Last week I visited the Manu National Park in Peru, part of the Amazon rainforest. We've seen some amazing things so I'd thought I'd share.
Apparently the pictures in my phone are too large for here so I will use pictures from the internet. I will only post pictures of animals I've actually seen, and mention animals we tried but failed to see
Here's the view in Manu:
Background on the reserve:
Park Manu is a national park in southern Peru 6 hours away from the city of Cusco. The park spreads over 17,000km², and contains thousands of species of plants and animals, including most of the beloved amazon rainforest fauna. The park has 4,385 plant species, over a 1000 bird species, 160 mammal species, 155 amphibian species, 132 reptile species, over 300 fish species, 1315 species of butterflies, over 600 species of ants, and more.
The park also has an uncontacted native tribe.
Getting ready for the trip:
We booked as a group of 6 people for a 4 day trip. We were required to buy long shirts and a lot of mosquito spray. In retrospect, I didn't buy enough of both.
Day 1: The cloud forest
Most of the first day was driving from Cusco to the rainforest. We enter the park at the top of a mountain at the height of 4000 meters and are literally driving through a cloud.
At this height, there are only birds and low vegetation. The fauna in this height also includes the Spectacled Bear and Cougar, but seeing them is really rare. The day is just going down through the cloud forest to some beautiful waterfalls, and stopping to see the wildlife. First we've seen the Andean -of-the-rock, the national bird of peru. We've also seen the yellow-rumped cacique which is beautiful and rather common here.
Later while going down the mountain we stopped for a hike, where we've seen several species of monkeys. First we've seen from afar the endangered Gray wooly monkey. These are huge impressive monkeys that kinda look like gorillas. They are shy and move through the forest in a group, but they never got close to us. It was amazing to see primates in the wild for the first time.
Then we saw a pack of Black-capped squirrel monkey and Large-headed Capuchin. Yhe capuchins are bold and interested in the tourists, while the small squirrel monkeys are rather shy and watch from high in the trees.
At night we arrived to our first lodge, where we ate dinner and swam in the river (it was really cold). While I showered I was attacked by a flying cockroach the size of my hand, which was certainly an experience.
Later we went for a night walk with flashlights, and got to see several animals. First we've seen a black and white tarantula in its lair. The guide said this species was rather venomous, so we couldn't hold it. It was also clearly annoyed by us. We also saw several tree-frogs and a baby Spectacled Caiman. Apparently Caiman eyes glow red if you put light on them with a flashlight. Pictures are approximations for lack of exact species.
From here on the forum doesn't allow more files, so I'll post pictures in the comments.
Day 2: The rainforest
On this day we went deeper into the forest with a 3 hour drive, and went for a look around. The day had a great start with the Crested oropendola, a bird that builds hanging nests from trees.
We then drove 3 hours into the forest where we started hiking. The first animal of the day was a Hoffmann's two-toed sloth mother with a baby. Cutest thing I've ever seen. She was rather friendly, and came down to us when the guide collected some fruit for her.
Then we saw the White fronted Capuchin in a large pack unlike the few we've seen before. Because in this part of the reserve they are not used to humans, they were rather cautious.
As we went on we saw Scarlet Macaws, which are absolutely amazing to see in the wild. Later we also saw blue-and-yellow macaw.
We saw many tracks that day, of nocturnal animals which are hard to see. We saw tracks of a Jaguar, as well as burrows left by the Giant armadillo, both of which we didn't see during the trip.
By the end if the trip before arriving to the sleeping site, we saw a South american Tapir browsing in the forest. First megafauna of the trip, whicg was amazing. It ran away when it noticed us.
At night we went for a night tour again, where we saw a catsnake, cane toad, and several species of bugs and frogs. We also saw a green tree snake, which pretended to be a viper by triangling his head. The highlight of the night was when we saw a Black-headed night monkey family. They were living in a hole in a tree and were clearly startled by our walking. It may be the cutest thing I've ever seen.
We then slept on a raised platform in the forest and mattreses, with personak bug nets. Mine had holes in it and I woke up to my back covered in bites. Also a giant moth decided to be my roommate flr the night. I named him George.
Day 3: The swamp
We woke up and began going through the rainforest again, with the sunrise. We saw the capuchins again, which was nice.
Then the highlights began to arrive. First we saw the Brown-mantled tamarin. They are super tiny and super curious. The way they make huge jumps between trees is absolutely amazing.
Then we saw 2 specimens of Collared Peccary grazing in the woods. They were surprisingly silent, and didn't seem to fear us.
Then we saw tracks of an Ocelot and a Tayra.
Then the final animal before we left was a surprise even to the guide. A lone curious Peruvian spider monkey began playing hide-and-seek with us. The guide said it's a young one and that his family is likely close by, and it's likely the first time it has seen humans.
We then drove to a swamp. On the drive, I was lucky to notice the rare Mantled howler on a tree by the roadside, and we stopped to take pictures. The guide tried to make them howl by playing a recording of howler monkey noises, but it wasn't in the mood.
We stopped for lunch and ice cream, and then continued to a swamp, where we traveled into the swamp with a raft. The swamp was filled with egrets, ibises and more weird birds, but the highlight was definitely the Hoatzin. It is absolutely huge in real life, the size of a small vulture, and is absolutely huge. We also saw Blue Morpho butterflies on the way.
We tried to find a caiman or a capybara but didn't manage either.
We then took a boat ride to a lodge on an island. At night we took a night tour again, and this time we found an adult Spectacled Caiman, which was magnificent (it is now my favorite caiman), as well as some weird bugs that swim in sand. We alsk found a crab, an owl, and saw several fishing bats which was amazing.
We saw footprints of a Red Brocket, but didn't see the animal itself.
Day 4: The river
On the 4 we just woke up early and did some zipline and snapling. It was fun but very unsafe, and was clearly not approved by any engineer.
On the way back we saw Capybaras chilling on the river side. A huge amount of them. Apparently they chill on the river in the morning.
Then we drove back to Cusco.
Final thoughts
It was truly an amazing trip, and I intend on visiting the rainforest again in the coming weeks, this time with more bug spray and more shirts. I loved the views and saw some amazing stuff.
Some regrets I have, is that I went with a loud and childlish tourist group, which probably prevented us from seeing more animals.
Also there was an optio to go even deeper into the reserve to an area where you can see Jaguars and Giant otters, which we didn't take because it cost an extra 1000$. Next time maybe.
Anyway, I'm glad to share, and will post the relevant pictures in the comments.
Apparently the pictures in my phone are too large for here so I will use pictures from the internet. I will only post pictures of animals I've actually seen, and mention animals we tried but failed to see
Here's the view in Manu:
Background on the reserve:
Park Manu is a national park in southern Peru 6 hours away from the city of Cusco. The park spreads over 17,000km², and contains thousands of species of plants and animals, including most of the beloved amazon rainforest fauna. The park has 4,385 plant species, over a 1000 bird species, 160 mammal species, 155 amphibian species, 132 reptile species, over 300 fish species, 1315 species of butterflies, over 600 species of ants, and more.
The park also has an uncontacted native tribe.
Getting ready for the trip:
We booked as a group of 6 people for a 4 day trip. We were required to buy long shirts and a lot of mosquito spray. In retrospect, I didn't buy enough of both.
Day 1: The cloud forest
Most of the first day was driving from Cusco to the rainforest. We enter the park at the top of a mountain at the height of 4000 meters and are literally driving through a cloud.
At this height, there are only birds and low vegetation. The fauna in this height also includes the Spectacled Bear and Cougar, but seeing them is really rare. The day is just going down through the cloud forest to some beautiful waterfalls, and stopping to see the wildlife. First we've seen the Andean -of-the-rock, the national bird of peru. We've also seen the yellow-rumped cacique which is beautiful and rather common here.
Later while going down the mountain we stopped for a hike, where we've seen several species of monkeys. First we've seen from afar the endangered Gray wooly monkey. These are huge impressive monkeys that kinda look like gorillas. They are shy and move through the forest in a group, but they never got close to us. It was amazing to see primates in the wild for the first time.
Then we saw a pack of Black-capped squirrel monkey and Large-headed Capuchin. Yhe capuchins are bold and interested in the tourists, while the small squirrel monkeys are rather shy and watch from high in the trees.
At night we arrived to our first lodge, where we ate dinner and swam in the river (it was really cold). While I showered I was attacked by a flying cockroach the size of my hand, which was certainly an experience.
Later we went for a night walk with flashlights, and got to see several animals. First we've seen a black and white tarantula in its lair. The guide said this species was rather venomous, so we couldn't hold it. It was also clearly annoyed by us. We also saw several tree-frogs and a baby Spectacled Caiman. Apparently Caiman eyes glow red if you put light on them with a flashlight. Pictures are approximations for lack of exact species.
From here on the forum doesn't allow more files, so I'll post pictures in the comments.
Day 2: The rainforest
On this day we went deeper into the forest with a 3 hour drive, and went for a look around. The day had a great start with the Crested oropendola, a bird that builds hanging nests from trees.
We then drove 3 hours into the forest where we started hiking. The first animal of the day was a Hoffmann's two-toed sloth mother with a baby. Cutest thing I've ever seen. She was rather friendly, and came down to us when the guide collected some fruit for her.
Then we saw the White fronted Capuchin in a large pack unlike the few we've seen before. Because in this part of the reserve they are not used to humans, they were rather cautious.
As we went on we saw Scarlet Macaws, which are absolutely amazing to see in the wild. Later we also saw blue-and-yellow macaw.
We saw many tracks that day, of nocturnal animals which are hard to see. We saw tracks of a Jaguar, as well as burrows left by the Giant armadillo, both of which we didn't see during the trip.
By the end if the trip before arriving to the sleeping site, we saw a South american Tapir browsing in the forest. First megafauna of the trip, whicg was amazing. It ran away when it noticed us.
At night we went for a night tour again, where we saw a catsnake, cane toad, and several species of bugs and frogs. We also saw a green tree snake, which pretended to be a viper by triangling his head. The highlight of the night was when we saw a Black-headed night monkey family. They were living in a hole in a tree and were clearly startled by our walking. It may be the cutest thing I've ever seen.
We then slept on a raised platform in the forest and mattreses, with personak bug nets. Mine had holes in it and I woke up to my back covered in bites. Also a giant moth decided to be my roommate flr the night. I named him George.
Day 3: The swamp
We woke up and began going through the rainforest again, with the sunrise. We saw the capuchins again, which was nice.
Then the highlights began to arrive. First we saw the Brown-mantled tamarin. They are super tiny and super curious. The way they make huge jumps between trees is absolutely amazing.
Then we saw 2 specimens of Collared Peccary grazing in the woods. They were surprisingly silent, and didn't seem to fear us.
Then we saw tracks of an Ocelot and a Tayra.
Then the final animal before we left was a surprise even to the guide. A lone curious Peruvian spider monkey began playing hide-and-seek with us. The guide said it's a young one and that his family is likely close by, and it's likely the first time it has seen humans.
We then drove to a swamp. On the drive, I was lucky to notice the rare Mantled howler on a tree by the roadside, and we stopped to take pictures. The guide tried to make them howl by playing a recording of howler monkey noises, but it wasn't in the mood.
We stopped for lunch and ice cream, and then continued to a swamp, where we traveled into the swamp with a raft. The swamp was filled with egrets, ibises and more weird birds, but the highlight was definitely the Hoatzin. It is absolutely huge in real life, the size of a small vulture, and is absolutely huge. We also saw Blue Morpho butterflies on the way.
We tried to find a caiman or a capybara but didn't manage either.
We then took a boat ride to a lodge on an island. At night we took a night tour again, and this time we found an adult Spectacled Caiman, which was magnificent (it is now my favorite caiman), as well as some weird bugs that swim in sand. We alsk found a crab, an owl, and saw several fishing bats which was amazing.
We saw footprints of a Red Brocket, but didn't see the animal itself.
Day 4: The river
On the 4 we just woke up early and did some zipline and snapling. It was fun but very unsafe, and was clearly not approved by any engineer.
On the way back we saw Capybaras chilling on the river side. A huge amount of them. Apparently they chill on the river in the morning.
Then we drove back to Cusco.
Final thoughts
It was truly an amazing trip, and I intend on visiting the rainforest again in the coming weeks, this time with more bug spray and more shirts. I loved the views and saw some amazing stuff.
Some regrets I have, is that I went with a loud and childlish tourist group, which probably prevented us from seeing more animals.
Also there was an optio to go even deeper into the reserve to an area where you can see Jaguars and Giant otters, which we didn't take because it cost an extra 1000$. Next time maybe.
Anyway, I'm glad to share, and will post the relevant pictures in the comments.
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