ABOUT
MANU WILDLIFE CENTER
Manu
Wildlife Center (MWC) is located in the remote and wild
Manu Wilderness of Southeastern Peru. Amidst spectacular
forest and incredible scenery, the density and diversity
of animal and plant species reach a peak in the extreme
western Amazon, near the foot of the Andes. A 35-minute
flight from Cuzco to the mouth of the Manu River and a 90
minute motorcanoe ride down the Madre de Dios River brings
you to the single best wildlife destination in the entire
Amazon: Manu Wildlife Center. The Lodge is incredibly remote
and wild. Wildlife enthusiasts, birders, and nature photographers
find Manu worth the extra effort and travelling time. The
Manu Wildlife Center offers more wildlife sightings and
a higher level of comfort, at a lower price than any other
lodge in the Manu region. Manu Wildlife Center: is the ONLY
lodge in the Manu Lowlands with ANY of the following:
- 22
bungalows with private baths and hot showers & flush
toilets.
- All
facilities are screened for your comfort.
- 48
kilometers of trails, half in scientific grids.
- Towers
at fruiting trees visited by mammals and canopy birds.
- Minutes
from the famous Macaw Clay Lick. (January 1994 cover story
National Geographic Magazine)
- World's
best Tapir viewing.
Explore
the 30 miles (48 km) of scientifically-designed forest trails
surrounding the Center to search for the 10 species of resident
monkeys, namely the acrobatic Black Spider Monkey, inquisitive
Brown and White-fronted Capuchins, Bolivian Squirrel Monkey,
Saddleback Tamarin, Dusky Titi, Night Monkey, Red Howler,
Monk Saki, and the spectacular, mustachioed Emperor Tamarin.
Birders delight at the large game birds such as Razor-billed
Curassows and Pale-winged Trumpeters, which often pass within
200 yards (180 m) of the lodge.
Hans
& Rosi Korn
Weather
permitting, on the first night at the Manu Wildlife Center
we usually visit the world's largest known Tapir Clay Lick.
From the comfort and safety of a house blind elevated 13
feet (4 m) above the lick, observe and photograph these
wiggly-nosed, 550-pound (250-kilo) beasts: the largest land
animals in South America. In nearly all parts of the Amazon,
Tapirs are harder to see than Jaguars. In 1997, more than
95% of visitors to this lick saw Tapirs before 10:00 pm
on their first or second try.
On
the first morning at Manu Wildlife Center, we usually boat
for 25 minutes down river to see the only accessible Macaw
and Parrot Clay Lick in the Manu area. From a silent, floating
catamaran blind pioneered by our macaw researchers, we marvel
at the emerald green and electric blue parrots and the gaudy
Red-and-Green Macaws that arrive by the hundreds to gobble
down the clay. This mobile blind allows us to approach within
20-30 yards (18-27 m) of the 25-foot-tall (8-m-tall) clay
bank for excellent photo opportunities. No other Macaw Lick
in the world currently permits such close-up, comfortable
viewing of this spectacle of nature. For details about macaw
clay licks, see the macaw cover story in the January
1994 National Geographic. Though these licks are active
nearly year round, the best period for photography is from
July through November, when there tend to be lots of birds
and little rain.
The
forest near the Center features two or more canopy platforms
or towers at any given time. Our scientists strategically
locate these platforms and towers near fruiting or flowering
trees visited by monkeys and a panoply of colorful canopy
birds. Other lodges around the world offer access to the
forest canopy, but none of them can compete with Manu Wildlife
Center for such spectacular, close-up canopy viewing of
such a large variety of monkeys and photogenic birds, including
iridescent tanagers, toucans, and hummingbirds.
Manu
Wildlife Center is number one in the world for viewing of
canopy wildlife because, unlike most competing lodges, our
forest remains unhunted and full of wildlife, and our scientists
and canopy logistics experts have more practice building
platforms and canopy towers for international TV crews than
all other teams in South America combined.
Comments about Manu Wildlife Center from
tour guides and magazines
|
Conde
Nast Traveler |
“…Manu Wildlife Center has become a base of
choice for elite bird-watching tours and wildlife-documentary
crews- people willing to spend good money to be treated
well..”
|
|
Moon
Handbook |
... high-end Manu operator is InkaNatura Travel, which
is one of Peru´s leading operators, with programs
in Chachapoyas, Puerto Maldonado, and the jungle around
Quillabamba as well.InkaNatura is the profit-making arm
of the Peru Verde conservation organization that owns Manu
Wildlife Center.
|
|
Insight
guides of Discovery Channela |
scintillanting rainforest option in this arca is Manu Wildlife
Center, two hours downstream from Boca Manu. The Wildlife
Center, just outside the Manu Biosphere reserve, is in a
large area of privately owned rainforest with superb wildlife
viewing. There area 48 Km. (30 miles) of trails, and some
unique features, such as the nearby Blanquillo clay lick,
where noisy flocks of parrots and macaws gather to ingest
minerals, and a mudhule where tapirs (seldom sigthted elsewhere),
are nightly visitors
|
|
Lonely
Planet |
A
two-hour boat ride southeast (right) of Boca Manu of the
Rio Madre de Dios takes you to Manu Wildlife Center. Although
the lodge is not in Manu Biosphere Reserve, it is recommended
for its exceptional wildlife-watching and birding opportunities...
There are 48 km of trails around the Manu Wildlife Center,
where 10 species of monkeys, as well as other wildlife,
can be seen. Two canopy platforms are a short walk away,
and one is always available for guests wishing to view the
top of the rainforest and look for birds that frequent the
canopy. A 3 km walk through the forest brings you to a natural
salt lick, where there is a raised platform with mosquito
nets for viewing the nightly activities of the tapirs....
A short boat ride on the Madre de Dios brings visitors to
a well-known salt lick that attracts various species of
parrots and macaws.
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|
Manu
Wildlife Center
