Manu Biosphere - making friends with creepy crawlies

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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 am (another early start) and set off in a coach - there was a dozen or so of us. The Manu Biospehere is a protected reserve in the Peruvian Amazonian Basin.

Annu decided that she was going to wear her flipflops. After all we were going to the jungle - how cold could it be? Well, we did have to go up the mountains to about 4,200 metres and then down to the jungle, so most of the morning was pretty damn cold with a cold biting wind. The first thing we visited were some pre-inca ruins (Chullpas) in a town called Ninamarca. They were tombs where the dead laid exposed and were allowed to mummify in the cold dry air. There were a couple of girls selling friendship bracelets for the price of two soles. However, as soon as Annu expressed interest in purchasing one, the price went up to three soles! OK, it's not much in dollar terms, but not very good business ethic!

The landscape changed dramatically as soon as we reached the jungle side. Prior to that, it was effectively a desert with patches of green where people were trying to grow vegetables. Then suddenly, we were in the jungle, surrounded by lush vegetation and an amazing array of wildlife. Quite extraordinary. The weather was bad, very misty and rainy, and we sincerely hoped that it was not a prelude to the remainder of the trip! The first stop was to see a lek, where a peculiar bird, Cock of the Rock, could be seen. We waited patiently for 30 minutes or so before we saw them. The male is has a vibrant red crest and they practice their seduction routine everyday around the same time. Male posturing so that the females would then select the best of the species for mating later. Just like homo sapiens. We also saw some capuchin monkeys along the road. We stayed in a lodge called Orquideas de San Pedro. It was very rustic, with electricity for only two hours in the evening. Any activity when the generators were off had to be done by headlamp (I remember some of my friends sniggering when I told them that I had purchased a headlamp, so there!!). Annu and I shared a room, with beds covered with a mosquito net. The bathrooms and toilets were outside. It was an interesting experience peeing in the dark with a headlamp on. We went to bed, I believe around 8 ish, and promptly fell asleep, lulled by the river.

Next day, we set off for Erica Lodge by bus to a town called Pilcopata. We rafted down the river to Atalaya. It was a much milder version of the rafting I did in Costa Rica, saying that there were Class 2 rapids on the river was a generous statement. It was, after all, dry season, so the river was really shallow. From Atalaya, we arrived to Erica Lodge, down the Alta Madre de Dios river by motorboat. Erica Lodge was very picturesque and in the transition zone between cloud forest and rain forest. There was a ziplining option, which I declined, and instead did two forest hikes. The coolest thing was seeing (actually hearing would be a more correct description) of a tayra succesfully hunting a flightless bird (can't remember its name, but it looked a bit like a grouse). We also saw walking palms (they move along with new roots), bullet and army ants, termites (they taste minty I am told), frogs, and so many different kinds of birds (oropendola, toucanets, parakeets, macaws, tanager, caracare). Very very cool indeed.

Day three was spent travelling down river to Boca Manu village, and then to our other lodge. We did a night walk, and again it was amazing. We saw jaguar tracks and heard wild boars (Capibara). We saw a giant ficus tree, which the locals believe has some spiritual power.

OK, I am not going to give a blow by blow account of what we did on all the days for two reasons. First, this blog will be way too long and second, I can't remember what we did exactly on which day.

So, the highlights of the trip for me, in addition to the above were:

*) a two-metre black caiman coming up close and personal to our boat.
*) seeing a vampire bat (although I believe that it was injured and about to die)
*) lying in wait and being very quiet to spot a huge herd of Capibaras (they will charge if threatened)
*) seeing three otters attack a caiman that was too close to their nest
*) the parrot lick, where hundreds of parrots come to feed
*) turtles sunning themselves on branches and fallen trees
*) watching different species of monkeys going from branch to branch
*) amazing trees (e.g the Kapok tree which is an ecosystem in its own right) and vegetation
*) red macaws
*) great and interesting group of fellow travellers in our boat
*) piranhas devouring a fish carcass left over by an otter

The not-so-high lights were:
*) getting bitten everywhere, even on my arse
*) finding a colony of termites in my mattress
*) finding a giant spider and a giant cockroach in my bedroom (same night of the colony of termites)
*) technical stops, i.e. loo stops needed when one spends six hours on a boat - getting out of the boat and finding a decent place to pee (downhill to avoid splashback - thanks for the tip Annu). Trust me, this is the trip to overcome modesty when talking about your bowel movements to total strangers!
*) finding a leech on my arm and a tic on my leg (I only realised the tic was there two days after we came back from Manu - two days!!!)

This is definitely a must see in Peru, off the beaten track, which many people tend to overlook. The eight day trip is definitely better than the four day one as you get the opportunity to go deep into the jungle. Do it if you can!

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Photos

Our boat
Just can about make it through the vegetation

A bridge called Sven Ericsson
The explorer, not the football coach manager