Travel ▻ South America ▻ Peru4-Day Manu Wildlife Center in the Amazon
4-Day Manu Wildlife Center in the Amazon

4-Day Manu Wildlife Center in the Amazon

4 days

4-Day Manu Wildlife Center in the Amazon
from $1795 USD

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Arrive Puerto Maldonado the evening before your excursion, as the start of your adventure is very early in the morning!

This lodge is located east of the Manu River on the north bank of the Madre de Dios River. It is reached by a 45-minute flight from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado and 7 1/2 hour boat ride to lodge, and offers the Amazon's finest short, in-depth wildlife safari. The lodge is famous for its abundant and varied wildlife, with its own Tapir clay lick, a nearby macaw and parrot clay lick, two nearby oxbow lakes and two tall canopy viewing towers among its impressive highlights.

Set departures for the 4-day program are Mondays; return on Thursday; minimum 2 people. The 5-day program is from Thursday to Monday (prices available upon request).

Please note that all rainforest itineraries may vary slightly so as to maximize wildlife sightings, depending on the reports of our researchers and experienced naturalist guides.

Full Itinerary DETAILED ITINERARY >> ITINERARY IN BRIEF >>

Day 1: Arrive Puerto Maldonado the evening prior to your start date; transfer and check in; transfer to lodge; jungle activities; overnight lodge (LD)

NOTE: Due to the length of time for travel to the Manu Wildlife Center, guests must arrive Puerto Maldonado the day prior to their excursion and stay overnight in Puerto Maldonado. A tourist bus from Cusco, arriving at 7 a.m. on the start day is also acceptable.

A transfer service from your Puerto Maldonado hotel to the Inkanatura office will be followed by a transfer by van to Santa Rosa Village. We will get there in about two-hours and half journey, and you will cross the Inambari river for a 15 minutes boat trip to Puerto Carlos, here you will start your overland journey to Boca Colorado for 45 minutes by car, followed by four hours and half motorized boat journey ride upstream the Madre de Dios river. In between, we plan on a delicious boxed lunch at the beginning of the boat journey to Manu Wildlife Center. Arrive and settle in. After dinner there will be an enchanting night walk along the trails, in search of the nocturnal birds and animals of the rainforest. Overnight at the lodge.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Mid-Range Accommodations: Jungle lodge at Manu Wildlife Center

Day 2: Continue jungle excursions; overnight lodge (BLD)

Another early start (inevitable on wildlife expeditions), is followed by a short boat ride downstream. We take a 20-minute trail through palm plantations to a cut-off channel of the river, where we find the Blanquillo Macaw Lick. A spacious hide provided with individual chairs and a convenient place for cameras and binoculars is our ringside seat for what is usually a very spectacular show. We enjoy a full breakfast here while waiting for the main actors to arrive. In groups of twos and threes the big Red-and-Green Macaws come flapping in, landing in the treetops as they eye the main stage below -- the eroded clay banks of the old channel. Meanwhile the supporting cast appears: these may included Blue-headed, Mealy, Yellow-crowned, and Orange-cheeked Parrots -- and the occasional villain, a menacing and unwelcome Great Black Hawk. The drama plays out in first in tentative and then bolder approaches to the lick, until finally nearly all the macaws, parrots and parakeets form a colorful and noisy spectacle on the bare banks, squabbling as they scrape clay from the hard surface. (Please note that the clay lick is most active from August to October and less so during the months of May and June.)

We return to the lodge for lunch, and then we continue to explore and discover the rainforest, its lore and plant life, on the network of trails surrounding the lodge, arriving in the late afternoon at our 34m/112ft Canopy Tower. On its platform we witness the frantic rush-hour activity of twilight in the rainforest canopy, before night closes in. Overnight at jungle lodge. Later we set off along the ?collpa trail?, which will take us to the lodge?s famous Tapir Clay lick. Here at the most active tapir lick known in all the Amazon, our research has identified from 8-12 individual 600-pound Tapirs who come to this lick to eat clay from under the tree roots around the edge. This unlikely snack absorbs and neutralizes toxins in the vegetarian diet of the Tapir, the largest land animal of Latin America. The lick features a roomy, elevated observation platform 5m/17ft above the forest floor. The platform is equipped with freshly-made-up mattresses with pillows. Each mattress is covered by a roomy mosquito net. The 50-m-long, elevated walkway to the platform is covered with sound-absorbing padding to prevent our footsteps from making noise. This Tapir Experience is unique and exciting because these normally very shy creatures are visible up close, and flash photography is not just permitted, but encouraged. The hard part for modern city dwellers is to remain still and silent anywhere from 30 minutes to two or more hours. Many prefer to nap until the first Tapir arrives, at which point your guide gently awakens you to watch the Tapir 10-20m/33-66ft) away below the platform. Most people feel that the wait is well worth it in order to have such a high probability of observing the rare and elusive Tapir in its rainforest home. Overnight lodge.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Mid-Range Accommodations: Jungle lodge at Manu Wildlife Center

Day 3: Continue jungle excursions; overnight lodge (BLD)

We set off early for Cocha Blanco, an old oxbow lake full of water lilies and sunken logs. As we circle the lake on our catamaran we might encounter the resident Giant Otter family on a fishing expedition, or troops of monkeys crashing noisily through the trees. Wattled Jacanas step lightly on the lily pads, dainty Sun Grebes paddle across the water, supple-necked Anhingas air-dry their wide, black wings, and perhaps an Osprey scans for fish from a high branch. Overnight at jungle lodge. Among the bushes near the waterline, Hoatzins, which look like rust-colored, punk chickens, announce their presence with distinctive, bizarre wheezing and grunts. Woodpeckers, tanagers, macaws, toucans and parakeets all finally come swooping in to trees surrounding the lake. Many of them roost around the lake for the night.

After lunch at the lodge our guide is available to lead us on freewheeling expeditions in search of further wildlife encounters, or we may take one of the lodge?s many trails on private and personal excursions to commune with the spirits of the rainforest. This evening, from late afternoon until after dinner, we can take a boat ride in search of caiman (alligator-like reptiles), and other nocturnal wildlife along the riverbank. Overnight lodge.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Mid-Range Accommodations: Jungle lodge at Manu Wildlife Center

Day 4: Conclude jungle experience; return to Puerto Maldonado; check out and transfer to airport; late afternoon departure (BL)

We leave our lodge very early on the two hour and half return boat trip downstream to the Colorado Village, the breakfast will be serve on the boat while you enjoying early morning wildlife activity as we go, of course this is a perfect time to take advantage of valuable early morning wildlife activity along the river, in additions this journey allows us to see several lowland native settlements and gold miners digging and panning gold along the banks of the Madre de Dios River. We will stop in the far-west type gold-mining town of Colorado to start our overland journey to Puerto Carlos for 45 minutes, then you will cross the Inambari River for 15 minutes boat trip to Santa Rosa, finally a van or bus will drive us to the airport in Puerto Maldonado City, in approximately two-hours and half. Check out and transfer to the airport. Depart late afternoon.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch

Pricing

4-Day Manu Wildlife Center in the Amazon
from $1795 USD
*** Contact Us for other itinerary and lodging options! ***

NOTE: Prices are per person in U.S. dollars based on double/triple occupancy. All quotations are based on the current rates of park fees, VAT, other government taxes, and current exchange rates. Should any of these be increased or a new tax introduced, these increases will be added on even if your trip has already been paid for.

INCLUDES:
  • All accommodations per itinerary
  • All meals per itinerary (B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner)
  • All tours and entrance fees per itinerary (unless listed as excluded)
  • All transportation and transfers per itinerary
  • Three nights rainforest lodge
  • One night at hotel in Puerto Maldonado for the night before the excursion (Sunday)
  • All meals listed (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner)
  • Bi-lingual naturalist guides
  • Rainforest activities and excursions
  • Transportation by boat/canoe
  • Price is for set departures for Mondays (leave Puerto Maldonado), returning on Thursday
  • 5 day program is available for US$2430 per person (2 people).
EXCLUDES:
  • International and domestic flights
  • Meals not listed
  • Beverages and alcohol
  • Tips for guides, drivers, hotel staff
  • Optional tours
  • Single room supplement
  • Personal expenses (visas, airport taxes, Internet, etc.)
  • Tips for your guides, boat drivers and lodge staff
  • Airfares Lima or Cusco to/from Puerto Maldonado
  • Personal expenses

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