Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [405]
About 40km before Shintuya is the village of Atalaya, on the Río Alto Madre de Dios (not to be confused with the village of the same name on the Río Ucayali; Click here). Ten minutes by boat on the other side of the river is the gorgeous Amazonia Lodge (084-23-1370; www.amazonialodge.com; r per person US$70) Cuzco (Map; Matará 334), in an old hacienda in the foothills of the Andes. Expect clean, comfortable beds and communal hot showers; simple but satisfactory meals are also included. The lodge has forest trails, excellent bird-watching (guided tours are offered), blissfully few mosquitoes and no electricity. The lodge can make transportation arrangements, or tour agencies in Cuzco can make reservations.
The village of Salvación, about 10km closer to Shintuya, has a national park office and some basic hotels. Ask here for boats continuing down the river but note that park entry is restricted to tour groups and there are very few other boats available.
Shintuya is the end of the road at this time and is the closest village to the park, but it has only a few places to stay. You may be able to camp at the mission station by talking to the priest.
The Ecuadorian-Dutch Moscoso family lives 30 minutes downriver from Shintuya and operates Pantiacolla Lodge (s/d US$95/130). There are 14 double rooms here, 11 with shared bathrooms and three with private ones. Rates include meals but not transportation or tours, though right near the lodge are forest trails, a parrot lick and hot springs. Various transportation and guided-tour options are available. As with all Manu lodges mentioned above, you can get here independently by bus/truck. It is necessary to give advance notice for the boat to the lodge, which is on the fringe of the national park. Good wildlife sightings have been reported. Contact Pantiacolla Tours (Map; 084-23-8323; www.pantiacolla.com; Saphy 554, Cuzco).
Boats can travel from Pilcopata, Atalaya, Salvación or Shintuya toward Manu. People on tours often start river travel from Atalaya after a night in a lodge. The boat journey down the Alto Madre de Dios to the Río Manu takes almost a day. At the junction is the village of Boca Manu, which has basic facilities. This village is known for building the best riverboats in the area, and it is interesting to see them in various stages of construction. A few minutes from the village by the air strip is Yine Lodge (s/d US$95/130), which has six double rooms sharing showers and toilets, run by the Yine people in conjunction with Pantiacolla Tours (Map; 084-23 8323; www.pantiacolla.com; Saphy 554, Cuzco). The Boca Manu airstrip is often the start or exit point for commercial trips into the park. Companies including Servicios Aereos de Los Andes (098-481-7103; Cuzco airport) fly small aircraft here from Cuzco several times per week for US$195 one way. Most seats are taken up with tour groups, but empty seats are often available. A steep US$30 airport fee is charged at Boca Manu.
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PARQUE NACIONAL MANU
This national park starts in the eastern slopes of the Andes and plunges down into the lowlands, hosting great diversity over a wide range of cloud forest and rainforest habitats. The most progressive aspect of the park is the fact that so much of it is very carefully protected – a rarity anywhere in the world.
After Peru introduced protection laws in 1973, Unesco declared Manu a Biosphere Reserve in 1977 and a World Natural Heritage Site in 1987. One reason the park is so successful in preserving such a large tract of virgin jungle and its wildlife is that it is remote and relatively inaccessible to people, and therefore has not been exploited by rubber tappers, hunters and the like.
It is illegal to enter the park without a guide. Going with an organized group can be arranged in Cuzco (Click here and Click here) or with international tour operators. It’s an expensive trip; budget travelers should arrange their trip in Cuzco and be very flexible with travel plans. Travelers often report returning from Manu three