Peru's Amazon: A Week in the Jungle at Manu National Park

Manu National Park covers 1.7 million hectares of southeastern Peru, spanning an altitude range from 4,000 metres in the Andes to 300 metres in the Amazon lowlands. This extraordinary range of altitude creates a series of ecological zones — cloud forest, montane forest, and lowland rainforest — that together contain more than 1,000 species of birds, 200 species of mammals, and an estimated 15,000 species of plants. It is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth.

The journey to Manu is itself one of the great experiences of the Amazon — a two-day road trip from Cusco that descends from the Andes through cloud forest, past waterfalls and orchid-covered trees, to the lowland jungle where the road ends and the river begins. The final section of the journey is by motorised canoe down the Madre de Dios River, passing through a landscape of flooded forest and oxbow lakes that is home to giant river otters, black caimans, and hundreds of species of birds.

The oxbow lakes of Manu — Cocha Salvador, Cocha Otorongo — are the finest wildlife watching spots in the park. Giant river otters, which can reach two metres in length and were hunted almost to extinction in the 20th century, have recovered in Manu and are regularly seen fishing in the lakes. The macaw clay licks, where hundreds of parrots and macaws gather each morning to eat mineral-rich clay, are one of the most spectacular wildlife events in the Amazon.

The lodges of Manu range from basic research stations to comfortable eco-lodges with private bathrooms and excellent food. The Manu Wildlife Centre, operated by Rainforest Expeditions, is the finest — a lodge built on the edge of an oxbow lake with a canopy tower that gives access to the forest at 30 metres, where the birds and monkeys that are invisible from the ground become suddenly accessible.

The indigenous communities of Manu — the Matsigenka and Yine peoples — have lived in the park for thousands of years and maintain a relationship with the forest that is both practical and spiritual. Some communities have chosen to engage with tourism on their own terms, offering guided walks and cultural exchanges that give visitors a perspective on the Amazon that the wildlife lodges cannot provide.

The best time to visit Manu is during the dry season, from May to October, when the river levels are lower, the trails are drier, and the wildlife is concentrated around the remaining water sources. The wet season (November to April) brings flooding that makes some areas inaccessible but also produces the lush green growth and the insect activity that attracts the birds and mammals that make Manu extraordinary.

Access to Manu is strictly controlled — only licensed operators are permitted to bring visitors into the reserved zone, and the number of visitors is limited to protect the ecosystem. This means that Manu is more expensive and more logistically complex than other Amazon destinations, but it also means that the wildlife encounters are more reliable and the experience is more authentic. A minimum of five days is recommended; a week is better.