A 10-minute walk through a seasonally flooded transition forest will take us to Oxbow Lake Blanco, by far one of the best rainforest scenarios our lodge can offer. Its environs display different kinds of rainforest habitats and its stagnant waters provide rich nutrients and fish to their usual dwellers, like giant otters and black caimans.
In addition, this region displays a number of different microhabitats as a result of ancient rivers moving throughout geological time creating a series of terraces, each containing different types of forest. This mosaic of habitat types (being the tallest the oldest) is one of the reasons these forests are among the richest in the world in terms of biodiversity.
GIANT RIVER OTTERS
Big families of giant otters dwell in Cocha Blanco and Camungo. There is a big chance to catch sight of them at a close distance (50 feet), either they are playing, fishing or sneaking away while we are paddling in the catamaran. Although we can tour around the lakes, strict policies have been established to avoid any tourist impact on the otters environment and reproduction conduct by limiting tourism areas and securing place where the river otter shelter. Manu Safaris is the only Tourism Company in Manu that carries out a constant and responsible control of the Giant River Otter in Cocha Blanco for its proper conservation.
The graph below shows the Giant Otter sighting percentage on Cocha Blanco on each month of the year.
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