Day1: Cusco-Cloud Forest Leaving Cusco early in the morning, we begin an 8-hour journey over the Andes by bus, stopping for a coffee at the beautiful colonial village of Paucartambo. Continuing, we climb to the highpoint of the Manu Biosphere at about 4000 m before descending to the cloud forest. In these mysterious surroundings we take a hike to the lek of the incredible cock-of-the-rock, to see the 'performance' of the males right under our eyes. We spend our first night in the rustic lodge Posada San Pedro (appr. 1,600 m).
Day 2: Cloud Forest-Cocha Machuhuasi-Pantiacolla Lodge At daybreak we continue by bus to tropical lowland rainforest. Here at the small village Atalaya at 650 m, we change into a motorized canoe to navigate some 2 hours down the turbulent Alto Madre de Dios River. From here we get great views of the Andes. We stop for a visit of one of the very view lakes on the Alto Madre de Dios River, where you can go around on small traditional rafts. For the next two nights we stay at the Pantiacolla lodge, right at the foot of the Pantiacolla Mountain Range.The forest of Pantiacolla Lodge is a very special rainforest: this is where the Andes and the lowland tropical rainforest meet and provides the visitor with a chance to see a good selection of birds and plants from bóth zones as well as endemics to the area. Your first hike will be on the lowland trails, at 400m above sea level. Also at night, we explore the forest by torchlight looking for insects, snakes and the uniquely nocturnal night-monkey or 'douricouli'. We spend the night in Pantiacolla Lodge.
Day 3: Clay lick for parrots-Excursion to the Petroleo stream Early in the morning the boat takes you to a nearby clay lick for parrots and the rare blue-headed macaw. Their spectacle is both impressive to see and to hear! From there we visit the higher trails of the Pantiacolla Mountains: it’s ‘Oil’ stream with small hot springs, oil wells and natural swimming pools. At night we visit Ranacocha, Frog Lake. Overnight in Panctiacolla Lodge
Day 4: Hot springs-Cloud Forest After a last morning hike in Pantiacolla, the boat takes us to the hot springs of Shintuya for a relaxing mineral bath, before continuing further up to Atalaya. From here we turn back up the Andes by car. We visit a local orchid “sanctuary” along the way. We spend the last night in Posada San Pedro.
Day 5: Huatocto, Cusco We hike through the cloud forest till our car picks us up to take us to Huatocto, near Paucartambo. This is a traditional Andean Community where there used to be a big hacienda in colonial times. Of course the hacienda was built on top of Inka ruins! From here we travel by car to Cusco, where we arrive in the late afternoon.
Note
* Bearing in mind the uncontrollable forces of nature, the program could be subject to changes at any time
* Manu is a rainforest that has remained intact because of it hidden location. This means the program involves much traveling by bus and boat (for 5-day tour). However, it also means you are in a part of the Amazon rainforest that has no comparison, with an untouched flora and fauna!
* Every group can contain people who travel for 3, 5, 7 or 9 days
Included
*Naturalist guide in English and Spanish
*Transportation Cusco/Atalaya & Atalaya/Cusco by private bus
*Transportation by private boat for 5-day tour: Atalaya/Pantiacolla Lodge/Atalaya
*Excursions as described in the programs
*Overnights in lodges
*Meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner)
*Water at any time and warm drinks or lemonades with meals
*Guide book for rainforest of Manu – Talking About Manu
Manu cultural zone peru, jungle in 5 days
