Day 1: The tour starts this evening with arrivals into Santa Cruz International Airport (VVI), where we will overnight.

Day 2: We will spend our first morning birding at nearby Lomas de Arena, located on the southeast side of Santa Cruz. This regional park is part of the northern border of the Chaco bioregion and protects some spectacular sand dunes and grassy savannas. Good birds include Red-winged Tinamou (more often heard than seen), White-bellied Nothura, and range-restricted Bolivian Slaty Antshrike, as well as more widespread species such as Chaco Puffbird, Blue-crowned and Yellow-chevroned Parakeets, Plain Tyrannulet, Chotoy Spinetail, White-banded Mockingbird, and sometimes Red-legged Seriema just to name a few. We will then take a midday flight to Riberalta, where we will stay for the next two nights. We may have some time in the late afternoon for some first explorations in the area. Night in Riberalta.

Day 3: Our primary reason for visiting this remote corner of the country is to look for the highly localised Masked Antpitta, an endemic species restricted to typical gallery forests and riverine habitats around Riberalta. Interestingly, the Riberalta area has a wide range of habitats ranging from dry Cerrado habitats to more humid Amazonian forests. Time permitting, we will explore some of these habitats, and there will certainly be a lot of new birds to be seen. There is a nice list of key birds, with regular sightings in the area of species such as Pheasant Cuckoo, Purus Jacamar, Ocellated Crake, Flammulated Pygmy-Tyrant, and White-bellied Seedeater. Night in Riberalta.

Day 4: We will spend the morning birding some dry Cerrado habitats, where typical birds like White-eared Puffbird, Rufous-sided Scrub Tyrant, and White-rumped Tanager among many others are expected to be found. We will then take an afternoon flight to Trinidad, where we will spend the next two nights.

Day 5-6: We will have a full day and most of the next day to explore the bird-rich plains of the Lianos de los Moxos in the province of Beni. We will start our birding in Loreto to look for another very rare species, the critically endangered Blue-throated Macaw, once thought to be extinct in the wild and rediscovered a few years ago in this area. Endemic to the lowland of the Beni region in Bolivia, there could be fewer than 100 individuals remaining in the wild, and here we have a good chance of seeing this incredible bird. We might find other species of parrots, including Blue-and-yellow, Red-and-green, Golden-collared and Chestnut-fronted Macaws, Turquoise-fronted Amazon, Yellow-chevroned, Peach-fronted and Dusky-headed Parakeets. In the nearby gallery forests, we will also look for some other key species, including the endemic and tricky Unicoloured Thrush, restricted to a small range of the floodplain forest of the Río Mamoré, as well as the near-endemic Fawn-breasted Wren, the local form of Plain Softtail (potentially a future split), the local race of Velvet-fronted Grackle, Spix’s Guan, Plumbeous Ibis, the range-restricted Orinoco Goose, Hudson’s Black Tyrant, Long-tailed Reed Finch, Sulphur-bellied Tyrant-Manakin, Buff-bellied Hermit, Pale-crested Woodpecker, Plain Inezia, Screaming Cowbird, and with luck, Razor-billed Curassow. This department of Bolivia is one of South America’s most bird-rich areas, and the wide, watery plains should allow us to amass a great list of more widespread species during our short visit here. On day 6, we will fly back to Santa Cruz, where we will overnight.

Day 7: Today, we will head early to Los Volcanes and spend the full day birding the foothill forests adjacent to the Amboro National Park. Our base will be at the famous Los Volcanes Refugio, surrounded by impressive red cliffs and certainly one of the most spectacularly located birding lodges in the Andes. We will focus on a several key species here, including Slaty Gnateater, the near-endemic Bolivian Recurvebill (sometimes hard to find), Bolivian (or Bolivian White-crowned) Tapaculo, as well as Yungas Manakin, Yungas Dove, Yungas Manakin, Black-banded Woodcreeper, Rufous-breasted Wood Quail, Grey-throated Leaftosser, Short-tailed Anthrush, Military Macaw, Western Fire-eye, Chestnut-backed Antshrike, Scalter’s and Buff-barred Tyrannulets, Ochre-cheeked Spinetail, White-bellied Pygmy-Tyrant, Grey (more often heard than seen), Brown and Black-capped Tinamou, and White-throated Piping Guan. We will keep an eye out for Blue-browed Tanager, a species that is hard to see anywhere but is regularly sighted here. If we are lucky, we will also have a first chance to locate the range-restricted Yungas Pygmy Owl, and at night, we will go out and look for Cloud-forest Screech Owl, Rufescent Screech Owl, and Band-bellied Owl. Night at Los Volcanes.

Day 8: We will spend the full morning birding the area of Los Volcanes looking for key species we might have missed the day before. After midday, we will head towards Samaipata, where we will overnight. We will explore different sections of the region, crossing typical Andean picturesque valleys where we should amass several new birds of limited distribution such as Ochre-cheeked Spinetail, Black-and-chestnut and Black-capped Warbling Finches, Ocellated Piculet, and Moss-backed Sparrow. We will keep an eye out for other good birds like Giant Antshrike and the uncommon Dull-coloured Grassquit. Hummingbirds will also be plentiful in the area - Great-billed and Planato Hermits, White-vented, Sparkling and Lesser Violetears, Slender-tailed Woodstar, Glittering-bellied Emerald, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, White-bellied Hummingbird, Black-throated Mango, Red-tailed Comet, and the range-restricted Slender-billed Woodstar can all be seen. Other more widespread species include Short-tailed Hawk, Green-cheeked and Blue-crowned Parakeets, Buff-browed Foliage-gleaner, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, Variable Antshrike, the Andean form of the Rufous-capped Antshrike (sometimes split as Marcapata Antshrike), "White-bellied" White-crested Tyrannulet, Ochre-faced Tody-Flycatcher, Rufous Casiornis, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Hooded Siskin, Blue-and-yellow Tanager, Saffron-billed Sparrow, Golden-billed Saltator, and more. Night in Samaipata.

Day 9: Early this morning, we will leave Samaipata and make our way to the Red-fronted Macaw Reserve along the Río Misque, our base for the next night. We will make a stop at Quirusillas and bird around Laguna Esmeralda (plus more stops along the road, time permitting), in search of Tucuman Amazon and Red-faced Guan, both restricted to this region and to northwest Argentina. There will also be a chance for the range-restricted Straw-backed Tanager, Slender-tailed Woodstar, Huayco Tinamou, Yungas Guan (usually more often seen further along the road), White-throated Antpitta, the tricky Dot-fronted Woodpecker, Pale-legged Warbler, White-browed Brushfinch, Spot-breasted Thornbird, Stripe-crowned Spinetail, and Bolivian Tyrannulet. We will arrive at our lodge just in time to get to the cliff and look for Red-fronted Macaw, our main bird here. Other species of parrots may also join the fest, including Cliff, Mitred and Grey-hooded Parakeets, while other good species such as White-tipped Plantcutter, Andean Condor (often seen here up close), Grey-crested Finch, Bolivian Blackbird, Chaco Puffbird, Andean Swift, Southern Martin, Ultramarine Grosbeak, and Greater Wagtail Tyrant can also be found. In the evening, we will go out in search of Scissor-tailed Nightjar. Night near Red-fronted Macaw Reserve.

Day 10: Today, we will spend the morning birding around the Red-fronted Macaw Reserve and then drive to Comarapa, where we will stay for the next two nights. We will make an important stop on the way to look for the rare Bolivian Earthcreeper, or if needed, for anything else we might have missed so far. We will make another birding stop at the dry zone near Comapara and look for more key birds such as Olive-crowned Crescentchest, Black-and-chestnut, Rufous-sided, Ringed and Bolivian Warbling Finches, Light-crowned Spinetail, Great Pampa Finch, and Spot-breasted Thornbird. Night in Comarapa.

Day 11: With a predawn departure, we will start climbing up to the Siberia cloud forests. In contrast to the arid Comarapa and Tambo areas, we will quickly see the change in habitat to humid rainforests typically covered with epiphytes! Our main targets here include the endemic Rufous-faced Antpitta, Trilling Tapaculo, near endemic Light-crowned Spinetail (here of the buff-crowned race), Bolivian Brushfinch, Blue-capped Puffleg, the near-endemic Buff-banded Tyrannulet, and local races of Common Bush Tanager, Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, and Black-throated Thistletail. Other good birds may include Maroon-belted Chat-Tyrant, Rufous-bellied Bush Tyrant, Plumbeous Tyrant, Andean Slaty Thrush, White-eared Solitaire, Violet-throated Starfrontlet, Brown-capped and Spectacled Whitestarts, Barred Becard, and more. Later, during our descent to Comarapa, we will also search for the near-endemic Grey-bellied Flowerpiercer and other good species like Green-barred woodpecker, Rusty-vented Canastero and Rusty-browed Warbling Finch, and we may have some time leftover for birding the drier zone around Comarapa to look for anything we might have missed earlier. Night in Comarapa.

Day 12: Today is predominantly a long driving day, as we will leave Comarapa in the early morning and head for Cochabamba, where we will stay for the next 4 nights. We will have a little time to stop on the way to look for the superb Wedge-tailed Hillstar. Night in Cochabamba.

Day 13-14: We will spend two full days in the Chapare region in search of more specialities. The main road here passes through a diverse range of habitats in a relatively short distance, first traversing high-altitude puna habitats and then dropping into high, untouched elfin forest, more temperate and subtropical forests, and eventually, further away, the lowlands. We will start by spending some time at a high pass looking for one of our major targets of the trip: the endemic Black-hooded Sunbeam. From there, we will be searching for the nominate race of Black-throated Thistletail, Bolivian Tyrannulet, Bolivian Antpitta, Scaled Metaltail, Black-winged Parrot, Blue-banded toucanet, Hooded Mountain Tanager, Upland Antshrike, Yungas Tody-Tyrant, while other Andean goodies like Band-tailed and Barred Fruiteaters, Three-striped and Orange-browed Hemispingus, Streaked Tuftedcheek, Chestnut-crested Cotinga, White-collared Jay, Yungas Warbler, Pale-footed Swallow, Fulvous Wren, Slaty Finch, Barred Antthrush, Stripe-faced Wood Quail (difficult), Black-streaked Puffbird, Olivaceous Siskin, Golden-headed and Crested Quetzals, Versicolored Barbet, Olive-backed Woodcreeper, Black-eared Hemispingus, Unadorned Flycatcher, Lanceolated Monklet, Geoffroy’s Daggerbill, Andean Cock-of-the-rock are all possible in the area and we will devote much of our time here to search for them! Night in Cochabamba.

Day 15: Today, we will start climbing the Quillacolla road starting in the northwest of Cochabamba. Our ascent soon has us at higher altitudes, with stunning views of towering cliffs and peaks (including Cerro Tunari at 5035m) and our first foray into Polylepis woodland. We will make a few stops on the road focusing on our main target birds here, including the endemic Cochabamba Mountain Finch, Bolivian Warbling Finch, Rufous-bellied Mountain Tanager, Maquis Canastero, the high-altitude subspecies of Olive-crowned Crescentchest, Brown-backed Mockingbird, and Rock Earthcreeper. Other good species we may well see during our ascent include Andean Tinamou, Streak-fronted Thornbird, Giant Hummingbird, Red-tailed Comet, Cinereous and Giant Conebills, Rufous-rumped Bush Tyrant, Puna Tapaculo, Red-crested Cotinga, Buff-breasted Earthcreeper, Tawny Tit-Spinetail, and the more abundant Brown-capped Tit-Spinetail. We will have another chance here for Wedge-tailed Hillstar and Yungas Pygmy Owl. Eventually, we will reach the highest point, where more good birds should join the party: Andean Hillstar, Bright-rumped Yellow Finch, Black-billed Shrike Tyrant, Crested and Andean Ducks, Yellow-billed Pintail, Andean Coot, Andean Gull, Andean Flicker, White-winged Diuca Finch, White-backed Stilt, Slender-billed Miner, Cordilleran Canastero, and a large variety of Ground Tyrant including Puna, Ochre-naped Spot-billed, Cinereous and Taczanowski’s. We will also keep an eye out for more elusive species such as Darwin’s Nothura, Grey-breasted Seedsnipe, and Torrent Duck, all possible today. Night in Cochabamba.

Day 16: Today we will leave Cochabamba and drive to Oruro, where we will overnight. We will pass through puna habitat for a time, stopping to look for Ornate Tinamou, White-winged Cinclodes, Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail, Cordilleran Canastero, and Puna Yellow Finch. Birds expected to be seen on the different lakes are Crested Duck, Andean Goose, Yellow-billed Teal, Andean Avocet, Puna Plover, Silvery Grebe, Many-colored Rush-Tyrant, Wren-like Rushbird, Andean Lapwing, Andean Negrito, Plumbeous Rail, James’s and Chilean Flamingos, Puna Ibis, Aplomado Falcon, and more. Night in Oruro.

Day 17: Today we will explore some different sections of the lakes close to Oruro and afterwards drive to Quime, where we will overnight.

Day 18: This morning, we will travel along the remote Inquisivi road in search of another mega target: the endangered and endemic Bolivian Spinetail, only discovered in 1993. Another good bird here is the distinctive local race of the Green-cheeked Parakeet (showing yellow-winged here), as well as Spot-winged Pigeon, Striped Woodpecker, Golden-rumped Euphonia, Rusty Flowerpiercer, and Black-backed Grosbeak, among others. Continuing on our way to La Paz, we should have time for more stops in puna grasslands and upland bogs, searching for anything we might have missed so far. Night in La Paz, the highest capital city on the planet at 3640m.

Day 19-20: Today, we will make our way towards the Coroico road for a two-night stay. We will have two full days to explore this marvellous road. Once again, we will start exploring the high puna habitat around La Cumbre at 4600m and then start heading downhill along the old Coroico road, also named the “death road”.  Starting from the higher elevations and on our way to lower sections, we are expecting to find Andean Ibis, Buff-thighed Puffleg, Blue-mantled Thornbill, Great Sapphirewing, Glacier Finch, Rufous-bellied and Grey-breasted Seedsnipes, Black Siskin, range-restricted Peruvian Sierra Finch, White-browed Conebill, White-fronted Ground-Tyrant, Giant Coot, Tawny Tit-Spinetail, Puna Tapaculo, Stripe-headed Antpitta, Scribble-tailed and Line-fronted Canasteros, possibly Ash-breasted Tit-Tyrant, and more. We will then explore the mid-elevation area of Chuspipata, where we will look for more key species in the Yungas forests: the restricted-range Diademed Tapaculo and near-endemic Scimitar-winged Piha. As we keep dropping in altitude, the temperate forest of this road should provide excellent birding, as pristine forests stretch from the main road in every direction. Highlights could include Sickle-winged Guan, Chestnut-crested Cotinga, Plushcap, Yellow-billed Cacique, Bar-bellied Woodpecker, Gould’s Inca, Grass-green Tanager, Striped Treehunter, Fulvous Wren, Ochraceous-breasted Flycatcher, and stunning Golden-collared Tanager, just to name a few. Although infrequently seen, we have a chance for Hazel-fronted Pygmy Tyrant and Hooded Tinamou here, while we will have more chances for Bolivian Antpitta, Upland Antshrike, Orange-browed Hemispingus, Fulvous Wren, Black-throated Thistletail, and Yungas Tody-Tyrant if we haven’t seen them earlier in the trip. Nights along Coroico road.

Day 21: We will spend much of the day birding along the Coroico road looking for anything important we might have missed the previous days and then drive to Lake Titicaca via La Paz. Night near Lake Titicaca.

Day 22: We will drive to Sorata and spend our final morning of the main tour searching for the highly localised and endemic Berlepsh’s Canastero. Other good birds in this area include Huayco Tinamou, Green-tailed Trainbearer, Andean Swallow, and Cinereous Conebill. Afterwards, we will explore the shore of Lake Titicaca, where we will search for our last target of the trip, the Titicaca Grebe. Those finishing the tour today will transfer back to La Paz International Airport (LPB) this evening, while those continuing on the extension will drive north.

APOLO AND PALKACHUPA COTINGA EXTENSION

Day 1: Following afternoon birding around Lake Titicaca, we will transfer north to Charazani for an overnight stay.

Day 2: This morning, we will have a pre-dawn departure and transfer to the town of Apolo, where we will stay for the next four nights. We may stop on the road at some interesting Yungas forest sections in search of things we might have missed on the main tour. We make another stop looking for the localised Yungas Tyrannulet, and we should arrive in Apolo with time for some initial exploration. Night in Apolo.

Day 3-4: In the morning, we will make our way to the area of Aten and reach some dry woodland and scrubby habitat looking for our first major target, the highly localised and endemic Palkachupa Cotinga. We will also be searching in the same area for near-endemic Green-capped Tanager, a species that also occurs in southeastern Peru but is apparently much easier to locate in this region. We will also explore the Machariapo Valley adjacent to Madidi National Park looking for our other main target of this extension, the recently discovered Inti Tanager. This area is the only reliable spot in the world for this species and we will devote much of our effort toward looking for this mega bird. Time permitting, we will also explore the more humid Yungas forests on the edge of the vast Madidi National Park. This area allows us an opportunity to find the endemic Yungas Antwren and the highly localised Rough-legged Tyrannulet. More key species in this section include Bolivian Recurvebill, Upland Antshrike, "White-crowned" Bolivian Tapaculo, Cabanis’s Spinetail, Yungas Tody-Tyrant, Yungas Manakin, Straw-backed Tanager, Ocellated Piculet, Inambari Woodcreeper, and White-rumped Sirystes. With luck, we should also encounter the distinctive local race of Black-capped Antwren, yet to be split as "Inambari-Tambopata Antwren". We also have a reasonable chance to find Inti Tanager, sensationally discovered breeding in Madidi only recently. The birds will have returned by the time of our visit, but are scarce and move around mostly with mixed flocks, making them hard to target. Nights in Apolo.

Day 5: After some final birding in the Apolo area, we will transfer back to Charazani, making some birding stops en route depending on the timing available. Night in Charazani.

Day 6: After spending the morning birding around Charazani, we will transfer to La Paz International Airport (LPB), where our extension ends in the afternoon.