This is probably the most pristine conservation unit in the world! The reserve itself is over half the size of Switzerland, and much of it is completely unexplored. Uncontacted Amazonian peoples still inhabit the upper reaches of Manu's forest.

The variety of birds is astounding; the reserve holds over 1,000 species significantly more than the whole of Costa Rica and over one tenth of all the birds on earth. Large mammals such as Jaguar, Giant Otter and Andean Bear also exist at maximum population levels.

Access to Manu is strictly limited, and only authorized operators can take visitors into the reserved zone. However, there are adjacent areas where one can see all the Manu bird specialties and an astounding variety of other wildlife.

A typical trip into Manu starts in Cusco and takes you to the wetlands at nearby Huacarpay, where a variety of Andean waterfowl and marsh birds are abundant. Here the endemic and beautiful Bearded Mountaineer Hummingbird can be seen feeding on tree tobacco.

Then the route proceeds to the cloud forest of the eastern Andean slopes. Trees are continuous from the treeline at 3,300 ms.a.s.l. down in to the Amazon basin, and on to the borders of Brazil and Bolivia. Driving slowly down through the cloud forest, every 500 ms. loss of elevation produces new birds. This is the home of the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock. A visit to one of their leks (courtship sites) is one of the world's great ornithological spectacles. There are also two species of quetzal here; in fact, these humid montane forests are home to a mind-boggling variety of multi-colored birds; a mixed flock of tanagers, honeycreepers and conebills can turn any tree into a Christmas Tree!

The last forested foothills of the Andes level out into the upper tropical zone, a forest habitat that elsewhere has disappeared, to be replaced by tea, coffee and coca plantations.

In Manu the forest is intact, and special birds such as the Amazonian Umbrellabird, and Blueheaded and Military Macaws can be found. A good base for upper tropical birding and an introduction to lowland Amazon species is the Amazonia Lodge, on the Alto Madre de Dios river, about 9 hours drive from Cusco, without birding stops. From here, transport is by river. The beaches are packed with nesting birds in the dry season; Large-billed terns scream at passing boats and Orinoco Geese watch warily from the shore. Huge colonies of Sand-colored Nighthawks roost and nest on the hot sand.

As you leave the foothills and reach the untouched forests of the western Amazon, you enter jungle with the highest-density of birdlife per square km. on earth. But beware sometimes it seems as if there are fewer birds than in a European woodland; only strange calls betray their presence until a mixed flock comes through, containing an astonishing 70-plus species; or a brightly colored group of, say, Rock Parakeets dashes out of a fruiting tree. For the birder who craves the mysterious and rare, this is the place.

This forest has produced the highest day-list ever recorded on earth, and it holds such little-seen gems as Black-faced Cotinga and Rufous-fronted Ant-thrush. Antbirds and furnarids creep in the foliage and give tantalizing glimpses until, eventually, they reveal themselves in a shaft of sunlight. To get to this forest is difficult and expensive, but the experience is well worth it. A trip to Manu is one of the ultimate birding experiences, and topping it off with a visit to a macaw lick is a great way to finish; hundreds of brightly colored macaws and other parrots congregate to eat the clay essential to their digestion in one of the world's great wildlife spectacles.