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Peru
Andes, Amazon, Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca

Sunday 13 – Friday 25 July 2008 (13 days)
Lake Titicaca extension to Sunday 27 July 2008 (2 days)

Peru has more than 1,700 species on its vast bird-list: one of the richest avifaunas in the world. It is also home to some of South America’s finest Inca ruins including the breathtaking Machu Picchu – in our opinion one of the top few places to see on earth. Our tour begins on the coast, with its array of Pacific seabirds including the stunning Inca Tern, which take advantage of abundant food in the cold Humboldt Current. We then head over the Andes to the Amazon Basin where we watch wildlife from walkways 100ft up in the rainforest canopy. Here mixed flocks of tanagers, honeycreepers and woodcreepers filter past us – and with luck we may look down on Saddle-backed Tamarins and other primates. Finally our visits to the high Andes should produce species such as Andean Lapwing and Giant Hummingbird in Cusco and the gems of Lake Titicaca including Flightless Grebe and Giant Coot.

We cannot visit Peru without experiencing the Inca settlements which are famous for their earthquake-proof architecture, stunning craftsmanship and highly advanced science. We will have a guided tour of Cusco to learn the basics before travelling by train [looking out for Condors, Torrent Ducks and White-capped Dippers on the way] down to Machu Picchu.

Here we will have a guided tour of the legendary lost city – better by far even than the stunning pictures we all know so well – with free time later in the visit. Perched high upon a narrow ridge far above the Urubamba River, this remarkable place is perhaps the only marvel of the man-made world capable of capturing our imagination after such a fantastic array of birds, wildlife and scenery seen elsewhere. To enhance our visit still further, our hotel at Machu Picchu is an absolute haven, with extensive gardens graced by a rich variety of birds, butterflies and orchids. And unlike many other wildlife tours, we spend two nights here. It’s a fitting finale to our main tour, on what is surely one of the world’s most inspirational wildlife holidays.

The tour has been designed to include Lake Titicaca as an optional extension, as the altitude does not suit everyone: at 14,000 ft Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world. The lake is spectacular but will not be seen until our first morning. It is worth setting alarm clocks for an early call to watch the dawn and sunrise from your hotel bedroom. With binoculars we will be able to see the first of more than 20 floating reed islands, created by native people as a response to the invading Spanish conquistadors, which will be the focus of our morning trip. Besides the native way of life we will also look for Giant Coot, kept like chickens by some families, and birds which live in the reed beds. Afterwards we take a boat out into the lake to look for the near-endemic Titicaca Flightless Grebe.

Prices
Main tour:     £ 3,495
Single supp.:     £ 745
Deposit:    £ 400 per person

Extension:     £ 525
Single supp.:     £ 145
Deposit:    £ 100 per person

The price is per person, and is fully inclusive of scheduled return flights London-Lima, with meals on-board as appropriate, all domestic flights within Peru (as outlined above); all accommodation, meals, surface transport (inc. boat trips, & rail journey to Machu Picchu), entry fees/permits, tips to local drivers/guides, airport taxes, bird checklist & services of the leader/s.

The price excludes travel insurance, drinks and other personal expenses.

Leaders: Tim Earl and Miguel Castelino

Provisional Itinerary

Day 1
We take a flight from London with onward connection to Lima, for a two-night stay.
Overnight Lima

Day 2
Our first day’s birdwatching will be spent getting to know some of the more common coastal species with a visit to the wetlands at Panatos de Villa where we will search for one of Peru’s most brilliant birds: Many-coloured Rush Tyrant. Guanay Cormorant, Peruvian Meadowlark, Yellowish Pipit, Peruvian Thick-knee, Black-necked Stilt and Great Grebe are all possible in the marsh with seabirds and waders from the nearby beach.

We move on to a picturesque fishing village where our main target will be the stunning Inca Tern, one of the most beautiful seabirds in the world. There is also a chance of finding Humboldt Penguin, Peruvian Pelican, Peruvian Booby and Surfbird.
Overnight Lima

Day 3
Today we make the exciting journey into the Amazon Basin starting with a flight to Puerto Maldonado, a large city on the confluence of the Rio Tambopata and Rio Madre de Dios. We will watch for birds from the transport to the port where we board large canoes for the two-hour journey to Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica, a lodge with its own private rainforest reserve. Accommodation for the next three nights is in thatched huts with en-suite facilities. Meals are in the lodge and staff-guides will accompany us on all our expeditions.

Our late afternoon walk will be to familiarise ourselves with the wildlife around the lodge such as Russet-backed Oropendola [known by Tim as Gold Swingers], Swallow-wing, Scarlet Macaw and Blue-winged Motmot.
Overnight Reserva Amazonica

Days 4 - 5
Two main activities will occupy us – exploring the amazing canopy walkway and visiting Lago Sandoval. The former is a 345m walkway made up of seven hanging bridges 30m up in the rainforest canopy. It is the perfect way to watch birds and mammals passing through the tree tops. Flocks of tanager (At least twenty species including Blue Dacnis; Thick-billed, White-lored and Rufous-bellied Euphonias; Green and Purple Honeycreepers; Silver-beaked and Masked Crimson and Paradise Tanagers) chatter noisily as they forage through the foliage watched by Saddle-backed Tamarins… and us. We will struggle over the many similar flycatchers, watch White-chinned and Buff-throated woodcreepers and look out for toucans and hummingbirds.

After dark one evening we will go on a boat safari hoping to see Capybara grazing on the banks, and there will be longer early-morning excursions into the jungle in search of an ant swarm with its attendant antbirds, antwrens and antshrikes.

The visit to Lago Sandoval involves a boat trip and a one-hour walk through the jungle. Scaled Pigeon, Cinnamon-throated Woodcreeper, Musical Wren and Black-spotted Bare-eye are possible on the walk, though the ever-present Jaguars rarely show themselves. A family of Giant Otters live in the lake while Horned Screamers and Red-bellied Macaws are present along with other parrot species. Agami and Boat-billed Herons breed around the lake.
Two nights Reserva Amazonica

Day 6
After an early-morning jungle walk we will pack up and head back to Puerto Maldonado for the short flight to Cusco. Here we transfer to our hotel and have a day at leisure. A walk around the town will be organised but this is a day to acclimatise to the altitude and caution should be exercised when contemplating activities.
Overnight Cusco

Day 7

We spend the day getting to know the Incas and their architecture with a tour of Cusco and a visit to Sacsahuamán (pronounced ‘sexy-woman’).

The tour will show us the amazing colonial city built on the foundations of the Inca palaces. We will visit the Koricancha or Temple of the Sun, to appreciate the incredible masonry of the Incas, the Plaza de Armas and the Cathedral with its carved woodworks, altars and paintings. We will then be driven to the Inca fortress of Sacsahuamán, to the underground cave and temple of Kenko and to Tambomachay, known as the Baths of the Inca.
The day will not be without its birds, however, and we will seasrch for Andean Ibis, Andean Lapwing, Great Thrush, Band-tailed and Ash-breasted Sierra-finches as we explore the stunning Inca ruins at Sacsahuamán. Indeed, there are even birds to be found in the hotel’s spacious courtyards.
Overnight Cusco

Day 8
The Cusco experience is really aimed at preparing us for one of the greatest wonders of the world: the amazing lost city of Machu Picchu. An early start will see us catch the train down to the ruins from the town of Ollantaytambo. We will watch out for Andean Condor, Torrent Duck and White-capped Dipper as we descend to Aguas Calientes at the base of Machu Picchu. From here we catch a bus up the winding road to the ruins for an afternoon of awe and wonder.

Familiar pictures of Machu Picchu do not do the ruins of this long-lost city justice. It is a brilliant site with many architectural gems which our guide will show us. These include the astronomical observatory and the Intihuatana stone (‘hitching post of the sun’). We will spend the afternoon exploring the site. There will be free time after the guided tour.

Wildlife on the site is really of secondary importance but Condors are occasionally seen here while Blue-and-white Swallows breed in the walls.
Overnight Aguas Calientes

Day 9
The grounds of our hotel are famous for their birdlife – Tim saw eight of the sixteen species of hummingbird recorded in the gardens in half an hour when he last visited. With a guide from the hotel we shall spend the morning looking for the abundant wildlife. Sclater’s Tyrannulet, Golden-headed Quetzal and the endemic Green-and-white Hummingbird are possible but it will be the superb Andean Cock-of-the-Rock which really gets our hearts racing. We will spend the morning exploring the extensive hotel grounds.

In the afternoon we walk along the Vilcanota River following the railroad tracks into the Mandor Valley to visit its waterfall. The valley is inhabited by varied and fascinating birdlife, including Speckle-faced Parrots and Green Jays, and we have another opportunity to find Cock-of-the-Rock. We will relax and perhaps bathe under the waterfall before walking back to the hotel in the shadow of Machu Picchu.

Those wanting to revisit the ruins will be able to opt out of the day’s activities at their own expense.
Overnight Aguas Calientes

Day 10
After a morning’s birdwatching we will return by train to Cusco and transfer back to our hotel where we will celebrate the success of the tour in a final dinner together.
Overnight Cusco

Day 11
Those not participating in the Lake Titicaca extension will fly back to Lima.
Overnight Lima

Day 12
Return flight to the UK, arriving on Day 13.

Lake Titicaca Extension
Day 11
We leave Cusco for the ten-hour train journey through some of the most dramatic scenery and highest railway passes in the world. We will make a stop at 14,000ft [while the train gets its breath back] at a station where as local market should be in progress. Continuing, we enjoy the incredible view of alpaca and llama herds grazing amidst these highland pampas, interspersed with small villages, and the majestic backdrop of the Andes. We will be served lunch on board. We arrive in Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, late in the afternoon and transfer to our hotel.
Overnight Lake Titicaca

Day 12
After arriving in the dark we will be keen to get up early and enjoy the stunning views of sunrise across the lake. Birds seen from our bedrooms could include Andean Flicker, Chiguanco Thrush, Puna Teal and Mountain Caracara. Andean Gull, Slate-coloured Coot and American Kestrel are also possible.

After breakfast we board a small boat to visit the floating reed-islands which are home to about twenty families of native indians whose ancestors fled into the reedbed to escape the Spanish Conquistadors. We should see Giant Coots running around the man-made islands like chickens: they are kept for the eggs they lay. There will be opportunities to buy souvenirs made by the indians.

Later in the morning we head out into the lake to find the rare and endangered Titicaca Flightless Grebe before returning to watch birds along the shores for the afternoon. Here we will look again for the Many-coloured Rush-tyrant, Puna Ground-tyrant, Cinereous Conebill, Peruvian Sierra-finch and Yellow-winged Blackbird. There is a chance of seeing Plumbeous Rail and Cinereous Harrier. Andean Avocet and Puna Plover grace the shore, while the surrounding plains and scrub are the haunt of Grey-breasted Seedsnipe, Black Metaltail, Andean Hillstar, Straight-billed and White-throated Earthcreepers, Cordilleran Canastero and Hooded Siskin.
Overnight Lake Titicaca

Day 13
After breakfast we transfer to Puno airport for our flight back to Lima and transfer to our hotel. There should be spare time for sightseeing and/or birding.
Overnight Lima

Day 14
Return flight to the UK arriving on Day 15.

Accommodation is at comfortable hotels and lodges throughout. All rooms have private facilities. Please note that the availability of single rooms may be limited .

Meals: all included; some lunches and breakfasts will be picnics.

Walking: Easy-moderate (mainly due to the altitude in the Andes), but always taken slowly. On the main tour, we reach a maximum height of around 3,300m (Cuzco). On the Lake Titicaca extension, we shall be birding up to an elevation of about 4,200m.

Transport is by private bus, boat, train and flights as described.

Numbers: Max. 14 clients