"We believe that love and understanding for nature comes through living amidst it."

Manu - Amarakaery Reserve

Manu national Park and Amarakaery Comunal Reserve

Manu is the most luxuriant expression of life on the planet and the most pristine corner of the Amazon. It offers the visitor a brief insight into a world far removed from their own, a chance to discover life at its extreme and creatures of all descriptions. A trip into the Amazon and in particular the Manu Reserve will leave you with a deep appreciation and respect for the natural world and its mysterious powers.

The Manu Reserve is situated in the southern orient of Peru, in the province of Madre de Dios, was established in 1977 and is one of the largest reserves in South America. The tropical jungle offers a complicated ecosystem in its relationship between diversity of species and delicate ecology.

The Manu National Reserve offers one of the greatest bio-diversities to be found in any one reserve in the world and has thus been recognised by UNESCO as a world heritage site. It covers an area of over 2 million hectares and includes Andean Cloud and tropical Rain Forest habitats The National Reserve is divided into three separate areas; the National Park, (which is only accessible to researchers with specialised permits), the Reserved and Cultural Zone which are resource managed.

Eco-tourism is a relatively new concept, born to meet the urgent need to attain economic benefits from protected natural areas without causing negative impacts on the environment. Through eco-tourism an increasing number of people are visiting nature reserves and parks to enjoy the scenery, flora and fauna, while maintaining strict standards aimed at protecting the environment. In other words letting nature dictate the rules for tourism.

The famed natural wealth of Manu lies in the extraordinary variety of ecosystems within its territory of complex geography along with diverse environmental factors which come together in this region to form what many consider the most special corner of earth.

The biosphere reserve begins at an altitude almost 4km above the serpentine Manu river. This is the Duna or Andean grassland. A little lower the clouds meet the Andes and we find the twisted silhouettes of the Elfin forests. Continuing to descend the humidity increases and vegetation covers everything except the tumbling creeks. This is the Andean cloud forest. Finally the mountains turn into lower round hills, the trees reach heights of sixty meters and the fauna explodes into an incomparable exhibition of life: the Amazon rainforest.

One of the most extraordinary phenomenon is how it is possible the high number of species remains in a constant relationship with the ecological conditions of the tropical rainforest. This is partly due to the fact that the temperature does not change radically and never drops below frost point. There is also high humidity throughout the year.

Manu is one of the few places on earth not to have been exploited and destroyed by human interference and thus we have the opportunity to view all animals in their natural, untouched habitats. Manu holds more than 1000 species of bird among them 7 species of Macaw parrot as well as the giant Jabiru stalk, the Harpy eagle and the Tucan.

Many mammals are also found in the reserve; examples of these are the Spectacled Bear, Ocelot and Jaguar, Giant Otters, capybara and Tapir. It has also been recorded that the park holds more than 15,000 species of plants, including many medicinal which are currently being collected and catalogued. To demonstrate the extent of its diversity, 220 different species of trees may be identified in one single hectare of Manu forest in comparison to 20 species per hectare of European forest. There are 13 species of primates from the small Tamarin to the territorial Howler monkey. The insect world is definitely not the smallest of families and it is impossible not to meet a few cicadas, ants, butterflies or dragonflies along the way. Many reptiles, like the black Caiman and different species of snakes can also be seen.

Manu is considered to possibly be the most biologically diverse protected area on earth and thus is worthy of our attention and protection. It is one of the remaining places where the fauna is so abundant that it looks like some sort of secret meeting has been convened. A mosaic of animal and plant life which is revealed to the eyes of the visitor. Discover with us, some of these riches.

Seasons

Like all of Peru, Manu has a dry and a wet season. Most of the rain falls between November and April. The dry season and the best time to observe animals being between May and October The temperature ranges between 13 and 35 degrees Celsius and the air is generally humid. Sometime can go down to 9 degrees it happened during the phenomenon call for locals " FRIAJES ", The cloud forest is always cold through the all night, so if you gonna take a tour to Manu we recommend bring sweaters.