MANU LOWLANDS TOUR

The most biodiverse avifauna in Peru is found in the Manu Biosphere Reserve, which encompasses both the diverse habitats along Manu Road and the lowlands along the Rio Madre de Dios, headwaters of the Amazon Basin. Over 1000 species have been recorded in the reserve, with some 600 of those in the lowlands. Our Peru Manu Road tour covers the altitudinal zones from the high elevation paramo outside Cusco to the Amazonian foothills around Manu Biosphere Lodge. Our Peru Manu Lowlands tour is a continuation that begins in the lowlands and visits several ecolodges along the Rio Madre de Dios. These two tours are readily combined into a single trip. Its an exhilerataing experience to travel down the Rio Madre de Dios by motorboat, giving one a sense of remoteness and adventure while offering some truly amazing birding.

The tour begins in the afternoon at the small port town of Atalaya Manu, located on the banks of the Rio Madre de Dios. The first two nights are spent at the Amazonas Lodge, located 15 minutes by boat up river from the port. This lodge offers very good accommodations, hummingbird viewing, and superb lowland birding. After 2 nights, we'll travel by boat down the Rio Madre de Dios a coupld hours to Pantiacolla Lodge, considered by many to be the best birding lodge in the Peruvian Amazon. We'll spend most of 2 days birding there. We then continue downriver with a 6-hour boat transfer to the Manu Wildlife Center, located with the Manu Biosphere Reserve. If desired, the somewhat more rustic lodge at nearby Tambo Blanquillo can be substituted for this stay, which would reduce the cost of the tour somewhat. The latter lodge owns a large tract of property in the buffer zone around Manu Biosphere Reserve,including the macaw/parrot clay lick and canopy tower. We'll spend 2 full days birding there. An additional day can be added at additional cost. We'll then continue downriver to Puerto Maldonado, where the tour ends after lunch. An additional day of birding can be arranged at additional cost to look for some specialty birds found outside town.

Tour Considerations

PACE - Easy.

DIFFICULTY - Birding is by boat and along forested trails that are pretty much level. Some birding is from a canopy tower.

CLIMATE - Dry season is May to October. Wet season is November to April. During wet season, heavy downpours are frequent and rivers are swollen. The heaviest rains are in late January and all of February.

BIRD ACTIVITY - During dry season macaw clay licks are most active and rainfall is infrequent so trails are dry. Also, mixed species flocks are most frequent during dry season. During wet season, the forest is more lush, making views of canopy birds more difficult, and heavy rains can make birding miserable as well as difficult. On the positive side, varzea forests are more flooded, making them easier to explore by boat.

PHOTOGRAPHY - Opportunities for bird photography are excellent at clay licks and around feeders at the various lodges. Photographing birds in the forest is more opportunistic but feasible for birds in the understory.

• Photos from Past Tours
• Travel Information

BIRDING LOCALES
FOR THIS TOUR

• Amazonia Lodge
• Manu Biosphere Reserve
• Manu Wildlife Center
• Pantiacolla