Leaving Cusco early in the morning, we begin an 8-hour journey over the Andes by bus, stopping for breakfast 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).

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 5 hours down the turbulant Alto Madre de Dios River to Boca Manu. You spend the night at Yine Lodge -a small eco-lodge which is part of a project of Pantiacolla with the Yine indians- or camp next to it, depending on availability.

Day 3 & 4: On the morning of the third day we turn up the Manu River for a 6-hour ride into the heart of Manu’s Reserved Zone. From this vantage point we will have great views of riverside birds, sunbathing caiman, and the enormous aquatic guinea pig, the capybara. We reach our Camping Huts deep inside Manu in the afternoon. This will be our base for this and the next day. During this time, we will hike through virgin forest and explore one of the most beautiful lakes of the Manu basin, Lake Salvador, by catamaran. There is a chance to see a huge variety of colourful birds, numerous species of monkey and with luck, a family of giant otters. There is another hike in this habitat-rich forest that ends in Lake Otorongo and a 20 meter-high observation platform overlooking the lake. At night we can explore the forest by torchlight or go moonlight caiman-spotting on the lake.

see day 3

Joining the Madre de Dios River we arrive at Blanquillo, near the claylick for macaws, where we spend the night in the jungle lodge Tambo Blanquillo.

At first light we head to the macaw lick to watch the dazzling spectacle of hundreds of parakeets, parrots and macaws eating clay. In the afternoon we visit another one of Manu's beautiful oxbow lakes and visit a 42-meter high canopy tower. Going back up the river we stay again at Yine Lodge, or camp next to it, depending on availability.

We carry on up the Alto Madre de Dios River for about 5 hours. Here we get great views of the Andes. For the next two nights we stay at the Pantiacolla lodge, right at the foot of the Pantiacolla Mountain Range. The Pantiacolla Lodge is ideally situated at 1,700 feet (550 m) of elevation in high ground forest that overlooks the rushing Upper Madre de Dios River.

Today we hike through a very special rainforest: this is where the Andes and the lowland tropical rainforest meet, providing the visitor with a chance to see a good selection of birds, insects and flora from both zones as well as some endemics.The Pantiacolla Mountain Range, which is the final Andean range in Manu prior to the vast lowland forests, rises gradually more than 3,300 feet (1,000 m) into the clouds behind the lodge.

Back on the boat early in the morning, we head upstream to Atalaya where our bus is waiting to take us back over the Andes to Cusco.