Manu Wildlife Safari Overland Adventure: Andes & Amazon

Day 1: Arrival In Lima

Arrive in Lima. Overnight in the Costa del Sol Ramada Airport Hotel.

Day 2: Cusco

Airport transfer for early morning one hour flight to Cusco. Airport reception and transfer to your hotel. Afternoon half-day guided orientation of ancient Inca temples, Spanish churches and the surrounding ruins of Sacsayhuaman, Qenko, Puca Pucara and Tambo Machay. Your guide will also direct you to shops, museums and markets where you can explore on your own. Overnight at the Hotel Casa Andina Private Collection Cusco.

Accomodations: Casa Andina Private Collection Cusco

Meals Included: Breakfast

Day 3: Urubamba Valley

Full day private exploration with an expert guide through the Sacred Valley of the Incas including the village of Pisac and the Inca fortress of Ollantaytambo. Visit Quechua villages where highland Indians tend their fields and sell handcrafts in outdoor markets. Overnight in the serene Urubamba Valley at the Hotel Sol y Luna.

Accomodations: Hotel Sol y Luna

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 4: Machu Picchu

Transfer to the Ollanta station and ride the train to Machu Picchu. Your guide will assist you with hotel check-in then accompany you on a private, guided tour of the ruins before returning to Cusco, leaving you free to photograph and explore on your own time. Overnight in the town of Aguas Calientes at the Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel.

Note: Optional upgrade at extra cost to the Sanctuary Lodge, next to the site.

Accomodations: Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 5: Cusco

Take the early shuttle bus to be among the first to enter Machu Picchu. Enjoy the morning on your own to wander, contemplate, and photograph the mysterious maze of streets and stone buildings of this magnificent citadel. Optional hike up the precipitous Wayna Picchu peak (permits must be booked in advance), or back up the Inca Trail to the Intipunku. Leisurely mid-afternoon return on the train back to Cusco arriving by evening. Transfer to overnight at the Hotel Casa Andina Private Collection Cusco.

Accomodations: Casa Andina Private Collection Cusco

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 6: Cloud Forest Overland

Set off for the Manu cloud forest passing over two Andean ranges of almost 13,000 feet through high grassland puna. On the way pass stone chullpas, or burial chambers, of the Pre-Inca Lupaca people, and hope to catch sight of some of the bird species of the high Andes, including the Giant Hummingbird and Mountain Caracara.

Enjoy a picnic lunch at the Ajanaco pass affording a spectacular view on a clear day over the vast expanse of lowland Amazon rain forest. The road plunges down the eastern slope of the Andes, past remnant patches of elfin forest, through swirling mist and cloud, to emerge in a forest of stunted evergreens, festooned with mosses, lichens, bromeliads and other epiphytes. You’ll make frequent stops to look for wildlife, perhaps spotting a brilliantly feathered quetzal or trogon. In the late afternoon, arrive at the Cock of the Rock lodge, nestled within the cloud forest next to a rushing mountain stream. You’ll have the opportunity to visit the lek to hopefully view Peru’s national bird, the Andean Cock-of- the-Rock, displaying in all of its glory. Overnight at Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge.

Accomodations: Cock of the Rock Lodge

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 7: Manu Foothills

Rise before dawn to for another visit to the display ground (lek) of the Andean cock-of-the-rock. From your observation blind we watch the blazing orange males strut and dip their crested heads screeching in the hope of attracting a mate. You can also hike along the sinuous jungle road looking at orchids, flowers and cloud forest birds such as the golden-headed trogon, as well as numerous, brightly colored tanagers and hummingbirds. You may see a troop of muscular-limbed woolly monkeys or brown capuchin monkeys. Descend into the jungle(3-4 hour drive) as mountains give way to low rolling hills and farmland. At Patria you visit a plantation of coca and at midday reach Atalaya, continuinb by motorized dugout canoe down the Upper Madre de Dios River to the Amazonia Lodge or Pantiacolla Lodge in the foothills of Manu where you spend the night. Colorful tanager flocks skim through the trees and clearings around the lodge offering superb birding from your porch. As many as seven species of monkeys reside in the area, and collared peccaries are also commonly seen. Overnight at Amazonia or Pantiacolla Lodge.

Note: The very best months for viewing the cock-of-the-rock are September, October and November, although the males display all year round.

Accomodations: Amazonia Lodge, Pantiacolla Lodge

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 8: Manu Wildlife Center

There is time for another short hike along the lodge trails before you continue by boat (approximately 6 hours) down the Madre de Dios River to spend the next three nights at the Manu Wildlife Center [MWC]. Along the way, stop for a visit at Boca Manu where local indigenous people make their living building the dugout canoes essential to river travel. Midday arrival at the Manu Wildlife Center where you’ll be welcomed, shown to your private bungalow and given time to relax from the morning’s long journey.

In the afternoon, delve into the lowland rainforest and explore some of the 30 miles of specially designed trails through the private rain forest reserve in search of 10 species of resident monkeys, including the Red Howler and Black Spider Monkey and many other species of flora and fauna. Take a nocturnal foray through the forest to the tapir clay lick blind where you can observe and photograph these 500 pound beasts, the largest land animal in South America. You paddle around oxbow lakes inhabitated by giant river otters, piranhas, anaconda, and black caimans, the largest crocodilians in the Amazon. Overnight Manu Wildlife Center.

Accomodations: Manu Wildlife Center

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Days 9 - 10: Manu Wildlife Exploration

Many activities at MWC take place early in the morning, at dusk and at night when wildlife is most active. Visit the macaw lick to photograph and observe macaws eating mineral-rich clay on the bank of the river. Throughout your stay join guided walks or venture on your own around the lodge on the extensive trail system to search for some of the 12 species of monkeys. Hikes through diverse habitats include bamboo forests, forest stream riparian vegetation, and large strangler figs and other fruiting trees that attract monkeys and birds. A sturdy steel circular staircase 115 ft. up to a platform built into the crown of a huge Kapok tree affords endless hours observing the rainforest canopy from above with chances of seeing passing troops of monkeys, many birds and a view over the Madre de Dios River.

In the evenings guides organize nocturnal forays into the forest to the tapir clay lick. The elevated, screened platform structure is equipped with simple mattresses so that you can relax comfortably in wait for the first tapirs to arrive typically between 5:30 and 8:00 p.m. Sometimes deer and peccaries also come in.

On one morning you visit an oxbow lake to see waterfowl, the prehistoric-like hoatzin bird, and to search for a family of giant otters. This two-meter-long, 70-pound predators are the only social mustelids (family of weasels, minks, badgers, wolverines, skunks, otters) in the world. Overnights at Manu Wildlife Center.

Accomodations: Manu Wildlife Center

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 11: Return To Cusco

Depart from the lodge very early for the return boat trip downstream to the gold-mining town of Colorado Village (2.5 hrs). Enjoy breakfast on the way while watching early morning wildlife activity and miners who pan for gold along the Madre de Dios River. Drive 45 minutes to Puerto Carlo where we’ll cross the Inambari River for a 15 minute boat trip to Santa Rosa. In Santa Rosa a vehicle awaits for the two and a half hour drive to Puerto Maldonado. Catch a flight to Cusco and return to the Casa Andina Private Collection.

Accomodations: Casa Andina Private Collection Cusco

Meals Included: Breakfast

Day 12: Lima - Departure

Transfer to the airport for your flight to Lima. Depending on timing and flight schedules, a day room will be reserved for you either at the Ramada del Sol Airport Hotel if you only have a few hours to spare, or in the Miraflores district of Lima if you have time to venture into town. Evening international departure.

Note: Half-day tours in Lima and its museums are available upon prior request. Observe the blend of cultures in one of South America's oldest capital cities on a tour of the old colonial center of downtown Lima, the church and catacombs of San Francisco and the cathedral of Lima. The most comprehensive museums in Lima that feature Peru's archaeological heritage are the Gold Museum and the Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology.

Meals Included: Breakfast