Manu Peru – The Amazon’s Hidden Gem

Most travellers to Peru have covered the classics… Machu Picchu, The Inca Trail, Cusco and perhaps spent some time in Lima; however how many people know Manu?   In the hands of crees (www.crees-manu.org), a not for profit organisation dedicated to supporting a sustainable Amazon, we were in Peru to embark on an exciting adventure into the Manu Biosphere Reserve – a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Amazon known for being one of the most biodiverse places on earth.

We began our trip from Cusco where the moment you hop off the plane you feel totally topsy turvy and not thanks to a Pisco (not yet anyway) but to the incredibly high altitude. You’re at 3,400 metres up here!  On arrival at the Siete Ventanas Hotel in the historic hub, we were greeted with a hot coca tea – a natural medicine for altitude sickness which did the trick and is bitter and delicious.  For those who don’t know, ‘coca’ is the plant that cocaine is made from!

An early start the next day and we set off on our journey. On dirt mountain roads we drove deep into the Cloud Forest, plunging into an extraordinary world of forested cliffs, waterfalls (that we would drive through!) and deep gorges. We stopped along the way to see unusual bird species including Oropendolas and the  Blue-Crowned Motmot. It was a 12 hour-long journey by road just to get to our first jungle lodge – The Cock of the Rock Lodge – but it’s well worth the long journey  by road as it allows you to see how the scenery and terrain evolves from the Andes to the Amazon. At the lodge, following an early dinner and really early bedtime we were up at the crack of dawn to head to a viewing platform and observe the dancing ritual of the Cock of the Rock bird – Peru’s national bird which is strikingly bright red. This precise elevation in the Cloud Forest, is the only place where the Cock of the Rock bird exists so it’s a rare and beautiful sight.

Cock of the Rock bird

Cock of the Rock Lodge

Our journey that day continued by canoe upstream along the Madre de Dios River. Out of nowhere among the flora and fauna we came about a tiny gap on the riverbank. We’d arrived at the Manu Learning Centre – an incredibly magical oasis of thatch-roofed open air lodges that would be our home for that one night. Known affectionately as the MLC, this is a Rainforest Alliance verified Eco-lodge which was set up by Quinn Meyer, the founder of crees. Quinn’s vision was to make the MLC the top level research centre it is today where volunteers including biologists, scientists and PHD students are here to learn and get involved in wildlife and community projects to help regenerate this secondary rainforest that borders the protected Manu National Park.  The beauty is that now tourists alike can stop through the MLC and as well having an expert tourist guide at hand, guests can also get involved in the community projects, head off on night treks with the scientists and really get under Manu’s skin with the people who know it and its inhabitants best.

At the Manu Leanring Centre - run by the crees foundation (www.crees-manu.org)

Manu Learning Centre

We met with Andy Whitworth who is crees’ Scientific Coordinator who as well as being an inspiration with his passion for wildlife, it was also fascinating see how knowledgeable he was about the jungle. He could mimic the different monkey calls where the monkeys would call back!  In a presentation with the crees team we learnt about the current projects such as the Blue Headed Macaw monitoring project and learnt about the new species the researchers have tracked recently. We were introduced to a new friend… the Emerald Green Boa.  Andy handled one that the volunteers had caught earlier that day. Later, head torches at the ready, we set off on a night trek to see Caimans (reptiles of the alligator family) in the wetlands.

An Emerald Green Boa we were showed during our crees presentation... don't get too close!

To complete our Manu adventure, we set off on a journey again down river, this time entering the thick and muddy Manu River, leaving behind the clean waters of the Madre de Dios River. Here the atmosphere suddenly changed and the air felt humid and heavy.  We were entering now the remote and deeply unexplored Manu National Park, Peru’s hidden gem and where there are only two tourist lodges. We were now really in the thick of it. We parked our canoe at the Romero Rainforest Lodge – an intimate eight suite lodge perfect for exploring the nearby oxbow lakes and the nature trails in this pristine jungle.

Entering the Manu River

Romero Rainforest Lodge in the Manu National Park

Our expert crees guide, Ronnie

Our group travelled with crees (www.crees-manu.org) and Exodus (www.exodus.co.uk) which has recently launched a 12-day Amazon Wildlife Discovery in support of the crees foundation in the Manu Biosphere