There is no better road to bird down, IN THE WORLD, than the Manu road in Peru, South America.
The Manu road is reached by driving 4 hours south of Cuzco, the fabled capital of the Inca. It goes up the Andes and then follows a circuitous route from 4500m down the eastern slope, through a series of lush forest eco-regions into the lowlands of the Amazon basin. For the birder, naturalist, wildlife photographer and any true traveler and explorer, this road will open your eyes to the majesty of the Peruvian Andes.
The road itself is not good, tight bends, potholes, fallen rocks and other traffic make it a slow journey. Avoid the wet season of December, January and February as severe rain adds seriously to the difficulties and often the road is closed for short periods. Otherwise drive carefully and enjoy the profuse birds that can be seen by regularly stopping. For birders to make the most of the environment its worth stopping en-route at one or more of the lodges. The lodge highest up and located in the cloud forest is Wayquecha, further down the road is another memorable Lodge.
The Cock of the Rock lodge is one of the next lodges down the Manu road, at an elevation of 1600 m and the tropical forest surroundings harbor a very different contingent of birds.
This is Paula in the dining room and lounge at Cock of the Rock, this room doubles up as an open balcony overlooking a series of hummingbird feeders from which the following images were taken.
Sparkling Violet-ear Hummingbird
Blue-Crowned Motmot
There are miles of walking trails at Cock of the Rock Lodge, these and the balcony are sufficient reasons to stay, but the real reason why so many birdwatchers and wildlife photographers visit is to hopefully see one of South America’s most enigmatic birds, the bird after which the lodge is named.
The Cock of the Rock, a ruby that shines in the darkness and this is the place to see them at their courtship lek.
We stopped only one night at Cock of the Rock, which we shouldn’t have done, we could have stayed a month quite happily. The ‘Living Wild in South America’ expeditions will return to Southern Peru in the future, then we will stay longer and bird watch at leisure.
