Mike in the Wild

A vacation in Peru almost certainly involves a visit to Machu Picchu, the spectacular Incan citadel in the Andes.  It's an easy excursion out of Cusco, a city that also serves as a base for exploring other pre-Colombian ruins, colonial towns and stunning Andean scenery.  And thanks to several tour companies, the Peruvian Amazon is an easy drive over and down the Andes for an even more exotic discovery. The Amazon rain forest actually covers sixty percent of Peru, where moisture from the high Andes feeds massive rivers that all eventually source the Amazon River.  The tributaries of one of these waterways, the Madre de Dios, collects water in the mountains northeast of Cusco.  200 kilometers away from the ancient city, 10,000 feet lower in altitude, is Atalaya, where the wide river is just navigable enough for wildlife-hungry tourists.  As part of their three-day Manu Short Trip, Wild Watch Peru drives you as far as this sleepy riverside town for a motor...

It seemed fitting that one of the last Andean birds I would see on my descent to the flatter terrain of the Amazon would be the rufous-collared sparrow.  It was a common bird in the parks around Cusco during most of my high altitude Peruvian vacation, so it wasn't a surprise I saw one at Abra Acjanaco's 11,400 feet elevation. This mountain pass pitstop would mark the beginning of that day's descent through cloud forests to our overnight destination at Guadalupe Lodge close to the border of Manu National Park and its protected lowland jungle.    This part of of the journey would mostly follow CU-113 or the Carretera Manu from the Andes to Atalaya, 90 km away at an altitude of 1,600 feet.  This tiny port town would also serve as a launch site for the next day's excursion down the Alto Madre de Dios River, a tributary of the Amazon and the main route for visitors exploring the national park.  The entire adventure was provided by Wild Watch Peru, offering a comp...