MANU
Manu is the largest of Peru’s national parks and is certainly the most diverse. It is an enormous cross section varying from the high Andes at more than 13,000 feet above sea level to the Amazon plain at scarcely 650 feet. Thanks to the efforts of Peruvian conservationists and the state, as well as the ceaseless work of dozens of scientists from all over the world, Manu has kept its spectacular flora and woodland fauna intact and is an example of what the Amazon was like thousands of years ago. The forests of Manu are home to more than 1,300 species of butterfly, 1,000 different types of birds; 2,000 species of vascular plants, 13 species of primate and more than 100 different types of bats, as well as uncountable numbers of insects. There are also several threatened or endangered species such as the black lizard, giant nutria and seven species of macaw.

This vast and unchanged jungle is the most diverse corner of the planet, for which reason it has been declared a World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO. Manu starts at more than 13,000 feet above sea level on the high Andean plateau and contains a variety of habitats such as the cloud forest a paradise of orchids and tree-dwelling ferns, giant bromeliads and begonias, butterflies and humming birds; descending to the Amazon plain. This is the hunting ground of jaguars and huge anacondas. Tapirs weighing over four hundred pounds and ronsocos; wild pigs (sajinos and huanganas) and creatures that have not changed since prehistoric times (armadillos, anteaters and sloths). The trees are shared by a veritagle army of birds, from the powerful harpy eagle to minute humming birds. You can enter Manu from Cusco via Paucartambo -Tres Cruces – Qosñipata, or directly to Bocamanu by light aircraft from the city of Cusco.