We really enjoyed our trip, especially since it ended up being a private tour just for the two of us. Our guide, Fray, was excellent and shared so much knowledge about the flora and fauna. We also felt very safe with our driver, Guido, on the winding roads, and our chef, Gonzalo, cooked wonderful meals for us.We would like to note one area for improvement regarding the final accommodation. The Papaya Lodge was unfortunately below basic standards. The room lacked essential furniture like a mirror or shelves. Furthermore, the bathroom design caused the shower water to run directly toward the toilet, resulting in a 5 cm flood that lasted all night.

I’ll start with the positive part: our guide Demetrio was fastastic! So knowledgeable of flora & fauna, always stopping to educate us on the smallest creatures to the tallest trees, and we are grateful he had the right equipment to take and share amazing photographs. It was simply amazing. Suggestions for future consideration to make others have a better experience: The food quality was mediocre at best and never enough for everyone in the group, especially the protein items like chicken, fish & meat. We answered the dietary restriction questions when we provided our passport information and payment. We answered again during the briefing, and then again on day two, however nothing changed for the entire trip. There is no answer from the Manu Explorer Team to explain how we got river water in the garafones, the amount of silt and discoloration could not have come from the garafone sitting on the river bank; NOT Possible! We are all monitoring ourselves for health issues that may arise over the coming weeks. It is a shame to have had such an amazing experience and leave with a “bad taste in our mouth” regarding food & water.

It was an absolut great adventure. Such a beautiful nature - landscape and animals. Fray was a very good Guide and had a good crew. I loved all activities.

All in all it was a good experience, although we saw much fewer animals than countries like Costa Rica or Malaysia (Borneo) where I have already been and spent less time. If you come for birds then you will have many sightings. The guide (Demetrio) and crew were very competent and made the experience enjoyable. Food was great. Beds and linen were not ok, they smelled like mold. This should not happen if washed accordingly. The Planning of the trip (presented on the web site) does not mention very important information (for a reason). It does not specify that you will wake up at 4am for 3 of the 5 days. It does not mention you will travel 14 -16 hours per day on the 1st and last day of the trip. You spend 20% of the time on wildlife, 80% on the road. Day 4 with the night in the blind was a complete waste and bad experience. Should have been completely changed. We arrived at the blind at 6pm on a full stormy rainy night, went to sleep and woke up at 3h30 am.We were supposed to sleep there and wake up in cas we heard any noise but with the heavy rain we couldn’t hear anything. No other activities once at the blind for 10hours. Blinds could be improved, the toilet was at 1meter from beds that had a moldy smell. Also maybe change the hanging sheet as a toilet door. The 5 days Manu Reserved area should in my opinion not be proposed to the public due to the enormous amount of travel time and little sightings of animals on the road. It is not worth the money we paid. We are fully aware that nature is unpredictable and no one can guarantee seeing the animals but I feel that was mainly because everything was rushed and we didn’t have the time to explore the jungle long enough. Demetrio and the boat crew are great spotters and we really appreciated their effort ( during the boat ride they spotted three capybaras and an ocelot which was amazing) but I got the feeling that there was not much to spot.

Amazing experience. Tour guide was knowledgeable and helpful. The cook catered to everyone’s needs. I was able to spot more species than expected.