Peruvian Amazon: Manu vs. Tambopata

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If you have only one chance to visit the Amazon and you want to see wildlife and learn about rain forest ecology, the remote rain forests of southeast Peru and Bolivia should be your first and only consideration. The protected rain forests of Manu National Park and the Tambopata Nature Reserve is now part of the larger Bahuaja–Sonene National Park in Peru, combined with the adjacent Alto Madidi and Noel Kempff Mercado National Parks of Bolivia are some of the most pristine natural regions on Earth with the highest levels of species diversity of rain forest mammals, birds, and reptiles in the entire Amazon. Our trips into these rain forests cannot be compared with other regions of the Amazon such Iquitos, Peru or Manaus, Brazil where local residents have adapted to western development and wildlife habitat suffers from poor soils, commercial exploitation, human settlement and hunting.

	Aerial view of the Amazon from a rain forest canopy platform.

Accompanied by specialist Amazon guides, we offer you several routes and itineraries into the best ecolodges in Manu and Tambopata. You explore in small paddle canoes on oxbow lakes, hike through luxuriant rain forests, ascend a scaffold staircase into the rain forest canopy, and have opportunities to witness a macaw lick where hundreds of parrots congregate. Our carefully designed itineraries offer the best opportunities for observing tapirs, giant river otters, monkeys, black caimans, tayras and agoutis, and with luck possibly even a jaguar, ocelot or puma. You can also search for more than 1,000 bird species, including the highest concentrations in the world of macaws and parrots, as well as toucans, waterfowl, and exotic songbirds.

Is there a difference between the environments of Manu and Tambopata?
The rain forest environments of Manu and Tambopata are similar. Our itineraries in both areas include rain forest hikes over carefully designed trail systems through a full mosaic of different forest types of the western Amazon including tall floodplain forest, terra firme forest (never flooded), stands of lush Heliconia spp, sun dappled cane "Caña brava" and tall bamboo thickets. Opportunities to hike these rain forest trails and see wildlife in Manu and Tambopata are similar with some distinctions.

Macaw licks are found throughout the Amazon of SE Peru.

Are there differences in the quantities or types of wildlife observed?
The best rule is the longer you are in the rain forest, the more species and numbers of wildlife you will observe. At the Tambopata Research Center [TRC] there is more in-depth experience learning about macaws. You find greater diversity of parrots and macaws, there are a dozen or so natural and artificial nesting sites of several species, and you can learn about the macaw project to study and re-introduce macaws into the wild. Around the lodge at TRC you will likely have opportunities for very close-up interactions with the “chicos”, wild macaws that were raised as chicks at the station and are accustomed to people. They may land right on your shoulder!

All the premier lodges that we use in the area have clay licks or nesting macaws to observe. These lodges include:

• Posada Amazonas
• Tambopata Research Center
• Manu Wildlife Center
• Sandoval Lake Lodge
• Heath River Wildlife Center
• Amazon Resources Conservation Center [ARCC]

The Blanquillo lick in Manu gives better views of parrots and macaws because you can watch the clay lick activity from a floating blind at close range. At TRC you sit in folding chairs on a beach across the river from the lick. However, the TRC lick has all three of the large macaws visiting it (Scarlet, Blue-and-yellow, and Red-and-green), whereas the Blanquillo lick is visited just by the Red-and-greens and the occasional Scarlet. Both have equally good parrot activity. By traveling overland to get to Manu (instead of flying from Cusco), the diversity of habitats and wildlife you observe driving over the Andes, particularly birds, far exceeds a trip into Tambopata. Furthermore, entering Manu overland you spend two days in the cloud forest before descending through a full spectrum of life zones and habitat types as you enter the lowland forests by vehicle and boat. (See below: “How do I get to Manu and Tambopata?”) At the cloud forest lodge you awaken at dawn to enter the specially built blind from where the vibrant flamed-colored Cock-of-the-Rock birds put on a spectacular mating display. There are certain species of monkey that you will not see in the Tambopata area that you can see in Manu, namely the large, furry Woolly monkeys and the tiny Emperor Tamarin.

What are my chances of seeing jungle cats?
Obviously, cats are very elusive and rarely seen, although Wildland Adventures clients and staff have seen them on numerous occasions throughout the years. Jaguar, ocelot and puma frequent the hiking trails in both areas, though normally you see only their tracks. Wild cats are most frequently seen as you round a bend in the river traveling in a motorized dugout when the felines are momentarily exposed on sand bars between the forest cover and the river’s edge where they come to drink during the dry months of June through October.

	Local shaman shares ancient medicinal and spiritual uses of rain forest plants.

Are there opportunities to learn about and interact with native Indians from the region?
On trips into both Manu and the Tambopata region, you will have opportunities to learn about life of the native people of the area and some limited opportunities for cross-cultural interaction. The Posada Amazonas Lodge in Tambopata is built adjacent to and in cooperation with an Ese’eja native community that benefits by your stay. Lodge guests participate in an ethno botany walk with a local shaman who demonstrates medicinal plant remedies of the Amazon. Traveling to the Manu Wildlife Center you will encounter some native Machiguenga Indians who no longer live their nomadic life in the forest in favor of small settlements along the riverbank. We believe it is best to proceed cautiously with cultural tourism until we are invited by natives because of the possibility of negative impacts on people and communal resources and values. Although you have opportunities to interact with native people who work at the lodges, there is no other organized native cross cultural experience in this area.

In contrast, the Heath River Wildlife Center (HRWC-also known as the Ese’eja Lodge), located up the Heath River, is a completely native-owned and operated jungle lodge. The HRWC offers the most authentic and in-depth cross-cultural encounters with native Amazonian people who act as your guides and demonstrate their skills in the forest including use of bow and arrow, harvesting Brazil nuts, and use of edible and medicinal rainforest plants. In recent times, the community was pushed off their traditional lands and hunting grounds closer to town by encroaching development, including insensitive tourism projects. The Rainforest Action Network helped finance the lodge construction so the community could participate in tourism and benefit directly from visitors. In comparison to other nature lodges in Manu and Tambopata with professionally trained staff and university educated naturalist guides, this remote community-based ecotourism lodge is less service-oriented reflecting a more simple, native-style hospitality. Mammal sightings are not as abundant as in Manu and Tambopata, although wildlife populations are increasing since the community abandoned hunting and now protects the forest for ecotourism.

How do I get to Tambopata?
Cusco is the gateway into both Manu and Tambopata. Access to Tambopata is via commercial airline to Puerto Maldonado at which point you travel by motorboat to your first jungle lodge overnight, either ½ hour down the Tambopata River to Sandoval Lake Lodge, or two hours up stream to the Posada Amazonas Lodge. Rain forest trips to the Tambopata region are less expensive and more accessible than traveling into Manu because of access by commercial aircraft instead of private charter flights or a long overland journey to Manu, and simply because the Tambopata lodges are less distance from the nearest airport. From each of these Tambopata lodges you can extend your excursion deeper into the rain forest. Five more hours up the Tambopata River from Posada Amazonas you reach the Tambopata Research Center. From Sandoval Lake Lodge you can travel 5 hours by river to Health River Wildlife Center which lies at the hub of three vast protected areas: Peru’s Bahuaja–Sonene National Park to the north, the Pampas del Heath Sanctuary spanning Peru and Bolivia, and Bolivia ‘s Madidi National Park to the south.

The Amazon Resources Conservation Center [ARCC] is a new, unknown and well-appointed lodge that is far up the Las Piedras River in the opposite direction of all other lodge developments. Upon arrival at the airport in Puerto Maldonado, it takes a full 8-9 hours traveling by motorized dugout canoe to reach the remote wilderness setting on Lake Soledad. [See below: "Choose Your Preferred Trip"]

How do I get to Manu?
Most travelers enter Manu traveling by land from Cusco and by motorized dugout, then fly back to Cusco from the Boca Manu airstrip. The overland entry to Manu adds to the diversity of environments you experience in the region compared to Tambopata. If you have less time you can also fly into the Boca Manu airstrip (30 min) from Cusco and then travel just 1 ½ hours down the Madre de Dios River to the Manu Wildlife Center. The overland drive from Cusco is slow going over rugged Andean dirt roads passing through picturesque Quechua villages like Paucartambo. You travel in a comfortable outfitted bus with reclining seats (9-10 hours) then by river in a motorized dugout canoe (6-8 hours). This astonishing 3-day journey to Manu Wildlife Center across the Andes makes a complete transect from high “Puna” grasslands at 12,000 ft., through cloud forests and into the lowland rainforests. You stop frequently to observe and photograph local people, the landscape, and to learn about the natural history of this incredible transect from the Andes to the Amazon. At the end of your stay at the Manu Wildlife Center, you retrace a short part of your river trip in, and then fly out to Cusco from the Boca Manu airstrip. Access by charter air or overland to Manu is limited to scheduled days of the week. In contrast, access into Tambopata via flights to Puerto Maldonado is daily depending on availability on flights and at the lodges.

Choose Your Preferred Trip
We offer different lengths of stay and several routes of travel at different jungle lodges in Manu and Tambopata depending on your time, budget and interests. Whether you want to hike the Inca Trail or you prefer a lodge-based trip in Peru, when you visit the Amazon you always have the choice of making the shorter trip to Posada Amazonas or the Sandoval Lake Lodge. These shorter options are featured in our Andes and Amazon Odyssey and the Inca Trail Trek and Amazon. Or, similar itineraries that add a few days in the more remote lodges of TRC or Heath River Wildlife Center are are lodge-based Andes and Rainforest Explorer or the Inca Trail Trek and Rainforest Explorer. Although these lodges have generators for their internal operations (ie. refrigeration, etc), some do not provide electricity in guest quarters (although you can charge camera batteries in common areas). Candles and kerosene lamps illuminate rooms without lights.

Our retrofitted bus for the overland journey into Manu.

Manu Wildlife Safari
The Manu Wildlife Safari is the ultimate natural history exploration into the Amazon. Travel overland from Cusco into the Manu Biosphere Reserve making two overnight stops en route to the Manu Wildlife Center. One night is at the Cock-of-the-Rock Cloud Forest Lodge where you observe the flame-red Cock-of-the-Rock birds, and another night at the Pantiacolla Lodge in the Manu foothills. No other trip to Manu offers as much diversity of spectacular Amazonian wildlife, variety of experiences, and relative comfort. Rated as one of the best jungle lodges anywhere in the Amazon by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine, Manu Wildlife Center features comfortable accommodations in private bungalows with hot water showers. The dining room is fully screened, and hammocks at the bar/lounge are ideal for relaxing. Candlelight in the rooms and paths lit by oil lamps contribute to the natural ambiance. Hike on an extensive network of trails through this private rain forest reserve and join a nocturnal foray through the forest to a tapir clay lick blind. Nearby is a spectacular macaw lick where you photograph and observe many species of colorful macaws eating on the bank of the river from the comfort of a unique floating blind. Canoe in oxbow lakes in search of giant river otters and climb up the sturdy steel circular staircase to platforms built into the crown of a huge Kapok tree where you can spend endless hours observing the rain forest canopy.

Amazon Rainforest Explorer at the Tambopata Research Center [TRC]
We offer two “Rainforest Explorer” trips that go further up river to the TRC. Compared to Manu, this trip is easier access and offers good value with excellent wildlife viewing. The Tambopata Research Center [TRC] and the Manu Wildlife Center are both a scientific study centers and nature tourism lodges with ongoing research projects. Although naturalist guides are excellent on all trips to Manu and Tambopata, at the TRC you have more opportunities to learn about research projects and gain knowledge from on-site fieldwork, including the macaw rescue program (See National Geographic, January 1994). For example, resident scientists often give evening lectures on tropical ecology such as one U.S. professor who recently shared her travails collecting samples of Howler monkey dung in the jungle!

In contrast to the 3-day overland entry to Manu, travel to TRC involves less time in vehicles and boats. (Although you can fly-in and fly-out of Manu on daily, small-craft flights.) The first day into the TRC you take a morning commercial flight to Puerto Maldonado and then travel two hours up river to arrive at the Posada Amazonas Lodge for lunch and overnight. There are numerous activities to participate in this afternoon and in the morning such as ascend the rain forest canopy platform, paddle the oxbow lake in search of giant otters, explore trails through the private rain forest reserve or visit the ethnobotany trail with an Ese’eja Indian to learn about medicinal uses of native plants.

The second day you proceed another 5 hours up river where you spend three days exploring the forest and observing the macaw lick based from the Tambopata Research Center before returning for one more night at Posada Amazonas and flying back to Cusco or Lima the next morning.