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Amazon to the Andes in Peru
Manu Biosphere Reserve and the Sacred Valley of the Incas with Machu Picchu May 13 to 30, 2006 
 Conservation International rates Peru among the top "Megadiversity Countries". In Peru, the vastness of remaining natural habitats brings unparalleled opportunity to get to the heart of pure tropical forest. This tour will explore natural areas that set the standard against which natural purity is judged. The Manu Biosphere Reserve has the highest diversity of life on Earth and is one of the most important conservation units in the world. The beauty of this trip is the variety of habitats visited, from orchid laden cloud forest where Spectacled Bears and Cock-of-the-Rocks still live unmolested, to untouched Amazon rainforest where many species of monkeys abound and Jaguar and Tapir still roam. A trip to Manu is a trip to one of the world's great wilderness areas where wildlife is enormously plentiful. After nine days exploring rich Amazonian rivers and forests, you will be refreshed by the high-altitude cool of Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of the Incas, with ample time to discover the immortal remains of the Incan culture. Enjoy the Quechuan culture of Cusco, Ollantaytambo, Sacsayhuaman and the ruins of Machu Picchu, some of the world's greatest archaeology in a landscape of dramatic mountains. Cost: $4700, including flight from Boca Manu and all meals, except in Lima. Single supplement: $800. Airfare: approximately $850 to Lima, depending on departure point, plus $200 on LanPeru or LACSA from Lima to Cusco round trip. (Quoted 10/2003) Deposit: $500 of which $150 is refundable. Group size limit: 12, plus leaders Leaders: Ted Cheeseman throughout, our ecologist, photographer and exceptional guide. In Manu our leaders will be Ted, plus two top Peruvian naturalist/guides from Manu Expeditions, specialists in finding the birds and mammals of the Manu Biosphere Reserve. Ted and a resident cultural guide will be your leaders on the days at Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo and Sacsayhuaman. Conditions: A non-smoking tour Itinerary typed 9/2004 Itinerary in brief:
Detailed Itinerary: MAY 13-14, SATURDAY-SUNDAY: Flights to Peru, overnight in Lima Arrive in Lima by May 14. You will be met at the airport with a driver for a transfer to our hotel. Meals on your own today to accommodate varying schedules. Overnight in Lima on May 14 at Hotel Jose Antonio. MAY 15, MONDAY: Cusco and the Peruvian Highlands The 6:00 am LanPeru flight into Cusco will bring us into the Cordillera Vilcabamba in the great and dramatic Andean Range. Upon arrival in Cusco, meet with local naturalist/guides, two of Manu Expeditions' very experienced Peruvian guides. Any extra luggage can travel with us as far as the Cock of the Rock lodge, then come back to be stored in Cusco. From Cusco in our expedition bus, travel through traditional Quechua communities in the high Andes. Stop for a picnic breakfast complete with tables and chairs. We will ascend up through the inter-montane valleys before arriving at the last Andean pass, Ajcanacu. At the pass, if the weather is clear, we will be treated to expansive views of the vast Amazon Basin stretching eastward to the Atlantic. From this vista we can look down on the Manu Biosphere Reserve and see more pristine rainforest than is preserved in all of Central America. Manu is said to be the most undisturbed rainforest left on Earth. It has been designated an IUCN "World Heritage Site" to recognize and hopefully maintain its splendor. To date over 1,100 bird species have been counted with in the reserve and its wide variety of habitats (an entire virgin watershed, from Andean grasslands, elfin forests, and cloud forests to high and low elevation rainforests) provide numerous ecological areas for its diverse flora and fauna. At this high point in the Andes, there is a chance to see Andean Condors. We descend the eastern slope of the Andes where the forest becomes more continuous. The misty cloudforest here is draped with orchids and epiphytes many of which remain undescribed to science. We pass cascading waterfalls to our lodge at 1600 meters, the very comfortable Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge. The lighting is by lanterns, the meals are excellent and the cabins have private baths with hot showers.
MAY 17, WEDNESDAY: Down the Alta Madre de Dios River to Boca Manu This morning will provide a second opportunity to visit the Cock-of-the-Rock lek. After breakfast, we leave Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge at 1600 meters and meander down to 500 meters through the upper tropical zone forest. This zone has disappeared on much of the Andean slopes in South America because of its suitability for cash crops, such as tea, coffee and coca. So we can feel particularly lucky for the opportunity to see part of this forest type remaining. After lunch at the base of the Andes, we'll board a motorized canoe for a six-hour boat trip down the Alto Madre de Dios River to its confluence with the Manu River in the Amazon lowlands. We'll overnight near the village of Boca Manu in a small, locally built and managed lodge across the river from the airstrip of Boca Manu. Two species of Tamarin monkeys are resident in the surrounding rainforest, the Saddleback and Emperor. The latter, with its long, white moustache, is a rare and precious sight. MAY 18, THURSDAY: Upriver to Campamento Aguaje Well fed and rested we leave Boca Manu on the Madre de Dios to enter the wildlife-rich waters of the Manu River. With a brief stop at the park ranger station at Limonal to present our permits we travel for about five hours up the Manu. As we travel upriver, each curve will reveal a beach that may hold Black or White Caimans, turtles, forest mammals, such as Jaguar and Capybara, or riverside birds, such as Pied Lapwing, Fasciated Tiger-heron, Orinoco Goose, and terns. Both the large, vociferous Red Howler Monkeys and the smaller Squirrel Monkeys are possible in riverside forests. Fly-overs are frequent, including many species of macaws, parakeets and parrots, and this is one opportunity for bird of prey observations. In much of the Amazon basin, deforestation, development and mining blight the riversides, and poaching depletes the wildlife. Not here! Beaches, especially in the dry season, are loaded with nesting birds and feeding Herons, Egrets, Orinoco Geese, Terns and Skimmers to name but a few. Hundreds of Sand-colored Nightjars roost during the day on logs and beaches. For the ecologist, the riverside vegetation along the Manu River is a study in plant succession as beaches build and erode. Researchers have documented specialization of bird species within the stages of succession on old beaches. And if this ecology doesn't hold your attention, keep an eye out because sunning Jaguar sometimes visit the beaches. After a lunch en route by the river we arrive at our Safari Camp near the lake of Cocha Salvador. We'll have the late afternoon to explore some of the trails through the pristine rainforest in the area. A visit to the lake of Cocha Otorongo is planned, where observation piers and a 20-meter observation tower in the rainforest canopy overlooking the lake are available for observing wildlife. We will also be on the lookout for a large family of Giant Otters that inhabit this lake. After dinner we will venture into the forest in search of nocturnal creatures. The lakes are full of eye-shine of the large Black Caiman and if we are lucky we may encounter an Olingo, Kinkajou or even an Ocelot on the trails. Certainly the nighttime noise of tree frogs and insects in the forest is an experience not to be forgotten. Night at Campamento Aguaje. The camp is our most rustic accommodation, but we are well cared for with flush toilets, simple shower facilities and large walk-in tents on raised roofed wooden platforms with cots for sleeping. MAY 19, FRIDAY: Campamento Aguaje, deep in Manu After breakfast we'll spend the morning at the oxbow lake of Cocha Salvador. Some of the time will be spent canoeing the lake on a floating platform observing ox-bow lake animal life from the water. We may encounter an Agami Heron or a Sungrebe and White-faced Capuchin Monkeys are usually feeding on fruits nearby. Specially constructed piers that jut out into the lake enable us to look for a family of Giant Otters that live here. These, the world's largest freshwater carnivorous mammals, remain common in few places outside Manu, having been hunted to extinction throughout most of their former range. Each animal consumes between 4 and 5 kilos of fish daily and often they can be seen eating large fish on logs at the lakeside. The rest of the day will be spent walking the trails in the area in search of some of the 13 species of Monkey found in the forest here. We will explain some of the basics of rainforest ecosystems and point out some of the medicinal plants of the area used by local, indigenous groups. We may cross paths with a group of White-lipped or Collared Peccaries - species of wild boar found here, and any of thirteen species of monkeys. Enjoy a late afternoon swim in the river near the camp as the sun sets. Night at Campamento Aguaje.
MAY 21 22, SUNDAY MONDAY: Manu Wildlife Center We will awake to a bird song-filled dawn at the fabulous Manu Wildlife Center, jointly owned by Manu Expeditions and the Selva Sur Conservation Group. Enjoy four nights in spacious and comfortably rustic cabins with hot water showers! As with the previous camp and lodges, lighting is by lanterns, candles and flashlights. Without a noisy generator, wildlife is much more abundant on the lodge grounds. The birding is wonderful and primates are often viewed feeding in trees around the lodge. The Manu Wildlife Center is situated just upriver from the Blanquillo Macaw Lick. There will be the opportunity on one morning to visit this natural macaw clay lick and observe the spectacle of hundreds of parrots and macaws at close quarters from a big floating blind. Travel by boat 25 minutes downriver before dawn to the lick, then board the large mobile blind that is attached by cable to the riverbank opposite the lick. The raftman will silently pay out cable until we are positioned in front of the macaws once they have chosen their spot to eat clay. Before macaws arrive we will see big flocks of small parrots including the beautiful Orange-cheeked Parrot. Then have a delicious pancake picnic breakfast aboard the moving blind, which holds a dozen or so people comfortably. The macaws, mostly beautiful Red-and-Green Macaws with a few Scarlet and Blue-and-Gold macaws, should arrive between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. and, if not disturbed, should be down to eat on the clay between 8:00 and 9:30 am. We will spend the midday around the wildlife center, relaxing or exploring the biodiversity-rich grounds and nearby trails. Because the grounds are more open than deeper inside the forest, wildlife is often very visible and photogenic here. In the afternoon we can explore the extensive trail systems around the wildlife center. And after dinner each evening, you may choose to join our nightspotting walk. Rich with frogs and bizarre nocturnal insects, each walk will turn up some worthwhile surprise. One morning we will visit an ox-bow lake in the area where we will see lakeside birds including Hoatzin, Sungrebe, Agami Heron, Greater Large-billed Seed-finch, Silverd Antbird, Rufous-sided Crake, Gray-breasted Crake and we may be lucky and see one of the two Giant Otter families that live in the area. Manu Wildlife Center has a Canopy Tower in a huge kapok tree accessible via a spiral staircase. The beauty of canopy access is the ability to peer out from the level where the majority of tropical rainforest diversity resides. The botanical diversity up here in the canopy is mystifying! We will explain rainforest ecology and indigenous use of medicinal plants in-between flocks of parrots and passing toucans. The area around this lodge has the most varied diversity of forest types anywhere in the accessible Manu area, and thus the highest biodiversity - which means the most species of birds and mammals. Large stands of Bamboo hold endemic species only found in localized areas within Peru. This, coupled with the extensive Tierra Firme and Mature Transitional Floodplain Forest, means a mind-boggling variety of birdlife. Although investigation on birds is in its early stages, this lodge area may hold more species of birds than any small area in the world. The density of mammals, too, is as high here as anywhere in the Neotropics. Highlights among the 13 species of primates are Emperor and Saddleback Tamarins, Goeldi's Monkey, Monk Saki and Black Spider Monkeys. And Jaguars are sometimes spotted most unexpectedly while walking the trails quietly. A visit to the Brazilian Tapir Clay Lick, a large mammal lick, located about 3 km (1 hour walk) from the lodge, could turn up guans and currasows, plus peccaries, a forest deer, or rarer mammals. We highly recommend the opportunity to stay at the lick after dark to see what nocturnal creatures come in. Tapir, the largest South American mammal, is a frequent visitor up to 12 of these 500 pound odd-toed ungulates visit sometimes in a night! At night, tree frogs and insects together build a profound chorus. The blind is equipped with about 10 mosquito-netted mattresses so that you can rest while waiting for the first Brazilian Tapirs of the evening. The first tapir usually arrives between 9:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Other tapirs usually come in throughout the night. We can stay all night on the platform or return at midnight after seeing at least one Brazilian Tapir. MAY 23, TUESDAY: Flight to Cusco, afternoon in Cusco and down the Sacred Valley. We will be sorry to leave the lovely Manu Wildlife Center and its bountiful forests. We start early for the airstrip at Boca Manu (2.5 hours upriver) with our last look at early morning parrot flocks and riverside birds. Our spectacular 45-minute light aircraft flight over the Andes should deliver us to Cusco by midday. We will carry a box lunch en route for the 89 km to Ollantaytambo, a town with one of the major archaeological sites in Peru. Enjoy the afternoon free for sightseeing, shopping or just relaxing. Three nights at Hotel Paucartambo in Ollantaytambo.
THE VALLEY OF THE INCAS AND THE RUINS OF MACHU PICCHU
IN SUBTROPICAL CLOUD FOREST MAY 24, WEDNESDAY: Ollantaytambo The Ollantaytambo sanctuary, just up the road from our lodge, is one of the best-known sites in the Andes with a complex design and great astronomical significance. The myths and legends that explain this area are illustrated across the faces of awesome peaks with ancient terraces and precariously perched ruins everywhere. The face of Huaca (called "the face of the Inca" by the present inhabitants) is said to be carved on the vertical mountainside across the valley from Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo is the only town in Peru's Sacred Valley of the Incas that survives much as the Incas laid it out hundreds of years ago, in the pattern of a great ear of corn. We will stop for market in the small town of Pisac for some cocoa tea, a traditional favorite, and a peek around the colorful market stalls. Dinner and overnight again at the charming country inn, the Paucartambo. MAY 25, THURSDAY: A trek to remote ruins in the Sacred Valley of the Incas The Sacred Valley of the Incas sees enormous numbers of tourists, but few stray from the beaten path between Cusco and Machu Picchu. Today we will be out for our own exploration, to visit a site tourists seldom see. We will travel on foot or by horseback, and have a good chance to see some of the highland birds that have adapted to the Sacred Valley. Keep your eyes on the sky and you may spot an Andean Condor! Out here we quickly find ourselves in an environment of true authentic Quechuan lifestyles, a magnificent scene in front of remote weathered Inca temples, with the proud Andes rising sharply on all sides.
MAY 26, FRIDAY: Machu Picchu and the Gate of the Sun MACHU PICCHU is one of the most magical and mysterious places on Earth! Situated on the spine of a jungle cloaked granite peak towering some 2,000 feet above an entrenched meander of the roaring river below, the site is frequently shrouded in misty clouds pierced through by the powerful equatorial sun, the Inca god Inti. Constructed from precisely sculptured granite blocks carefully joined with the projecting exposed stone of the surrounding mountain, the site may well be the finest architectural achievement of the New World. We leave Ollantaytambo at 9 am for the train journey to the town of Agua Calientes and Machu Picchu in the clouds above. An optional morning's hiking adventure awaits those who want to get some exercise and enter Machu Picchu from the dramatic visage of the 'Gate of the Sun'. We will request a special stop of the train at km 104 to hike the last few hours of the Inca Trail, visiting some of the most spectacular of the trail-accessible ruins at Wiñayhuayna. Or carry on to Aguas Calientes to ascend the switchbacks to the ruins by bus. We will regroup after lunch for a guided tour of this mystical archeological complex to hear the full history. Machu Picchu is the most impressive site in which to learn of the rise and fall of the ancient civilizations of the Andes, with the tragic end of the Inca and the many competing theories seeking to explain this "lost city of the Incas". Overnight at the Machu Picchu Inn, Aguas Calientes. MAY 27, SATURDAY: Machu Picchu Those who haven't had enough of Machu Picchu can take the first bus back up to the ruins for an early morning exploration in relative solitude. Otherwise, the forested grounds of the nearby Pueblo Hotel offer an exploration of hundreds of orchids and nearly a dozen species of highland hummingbirds. Guided nature and birding walks are available. After lunch, we return on the 3:00 pm train. Overnight two nights at the Hotel Jose Antonio in Cusco, meals included. MAY 28, SUNDAY: Cusco and Sacsayhuaman We will spend the morning in the nearby Incan ruins of Sacsayhuaman, a dramatic structure that forms the head of Cusco's ethereal puma shape. Sacsayhuaman is worth exploration just to see the amazing stonework, yet has a huge depth of Inca history worked into its walls. After a fascinating visit to the ruins we will take the afternoon free to meander through and shop in beautiful charismatic Cusco. Cusco is the oldest continuously inhabited city on the continent, with a thriving Quechuan population and dominant colonial architecture.
Hotel schedule and schedule of included meals:
(B = breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner)
Reservations: Please contact us before sending a deposit. To reserve a place, please mail a deposit of $500 ($150 refundable) and our reservation form (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, available free) to: Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris For questions, comments or reservations, e-mail us at: info@Cheesemans.com or use our information form. Payments & Cancellations: Upon receiving your deposit of $500, we will send trip materials, including a travel guide, reading list, species lists, and maps. A second payment of $500 is due October 1, 2005. The final payment is due on February 1, 2006. Until the final payment, deposits are refundable except $150. This may go toward another tour if reservation is made within six months of the cancellation date. There are no refunds given after the final payment. Trip insurance applications are available. Included: All guiding, hotels and lodges from May 13 to June 29, tours and transport as in the tour description, and all meals except in Lima. Not Included: Items not included are airfare to and from Cusco, any airport taxes not included in the airfare, meals in Lima, laundry and other personal expenses, items not on the menu of included meals, bottled beverages including mineral water, room service, gratuities to the bus drivers and others, and the customary end-of-the-tour gratuity for our resident guides. We recommend an average of approximately $8/day. Concerning Health: Consult your physician about vaccinations, inoculations, malaria prophylactic, etc. No vaccinations or inoculations are required to enter Peru. We recommend that you are current on vaccinations. We recommend drinking bottled water or bring a water filter. Bring any specific medicine that you require. If you use corrective lenses, bring an extra pair. Climate: Temperatures can vary greatly, even in Amazonia. It is less humid in May than from November to April. The Andes can be surprisingly cool all year. Rain can be encountered during any season. We will send a packing list with trip materials when you sign up. Responsibility: Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris, Saratoga, California, act only as agents and shall not be responsible or become liable for any delay incurred by any person in connection with any means of transportation, nor for the loss, damage or injury to person or property by reason of any event beyond the control of the agency or default of such agency suppliers. The right is reserved to cancel the tour prior to departure, in which case full refund will constitute full settlement to the passenger. No refund will be made for any unused portion of the tour unless arrangements are made at the time of booking. All rates are based on current tariffs and exchange rates and are subject to adjustment in the event of any change therein. Baggage is at the owner's risk.
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