Cusco to Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge - Allison's Trips and Travels

We had a day to recover and do laundry, then it was time for our next tour: Manu national park.

We were picked up at 7 AM, and after a short ride were transferred to a very nice, large bus-truck. We drove about an hour, then turned off from the nice (paved) road onto a twisty, dusty, bone-rattling road that took us over the Andes.

The first time the guide stopped the bus so we could see a Mountain Caracara, I knew I was going to like this tour.

We stopped a couple of times to stretch our legs. Once at Wancarami to visit a local market, and the other time at Paucatambo. Paucatambo has dance for “the Lady” on July 17. Statues represent different types of dancers.

The market included the largest species of beans

They were actually pretty good, once you learned how to eat them

We stopped very briefly to look at some tombs from the (pre-Incan) Lupaka empire.

We went up and up and reached the Cloud Forest, where we had a chilly, tasty lunch.

David saw a bird that we missed, a well-concealed Barbelly Woodpecker.

We stopped a couple of times when the guide saw a bird.

We reached our destination, Cock-of-the-Rock lodge just at four — the time to see the Andean Cocks-of-the-Rock. They come to the same place almost every afternoon and morning to court females and chase each other off. The were a little too far away for my camera to completely catch (and my camera kept focusing on leaves), but were lots of fun to watch and listen to. (They made a loud clacking noise with their beaks.)

They we walked to our lodge. Hot water, no electricity, birds all around. Seems to be nice. The best part about it is that we got our cabins at 5:00 and dinner isn’t until 7:00. And I’m not exhausted from the day. I finally have time to relax, and get caught up on my notes.