Journey along Peru's upper Manu Road to Lowland Rainforest

This year's "Magnificent Manu Road and Lowland Rainforest" tour has been nothing short of extraordinary. Beginning in the lofty heights of the High Andes near Cusco, at an elevation of 11,000 feet (3,400 meters), we descended through a stunning range of habitats, birding all the way down to the lush Amazonian lowlands. The tour concluded in Puerto Maldonado, nestled at just 850 feet (180 meters) above sea level – a dramatic and rewarding transition from mountain to rainforest! 

We enjoyed the colorful show of Andean Cock-of-the-rock lekking, flocks of parrots at the clay-lik of Blanquillo Lodge, visited several feeding stations attracting antpittas, tinamous, antbirds, crakes and an impressive diversity of hummingbirds, quietly navigated with catamaran on two very rich oxbow-lakes and even admired the sunset on the Amazonian Forest from a canopy platform at 150 feet (45 meters) high! What a trip!

It’s incredibly hard to sum up such a remarkable tour with just a handful of sightings, but a few moments were truly unforgettable. Highlights included a stunning pair of Rufous-crested Coquettes feeding at blooming bushes along the Manu Road, exceptionally close and prolonged views of the rarely seen Chestnut-crested Cotinga, and multiple encounters with Pale-winged Trumpeters. One of the most exciting finds was a nesting Starred Wood-Quail, discovered with the help of a thermal camera. We also had the thrill of watching a Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle land just a few branches from our canopy platform. The tour delivered more magic with incredible views of a Semicollared Puffbird tackling a large caterpillar, and cracking looks at a pair of the very local White-cheeked Tody-Flycatchers. And these are just a few of the many highlights from an unforgettable journey

Besides birds, we also found no less than eight species of monkeys, had a close encounter with a large group of White-lipped Peccaries, as well as plenty of other amazing creatures and beautiful butterflies.

Full trip report on eBird: https://ebird.org/tripreport/411428

A report of some bugs and plants photographed on the tour available here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/wings-manu-road-and-lowlands-2025