Manu Day 5: Yima Lodge to Manu Reserve

A short canoe ride back up the river then a brief stop at Boca Manu, a tiny jungle town, for the last chance to purchase any necessities from the general store.

Boca Manu - where parrots hang out on chair backs

Then off up the Manu River proper, into untouched and protected rainforest!  Clear skies meant that it was hot(er).  There was a lot of river to cover, so breaks were only for bathroom stops.  We had lunch on the move - a really good one, considering it was cooked in the back of the canoe.

The Manu river is much more leisurely than the Madre de Dios; long, convoluted bends and no rapids.  There was plenty of birdlife to be seen as we puttered along.

Nighthawks sleeping on a river log

Heron coming in to land

Flocks of parrots

Squirrel monkeys were very acrobatic and busy on the banks

Spot the monkeys (hint; there's more than two)

A bathroom break allowed for some photos of beautiful moths

Yes, these are moths, not butterflies

Turtles basked on logs, but would plop into the river if the canoe came too close

Interesting symbiotic relationship; the butterflies clean the salt out of the turtles's eyes

Another gorgeous moth

Red howler monkey hanging out

Macaw formation

While there was things to see it was still a long, hot canoe ride.  I did begin to have sneaky doubts about whether it was worth coming all this distance.  Finally we arrived to the camp at Sacha Vaca at 3pm and almost immediately set off to walk to Laguna Salvador, a nearby oxbow lake.  The forest was no cooler but my spirits picked up when we heard that the giant river otters were close by.

We loaded into a somewhat unseaworthy looking catamaran and were slowly paddled out onto the serenity of the lake.

Snowy egret

The giant river otters were busy fishing . . . 

. . . and aside from the odd snort seemed quite unconcerned with our (silent, awed) presence . . .

. . . a nearly two meters long they truly are giant and quite fierce looking.

The eight giant river otters fishing was a truly wonderful sight.  A heron tried repeatedly to snatch a fish from them, unsuccessfully.  On the banks were black spider monkeys, white face capuchins and birds in abundance.

Floating on the still water, the sun setting and the sky changing

It was an incredible end to the day; the long, hot canoe ride was suddenly, totally worthwhile.  Fifteen people completely silent, just the quiet plash of the paddles.  We walked back to camp in the moonlight through the forest, accompanied by fireflies.