Where do I start......

My Wife and I took part in the Manu Adventurer tour with InkaNatura. After landing on the grass strip in Boca Manu, we embarked on a 4.5 hour boat ride down the Manu River. The boats are small, but comfortable. There were so many wildlife opportunities that the trip goes by fast. The Manu tented camps were nothing special, but they did provide us with great access to Manu National Park and all the amazing wildlife. We only had 7 people in our group: 2 boat drivers, 1 guide, and 4 guests. It felt like we were the only ones in the national park. We never saw anyone else in our two days there. We didn't have any big bugs get into our "tent". There were mosquitoes, but the mosquito nets did a great job of keeping them out at night. The bathrooms were adequate. Both nights I was the last of 5 to shower and the water was still hot. The food was nothing special, but it got the job done. It is very dark at night. I highly recommend bringing a headlight or flashlight. Mosquitoes are intense on the jungle walks. You’ll want long pants and long sleeves and a lot of bug spray.

After 2 nights in the tented camp we took a 6 hour boat drive to the Manu wildlife center. We did get caught in a “friaje” during the ride which meant the temperatures dropped to 60 degrees and the rain was coming down. Make sure you bring rain gear. They could not bring down the rain tarps because it would not allow the drivers to see. We were rewarded with some great wildlife sightings though. The wildlife center was nice and certainly a step up from the tented camps. There were only 2 other guests during our groups stay. The main lodge is huge and gorgeous. It was immaculately clean (probably because they don’t allow shoes.) The food was a step up from the tented camps. Food included spicy seafood pasta and stuffed avocado. You don’t get to choose what you eat. However, they were able to cater to my wife who is a vegetarian since we informed them ahead of time. The beds are comfortable and the bathroom is large. The private showers are nice. They turned on the generators both days so we could charge batteries.

Now to the best part! The animals sightings were fantastic. During our trip we saw 5 jaguars including one mating pair. Most of the sightings lasted longer than 5 minutes providing ample opportunity to take photos. All the sightings took place on our long boat rides to and from the tented camps. Never put your camera away! On the way back from visiting a lake near the tented camps, the sun had virtually set so I had packed up my gear. Then we came across a giant anteater wading into the water. The anteater came right next to our boat. After wrestling around with my equipment I was able to get a couple photos. On top of those experiences we also saw beautiful macaws and parrots at the clay lick near the wildlife center All told we saw over 60 species of birds, 9 species of monkeys (including the wooly monkey and emperor tamarin), and a variety of mammals. Our guide Marlene, was excellent at spotting animals and had great knowledge of the animals. She was able to answer all of our questions.

In the end, so little time is spent at either lodge that even if you don't enjoy your time at the lodges, it won't be long before you’re off to your next wildlife adventure.
You might not be living in luxury but you’re experiences will last a lifetime.

MWC provides location and reasonable comfort, with diverse wildlife opportunities and simple but clean rooms with full bathrooms. You have the opportunity to see monkeys by the barrel and lots of birds, insects and great rainforest flora and fauna. What you do not have at MWC is delicious food or joyous ambience. It seems to view its mission as utilitarian: Provide people with a clean place to sleep, full stop.

That's a pity because the people who have chosen to come to Manu National Park have travelled a great distance, at some discomfort, and are obviously highly motivated to see wildlife. Yet, for all the excitement that must precede such a trip, the common room atmosphere was a real downer. Perhaps it was the food, which was served quickly and coldly (both in spirit as well as temperature), the lack of music, decoration, esprit de corps, anything. The Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica, which in a less remote (and therefore less blessed location for wildlife) does a much better job with food and providing a fun atmosphere at the lodge. MWC could be great. It has everything going for it but a strong managerial presence, a decent chef and a vision of what great fun it could be for its guests.

We spent 2 nights at the tented camp, which we had to ourselves, which was amazing, and then 5 nights at the wildlife centre. The accomodation was great, cabins smart and clean, and we didnt see the cockroaches that other visitors have commented on. The birds and monkeys are of course great, and the insect life was staggering... if you looked carefully there were endless small creatures to see as well such as frogs. The gardens around the wildlife centre are interesting in themselves, and we were lucky to have our cabin next to a banana palm which had all sorts of interesting visitors at night! The food was excellent, apart from the packed dinner to the tapir, which was average. The Tapir didnt appear for us, but on the walk back we saw a red snake, tarantula and leaf cutting ants so we certainly didnt feel like we were missing out. We also saw giant otters and a sloth and the macaw lick was spectacular! The boat rides were great and a good way of cooling off, as the amazon is certainly too hot for a couple of new zealanders!

I would recommend paying the extra to go to manu, we loved it and hopefully will be able to go back one day.

We stayed for 4 nights.

Let us start with the positive. The nature is absolutely fantastic, and so is the bird life, and the flight from Cuzco is very memorable and recommendable if you are short of time. The general areas of the lodge are comfortable, and the general staff is friendly but not always efficient . The food was OK, but nothing to write home about, which you cannot expect in a location like this.

We started out with loosing one day in Cuzco as the flight was delayed because of bad weather in Manu, just bad luck, however, no attempt was made to make up for the lost time. We were some of the only guests at the lodge, and we actually had to pay extra to secure a place as the minimum No. of guests were not there. For some unknown reason we were checked into a hut next to the leaking water tower, which was making a lot of noise. After some efforts we got another hut, but lost some laundry in the process, which we only got back after a lot of hassle. So check that you get all your laundry back.

We had mentioned in advance that the main purpose of the trip was photography, and that we would be carrying a lot of equipment, little or no provision was made to cater for this request. The boat allocated to us, was huge and not conductive for photography, with a spoilt outboard engine in front, which was the only place to take photos.

The guide allocated to us was generally passive, we spend hours walking to and from the Tapir lick, and saw absolutely nothing apart from a small frog, and the guide did not offer us to go there again, in spite of the fact that the Lodge claims a 90+% success rate.
We also went to the lake where you have a chance to see giant otters, very pleasant place, and we requested to go there again, but again without result.

The trip to the Macaw clay lick was the high-light of the trip and offer good photo opportunities. The bird viewing tower is also interesting, and worth a visit.

Dont bother to bring rubber boots.

The last day was 'open' and in the end the only thing that was offered was a trip on the river, which was generally total waste of time seen from a photography point of view.

If you are a birder, this is a very interesting place, and probably the main focus of the lodge, if you are not, it is probably better to find a lodge closer to the actual Manu National Park. When we left we met another party at the airstrip who had seen a Jaguar on 3 consecutive days, which did not make our mood any better, however, that's wildlife watching, you cannot win them all.

After Manu we visited Yarapa River Lodge near Iquitos, and this was a 100% positive wildlife experience - but that is another story.