Manu Reserved Zone with camping (8 days) 

Pickup from your hotels will be around 5:00 a.m. The Bio Manu Expeditions team will pick you up. After a 2.5-hour drive through mountains and valleys, we will arrive at the village of Paucatambo. At 2,906 meters above sea level (9,534 feet), Paucatambo is the folklore capital of the region. This colonial village boasts incredible colonial buildings, and the old stone bridge here is certainly not to be missed. We will stop here for a coffee.

After leaving Paucatambo, we will drive to the highest point of our entire trip, Acjanaco, at 3,600 meters. This is also the entrance to Manu National Park.

It offers a beautiful panoramic view of the cloud forest mountains and small tributaries of the largest river in the Peruvian Amazon (Río Alto Madre de Dios), which flows through the lowland rainforest.

Here we begin our descent into the cloud forest, which begins with small shrubs, trees, and flowering plants. Ferns, epiphytes, lichens, and orchids adorn the hillside. Among the birds present in the area are hummingbirds, quetzals, trogons, toucans, parrots, and tanagers. We also hope to see Peru’s national bird, the cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruviana). We will be on the lookout for the shy woolly monkey, which is found in the cloud forest habitat.

At noon, we will have lunch outdoors. Our chef will prepare it. After enjoying lunch, we will continue exploring the cloud forest and arrive at our accommodation, the eco-lodge, at dusk.

After breakfast, we head to the hummingbird garden, where hundreds of hummingbirds gather to feed on the abundant nectar of the flowers. We may also encounter some monkeys. After this visit, we continue to the Atalaya dock, where our road trip ends. Our team will help us board the motorized boat. We will sail for two hours to the Palotoa River, through the upper Madre de Dios River. We will have the opportunity to appreciate the beautiful landscape of the Amazon rainforest and birds flying overhead.

On the Palotoa River, our small boat, called Pekepke, will be waiting for us. Named for the noise of its engine, it is designed exclusively for small rivers and low flows. After sailing 50 minutes upriver, we arrive at our comfortable Amazon Treehouse. The last activity of the day will be a night hike, in search of nocturnal animals such as tapirs, tarantulas, frogs, snakes, spiders, and night monkeys, among many others. It’s nature, so we can be surprised at any moment by a magnificent view! From time to time, we’ll all turn off our flashlights. You’ll be amazed by the extraordinary sounds of the jungle, which will impact you even more by staying in complete darkness.

Amazon Treehouse, run by our local family, features tree houses perched 6 to 7 meters high in a tree. Private rooms equipped with bathrooms and hot showers overlooking the Palotoa River, solar energy, a dining room, and garden balconies.

Rustically built with local materials, it is located in the center of the protected area of ​​Manu National Park. The staff will escort you to your accommodation, equipped with comfortable beds. There are shared bathrooms with showers, solar energy, and Wi-Fi if you need it.

After an incredible night at the Treehouse, surrounded by the sounds of the jungle, we’ll wake up early to embark on a 25-minute hike through the jungle and observe the riverbank and the parrot and macaw clay lick. Hundreds of them gather. Every day is different, seeking their morning dose of nutrient-rich clay that aids their digestion. Sometimes we’ll also see monkeys in the nearby treetops.

After this activity, we’ll return to our Amazon Treehouse and have breakfast prepared by our cook, which we’ll enjoy on the garden balcony overlooking the Palotoa River. We get ready to explore the jungle in search of wildlife, such as peccaries, sloths, and groups of monkeys hopping in the treetops.

After lunch, we’ll return by small boat to the Rio Negro, deep in the Manu jungle. This remote area is known as a breeding ground for wildlife. We’ll travel with an expert guide and a local team who are knowledgeable about the area.

Upon arriving at the designated location, we will set up our tents, which will be our refuge on the banks of the Rio Negro, surrounded by a starry sky in the depths of the Amazon.

We prepare for an expedition and adventure in the jungle and the Rio Negro. With flashlights and rubber boots, the hike begins at dusk, surrounded by trees and dense bushes. We will hike in search of armadillos and rainbow boas. At dusk, we will head out to the Rio Negro and embark on a hike across the river for approximately two hours. The darkness will be an accomplice to an unforgettable experience. Eyes that reflect in the darkness will be watching us. The river is perfect for spotting a mammal resting on the sandbanks, or the largest rodent in the world, the capybara, and the reflection of a caiman’s eyes, or with luck, the majestic puma. This hike involves getting almost your entire body wet. Upon arriving at camp, we change and have dinner outdoors, lit by a campfire in the middle of the jungle.

After a great nighttime adventure, we’ll have breakfast, pack up, and head downriver to the Palotoa River, where we began.

On our River Tubing Adventure, you can relax. We’ll enjoy tubing, one of our fun adventures. It involves floating on the currents of the Palotoa River, driving independently downriver for approximately 1 hour until we reach our Amazon Treehouse. This adventure is a unique experience: listening to the sound of the river flow through the jungle. With luck, we’ll be able to observe monkeys and birds along the river. We remind you to bring insect repellent, sunscreen, and a swimsuit for this adventure. Don’t miss it! For lunch, our cook surprises us with typical jungle food at the Amazon Treehouse.

In the afternoon, we’ll take a short hike along one of the trails that begin at our Amazon Treehouse in search of medicinal and poisonous plants and learn about nature.

We’ll depart at 5:00 a.m. on the Pekepeke small boat to meet the Madre de Dios River, to begin our boat trip to the Manu Reserved Zone, a natural paradise! We’ll have breakfast on board so we can take advantage of every minute to observe the wildlife. After approximately 4 hours of sailing down the Madre de Dios River, we’ll reach the point where the Manu River flows into the river. We’ll now begin our upstream journey along the Manu River. During this section of the boat trip, we’ll have the best opportunity to spot wildlife: the elusive jaguar, capybaras foraging, and caimans sleeping on the sandy beaches. We also expect to see a wide variety of birds: egrets and grey herons fishing, macaws with their dazzling colors, toucans, eagles, and more (your guide will help you spot them!). The wildlife is unpredictable, but with so much wildlife here, we’re sure to have a fantastic day! In the afternoon, we’ll have lunch aboard the boat before arriving at the start of a trail to Otorongo Lake. Before heading deeper into the pristine rainforest, we’ll reach Otorongo Lagoon (one of Manu’s many oxbow lagoons). This is a refuge for animals such as giant otters and black caimans. It is surrounded by lush forests. We’ll climb an observation tower (20 m high) for a better view of the lake. Afterward, we’ll continue our hike, during which we’ll see majestic ceiba trees, which reach 60 m in height and whose branches can form a circumference of 50 m. Back on the boat, we’ll sail for another hour until we reach our MACHUIGUENGA LODGE.

We’ll spend the night at this lodge, owned by the local indigenous population. The rustic rooms, some equipped with private bathrooms and showers, and solar panels.

In the morning, we’ll visit Laguna Salvador, one of the most important cochas in Manu National Park. The dark waters of this impressive place are home to giant otters, black caimans, aquatic turtles, and hoatzins (a prehistoric bird known locally as the “stink bird”) and are surrounded by ancient trees. We’ll sail on a catamaran across the lake for two hours, hoping to spot giant river otters, beautiful creatures. We’ll also observe various primate species in the canopy. After the tour of the lake, we’ll take a trail to a macaw clay lick. Here, we’ll have the unforgettable experience of watching macaws licking the clay soil. The clays are rich in nutrients and minerals, which aid the birds’ digestion. This is a vibrant and vibrant festival, which we’ll observe for an hour. It’s a true spectacle of nature.

We return to the Machiguenga lodge, always attentive to the flora and fauna.

After lunch, we cross the Manu River and explore the other part of the reserve, called the monkey zone, in search of the woolly monkey, the spider monkey, and the little tamarin.

At dusk, we will use our flashlights to search for poisonous insects, toads, and nocturnal birds. We will spend the night at the Machiguenga lodge.

We will depart by boat at 5 a.m. to begin our journey while it is still dark. We will navigate the calm waters of the Manu River. This is another opportunity to spot a jaguar as it emerges with the first rays of sunlight on the riverbank. We may also see capybaras, peccaries, black caimans, turtles, and even tapirs on the riverbanks. We will have breakfast aboard the boat with panoramic views of the wide river. We will reach the most turbulent waters at the confluence of the Manu and Madre de Dios Rivers. We will navigate this river for another 5 hours.

We will also have lunch on the boat as we continue sailing along the Madre de Dios River. We will reach the Palotoa River in the mid-afternoon. Here, we will change boats and transfer to a much smaller vessel, the Peke Peke. After a 50-minute journey upriver, we will arrive at our Amazon Treehouse.

We will leave the lodge after breakfast and board the Peke Peke, our small boat, which will take us back to the Atalaya dock. The driver will take us back to Cusco. We will make stops along the way, and we will enjoy lunch at 5 p.m. and drop you off at your hotel. Thank you for enjoying Manu with us!