Stacey’s 30th Birthday Extravaganza

Name: Manu Adventures

Location: Cusco, Peru

Address: Plateros 356 – Cusco – Perú
Phone: +51 84 26 16 40
+51 84 22 41 00

E-mail: manuadventures@terra.com.pe

Website: www.manuadventures.com

Review: So you want to go to the Peruvian jungle? If you’re in Cusco…or going to Cusco…the standard two jungle options are to take a plane to Puerto Maldonado and then go by boat up the river. Or take a bus through The Sacred Valley of the Incas descending through the cloud forest and ultimately into the rainforest of Manu National Park. The basic difference between PM and Manu is that there are more people in PM and better (read: more luxurious) lodges. Manu, on the other hand, is less visited and therefore you are more likely to see animals such as birds, monkeys and snakes.

After hearing the speeches of numerous touts we were ultimately convinced that Manu was the place to be despite the fact it was a 10 hour bus ride in each direction. No worries…I actually enjoy bus rides as you get to see a lot of countryside while en route to your destination. OK, so next we needed to pick a tour group and by far the best presentation (which included pictures of what we’d be seeing) was at Manu Adventures. In addition, Manu is considered to run the most physically active of jungle programs out of Cusco including mountain biking, white water rafting and a canopy tour (ziplines to most of us). Lots of agencies in Cusco will book this Manu package but I think it’s best to book directly with them…their office is on Plateros just like everyone else so stop in and check it out.

Manu National Park in Peru is considered to be one of the most diverse in terms of species of both flora and fauna in the world. There are 3 zones to the park: cultural (where our tour took place), reserved (very remote and thus very expensive to get to) and the intangible zone (no tourism allowed to protect indigenous communities and only a very limited number of scientists are let in per year). The standard tour consists of 4 days/3 nights which will not be enough if you’re really into jungle species and enjoy taking extensive walks. For most of us, 4 days/3 nights would do it.

The first day consists of a longish-drive to the first lodge including several interesting stops along the way. The second day starts with an early viewing of the famous Cock of the Rock birds followed by an optional mountain biking tour. Those not mountain-biking will do an hour-long hike ultimately meeting up with the bikers in a nearby village where the whitewater rafting takes place. You then do a short rafting tour (speed depending on the level of the river) and ultimately take a boat to the final lodge, Erika Lodge.

For the next couple of days you’ll take several hikes (including at least one at night), a boat tour to see the parrot clay licks and of course do the canopy tour (ziplines) through the jungle. The lodges are both pretty basic with proper toilets and cold, freshwater showers. The food was, again, excellent and plentiful. There is also ample time for just relaxing in the hammocks and under the protective roofs watching the river go by. Our trip proved to be quite adventurous mostly in the transport as our vehicles broke down in both directions. My only complaint with this company is that I wish they would do better maintenance on their vehicles and/or provide their guides with cell phones for situations that go array. Otherwise, a great tour and a good time was had by all. Our cost in December of 2007 was US$375 for 5 days/4 nights all inclusive (except for guide/worker tips).

Would I book with them again: Yes

So when we last left you all, we had finally arrived at our second lodge…Erika Lodge on the Madre de Dios River and had gone on an interesting night walk through the jungle.

Overnight it rained a considerable amount so when we headed to the trail the next morning we found that a large section of it had been completely washed away. No worries though…our intrepid guides just pulled out their machetes and hacked us a new one!  The first activity slated for us on that third morning was a jungle canopy tour via ziplines. For those who don’t know what a zipline is…basically you get harnessed in and attached to a cable then you “fly” from one platform to the next high in the trees. Here we are before our first flight:

And here we are individually arriving at one of the platforms:

We spent the afternoons wandering around the grounds of the lodge, taking naps, taking pictures…and spotting some more critters. Early one morning we saw a spider monkey swinging around outside our rooms…again, I’m cheating a bit on the pictures as the photo would have been too far to see anything and I’ve lifted this photo from a different website. Also…various bugs, flowers and other critters taken by both me and Lindsay. 

Spider Monkey

This crazy bird (A Blue-throated Guan) showed up every afternoon for a snack of popcorn

On the final full day before heading back to Cusco we got up really early again (4 am) to make it to a local parrot clay lick. What is a clay lick, you might ask? Well…it’s just as it sounds…a large cliff made of clay where parrots land and “feed” early every morning. Apparently the clay contains all sorts of nutrients and minerals that are imperative for the parrots’ digestion and general good health. A picture is below (again, stolen).

The parrot clay lick

One of our guides returning from a fishing expedition

All too soon it was time to head back to Cusco so we got up early on Friday morning and boarded a bus for the long journey back.  Things were going well…indeed we were ahead of schedule, when we ran into Calamity #1…this landslide:

Apparently it had happened the night before around 6 pm and as it was now 9 am the next day they had quite a crew working on clearing it.  Estimates were frequently given at “one more hour”….3 hours later the landslide (and a huge tree that came with it) were cleared and we were once again on our way.

Or so we thought.  Forty minutes after finally progressing past the landslide…we achieved Calamity #2…a tire blew on our bus:

No worries…as it was lunch time, our guide got out the lunches that were packed for us back at the lodge.  They were so adorable…and I’ve been slacking so much on food pictures lately…that I took a picture for you guys.  Yep, that’s a banana leaf…the second picture shows what was in it.  It was really, really good.

It seems that our driver was experienced at changing flats so soon we were on our way again.  This time we made it out of the rainforest…out of the cloud forest and back into the Sacred Valley of the Incas before Calamity #3 struck…unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of this one but I think you can all use your imagination for the following scene:  two buses and a mountain road only wide enough for one of them.  After we all disembarked  (just in case he went over the cliff?) the driver was able to back up and eventually maneuver around the other bus ultimately making it back to Cusco in the early evening unscathed.

OK, I’m light on text today but I’m in a hurry as I need to get to my Spanish class, run errands and head out for a night on the town for New Year’s Eve.  Coming soon…how I spent my Christmas and New Year’s Eve, a little about my current location of Arequipa and finally you’ll get to meet the kids I’ve been working with in the orphanage.  Also, I have a few more jungle critter pictures to include and since the next post might be lacking a bit, I’ll include them on the next post later this week.  Happy New Year’s to all!

Sunrise in the jungle

OK, so I thought we'd kick off today's post with a little pop quiz about my and Lindsay's trip to the jungle of Peru's Manu National Park.  Don't worry...the answers are very simple and it's multiple ... [Continue reading this entry]