Manu Wildlife Tour 5 Days: Tapir and Parrot Clay Licks

Day 01: Cusco – Manu Cloud Forest – Pilcopata

We leave Cusco at 6:00 a.m. in a private minivan and cross the Andes. Our first stop is the pre-Inca burial towers of Ninamarca, followed by a short visit to Paucartambo, a picturesque Andean village known for its traditional dress, before we reach the entrance of Manu National Park, the highest point of the trip.

From there we descend into the cloud forest, full of orchids, heliconias and tree ferns. After lunch we look for Peru’s national bird, the Andean cock-of-the-rock, as well as quetzals, trogons, the Amazonian umbrellabird, woolly monkeys (the largest monkey in Peru), brown capuchins and, with luck, a spectacled bear. In the afternoon we arrive in Pilcopata, where we spend the night at Pilcopata Lodge.

Day 02: Pilcopata – Atalaya – Machuhuasi Oxbow Lake – Indiana Top Lodge

You wake up to the sound of rainforest birds. After breakfast we drive down the eastern slope of the Andes to the river port of Atalaya, stopping at a coca plantation and enjoying views over the lowland rainforest, and continue by boat on the clear waters of the Madre de Dios River.

We explore the Machuhuasi oxbow lake on a balsa raft to look for the prehistoric-looking hoatzin, then walk around the lake while your guide explains the medicinal plants, reptiles and mammals of the forest. With luck we see capybaras, the largest rodent in the world, along with caimans, herons, oropendolas, toucans and monkeys until sunset. Night at Indiana Top Lodge.

Day 03: Parrot Clay Lick – Madre de Dios River – Shipitiari Native Community – Tapir Clay Lick

We leave early by boat to visit the parrot clay lick, where hundreds of parakeets and small macaws come to eat mineral-rich clay. After breakfast we travel down the river, deeper into the forest near the Manu Reserved Zone, watching for capybaras, squirrel monkeys, kingfishers and king vultures.

After lunch we continue to the Shipitiari native community, where Matsiguenka families still keep their traditions, to learn about their daily life and customs. In the afternoon we explore the mature flooded forest. At dusk we go to the tapir clay lick and wait quietly on a platform for tapirs, the largest land animal in South America, to come and eat clay. The wait can be anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours or more; when the first tapir arrives, your guide quietly lets you know so you can watch it 10–20 m (33–66 ft) below the platform. On the night walk back we may see ocelots and owls.

Day 04: Terra Firme Forest – River Clay Therapy – Indiana Top Lodge

We spend the morning exploring the terra firme forest of the lowlands among huge ceiba trees, looking for macaws, toucans, trumpeters, snakes, peccaries, deer and monkeys such as red howlers, brown and white-fronted capuchins, spider monkeys, tamarins and woolly monkeys, and maybe a jaguar resting on a log. You can also try the clay therapy and swim in the river. After lunch we head back up the Madre de Dios River, watching for tapirs and capybaras, and arrive at Indiana Top Lodge in the afternoon.

Day 05: Indiana Top Lodge – Atalaya – Cusco

We travel back along the river in the early morning, watching for capybaras, tapirs and birds, with breakfast on the boat. From Atalaya we continue by private van to Cusco and drop you off near the main square at around 5:00 p.m.