Day 1 : Arrival in the rainforest

We pick you up at your hotel in Cusco and drive to the airport for the 35 minute flight to a small airstrip cut into the rainforest at Boca Manu. On arrival at the airport, you will be met by your rainforest guide. Our motorized dugout will take you on the two hour (approx) trip down the Madre de Dios River to the Manu Wildlife Center, a strategically located lodge owned by Manu Expeditions and a local conservation group. On the river journey we will see our first Amazonian wildlife and riverside birds such as Skimmers, Terns, Herons, Egrets and Orinoco Geese. We should arrive at the lodge for lunch and meet some of the visiting biologists working here. In the afternoon we explore a trail that leads out to a lookout point high above the river to watch roosting flights of Parrots as the sun sets, and we may encounter a troop of monkeys in the forest. Those who wish can do a night walk with the guide in search of nocturnal inhabitants of the forest.

Night at Manu Wildlife Center.

Includes lunch and dinner.

Day 2 : The Manu Macaw Lick

Early start to-day for the Macaw Clay Lick. This is truly one of the world’s great wildlife spectacles as hundreds of Parrots and their larger relatives, the Macaws, congregate at this traditional locality to eat the mineral rich clay that is essential to their digestion. We'll use a floating blind to get close to the birds. The noise alone is incredible and the sight of these brightly colored birds at the lick is a sight not to be forgotten. As the lick slows down in midmorning we'll head for Cocha Blanco, an old, ox-bow lake, in search of a family of Giant Otters that live there, and canoe around the lake on our floating platform looking for other wildlife. After a leisurely lunch at the lodge we'll explore other trails in search of Emperor and Saddleback Tamarins, and we have seen the rare Goeldi's Monkey repeatedly in this area.

Night at the Manu Wildlife Center.

Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Day 3 : Exploring the forest

Full day to explore the forest and trails around the lodge.. We'll be on the lookout for Monk Saki - an uncommon and rarely seen monkey of the tierra firme forest that is occasionally seen here. We'll explore trails where groups of Manakins , perhaps the most enigmatic of neo-tropical birds, perform their strange mating dances and walk to one of our blinds at a large mammal lick where Guans and forest Parakeets and Parrotlets come for clay. Here too, groups of Black Spider Monkeys visit on occasions for clay to help their digestion. Those who wish will return with the guide to the lodge in the late afternoon, however there is an opportunity to stay at the lick after dark until midnight to see what nocturnal creatures come to the lick. Tapirs, the largest South American land mammal are frequent visitors with up to 12 animals visiting in one night Other nocturnal creatures are always possible.

Night at the Manu Wildlife Center.

Includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Day 4 : Back to Cusco

After breakfast we head upriver (about 2 hours) to the small airstrip at Boca Manu. Early morning flocks of birds pass over the boat, and we may see a Capybara, the world’s largest rodent. Arriving at the airstrip we board our aircraft for the 35 minute flight over seemingly endless rainforest and then over the Andes, passing glaciers and snow peaks to the ancient Inca capital of Cusco where our staff will be waiting to take you to your hotel.

Breakfast included.