Day 1 / Cusco - Cloud Forest (San Pedro)
We depart early in the morning. We pass through inter Andean valleys and Andean communities. We’ll visit the interesting PRE-Inca burial towers of Ninamarka known as "Chulpas", then we continue to the colonial town of Paucartambo, from there we go up to Acjanaco pass at 3500 m.a.s.l. Where a ranger station marks the southern most point of the park, from this point we descend into the Amazon basin through the Cloud Forest rich in endemic species like the Cock of the Rocks (Rupicola peruviana), the Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatus), orchids, ferns, bromeliads, etc. to arrive to our lodge in the Cloud Forest where we overnight. During our journey to the Cloud Forest, we will make 2 walks in search of bird species, the first one on the upper montane humid forest, in an area called Pillahuata where it is possible to spot birds species like Hooded tinamou (Nothocercus nigrocapillus), Stripe-faced Wood-quail (Odontophorus balliviani), Golden plumed parakeet (Leptosittaca branickii), Yungas pigmy owl (Glaucidium bolivianun), Gould´s inca (Coeligena inca), Blue-banded toucanet (Aulacorhynchus coeruleicinctis), Crimson-mantled woodpecker (Piculus rivolii brevirostris), Sierran elaenia (Elaenia pallatangae), White-collared jay (Cyanolyca viridicyana), Mountain cacique (Cacicus chrysonotus), etc; we will do the second walk in the Cloud forest and before we arrive to our lodge, In this area the vegetation is more luxuriant and will look for birds like Chestnut-bellied mountain-tanager (Delothraupis castaneoventris), Tawny-rumped tyrannulet (Phyllomyias uropygialis), Band-tailed fruiteater (Pipreola intermedia) and the Barred fruiteater (Pipreola arcuata) in the mixed flocks, among others.
Day 2 / Cloud Forest (San Pedro) - Rain Forest
Today we wake up very early to observe Cock of the Rocks (Rupicola peruviana), Peru’s National Bird from a platform. The male birds are a vibrant reddish orange, and as many as several dozen come together for an exhibition of a mating ritual dance in a place called “Lek”. The males display their crest, showing off and posturing for the females. The females, fewer in number, watch to select the most suitable males. After this activity we come back to the lodge to have breakfast. The Manu road provides one of the best opportunities in Peru to bird upper tropical forest. Many of the most interesting and sought-after birds in the Manu road occur in this zone from about 900 – 1700 m.a.s.l. Today we’ll spent most of the day spotting birds in the cloud forest; we expect to see different species like Andean solitaire (Myadestes ralloides) and White eared solitaire (Entomodestes leucotis), the Green jay (Cyanocorax yncas), the Yungas manakin (Chiroxiphia boliviana), the Versicolored barbet (Eubucco versicolor) and different species of tanagers. After lunch we take our transport that will take us to the port of Atalaya, this is the first fluvial port of the Alto Madre de Dios river, here we take our outboard engine boat and head downstream to our camp site where we overnight, this is a great opportunity to spot bird that inhabit the river shores like herons, cormorants, kingfishers, etc. On the way we stop at Machuwasi Lake, where we will see other species that live on the lake like the Hoatzin or Shansho (Opistocomus hoatzin), Snake bird (Anhinga anhinga), Black–capped donacobius (Donacobius atricapillus), gallinules, flycatchers, woodpeckers and more.
Day 3 / Rain Forest - Cloud Forest (San Pedro)
This day we will get up very early to take our boat, and after 15 minutes boat ride, we will arrive to a Parrot lick “Collpa”, which is a wall of clay in the riverbanks, where many species of parrots such as the Blue-headed parrot (Pionus menstruus), White-eyed parakeet and perhaps the Chesnut-fronted macaw (Ara severa) among others parrots come everyday to feed for mineral and salt supplements to their diet of seeds and fruits. After this activity we’ll take our outboard engine boat and sail back to Atalaya fluvial port where our ground transport is waiting for us to take us back to our lodge in the Cloud Forest (San Pedro), here we spend the last night. In the afternoon we will concentrate in the search of new species of birds in this wonderful Cloud Forest.
Day 4 / Cloud Forest (San Pedro) - Cusco
As our lodge is very close to the Cock of the Rocks Lek, we are able to visit again the “Lek” to see the activity of the Cock of the Rocks or try to spot one of the females hidden in the forest. After breakfast we have the rest of the morning to increase our list of spotted birds in the cloud forest. Lunch at the lodge and then we take our ground transport to go back to Cusco. |