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NOVEMBER 2012
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Following a very successful trip here in November 2010 where we saw
22 species of parrots including all 7 species of macaw as well as many other bird and wildlife encounters such as the extremely rare Harpy Eagle, a family of Giant Otters and several Tapirs
I am running this trip again.
An exceptional 17 day trip visiting 5 lodges in
South Eastern Peru (Tambopata Research Station, Refugio Amazonas, Pousadas
Amazonas, Heath River Wildlife Centre and Sandoval Lodge). With opportunities
to see 7 species of macaws and 24 species of parrots amongst an overwhelming
abundance of wildlife in one of the largest National parks in the world. We
will be visiting the clay licks in this area to see parrots and macaws in their
greatest numbers.
Followed by an optional trip to Machu Picchu where
we will see some of the ancient history of the ruins there as well as seeing
lots of local birdlife including up to 4 more parrot species.
ITINERARY
DAY 1 Leave your home country on an overnight flight to Lima
DAY 2 Arrive Lima, Peru and overnight in Lima
DAY 3 Early morning flight to Puerto Maldonado
Arrival & Reception by Parrot Guide All parrot lover guides have worked in the Macaw Research Project for at least one season. In this manner they are not only familiar with the different species of psittascines, but are also well acquainted with macaw biology and conservation. They also have plenty of anecdotes of life as a macaw researcher.
Transfer Airport to Puerto Maldonado Headquarters Upon arrival from Lima or Cusco, we will welcome you at the airport and drive you ten minutes to our Puerto Maldonado headquarters. While enjoying your first taste of the forest in our gardens we will ask you to pack only the necessary gear for your next few days, and leave the rest at our safe deposit. This helps us keep the boats and cargo light.
Transfer Pto Maldonado Headquarters to Tambopata River Port Skirting Puerto Maldonado, we drive 20 kilometers to the Tambopata River Port, entering the Native Community of Infierno. The port is a communal business.
Transfer Boat - Tambopata River Port to Refugio Amazonas The two and a half hour boat ride from the Tambopata Port to Refugio Amazonas will take us past the Community of Infierno and the Tambopata National Reserve´s checkpoint and into the buffer zone of this 1.3 million hectare conservation unit.
Boxed Lunch
Orientation Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips.
Dinner
Caiman Search We will be out at the river’s edge at night, scanning the shores with headlamps and flashlights to catch the red gleams of reflection from caiman eyes.
Overnight at Refugio Amazonas
DAY 4
Breakfast
Parrot Clay Lick A fifteen minute boat ride and sixty minute walk from Refugio Amazonas is a parakeet clay lick. From a blind you will see parakeets descend on most clear days to ingest the clay on a bank. Species such as Dusky headed and Cobalt winged Parakeet descend at this clay lick. With luck we will also see some orall of the following species in the early morning rush: Mealy and Yellow-crowned Amazons, Blue-headed Pionus, Severe macaw and Orange-cheeked (Barraband`s) Parrot. We visit the lick at dawn, when parrots are most active or in midmorning or early afternoon, when they are active.
Lunch
Refugio Amazonas Canopy Tower We will visit a 135 ft scaffolding tower a 15 minute walk from the lodge. From the top you will see spectacular views of the river and the surrounding forest and watch as Mealy and Yellow-crowned Amazons, Blue-headed Pionus, and White-bellied Caiques stream by at eye level as they head towards the nearby clay lick.
Dinner
Overnight at Refugio Amazonas
DAY 5
Breakfast
Oxbow Lake Visit We will paddle around the lake on a canoe or a catamaran, looking for lakeside wildlife such as hoatzin, caiman and hornerd screamers, hoping to see the otters which are infrequently seen here. You will also be rewarded with overhead sightings of macaws.
Transfer Boat - Refugio Amazonas to TRC Four and half hours by boat from Refugio Amazonas, in the pristine heart of the reserve, lies the Tambopata Research Center. One and half hours into our boat journey, as we cross the confluence with the Malinowski River, we will leave the final traces of human habitation behind. Within the 700,000 hectare uninhabited nucleus of the reserve, sightings of capybara, caiman, geese, macaws and other large species will become more frequent.
Boxed Lunch
Orientation Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips.
Overlooks We will head out along the "bamboo trail" for up close looks at Scarlet, Blue-and-gold and Green-winged Macaws as they loaf in the trees. This will give us wonderful opportunities to watch the social behavior of these birds as pairs fight, preen and feed. At the end of the trail we will visit an isolated area of clay lick rarely used by Cobalt-winged Parakeets and the rare Dusky-billed and Amazonian Parrotlets.
Dinner
Macaw Project Lectures After dinner scientists will provide an in depth look at the biology of macaws, their feeding habits, the theories for clay lick use, their breeding and feeding ecology, population fluctuations and the threats to their conservation.
Overnight at Tambopata Research Center
DAY 6
Macaw Clay Lick At dawn we will cross the river and enjoy the largest clay lick where hundreds of parrots and macaws of up to 17 different species have been seen. Here we will watch as the parrots fly in from all directions and land in the trees above the clay lick. When a few hundred have gathered and the noise builds to a crescendo a small group of Severe and Red-bellied Macaws will break free from the loafers in the trees and make long slow circles in front of the lick. Once these first brave pioneers land on the lick the parrots will rain down by the dozens to join them. Mealy Amazons, White-bellied Caiques, conures and macaws will mix in a noisy blur of colorful wings as they rush in to get their fill of the precious clay. Then about one hour after it began, the birds will drift away and leave the area in an eerie silence. Once this early morning rush of activity ends we will head back to the lodge for breakfast.
Breakfast
Floodplain Trail This five kilometer trail covers the prototypical rain forest with immense trees criss-crossed by creeks and ponds. Amongst the figs, ceibas and shihuahuacos we will look for Squirrel, Brown Capuchin, and Spider Monkeys as well as peccaries. TRC is located within this habitat.
Lunch
Macaw project nest visit A short hike from the lodge, we will stop and observe macaw project researchers at work as they climb trees to monitor natural and articifical nests. From thirty meters above, researchers will show us how they check the nest sites.
Dinner
Night walk You will have the option of hiking out at night, when most of the mammals are active but rarely seen. Much easier to find are frogs with shapes and sounds as bizarre as their natural histories.
Overnight at Tambopata Research Center
DAY 7
Time - off Time off to relax and enjoy the lodge surroundings, try out a new trail, or repeat your favorite activity. We usually go back to the clay lick it is different every time we go and always a real buzz.
Breakfast
Midmorning Macaw Clay Lick Visit We will head out to the clay lick at 8 AM and wait for the arrival of the large macaws. By 9 or 10 AM over 100 Scarlet, Blue-and-gold and Green-winged Macaws should gather in the trees. Before descending to eat the clay the entire group usually flies en masse across the front of the lick. When the late morning sun lights up the birds, it is one of the most spectacular sights in the Amazon. Once the birds choose a safe spot, they will descend by the dozens to the lick. The Blue-and-golds grab bites of clay and fly back to thesafety of the trees while the Scarlets and Green-wings sit on the lick and squabble over the best bits of clay. When the birds finish their visit to the lick we will return to the lodge.
Lunch
Palm Swamp Tower We will embark on a 4 kilometer hike to the palm swamp, a preferred roost for Blue-and-gold Macaws. A scaffolding tower allow us eye level observation of the macaws as they fly in and out of the trees.
Dinner
Overnight at Tambopata Research Center
DAY 8
Time - off Time off to relax and enjoy the lodge surroundings, try out a new trail, or repeat your favorite activity. Back to the clay lick again?? I will be!!
Breakfast
Transfer Boat - TRC to Posada Amazonas A five hour boat ride brings us to Posada Amazonas.
Boxed Lunch
Canopy Tower A twenty minute walk from Posada Amazonas leads to the 30 meter scaffolding canopy tower. A bannistered staircase running through the middle provides safe access to the platforms above. From atop you obtain spectacular views of the vast expanses of standing forest cut by the Tambopata River winding through the middle. Now and then toucans, parrots or macaws are seen flying against the horizon, or mixed species canopy flocks land in the treetop next to you.
Dinner
Ecotourism Lecture A daily presentation on the Infierno ecotourism project is available every night from a staff member.
Overnight at Posada Amazonas
DAY 9
Breakfast
Tres Chimbadas Oxbow Lake Tres Chimbadas is thirty minutes by boat and forty five minutes hiking from Posada Amazonas. Once there you will paddle around the lake in a catamaran, searching for the resident family of nine giant river otters (seen by 60% of our lake visitors) and other lakeside wildlife such as caiman, hoatzin and horned screamers. Otters are most active from dawn to eight or nine AM.
Parakeet Clay Lick This clay lick is only a twenty five minute walk from Posada Amazonas. From a blind located about twenty meters away you will see dozens of parakeets descend on most clear mornings to ingest the clay on a river bank. Species such as Blue-headed Parrot and Dusky headed Parakeet descend at this clay lick. The clay lick is active at dawn, during the late mornings and mid-afternoons.
Lunch
Parrot Clay Lick We will visit a parrot clay lick located only a fifteen-minute walk from the lodge. From the blind next to the clay lick we will wait, watch and listen as dozens of parrots gather overhead. With luck we will see some or all of the following species in this early morning rush: Mealy and Yellow-crowned Amazons, Blue-headed Pionus, Dusky-headed Conure, Severe Macaw and Orange-cheeked (Barraband’s) Parrot.
Dinner
Overnight at Posada Amazonas
DAY 10
Early morning visit to one of the clay licks or the tower
Breakfast
Transfer Boat - Posada Amazonas to Tambopata River Port
Transfer Tambopata River Port to Pto Maldonado Headquarters
Transfer Puerto Maldonado Headquarters to our Hotel in Puerto Maldonado.
Full day at leisure to explore the town or I can arrange a visit to a Toucan breeding centre close by.
DAY 11
Puerto Maldonado to Heath River Wildlife Center.We meet at RFE headquarters
at Puerto Maldonado and get driven through town to the Tambopata River port. After
boarding motorized canoes, we travel downriver to the mighty Madre de Dios,
which we follow for approximately four hours to the Heath River. We then travel
up this wild and intimate river, which forms the wilderness border between Peru
and Bolivia, and arrive at the Heath River Wildlife Center. Note that the Lodge
is located on the Bolivian side of the Heath River so passports are required to
clear Bolivian passport control.
Boxed Lunch at the boat
Dinner.
Overnight in Heath River Wildlife Center
Day 12
Macaw Clay Lick.We rise early in the morning to board a motorized canoe for the
10-minute journey up the Heath River to the macaw and parrot clay lick.
Brightly-colored parrots and macaws fly in by the hundreds to feed on the clay
that detoxifies certain seeds and nuts they eat. Marvel at the cacophony of
sound and color as Red-and-green macaws vie for the best clay-eating position.
A specially-designed floating blind allows for proximity and complete
concealment -- so you can even have breakfast and coffee while the birds are
performing their morning ritual.
Breakfast at the lick
Ethnobotanical Walk. When we
return to the lodge, the guide leads us on an ethno-botanical walk through the
forest, pointing out flora used in the daily lives of rainforest people. The
guide explains how certain plants are used for medicinal or healing purposes,
which ones can be made into the best bows and arrows, and how to select trees
and leaves for home construction.
Lunch.
Pampas del Heath..After lunch
and a short rest, we hike through the rainforest to the Pampas del Heath, the
largest remaining undisturbed savanna in the Amazon. The contrast is striking
as we emerge from the mature rainforest onto the grassland plain of the Pampas.
Dinner.
Overnight in Heath River Wildlife Center
Day 13
Macaw Clay Lick- Breakfast. We breakfast in the floating blind at the macaw and parrot clay
lick for a last round of looks and photos.
Mid morning. we return
to the lodge to explore some trails.
Lunch
Afternoon. We dedicate
the afternoon to explore the trails.
Dinner
Mammal Lick. After dinner
visit the Mammal lick where we will have good chances to see Tapirs.
Overnight in Heath River Wildlife Center
Day 14
Breakfast
Transfer Boat - Heath River Wildlife Center to
Sandoval Lake Lodge Trail. Sandoval Lake Lodge,
located on the banks of one of the most beautiful lakes in Amazonian Peru.
During the river trip back downstream, families of Capybaras are often spotted
on the banks of the river. Weighing up to 120 pounds (55 kilograms), this giant,
three-toed relative of the guinea pig is the largest rodent in the world.
Sonene Native Community visit. On the journey to Sandoval Lake
Lodge we will also visit the Ese'Eja native community of Sonene, where there
will be an opportunity to interact with the community and purchase local
handicrafts.
Boxed Lunch
Sandoval Lake Lodge. We embark at the trail head to Sandoval Lake
Lodge and walk for 45 minutes, stopping to look at birds, butterflies, and
towering trees. At the end of the trail, we board dugout canoes or catamarans,
and are paddled across the lake in the golden afternoon light. We drift through
flooded palm forest and listen to the babbling of Red-bellied Macaws overhead
as they roost in treetops for the night. We arrive at the lodge around
nightfall, and walk up the torch-lit path to dinner in the dining hall.
Dinner.
Overnight in Sandoval Lake Lodge
Day 15
Breakfast
Palm licks visit. After an early
breakfast, we’ll visit one of the trails where some groups of macaws visit
certain palm trees and eat the trunk of them. This is a very interesting
phenomenon that has been studying since 2005 in the area.
Late morning. Your
naturalist guide will lead a hike through the forest, pointing out plants with
medicinal uses, interesting insects, and colorful birds and butterflies.
Lunch.
Sandoval Lake visit. In the
late afternoon we once again board the catamaran or canoe and set off to
explore the eastern end of the lake. Capuchin, Squirrel and Titi monkeys often
forage along the lake's edge, and energetic guests can take another hike
through forest on the other side of the lake.
Dinner
Black Caiman search. We go out on
the lake to search again for the Black Caiman since they are most abundant on
the lake at night as they forage. Floating in the middle of the lake, the
brilliant stars light up the sky as the night sounds of the rainforest surround
you.
Day 16
Breakfast
Transfer Boat – Sandoval Lake Lodge to Puerto
Maldonado Airport. After a dawn breakfast, we paddle across the lake,
perhaps encountering a family of macaws leaving their roost to forage or a
troupe of monkeys greeting the day. We hike back out to the river and return to
Puerto Maldonado for the flight back to Lima. Overnight in Lima
Alternative Day 16 see below for the extension trip to Machu Picchu
Day 17 Leave Lima on a flight back to the UK
Day 18
Arrive back in UK or country of origin
PARROTS and MACAWS
Red & Green Macaw, Blue & Yellow Macaw, Scarlet Macaw, Red
Bellied Macaw, Chesnut Fronted Macaw, Blue Headed Macaw, Red Shouldered Macaw.
PRICE £2800 per person which includes all local flights in Peru,
all transfers, all accommodation, most meals, all drinks (non-alcoholic),
an english speaking guide. Single supplement £ 500 - if you are willing to share a room with a similar gender person then the standard price will be sufficient ITEMS NOT INCLUDED
International Flights approximately £750.00 return flights. Please see our
new flights policy on theFlights page
Alcoholic drinks, Insurance, Spending money for Souvenirs, Tips
EXTRA TRIP TO MACHU PICCHU
DAY 16
Breakfast
Transfer Boat – Sandoval Lake Lodge to Puerto
Maldonado Airport. After a dawn breakfast, we paddle across the lake,
perhaps encountering a family of macaws leaving their roost to forage or a
troupe of monkeys greeting the day. We hike back out to the river and return to
Puerto Maldonado
Flight back to Cusco
AFTERNOON - CITY tour of Cusco, the Cathedral, the
Koricancha Temple and nearby ruins of Cusco : Sacsayhuaman, Kenko,
Tambomachay and Pucapucara
DAY 17 Transfer to Machu Picchu visit the ruins of Machu Picchu with tour guide for our group - overnight at Aguas Calientes - meals Breakfast, lunch and dinner
DAY 18 Morning activity around the lodge or re-visit Machu Picchu ruins - meals Breakfast and Dinner
DAY 19 Morning on a eco-activity in the hotel grounds before taking the train
back to Cusco where we overnight - meals Breakfast
DAY 20 Cusco to Lima overnight in Lima - meals Breakfast
DAY 21 Flight back to UK - meals Breakfast
Some meals are not included on this extra trip to Machu Picchu
COST £ 995.00 per person - (350.00 single supplement).
THIS TRIP WILL FILL UP VERY QUICKLY SO PLEASE EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.