Climate: The rainy season runs from December to March, although rain showers are common during the rest of the year as well. From May to August, when temperatures top 30°C, are the best time to visit.
Access: A dirt road runs from Cusco to the towns of Atalaya (9 hours) and Shintuya (12 hours), from where travelers can set out downriver (5-6 hours). There are also 30-minute flights from Cusco and Boca Manu, from where the route continues by boat for 4-6 hours.
Services: Tourist infrastructure is rustic and basic.
Visitors are advised to stay in the area for 7-8 days, the time needed to be able to get a good idea of the wildlife in the area.
Located in the tropical rainforest of the departments of Cusco and Madre de Dios, the Manu National Park is Peru's greatest natural reserve, both for the number of species that it harbors as well as the diversity of eco-systems to be found there.
Manu National Park was established
by Law (D.S.) N 0644-73-AG.
as a national park on May 29, 1973 across a surface of 1,716,295.22 hectares and declared a Mankind Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987.
The reserve covers the entire watershed of the Manu River, running across an extraordinary range of altitudes, running from 4,300 m.a.s.l. in the high Andean plain down to 200 meters in the Amazon Basin.
The area is home to dozens of tribes -Amahuaca, Huachipaire, Piro, Machiguenga, Yora and Yaminahua- as well as others that have yet to make contact with the outside world.
The Manu National Park is also a haven for more than 20,000 plant varieties such as Cetico (Cecropia sp.), Topa (Ochroma sp.), Cedar (Cedrela sp.), the screwdriver (Cedrelinga catanaformis), the chesnut tice (Bertholletia excelsa), Lupuna (Chorisio sp.) and the rubber plant (Heves brasiliensis). Also 1,200 butterfly species, 1,000 bird species, 200 species of mammals and an unknown quantity of reptiles, amphibians and insects.
Cutervo National Park
Tingo Maria National Park
Manu National Park
Huascaran National Park
Cerros de Amotape National Park
Rio Abiseo National Park
Yanachaga Chemillen National Park
Bahuaja Sonene National Park
