Rainforest - Day One
I went with a company called InkaNatura and I mention them here because I’d thoroughly recommend them. There were three of us on the trip – me and a Canadian couple. The tour guide, Marlene, was a couple of years older than me and very enthusiastic and knowledgeable. It was like being shown around a favourite place by a friend.
We were picked up from Cusco about 6am and headed through the Sacred Valley and into Pisac where we stopped for some bread. Then we drove on into another valley where we stopped to stretch our legs. Another valley followed which was much greener than the previous ones. We had to slow down on many occasions because of sheep or cattle wandering down the road, herded by old women. 
As we crested the third valley we reached a sign saying we were now entering the Manu National Park. We were entering the forest! The altitude was such that we were entering cloud forest, normally a cold and damp place with bromeliads and lichens dripping with fog, very atmospheric. When we arrived there was brilliant sunshine and in the distance we could see the river we were going to travel along in the coming days.
The unusual heat meant that most of the wildlife was hiding. We didn’t see much until we arrived at the lodge, the Cock-of-the-Rock lodge. This is named after the cock-of-the-rock birds – the males display to the females in the forest nearby. The lodge was brilliant. The rooms were bungalows. This is mine: 
There were hummingbirds everywhere. They were very quick, as you’d expect, and getting photos was incredibly difficult. These are a couple of my best:
The cock-of-the-rocks are early risers so we had to be up at 5.30am to get to the hide in time so we had an early night. The first day had involved a lot of travelling and not quite as much wildlife as I’d hoped, but that was due more on the abnormal weather than anything. I went to bed and tried to sleep, excited at the thought of spending my first night in the rainforest and the coming days.
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