Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge

This is the cloud-forest stop on the Manu road, and it's named for the bird you came to see: the Andean cock-of-the-rock, a creature so red it looks photoshopped, which displays at a lek right beside the lodge every morning. You set an alarm, you walk a few steps, and the show happens. Opened in 1997 at around 1,600 metres on the Cusco–Manu road — one of the great birding roads on the planet — the lodge sits on the edge of the Manu Biosphere Reserve. The cabins are simple and that's fine; the altitude means cool air and, mercifully, almost no mosquitoes, which after the lowlands feels like a gift. Most people arrive here as part of a Manu tour rather than booking it cold. Verdict: a birder's lodge first and last, but that red bird at dawn earns the trip on its own.