Peru – The Manu Biosphere Reserve and Machú Picchú Tuesday 14 October to Sunday 2 November 2008 Wednesday 7 October to Monday 26 October 2009
Cost: £3800 plus about £1070 for flights (2009) Click here for explanation of price breakdown Maximum group size: 8 with 1 leader; 14 with 2 leaders. |
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The Manu Biosphere Reserve is without question one of the most exciting birding destinations in the world. We'll visit protected habitats ranging from orchid-laden cloud forest, where Andean Cocks-of-the-Rock perform their mating displays right along the road, to untouched Amazonian rainforest where as many as ten species of monkeys abound and Giant Otters still patrol the gorgeous oxbow lakes. Few accessible Amazonian locations remain as wild and undisturbed as Manu, with its stunning vistas of intact forest, five species of macaws seen daily, Brazilian Tapirs wallowing in mud holes and a birdlist of nearly 1000 species. Very comfortable accommodation, great food, non-strenuous birding on flat trails and easily accessible canopy platforms make a visit to Manu even more appealing. Another highlight of the trip will be a guided tour of the awe-inspiring Incan ruins of Machú Picchú. Day 1: The trip begins with a flight from London to Lima. Night in Lima. Day 2: We'll fly early this morning to Cusco and drive south of town to the Huacarpay lakes. Here we'll see a variety of wetland birds including such species as the cryptic Wren-like Rushbird, Puna Ibis, Andean Negrito, the eye-popping Many-colored Rush-Tyrant and several raptors. We'll look in the arid scrub around the lake for Rufous-fronted Canastero and Streak-fronted Thornbird, and we should find the endemic Bearded Mountaineer feeding in the tree tobacco with Giant Hummingbird. The lake itself should hold Puna and Speckled Teals, Yellow-billed Pintail, Andean Lapwing and possibly White-backed Stilt. In the late afternoon we'll descend to the historic Urubamba River Valley. Night in Urubamba. Day 3: We’ll leave Urubamba early in the morning for the two-and-a-half-hour train journey to the famous Incan ruins of Machú Picchú. From the train we'll see Torrent Duck and possibly White-capped Dipper on the Urubamba River. At the ruins, birding will take a back seat as we enjoy a guided tour of this mystical archaeological complex, although we'll be on the lookout for White-tipped Swifts flying overhead and Inca Wrens duetting from the bamboo-covered hillsides. After lunch we'll descend into the Urubamba Gorge for late afternoon birding in the subtropical forest along the river. Some of the specialities here include Sclater's and Mottle-cheeked Tyrannulets, Variable Antshrike, Silver-backed Tanager, and Ocellated Piculet. Night in Aguas Calientes. Day 4: After a leisurely morning of birding along the Urubamba River looking for any of the Machú Picchú specialities we may have missed, we'll board our train back to Cusco, arriving in time for dinner. Night in Cusco. Day 5: We'll leave Cusco before dawn and make several stops in the intermontane valleys before arriving at the last Andean pass, Ajcanacu. Some of the target birds for the morning are Andean Condor, the endemic Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch, Mourning, Peruvian, Band-tailed and Ash-breasted Sierra-Finches, Slender-billed Miner, Aplomado Falcon, Andean Flicker and Creamy-crested Spinetail. Near the pass we’ll look for flocks in the patches of tree-line forest in hopes of encountering Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager, Yellow-collared Tanager, White-browed Conebill and both Black-throated and Moustached Flower-piercers. As we descend the eastern slope of the Andes to our lodge at 3000 meters, the forest becomes more continuous. The vast array of birds here includes White-collared Jay and Mountain Cacique, and we'll hope to see mixed-species flocks of tanagers, flycatchers and funariids. In the evening we'll go to a favorite spot where we have had luck finding Swallow-tailed Nightjar. Night at Wayquecha Lodge. Day 6: At breakfast we'll be greeted by a varied dawn chorus of Great Thrushes, Black-faced Brush-Finches and Puna Thistletails. With luck we’ll also hear Red-and-white Antpitta. We'll spend all day birding from our camp to our next stop at 4,800 feet, mainly walking slowly down sections of the road. In the pristine forest along this little-travelled route we'll look for Shining Sunbeam, Amethyst-throated Sunangel, Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Marcapata Spinetail, Barred Fruiteater, Chestnut-belted Chat-Tyrant, White-winged Black-Tyrant, Inca Flycatcher, Chestnut-bellied Mountain-Tanager and a wide variety of other hummingbirds, flycatchers and tanagers. The birding will, of course, be fantastic, but perhaps equally exciting will be the fabulous vistas of undisturbed cloud forest as the road descends to Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge where we’ll spend three nights. Days 7-8: We'll spend two full days exploring the forest around Union and San Pedro, one day in the 7,500-foot altitude zone and one day in the 4,800-foot zone. Birding in the Andes at middle elevations is like visiting a bird buffet, with fancy quetzals and cotingas and mixed-species flocks of dazzling tanagers. Among the many possibilities are both Crested and Golden-headed Quetzals, Blue-banded Toucanet, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Chestnut-crested Cotinga, Chestnut-backed Antshrike, Stripe-chested Antwren, Slaty Gnateater, Yungas Manakin, Cinnamon-faced Tyrannulet, Andean and White-eared Solitaires, Golden, Paradise, Blue-necked, Golden-eared and Orange-eared Tanagers and Deep-blue Flowerpiercer. We'll visit one of the two nearby Andean Cock-of-the-Rock leks to watch up to 10 males engaging in their strange mating dance from as close as we can focus our binoculars! Hummingbirds we have seen on the grounds of the lodge include Violet-fronted Brilliant, Many-spotted Hummingbird, Booted Racket-tail, Wedge-billed Hummingbird and White-bellied Woodstar, all coming to the newly planted hummingbird bushes. We'll also do some night birding here; Rufescent Screech-Owl is possible, but the real treat will be the Lyre-tailed Nightjar show - watching a male Lyre-tailed swoop across the sky at dusk is truly awesome! Nights at Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge. Day 9: After a pre-dawn breakfast we'll leave San Pedro and spend the day birding slowly down to Amazonia Lodge at 1,500 feet. We'll pay particular attention to the stretch between 4,500 and 2,500 feet where the forest remains relatively untouched, and in the past we’ve seen many species restricted to the "upper tropical" zone including Peruvian Piedtail, Versicolored Barbet, Ornate Antwren, Cinnamon-faced Tyrannulet, Ornate Flycatcher, Black-backed Tody-Flycatcher, and Chestnut-breasted Wren. On one stretch of the road we’ll search for a yet-to-be-described new species of "tanager" that the WINGS tour discovered in 2000 and 2003 (we are still the only group ever to see it!). At lower elevations close to Pilcopata (the last town we'll see for the next ten days) we'll bird along the road in search of such species as Yellow-billed Nunbird, Scarlet-hooded Barbet, Red-billed and Slender-footed Tyrannulets and Golden-bellied Warbler, just to name a few. We plan to cross the Madre de Dios River and reach Amazonia Lodge before dusk. Days 10-11: We'll spend two full days at Amazonia Lodge. This family-run converted tea hacienda has a birdlist of over 500, new species are being added every year. The possibilities here are endless and include Blackish Rail, Uniform Crake, Buckley's Forest-Falcon, Razor-billed Curassow, Blue-headed and Chestnut-fronted Macaws, Koepcke's Hermit, Rufous-crested Coquette, Wire-crested Thorntail, Bamboo Antshrike, Southern Chestnut-tailed Antbird, Rusty-belted Tapaculo, Ringed Antpipit, Red-billed Tyrannulet, Johannes's Tody-Tyrant, Band-tailed, Round-tailed and Fiery-capped Manakins, Hauxwell's Thrush, and, generally, tons of birds. We'll have the chance to go night birding here as well and in the past we've seen Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl and Great, Long-tailed and Common Potoos. The lodge itself is very comfortable and we'll enjoy lounging on the porch sipping lemonade while watching hummingbirds at the flowers or horneros walking around the garden. We'll be reluctant to leave this very birdy place, but even more awaits us in the Amazon lowlands. Nights at Amazonia Lodge. Day 12: We'll spend the early morning birding at Amazonia Lodge, but as the day begins to warm we'll board our motorized canoes for the four-hour trip down the Alto Madre de Dios River to its confluence with the Manu River, and then on for another two hours to Manu Wildlife Centre. This lodge is perhaps the nicest Amazonian lodge we have visited, with excellent accommodations and remarkable access to a wide variety of habitats. On the river journey we'll be able to see typical riverside species such as Pied Lapwing, Fasciated Tiger-Heron and Large-billed Tern. Flyovers will include many species of macaws and parrots as well as raptors: we have seen such memorable species as Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle, Great Black-Hawk and King Vulture. Travelling down the Madre de Dios River is always exciting and one never knows what will be around the next curve - a Bat Falcon on a dead snag, Swallow-winged Puffbirds sallying out from the tops of trees, flocks of migrating Eastern Kingbirds, a group of Horned Screamers on a sandbar, dozens of Sand-colored Nighthawks covering a dead log. The river trip will not be boring! Night at Manu Wildlife Center. Days 13-17: We'll spend five full days based at the Manu Wildlife Center, situated just upriver from the Blanquillo Macaw Lick. One morning we'll visit a mineral lick and from our floating hide observe the spectacle of hundreds of parrots and macaws at close quarters including the beautiful Orange-cheeked Parrot and perhaps the recently described Amazonian Parrotlet. The area around the lodge has the greatest variety of forest types anywhere in the Manu region and thus the greatest number of bird species and the lodge birdlist is well over 500. Some of the more interesting and unusual species in the bamboo are Rufous-headed Woodpecker, Manu Antbird, White-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher, Peruvian Recurvebill and various foliage-gleaners and antbirds. We'll certainly look for the rare and local Rufous-fronted Antthrush. Some of the scarcer forest species include Bartlett's Tinamou, Razor-billed Curassow, Pale-winged Trumpeter, Pavonine Quetzal, Purus Jacamar, Cream-colored Woodpecker, Banded Antbird, Royal Flycatcher, Musician Wren, Pale-eyed Blackbird and Yellow-shouldered Grosbeak to name but a few. We'll also visit oxbow lakes to see Hoatzin and Sungrebe, and with luck we'll spot one of the two Giant Otter families that live in the area. Night birding may produce potoos, Amazonian Pygmy-Owl, Spectacled Owl and Ocellated Poorwill among others. The large mammal lick here, apart from attracting tapirs, peccaries, and very occasionally a Jaguar, also lures guans and curassows during the day. Nights at Manu Wildlife Center. Day 18: Today we travel down the Madre de Dios River to Puerto Maldonado. The 6-7-hour boat trip (on our comfortable boat with cushioned seats) will give us the chance to see Jabiru and Orinoco Goose on this section of the river. We'll arrive in Puerto Maldonado with time to spend the late afternoon birding on our way to our pleasant hotel. Here we are likely to see a variety of species not normally found on a Manu tour including Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Point-tailed Palmcreeper, Sulphury Flycatcher, Red-breasted Blackbird and Grassland Sparrow. Night at Puerto Maldonado. Day 19: After nearly a full morning of birding in the open country outside Puerto Maldonado, we'll depart for Lima, arriving in the afternoon in time to enjoy a farewell dinner and transfer to the airport to connect with a flight to London where the tour ends on Day 20. The ground arrangements for this tour are organised by our American associates WINGS.
E-mail or phone +44 (0)1767 262522 for availability.
Last updated August 2008 |
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Bird List
On our train journey to Machú Picchú, we may see Torrent Duck...
and White-capped Dipper along the Urubamba River. 
