Bikes & Parrots Adventure

5 days dificulty: 1		cod: PER-119 activity: Bird Watching

This adventure offers a wide variety of activities. Starting in Cusco, journey through colonial towns and traditional Andean villages. Traverse numerous micro-climates before reaching the expansive Amazon basin. Hike and boat through the jungle, observing close-up the diverse plant and animal life.

Starting early from Cusco, you will travel by van to the high pass at Huachuccasa (elevation 4,100 meters/1,344 feet). Here you will mount your bike and descend through an Andean landscape of deep valleys and rural communities where you will see highland birds such as the mountain caracara and Andean flicker on the way to the colonial town of Paucartambo, which is known as the folkloric capital of the Cusco region. Here you will visit the church with its image of the Virgin of Carmen, as well as the Carlos V Bridge spanning the river. This bridge has been the gateway to Manu forests since pre-hispanic times. You will spend your first night in a restored colonial house (Manicomnio Azul) with plenty of time to explore some of the local wood bakeries and mask factories.

Driving distance: 110 km/69 miles
Biking distance: 30 km/18 miles
Included: lunch & dinner

After a typical breakfast, continue your journey by crossing the Acjanacu Pass (3,850 meters/10,988 feet), the official entrance to Manu National Park. From here descend to the cloud forest, passing through Andean grasslands. The sparse vegetation of this zone is home to birds such as the Andean guan, white-collared jay, crimson-mantled woodpecker and the endemic Puna thistle tail.

You will have plenty of time to enjoy local flora and fauna, including the cock-of-the-rock, golden-headed quetzal, blue-crowned motmots, mountain toucans and other birds, as well as butterflies, ferns and orchids. Spend your second night embraced by the comforts of Paradise Lodge (1,470 meters/4,821 feet).

Driving distance: 71.6 km/44.8 miles (5 hours)
Included: breakfast, lunch & dinner

After your first night in the cloud forest, you will enjoy a pre-breakfast walk to observe the cock-of-the-rock perform its daily ritual, in which a group of males put on an impressive show to attract females. Then you will return to the lodge for a healthy breakfast before continuing our bike ride to Pillcopata, embarking from the port of Atalaya. During this trip you will see plantations growing manioc, papaya, pineapple and coca, as well as local fauna such as spider monkeys and brown capuchin monkeys. And of course birds, including spix guans, plumbeous kites and black vultures. After dinner a short hike will present the opportunity to observe nocturnal life on trails surrounding the local Amazon forest lodge at which you’ll spend the night.

Driving distance: 71.6 km/44.8 miles (5 hours)
Included: breakfast, lunch & dinner

One of the highlights of a trip to the Peruvian rainforest is an early-morning visit to the macaw clay lick. You will never forget watching hundreds of parrots and macaws gather at the mineral-rich riverbank clay deposit, where their noisy feeding display is a kaleidoscope of color. You will observe Cuvier’s toucans, red and green macaws, blue-headed parrots and other species as they feed on the minerals. Afterward we will return to the lodge for breakfast. Your adventure continues with a several hour trail hike, returning to the lodge for a typical regional lunch. After lunch return to the river where you will ride a boat to Atalaya, where our car will be waiting to drive you back to Paradise Lodge in comfort.

Included: breakfast, lunch & dinner

Your final day in the rainforest will begin with a post-breakfast walk. Then you will board a private bus for the return trip to Cusco. Follow the now familiar route to Paucartambo. Your journey continues to Ninamarca, the burial towers of the pre-Inca Lupacas culture, and continues with spectacular views of the Ausangate and Sawasiray mountains before arriving in picturesque Cusco.

Driving distance: 182 km/113 miles (6 to 8 hours)
Included: breakfast & lunch

• Specialized bilingual guide
• Accommodation in our private Paradise Lodge in the cloud forest (2 nights) and 1 night at restored colonial house Manicomnio Azul.
• Private bus transportation
• All meals indicated on the itinerary:
  B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner (soup, main dish and dessert), BL=box lunch
  No additional charge for vegetarian diets
• Drinking water from Cusco
• Basic first-aid kit
• Specialized books are available during the trip
• Mountain bikes with front suspensions and 21 gears; helmet

• Special bike shoes, personal pedals with clips (regular pedals included), and gloves
• Personal items and medicines (e.g., gear, clothing, laundry service, telephone calls)
• Tips to local staff (we suggest $8-10 USD per day of service per guide or driver)

• 1 photocopy of passport
• Daypack
• Hiking boots
• Sweater Light warm jacket
• Rain gear
• Long-sleeved cotton shirts
• Hiking shorts
• Sun hat or bandana
• Swimsuit
• Sport sandals
• Sunscreen/sunglasses
• Insect repellant
• Flashlight
• Pocket knife
• Camera and film (ASA 200/400) or memory card
• Binoculars for wildlife viewing (8 or 10X magnification)
• Zipper lock plastic bags and garbage bags for keeping clothes and other personal items dry Brown Capuchins, Agoutis