Peruvian Birding Lodge offering Wildlife Tours

Manu Birding Lodge is specialist Peruvian birdwatching accommodation and tour organiser located next to Manu National Park, which is a place with the highest biodiversity of any protected area in the world. The Lodge is situated on the banks of the Madre de Dios River and is attached to a private reserve that contains over 500 hectares of pristine Amazon rainforest. Our visitors are mainly birders, wildlife enthusiasts and nature photographers.

Some 532 bird species have been recorded in the reserve and surrounding area, the total that, with patience and dedication, can be seen even on a short stay. It would be impossible to fully encapsulate the magic of this special ‘Bed & Birding’ place. It is an encounter with utterly stunning landscapes and a wide diversity of habitats to enjoy.

To visit Manu Birding Lodge is to experience one of the world’s remaining great wilderness areas where wildlife still abounds. Close by are world-famous macaw and tapir clay licks and an observation tower for intimate views into the world of Red Howler Monkeys and birds of the rainforest canopy. The hummingbird garden and two nearby oxbow lakes are usually frequently visited by Amazonian birds and Giant River Otters. Manu National Park boasts 11 species of monkey, 35 large mammals, 76 reptiles and 100 amphibians. The Madre de Dios River is home to more than 600 species of fish.

This Peruvian birding lodge provides a locally based, professional birding guide operation that can organise just the kind of wildlife tour you are interested in – just enquire directly. Dedicated conservationists, who have been involved with professional birding for many years, are always available to guide and inform.

Our Guides

Saturnino Llactahuaman Lastra

Saturnino is the administrator of Amazon Birding, Director of Operations and Founder of Manu Birding Lodge. He was brought up in the rainforests of Peru and now lives in Cuzco. He is generally viewed as a top authority on Peruvian birds, with outstanding fieldcraft, an includes in his many skills extremely broad information on the vocalizations of fledglings. Saturnino has been birding in Japan and has worked on macaw and hummingbird conservation projects in Manu Biosphere Reserve. He has worked with the NHK Japanese TV channel to provide documentary narratives and photography visits. For a number of years he has been a rainforest natural history manager in Manu National Park where he is one of a couple of birding guides authorized by the Peruvian Ministry of Tourism. He speaks English, Quechua and Spanish. He uses Swarovski optics and a has Swarovski spotting degree.

Miguel Garcia Martinez

Miguel was born in southern Peru in Quillabamba and now lives in Cusco. He holds a travel industry degree and works on projects involving antbirds and hummingbirds. For many years he has been a rainforest history and birding guide and is now one of the top bird guides in Manu National Park. He is famous for his fieldcraft and knowledge of all aspects of the tropical environment. He uses Vortex binoculars and scope.

Jose Antonio Padilla.

Jose was born in the Peruvian capital, Lima, but now lives in Cusco and spends his time guiding in Manu Biosphere and on birding visits to Bolivia. He has a degree in Nature Tourism from Cenfotur in Lima and lived in Glasgow, Scotland, for more than a year, learning English and working in the hospitality business. He has been birding all over South America and worked for a long time as a rainforest history and birding guide in Manu National Park and Tambopata National Reserve. He was one of the founders of the Amazon Birding company. Jose has also spent time in the Pantanal in Brazil, the greatest wetland on the planet. There he occupied himself birding and adding many species to his life list as well as learning about the area’s amazing ecosystems and about Panthers from the renowned field biologist Dr Charles Munn at the Pantanal Wildlife Center.

In the course of that activity, Jose added Brazilian Portuguese to English and Spanish to his repertoire of languages. He is famous for his fieldcraft and knowledge all aspects of the tropical environment. He uses Leica binoculars and a Kowa scope.

Manu Birding Lodge is a small independent enterprise, privately financed and operated. Management of the Lodge and rainforest is very much a ‘hands-on’ affair. The owners and managers dedicate their talents and personal resources in everything, the driving force being conservation, not profit. A continuous commitment is to the challenge of forest conservation and the running of a fine lodge, returning the profits to the land.