Day 1: The tour starts this evening at Lima International Airport (LIM), from where we will transfer to our hotel and have an introductory dinner.

Day 2: This morning, we will visit Lomas de Lachay, an area of low hills and deserted canyons in search of some regional specialties such as Cactus Canastero, Coastal, Thick-billed and Greyish Miners and, with luck, Raimondi’s Yellow Finches or Tawny-throated Dotterels. We will then transfer to Santa Eulalia for an overnight stay, starting exploration of this endemic-rich canyon east of Lima this afternoon.

Day 3: We will have a full day in Santa Eulalia Valley, given that a number of difficult birds occur here and are unlikely to be found later on. Our prime targets in this scenic canyon will be the Endangered and poorly-known Rufous-breasted Warbling Finch (certainly one of the hardest Warbling Finches) and the rare White-cheeked Cotinga. We are likely to find at least one of these megas, but many other endemics occur in this area and we will make a special effort to see as many of them as possible! They include Black-breasted Woodpecker, Great Inca Finch, Bronze-tailed Comet, Black Metaltail, Rusty-bellied Brushfinch, Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail, and more widespread species. Night in Huachupampa.

Day 4: We will have a second chance for the rare targets listed above and then continue higher to Marcapomacochas Bogs, an area of humid, mossy grasslands, where we have a good chance of finding the unique Diademed Sandpiper-Plover! We will also look for the Critically Endangered White-bellied Cinclodes, Grey-breasted and Rufous-bellied Seedsnipes, near-endemic Olivaceous Thornbill (which has a habit of feeding on tiny flowers on or near the ground!), Dark-winged Miner, and more. Night in a nearby village a little lower down.

Day 5: This morning, we’ll visit the famous Ticlio Bog, the best site to get good looks at White-bellied Cinclodes and other high-elevation specialties. We will then continue to Oxapampa, in the foothills east of the Andes, where we will stay for two nights.

Day 6: In the Oxapampa area, we will be birding a variety of habitats and looking for the localised Creamy-bellied Antwren and Cerulean-capped Manakin, two species that are hard to find elsewhere. We will also pay a visit to the fabulous Yanachaga Chemillen National Park, where we hope to observe the newly discovered Pasco Wood Quail (we were the first company to do so in 2023!). Many more species will be encountered today, as we are in the Amazonian foothills, and we may find Tataupa Tinamou, the scarce Wattled Guan, Red-throated Caracara, Versicoloured Barbet, Blue-banded Toucanet, Bluish-fronted Jacamar, Crimson-bellied Woodpecker, Dusky-green Oropendola, and many more. Some scarcer specialties may include Peruvian Treehunter, Masked Fruiteater, and Black-and-chestnut Eagle. We will also be looking for Black-banded and Rufous-banded Owls at night. Night in Oxapampa.

Day 7: We will leave Oxapampa early and try our luck for the rarely-seen Cloud-forest Screech Owl at Bosque Shollet, where we might also find the cracking Rufous-banded Owl. After dawn, we will have a second chance for Bay Antpitta, and we might well find one or two of the rarer specialties of the area, including Black-winged Parrot, “Maroon-belted” Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant, Rufous-backed Treehunter, Masked Fruiteater, or Black-and-chestnut Eagle. We will then drive to Ulcumano Lodge, our home for the next two nights.

Day 8: Ulcumano Lodge must be one of the very best sites to find Cloud-forest Screech Owl, so if missed at Shollet, we will make a special effort to locate this enigmatic species. Other nightbirds could include Black-banded Owl, Rufous-banded Owl, and Swallow-tailed Nightjar. We will spend the rest of the day birding different trails looking for Masked Fruiteater, Jet Manakin, Slaty-backed and Speckled Nightingale-Thrushes, Golden-browed Chat-Tyrant, Peruvian Tyrannulet, Bay Antpittas, “Eastern” Crimson-bellied Woodpecker, Rufous-vented and Trilling Tapaculos, and Peruvian Wren, among others. Night at Ulcumano Lodge.

Day 9: Transfer to Apalla via the Satipo road for a two-night stay at the recently established Colibri Cloud-forest Lodge. There will be some birding stops on the way for sure, and we’ll certainly have time to seek our first “Satipo” endemics!

Day 10: The day will be spent in the Andamarca Valley, where several species new to science were discovered as recently as 2006. We will focus on finding these endemics, namely Oxapampa and Junin Antpittas (both described in 2020 from the Rufous Antpitta complex), Black-spectacled Brushfinch, Eye-ringed Thistletail, “Mantaro” Thornbird, “Mantaro” Wren, “Mantaro” Screech Owl, Jalca and Junin Tapaculos, Fiery-throated Metaltail, and Creamy-crested Spinetail, among a vast array of foothill and montane specialties. Night at Colibri Cloud-forest Lodge.

Day 11: After some final birding in the Andamarca area, we will start our journey down the Satipo Road (also known as the “poor-man’s Manu Road”), which has some excellent stretches of foothill forest in which we’ll certainly find large mixed-species flocks of tanagers. Specialties of the area include the Endangered Black-and-chestnut Eagle, Band-tailed and “Huanuco” Green-and-black Fruiteaters, the endemic Bay Antpitta, and many more goodies. We will then embark on a journey towards Lake Junin, where we will spend the next two nights.

Day 12: We will spend the morning on Lake Junin, where our prime target will be Junin Grebe, a species suffering a catastrophic decline in recent decades. We will take a boat ride through the lake and stand a very good chance of encountering this rare endemic. Later on, we will be birding along the shores and, depending on water levels, might have a chance to see “Junin” Black Rail, which is split by some authorities and would hence be the second endemic of Lake Junin. Other species we’ll be looking for today are the stunning endemic Black-breasted Hillstar, endemic Junin Canastero, Puna Snipe, superb Many-coloured Rush Tyrant and Wren-like Rushbird, Andean Negrito, Short-billed Pipit, and maybe Andean Avocet. Night near Lake Junin.

Day 13: After some final birding at Junin, we will travel to Huanuco for a three-night stay. Along this very scenic route, we will make a couple of stops and look for Rufous-backed Inca Finch in a dry canyon, plus Brown-flanked Tanager, Giant Conebill, Stripe-headed Antpitta, Striated Earthcreeper, and more. We will have time for some initial exploration of the Huanuco area. Night in Huanuco.

Day 14-15-16: We will spend most of our time near Huanuco at Bosque Unchog, a site made famous by the discovery of three new species to science in the 70s. The stunning jay-like Golden-backed Mountain Tanager is certainly the prize of the region (and arguably one of the most stunning birds in South America), so we will not leave the site without views of it! Bosque Unchog has some really tremendous birding, and we will be looking for Bay-vented Cotinga and Pardusco, both recently discovered here too. Other excellent birds include Coppery Metaltail, Rufous-browed Hemispingus (hard to find anywhere else), Neblina, Tschudi’s, recently described White-winged, and Large-footed Tapaculos, Undulated and Chachapoyas Antpitta (another recently described species from the Rufous Antpitta complex), marvellous Yellow-scarfed Tanagers, and many more. We will also visit a different site on the other side of the valley and look for the recently described Panao Antpitta (yet another Rufous Antpitta split!) and White-tufted Sunbeam, and the Carpish Tunnel lower down for some rare species like Unstreaked Tit-Tyrant, Band-tailed Fruiteater, Powerful Woodpecker, Bay and Chestnut Antpittas, White-winged Tapaculo, or maybe even the rare Jelski’s Black Tyrant, which are of course not guaranteed but which we have a good chance of finding.

Day 17: We might have time for some final birding in the Huanuco area, before taking a flight back to Lima, where this tour ends in the afternoon.

Read our 2023 trip report here!