PERU 2025

​PERU - SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025
We will visit at least 5 different clay licks (some several times) for Macaws, Amazons and Parrots.
as well as many mammal species including Tapir, Peccary, Monkeys and possibly Jaguar
​with Giant River Otters in the Oxbow Lake.

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PRICE of Main Parrot Trip
​All costs are in $US
$  per person sharing a double/twin room
$  single supplement (if you do not mind sharing a room I can sometimes organise this to avoid paying the supplement)
DEPOSIT
$  per person
All prices include accommodation, meals, english speaking guide, drivers and/or boatmen, ground transport within the trip specification, bottled water, entry fees to National Parks and/or Conservation Projects within the itinerary.
Includes for all clay lick visits including 2 visits to the main clay lick at Blanquillo Lodge and 2 visits to Chuncho clay lick 
​
Prices do not include flights, insurance, tips, souvenirs, anything of a personal nature including laundry, any additional activities not listed in the itinerary.

27th September - Arrive in Lima, Peru and transfer to Cusco
28th September - Cusco to Wayqecha Bio Lodge
29th September - Wayqecha Bio Lodge to Cock-of-the-rock Lodge
30th September - Cock-of-the-rock Lodge to Manu Bio Lodge (Villa Carmen)
1st October - Manu Bio Lodge (Villa Carmen) to Pantiacolla or Dorado Lodge - Clay licks at both lodges. We will visit both clay licks.
2nd October - Pantiacolla or Dorado Lodge
3rd October - Pantiacolla or Dorado Lodge to Tambo Blanquillo Lodge
4th October - Macaw Clay Lick – Canopy Tower
5th October - Macaw Clay Lick – Oxbow Lake
6th October - Tambo Blanquillo to Puerto Maldonado
7th October - Puerto Maldonado to Tambopata Inn Lodge
8th October - Chuncho Clay Lick
9th October - Chuncho Clay Lick or Others
10th October - Tambopata Inn Clay lick - afternoon transfer to Puerto Maldonado with a flight to Lima and Flight home.
or include the extension tour of Cusco and the surrounding areas.

DETAILED DAILY ITINERARY
28th September - Cusco to Wayqecha Bio Lodge
Breakfast will be around 5:00 am and we’ll start our birding adventure towards the Manu Road. This is a long access road that connects Cusco in the high Andes of Central Peru to the Manu Biosphere Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon. The road goes through several high elevation passes before descending through various altitudinal zones of largely forested habitats. It is world famous amongst birders!
Our first stop will be at Huacarpay Lake after about half an hour; this natural Andean marsh provides some restricted range habitat species and endemics, and we will look for Mitred and Andean Parakeets, Puna and Andean Ibis, Andean and Puna Teal, Yellow-billed and White-cheeked Pintail, Andean Duck, Plumbeous Rail, Slate-colored Coot, Andean Lapwing, Puna Plover, Andean Gull, Great and Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Andean Negrito, Cinereous Harrier, Variable Hawk, Eared Dove, Brown-bellied Swallow and Upland Sandpiper amongst many others. A more scarce species, the White-backed Stilt is sometimes also seen in this area. We will also look for several other species on the way to the lakes, including the endemic Bearded Mountaineer, Wren-like Rushbird, Many-colored Rush Tyrant, Rufous- naped Ground Tyrant, Chiguanco Thrush, Cinerous Conebill, Peruvian, Mourning and Ash-breasted Sierra Finch, the endemic Chestnut-breasted Mountain Finch, Band-tailed Seedeater and Greenish Yellow Finch.
Then we’ll drive for some 2 hours to Paucartambo village for our lunch. Paucartambo is home to the colourful Virgen del Carmen festival (Our Lady of Mount Carmel), held each year on 16 July.
After we´ll drive up to Acjanaco pass at an elevation of 3500 metres (11500 feet) above sea level and from there to the southern tip of the greater Manu National Park. On our way there we hope to get Andean Parakeet, Chestnut-collared Swift, Black-throated, Moustached and Masked Flowerpiercer, Great Thrush, Grass Wren, Hooded Siskin, Slender-billed Miner, Torrent Tyrannulet, Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant, Plain-colored Seedeater and many more.
We will arrive at Wayqecha Biological Station late in the afternoon. Here we will have
dinner and a good night’s rest.
Accommodation: Wayqecha Biological Station.

29th September -Wayqecha Bio Lodge to Cock-of-the-rock Lodge
We will have an early breakfast and do some morning birding. The 1450-acre reserve around Wayqecha is a biodiversity hotspot where treeless plains of the altiplano meet cloud forest. Wayqecha has an average annual precipitation of 1,700 mm, most of which occurs between October and April. The average annual temperature is 12.5°C(55°F), with nighttime lows of 5°C(41°F) and daytime highs that don’t exceed 20°C(68°F). The field station sits atop a steep slope that drops off sharply into the valley below. Birding is along trails or along Manu Road. Not far up the road is an excellent overlook into cloud forest where we will look for mixed tanager flocks and sometimes Gray-breasted Mountain Toucan, Golden-plumed Parakeet. A bit farther is also a trail into the cloud forest that is sometimes productive.
Our target species here include Sierran Elaenia, the endemic Red-and-white Antpitta, Tyrian Metaltail, Shining Sunbeam, Amethyst-throated Sunangel, Lesser Violetear, Rufous- capped Thornbill, Hooded and Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager, White-collared Jay, Stripe-faced Wood Quail, Scaly-naped Parrot, Barred and Band-tailed Fruiteater, Andean Solitaire, Fulvous Wren, Pearled Treerunner, Rust-and-yellow, Grass-green, Golden- collared and Blue-capped Tanager, Mountain Cacique and much more.
Lunch we’ll have along the road with several chances for more species according the elevation and forest type with some selected stops for targets species and we may see Scaly-naped and Speckle-faced Parrots.
We will arrive at our accommodation late in the afternoon in time for dinner and overnight relaxation.
Accommodation: Cock-of-the-rock Lodge.

30th September - Cock-of-the-rock Lodge to Manu Bio Lodge (Villa Carmen)
We will have breakfast and start birding along the way to our next overnight stop. We’ll drive to Pillcopata Village. On the way we may see flying Military Macaw. And many other species.
In the lower part of the Manu Road, we'll try for some very difficult endemics: Black-backed Tody-Flycatcher, Cerulean-capped Manakin, Peruvian Piedtail, and even a beautiful but undescribed tanager species known from this location “Bamboo Tanager" - "San Pedro Tanager". There are lots of others birds including Lanceolated Monklet, Two-banded Warbler, Chestnut-backed Antshrike, Stripe-chested Antwren, Versicolored Barbet, Golden-collared Honeycreeeper, Fulvous-breasted Flatbill, Ornate and Lemon-browed Flycatcher, Cabanis's Spinetail, etc. We will arrive around 17:00 hrs to Villa Carmen lodge (biological station recently working in turism 500m - 1640,42ft), we have a night birding with some great night birds: Black-banded Owl and Tropical Screech-Owl are some goodies that we can get, including Tawny-Bellied Screech-Owl.
We will have dinner and overnight in Villa Carmen.
Accommodation: Villa Carmen Lodge.

1st October - Manu Bio Lodge (Villa Carmen) to Pantiacolla or Dorado Lodge
After breakfast we will head for our next destination. We have some birding on the way. Yellow Tyrannulet, Tanagers, Parrots and parakeets, Yellow-billed Nunbird and Plain softail are our target before taking a boat ride to Pantiacolla or Dorado Lodge approximately 4 hours downstream from Atalaya Port.
Scanning from the boat we'll catch Fasciated Tiger-heron, White-banded, White-winged and Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Chestnut-fronted, Scarlet and Red-bellied Macaw, Plumbeous Kite, Dusky-billed Parrotlet, Wood Stork, Tui and Cobalt-winged Parakeet, depending of the season, Boreal and Austral migrants are present.
We will arrive in the afternoon. It is a privately owned rainforest reserve, which forms part of the Manu Biosphere Reserve. It is located in the Cultural Reserved Buffer Zone, set aside for indigenous Amazonian peoples. The lodge is on the banks of the Madre de Dios River.
Dinner and our overnight stay will be in the basic but comfortable Lodge.
Accommodation: Pantiacolla or Dorado Lodge.

2nd October - Pantiacolla or Dorado Lodge
Another full day at these lodges to check out the clay licks again and enjoy all the Parrots and other species around the lodges.
​Yanayacu Clay Lick early morning with afternoon to Maquisapayoj for the mammal clay lick where Tapirs are fairly common but also Rose-fronted and Rock Conures and Dusky-billed Parrotlet can visit during the day.
Accommodation: Pantiacolla or Dorado Lodge.

3rd October - Pantiacolla or Dorado Lodge to Tambo Blanquillo Lodge
Early in the morning we will visit a clay lick for parrots and try to see the rare Blue-headed Macaw. Their spectacle is both impressive to see and hear! Afterwards we will board the boat in direction to Tambo Blanquillo Lodge (in a trip of about 5 hours). In the boat we will enjoy a very nice lunch while we observe the Alto Madre de Dios River which is quite a nice waterway to go through, in where we will find plenty of flora and fauna.
In the afternoon, we will arrive at the one and only Tambo Blanquillo – Private Reserve. Here we will have a walk, get comfortable and get to know the installations. The lodge is located in the buffer zone of the Manu National Park, a privileged area of pristine jungle that offers more things than you can even think about. Its long distance from civilization makes this place unique for bird watching, where you can find about 900 Neo-tropical of the 1500 species of birds that have been spotted in Perú. It’s a real paradise for bird watching enthusiasts.
Accommodation: Tambo Blanquillo Lodge.

4th October - Macaw Clay Lick – Canopy Tower
Early morning, we will visit the popular Blanquillo Macaw Clay Lick, where hundreds of parrots, parakeets and parrotlets come to ingest the minerals seeping from the clay cliff face.
We may see Scarlet, Red-and-green, Chestnut-fronted, Blue-and-yellow and Red-bellied Macaw, Blue-headed, Orange-cheeked, Mealy and Yellow-crowned Parrot, Dusky-billed and Amazonian Parrotlet, Cobalt-winged, Tui and Dusky-headed Parakeet and many more!
After this awesome experience we will have lunch and, in the afternoon, we will visit the 42 meters high canopy tower, giving us the opportunity to look at the forest from above.
Accommodation: Tambo Blanquillo Lodge.

5th October - Macaw Clay Lick - Oxbow Lake
One more time at first light we head to the macaw lick to watch the dazzling spectacle of parakeets, parrots and big macaws eating clay and after lunch, we will visit Blanco Oxbow Lake. Here, from a stable floating catamaran platform, we will look for Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Green Ibis, Horned Screamer, Black-billed Seed-finch, Silvered and Band-tailed Antbird, Amazonian Streaked Antwren, Sungrebe, Agami Heron, Hoatzin, Rufous-sided and Gray-breasted Crake, Green-and-rufous and American Pygmy Kingfisher, Pale-eyed Blackbird and many others.
A family of the endangered Giant Otter inhabit the oxbow lakes and small streams, and seeing them will be a big bonus. We will return to our lodge after an exciting day for dinner and a good night’s sleep.
Accommodation: Tambo Blanquillo Lodge.

6th October - Tambo Blanquillo to Puerto Maldonado
After breakfast that we will take our boxed lunch and get onboard our boat for about 3 hours with some birding along the river, looking for Capped Heron, Orinoco Goose, Sand- colored Nighthawk and perhaps even a Jaguar on the way!
As soon we arrive at Colorado village, we’ll continue our trip to Puerto Maldonado by local private taxi for 1 hour and then we’ll cross the Inambari River with a local boat and finally we’ll take a private local taxi for the last 3 hours to get to Puerto Maldonado.
The jungle town of Puerto Maldonado lies in the steamy lowland Amazon Rainforest near the Tambopata and Madre de Dios rivers. The area became of interest to Europeans late in the rubber boom period like the other gateways to Amazonia. These were areas where people could base themselves to access the rubber trees, which were tapped for rubber for the bicycle and automobile industries. Puerto Maldonado is now a major tourist destination for Peru’s Amazon Rainforest and is home to one of the most thought-out tourism industries in Amazonia. There is a fantastic amount of protected area accessible from Puerto Maldonado, including Tambopata National Reserve, Bahuaja-Sonene National Park, Manu National Park, and many other communal reserves.
Accommodation: Copazu Hotel.

7th October - Puerto Maldonado to Tambopata Inn Lodge
We will start a trip in a 4x4 truck for 2 hours to reach the community of Filadelfia. From there we will travel in a motorized boat on the Tambopata River for a few minutes until we get our lodge, where we will stay for the night and from there the next day, we will visit the macaw clay lick "El Chuncho".
Upon arrival at the lodge, we will settle in and then begin a hike around the lodge.
Afterwards we will enjoy a good night’s rest.
Accommodation: Tambopata Inn Lodge.

8th October - Chuncho Clay Lick
Wildlife in the Amazon takes advantage of the first lights of the day as it is cooler, so we do. Even if you are on vacation there will be some activities that our guides encourage you to make it very early in the morning and it’s worth it.
All year around, dozens of large macaws and hundreds of parrots congregate on this large river bank in a raucous and colourful spectacle that inspired a National Geographic cover story of course much better in the dry season. Discretely located sixty to eighty meters from the cliff, we will observe Red-and-Green, Scarlet, and Blue-and-Yellow Macaws and several species of smaller parrots descend to ingest clay. Outings are at dawn when the lick is most active. Breakfast will be served in front of the macaw Clay Lick Chuncho
Dinner and our overnight stay will be in our basic but comfortable lodge.
Accommodation: Tambopata Inn Lodge.

9th October - Chuncho Clay Lick or Others
Today we have another great opportunity to revisit this magnificent place or try to visit others to maximize the chances of getting new species.
Accommodation: Amazonian Lodge.

10th October - Tambopata Inn Lodge to Puerto Maldonado
As well as the Chuncho clay lick that is nearby the lodge even closer is a mammal clay lick where Rose-fronted Parakeets visit so in the afternoons and on this last morning here we will visit this clay lick to hope that these parakeets are visiting when we are.
There is also another observation tower here that we can take advantage of in our spare time to see the Macaws and other parrot species as they fly past
In the afternoon we will make our way back to Puerto Maldonado and onto the last flight of the day back to Lima and onto our International flights home.

Alternatively I will be doing some extra days in the higher altitude area around Cusco to try for some of the Parrots there as well or do you fancy a trip to Machu Picchu to take in a bit of tourism and culture?

PRE-TRIP
25th September –
Arrive Lima, Peru
Afternoon transfer to Chosica
overnight Chosica.
26th September – Early morning visit to El Valle de Santa Eulalia for Mountain Parakeet with an afternoon transfer back to Lima
overnight Lima
6th November - Lima Parks in the morning for Parrots -Red-masked Parakeet and Pacific Parrotlet and many others can be seen followed by transfer to airport for flight to Cusco to join the main trip

Parrots to be seen on this Eco-tour
Pre-trip:-
Red-masked Conure - Psittacara erythrogenys
Mitred Conure - Psittacara mitrata
White-eyed Conure - Psittacara leucophthalmus
​Red-fronted Conure - Psittacara wagleri
Mountain Parakeet - Psilopsiagon aurifrons
Pacific Parrotlet - Forpus coelestis
Main Trip:-
Blue and Yellow Macaw - Ara ararauna
Scarlet Macaw - Ara macao
Green-winged Macaw - Ara chloropterus
Military Macaw - Ara militaris
Chestnut-fronted Macaw - Ara severus
Blue-headed Macaw - Primolius couloni
Red-bellied Macaw - Orthopsittaca manilata
White-eyed Conure - Psittacara leucophthalmus
Dusky-headed Conure - Aratinga weddellii
Rose-fronted Conure - Pyrrhura roseifrons
Black-capped Conure - Pyrrhura rupicola
Amazonian Parrotlet -Nannopsittaca dachilleae 
Cobalt-winged Parakeet - Brotogeris cyanoptera
White-bellied Parrot - Pionites leucogaster
Orange-cheeked Parrot - Pyrilia barrabandi
Blue-headed Parrot - Pionus menstruus
Plum-headed Parrot - Pionus tumultuosus
Yellow-crowned Amazon - Amazona ochrocephala
Mealy Amazon - Amazona farinosa
Scaly-naped Amazon - Amazona mercenarius
Post-trip:-
Golden-plumed Conure - Leptosittaca branickii
Mitred Conure - Psittacara mitrata
Barred Parakeet - Bolborhynchus lineola 
Andean Parakeet - Bolborhynchus orbygnesius
Plum-headed Parrot - Pionus tumultuosus
Scaly-naped Amazon - Amazona mercenarius
​
Please note:-
I cannot guarantee seeing all or any of these Parrots however we will have a great guide to help us in every way possible.
We will see lots of other bird and animal species.

BELOW ARE PHOTOS FROM A PREVIOUS VISIT TO " EL CHUNCHO" CLAY LICK