By Judy Wolfe
Manu National Park Accommodations
Located in southeastern Peru, the Manu UNESCO World Heritage Site is a largely inaccessible area. Within its borders are Andean mountain peaks, cloud forests and rainforests. Nearly 83 percent of the site is reserved as a national park. The remaining 17 percent, according to the Andean Travel Web Guide, has been divided into a cultural reserve, open to all, and a biosphere reserve, accessible only by permit with an approved guide. Accommodations range from a simple wildlife tented camp to more sophisticated lodgings.
Manu Wildlife Tented Camp
The capybara is Peru's largest rodent.
Operated by the tour company InkaNatura, the Wildlife Tented Camp is the only tourist accommodation inside Manu National Park. Located six hours by boat from the park's registration station on the Manu River's western bank, the camp is close to two of the park's 13 ox-bow lakes, Concha Otorongo and Concha Salvador.
Sightings of giant otters, capybaras, the park's 13 monkey species and jaguars are possible on the hike from the camp to the lakes. A 50-foot tower provides great views of the shore tree wildlife.
The sky above Concha Salvador is bright with scarlet and blue macaws. You may spot crocodile-like caimans from your catamaran.
The camp's tents are double-occupancy, with thatched roofs and raised wooden platforms. Each twin bed has a mosquito net. Each tent has a private camp toilet, and hot water showers and flush toilets are available in a separate complex.
Manu Wildlife Tented Camp
InkaNatura Travel
Calle Manuel Bañon 461
San Isidro, Lima, Peru
(511) 440-2022
(511) 422-8114
inkanatura.com/manu_wildlife_tented_camp.asp
Manu Wildlife Center
Macaws gather at a Manu clay lick.
The privately owned Manu Wildlife Center is a 45-minute flight and two-hour canoe trip from Cusco International Airport. It sits along the Madre de Dios River in the part of the park preserved for the Amazonian Indians.
The center's 22 two-person bungalows are constructed of the same materials the Machiguenga Indians use in their huts. Much of the wood is collected from trees that fall and float down the Madre de Dios River during the wet season. The center has two canopy platforms from which you can view some of the area's nearly 600 bird species.
An hour's hike through the rainforest puts you at a clay lick frequented by tapirs, South America's largest mammals. A 25-minute river trip ends at the Blanquillo Macaw and Parrot Lick. Conceal yourself in one of the floating blinds and feast your eyes on flocks of brilliant macaws feasting on digestive clay.
Manu Wildlife Center
Calle Manuel Banon 461
San Isidro, Lima, Peru
(51 1) 440-2022
inkanatura.com/manuwildlifecenter.asp
Cock of the Rock Lodge
The Cock of the Rock is Peru's national bird.
Escape from the mosquitoes and humidity of the lower Manu rainforest at the Cock of the Rock Lodge. Its 5,000-foot elevation above a cloud forest on the Andes' eastern slopes will give you an entirely different perspective of Manu.
Each of the lodge's 12 two-person bungalows has a balcony and private bath with hot water, making it one of Manu's luxury accommodations. Don't, however, expect a telephone or television. Spend your time enjoying the flocks of Peru's national birds, the scarlet-and-black cock of the rock that gives the lodge its name.
On a private 12,500-acre reserve in the Kosnipata River Valley, the lodge has a network of trails that provide opportunities not only for bird watching but for viewing the mountains' monkeys and spectacled bears.
Cock of the Rock Lodge
Calle Ricardo Palma 11
Cusco, Peru
(084)255-255
(877) 827-8350 in U.S.
inkanatura.com/cockoftherockslodge.asp
Resources
About the Author:
Judy Wolfe has owned her own writing business since 2006. She is a professional florist, holds a certificate in advanced floral design and had her Valentine's Day floral design published in "Super Floral Retailing." She spent her college summers tending her family's Santa Barbara avocado orchards. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in literature from California State Polytechnic Univeristy in Pomona.
Photo Credits:
Quinn_(28): Creative Commons Clairette: Creative Commons Snowmanradio: Creative Commons Snowman: Creative Commons
