8
nights Manu Lodge, MANU CLOUD FOREST LODGE, PUERTO MALDONADO,
cuzco
9 days / 8 nights
From $2424 per person, double occupancy for 2008
All Lost World Adventures itineraries are
privately guided, and may be modified to suit personal
travel dates, interests and budgets.
Day 1: lima - cuzco
Upon arrival at Lima International Airport, you will be
met by our local representative and assisted to the domestic
terminal. Check in for your flight to Cuzco. Airport reception
and transfer to your hotel. Overnight accommodations at
the centrally-located Posada del Inca. Remainder of the
day at leisure to acclimate to the high altitude (10,750').
Day 2 (Fridays): cuzco - manu
cloud forest lodge
Depart Cuzco early this morning by comfortable Trans-Manu
bus, equipped with reclining seats and HF radio. Your
destination is Manu Nature Tour's 2600-acre private reserve
in the cloud forest near the southeastern boundary of
Manu Park, nested between the grasslands and the lowlands
of the Upper Madre de Dios River. You travel southeast
towards Pisac in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, and after
a short visit of the main archaeological Complex, you'll
detour through small Andean villages and observe native
campesinos in their colorful attire. The pace of travel
is leisurely, with several stops along the way, including
many photo opportunities, a group of pre-Inca "Chullpas"
or funerary monuments, and the colorful colonial town
of Paucartambo. Reaching the Acjanaco pass, near the southern-most
tip of the Manu Park, enjoy a delicious buffet lunch -
the perfect complement to the magnificent views of the
elfin forest, cloud forest, and the lowland Amazon Basin
below. (B,L,D)
Day 3: MANU
CLOUD FOREST
The lush and misty cloud forest is perhaps the most fragile
and threatened type of rainforest. This forest which starts
from 11,000 feet, and continue down to about 5,000 feet
of elevation, over the eastern slopes of the Andes, before
yielding to the vast lowland forest of the Amazon. This
is a kingdom of moss, lichens, ferns, and orchids, which
in some cases grow up to 33 feet per year.
This morning enjoy an early excursion to
a nearby platform and blind, strategically located to
observe a "lek" where the brightly red-colored
Cock-of-the Rocks display daily for the females. Return
to the lodge for a hearty breakfast.
Afterwards, hiking excursion to the Waterfall
trail, walking through dense and exuberant cloud forest
and crossing rushing streams originating in the snow-capped
peaks high above the forest. At noon a delicious barbecue
awaits beside a natural pond. Surrounded by massive rocks,
hanging vines and bromeliads, we will enjoy a refreshing
dip in these crystal-clear waters.
OPTIONAL: White-water rafting on
the Qosnipata River; visitors of all ages can enjoy 3
hours of exciting class II and III rapids in the beautiful
setting of the tropical rainforest. Lunch is served ashore
the river, and you return to Manu Cloud Forest Lodge early
in the afternoon. A minimum of two persons required. Must
be reserved in advance. (B,L,D)
Day 4: MANU
LODGE
After breakfast, head towards Atalaya, the first port
on the Upper Madre de Dios River. The ride passes through
small villages of Andean colonists and indigenous people
whose main economic activities are rudimentary farming
and low-scale logging. Once at Atalaya board motorized
dugout canoes, equipped with individual cushioned seats,
and long tarps to provide shelter from the baking sun,
or perhaps a sudden tropical downpour. River journeys
are long in Manu and visitors have rated these boats as
the most comfortable in the entire region. The boat ride
sets off down the fast-flowing, braided, clear water,
upper Madre de Dios River for about five hours to the
confluence with the meandering Manu River. Upon entering
the great Manu wilderness, every river bend offers a vista
of unspoiled beauty. Look out for Black Caimans, White
caimans, toucans, parrots, scores of wild macaws, several
species of raptors, and maybe even a magnificent Jaguar.
After about four hours, arrive at the Juarez
Lake sandbar, where you will disembark and hike for about
1500 feet along a flat trail to the Juarez oxbow lake.
Here guides will paddle you in a catamaran to the secluded
Manu Lodge, the only lodge in the entire protected wilderness
of Manu. (Due to low water level in the lake, it is possible
that the catamaran cannot be used during the dry season,
in which case, you will walk for about twenty minutes
around the lake to the lodge. Overnight at Manu Lodge.
Constructed of fine mahogany which
is naturally harvested by the river's annual floods, Manu
features simple rooms, a spacious dining room and lounge,
bar, a meeting area, a studio and observation room. The
entire lodge and porches are fully screened and the kitchen,
showers and latrines are located separate from the main
lodge in clean, comfortable buildings. Manu is the only
lodge located within the Manu Reserve and is surrounded
by thousands of square miles of uncut, pristine forest.
(B,L,D)
DayS 5,6: MANU
LODGE
Rise and shine to the loud call of Howler monkeys, and
to the option of a dawn paddle on the lake. During breakfast
from the dining room, you may be able to see entire troops
of Squirrel Monkeys, Brown Capuchins, and White-Fronted
capuchins who may be visiting the lodge clearing in search
of palm fruits.
Without any doubt, one of the highlights
of Manu Lodge is the family of four Giant Otters who have
recently bred two cubs there. Manu Lodge visitors have
been able to see these playful and gregarious carnivores
from a 15-meter distance without causing any disturbance
of daily activities. This group of Giant Otters visits
the Manu Lodge every now and then, and when at Juarez,
they can be seen at different times of the day. Surprisingly,
a few dead logs in front of the dining room is their favorite
spot to eat fish, preen, and play.
Manu Lodge offers the largest and most
complete trail system available in Manu (over 12 miles
of marked trails). The result of standardized trail walks
completed by groups of researchers over the course of
several years, show that "it is actually those sections
closest to the lodge and most heavily visited, which were
the most productive in terms of mammal sighting. This
suggests that the presence of tourists and researchers
is not having a disturbing effect on the local mammal
population." (1995, Durham University Expedition
Report.)
MANU LODGE RESEARCH PROGRAM: Manu Lodge
offers Tropical Research organizations around the world
annual research grants totally free. During your stay
at the lodge you may have the chance to attend a different
scientific talk every evening, and in the morning outings,
you will be able to attend on-the field discussions of
different tropical research topics.
There are almost 500 bird species
recorded in the vicinity of Manu Lodge. Some of these
species have traditional nests right next to Manu Lodge.
These "neighbor" species include: Black-tailed
tityra, yellow rumped cacique, golden bellied euphonia,
palm tanager, silver beaked tanager, and masked crimson
tanager. The immediate vicinity of the Juarez Lake offers
you easy and superb sightings of: Striated heron, wattled
jacana, yellow-billed tern, the bizarre hoatzin, white-winged
swallows, black-capped donacobius, and red-capped cardinal.
Other frequent visitors of the Manu Lodge are: Great egret,
green ibis, osprey, and black-collared hawk. All of them
can be easily seen from the lake banks or from our comfortable
catamaran. Overnight at Manu Lodge. (B,L,D)
Day 7: Manu
Lodge
Today you will have an opportunity to explore the Manu
River, and two of the most beautiful oxbow lakes in Manu,
Otorongo and Salvador. Visitors to this river have spotted
jaguars running on the sandbars of the Manu River, as
well as side-neck turtles on logs. The three-mile long
Salvador Lake is the largest and most beautiful lake in
the lower Manu River. Manu Nature Tours manages a private
camp close to tall, mature never-flooded rainforest close
to the lake. Four lake piers, several trail circuits and
a small catamaran offers visitors a chance to look for
a fauna and to observe the serene beauty of this marvelous
place. On the boat trip back to Manu Lodge make a stop
at lake Otorongo in hopes to see a troop of woolly monkeys
and to climb a 100ft. observation tower near the lakeshore.
With luck on this tower, you might see a group of Giant
Otters playing and fishing on the waters below. Overnight
at Manu Lodge. (B,L,D)
Day 8: Manu
Lodge - PUERTO MALDONADO
At 06:00 o'clock you start your river journey back to
the confluence of the Manu and the Madre de Dios. This
journey is your last chance to spot a Capybara, the world's
largest rodent, or a Tapir, a relative of horses and the
rainforest's largest mammal. After about three hours you
will reach Boca Manu for a brief stop and to refuel your
boats. From Boca Manu you will explore the lower portion
of the Madre de Dios River where you may have a chance
to see the large Red-and-Green Macaws perched on the trees
or even eating dirt at the macaw clay lick. If these noisy
and colorful birds are still at the lick you will make
a 10-15 minute stop in order to watch them making short
and long flights from the river bank to the rain forest
canopy. Although the lower Madre de Dios River, in the
vicinity of the Macaw Lick is not within the protected
Manu National Park, the riverine wildlife viewing is surprisingly
diverse. On a recent scientific survey on this area Manu's
biologist guides have spotted: Black caiman, white caiman,
capybara, river turtles, over 200 wood storks, roseate
spoonbills, horned-screamers, turkey vultures, snowy egrets,
great egrets, cattle egrets, several species of oropendolas,
swallow-winged puffbirds, white-banded swallows, white-winged
swallows, black-collared hawk, large-billed terns, yellow-billed
terns, neo-tropical cormorants, scarlet macaws, blue and
yellow macaws, tui parakeets, shiny cowbird, great-black
hawk, giant cowbird, bat falcon, black cara-cara, cocoi
herons, road-side hawks, Orinoco geese, bare-necked fruit-crows,
black skimmers, pied lapwings and tropical kingbirds.
You will also see several lowland native
settlements and gold miners digging and panning gold along
the banks of the Madre de Dios River. About four hours
later, you will stop in the far-west type gold-mining
town of Colorado to start your overland journey to Puerto
Maldonado. Upon arrival in Colorado you will have the
chance to see a true frontier, gold-mining town where
everything, from food supplies to outboard motors is praised
in "grams" (grams of gold, that is!) From Colorado
a four-wheel drive pick-up truck or station wagon will
take you to the shores of the mighty Inambari River, which
we will cross, in a dugout canoe. A van or station wagon
will drive us to Puerto Maldonado, in approximately four-hours
along the inter-oceanic highway that will link Brazil
with the Pacific Ocean. Only 11 kilometers of this road
are now paved.
The city of Puerto Maldonado sits
at the confluence of the Tambopata and the Madre de Dios
River and it is the capital of the jungle department of
Madre de Dios. Arrival in Puerto Maldonado and transfer
to a three-star hotel. (B,L,D)
Day 9: PUERTO MALDONADO -
CUZCO/LIMA
Transfer to the Puerto Maldonado airport
for your flight to Cuzco (the flight continues to Lima).
(B)
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