manu forest, Amazon

8pm local time, Cusco.
We are back in Cusco tonight after 4 nights in the Amazon the last one umscheduled, as the aircraft had mechanical problems and stranded us at the remote airstrip we had spent 2 hrs getting to by motorised canoe. An uncomfotable night in poor facilities in sweaty clothes and a cockroach ruled room, until we hit them with half a can of Raid which did the trick provided you stayed in your mosquito net. No aircrafy again in the morning but follwed by a nice solution, a chopper trip across the Andes divide from Manu to Cusco. But it stuffed our itinary and now we are revelling (not) in th prospect of a 3.30 am wakeup to connect with the trip into Manchu Pichu in the morning.
The flight into Manu started early as everything seems to. We joined up with four others, all younger which was nice, a couple from The flight into Manu departed cusco and was immediately into hils, as we climbed to a saddle at 14,oo ft. No oxygen and unpressurised aircraft as we went through the pass at about 15,000. On the way we almost wrecked our necks watching the views. The hills were brown, sometimes rugged but other times more worn. Everywwhere were small villages dotted in valleys or somewhere strategic, and terracing and crops as patchworks were visible everywhere. It seemdd to be a neverending network of tracks, occassional roads and small isolated villages in every directio. Higher up there were more signs of animal keeping with stone enclosures, and wandering stone walls and tracks on the hill flanks. In the distance, the white peaks of the Andes divide were lit up in the sun. At the pass was a distinctice band of cloud, parallel with the mountain tops. We took about 10 mins to fly over it then there was a sharp edge and the skies were clear, with some cumulous dotting and a green sea as far as the eye could see, the Amazon rain forest.
I clicked what the cloud band was, it was the foothill rain forest. The airflow was in towards the hills and the humid air was condensing on the slopes.
We spent about 30 minutes flying east over the forest, and marvelled at the sight of an ocean of trees to the horizon, front and side. We lost height and were flying only at 1500ft or so above ground level, enough to see canopy detail and also some vultures or eagles soaring above it. Regular streams and rivers meandered across the forest, some substantial. It is hard to imagine the amount of water that ultimately collects from these rivers into the main Amazon channel, but you could appreciate how that river could hold such a high proportion of the worls fresh water. We approached one of the larger water ways and landed on a grass strip near it. Our Guide, another young man, Jose, who like the others we have met was very knowledgeable and great company. We collected our 14 kg of gear (having been restricted in what we could take on the smaller plane) and were soon on a long motorised canoe for the trip down river to the lodge, taking 1.5 hrs with a current assisting us. The river was broad, meandering, with exposed mud banks and forest to the edge. The river was eroding the banks and there were tangles of logs down most of the margins. As expected there was birdlife around, so the binocs were out as we oohed and aahd at the exostic sights. Turtles stacked up on some logs, sunning, and at one stage we alrmed a flock of sand halks, night toime birds that roost on the shore line. They are a type of nightjar, and fluttered around us.
The accomodatuon was surprisingly good, 50 m from the river bank and in the forest. We settled in then went walking the local tracks to learn about the forest. The Manu area is a very extensive floodplane at the foot of the mountains, flat and subject to regular flooding during wet periods. The silt deposits keep the soils rich and it supports a very lush forest with high amounts of fruiting and flowering trees. Walking in it I had expected it to be mostly old, huge trees, but it was quite the reverse. These tropical trees dont have taproots because of the high water table. They have surface roots with buttresses, radiator like fins that assist with stability. Despite than and helped by the load of epiphytes, the average tree lives 86 to 150 years before falling. They rot quickly in this climate, a large specimen gone in 10 yrs. So the impression of the forsts was lush, large leaved trees, quite skinny but tall, with irregular forest giants dotted about. Massive climbers, thick as your leg climbed about, they are a sign of untouched forest as they often outlive the trees around them. The mid and lower storeys included many palms and lacked the ferns were are familiar with. Its reasonably open, enough to think you could walk through it with some light slashing, however we have already noticed in other places that when the ground gets rougher it becomes impassable, especially if there is water lying about. Not to mention the various creatures you do not want to encounter and can avoid doing so by walking in an open track. The forest is hot and humid, bathed in green light, mosquitoes are thick requiring a good covering of clothes and plent of repellant, including on thin fabrics which they bite through. The forest resounds with strange bird calls but they are harder to sight in the canopy. We heard about the animals present, including armidillos, anteaters, peccaries, large rodent species like Capibaras, monkeys of course, otters, caymem and so the list goes on. Crocodiles, snakes and massive spiders are there as expected.
We climbed to the observtion platform and stayed for an hour or more, watching toucans and other birds but particularly hearing the noises of the forest at that time of day. The platform was in a whopping tree, just where the limbs started spreading from the trunk. The perfect kids hut although the height might put some parents off! There was a slight breeze up there while down below it was getting very dark. We walked back in the last light and prepared for the mornings excursion to see one of the Amazon spectacle, Macaw parrots feeding on a riverside bank, a so called clay lick.
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