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26 Jun 2014 - Middelburg
Peru and the Galapagos islands have always been very high on my bucket list but other things always seemed to be prioritized over these two destinations. Almost two years ago, the idea to make this trip a reality took hold and I'm extremely lucky to have a wife that enjoys traveling with me and got equally excited about the prospect of visiting South America. It's one of those places where, when you start doing your research, you discover all these interesting and cool things to see and do and they just never seem to end. So most of our planning time was spent on deciding which of the thousands of things to do, we should leave out. By Aug 2013 we had settled on a list and it then took another five months to try and fit everything into a very tight four-week itinerary and start spending money. Our goals for this trip were as follow:
- Do as much bird watching as possible and pay a visit to the world's richest (avian-wise) national park, Manu, in the southern Peruvian Amazon. Admittedly Manu is huge, but no other comparable area on earth can claim a list of over a thousand species. Unfortunately however, we couldn't afford to include the cloud forest on the eastern Andean slopes and with all the other things we want to see/do, our target count is probably not as high as one would expect from a 4-week trip to South America: in total we are probably looking at 300-350 species. But then, we are traveling to experience as much as possible while still being able to relax and forget about work; chasing birds can be hard work!
- Visit Galapagos islands. Not only for birding and the other wildlife but also for sentimental reasons: although barely mentioned in Darwin's On the Origin of Species, I like to believe that he must have been awestruck by this place and that the seeds for his theory of evolution germinated here.
- See Machu Picchu. I'm not much of an architectural fanatic, ancient or recent, but these iconic ruins must be one of the most photographed places on earth and besides, there's good birding and hiking to be had here too!
- See Lake Titicaca. A high-altitude desert lake must be something worth seeing and the Uros islands looked like an interesting way to get a bit closer to the culture too. Again, very different and interesting birding available here around the lake.
- See the Nazca lines. The reasons for the existence of these desert 'pictograms' range from interesting to ludicrous. One of the more believable recent findings I've heard about is that a cross-section of the density of the ground under and around the lines indicate that the ground is much more compact directly under the lines and it's speculated that the Nazca people used to walk on these lines in their thousands (in processions or marches of some kind) over many years to have compacted the earth that much.
So with these five goals in mind, we're now entering the month before departure. It's time for confirmations, double-checking all details and then hoping that none of the eleven flights we have booked are too late or cancelled!
26 July - Johannesburg to Sao Paulo
And we're off! After spending the night in Pretoria, Nicola's dad dropped us at the airport and our first flight to Sao Paulo went without any hitches. With the five hour time difference though, it was already 11pm back home and with an early start planned for the next morning we were in bed shortly after dinner.
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27 July - Lima
Species today: 15
Lifers today: Nicola 11, Pieter 10
Species total:
Lifers total: Nicola 11, Pieter 10
Highlights: Inca tern, Blackish oystercatcher
We were up just before 4am to catch a shuttle to Guarulhos airport. Our TAM flight was a little late in departing but since we had nothing planned for the rest of the day in Lima, it wasn’t a concern. It was overcast and drizzly when we left Sao Paulo and across virtually the entire continent we had a solid blanket of cloud covering the Amazon below us. Only when we reached the foothills of the Andes over Bolivia did the clouds dissipate as the ground rose towards the belly of the plane. Snowy peaks shone in the distance and deep-blue lakes shimmered on the altiplano. When a huge lake came into view we thought it might be Titicaca but only when we finally reached the other end and were able to see Puno and Lake Sillustani as well, were we sure that it was. We continued flying north-west and eventually descended over the mountains towards the Pacific coast. We could see the famous ‘garua’ of Lima – a thick fog that settles on the desert coast in the winter months and can make things look pretty dreary – from more than a hundred kilometres out. Only when we descended through this did we start seeing Lima itself – an ugly, brown, dry desert city. But the reception in Lima was warm and friendly from the immigration and customs officials and we were through all the red tape in less than 20 minutes. Our pre-arranged taxi wasn’t there though so we picked up another taxi for a few dollars more and 40 minutes later arrived at Runcu hotel in the Miraflores district. Again the reception was friendly and helpful and after dropping our bags, we did a bit of grocery shopping, changed some money, checked out a few curio stalls and some fantastic paintings on display at a local park. Along the way we also started our birding tally: our first new bird was a West Peruvian dove and these seemed to be as common as the dirt. The walk through town yielded Bananaquits, Tropical kingbirds, Black vultures, Mountain parakeet and Shiny cowbird. After a quick stop at the hotel we headed for the Pacific beach. Since Lima is situated a good 60 meters above sea level, this meant descending a steep path down a crumbling cliff. Halfway down we spotted a pair of American kestrels and managed a few photos. The view from the halfway mark was pretty good, and only the various seabirds we saw from up there encouraged us to finish the descent, since we knew we had to climb back up again. At the bottom we were rewarded by sightings of Belcher’s and Grey gulls, Neotropic cormorants, Blackish oystercatcher and to our delight – Inca tern. So with a light heart we climbed the 255 steps back up to our hotel, where we dined on hotdogs and got ready for our next day’s early start.
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28 July - Lima
Species today: 49
Lifers today: Nicola 32, Pieter 30
Species total: 60
Lifers total: Nicola 43, Pieter 40
Highlights: Cactus canastero, Thick-billed miner, Least seedsnipe, Many-coloured rush-tyrant, Yellow-crowned night heron, Black skimmer
Probably suffering from a little jet lag, our sleep was a bit restless but we were still up and ready at 6am when our guide, Alejandro Tello and his driver arrived. After a quick introduction we left immediately and drove through a wet Lima and then a wet Panamericano Norte for two hours to reach the Lomas de Lachay reserve. These strange desert hills are covered by fog most of the winter and as a result, the higher you drive into these hills, the greener it becomes. Our first bird was a cracking Black-chested buzzard-eagle sitting on a pile of rocks. After driving several kilometres into the lomas, we stopped and walked up a gully where green moss strangely covered desert rock and sand, interspersed with numerous small cacti. These cacti are the preferred nesting sites for one of our endemic targets, the Cactus canastero. Our second new bird for the day however, was a Grayish miner calling loudly from the rocks. Higher up still we also got House wren but it took several times of playback before Alejandro was able to locate a Cactus canastero and then we had excellent views and even a chance for a photo. Back at the car we had a quick breakfast before heading a bit further up the valley where there was thicker vegetation. Here we picked up Band-tailed sierra-finch, Rufous-collared swallow, Cinerious conebill, Collared warbling finch, Short-tailed field-tyrant and a stunning little Burrowing owl. We left this particular section of the lomas and drove a few kilometers further north to enter the Lomas de Lachay reserve proper. Into the mist and up slippery slopes we drove and then Nicola spotted something different next to the road – we screeched to a stop and managed to get quick views of our first Least seedsnipe! After paying entrance fees we were driven to the highest parking area from where we walked downhill on some slippery and wet paths. Unfortunately it was a public holiday in Peru and the trails were crowded with locals – the only new bird we managed to find was a Masked yellow-throat. On the way out we picked up Peruvian meadowlark and Grassland yellow-finch. It was now almost noon and we turned back south towards Lima and stopped at Ventanilla where we picked up our first fresh water birds: Andean coot, Little blue and Yellow-crowned night herons, Snowy and Great egrets, Cinnamon teal, Killdeer, Spotted sandpiper, Peruvian thick-knee and various gulls. We ate a late lunch with a bone-chilling wind coming off the coast and had a last stop at another lake with a nice raised viewing platform. Here we saw a whole flock of Black skimmers, thereby completing the trio of all skimmers in the world seen (African, Indian and Black). A stunning Many-coloured rush-tyrant flitted around in the reeds and briefly sat still for a picture. But it was now past 4pm and time to head back. Alejandro dropped us of at the hotel and we decided to take a quick walk to the Indian market where we bought a pair of alpaca jerseys before having some store-bought chicken for dinner.
Back to the top29 July - Lima to Cusco
Species today: 60
Lifers today: Nicola 23, Pieter 23
Species total: 86
Lifers total: Nicola 66, Pieter 63
Highlights: Andean gull, Peruvian booby, Baird’s sandpiper, Bran-coloured flycatcher
Alejandro picked us up again at 6am and we drove south for about an hour. Our first stop was Puerto Viejo, a small wetland where we picked up a few birds already seen. Peruvian meadowlarks displayed nicely overhead while Cinnamon teals and Andean coots swam about. But the reason for our visit eluded us – the Coastal miner remained unseen. Back at the car we had breakfast, and to our delight a Coastal Miner finally showed itself. We had some nice views before driving down the road to an agricultural area. Here veritable flocks of impossibly bright Vermillion flycatchers flirted in the fields. The walk through the fields yielded several new birds like the Blue-black grassquit, Long-tailed mockingbird, Hooded siskin, Variable hawk and Streaked saltator. Leaving the wetlands we headed back towards Lima, but first stopping off at River Lurin where Bran-coloured flycatchers responded to our calls and allowed us to get some nice photos. And then on to our last stop of the day, Pantanos De Villa, a coastal lagoon with some spectacular shore birding. Here we picked up several waders, both Greater and Lesser yellowlegs, Least sandpiper and the very special Baird's sandpiper, while overhead flocks of Peruvian pelicans soared, and a Harris hawk scanned for small vermin. On the beach itself we were overwhelmed by the scores of pelagics visible from the shore. Huge flocks of Inca terns fought for space on the lagoon in amongst the hundreds of Grey, Belcher's, Andean and Kelp gulls. A few Great grebes and American oystercatchers went about their business, while at sea enormous numbers of Peruvian boobies came close enough to shore for us to ID them. The numbers of seabirds around had us amazed that there wasn’t a sardine run to attract them! Unfortunately, after this, our Lima birding was at an end and we headed for the airport, where we caught our flight to Cusco. The flight was uneventful and we were picked up promptly by Manu Expeditions and dropped off at Casa Andina in Cusco Plaza. Having flown in to 3300m from sea level we could both feel a little out of breath and we had to take it a little slower than usual. We decided to have a proper local dinner and got a recommendation for a nearby restaurant with a beautiful view over the Plaza de Armas. For starters we had ceviche which is raw fish with garlic, chilli and onion, all ‘cooked’ in lemon juice. As a main we chose two different flavours of alpaca steak – both delicious! Before going back to the hotel, we had a look at some curio shops along the way.
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30 July - Manu (Amazonia Lodge)
Species today: 54
Lifers today: Nicola 45, Pieter 44
Species total: 131
Lifers total: Nicola 111, Pieter 107
Highlights: Red-and-green macaw, Speckled chachalaca, Masked crimson tanager, White-necked Jacobin, Red-crested coquette, Common pauraque
It was a pre-dawn start to have breakfast just after 5am and be ready to be picked up for the start of our drive across the Andes. We met two of our group members: Doug and Jean-Francois and we immediately got chatting about birds. It took us a while to get out of Cusco but finally we started ascending and we could actually start feeling slightly light-headed as we reached just short of 4000m. We stopped occasionally to take a few pictures and spotted a few birds along the way: Puna ibis, Andean lapwing, Mountain caracara, Plain-coloured seedeater and a few others. At a small town we stopped for coffee and then after descending on the other side of the Andes, we stopped for lunch next to the road at about 2500m in the Amazonian cloud forest. Manu Expeditions provided an excellent box-lunch as they called it (Waldorf salad, cold chicken, avocado, ham, cheese, bread and crackers, finishing off with grapes) plus some snacks afterwards for eating while we drive. We were back on the road and reached Atalaya on the Rio Alto Madre de Dios at about 15:30, followed by a short boat trip down stream to get dropped off at Amazonia Lodge about 300m into the forest. The moment we walked onto the garden grounds of the lodge we were surrounded by birds: Masked crimson-, Silver-beaked, Blue-grey and Palm tanagers, Speckled chachalaca, Buff-throated saltator, Grey-necked wood-rail and five different species of hummingbird zooming around the feeders and flowering bushes in front of the lodge. The rest of the group (Arden, Douglas, Leonardo, Gerhard and Robert) arrived just after 5pm and we met our guide Gustavo for the first time. He took us for a short owling walk and although we heard Tawny-bellied screech owl, we didn’t get to see it. At 7pm we all sat down for dinner and not long after headed for bed.
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31 July - Manu (Manu Wildlife Centre)
Species today: 86
Lifers today: Nicola 48, Pieter 48
Species total: 184
Lifers total: Nicola 159, Pieter 155
Highlights: Chestnut-tailed antbird, Black-tailed trogon, Long-tailed potoo, Capped heron, Long-billed woodcreeper, Bare-necked fruitcrow
Just after breakfast we went for a walk in the forest around the lodge, and managed to pick up a big flock of Hoatzins around a small pond. Although we heard many birds, they were almost impossible to see amongst all the leaves of the forest. However our patience was eventually rewarded with marvelous sightings of a pair of Chestnut-tailed antbirds. After that the floodgates opened and we saw numerous Black-tailed trogons, a Squirrel cuckoo and Black-fronted nunbirds. Back at Amazonia lodge, a few of us went looking for a Long-tailed potoo that was seen roosting nearby. To our delight Gustavo found the bark-like bird quite quickly and we had nice sightings of this little bird that merges perfectly with the tree stumps it chooses for roosting sites. Shortly afterwards we heard Blackish rail, a bird we had searched for at the lake only an hour ago. We headed into the bush to try and see it but alas, no such luck. The bundu bashing did yield another nice bird - our first of many Black-capped donacobius. Back at the lodge we quickly packed up and headed for the boat. And then started the 7-hour long trip down the river to Manu Wildlife Center – 140kms of twisting river surrounded by lush Amazon rain forest. Naturally the birding was pretty good along the river but the motorized boat went too fast for really detailed bird watching. However we did see some good birds like Capped heron, Ringed kingfisher, Crane hawk, Collared plover, Drab water tyrant more Black skimmer and Fasciated tiger heron. We stopped alongside the river for another box-lunch (cold pasta salad and chicken followed by cake), before the final stretch to Manu. After the long leg-cramping journey we arrived at Manu Wildlife Center where we took a short walk around the lodge for some bird watching before dinner. We did see some nice birds at the nearby bridge, but the highlight was a sighting of a Long-billed Woodcreeper almost silhouetted in the gathering dusk. Dinner followed and then we were all off to bed to prepare for the next day’s early start.
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01 August - Manu (Manu Wildlife Centre)
Species today: 49
Lifers today: Nicola 34, Pieter 34
Species total: 221
Lifers total: Nicola 193, Pieter 189
Highlights: Striolated puffbird, Paradise tanager, Yellow-bellied dacnis, Screaming piha
During the night temperatures cooled down enough to warrant sleeping under a thin blanket and when we met for breakfast at 05:30 it was still pleasant outside. Just after 6am we walked to the canopy tower located in a massive kapok tree with a rickety spiral staircase climbing 35m onto the platform. The location’s absolutely perfect and for the next three hours we saw Curl-crested aracari, Blue-and-yellow, Red-and-Green, Scarlet and Chestnut-fronted macaws, Gilded barbet, Yellow-bellied dacnis, Black-fronted nunbird, Western striolated puffbird, Red-necked woodpecker and a few others. Just after 9am we left again and took a short walk to a short section of bamboo where we added Plumbeous antshrike, Moustached wren and Curl-crested aracari. Lunch was just after noon followed by a short siesta before walking “The Grid” – a series of criss-crossing trails. Although it was fairly quiet here in the baking late afternoon, we did pick up Cinerious mourner, White-bellied parrot, Red-rumped cacique and Red-crowned ant tanager. Shortly before dinner we ventured out into the dark looking for Crested owl. We could hear it calling but it took Gustavo a good 20 minutes walking around, calling and looking up into the dark canopy before he eventually found it and we had fantastic views of this beautiful nocturnal bird. We returned to the lodge for another amazing dinner and then bed.
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02 August - Manu (Manu Wildlife Centre)
Species today: 73
Lifers today: Nicola 28, Pieter 28
Species total: 252
Lifers total: Nicola 221, Pieter 217
Highlights: Sunbittern, Undulated tinamou, Orange-cheeked parrot
The day started very early with a boat ride to the nearby Blanquillo clay lick. A lot of the Amazonian plants protect themselves from being eaten by containing toxins. The birds and animals eat clay to line their stomachs and prevent the toxins being absorbed. So every morning certain exposed clay embankments become crowded with parrots and macaws who chew off chunks of soil, and we were heading off to see this spectacle. But on the way we had an unexpected surprise – the boat guide noticed eyes reflecting from the boat's directional torch, we turned to look and were all jubilant by the sight of a jaguar! We quickly turned the boat around and watched enraptured as the big cat pretended he was going there anyway, and made his way back into the forest. The 30 minute walk to the clay lick was hot and steamy but produced the call of Cinerious tinamou. At the clay lick we sat silently and watched as first the parrots collected, and then suddenly took off in a swarm hundreds strong, screeching overhead before settling back into the same trees. They slowly became braver and braver and eventually some came down to eat clay. A Roadside hawk had been flying about so only a handful of parrots actually braved being exposed on the ground. An hour or so later, after the parrots had left, the macaws eventually mustered the courage and came down to eat clay. It was quite a sight to see the clay embankments swarming with brightly coloured macaws. While waiting for the macaws, we had an unexpected and rather special sighting of a Sunbittern, wandering along the shore of the stream in front of the clay lick. At around 11am we started heading back towards the lodge for a late lunch. After a short siesta we took a walk to the Fig pass where we heard and saw Elegant woodcreeper, a couple of shy antbirds, White-throated toucan and a female Collared trogon. Just before 6am we were back at the lodge for dinner at 7pm.
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03 August - Manu (Manu Wildlife Centre)
Species today: 85
Lifers today: Nicola 33, Pieter 33
Species total: 289
Lifers total: Nicola 254, Pieter 250
Highlights: Orange-backed troupial, Purple-throated fruitcrow, Blue dacnis, Great potoo, Sungrebe, P
Pavonine cuckoo
The day started off very early with breakfast, before we headed to the boat for our ride to Cocha Camungo (Camungo lake). Once at the lake docking point we took a short walk to another canopy tower, this one about 10m higher and to our relief, more stable than the one at Manu Wildlife centre. The birding and view from the top was wonderful and we rushed from side to side looking at troupials, woodcreepers, tanagers and toucanets. It was only after an hour and a half that Gustavo noticed the tree was a roosting site for a Great potoo – it was so excellently camouflaged and sat so still, that we didn’t notice it until another bird pretty much sat on top of it. After a few hours up top we headed down and towards the lake where we took a ride on a small catamaran with a platform and chairs. We were paddled from shore to shore where we saw Rufescent tiger herons, Purus jacamars, a Least grebe and to our delight a Sungrebe, the American version of our finfoot. Back at the lodge we ate lunch and then had a short nap before an afternoon walk through the forest. The walk was excellent and gave good sightings of difficult to see birds: Great antshrike, Sooty antbird, Pavonine cuckoo, and to round off the day, an Occelated poorwill perched on a branch two meters from us. We headed back to the lodge well satisfied and after dinner climbed into bed ready for the next day's early start.
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04 August - Manu (Manu Wildlife Centre)
Species today: 34
Lifers today: Nicola 13, Pieter 13
Spe
cies total: 303
Lifers total: Nicola 267, Pieter 263
Highlights: Sooty antbird, Dwarf tyrant-manakin
Compared to yesterday’s successes, today’s birding was rather miserable. We went out immediately after an early breakfast and sat for an hour on a palm leaf waiting for an antthrush that we could hear calling but just wouldn’t show itself. About two hours later we still hadn’t collected ten species and it was only after the main group walked off the path to try and locate another antbird and Nicola and I stayed on the path, that we managed to quickly add a Lineated woodcreeper and Green-and-gold tanager – neither stayed long enough for the rest of the group to see though. A little dejected, we all marched back to the lodge for lunch and while the sun was still scorching at 14:30, went out again, this time walking all the way to the Tapir clay lick. With four people choosing to stay behind, we were only five following Gustavo. Perhaps because of the lesser amount of noise, we were more lucky this time and had good sightings of Sooty antbird, Dwarf tyrant-manakin as well as Southern nightingale wren. The Tapir clay lick is a rather dank place with wet musty clay all around making the atmosphere seeming more damp and humid than the surrounding forest, if that’s at all possible. We tried locating Striated antthrush but no such luck and in the gathering dark we headed home. On the way back we had a cracker sighting of an Occelated poorwill sitting less than two meters from the path and I was able to get a nice photo in before it flew off. We arrived back just in time for dinner but my feet were buggered after spending almost the entire day standing and we opted out of the owling trip after dinner. Luckily we heard the next morning that we didn’t really miss much as they didn’t see a single owl, despite hearing several.
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05 August - Manu (Manu Wildlife Centre)
Species today: 53
Lifers today: Nicola 16, Pieter 16
Species total: 319
Lifers total: Nicola 283, Pieter 279
Highlights: Pale winged trumpeter, Rufous fronted ant thrush, Bartlets tinamou, Cream Coloured Woodpecker
After an early breakfast, five people of the group opted for the guided walk, while the rest decided to try the canopy tower since the previous day’s forest birding had been so disappointing. Maybe the smaller group size helped since the day turned out much better than the day before. The first highlight was finally being able to set eyes on the Rufous-fronted antthrush, which had eluded us the day before despite almost an hour of trying to call it in. About half an hour later we were all excited when the very tall Italian (Leonardo) spotted some birds about 30m down the path – they turned out to be the highly secretive Pale-winged trumpeters. After some very good views of this bird and some lovely trumpets, we slapped congratulations on Leonardo for spotting these shy creatures! Gustavo then heard an antpitta calling so we stopped and tried to call it in. Just as we were about to leave without seeing him, we spotted some small birds on the ground that turned out to be Bartlet's tinamou – a bird more easily heard than seen. We stopped at the lodge for a quick break before heading to another section of the forest; this time there were only four of us. And again lady luck smiled on us as we managed to get some excellent views of the very striking Cream-coloured woodpecker. After lunch we headed for the Tapir clay lick again where we were going to wait for nightfall in the hide and see if we could spot the largest forest mammal in the Amazon. Before parking ourselves in the hide where mattresses and mosquito nets are provided we went searching for Striated antthrush. Gustavo, myself and Jean-Francois got to see this striking bird but unfortunately Douglas and Nicola missed out. To our surprise, the first tapir arrived during the gathering dusk already so we had some excellent views as he chomped away at the mud. A little later a second tapir came, this one quite a bit bigger than the first. We were happy that they came so early as it meant we could leave the hide at 7pm instead of half past nine, and still get a reasonably early night. After the long walk back we took a shower and hopped into bed, feet worn out from a full day’s walking, but very content that yesterday’s bad streak had ended.
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06 August - Manu (Manu Wildlife Centre)
Species today: 72
Lifers today: Nicola 21, Pieter 20
Species total: 342
Lifers total: Nicola 304, Pieter 299
Highlights: Ringed antpipit, Round-tailed manakin, Green-and-rufous kingfisher, Amazonian streaked antwren
Today was our last full day at Manu Wildlife Centre so we again left pre-dawn for the 3km walk to the Tapir clay lick where Rose-fronted parakeets and Dusky-billed parrotlets apparently come to eat clay in the mornings. We had some rain during the previous night for the first time so we were hoping this would improve our birding opportunities a little. We started off well with seeing Ringed antpipit, Rufous-tailed flatbill, Band-tailed manakin and a pair of very co-operative Semi-collared puffbird at the clay lick hide. Rather unexpectedly a single tapir visited the clay lick and provided much better photo opportunities than the previous night. Two Spix’s guans also made an appearance but after waiting until after 10pm, and having heard all the parrots screaming in the trees above the hide, we still had to see a single one come down to the clay lick. Eventually Jean-Francois, Nicola and Douglas left with Gustavo to try and locate the Striated antthrush that I had seen the previous day. I waited at the hide and eventually managed to spot both Rose-fronted parakeets and Dusky-billed parrotlets high up in the trees. We left the hide after noon and met two of the lodge’s staff members on the way to the hide with our lunch so we sat in the middle of the trail to eat a nice beef stirfry. With just four of the group now on the trail, we were able to move quieter and Gustavo took us on a different trail to a manakin lek where to our utmost pleasure, we saw a male Round-tailed manakin displaying for a good 15 minutes! It looked just like on the David Attenborough documentaries we’ve seen! But we had to hurry back for the afternoon activity so left the manakin to his own devices and rushed back to take an afternoon trip to Cocha Blanco. We had another platformed catamaran from where to watch birds and were paddled around the lake for about two hours. Birding was excellent and we picked up several Horned screamers, Green-and-rufous kingfisher, Amazonian streaked antwren, Gray-breasted martin, Pale-eyed blackbird and Dusky-headed parakeet. In the gathering dusk we walked back through the forest to the Madre de Dios river and took the 30 minute boat ride back to the lodge.
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07 August - Manu to Puerto Maldonado
Species today: 66
Lifers today: Nicola 17, Pieter 17
Species total: 361
Lifers total: Nicola 321, Pieter 316
Highlights: Orinoco goose, Jabiru, Manu antbird, Peruvian recurvebill, South American snipe
Another early morning start saw us leaving Manu Wildlife Center. Before starting the trip to Peurto Maldonado, we spent two hours birding the Antthrush trail nearby. It was a short trail but proved very rewarding as we picked up Peruvian recurvebill, Rufous-headed woodpecker, Manu antbird and also some very nice sightings of White-lined antbird. We then continued on our way and added more lifers like Jabiru, Red-faced caracara, Bat falcon and the much sought after Orinoco goose. After about two hours we left the boat and took an hour's drive in some rather rickety taxis to yet another river (Rio Colorado), which we crossed in an equally rickety boat. On the other side we boarded a bus and started the 4-hour drive to Puerto Maldonado. On the way we stopped for lunch at a roadside restaurant where we picked up another unexpected lifer: Sulphury flycatcher. We stopped at some rice paddies on the side of the road and spent close to an hour trying to identify all the waders feeding in amongst the workers planting rice. To everyone's glee we picked up a cracker lifer (even for Gustavo): South American snipe. Other birds seen included Southern lapwing, Spotted and Pectoral sandpipers, Lesser yellowlegs and Red-breasted blackbirds. In Peurto Maldonado we took a quick shower and headed out for a very nice dinner at a local restaurant and returned in the rain to the hotel.
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08 August - Puerto Maldonado to Cusco to Ollantaytambo
Species today: 51
Lifers today: Nicola 12, Pieter 12
Species total: 377
Lifers total: Nicola 333, Pieter 328
Highlights: Point-tailed palmcreeper, Stilt sandpiper, Andean flicker
It was a hot and steamy start to the day but cooled quickly when a storm blew in and it started to rain. Our birding chances looked grim as we left the hotel and at our first stop we sat in the bus for about 20 minutes, then Gustavo decided to rather try the next place he had on the itinerary. On the way we drove past a small restaurant which had a number of Moriche palms. The restaurant owner was kind enough to allow us shelter under his roof while we looked for Point-tailed palmcreeper in the Moriches. Gustavo played the call and almost immediately we saw a bird flying out of the palms. We followed it around the restaurant grounds but couldn’t locate it again. It started raining harder and we bundled back into the bus, now a little worried that it may affect our flight later that afternoon. Almost an hour later the rain let up a little and we tried searching for the palmcreeper again. A bird responded to playback and then Nicola saw it! Gustavo rushed over and there it was – hanging upside down from the palm fronds! Happy with a lifer in the wet morning we searched along the Madre de Dios river for White-throated jacamar but could not locate any inbetween the spells of rain. Just after 10am we headed for the airport and stood around for about an hour before we could check in. It looked like our flight was going to be just fine and after a cursory baggage inspection we sat at the gate. Great was our surprise when we picked up a lifer just sitting right there inside the terminal! Construction work resulted in open rafters above us and a Streaked flycatcher seemed to have a nest up there! But soon it was time to leave and we boarded in the still pouring rain. The flight was only half an hour long and in Cusco, Maria from Manu Expeditions kindly allowed us to join the rest of the group for the drive to Ollantaytambo where they continued with the Machu Picchu extension of the tour. On the way we stopped at Puray lake at 3700m where we picked up Andean flicker, Puna teal, Andean duck, Yellow-billed teal, Stilt sandpiper and Andean goose. At 16:30 we left and drove down into the Rio Urubamba valley where we got dropped off in Ollantaytambo and finally said goodbye to our friends. We walked down the road to the train station to our accommodation for the night, right on the station platform - El Albergue Ollantaytambo. Annoyingly, and ridiculously, the train only allows 5kg main baggage per person so we spent most of the evening sorting through our stuff so that we can leave one bag behind and take only essentials up to Aguas Calientes.
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Birding at lake Puray at 3700m
09 August - Aguas Calientes
Species today: 66
Lifers today: Nicola 46, Pieter 46
Species total: 424
Lifers total: Nicola 379, Pieter 374
Highlights: Torrent duck, Andean cock-of-the-rock, Masked fruiteater
I wanted to write that the only impressive thing about Aguas Calientes is the length of the queue of people to get onto the bus to Machu Picchu, but that would be a bit unfair. Our day started with a horrible one and a half hour train ride from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes. Neither of us have ever been in a train that shook from side to side so violently and there was no chance to catch up on some sleep. It was drizzling when we arrived in Aguas Calientes and the town looks like a giant had closed the valley walls like a book with the town caught squashed in the middle. Luckily our guide for the day, Jose Luis was already there and greeted us as we stepped off the train. He helped us find our accommodation in the steep narrow alleys and we were able to drop our bags quickly and get our birding gear out. The moment we were out birding, things started looking much better. It was still drizzling, there were still crowds of people and the construction along the road next to the Rio Urubamba was still noisy, but the birding was simply fantastic. We started off with White-capped dipper, Torrent tyrannulet, Green-and-white hummingbird, Dusky green oropendola and Tropical parula but these were overshadowed by our first Torrent duck, quite possibly the most beautiful and sleek looking duck we’ve ever seen. Further along the river we started picking up tanagers and it got a bit out of hand: Saffron-crowned, Blue-capped, Fawn-breasted, Palm, Blue-and-yellow, Rust-and-yellow, Blue-grey, Silver-backed, Golden-naped, Hepatic, Blue-necked and Beryl-spangled tanagers were all seen during the course of the morning – that’s eleven tanagers! A short turnoff after the bridge over the Rio Urubamba produced a spectacular endemic – Masked fruiteater – a beautifully green bird with a yellow flash up the tummy, black face mask, bright yellow bill and collar. We returned to the bridge and headed down the rail tracks towards Mandor and here added Plain seedeater, Sclater’s and Mottle-cheeked tyrannulets, Green hermit, Olivaceous siskin and Smoke-coloured pewee. But after noon we started getting a bit weary. The drizzle had stopped, it was warming up and my feet were tiring. We decided to call it a day and returned back to the hotel where Jose left us for the rest of the afternoon. After a brief rest we went to buy bus tickets for the ride up to Machu Picchu and some empanadas for lunch for the following day. For dinner we walked passed all the restaurants full of tourists, all of them charging 35 soles (R140) plus for a single dish and visited a local place where the TV was blaring, food cooked in an wood-fired oven, and ordered a poor man’s steak. Halfway through dinner, two minstrels walked in and played a couple of songs but this didn’t help us finishing the huge amount of food we received. We had to leave a fair amount in our plates as we walked out satisfied and happy.
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10 August - Machu Picchu
Species today: 9
Lifers today: Nicola 1, Pieter 1
Species total: 425
Lifers total: Nicola 380, Pieter 375
Highlights: Rufous-breasted coronet
Today was a non-birding day. After the previous day's drizzle and cloudy skies, this day seemed perfect as we could see stars in the sky when we got up at 4am. We hurried through breakfast and headed off to join the queue for the buses up to Machu Picchu's entrance. We joined the queue at 5am but it was probably already 100 people long. The buses only started at around 05:30, but at least the queue moved along relatively quickly since a bus left every two minutes or so. At the top of the road, at the entrance to Machu Picchu, we joined yet another queue to get in but we managed to slip through without our bags getting searched so we sneaked in some food and extra water. Once inside we made a beeline towards the Guardhouse from where the best photos of Machu Picchu could be taken. Luckily there were some tall peaks east of us so the sun had not yet reached the ruins even though it was now 06:30 already. As the sun rose and cast its rays over the ancient city, we got the fantastic iconic photos you always see on postcards and even before it got crawling with tourists. We waited there until the sun highlighted all the buildings and we got all the photos we wanted in the best light possible, then headed up the Machu Picchu mountain itself. It was a long very steep climb. We climbed roughly 600 meters in 3 kilometers, and by the top we had some rather aching muscles and feet. Snowy peaks rose east and west of us and we had a 360 panorama from our 3082m summit. A good rest and lots of photos later, we headed back down. After a sneaky lunch on the trail we reached the ruins again, took a short rest and then wandered through the ruins. By now it was pretty crowded and frequently we had to stand in queues to squeeze through bottlenecks and it was frightening how selfish, ignorant and self-absorbed people can get. A few llamas entertained us a bit before we reached the back-end of the ruins and we took a different route back through the residential and agricultural areas. Outside Machu Picchu, we decided to walk back down to save the rather ridiculous bus fee, and along the way we spotted a few of the birds we had seen the day before but got a nice picture of a single lifer: Rufous-breasted coronet. The path from the entrance gate back to town was another 4 kilometers and another 500m descent, so by the time we reached our hotel we were hot and exhausted with aching muscles and feet. We showered and collapsed onto the bed to drink lots of fluids and eat some snacks. At 18:30 we went out for dinner and had a decent Peruvian 3-course meal for just R60 each. But we had another early start to a birding day planned for tomorrow so we didn’t waste time to get back to bed
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Machu Picchu
Looking west from the summit of Machu Picchu Mountain at 3082m
Residential sector of Machu Picchu
11 August - Aguas Calientes to Puno
Species today: 52
Lifers today: Nicola 10, Pieter 10
Species total: 435
Lifers total: Nicola 390, Pieter 385
Highlights: Collared inca, Spectacled whitestart, Blue-naped chlorophonia
We had a quick breakfast and met Jose at 6am for a morning’s birding before our departure from Aguas Calientes. Jose walked us to Inkaterra hotel’s garden first. This hotel is rightly famous for its bird-friendly garden and when we arrived, the tree canopy was already alive with calls and constant flitting. After obtaining permission to bird, we stood in the garden for about an hour and ticked off five tanagers, Blue-naped chlorophonia, Andean cock-of-the-rock, Plum-crowned parrot, Sparkling violetears and Chestnut-breasted coronet among a few others. Although it was a beautiful cloudless morning, the valley is so deep and so steep that it was still quite dark in the garden but as the light gradually improved, we left to walk along the train tracks upstream of the Rio Urubamba. We soon got a few Torrent ducks bobbing around as well as White-crested elaenia and a few of the more common tyrannulets and flycatchers. A real beauty was a Collared inca feeding off heliconia flowers and a bit further down the track, even Jose was quite surprised to find a Spectacled whitestart, a species usually only found above 2700m (we were at about 2000m). We ticked off two new warblers, opened the hemispingus family (Oleaginous hemispingus) and got a nice view of a Golden-olive woodpecker before turning around and ambling back to our hotel. Jose left us at the hotel just after 11am and we had ample time to pack up, shower and rest before our train back to Ollantaytambo departed at 15:00. This time we could see where we were going and we gawked at the awesome mountain scenery all about us. The train struggled slowly up the hill but made it on time to Ollantaytambo where we picked up our left backpack and caught a colectivo to Cusco. We shared the colectivo with a bunch of jovial Machu Picchu guides who were celebrating some occasion with two dozen beers shared between the seven of them. The colectivo dropped us off close to the Plaza de Armas in Cusco around 18:30 and we then took an ‘unofficial’ taxi through Cusco’s terrible traffic to the Cruz del Sur bus station. Exchanging our internet vouchers for proper bus tickets was quick and easy and we got something to eat at a coffee shop before boarding our bus to Puno at 10pm.
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12 August - Puno
Species today: 21
Lifers today: Nicola 3, Pieter 3
Species total: 439
Lifers total: Nicola 393, Pieter 388
Highlights: Titicaca grebe, Plumbeous rail
Although we had VIP seats on the bus that were certainly much better than the normal bus seats, it wasn’t a particularly pleasant journey. The seats can recline quite far and this means that if the person in front of you reclines fully, your legs get a bit squashed and there’s no way you can use the entertainment screen on that seat. The bus also arrived about 40 minutes later than anticipated and this made us worry about tomorrow’s trip where we only have one hour between arrival and departure from Arequipa on our way to Nazca. But once we got our bags out, our arranged tour guide waited for us in the arrivals hall and took us to our hotel to drop our bags, catch a cup of coffee and get some warm clothes out. Around 05:30 we drove out to Lake Titicaca and got on a small fisherman’s boat and slowly paddled around the totura grass fringes of the lake. We picked up a number of the normal duck, teal and coot species and it wasn’t long before we got our first Titicaca grebe. Many-coloured rush-tyrants and Wren-like rushbirds were pretty common and much less shy than the ones we saw in Lima. On the water it was actually quite cold, even after the sun rose and it was only a good 2-3 hours later that it started warming up. By about 8am we were at the Uros islands and got dropped off on one family’s island where we got a (very rehearsed) tour of the island, how it’s built and then took a short ride on a balsa – a large canoe-sized boat made entirely from tortura reeds. The rest of the morning dragged on a bit as both of us were very tired and sleepy and the boat trip back to Puno was a bit boring. Reaching the mainland shore again we were picked up by our driver and drove south of Puno to where the local university has an experimental fish farm. We were hoping to find cinclodes here but none were around. With neither of us keen on doing much more for the day, we returned to the hotel at 2pm, had a snack and shower and spent the rest of the afternoon sorting out and repacking our bags. At 6pm we visited a Lonely Planet-recommended restaurant and had chicha, alpaca and trout. Back at the hotel we barely made it to 8pm before we fell into deep sleep.
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13 August - Puno to Nazca
Species today: 35
Lifers today: Nicola 9, Pieter 9
Species total: 448
Lifers total: Nicola 402, Pieter 397
Highlights: Peruvian sierra-finch, White-winged cinclodes, Black siskin, D’Orbigny’s chat-tyrant
The day started reasonably early and we took a 40 minute drive to lake Sillustani where we had heard there was a chance of seeing Chilean flamingoes. Along the way we stopped at a small natural lake near some homesteads that was simply crawling with birds. The lake held Andean coot, Andean duck, Puna teal, Yellow-billed teal, Yellow-billed pintail and some White-tufted grebes. But the shore line and surrounding damp agricultural fields held far more interesting things like Pectoral sandpiper, and a whole bunch of lifers like both White-winged and Bar-winged cinclodes, Ash-breasted sierra finch, Black siskin, Peruvian sierra-finch, D’orbigny’s chat-tyrant and Puna snipe. Unfortunately our guide was not much of a birder so we had to leave quite a few birds unidentified. Nevertheless, we continued on towards the lake (Sillustani) well satisfied with the stop. Once at the lake we found out that the Chilean flamingoes were not around this year so we decided to take a boat trip along the shore instead of visiting the island. Although there were quite a few birds along the shore, there was nothing new to add to our trip. So after an hour or so we got off the boat climbed the peninsula above us and walked back towards the car passing by the Sillustani chullpas (funerary towers). We had an excellent box lunch and then returned to the hotel for a quick shower before heading off towards the bus station for our ride to Nazca via Arequipa.
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Lake Umayo at Sillustani
14 August - Nazca
Species today: 12
Lifers today: Nicola 3, Pieter 3
Species total: 451
Lifers total: Nicola 405, Pieter 400
Highlights: Guanay cormorant, Red-legged cormorant, Snowy plover
Waking up in the bus on our way to Nazca, I would never have imagined I'd be walking among human remains before the end of the day… Our bus journey from Puno to Arequipa set a new altitude record for Nicola – 4493m – but was also stressful as we went past our designated arrival time and had less than one hour to catch the connecting bus to Nazca. We eventually arrived half an hour late but luckily our Nazca bus was right next door. We tried to catch as much sleep as possible but got a little annoyed when the bus arrived in Nazca late yet again – this time by 45 minutes. This was important because we wanted to see the Nazca lines with the sun at as an oblique angle as possible. Our stay in Nazca was organized by a local tour guide, Karina, and she picked us up from the bus station, took us to drop luggage at the hotel and then straight to the airport. After a short wait we were ushered onto a 4-seater Cessna along with a British couple and got seated according to weight. The take-off was smooth and soon we were gliding towards the first of the famous Nazca figures, the “Whale”. We were a bit taken aback by the sudden incredibly steep (about 70 degrees) banking of the plane so we could get a clear view of the lines, and almost missed the Whale since it took some time for our eyes to pick up the lines in amongst the other trails on the desert floor left by the wind and occasional water flow. But from then on sighting the geometric structures was relatively easy, however photographing them was a different matter. The plane ride was extremely short and very blunt – “on the left is the monkey”, steep bank to the left, “and now the monkey is on the right”, steep bank to the right, “and now to next figure…”. So all too soon we were on the ground again. It was really awesome to see these figures and you can only really appreciate it from the air but we realized afterwards that it would've been nice to also see them up-close - not sure if that would've been possible though. After buying a few souvenirs we went to Puerto de Lomas (a squid-fishing town) where we took a short boat ride to see the birds on a few small offshore rocky islands. To our pleasure we picked up two lifers, the Red-legged and Guanay cormorants. Back on land again we admired the skill of the fisherman as they cleaned the giant squid freshly caught that morning, and developed a craving for seafood. From there we took a stroll along the beach and picked up another lifer - Snowy plover. Our guide then suggested we take a walk through a cemetery – I imagined a modern cemetery with headstones but to our amazement we found ourselves wandering through the human remains of ancient mummies. This "cemetery", which should have been protected and fenced, was completely open and unguarded, raided over many years by locals in search of jewelry and treasures buried with the ancients, and now the remains lie scattered and uncared for in the sand. We felt horribly uncomfortable walking through a site that should have been an archaeological treasure dig, watching our every step that we did not step on an ancient brittle bone. The remains of fabric and pottery we found were fascinating, but we were both relieved to leave the place that should have been under lock and key. On the way home we stopped off at a local pottery store where the owners specialized in making pottery exactly as the Nazcans did, using the same clay and pigments and designs. We watched her presentation in fascination and were then delighted to buy some of her work knowing it was as original and non-mass-produced as you could get. Back at the hotel we had a lazy afternoon and then dinner before bed to catch up on any sleep missed on the bus.
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15 August - Nazca to Lima
Species today: 0
Lifers today: Nicola 0, Pieter 0
Species total: 451
Lifers total: Nicola 405, Pieter 400
Having had early mornings for almost 20 straight days, it was time to take a break and we slept until after 7am. The hotel breakfast was excellent and there was time to relax and send some messages to the family before Karina picked us up at 11:00 to take us the short distance to the bus station. The bus was already waiting and after getting our bags tagged we only waited about 10 minutes before boarding. This was our last trip on Cruz del Sur and we were hoping that this last one would be on time for a change. We first picked up a few passengers in Ica and then again in Paracas and all went smoothly as the desert landscape flashed past. But somewhere before Chica Alta we ran into some serious traffic that took an hour to get through. It was already well past 5pm when we started picking up speed again and there was still about 150kms to go. Even though it was obvious to us that we were going to be late yet again, there was no explanation, no apology no attempt by the driver to make up time as we steadily cruised at 70-75km/h on the open Panamericano Sur. In Lima we hit some more traffic and we arrived a solid hour and a half late, had to fight some people to get our bags and then couldn’t get a taxi driver who knew where our B&B was. Luckily I had the place loaded in the GPS and was able to first track and then as we got closer, direct the driver to our accommodation. Casa Aika didn’t have a name on the outside but the number was fairly clear and a security guard let us through the gate. The Dutch owner’s Peruvian wife came to greet us a few minutes later and brought us towels and water for the night. It was almost 10pm by the time we were settled in and we relaxed a little with a David Attenborough documentary before passing out.
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16 August - Lima to Quito
Species today: 0
Lifers today: Nicola 0, Pieter 0
Species total: 451
Lifers total: Nicola 405, Pieter 400
We again had a relaxed morning with showers followed by breakfast at 8am. The Dutch owner came to greet us and we chatted a while before catching our taxi to the airport at 08:45. Scared about all the stories that it takes so long to get through everything at Jorge Chavez airport, we arrived there just after 9am for our 12:25 flight. But perhaps because it was a Saturday it was relatively quiet and by 09:30 we had all the formalities done and enjoyed some free sample chocolates at one of the duty-free shops.Our flight was on time and we actually landed half an hour early in Quito but the lengthy immigration queues made up for that. The red tape itself was quick and easy though and soon we got a taxi to our hotel in downtown (or rather uptown) Quito. Unfortunately roadworks crashed our idea of going to do some birding in one of the local parks. They were working on one (our) direction of a double-lane highway and that direction of travel was closed. But instead of using one of the other direction's lanes for a counter-flow, they just closed it off completely. This meant we had to drive almost 50kms out of our way to get around the vast valley that separates the airport and Quito city. this took almost 2 hours and we only arrived there after 5pm. So we basically just had time to settle in and walk down to the local mall to get some Ecuadorian style Cajun take-out before returning for bed.
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17 August - Quito to Galapagos (Baltra and North Seymour islands)
Species today: 15
Lifers today: Nicola 14, Pieter 14
Species total: 466
Lifers total: Nicola 419, Pieter 414
Highlights: Blue-footed booby, Magnificent frigatebird, Medium ground-finch
Not sure how long the taxi ride would take back to the airport, we decided to not take any risks and were up at 4am, gone by 04:30. Luckily the roads were quiet and it was only 45 minutes later we got to the airport. Here there was a fair bit of confusion though as there seemed to be a section dedicated to Galapagos travelers and a long queue had formed in front of a desk where people got a long form to fill in. Thinking we should probably do the same, we entered the queue too. When we got the front we gave in our passports and pled ignorance but the lady obviously couldn’t find our names and then suggested that the agency we booked through may have already gotten the form completed for us. So with more uncertainty we took our bags to be X-rayed and inspected and got told that we’re not allowed to take the two peaches we got from the hotel for breakfast but the two kiwis were OK – so we ate the peaches. Since we expected our guide at the airport only at 6am, we sat in front of the check-in desk and were very happy when not long after 6am, we saw a guy with a Nemo sign tucked under his arm talking to other passengers. After meeting our guide, we got given our tickets, checked in and were ready to go. The flight was on time and after a quick stop in Guayaquil to pick up more passengers, it was a 2-hour flight over the Pacific to the islands. We landed about half an hour early and it was surreal to finally step onto Galapagos soil. Even before we reached the terminal building we had our first sighting of a Darwin finch but we could only identify it later as a Medium ground finch. The red tape in the terminal building took a fair amount of time but when we got through, the Galapagos Naturalist Guide for Nemo II was waiting for us and we were told to dump our luggage with the rest of the group’s. We stood around a little while our guide (Carlos) collected the rest of the group and introduced us all – we were one South African, two French, one Dutch, one Australian and one American couple – 12 passengers in all. Having been ushered onto a bus, we drove north across Baltra island to a small port where the boat was waiting for us. While they got everything ready we saw our first Galapagos dove, more finches, marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs and sea lions. Above the water we were simply ecstatic to see our first frigatebirds (although we couldn’t identify which ones they were yet), boobies, Lava gulls and Brown pelicans. After a short wait our boat’s dinghy picked us up and we motored across the bay to our sailing catamaran that was to be home for the next seven nights. On board we got greeted with iced drinks followed by a briefing from Carlos. We settled into our understandably minute cabins and then came back on deck for lunch. After lunch the group was allowed to go for a snorkel but we weren’t keen on this yet and waited on the boat for 45 minutes or so, notching up our first Galapagos shearwaters, Elliot’s storm-petrels and Sooty shearwaters. At 3pm the group was back and we paid a visit to North Seymour island where mainly frigatebirds nested. It was unbelievable how we could walk up to just two meters from these amazing birds and they didn’t budge! Up close and personal it was now possible to see the sheen colour on the frigatebirds’ backs and we were able to identify both Magnificent and Greater frigates. A Blue-footed booby chick came dancing out from it’s nest when we walked past and came right up to us, begging for food. A little deeper on the island we got photos of some more finches and our first land iguanas before returning to the shore. A large sea lion and Swallow-tailed gulls kept us snapping away before our dinghy collected us. At dinner we got introduced to the crew of the boat and afterwards set sail towards Puerto Ayora on the southern end of Santa Cruz island. Getting out onto the open ocean proved to be a bit much for my land-legs and despite the drugs I took at lunch, I started feeling queasy. Luckily we reached Puerto Ayora fairly early during the night where the bay waters are much calmer and I got in some decent sleep.
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18 August - Galapagos (Santa Cruz island)
Species today: 20
Lifers today: Nicola 12, Pieter 11
Species total: 478
Lifers total: Nicola 431, Pieter 425
Highlights: Small and Large tree-finches, Common cactus finch, Lava heron, Galapagos flycatcher, Galapagos hawk
Puerto Ayora lies on the southern end of Santa Cruz and as the main rain-bearing winds drift in from the south before pushing up against the mountains, the southern parts of the islands are much wetter and often covered in cloud and fog. This day was no different and it was cool as we took the dinghy to the harbour shortly after breakfast. We got onto a bus and were driven to a ‘ranch’ on the highlands where we could see some of the endemic Galapagos tortoises. On arrival we had to don gumboots and then walked around the field where several huge tortoises were happily feeding on the lush grass. Carlos explained their history and evolution as we walked along. In some denser, almost forest-like vegetation, we photographed our first Yellow warbler and Galapagos flycatcher before moving onto a small little pond where White-cheeked pintails and Common gallinules were feeding. We saw and photographed a couple of tree finches and after Carlos informed us that we shouldn’t trust the distributions of these birds as illustrated in all the field guides, we were able to identify both Small and Large tree-finches. We returned to the boat for lunch and after a short siesta went back on land to visit the Charles Darwin Research Centre a little east of town. The dinghy took us there directly and motored through some dense black mangroves before landing at a small jetty. A Lava heron was fishing among the jumbled lava rocks and marine iguanas were spread out like dead bodies all over the jetty. Walking up to the Research Centre, lava lizards scampered over our feet and finches and Galapagos mockingbirds forced us to take pictures. After a short visit to the Interpretation Centre we took a walk around the station to see how they collect, incubate and then raise tortoises from all over the islands to try and re-set their population numbers. We stopped at a small kiosk where Carlos said we must wait as the finches come looking for food when we sit still. And even before we sat down they showed up – Medium ground-finches, Green warbler-finch and our first Common cactus-finch. Yellow warblers and Galapagos mockingbirds also abound. Around 4pm we left the Research Station and were allowed to roam the streets of Puerto Ayora to look for souvenirs before returning to the boat. Waiting at the harbour for the dinghy we also added Great blue heron – another lifer for Nicola. During the day I still felt seasick, even on land, and although I hadn’t yet fed the fishes, I decided to skip the drugs we brought from home and try some of the local stuff that was available on boat. We were told the next twelve hours could be a bit rough as we had to sail around the southern end of Isabela island so I was very apprehensive about what the night would bring. However, the local drugs kicked in after about an hour and I had an amazingly sound sleep despite the heavy rolling.
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19 August - Galapagos (Isabela island)
Species today: 22
Lifers today: Nicola 5, Pieter 5
Species total: 484
Lifers total: Nicola 436, Pieter 430
Highlights: Waved albatross, Flightless cormorant, Galapagos penguin, Vegetarian finch
At first light we were still sailing and almost all of us went on the top deck to watch the rocky shoreline of Isabela island slip past to our right. It was overcast and cool but very pleasant to sit out on the fore deck and watch the numerous shearwaters and storm-petrels go past. A large bird flying across the bow of the boat initially looked like just another Brown pelican but in the binocs I realized it was an albatross and when I saw the long yellow bill I jumped up and shouted – Waved albatross! We all got a quick glimpse of it before it disappeared – it was a fantastic start to the day since we never expected to see them. Waved albatrosses breed on Espanola island which was not on our schedule so we wrote off chances to see these magnificent birds. We were also lucky to see the occasional back of a humpback whale, and quite frequently a pair of ‘fins’ which Carlos informed us were the tips of Manta rays' wings as they danced close to the surface. After breakfast we reached our first stop for the day, Punto Morena lava field on the southern end of Isabela. We walked around on the lava fields for a few hours but although the occasional brackish lake held some Greater flamingoes and Common gallinule, the general landscape was barren of plants so birds were few and far between. However, a pair of Purple martins flew over the lakes so we did pick up a lifer after all. On the way back to the boat our dinghy drove along the shore a bit and we managed to get pretty close to the small Galapagos penquin and Flightless cormorants, as well as some marine iguanas. During lunch the anchors were lifted and we sailed north stopping again at another point on Isabela and here there was some vegetation so we managed to find several ground finches and a lucky sighting of a Vegetarian finch to add to the lifer tally. Back on the boat we were slightly amazed to find that out of the six couples on board, three of them (including us) were celebrating wedding anniversaries while on the boat. So we were all treated to cake and wine with dinner to celebrate Henk and Anita’s 25 years together. After dinner we had a fairly short sail to Tagus cove, still on Isabela but now directly opposite Fernandina island. Tagus cove is very sheltered and so we enjoyed some of the best sleep we had on the boat so far.
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20 August - Galapagos (Isabela and Fernandina islands)
Species today: 11
Lifers today: Nicola 1, Pieter 1
Species total: 485
Lifers total: Nicola 437, Pieter 431
Highlights: Wandering tattler
We started the day with a steaming cup of coffee in Tagus cove, watching Elliot’s storm-petrels fishing for scraps behind the boat. After breakfast we took a very short dinghy ride to the shore where we climbed up to see a lake inside a volcanic crater - a caldera. We continued our walk to a viewpoint from where we could see the mouth of the seahorse shape of Isabela island. Although the walk was pleasant and Medium ground finches where all over the place, no new birds appeared for our list. After the walk Pieter went out on a kayak while everybody else snorkeled, and I stayed on board ship to try and eradicate a migraine. During lunch we sailed across the straight to Fernandina and since Carlos told us there would be really good snorkeling here, we decided to give it a go for the first time. The snorkeling was good fun and we saw hundreds of fish and floated above green turtles and marine iguanas while they munched on algae and seaweed. We also had a lucky sighting of an octopus and watched as he scuttled over the rocky ocean floor. Back on the boat we quickly changed into walking clothes and went back to Fernandina to walk along the shore. We had to be careful on our walk as tails and feet of marine iguanas were everywhere and these guys refused to move for mere humans. On the way back to the boat we drove past a wader which turned out to be a Wandering tattler, another lifer for us. Back on the boat we had another special dinner, with more wine and cake, as Pieter and I, as well as Elizabeth and Matt celebrated our wedding anniversaries. After dinner we climbed into bed, slightly apprehensive as we expected a long rocky boat ride through the night.
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21 August - Galapagos (Santiago island)
Species today: 21
Lifers today: Nicola 1, Pieter 1
Species total: 488
Lifers total: Nicola 438, Pieter 432
Highlights: Band-rumped storm-petrel
The cruise during the night was rough and we only really got some sleep once we reached Punta Egas on Santiago island. We woke up feeling a little tattered and tired, but a cup of coffee helped to ease us into the morning and the sighting of our first Band-rumped storm-petrel feeding among a flock of Elliot’s storm-petrels made it worthwhile. At 8pm we landed on Santiago island and spent some time photographing iguanas, crabs, sea lions, pelicans and boobies and then headed off along the shore to find fur seals. Along the way we picked up a couple of shorebirds: Sanderling, Ruddy turnstone, American oystercatcher, Wandering tattler and Semi-palmated plover. We found a few fur seals resting in a rocky pool and after some pictures, made our way back to the shore. Nicola was nursing a bit of a headache and I had some vertigo so we stayed on the beach under a shady tree while the rest of the group went snorkeling from the beach. Back on the boat we had lunch while we sailed south for an hour or so and stopped at a fair stretch of beach. At 2pm we had another wet landing and spent some time walking up and down the beach looking for Galapagos hawk and ghost crabs. Still feeling a little tired after returning to the boat, we took a rest while the group went snorkeling. When they returned, the boat sailed along the spectacular rocky coastline of Santiago island and with the sun getting lower on the horizon, it was the ideal time for some great pictures. We returned to James bay where we were earlier in the morning so that we could have calmer waters for dinner. Later we set sail for Rabida island south of Santiago island.
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22 August - Galapagos (Rabida and Santiago islands)
Species today: 15
Lifers today: Nicola 1, Pieter 1
Species total: 489
Lifers total: Nicola 439, Pieter 433
Highlights: Large cactus-finch
The sailing to Rabida island was relatively smooth and we both got some decent sleep in before catching a cup of coffee before breakfast, anchored in a small bay off Rabida island. As per usual, a decent breakfast was served at 7am and at 8am we were all ready to go. Today we decided to join the snorkeling trips so we had wetsuits, masks, snorkels and flippers together with our hiking gear in the dinghy. This time we had a wet landing in between some sunbathing sea lions and after dumping all our gear above high tide line on the beach, we started with a walk to a small lagoon and then a little higher up on the island. Birds we encountered included Blue-footed booby, Brown pelican, Large cactus and Green warbler-finch, Galapagos dove and Yellow warbler. Back at the beach there were a few other groups also getting ready to snorkel so to give them a bit of space, we walked the length of the beach watching the sea lions play in the surf. A Wandering tattler gave opportunities for photos and Matt spotted a Vermillion flycatcher to his glee as it was one of his target items to photograph on the trip. We returned to our gear and donned suits, masks and flippers and then enjoyed snorkeling for about an hour or so. This was particularly fun as several sea lions were in the water and swam with us and apart from all the different fish, I also followed a small White-tipped reef shark for about 40m or so. During lunch back on the boat we set sail for the eastern side of Santiago island. Immediately after lunch we dressed again for snorkeling and were dropped off from the dinghy about a 100m or so from a white sandy beach. We snorkeled all along the rocky edges into the beach but this trip was rather unexciting as there were no penguins, sea lions, cormorants, iguanas or other interesting fishes to entertain us. We briefly stopped back at the boat for some snacks and then had a wet landing back at the beach to visit the most recent lava flow in Galapagos of about 120 years ago. The walk over the barren and fascinating lava formations was surreal and we stopped constantly to get pictures. The low sun also provided perfect light conditions and it was quite late when we got back to the shore for the short dinghy ride back to the boat. After dinner we started the long sail (about 6 hours) to Genovesa island which we had been anticipating as it was most likely going to be the highlight of the entire trip considering the number of birds to be seen there.
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23 August - Galapagos (Genovesa island)
Species today: 15
Lifers today: Nicola 4, Pieter 4
Species total: 493
Lifers total: Nicola 443, Pieter 437
Highlights: Wedge-rumped storm-petrel, Red-footed booby, Short-eared owl
Our last full day in the Galapagos began with a walk on Genovesa island, an island very popular with nesting pelagics. The weather was not so pleasant though with frequent spells of drizzle and gusting winds causing choppy seas. The dinghy dropped us off at the Prince Phillip steps and we ascended 15m up the rocky cliff. At the top we had good views of numerous Nazca boobies, and the odd Red-footed booby. We were attempting to identify some finches when one of the group members shouted "owl!" and sure enough, a Short-eared owl flew overhead, the only endemic bird of that family on the Galapagos and therefore a bird we had desperately wanted to see. We walked around for an hour or so dodging the hundreds of boobies, literally stepping over nests in the middle of the path, until we came to the opposite shore of the island. Here we were surrounded by thousands of Wedge-rumped storm-petrels that were constantly circling the rocky ground to find a good nesting site. But this was a perilous business as the Short-eared owl subsists mainly off storm-petrels and lay in wait in rocky caves to pick off any that investigated it as a potential nest. We were lucky and saw another four or five owls on our walk and managed to get some very good pictures of this handsome bird, certainly a much better sighting than the hurried glance as one flew overhead earlier. Back at the boat, we packed our bags as the rest of the group went snorkeling and after lunch we were dropped off at another beach on Genovesa. Here we took a walk along the shore and dodged numerous Red-footed and Nazca boobies, Swallow-tailed and Lava gulls. We picked up a few more birds for the day but no more lifers. The late afternoon sun did provide good photographing opportunities though, and we returned to the boat well satisfied. After dinner we went to bed, somewhat nervously as we had heard that it would be a bumpy ride back to Baltra island.
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24-27 August - Going home
On the morning of the 24th we woke up very bleary eyed as neither of us had had much sleep due to the roller-coaster ride. In fact, it got so rough that small squid actually ended up on the boat's deck! At 6am we had a quick sail around Daphne island before heading towards Baltra's harbour during breakfast. After breakfast we left the boat, said goodbye to our new friends and caught our first of four flights, from Galapagos to Quito in Ecuador. This flight was uneventful and after a 4-hour layover in Quito airport, we went and queued to check in for our next flight to Lima where we would spend the night. When the check-in desks didn't open on time I went to investigate and was told there was a problem with the flight. But it took waiting for over an hour longer in the queue before some LAN staff finally appeared and started receiving people from the queue. Eventually reaching the front, we were informed that our flight had been cancelled as strong winds in Lima had prevented the incoming flight from being able to take off. After a long argument with the airline staff about the connections we had to Sao Paulo and Johannesburg, we finally managed to arrange a flight at 11:15 the next day to Lima, and also an alternative flight to Sao Paulo. Unfortunately this delay meant us having to spend a night in Quito, and the next night in Lima (fortunately, both at the airline's expense) but it also meant we only arrived in Sao Paulo a few hours before our last flight to Johannesburg. We then waited another hour or so until the airline had organised a bus to take us to our hotel - the Sheraton. After some more delays, we finally made it to the hotel, checked in, ate a complimentary dinner and climbed exhausted into bed at around 22:30. On the 25th we woke up early after another sleepless night (undoubtedly the worry over flights had troubled our subconscious) and got ourselves a taxi to the airport as soon as possible so we could be sure our alternative flights would be leaving as planned. We were rather annoyed to find that we had been given the wrong time (and boarding passes) the day before and our re-scheduled flight only left at 4pm, and not 11am as we had been told. However we did manage to find a LAN employee who understood English better and helpfully checked all our flights and pulled some strings to move us to an earlier Lima-Sao Paulo flight with Avianca so that we have more time to make our SAA flight home. This did mean we would lose the nights' accommodation in Lima and instead would have to have another sleepless night on a plane, and would have to find our own hotel in Sao Paulo to try and get some sleep during the day before our last flight. But it meant far less worry over making connections so we took it gladly. We then organised an early check-in so we would have access to the airport's restaurants and awaited our flight, hoping above hope that our luggage would not be forgotten in some dark corner of the airport by the time we boarded. From here, things only got worse. Ten minutes before boarding of the Quito-Lima flight, I'm busy reading e-mail when I receive a message from Expedia (they've kept us up to date with the changes made to the itinerary by LAN staff) saying that the Avianca flight was cancelled as well. Desperate, Nicola rushed back through immigration and security and managed to get us booked again on the LAN flight to Sao Paulo, leaving 08:45 the next morning and scheduled to arrive only 2 hours before our SAA flight back home. Back at the boarding gate, another blow followed - the Quito-Lima flight was now delayed as well by almost two hours. Luckily this didn't really affect us now as the Avianca flight was cancelled anyway. But it did piss off the locals something awful. There were a few choice words flung at the LAN staff who just kept looking at their computer screens and ignored all their passengers - just like they've been doing since the previous day. But at last our plane did arrive, we did board and we did fly to Lima, arriving just after 8pm on Monday evening. Now we were really really tired and wanted to get accommodation from LAN as soon as possible to get some sleep before rushing back to the airport for the Lima-Sao Paulo flight. But guess what? No baggage. Yup, when things go wrong, they go wrong badly. And to make things worse, the LAN staff in Lima were now insisting that the Avianca flight was in fact never cancelled and our agency (Expedia) must have done that (which is simply ludicrous) and they had the audacity to blame us for the whole fiasco. This popped my fuse and I went into a screaming tirade and I still don't know what kept me from physically assaulting the staff. Either way, this did seem to have an effect on them and they eventually managed to confirm that our bags will arrive around 10pm that night still and be stored for pick-up the next day, arranged a hotel and transport, and gave us boarding passes for the Lima-Sao Paulo flight for 08:45 on 26 Aug. We left the airport just before 10pm. The hotel was about 30 minutes away and we just sank straight into bed immediately and got rudely awakened by the alarm again at 04:30. Back at Lima airport things finally started going our way and we got checked in quickly and our bags tagged with priority stickers. The flight took off on time and we landed in Sao Paulo and parked just before 4pm. We ran through immigration and our bags came out quickly so we were at the SAA check-in desk at about 16:15. The SAA flight left on time at 6pm and landed a few minutes after 7am on 27 Aug - back home in one piece, on time and with our bags.
But that's not the end of it. About 20 days previously, shortly after leaving the Amazon, I noticed a small start of a zit on my throat. At the time I thought nothing of it and decided to leave it for a bit to surface so I can pop it. Five days later it had increased in size a little and while we were checking out the Nazca lines I had this sudden acute stinging pain in the area, like three or four bee stings simultaneously. This felt a little weird for a zit and my brain started wandering to some scary medical documentary I saw a while ago. Five more days went by and it became swollen and fairly painful with about three to four bouts a day of this acute stinging sensation. Squeezing it had no effect other than pain so on Day 2 in the Galapagos, Nicola lanced the swollen "zit" to see if I can pop it. Although some pus did come out, this didn't work and over the next week it became a constant, well, pain in the neck. By now I knew something was wrong and I unfortunately had a pretty awful idea of what it was. So on the same day we landed back home, we made an appointment at the GP. The GP prodded and squeezed and reckoned it was an abscess, but I convinced him to send me to radiology. The sonar report read: "splinter-like foreign body, 7.1mm in size". Now I just knew what it was, and those of you who relish creepy stories like this doing the rounds on the internet probably know too. I took the report back to the GP who still thought that I got blow-piped by a Peruvian pygmy. But I convinced him to get the knife out and explore a bit. After disinfecting the site, he prepared some lidocaine and started injecting into the skin about 1cm from the swelling. And all of a sudden, like a flash of light, it jumped out of the hole in my neck, and onto the shirt of the GP - as wide-eyed and stunned as Nicola standing next to me. Yup, you may have guessed it - a botfly larva! How grim is that?! It obviously did not like the lidocaine very much but it was still wriggling around on the GP's shirt so we decided to give it a nice home in a bottle of formalin. After getting cool pictures of my companion of the last 20 days we sent it to pathology for an expert opinion, but there was no doubt in my mind - a botfly larva had just jumped a foot from a hole in my neck in response to a little lidocaine!
Well, unfortunately that is it. We had very high expectations of both Peru and Galapagos and I'm simply ecstatic to say that our expectations were exceeded in almost every department. It was one of our most memorable and enjoyable holidays. Peru is a magnificent country to visit and I'm looking forward to a return trip. The Galapagos is only a small part of Ecuador but it's so different from anything else on earth that one must never ever pass up an opportunity to see this. We netted a total of 493 species for the trip with 443 lifers for Nicola and 437 for me so we far exceeded our hopes. With only 267 species, Manu was perhaps a little disappointing but I think the lack of rain early in our time there was largely to blame. Either way, we've only got about a quarter of Peru's birds, so next time we'll head a bit north and spend some time in the intermontane valleys and cloud forests.
Tips and advice
I did a huge amount of research before this trip. I'm a firm Lonely Planet fan and we used both the Peru and Ecuador and Galapagos guides for this trip. They were bought quite some time in advance and read donkey-eared even before we left. But of course, the most research was done on the internet. I've decided to include some tips and advice here that could be useful but of course, it's important you also do thorough research before you go.
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Transport
To get to South America we flew SAA to Sao Paulo, pretty much the only option from South Africa. From Sao Paulo we flew with
TAM to Lima - service wasn't bad and although the weather was fairly poor, there was only a half hour delay in take-off. We used
LAN Peru for domestic flights in Peru and internationally to Quito and back. They have been pretty good and friendly and you can check in online 48 hours prior to the flight. The food on board isn't the greatest but it's edible. Of course, things with LAN went pear-shaped on our return and although flight cancellations and delays happen with all airlines, the lack of apology and empathy made my blood boil. Originally we had tickets on AeroGal for the flight from Quito to Galapagos via Guayaquil) but
Avianca bought them out shortly before we left. Avianca was perfectly fine although their in-flight entertainment system is somewhat annoying as it runs through the same set of ads prior to any film which also gets interrupted by ads every 6-7 minutes.
We had four bus journeys and used
Cruz del Sur which is supposed to be one of the best services in the country. They have stringent security as hand bags are scanned and checked and all passengers are scanned for metal prior to boarding. They also video everyone (including the driver) getting on board and the buses are monitored by GPS. If you book online (it's the only bus company we could find with an English online booking service at this time) you get a voucher that you need to redeem for the actual tickets at any Cruz del Sur office - this was easy and straightforward. Book the VIP seats if they are available - they're only about 20-30% more expensive and the larger seats make a huge difference in comfort, especially on the overnight journeys. But perhaps take your own food and drinks - the food offered is marginally worse than airline food (edible but unappetizing). Don't believe the advertised arrival times though. Each of our buses left exactly on time but each one of them arrived at least half an hour late. Also keep in mind that it may take at least half an hour to get your bags after arrival.
Taxis are plentiful in Lima and elsewhere in Peru's towns. They're also quite affordable - just be careful to look for official taxis (not the ones with small handprinted signs in the windows) as the unofficial ones have been implicated in scams. Taxis are quite a bit more expensive in Quito and more on par with western standards - budget for this. The local minibus taxis are called colectivos and are very common in towns and along shorter regional routes (such as Ollantaytambo to Cusco). They're cheap (about R60 per person for a 2-hour ride) but mostly only leave when full (usually not a problem) and drive a little reckless. We didn't rent any vehicles and I wouldn't recommend this anyway - traffic rules and regulations are not only universally ignored, they're not enforced by the many traffic cops we've seen either.
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Lima
Jorge Quevedo Cuadros from
www.birdstravelingperu.com arranged birding guide Alejandro Tello - they put together a diverse and interesting birding itinerary for one and half days around Lima and can also do longer trips from Lima. They
re professional, excellent and full-service guides. We stayed at
Runcu hotel in the Miraflores district – it’s within relatively easy walking distance of restaurants, the craft markets, money exchange shops as well as the beach. Their wifi was decent and the service extremely helpful and friendly. The even packed us breakfast boxes on our two birding days (without additional charge) even though it was not included in the price. The hotel is a little pricey by our general standards (about USD 95 a night for the room) but it was absolutely worth it.
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Cusco
A bit of a mad and busy town with lots of badly cobbled and narrow streets and horrendous traffic. We stayed at the
Casa Andina Cusco Plaza which was overpriced for what we got, didn’t serve dinner and had very poor wifi. But this hotel was part of our Manu Expeditions package and our first night on the tour with them. There are plenty of restaurants on the Plaza de Armas, but shop around a bit – the place is a tourist trap and a recommendation by your hotel means nothing. If you’re travelling by long-distance bus, note that most bus companies, except Cruz del Sur, use the Terminal Terrestre south of town. Cruz del Sur has their own terminal somewhere else (we arrived at night so don’t really know exactly where it is).
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Southern Amazon
Manu National Park is remote and difficult to access independently (and legally) so we forked out a very significant amount to go with one of the best companies,
Manu Expeditions, who partly own the
Manu Wildlife Centre (MWC) some 30-40kms down the Madre de Dios river from the junction with Manu river – it is still outside the Manu reserve proper but the birding at MWC is undeniably topnotch. The accommodations at MWC are basic but adequate – the 2-bed huts don’t really have walls – it’s mosquito-proof gauze floor to ceiling with curtains covering all of it. So you can pull up all the curtains and have a relatively cool air moving through at night. There’s no electricity but plenty candles are provided and bathroom water is heated by gas. During every day there are two timeframes during which they run a generator so that all kinds of devices can be recharged. This is handy but in our experience, the available plug points get very crowded, very quickly. Considering how remote MWC is, the food we received was incredible. The breakfasts were perhaps a tad unimaginative but every lunch and dinner was a 3-course meal and not once in the seven nights we spent there, did we have the same dish twice. Locally made fruit juice (delicious) is included with the meals and there’s unlimited water, coffee and tea available at all times and limited snacks (fruit and some unappetizing biscuits and crackers). There is a (very expensive) bar available and a very pricey laundry service (which we used as you stink up a set of clothes every day you’re in the forest). Our last night in the Amazon was at Puerto Maldonado as part of our packaged Manu tour. It’s a bit of a frontier town and rough around the edges. We stayed at
Cabana Quinta (also as part of the Manu Expeditions tour) which is very centrally located for access to restaurants and banks. The rooms were very luxurious but the service rather poor since we had a bath with no hot water and a shower with no cold water, the Wifi was hopeless and the TV had no English channels (we had a few English channels at all the other places in Peru). But the aircons worked well and provided great relief from the oppressive heat and humidity. We ate dinner at Burgos restaurant which is highly recommended – for 25 soles (about R100) you can get a selection of main meat or fish dishes and then help yourself to a salad and starch buffet. The chicken and fish we had here was really very tasty and salads fresh and well seasoned.
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Ollantaytambo
We spent our night here in El Albergue which is literally on the train platform – you can really step out the front door and within 3 steps be on the train tracks. As you can imagine, this has its pros and cons. The trains come and go for a good deal of the day and night and unless you get a room that’s at the back of the establishment like we did, it could be quite annoying. But it’s a decent enough place with basic accommodation, hot water and okay Wifi. They can also store your bag for free – this is very important since you’re theoretically allowed only 5kg luggage on the train from here to Aguas Calientes. When you return to Ollantaytambo from Machu Picchu you can easily catch a local taxi (colectivo) back to Cusco by walking about a hundred metres up the main street leading out of the train station.
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Aguas Calientes
Hatun Samay hotel is right next to the train station – with the same pros and cons as above. The rooms are a little cramped but it’s clean and neat, there’s hot water all day long (practically though, it’s better to shower outside peak times), they serve breakfast from 04:30 (ideal if you want to get to the Mahcu Picchu queue as soon as possible) and the staff are helpful and friendly. On the downside, their Wifi is lousy. There are PLENTY restaurants in Aguas Calientes. Avoid the ones charging 35 soles plus for a main dish and go to one of the many small places that offer a ‘tourist menu’. Many of these offer a similar Peruvian menu and the idea is that you have a selection of starters, soups, mains and a drink – one of each for 15-20 soles (R60-R80). In Aguas Calientes we used the birding guide services of Percy Avendano and his brother Jose Luis (
peruwildbirds@gmail.com or
manuwildbirds@gmail.com). We communicated with Percy initially but was actually guided by Jose. Jose was an excellent guide – attentive and professional and shared his knowledge of birds and the local environment freely. He also helped us pick up a huge number of lifers. We would highly recommend them for birding excursions anywhere between Cusco and Aguas Calientes and I understand they can and do guide elsewhere in Peru as well. If your visit is planned during the high season, you better book a long time in advance. The government-operated official website
www.machupicchu.gob.pe is where you can buy your tickets remotely online and can pay with credit card. Unfortunately, this didn't work for us as our own local bank seemed to have an issue with making the payment. We had to use the cumbersome method of contacting a local operator in Cusco to buy the tickets on our behalf and wire them the money. The tickets are expensive and only valid for the specific day you book. You can also decide if you want to climb Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu mountain (Montana) but do this before you buy tickets, because you need to pay for this too and forms part of the Machu Picchu entrance ticket - if you haven't bought a ticket that includes climbing either of the hills, you won't be allowed to do so. Aguas Calientes can only be reached by rail and two companies (Inca Rail and Peru Rail) operate this route. We used
Peru Rail and booked/paid online for the tickets without any problems. They have three different classes (and prices) but all are basically meant for the tourists so it's still reasonably comfortable. Lastly, you will most likely also need to take the bus from Aguas Calientes to the top of the hill at Machu Picchu's entrance. You can walk there but it's about 4kms and a 500m vertical ascent - rather take the bus up and then walk down. Bus tickets can only be bought in Aguas Calientes, either on the day you're going up or from 2pm the previous afternoon. We highly recommend that you arrive the afternoon before and buy your tickets then because the queues start forming around 4am and the buses don't start until 05:30. Machu Picchu is an unbelievable place and one must see it, but don't think you'll be alone. It is incredibly crowded. On paper they only allow 1200 visitors a day - there must have been at least ten times that when we were there.
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Puno
Nayra travel (advertised in Lonely Planet) arranged our tours around Puno and Lilian Chevarria was extremely helpful and accommodating with our requests and picked us up from the bus station at 5am personally. She arranged a private tour to the Uros islands, birding around lakes Titicaca and Sillustani, transfers to the hotel and bus station. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the area and culture but his bird knowledge was sadly lacking and we missed at least ten species as a result. But we knew in advance that our guide was not a bird expert (extensive searching prior to the trip couldn't locate a specialist local bird guide in Puno - you'll have to go with one of the very expensive birding tour operators) and the poor guy's wife just had a baby that was quite sick so he was understandably a bit distracted. We spent one night at
Tierra Viva hotel which is perfectly situated half a block from the main pedestrian street and all the restaurants - it's a pretty decent hotel with decent hot water and friendly service. Again though, the Wifi here was terrible.
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Nazca
I was unable to find a specialist local bird guide in Nazca either so I used the online agency
ToursbyLocals.com and found Karina Huayta as a local guide. She arranged our flight over the Nazca lines and a visit to Puerto de Lomas where we wanted to look for a few pelagic species. As in Puno, this lady waited patiently at the bus station despite our bus being almost an hour late and then took us to our hotel to drop our bags. On short notice she also arranged someone to collect dirty laundry for us that was delivered clean and dry that same evening. We were escorted by Karina all the way to the airport and she waited for us while we flew over the lines and then took us straight to Puerto de Lomas. She arranged a trip on a real working squid boat that was quite an experience and then she had ad hoc visits to an unprotected pre-Nazcan cemetery and a small ceramics business that were both very interesting and absolutely worth visiting - not something that the everyday tourist will ever get to see. We really appreciated her efforts and guidance and would highly recommend her. While in Nazca we stayed at the Casa Andina (same chain as the one in Cusco but much better) which also comes highly recommended. Again it's perfectly situated, service was helpful and friendly and the staff spoke some English too. The breakfast was fresh and decent, the room had plenty space, a working aircon, nice hot water and was clean and neat. And almost best of all, the Wifi worked!
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Quito
As the crow flies, Quito's airport is about 20km from the city and inbetween is a wide valley. Practically, this means that it's an hour's drive to any hotel or if the road through the valley's blocked, 2 hours on a 50km detour.
Sol de Quito is a quaint hotel with antique wooden furniture, hand-carved doors and beautiful wooden wall decorations. It is a little cosy perhaps but the personnel were particularly friendly and helpful, there's free coffee, tea and fruit in the lobby and a large mall with all modern conveniences (trappings) just down the road. We believe Quito's got some great markets but we never had time to explore these. Also just keep in mind that Quito is the second-highest capital on earth and if you live or fly in from sea level, it's not a bad idea to take it easy.
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Galapagos
There are two ways to see the Galapagos: independently by being land-based or on a private cruise boat. Only three of the islands are inhabited and it's only really in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz that you'll find decent hotels, food, transport etc. Being land-based means you can spend a lot more time on the highlands of Santa Cruz and also do day visits to some of the closer islands. This is bound to be cheaper but you will not be able to visit many of the further islands. This is important since the islands have different habitats and the finches and mockingbirds have evolved into different species here. There are also different subspecies for some birds and very interestingly a number of pelagic species seem to favour only one island each as nesting grounds. To see the further islands, the only way is to go on a multi-day boat cruise. Anything less than 7 days is really not worth it but you will actually need 15 days to cover all but two islands and 20 for the few itineraries that include the far-lying Darwin and Wolf islands. But visiting is going to be expensive. Very expensive. Even with a land-based trip you're going to fork out big-time for the day trips to the islands, plus your accommodation on land. On the boats you'll get all the excursions, meals and accommodation included but even for the cheap boats you're going to pay more than US$100 a day. For the large luxurious ones, US$1000 a day and more. Depending on what you read, there's four or five classes of boats doing these cruises. They all have different itineraries and different cruise lengths. Each year, every boat owner will submit planned itineraries to the Galapagos National Park who will then adjust and approve to ensure that tourist numbers remain within limits and no one point is visited by more than say four boats on any given day. The national park also assigns a guide that will accompany you on the boat and all the excursions to ensure the park's rules and regulations are followed. Walking around anywhere on the islands unaccompanied by a guide is not possible. There are three different levels of guides and this is determined by the number of languages they speak and their experience in the field. Practically, it means that the more your cruise costs, the better the guide is likely to be (although not guaranteed). For our trip, I researched options long in advance and decided eventually on the
Nemo II, booking directly through the
boat owners. They had a "north" and "south" itinerary of which we picked the northen one as it would give us perhaps a slightly bigger species list than the southern one. However, the southern itinerary visits Floreana, Espanola and San Cristobal where the different mockingbird species are that you won't find on the northern itinerary. On board we had a Level 1 guide who spoke pretty good English and had an excellent knowledge base about the geology, wildlife, ancient and recent history and conservation in the Galapagos. Unfortunately he's bird ID skills were not all that great and we had to rely on our own skills and field guide, as well as a different field guide we found on board the ship. The two field guides we used were shockingly bad as bird guides since they included the other wildlife as well and therefore had less info on the birds. They also favoured photos over illustrations and this made life very difficult with especially the finches. By the time you go, there might be a field guide specializing in birds of the Galapagos but we couldn't find one. The Nemo II is a catamaran with a capacity of 12 passengers (excluding the guide who will also have a room on board). It's considered a mid-range (3-star) boat and due to the small number of passengers, it means you can do a fair amount because it takes less time to get on and off the boat. The cabins are very small though and the shower, toilet and basin are all squeezed into a closet-sized space. There's supposed to be air-conditioning in the cabins but apart from the first night, ours never worked and our toilet also backed up several times. The toilet issues were sorted by the boat crew though (the air-con wasn't really necessary so we didn't bother with it) so it wasn't a major problem. The food was really great and it was amazing what the chef was able to produce from a kitchen that's no larger than a cabin. Perhaps our only real gripe was that we actually spent very little time exploring the islands themselves. Our days started at 7am with breakfast, leaving the boat at 8am, usually for a walk first. The walk's were seldom more than two hours long whereafter the group went snorkeling until lunch at noon back on the boat. Between 2 and 3pm we would leave again for a short walk (never more than 2 hours) followed by another snorkel session before getting back to the boat between 5 and 6pm, dinner at 7pm. We joined the snorkeling three times and this was great, but we really regret not having been able to visit the highlands of Isabela and Fernandina. Obviously there were also lots of photo opportunities and the few of us doing photos tended to lag behind the group and missed out on some information as the guide wouldn't wait for us to catch up before explaining something. I can't be sure if this kind of thing will be the same for all boats, but it might be worth finding that out before making a booking.
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