You will arrive at Puerto Maldonado airport around noon from Cusco or Lima. Our transport will pick you up from the airport to transfer you to the hotel and have enough time to take the lunch by your own. Your birding guide will meet you at the hotel around 2pm, the rest of the afternoon will be spent birding the surrounds of Puerto Maldonado, especially some nearby rice paddies allowing everyone to adapt to the tropical climate. We may see: White-tailed Kite, Slender-billed Kite, Southern-crested Caracara, Southern Lapwing, Wattled Jacana, Blue-headed Parrot, Red-bellied Macaw, Scaled Pigeon, Burrowing Owl, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Black-throated Mango, White-throated Jacamar, Chestnut-eared Aracari, Spotted-breasted Woodpecker, Lineated Woodpecker, Straight-billed Woodcreeper, Barred and Great Antshrike, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Rusty-margined Flycatcher, Rusty-fronted Tody-Flycatcher, Violaceous Jay, Masked crimson Tanager, Turquoise Tanager, at grassy areas Chestnut-bellied Seedeater, Blue-black Grassquit, Saffron Finch, Red-capped Cardinal, Grayish Saltator, Olive Oropendola, Yellow-rumped Cacique and Red-breasted Blackbird and many more birds. A variety of herons Egrets and Storks and some water birds can be expected. In the evening we’ll enjoy some local cuisine and recover for the next day’s trip.

We start the day early with a 45-minutedrive to the bustling port of Laberinto on the Madre de Dios River.  This is the center of semilegal and illegal placer gold mining along the river and you will see the conditions and operations of the miners as you go upriver for a 3.5-hour ride to Los Amigos. Your tour leader will explain the environmental and social impact on the right bank of the river and why it is so important that we are protecting the Los Amigos primary rainforest on the left bank. On the trip we may see Cocoi and Capped Heron, American Wood Stork, Large-billed and Yellow-billed Tern, Collared Plover, Pied Lapwing, Sand-colored Nighthawk, and Amazon and Ringed Kingfisher along the shore. We’ll also keep eyes out for Great Black Hawk, King Vulture, a variety of Macaw, Mealy Parrot, White-throated Toucan and Chestnut-eared Aracaris flying over the river, among others. We will arrive at Los Amigos for the lunch time and everyone will have an opportunity to settle in to their cabin, freshen up, and get familiar with the lodge. 

Once we are all together again for dinner, we can start listening for Potoos and Owls calling around the station, most notably the Tawny-bellied Screech Owl, Tropical Screech Owl, Black-banded Owl, Crested Owl, and the Great Potoo. After dinner, enjoy a presentation about Amazon Conservation, given by our Science Coordinator.

We will have 4 full days to bird this large conservation area which joins the Estação Ecológica Rio Acre in Brazil. Most days we’ll start at dawn and return for lunch and a siesta, then a late afternoon birding excursion (optional if you want to rest!). One day we’ll leave the station early for an all-day excursion to get to the Cocha Lobo oxbow lake where if we are lucky, we may see the impressive Giant Otter. As we make our way through the lodge clearing look out for local residents, such as the Black-tailed Trogon, Bluish-fronted Jacamar, Black-fronted Nunbird, White-winged Becard, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Plain Softail and a variety of Antbirds including White-browed, Plumbeous and Riparian. The towering forest on the way to the lake is also great for mixed flocks with species such as the Buff-throated, Wedge-billed and Mournful Woodcreeper, Bluish-slate Antshrike, Dusky-throated Antshrike, White-flanked Antwren, Pygmy Antwren, and Red-stained Woodpecker. Once we reach the lake we’ll paddle around in a small canoe looking for a variety of lowland lakeside specialists. Keep your eyes peeled for birds like Hoatzin, Sungrebe, Striated Heron, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Greater Ani, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Amazonian Streaked- Antwren, Silvered Antbird, Black-capped Donacobius, and Pale-eyed Blackbird. Watch above for birds such as Plumbeous Kites, Red-throated Caracaras, Scarlet Macaws, Red-bellied Macaws, and Crimson-crested Woodpeckers flying over. A picnic lunch will be packed out to us and we’ll have a leisurely lunch in the shade and after a rest we retrace our steps birding along the way arriving the lodge clearing in the afternoon.

On other days we´ll explore the extensive trail system including the bamboo forests in the nearby vicinity. This dense habitat will give us the chance to spot many bamboo specialists, including Peruvian Recurvebill, Bamboo Antshrike, Manu Antbird, Striated Antbird, Ihering´s Antwren, Dusky-cheeked Foliage-gleaner, White-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher, Flammulated Pygmy-Tyrant, Long-crested Pygmy-Tyrant, Large-headed and Dusky tailed Flatbill and many others. When we finish up each evening, we’ll be able to enjoy a beautiful sunset at the station, with amazing views of the river, lowland rainforest, and the Andes.

We’ll not ignore around Brazil nut trees in the local terra firme (upland forest that doesn’t flood). This habitat is great for species such as the Pavonine Quetzal, Pale-winged Trumpeter, White-fronted Nunbird, White-throated Jacamar, Sclater´s Antwren, Rufous-capped Antthrush, Amazonian Royal Flycatcher, and the Fiery-capped Manakin and the range restricted Black-faced Cotinga. Pozo Don Pedro is a palm swamp filled with moriche palms (Mauritia flexuosa). This habitat, locally known as an aguajal, will give us great opportunities to spot residents such as Blue-and-yellow Macaws, Point-tailed Palmcreepers, Sulphury Flycatchers, as well as Agami Herons, American Pygmy Kingfishers, and large families of Hoatzins. We’ll look out for mixed flocks, hoping to spot some target species like the White-winged Shrike-Tanager, Red-billed Pied Tanager, Chestnut-winged Hookbill, Red-necked Woodpecker, Golden-collared Toucanet, and the Broad-billed Motmot.

We’ll explore the local trails for any birds we may have missed before. We’ll look for regular visitors to the gardens such as Undulated Tinamou, Reddish Hermit, White-necked Jacobin, Blue-crowned Trogon, Lettered Aracari, Paradise Tanager, Black-faced Dacnis, Chestnut-capped Puffbird, Dusky-capped Greenlet, and Bare-necked Fruitcrow. We’ll also search the nearby forest for Black-faced Antbird, Olive-backed Foliage-gleaner, Golden-crowned Spadebill, Dwarf Tyrant-Manakin, and Green-backed Trogon. We’ll always be scanning mixed flocks for new birds, hopefully including the Rufous-tailed Foliage-gleaner, Spot-winged Antshrike, and Long-winged Antwren among others: Apart from birds we’ll surely bump into several troops of 11 species of Primates including the Emperor Tamarin.

We’ll leave the lodge early in the morning by boat for Puerto Maldonado. As we leave the river and continue along the highway, we’ll look for anything we can spot on the way to the airport such as Red-breasted Blackbirds and Southern Lapwings. Once we reach Puerto Maldonado, we’ll make sure you get on your return flight to Cusco or Lima safely.