I am planning to visit the Manu area this fall. I have noticed there are several of the larger tour companies that stay at the more well known places like Manu Wildlife Center and Cock of the Rock Lodge. There are also other companies, generally less expensive for the same number of days, that visit Rainforest Lodge, Casa Matsiguenka, and Hummingbird Lodge.
Could I expect to get better bird guiding from the more expensive tours? Are they necessarily in better biriding places?
Also, there appears to be an El Nino brewing now, will this affect weather in the fall in Manu Park area.
Thanks for any advise.
I can only talk from 1 experience. I was there in July 2012 and experienced unusually cool weather (un friaje as they call it). MWC is the kind of place that is way too expensive, but you can at least expect (and demand) that everything is perfect. There are 2 other lodges quite nearby (and maybe more): Amazon Manu lodge and Blanquillo. Amazon Manu was not that great from the hygienic point of view, in my opinion. Not to say it was that bad, but clearly a little less neat regarding accommodations and direct surroundings of the lodge.
Cock of the Rock is not thát expensive, at around 75$ a night. I would recommend that one over any of the other lodges nearby.
I don't know anything about the lodges you mentioned, are they in the same area? I can also recommend Wayqecha lodge, up on the manu road, and both Amazonia and Pantiacolla. The complexity will be the transport, on the Manu road as well as (especially!) down the Madre de Dios. You can get relatively easily to Amazonia (and cheap) with a bus from Cuzco.
Others have tried their luck by birding (part) of the Manu road, going back to Cuzco and getting on a bus or flight to Puerto Maldonado. From there, cheaper options are available regarding the lowland birding. There are some terrific options upstream north-west of Puerto Maldonado (with some googling, you will find them
)
Guiding depends on the guide, in my opinion. You can be very lucky with a cheap and good guide (they exist), with the more expensive ones you will be disappointed if the guiding is sub-par, but generally, most birding-specific guides in that area know most (if not all) of their stuff, but possibly some just have an edge by spending more time guiding in the manu area. I didn't take a guide and felt that it made me more and more confident that I can get a grip on Amazonian birds without any guide. It is definitely more rewarding in my opinion!
