Manu National Park 3 Days 2 Nights, Beginning in the historic city of Cusco, this program offers a range of activities as it takes you through colonial towns and jungle villages and into the incredible biological diversity of the Amazon basin. This short trip to Manu is perfect for visitors who want to maximize on the short time they have to explore the amazon. We provide a comfortable and full Manu National Park 3 Days 2 Nights for you to experience the best of our Peruvian jungle, wildlife and adventure.
Cusco Hotel Transfer
05:30 AM
This tour is aimed for travelers without much time that desire to have an experience in the cultural area of Manu National Park.
The cultural zone is one of the three zones of the Manu National Park, which includes high mountains, cloud forests and the actual rain forest. In this zone you can still find a few small, original communities who sustain themselves with agriculture and small forestry. Farming and lumbering is closely controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Authorities of the Manu National Park (SERNANP).
The cultural zone encompasses the cloud forest of the mountains, which offers a pristine natural environment for abundantly, wild growing plants. More than 8.000 species of flora, 400 species of birds and 10 different mammals have been registered in the cloud forests of Manu. The zone offers a trip to the lagoon of Machuwasi which can be crossed on rafts made of balsa wood from a local tree, which the ancient inhabitants already used to drive up the Madre de Dios river. You can also enjoy a stroll through the forest of giant Ceiba trees and appreciate parrots.
The Manu National Park 3 Days 2 Nights, we will start our adventure by picking you up from your hotel in the city of Cusco, and we will take the road to Manu National Park; We will cross beautiful inter-Andean valleys and picturesque villages until arriving at the pre-Inca “chullpas” tombs of Ninamarca. Approximately at noon we will be arriving at Paucartambo, a beautiful village that welcomes us with its colonial houses museums where we can appreciate ceramics of ancient cultures, and different costumes and masks used in the different dances of the famous festival “Virgen del Carmen”.
Then we proceed to the lookout point at Acjanaco at the pass 4,000m (13,123 ft.) for an outstanding view over the cloud forest and lowlands. This is the entry point to Manu National Park. From here we travel down through pristine cloud forest which feeds the local flora unique to this clime. The landscape is stunning: we will pass many waterfalls, sweeping views of the valley and dense cloud forest vegetation: mosses, lichens, orchids and birds unique to this part of the world ply the mountainside. The cock of the rock, trogons, tanagers; capuchin monkeys and wooly monkeys can also be seen. Then we arrive to our lodge in the evening, where we will sleep in a beautiful and rustic lodge.
Starting the day off we’ll take a guided tour around the lodge, with an emphasis on local medicinal plants, peruvian Amazon fruit trees and a coca plantation. Later we’ll pay a visit to the animal rescue center (donation only) for an hour. Once in the Rescue Center we can enjoy the free running, jumping spider monkey, titi monkey, and capuchins and pet the tapir. Volunteers will guide you around the wildlife and explain how they ended up here. After we continue to the small town of Atalaya, 600 m (1,968 ft), we will board the motorized boat and meet with the local crew. From Atalaya we leave by motorized boat to our lodge. A long the boat trip we will see many different kind of animals, birds, plants and flowers.
In the afternoon we will visit Machuwasi Lake, on the way there are great birding and wildlife spotting opportunities and in the oasis of the lake live caiman, the prehistoric bird hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin), capybara and other Amazonian aquatic life. Have your cameras ready, as the trip on simple balsam pole rafts as the placid water is mirror like and we will encounter many birds, insect and some monkeys in this secluded lake.
After this walk in the extraordinary Amazon we return to our lodge
We will leave early to visit the parrot clay lick, we’ll board our river boat to visit the parrot clay lick nearby. Weather conditions permitting, we’ll have an unforgettable look at parakeets, parrots, and (with luck) macaw pairs dining on the mineral rich clay they use to help supplement their diet and improve their digestion. It’s a truly vibrant site with all the colors and movement. After returning for breakfast, we pack in to the boat and head for back up river to Atalaya where we rejoin our minivan for the winding and beautiful drive back through the cloud forest to Cusco.
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
