Ever dream of really getting away from it all? Heading off to a wild fantasy land where you can relax and forget all your concerns?  We not only dream about it, we do it. We go to the Amazon, a magical place if ever there was one, and we kick back, enjoy nature, great food, lots of laughs and good times. Maybe this year it’s your turn?  Come join us...the door is open.  And from all of us to all of you: Happy New Year!

https://www.greentracks.com/

 

The Thorny Devil Katydid (Panacanthus cuspidatus) also known as the Spiny  Devil Katydid, is one of the scariest looking 3 inch animals on the planet. One of 6500 species of kaydids this particular one has a red, five-pointed horn sticking up out of its head as well as spikes on its legs.  Like a grasshopper, or cricket, it rubs its hind legs together to call females.  The Thorny Devil is known to back down predators, including monkeys.


https://www.greentracks.com/

 

The term "cloud forest," widely used today, actually refers to several distinct types of forest, all in mountainous terrain, tropical, subtropical or temperate, and existing in places where atmospheric conditions produce a nearly perpetual fog cover. In the tropics of Peru these forests are found along the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains, at elevations of 400 - 4,000 meters above sea-level. Characteristics of cloud forests include an abundance of mosses, ferns and epiphytes such as bromeliads and orchids; elfin woodlands with stunted trees; and many specialized creatures that rely on super-humid conditions. Changing climatic patterns are impacting these fragile ecosystems and in many areas they are disappearing. Could forests are interesting to most of us because they are so different from our usual experience of forest. Exotic and ripe with flora and fauna, you’ll find numerous opportunities for photos. GreenTracks wildlife tours that get you into the Manu Cloud Forest in Peru include:

 Cock of the Rock Lodge (3 Days) - https://www.greentracks.com/Cock-of-the-Rock-Lodge.htm 

 Manu Bio-trip - From the Andes to the Amazon (6 Days) - https://www.greentracks.com/Manu-Bio-Trip.htm 

 Manu National Park Explorer (6 Days) - https://www.greentracks.com/Manu-National-Park-Explorer.htm 

Manu National Park - Tapir and Macaw Clay Licks (6 Days) - https://www.greentracks.com/Manu-National-Park-Tapir-and-Macaw-Clay-Licks.htm 

Also on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, you traverse cloud forest.
https://www.greentracks.com/Inca-trail.html

The ruins of Chachapoyas in Northern Peru are also situated in cloud forest- https://www.greentracks.com/Kuelap-Discoverer-5-Days-4-Nights.htm

Cock-of-the Rock

Cloud Forest

Cloud Forest along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

The Blood Mushroom (Helosis guyannensis) is known in Amazonian Peru as "Aguajillo" and despite its appearance it is not a mushroom at all. Rather, it is a root parasite that grows in shady spots on the rainforest floor.  It produces no chlorophyll but instead uses a tap root that connects it underground to the host tree.  Indigenous people use this interesting plant medicinally, as an astringent.

https://www.greentracks.com/