Deep within the Peruvian Rainforest on the western edge of the Amazon Basin is one of the most impressive nature reservations in the world, the Manu Biosphere Reservation.

The Manu National Park covers an area of more than eighteen thousand square kilometres and is one of the largest untouched rainforests in South America. Very few settlers live in the almost inaccessible tropical rainforests in the south east of Peru. Apart from natural rainfall the park’s most important supply of water comes from the Río Manu, its source being four thousand metres up in the Paucartambo Mountains, a section of the Andes.

The Río Manu is one of the final refuges and breeding areas for the threatened River Turtle. Along the river’s tributaries there is another rare and threatened species, the Kabibaris, the world’s largest rodent.

As the day draws to a close in the glowing light of the setting sun one realises that to experience this fascinating natural world is a very special privilege and one that will remain in the memory for a very long time.