The 1450 acre reserve around Wayqecha Biological Station is a biodiversity hotspot where treeless plains of the altiplano meet cloud forest. Wayqecha sits at 2950m above sea level, atop a steep slope that drops off sharply into the valley below. We stayed here for two nights during a recent birding trip to Peru, and wish we could have stayed for a year! Everyone comes here for the birding, but there is so much to do and see here apart form that. The cabins are comfortable and have magnificent views over the valleys below, and the recently refurbished common room is stunning; like something in a high-end safari lodge. The food was excellent, and the staff all friendly and extremely knowledgable. The scenery is truly wonderful; we took countless photos in the two days we were there! Wayqecha was a wonderful introduction to the famous Manu Road!

Tucked just below one of the mountain switchbacks on the upper Manu Road, The Wayqecha Cloud Forest Biological Station & Birding Lodge is the perfect (and only) place for tourists to observe the flora and fauna of Manu's high-elevation zones: puna grasslands, elfin forest, and cloud forest. On a clear day you can look out from the dining hall and see the Pini Pini mountains and distant Amazon lowlands below, and late in the day, a majestic rolling sea of clouds rises up the valley.

The main lodge & dining hall is shared between researchers and tourists. It's modern, bright, and spacious, with lots of info boards and reading materials inside about the research and wildlife possibilities on site. The staff seemed small, but did a great job. The hot, home-cooked Peruvian meals were fantastic, with convenient to-go options if you'll be out all day exploring. The wood-framed tourist cabins are clean and well-maintained, with modern bathroom fixtures, hot water, an enclosed shower, a work desk and a storage shelf. Each room has a small porch that overlooks the stunning mountainside. Make sure you bring plenty of layers—temperatures at night are very low this high up, even with the nice sleeping blankets provided.

There are many birds easily seen around the station grounds. We saw dazzling hummingbirds (including Sunangels, Sunbeams, Long-tailed Sylphs) at the feeders, and colorful tanagers (including Grass-green, Hooded Mountain-, Scarlet-bellied Mountain-) both around the grounds and from our cabin. In the evenings and mornings while we were there, an Andean Fox was even hanging about the grounds and dining hall.

There are some nearby station trails that are good for birding, but we did most of our exploring along the road above and below the lodge. The Manu Road is as incredible for birding as legend tells: we had great sightings of Grey-breasted Mountain-Toucans, Blue-banded Toucanets, Masked Trogons, Fruiteaters, and stop-in-your-tracks Golden-headed Quetzals. Mixed flocks included dozens of tanagers, warblers, flycatchers, treerunners, jays, woodpeckers, etc. Our guide, Percy Avendaño, from Amazon Conservation Association's tourism outfit Amazon Journeys was simply the best at finding them all. THE best.

We did hike to the Canopy Walkway, and while not very long, it's immaculately built and shouldn't be missed (it's the first of its kind for cloud-forest habitat). The trail around is dripping with ferns, bromeliads, orchids, and mosses along the way, and there are many cloud-forest denizens to be seen: hummingbirds, flowerpiercers, ovenbirds, etc. We got super lucky, and were treated to another Golden-headed Quetzal sighting from the walkway. At the end of the final platform, there was a fascinating climate change study going on where scientists have quarantined off a section of forest using green mesh in order to block out the rising cloud cover (simulating an absence of fog caused by warming temperatures). There are all sorts of hydrometers, measuring devices, and every tree, seedling, epiphyte is marked and monitored to study the effects of moisture loss. This is a great example of how Wayqecha operates as a one-of-a-kind living research lab.

ACA/ACCA are doing incredible work by operating this lodge that integrates ecotourism with education and biological research. The Wayqecha Cloud Forest Biological Station is a premiere destination for experiencing the high-elevation Amazon of Manu National Park and is not a lodge to be missed during an Andean-Amazon journey!