Back into the wild: a week in Manu National Park

Hello from the very special and wild Manu National Park where we are spending a whole week. In my previous post, I talked a bit about why Manu is so special. This post is dedicated to all the stunning experiences and animal sightings on our tour. First off, know that the whole trip was brilliant! I loved every second of it and me and Ismene went pretty 'wild'.

Just so you can get a sense of how our days were laid out, here in brief is how we spent the week: The first day, we had lunch with our tour group and then set off on the boat from the Atalaya pier to get to Treehouse Inn, a lodge in the Cultural zone of the park. The second day, we got up at 4.30am and set off to Casa Matsiguenka in the Reserve zone. It took us about 12 hours on the boat so it was a long day. On our third day, we stayed in Casa Matsiguenka and explored the truly magnificent primary forest. On our fourth day, we took the boat back to Treehouse Inn and stayed there for the next (fifth) day. On our sixth and last day, we took the boat back to the start of the Cultural zone and then we (me, Dan, Ioanna and Ismene) went to a research station up in the Cloud Forest.

Of course, as you know the jungle is massive (he he) and, there is no way I can describe to you absolutely everything we saw. For that reason, I am only going to write about some of the most spectacular and important animal sightings. And because we stayed in several parts of the Amazon - the reserve zone and the cultural zone - I'll tell you what we spotted in each one. First off, know that over the whole trip, we saw 78 bird species which of course is not surprising if you think about Manu's biodiversity and wildlife!

When we moved to the Reserve zone was when the real fun began. The first real highlight came as a real surprise to everyone when we were travelling, and this is probably because some people were falling asleep. Suddenly, our guide, Jasmani, stood up from his seat and shouted “sloth” jolting several people (including Ismene) out of their sleep. Ismene, jumped out of her chair, and looked around wildly! It turns out Jasmani was right; up in the trees, we could clearly see a sloth. A sloth that, funnily, seemed like he was doing pull-ups in the tree! Apparently, it was a really lucky sighting because sloths are remarkably difficult to spot and our guide only sees them a handful times a year.

In the Reserve zone, on our way to Casa Matsiguenka, we also visited a huge and very important oxbow lake, called Otorongo Lake. As a bonus, it also had a twenty metres high watchtower where we spent some time looking over the lake and spotting animals. This is where we spotted giant otters swimming and diving in and out the shimmering lake waters, catching the last rays of the sun. They were beautiful even from afar, and seemed so elegant when they dipped in the water. 

But there is another oxbow lake in the Reserve zone which is called Salvador Lake, and is deep in the pristine jungle. The first two days, we were travelling and exploring the rainforest from the boat, so it was really fun to explore the jungle on foot. It was even more fun to row a catamaran out on the lake so we can explore it properly and in silence, both early in the morning but also in the evening for a night safari. Me and Ismene also had a go paddling the catamaran which was tough work but really good fun!

And we were very lucky because exploring the jungle on foot meant that we got to spot some really interesting animals but also plants. Very early in the morning though, out on the lake, we spotted some pre-historic birds: the cormorant, and the hoatzin. The hoatzins seemed frightened and on the edge, whenever someone took a photo of them, they would flap noisily out of the bushes and land crashing on another bush! They really made a racket. We also spotted a bird that is special to me, a bat falcon. Why special? Because I was once in a class named Falcons and falcons have been one of my favourite birds ever since. The bat falcon was perched in a dead tree, and he seemed at ease just looking down at us.

But the highlight of the morning, was a group of red howler monkeys climbing in the trees. They seemed to have so much fun, at least when they weren't snoring! These ones were clambering in the trees and made it look so easy you would have thought anyone could do it.

While exploring the jungle on foot, we also learnt about a symbiotic relationship between fire ants and a type of tree! A symbiotic relationship is where each part of the relationship does something to help the other. In this particular example, the fire ants have this type of tree that they live in, and to help this tree, they clear a space for it to grow, uncontested for light. In return for this help, the tree provides the ants with a space to live. Nice right?

That night we came back to Santiago Lake and left with several more animals on our checklist: The cheekiest of which, being a squirrel monkey. It was amazing to see them, swinging through the trees. They seemed like young children, living a big fun life. 

Later that evening, we also spotted white and black caimans. It was very exciting to see them in the dark waters of the lake as some of them thought we were threatening them and came rather close! I loved the way the caimans would slip through the water, they seemed so suspicious and I thought some of them were figuring out how to get onto the catamaran.

On the fourth day, we left early to travel back to the Cultural zone, to the Treehouse Inn. Despite the very early start, it was incredible to see an absolutely epic sunrise! So beautiful! We also spotted the most amazing animal on our trip, but you’ll have to wait for it.

What else did we see that morning? A capuchin monkey, a fishing bat and a sand coloured nighthawk!

Now, I know I’ve got you all waiting for this amazing animal, but I promise it is better than you expect. It was better than any of us on the tour expected, even our guide. Like the sloth, it was Jasmani who spotted it: a beautiful jaguar!! It was astounding!

The jaguar was so beautiful and, the best thing was that it wasn't shy at all. He was just lazily walking along the beach, glaring at us from time to time, all strong and muscly-shouldered. We had a clear view of it for more than 5 minutes! And, I have to say, in some way, it was more special to see a jaguar here in the rainforest than in the Pantanal in Brazil with all the other jaguars and the boats. Here, it was just our boat and the jaguar going on his morning stroll. Beautiful!

On the next day, we did some really fun things - tubing and fishing - and they both were extraordinarily fun.

The tubing was easy to do. We just had to cruise down the river in a rubber tube, but then everyone started paddling this way and that trying to tip other people in! It was really fun! And, luckily, no piranhas in sight :) Fishing was also really easy. You barely had to dip the meat in when the fish would bite, and then, you would lift it out and put it back in the water!

But we also did a bit of cooking by the river. We used the bonfire to cook in the traditional Matsiguenka way, with no water, and no pot: just the fire, the chicken and nature. How? By putting the chicken in a piece of bamboo and stuffing the top with leaves! All you need is 15 minutes on the bonfire and the chicken is ready. It tasted delicious and it was fun learning the jungle ways!

I loved our trip to Manu. It was so special being in such a remote and pristine environment, seeing all these incredible animals and birds and experiencing the jungle way of living. I wondered whether I will be able to come back again when I am older and how things will change in the years to come. Manu is still very wild and remains very well preserved, so I am hopeful.