Bird Tours Peru - Central Highway
main tour: Central Highway ( 10 days)
The eastern Andean slopes and the rainforest from Tingo Maria to Pucallpa are easily reached from Lima by a paved road, the Central Highway. It makes for one of Peru´s most diverse trips of two weeks; highlights include coastal birding near Lima, many endemics in Santa Eulalia and Marcapomacocha, the endangered Junin Grebe, the endemics of the Carpish area and the oilbird cave of Tingo Maria.
Day 1: Lima-Santa Eulalia
This morning we will head out from Lima to Pantanos de Villa, a reserve at the southern end of Lima. Afterwards we make a stop at Pucusana for Inca Tern, Surf Cinclodes, Red-legged Cormorant and Peruvian Pinguin. After lunch in Pucusana we will go to Puerto Viejo, where we should find Peruvian Thick-knee, as well as more common scrub birds. In the late afternoon we´ll drive up to the Santa Eulalia Valley for a night in hotel.
Day 2: Santa Eulalia Valley
The dramatic Santa Eulalia valley holds several rare endemics which we will look for this morning. Our first atrget wil be the extremely localized Rufous-breasted Warbling-Finch who shares habitat with other such as Bronze-tailed Comet, Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail and Canyon Canastero- all peruvian endemics. We'll spend the rest of the day tracking down Great Inca-Finch, Torrent Duck and White-capped Dipper among others, and sleep for the night in a basic hotel to acclimatize to the elvation for tomorrow's spectacular route.
Day 3: Milloc-Marcopomacocha
An early start will give us the best chance for Andean Condors and the
rare endemic White-cheeked Cotinga at a small patch of threatened Polylepis
forest. With luck, we may also pick up the extremely rare White-tailed
Shrike-Tyrant, Stripe-headed Antpitta and Straited Earthcreeper. Moving
up the beautiful Milloc Valley, we will search for puna specialties like
the endemic Black-breasted Hillstar, Bright-rumped Yellow-Finch, a variety
of ground-tyrants and canasteros and maybe even some seedsnipe. In the
afternoon we'll come to the famous Marcapomacocha area where we will
hope for a plethora of special birds, including the enigmatic Diademed
Sandpiper-Plover, the stunning White-bellied Cinclodes and the
incongruous Olivaceous Thornbill. We'll drive on to La Oroya for the night in a simple but comfortable hotel.
Day 4: Junin-Huanuco
A morning boat ride on Lake Junín will give us the best chance to find the Critically Endangered Junin Grebe among the more numerous Silvery Grebes, as well as to enjoy a variety of other high Andean waterfowl. In the reeds and along the shore of the lake, we'll look for Many-coloured Rush-Tyrant, Wren-like Rushbird, Plumbeous Rail and Puna Plover. In the afternoon we'll descend the Upper Huallaga Valley, making select stops to look for Rufous-backed Inca-Finch and Brown-flanked Tanager before arriving in Huánuco for the night in a good hotel.
Day 5: Paty Trail to Tingo Maria
The Paty Trail passes through habitat that is slightly more degraded each year, but it is still possible to find impressive birds along it. A few of the candidates include Peruvian Tyrannulet, Masked Fruiteater, Rufous-vented Tapaculo and Bay Antpitta, all Peruvian endemics. If we're lucky, we'll also experience some good general flocks bringing us a diversity of tanagers, flycatchers and furnariids. In the afternoon we'll descend to the tropical lowlands of Tingo Maria, where we'll visit an active Oilbird cave. After appreciating these bizzare birds, we'll head for our hotel.
Day 6: Oilbird cave in Tingo Maria
We are now in the tropics and will encounter a completely new set of birds: the endangered Blue-headed Macaw, White-eyed Parakeets and the endemic Huallaga Tanager amongst them. After lunch, we'll head up the bumpy road to Bosque Unchog and set up camp near the treeline, looking and listening for Andean Snipes at dusk.
Day 7,8: to Bosque Unchoq
Arguably central Peru's most exciting birding site, this remarkable treeline habitat is home to Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager, Rufous-browed Hemispingus, Bay-vented Cotinga and Pardusco - all highly sought-after endemics. Getting all four of them presents a real challenge, but there are also many other birds to enjoy: Tschudi's Tapaculo, Coppery Metaltail, Line-fronted Canastero, Golden-collared Tanager, Red-rumped Bush-Tyrant and Peruvian Chat-Tyrant among them. On the afternoon of day 8 we will return to Huánuco for a well-deserved night in a good hotel.
Day 9: Paty trail and Carpish Tunnel
The famous Carpish Tunnel area has long been known as a world class place to bird "cloud forest," and we'll spend the morning doing just that, looking for such exciting birds as Yellow-scarfed Tanager, Peruvian Wren, Unstreaked Tit-Tyrant, Grey-breasted Mountain-Toucan and maybe even Chestnut or Bay Antpitta among the many more widespread species present here.
Day 10: return to Lima or going on with one of the extensions
From Huanuco it is 8 hours back to Lima. In the morning there will still be some time for birdwatching. We will stop at the Polylepis-patches of La Quinua, where Stripe-headed Antpitta, Green-headed Hillstar and Black-crested Tit-Tyrant are rather easy-to-find birds. Also possible to start one of the 5 days extensions (Satipo or Villa Rica). Even it should be possible to do a complete Central Peru trip of 19 days including both extensions.
Price Information
| Price p.p. in US dollars | Central Highway - 10 days | ||
| Number of pax | 2 | 3 | 4-7 |
| + bird guide | 2300 | 1680 | 1360 |
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TANAGER TOURS | |
| La Estrella F-9 | ||
| J.L. Bustamante y Rivero | ||
| Trujillo - Perú | ||
| Phone: | +51 44 423752 | |
| e-mail: | info@tanagertours.com | |
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