Peru's Manu Biosphere Region

This trip has been postponed till the summer 2011
Price and dates TBA

The focus of this tour will be the Manu Biosphere Reserve, a four and a half million acre area that preserves an entire ecosystem, its flora and fauna, along with three Indian tribes that have had little, or no contact, with the outside world. Manu extends from the western Amazonian lowlands to the puna above treeline. On this tour you will stay at two special lodges at different elevations, allowing you to experience several Manu ecosystem, from the lowland rain forest, to the foothills, to the cloud forest, to the puna highlands.

We will start with briding in the rich areas around Lima. The habitats will be freshwater marshes, sandy beach, arid lowland scrub, coastal rocky shore and sea coast. The possibilities include Humboldt Penguin, Great Grebe, Peruvian Pelican, Blue-footed Booby, Peruvian Booby, Guanay Cormorant, Red-legged Cormorant, Least Bittern, White-cheeked Pintail, Puna Teal, Southern Caracara, Blackish Oystercatcher, American Oystercatcher, Peruvian Thick-knee, Band-tailed Gull, Gray Gull, KeIp Gull, Gray-headed Gull, South American Tern, Peruvian Tern, Inca Tern, West Peruvian Dove, Croaking Ground-Dove, Dark-billed Cuckoo, Burrowing Owl, Lesser Nighthawk, Amazilia Hummingbird, Coastal Miner, Peruvian Seaside Cinclodes, Tumbes Beardless-Tyrannulet, Rufescent Flycatcher, Vermilion Flycatcher, Dark faced ground-Tyrant, Short-tailed Field-Tyrant, Chestnut-collared Swallow, Yellowish Pipit, Long-tailed Mockingbird, Black-lored Yellowthroat, Slender-billed Finch, Collared Warbling-Finch, Drab Seedeater, Parrot-billed Seedeater, Chestnut-throated Seedeater, Grassland Yellow-Finch, Yellow-hooded Blackbird, Peruvian Meadowlark, Scrub Blackbird.

Following a visit to the Andean lakes near Cusco we will head across the Andes. Our first stop will be the Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge in the Manu cloudforest. Along with the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, mixed-species flocks of colorful fruit-eating tanagers and other exotic birds such as the Golden-headed Quetzal and the Amazonian Umbrellabird may also be seen. Troops of muscular-limbed Woolly Monkeys and comical Brown Capuchin Monkeys forage through the reserve. Rare sightings of the endangered Spectacled Bear, South America's only species of bear, have been recorded near the lodge.

We will then travel down the slope of the Andes to the lowland tropical rainforest and the Amazonia Lodge. From the lodge veranda you can see Rufous-crested Coquette, Amethyst Woodstar and Wire-crested Thorntail. The list for the lodge has 572 species of birds including Black-capped Tinamou, Blackish Rail, Hoatzin, Buckley's Forest Falcon, Wattled Guan, Military, Blue-headed and Scarlet Macaw, Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo, White-bearded Hermit, Black-eared Fairy, Golden-tailed Saphire, Blue-tailed Emerald, Bluish-fronted Jacamar, Fine-barred Piculet, Scarlet-hooded Barbet, Cabani's Spinetail, Bamboo Antshrike, Manu Antbird, Amazonian Antpitta, Rusty-belted Tapaculo, Black-spotted Bare-eye, Ornate Flycatcher, Two-banded Warbler, Fire-capped Manakin, Plum-throated Cotinga, Masked-crimson Tanager, and Yellow-bellied Dacnis. There are also possibilities for Mottled Owl, Black-banded Owl, Tawny-bellied Screech-owl, Great, Long-tailed and Common Potoo.

Your leader on this special tour will be Rafael Campos. Former Assistant Curator for the University of Costa Rica and Field Assistant to Gary Stiles ( author of A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica). Rafael is recognized as one of Latin America's finest naturalists. A tour leader for more than two decades, his experience includes studies on birds, bats, and primates as well as a number of botanical surveys. Rafa has led numerous tours to Central and South America for Caligo Ventures.

 Check out our detailed itinerary.

Tour Cost based on double occupancy and a minimum of ten participants. Includes all accommodations, tax, service, meals, air, boat and ground transportation within Peru, tours, and the services of a bilingual local guide, plus your birding guide

Peru's Amazon Basin

November TBA, 2010
$ TBA plus airfare

Peru's Amazon region is a vast watershed of rivers and canopied rain forest, supporting the most diverse and prolific array of plants and animals anywhere in the world. Over 25,000 species of plants, over 4,000 species of butterflies (the highest number in the world), 2,000 species of fish (more than in the Atlantic Ocean), and over 400 species of birds have been identified.

The Explorama Lodges are located in several diverse areas, allowing for the exploration of very different Amazonian habitats - the Amazon River, its tributaries, its islands, oxbow lakes, upland and seasonally flooded forest, and the seldom-viewed forest canopy. A highlight of our trip will be our stay at the site of the famous ACTS Rainforest Canopy Walkway!

Over 500 species of birds have been recorded around the lodges, from the primitive Horned Screamer and Hoatzin, to toucans, macaws, puffbirds, nunbirds, manakins, cotingas, and the possibility of up to sixty species of antbirds. In addition is the chance for such specialties as Nocturnal Currasow, Brown Nunlet, Undulated Antshrike, Black-and-White Tody-Tyrant, Purple-throated Cotinga, and a lek of the spectacular Black-necked Red-Cotinga. Plus, although large mammals are seldom seen, we are likely to see sloth, monkeys, and freshwater dolphin, along with caiman, colorful frogs, and huge iguanas.

Your leader on this special tour will be Rafael Campos. Former Assistant Curator for the University of Costa Rica and Field Assistant to Gary Stiles ( author of A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica). Rafael is recognized as one of Latin America's finest naturalists. A tour leader for more than two decades, his experience includes studies on birds, bats, and primates as well as a number of botanical surveys. Rafa has led numerous tours to Central and South America for Caligo Ventures.

Tour Cost based on double occupancy and a minimum of ten participants. Includes all accommodations, tax, service, meals, air, boat and ground transportation within Peru, tours, and the services of a bilingual local guide, plus your birding guide.

Check out our detailed itinerary.

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