Discovering the Amazon and its people

Day 01.- Cusco out – Cloud Forest

At 5:00 in the morning, we leave the Caja Mágica (759 Suytuqhatu street, San Blas neighborhood) bound for the Manu National Park, in our vehicle specially equipped for the route. It is important to say that we will eat typical food from the jungle area on our excursion. We will cross interesting inter-Andean valleys and picturesque peasant communities. Paucartambo, a typical colonial town of great importance at that time, in this place we will make a stop for those who want to have breakfast, go to the bathroom or shop. Continuing the trip we will ascend to the Acjanacu pass at 3,850 meters above sea level. From here we begin the descent through the Cloud Forest, an area rich in endemic species such as the Spectacled Bear and Gallito de las Rocas, orchids, bromeliads, ferns, etc. In some areas we will walk to observe the flora and fauna that make this area something unique. We will arrive at a town called Pilkopata, at approximately 5 in the afternoon where we will rest in a comfortable lodge in the middle of nature.

Journey 02.

We will wake up early after breakfast, we will visit the SANTA ROSA DE HUACARIA community, arriving at 9 am in the morning, this community is a refuge for three ethnic races, the Quechuas, the Huachipaires and Machiguenga, their activities are hunting, fishing, gathering of fruits and crafts. In this place we will get to know their customs and traditions, after the welcoming reception we will be able to recognize the native people, with a local guide we will know the trails of medicinal plants, thus seeing the value of each one of them in their daily life. They will show us their hunting skills through an arrow contest, likewise, the projects they carry out such as a fish farm and other tourism initiatives for the improvement of their community, their skills with crafts through different seeds. And if we are lucky, we will try the typical drink called the masato, which to date its preparation is a mystery (one of the oldest healers in this area lives in this place, he is in charge of performing ayahuasca, curing the population, payment to the earth, reading the coca leaf). This prior coordination and disposition of the healer. Then we will have the option of taking a bath in the natural lagoon that exists in this community. At the end of lunch in the community, we will go back down to the town of Pillcopata, arriving at approximately 2:45 p.m. Our rafting guide will be waiting for us on the banks of the Pilcopata river to descend to the port of watchtower. Estimated time approximately one hour, arriving at 4:00 p.m. We will change our bathing clothes to get dressed and get on our outboard boat to go even deeper into the depths of the Peruvian jungle. After almost an hour by boat, along the Madre de Dios River, we will observe the enormous diversity of birds that exist, such as herons, vultures, cormorants, etc. Until we reach our Private Reserve, in this place we will spend the next 2 nights. We will arrive at a camp called Buena Vista or Arpia. We will leave our things in the rooms exclusively accommodated for us, we will have dinner and then we will have an optional walk to see nocturnal animals.

Day 03.- Buena Vista: Parrot clay lick-Visit to La Ceiba-Visit Lake Machuwasi

We will get up early to do the clay lick activity, (6:00 AM approx.) We will board our boat in which we will sail for 10 minutes to go to the Parrot Clay Lick. A sensational place, the clay wall on the bank of a river, in this place different species of parrots meet, such as the blue-headed parrot, the white-eyed parakeet and possibly the Maracano macaw (Ara severa) among others that come down every morning to extract and lick pieces of clay that contain the necessary minerals for their dietary balance. After watching this show, we will have breakfast, returning to our hostel.

After a few minutes of rest after breakfast at 9 in the morning we will begin exploring the place, we will walk along a trail for 3 hours, looking for different animals and identifying different types of plants, likewise, a very large tree called ceiba, the second largest in the world that even with 20 people cannot be hugged (The first is in Africa), we will arrive at our hostel at 1 in the afternoon to have lunch and rest.

In the afternoon, we will board our boat to navigate for 10 minutes until we cross the Alto Madre de Dios River and walk for approximately 30 minutes along an interesting path to observe and distinguish different types of sensitive plants, heliconias, fruit plantations, etc. until you reach the Machuwasi lagoon, to observe birds such as gray herons, toucanets, red-crested woodpeckers, cardinals, etc. In this place it is also possible to see mammals such as squirrel monkeys, machin monkeys, among others, likewise, capybara, the largest rodent in the world. world, alligator, sloth bear and if lucky jaguar. We will return to the hostel at 6 in the afternoon to have dinner and rest, to finish we will make a bonfire to tell stories of the area and have a typical drink and thus end our circuit.

Day 04, optional zip line or zip lining-Cusco (price 20 dollars):

The next day we will get up at 7 am, to carry out this activity, which we will do with the people who want to do it after breakfast, then we will continue on the boat to the Port of Atalaya, to take the bus that will take us back to the Cusco city. Arrival time 8 or 9 at night.