Manú Reserve vs Tambopata National Park: Pros & Cons in the Peruvian Amazon

Travelers to Peru often make it a point to stop in the city of Puerto Maldonado, considered the main gateway to the Peruvian Amazon. There, they’ll need to decide whether to continue on to Tambopata National Park or Manú Reserve, two tempting destinations famed for their abundant biodiversity.

Tambopata National Park

Tambopata is easier to integrate into most itineraries, because it is better developed for tourism, easier to reach, and therefore also cheaper to visit. You can reach most lodges in Tambopata by flying into the city of Puerto Maldonado and then traveling by boat along the Tambopata River for just two hours. If you travel from Cusco, a 25-minute flight and a couple of hours of boat travel is enough to reach unspoiled lowland rainforest. (In Manú, it takes several days to reach lowland rainforest.)

Cheaper prices than Manú make Tambopata the more popular choice for travelers. (You can expect to spend about US$100 a day during your trip.) Unfortunately, the ‘con’ is that this larger traffic means that one sees slightly less wildlife in Tambopata.

We do recommend Tambopata for guests who have very little time but still want to see a bit of the Amazon. Most trips take 3-4 days, but the hurried can take a daytrip from Puerto Maldonado to Sandoval Lake that offers the opportunity to spot a surprising amount of wildlife in a short amount of time.

Those who are lucky enough to enjoy multi-day trips into Tambopata will arrive at one of the parks parrot and macaw clay licks, arguably the most famous feature of the region. If you have 5 days available, you can reach Tambopata Research Center, which offers the best chance of spotting a jaguar in Tambopata National Park, and the largest macaw clay lick in the world.

If you’re on a budget or short on time, a tour of Tambopata National Park is your best choice.

Manú Biosphere Reserve

Manu National Park and Biosphere Reserve is the largest, most pristine protected area in Peru. It’s believed to have the highest level of biodiversity in the world. It is, however, more difficult to reach. The most common route involves 6-8 hours by land, departing from Cusco and passing through Paucartambo before descending into the Amazon Basin. Upon arriving at the boundary of Manú, you’ll need to travel one more day by land and river to access more remote parts of the reserve.

Another option is to take a flight from Cusco, which will land in the native community of Diamante, near Boca Manu. The flights take 40 minutes, after which one can access the park by a short boat trip of an hour or less. However, these flights are notoriously unreliable and often cancelled.

Finally, you can arrive from the town of Puerto Maldonado by traveling by car to Puerto Carlos, crossing the Inambari River by boat, continuing by car to the town of Boca Colorado, and then traveling 6-7 hours up the Madre de Dios River by boat in order to reach Boca Manu and access the Manu River.

Trips to Manú cost 2-3 times more than trips to Tambopata, so travelers should expect to spend US$200-US$300 per day. The more remote location complicates logistics for the few local eco-lodges, and lesser demand means that group sizes are smaller and thus prices higher.

Not only should travelers budget more money to the enterprise, they should also dedicate more time. If you want to see the pristine parts of the reserve, where wildlife is more common, you need a trip of 9 days minimum. There are trips offered from Cusco which take less time, but you spend the majority of the days in transit and only see a bit of the cloud forest and high-altitude jungle- they don’t allot enough time to descend into the low-altitude jungle, which is the part of the reserve that one most wants to see for a true jungle experience. There are trips of 15 days, which are an amazing experience for those with the time and money!

Researchers and birdwatchers, or other specialized enthusiasts, will find a trip to Manú a satisfying experience, because there will be plenty of wildlife and virgin rainforest to admire. Nature lovers and campers will enjoy the more immersive experience, as a visit to Manú requires some roughing it.

A Note on Wildlife

Guides who promise that you will be able to hold monkeys or snakes, or see a jaguar, are not good guides. When it comes to spotting wildlife, there are no guarantees, and it’s considered unethical to ask for them, because it encourages the trapping of animals by unscrupulous guides who will then ‘find’ them during hikes and excursions. It’s also considered bad form to touch the animals.

Oxbow lakes like Lake Sandoval, macaw clay licks, nocturnal boat rides and hikes, and canopy towers are popular because they offer the best chance of spotting the tropical birds, monkeys, giant otters, black caiman, capybaras, and hoatzin that travelers hope to see in their native environments. Those animals are frequently spotted, while toucans, pumas and jaguars are very rarely spotted. Some guides quite familiar with the region have never spotted a jaguar. Don’t pin your hopes upon it, but if you do spot one, enjoy it and consider yourself very lucky.

Learn more about the Amazon Rainforest in Peru:

What to Pack for the Amazon Rainforest
Explore Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon of Peru
The Wildlife of Lake Sandoval
Don’t Miss Exotic Tambopata Reserve
Diverse Manu Biosphere Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon