Manu Expeditions and its sister company Expediciones Manu are the longest established operators in the Manu Biosphere Reserve and have been outfitting rainforest and mountain expeditions and tours since 1983. The company is owned and run by husband and wife team Barry Walker (who doubles as British Consul in Cusco and received an M.B.E. for this in the 2004 Queens Honours list) and Rosario Velarde (20 years experience in managing adventure tour companies) and the center of operations is in the ancient Inca capital of Cusco high in the Peruvian Andes. Manu Expeditions counts on a reliable team of boat-crews for the rainforest, wranglers for the mountains and trained camp cooks for remote areas. Our trip leaders are fluent in at least English and Spanish. They are experts in their fields. Leaders on mountain trips and rides are knowledgeable about Inca history, archeology and local culture. Our rainforest leaders are naturalists and biologists who have spent much time researching in the Manu Biosphere Reserve area. Our bird-watching trips are led by very experienced neo-tropical ornithologists. We pride ourselves on the quality of our leaders and support staff, not to mention our office staff in Cusco, who make things work. Manu Expeditions can take care of your travel arrangements in Peru and Bolivia before or after you join one of ourexpeditions or tours and can arrange transport and hotels needed throughout. If you want to do something that's not in our information package, for example visit Chachapoyas, Tambopata. Paracas or elsewhere, let us know, we can make your travel arrangements for you. We are owners of the Manu Wildlife Center Lodge next to the macaw lick, in conjunction with a local conservation group, and rainforest research is constantly underway at this facility. As one of the pioneer eco-tour operators in Peru, we have outfitted expeditions for scientists and archeologists, discovered unknown Inca and pre-Inca ruins and provided logistics for wildlife and documentary film crews and biological expeditions. Our main interest however, is making sure that visitors to Peru who join our expeditions and tours have an experience of a lifetime and leave having had a great time and having learned something along the way about the country, the history, the people, the wilderness and wildlife. Manu Expeditions is embarking on anew luxury sustainable lodge project in 2007 in Manu.

Our conservation interests lie not only in the flora and fauna of this natural sanctuary. When its secrets were recognized in 1973 and Manu was declared a National Park, there was already an active and established culture of indigenous Matsiguenka people who’s history goes back for thousands of years, as an integral ingredient of the region and who often took a backseat as tourism developed in Manu, despite being the ‘true owners’ of the forest. In 1996, a project was initiated by the native communities of Yombebato and Tayakome, in conjunction with a non-government organization from Germany, to establish a rustic lodge based on Machiguenga construction techniques and lifestyles in the Cocha Salvador area, deep in Manu. Accommodations are simple rooms with beds and mosquito nets, rustic furniture and communal dining areas. More than adequate toilet and shower facilities are on hand. The object of this project is to give the visitor the opportunity to learn about and understand not only the natural wonders of Manu but also the cultural history and traditions of its inhabitants. In 1999 the lodge, Casa Matsiguenka, received its first guests but there is still much to be done before the full potential is realized and the aims and dreams of these quiet, gentle people to become included in, and benefit from, the attraction that Manu offers, are achieved. This, after all, is their home. For this reason, Manu Expeditions, in agreement with the Machiguenga communities, will use the Casa Machiguenga Lodge. This agreement means the visitor will benefit in experiencing an aspect of the magic of Manu they otherwise would not have been exposed to. At the same time they will be assisting in an essential aspect in the long term preservation of Manu and helping native Amerindian communities, enter the ever shrinking world without losing their cultural values. Manu Expeditions guides will have the help of local Matsiguenkas on future trips so that we can learn from these indigenous peoples and benefit from their encyclopedic knowledge of medicinal plants and other wonders. In return, the Matsiguenkas will get to learn something about us, our culture and learn the language skills necessary if they are to take visitors into their forest in the future.