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Manu Wildlife Center, one of the best places to view the diverse variety of Amazonian wildlife

Cost:
4D/3N: $1,385 (2+ Travelers) (SS +$225) Mon/Wed/Fri (Incl Flights)
5D/4N: $1,585 (2+ Travelers) (SS +$300) Mon/Wed/Sat (Incl Flights)

Peru's Manu Wildlife Center is east of Manu National Park on the northern bank of the Madre de Dios River. One of the best places to view the diverse variety of Amazonian wildlife, the Manu Wildlife Center is an endlessly fascinating Peru ecotour. It features visits to a parrot and macaw lick, tree canopy platforms, a motor-canoe trip to Camungo Oxbow Lake and a clay lick where the elusive tapir congregate. Its lodgings consist of twenty-two screened bungalows set in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, each with private bath, hot shower, and flush toilet. Just a thirty-five minute flight from Cusco makes the Manu Wildlife Center a convenient add-on to a Machu Picchu tour.

Sandoval Lake Lodge (3-4D) Posada Amazonas (3-4D) Reserva Amazonica (3-4D) Manu Wildlife Center (4-5D) M/V Aqua - Amazon River Expedition (4-8D) M/V Aria - Amazon River Cruise (4-8D)

Manu Wildlife Center Itinerary

Day 1 CUSCO - MANU Early morning flights for Manu available from Cusco:
4 Day - Mon, Wed, Fri
5 Day - Mon, Wed, Sat
Morning transfer to the Cusco airport for the 45 minute flight to Puerto Maldonado. Upon arrival, transfer for two and a half hours by van to Santa Rosa Village. Cross the Inambari river for 15 minutes on a small boat to Puerto Carlos where you will start your overland journey to Boca Colorado for 45 minutes by car, followed by four and a half hours motorized boat journey up the legendary Madre de Dios River. Enjoy spectacular views and a delicious box lunch along the way. Upon arrival, check into Manu Wildlife Center and relax. After dinner, venture out on a short night-tour to explore nocturnal life in the rainforest. (L,D)
Day 2 JUNGLE LODGE Up before the sun, you'll travel downriver twenty-five minutes to experience a highlight of any Peru tour: Manu area's only accessible parrot and macaw clay lick. Hundreds of medium-sized and large parrots (primarily blue-headed Pionus and mealy Amazons) arrive and are soon joined by large red and green macaws. (Please note that the clay lick is not active in May, June and July). After lunch at the Center, you'll have an opportunity to explore the forest trails. Spend the late afternoon observing wildlife from a 112-ft canopy platform where you'll witness a frenzy of activity before nightfall. Return to the Center for dinner and then take a leisurely hour's walk to the Amazon's largest known tapir clay lick. You'll view the site from a seventeen by seventeen observation platform perched high above the lick using powerful flashlights that allow night photography.
Day 3 JUNGLE LODGE Again up at dawn for an early breakfast, you'll board a motor-canoe to continue your Peru tour at Camungo Oxbow Lake. Tour the lake by catamaran, looking for the resident family of giant otters and other lakeside fauna, explore the forest trail and visit a 130-ft canopy platform, providing a beautiful view of the lake and forest canopy. On very clear days, it is possible to look beyond the rainforest all the way to the Andes. After a delicious lunch at the Center, our Peru travel continues as we explore the forest trails in an area where naturalist guides are monitoring the fruit-bearing trees. Here, you'll look for more monkey species and observe numerous bird species. After dinner, interested guests may visit the tapir clay lick once again. (B,L,D,)
Day 4 MANU - CUSCO Early morning departure for the two and half hour boat trip to Colorado Village, breakfast will be served on the boat while enjoying early morning wildlife activity. Along the journey you will see not only great wildlife but several lowland native settlements and gold miners digging and panning gold along the banks of the Madre de Dio River. Upon arrival in Colorado, start the 45 minute overland journey to Peruto Carlos. There, cross the Inambari River on a boat for 15 minutes to arrive at Santa Rosa. Upon arrival transfer in a van for two and a half hours to Puerto Maldonado where you will board your flight to Cusco or other locations. (B)
5 Day Manu (Day 5) Departs - Thu & Sat *To enhance your Peru Amazon experience, please note that the itinerary may vary slightly depending on wildlife sightings by researchers and experienced naturalist guides based at the center.
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About Manu Wildlife Center

Manu Wildlife Center is located in a private, 40,000-acre rain forest reserve adjacent to the 1 million acre protected area named the "Amarakaeri Reserved Zone". The Center is the only lodge in the Manu lowlands with roomy, private bungalows, each of which has en suite private bathrooms complete with tiled, hot water showers.
From Cusco this lodge is only 35 minutes by air and 90 minutes by river. No other lodge in Manu offers all the major wildlife attractions in one spot:
- The world's largest tapir lick.
- The most photogenic large macaw lick.
- Miles of monkey-rich trails through mature rain forest.
- Two 120-foot-tall (35-m) canopy platforms.
- Two mature lakes complete with Hoatzins and Giant Otters.

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PERU EXTENSIONS

Have more time to spend? Why not customize your trip with some of these trip extensions? Add extensions to the beginning or the end of your trip, or add to both ends.