Cusco / Blanquillo / Colorado / Puerto Maldonado / Cusco

5 Days/ 4 Nights

DAY 1:

From Cusco we board a small charter airplane to head to Boca Manu, entrance point to Manu National Park. With good clear skies we can enjoy the magnificent Ausangate on your right side and the Veronica on our left, two of the most known sacred peaks in Cuzco. The small airstrip in the immense surronding jungle is an awesome sight but the expert bush pilot makes it look simple to land there. This part of the trip will takes approximately 35 minutes.

After arriving to Boca Manu landing strip, you will travel 2 hours downstream through the Madre de Dios River in a motorized dugout canoe until we reach Tambo Blanquillo Lodge. During the trip, pairs and trios of red bellied and blue and yellow macaws fly over us, there is also the possibility to see peccaries, capybaras, jaguars and black caimans sunbathing or crossing the river. Some birds such as the large-billed and yellow billed Terns, Egrets, Herons and Roseate Spoonbills can be spotted on the sandy river banks.

Lunch. A briefing will be held immediately after lunch.

OXBOW LAKE CAMUNGO

A 10 minutes ride downstream in a motorised canoe takes us to Cocha Camungo; an oxbow lake formed after the meandering Madre de Dios River changed its course several years ago. The trail starts on the border of the riverbank and after a 20 minutes walk we arrive to the lake. During the walk spider monkeys and very rare and small emperor monkeys can be seen.

Once in the lake a small catamaran will be waiting. Scarlet and red and green macaws fly at eye-level altitude on their way to the nearby Blanquillo Macaw Lick. On some occasions, the magnificent harpy eagle can be spotted seeking for monkeys, as well as other predators like the black-collared hawk, the ornate-hawk and osprey, while big families of giant river otters, fish and preen themselves on top of dead logs.

We will visit the lakes opposite shore to find the famous horned screamer Camungo, the bizarre pre-historic leaf-eating hoatzin and numerous herons and kingfisher.

KAPOK CANOPY PLATFORM

In the way to the lake we will encounter a 40 Mt. observation tower, by far the tallest and most spectacular canopy platform in Manu which is next to a magnificent Ceiba tree locally known as Lupuna. The tower leads you to a wooden platform carefully built on the top of the tree (avoiding any damage to it) where you can enjoy a superb view of the Camungo Oxbow lake and also of the canopy line that stretches towards the south, east and west.

During the climb it is possible to see squirrel, white-fronted and brown capuchins, spider and howler monkeys. Some birds include the paradise opal and swallow tanagers as well as the white-throated

jacamars. Reaching the platform rewards you with a magnificent view of the Camungo Oxbow Lake. We will stay until sunset time. 

7:00PM Dinner

DAY 2:

BLANQUILLO MACAW CLAY LICK

Ccollpa Blanquillo is located about 10 minutes downstream on a motorized canoe; after that a 10 minutes walk through a secondary forest will takes us to a especially build observatory. The direct sun, at that time of the day, bathes the lick phase with a 2 – 2.5 more F- stops of light that can not be encounter at other licks. With this extra light, plus short distance and stability, a photographer can freeze flying birds with fast shutter speeds even when using a low fine film. Breakfast will be served at the blind and there is a toilette facility aboard if needed.

If time and weather favour us, a typical day at the Collpa will start around 6:00 a.m. when the first pairs of parrots fly in to land in the treetops above the lick. They are followed by hundreds who screech and squawk until the first ones (generally the blue-headed parrots) descend on to the clay.

Around 8:00 a.m. the first of the larger macaws arrive in family groups and perch in the treetops. The most common are the red and greens, the scarlet and the blue and yellow macaws. The exact arrival time of each species may vary slightly, but the order seems surprisingly fixed. At 10:30 a.m., around 40 to 150 macaws will have gathered and begin their descent to the clay. The birds apparently relaxed remain alert for eagles. If one is spotted, between 50 and 100 macaws often of different species, will circle and mob it, generally succeeding in chasing it from the area. The return to Tambo Blanquillo is around 11:30 a.m.

Lunch.

DAY 3:

Continental breakfast

OXBOW LAKE BLANCO

A motorized canoe is boarded for a 10-minute upstream ride to Cocha Blanco, then we make a pleasant 15 minute walk through a pristine seasoally flooded rainforest trail until we reach the shore of the lake where a small catamaran is waiting. Hoatzins, wild turkeys, the Band-tailed Antbird, the Silvered Antbird, the Black-capped Donacobius and Agami herons are some bird species commonly spotted on the lake. Also there is a family of giant river otters which appear regularly (see sighting graph information). There are 5 species of monkey present in this lake. Around 5:00 p.m. the motorized canoe must be boarded for the return trip to Tambo Blanquillo.

Lunch

SHEBONAL TRAIL

One distinctive habitat around Tambo Blanquillo is the shebonal, named after the abundance of one local palm called shebon. Its high clay content makes it waterproof and seasonally flooded during the rainy season, ideal refugee for animals such as dears, peccaries, snakes and wild turkeys. Trogons are usually spotted on this trail.

Dinner

DAY 4:

After a 3-hour downstream ride over the Madre de Dios River in a motorized canoe, we will reach Boca Colorado.  There a small van will pick us up for a 1 hour road trip until we reach Puerto Carlos, located on the bank of the Inambari River. Crossing to the opposite shore of the Inambari River a small car will be waiting to take us to a comfortable hotel in Puerto Maldonado. This part of the trip will takes us approximately 2 hours. A box lunch will be provided on the road but dinner is on your own on Puerto Maldonado.

DAY 5

Early transfer to Puerto Maldonado Airport.  Breakfast buffet and airport shuttle is included in the program.