The Manu Biosphere Reserve is a national park in southeastern Peru that contains nearly 5 million acres of virgin cloud and rain forest.
The differences between cloud and rain forests are interesting. For example, cloud forests occur at a higher altitude than rain forests (around 6000ft). The combination of altitude and humidity causes nearly perpetual cloud cover. Cloud forests have nearly 100% humidity while rainforests have closer to 80%. Cloud forests also tend to have thicker vegetatation because the bushes and trees grow up the mountain slopes. I really enjoyed seeing the line of cloud cover and then driving right up into it!
The Manu National Park is divided into three zones. The first (and largest) is preserved in a natural state. For the most part, people are not allowed to enter this portion of the park. The second area is the "buffer zone." This area is also quite natural, but controlled research and tourism is permitted. Finally, the cultural zone is the area which allows traditional human settlement.
A permit is required to enter any portion of the park and these are usually only granted to groups (with a licensed guide). Only in rare instances are individuals (naturalists, anthropologists, or photographers, for example) allowed a permit. No settlers, hunters, or missionaries are ever allowed into Manu. The hope is that by controlling the number of visitors and the areas visited, the vegetation, wildlife, and indigenous groups will remain untouched. There are even a number of “uncontacted” villages within the boundaries of the park.
The park is incredibly diverse in plant and animal life. For example, there are over 20,000 species of plants within the park boundaries. I enjoyed the “Look But Don’t Touch” plant. When its leaves are touched, it instantly curls them up (look at the right leaves in these before-and-after pictures).
Manu also contains approximately 1200 species of butterfly. My favorite is the Owl’s Eye Butterfly – look closely and you’ll see why it’s named that. Look closer and you may also see the head of a snake – amazing camouflage!
There are also over 1000 species of birds in the park.
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| The Cock of the Rock -- National Bird of Peru |
Manu contains over 200 species of mammals (including 13 species of monkey).
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| Three-Toed Sloth |
And of course, there are amphibians, reptiles and insects – but the number is unknown.
There are even ants that live and hunt on their own – they are incredibly poisonous to humans. Look how big these guys are!! Fortunately, my guide warned me when I got too close!
And speaking of my guide – when we approached a termite mound, he told us that the indigenous people of the jungle get protein from the termites. He asked if anyone wanted to try one. . .of course! So he poked a small hole in the mound and told me to let them crawl on my finger have a taste.
They’re so tiny but actually have a lot of flavor – surprisingly they taste exactly like lettuce!
A tasty jungle treat!
Do they taste like chicken or like vegetables?
ReplyDeleteDoesn´t EVERYTHING taste like chicken??? But, no, they taste like vegetables. I thought exactly like lettuce at the time. But i´ve since tried them again in the jungle in Bolivia. These still tasted like plants, but not so exactly like lettuce. Maybe depends on what type of tree/plant their nest is attached to???
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