A 3-Day Excursion to the Manu Biosphere Reserve

Day 1

- Another day that started at 5:45am, but this time was the pick-up time, not the wake up time! Yet we waited till 6:20am because the guide wasn't able to find our hostel.

- We were then transferred to a very nice residential area. It was obviously an upscale area. We believe it to be the home of the tour agency. We went into one of the houses to try on rubber boots because we couldn't wear our own footware into the jungle for fear of snakes and other poisonous and stinging lifeform. We were joined with an Australian guy and girl who were going to Manu for a 7-day excursion. We'd stay with each other on the first day to share the van and their guide.

- We then went from Cusco to Paucartambo (where teachers were going on strike at the town square). Then we were in the cloud forest (the jungle above 500m is called the cloud forest). Our guide Jose was really funny and spoke good English. We were finally able to communicate again! Jose showed us different flora and fauna. Showed us different kinds of birds but it was very hard to spot them.

- Saw the Peruvian national bird, the Cock of the Rock (Rupicola Peruviana). The male is red and is very jumpy and noisy trying to get the female's attention during mating. The female is brown and is very hard to spot because they're always in hiding.

- We arrived at Pilcopata where our lodge was at 5:30pm. The weather was significantly warmer and more humid. I took a cold water shower because that was my only option. In the midst of my shower, the water supply was off! Fortunately, some South African/English guy who was really friendly was outside chatting with me and helped me get the water supply back!

- Dinner was delicious. We had grilled trout and other food. After dinner we had a good chat with the guides and the Aussies. The English guy came along and chatted with us for a while, showing us the huge toad he had in his palm and telling us stories of his weird adventures. He's a tree surgeon, works 6 months and travels 6 months, has been to 53 countries, and was going in Manu for 7 days to see some wildlife. Both our guides thought he was crazy because although he's a very friendly adventurer, he's not prepared for the jungle. And our guide Carlos said that chances of him seeing exotic wildlife were low because it was the rain season.

- Went to sleep at 10pm, although I was quite awake and had a lot of thoughts, from thinking about my cats to the alpaca sweater to life to my friend's favourite line "follow your heart" to myself.

Day 2

- We took the van to the river at Atalaya where we switched to a boat. We took the boat for 10 mintues and got on shore while Ben & Vickie the Aussies continued on with their 5-hour ride downriver. When we tried docking our boat, we actually ran into a big pile of dead trees, head on. It was pretty funny.

- My friend wasn't feeling well, possibly because of the food from the previous night. So she stayed at the lodge while Carlos and I went up the hill behind our lodge to explore the jungle a bit at noon. We heard monkeys in the vicinity, and Carlos imitated their calling. They actually kept a conversation going for a while.

- A huge tree recently fell and our path was blocked. Carlos had to clear a whole new trail to work around the obstacle. He said the trail was specially for me. :) We didn't see much wildlife there, only some interesting trees. We just chatted most of the time and it was quite fun. I also found out that Carlos would be guiding on the Inca Trail the same days we were there!

- We had some snacks, walked up to the top of the hill, and came back down. By then our driver and another guy had come up to look for us. They thought we got lost because we were almost an hour overdue. Another tour guide got lost not long ago so they got worried.

- We went back to the lodge for a late lunch, then we took the boat downriver along with my friend, walked a bit along rocks, marshes, and mud, and got to Lake Machuhuasi. Then we went on a raft to watch lots and lots of birds returning to their nests.

- Then we went back to the lodge, took another cold shower, had dinner, and chatted with Carlos. He told us a story about his friend being killed by a jaguar last year while drunk. Carlos actually saw jaguars eating his friend and caught it on tape. What a terrible experience.

Day 3

- Got up at 5am again (I wonder why we had to wake up so early for so many days throughout our trip!) and went downriver to watch lots and lots of parrots and macaws. We got better at watching birds with the binoculars.

- Saw a biologist and university students taking bird counts for their research. They didn't need binoculars and they barely looked up, yet they were able to tell which species the bird flying overhead belonged to. Amazing. Carlos was able to do the same.

- We also saw Turkey vulchers, white-eyed parrots, blue headed macaws, and red and green macaws, etc.

- We then rushed back to the lodge and had a quick breakfast so we could be back by 6pm for the Inca Trail briefing at 6:30pm. Carlos also had to go for his 7pm briefing.

- We took the boat back upriver. The current was quite strong. Suddenly there was a lot of tension in the staff. They grabbed the paddle and started to row toward the rocky shore in the middle of the river slightly downriver. We weren't sure what was going on in the beginning. Then Carlos told us the motor was missing! It got caught by the current and dropped to the bottom of the river.

- So we were stranded in the middle of the river. We waited to see if other boats would pass by and help us out. After a while, one of the staff put on a life vest and began to float in the current downriver to one of the lodges to ask for help. Not far did he float before we saw another boat coming upriver towards us. They stopped and took us in. The passengers looked familiar. We saw them at the lake on the rafts when we went bird watching.

- We got back to the Atalaya where we waited for Carlos to make some phone calls to the office and got help to search for the motor. Carlos said it wasn't the first time happening to him so he knew exactly what to do. Scuba divers with special hooks would be sent to recover the motor at 7-8m deep.

- We spent almost an hour at Atalaya. I supposed we were even more behind schedule. While waiting for Carlos, I chatted with the girl from the boat which came to our rescue. I saw her carry a MEC backpack with a Canadian flag and I knew she was my friend. :) It was her first time travelling on her own. She was spending some time in South America and took a crash course in Spanish before she left home.

- We finally got back on our minibus and we went pretty fast, though safe. There was more oncoming traffic than when we came in the other day. Our driver kept honking. There was a time when we had a close call with a truck coming head-on.

- Our minibus driver asked Carlos to ask if we were scared when we were stranded in the river. I said, of course not. I thought it was a lot of fun. The close call with the truck was scarier.

- We didn't stop much en route since we were quite behind schedule. By the time we got to our briefing, it was already 7:10pm and the briefing was close to being over. So we stayed behind after our other teammates left and our guide Ro gave us the details again.

- We then went to buy some trail snacks and coca candies. Then we quickly went back to the hostel to pack our stuff (again!) for the next four days on the Inca Trail. We went to sleep ASAP to prepare for another early start the following morning.