scenery http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-153980.html This here is a little tribute from our four day trek into the Amazon. The jungle was a ten hour drive from Cuzco on a narrow cliffside mountain road with nasty switchbacks and sickening drops. The first night we spent in the jungle town of Pilocopata. Just before Pilocopata is a little town Patria which is one of the largest producers of cocaine in Peru. Peru supplies the world with 30 of it' http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-134693.html Hey everyoneWe just got back from Manu which was fantastic. We will look more in depth later on in the blog. Herersquos a recap of the past weekTUESDAY We continued our last week of Spanish classes while we were both sick. Elena had to get some shots and Tom had to take lots of medication but everything is fine now. WEDNESDAY classes againTHURSDAY more classes Elena went to play soccer http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-126723.html After coming back to Lima from the Cordillera Blanca we hopped on a LAN Peru flight to Cusco and immediately headed out the next morning for the Manu National Park. We did the 4 day 3 night tour with Manu Ecological Adventures. After arriving in Cusco we immediately rang their office and they had us come in to meet our guide Alvaro. Quite the adventure man ruggedly handsome Peruvian guy http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-121400.html Manu National Park is the largest in Peru covering close to 20000 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 hasnrsquot been ruined. There are also indigenous groups within the park which have had minimal contact with the outside world and access to most http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-110320.html Ill try and pick up from roughly where Jac left off. We arrived in the town of Atalaya as the sun had disappeared down the Madre de Dios River. Weary arms and even wearier bikes were rested as we tucked into two dinners each at a shack to at the end of town where we had hoped to find a sauna and cocktail bar. Despite being everyones starting point into the jungle it transpired that a maximum of http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-106837.html So we left here moments after I mopped up my latest effort and Dom finished his last entry. Hit the road feeling a little worse for wear but glad to be actively constructing anything other than more mess. Enough it was and fortunately so was it.Across the town of Cusco out past the large white Jesus bisecting many of the Cusco local Inca sites. Not allowed to stop and visit because a by now no http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-105759.html Had a brilliant 7 days in the jungle far too much to write about now. Highlights white water rafting mountain biking in the cloud forest swimming in the river at sunset zipping across the canopy from platform to platform high above the forest floor abseiling seeing a sloth 7 giant otters caimans 5 species of monkeys turtles capybara possum macaws herons kingfisher a fresh puma f http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-98875.html So I just got back from the rainforest and let me tell you what that was the most amazing experience of my life. Though the Inca Trail was pretty awesome this was something I could never match. It rained ALOT but it was so much fun. I guess thats how it got its name The first day we rode on a bus for hours and arrived at some nice bungalows with mosquito nets over our beds..never a good sign http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-96957.html We survived Id better start from the beginning. Before heading to the jungle we spent a day seeing more of Cuzco and taking in more of the Inca archetecture that stands in stark contrast to the Spanish stonework. Whilst the latter is quite quaint and adds to teh character of the place it is laughably poor by comparison. One local told me that the good walls were made by the Incas whereas th http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-95599.html