Hi
For once, I am presenting a shorter newsletter than usual. After a very slow first half of the year in Peru, we finally got more bookings for the second half. We also have requests for some itineraries that are very suitable for
birders who want a slower pace and also include cultural sites and good food. Indeed, one does not have to be a birder for the Southern Circuit below. It is a tour that sparks the interest of anyone, as it includes the most famous cultural sites of Peru.
Let me list these trips in chronological
order.
The Southern Circuit. Sep 3-18
In many ways, the
Southern Circuit is the itinerary that non-birding companies offer, as it visits all the classic Peruvian cultural sites. Lima, Paracas, Nazca Lines, Arequipa, Colca Canyon, Puno with Titicaca Lake, Cuzco and Machu Picchu. We have even added a few days in the
Amazon rainforest to complete the trip. The difference is that we are adding birding to the mix. You will still immerse yourself in the pre-colonial Peruvian cultures like the Incas, and try some of the best food in the world.
I have a request for Sep 3, which you may want to join with a non-birding spouse or friend. Or perhaps you are a new birder who does not
want to get overwhelmed with too many birds at once. Compared to the east slope, the diversity is not as high on the west slope and in the highlands, but the birds are usually relatively easy to see. Many are large and conspicuous.
It shall be a small group, which will make this tour very pleasant.
An additional advantage of this tour is that you can control your budget regarding how much you want to spend on lodging, meals, and
domestic flight with our unique tiered pricing. It gives you a little more privacy if you want it. Maybe you don't want to go for dinner with the group at night, or perhaps you choose your own hotel or an Airbnb in larger cities. It is easily done online nowadays. You can save money, or spend more on even higher-rated hotels and restaurants.
Best Restaurant in the World
Machu Picchu, Abra Malaga and Apurimac endemics Sep 16-20
You may want to slow things
down by joining us only for the first 10 days on the trip above and then having two free days in Cuzco before joining us on the
Machu Picchu 5-day birding tour, which aims to get a more complete list of endemics in the region.
You could also just choose this tour standalone and perhaps add a few days with Lima day trips before the departure.
This tour is run back to
back with our short 5-day Manu Road trip right afterward.
Manu Road 5 days Sep 21-25.
Following the Cuzco program,
we continue to the
Manu Road for our shortest and sweetest program of five days, on which you get a marvelous experience of the mega diversity of Manu Road from the temperate cloud forests on top through the lush subtropical cloud forest and the Amazonian foothills and lowland forests at the bottom of the road. The list of birds is immense, but let me just say there are
plenty of feeder stations along the road for seeing hummingbirds and tanagers at close range.
Chuncho Lodge Macaw Clay Lick birding Sep 26-28.
A few people in the
Manu Road group continue with more Amazonian birding. Since direct flights to Puerto Maldonado are suspended, we travel already on the evening of Sep 25 with a sleeper bus with seats that fold to 180° for comfortable sleeping. To tell you the truth, this is ideal for birders since you don't lose birding time. Sleep in the Andes, and wake up in the Amazon.
The
Chuncho
Macaw Clay Lick on the Tambopata River is truly one of the most fantastic bird spectacles in the world. We regularly see five species of Macaws, including the three big ones: Blue-and-Yellow, Scarlet, and Red-and-Green. We furthermore explore the trails at the lodge for additional birds.
North Peru short Oct 1-5.
Returning to Lima after Chuncho for two days of local Lima day birding tours or a few days of battery recharge before the start of
5 days of birding in Northern
Peru. We'd leave already on the evening of Sep 30.
This is perhaps our most popular tour among people who like hummingbirds or bird photography. The opportunities are endless. The star bird is the spectacular Marvelous Spatuletail, but over 40
species of Hummingbirds are regularly seen on the trip. Add Long-whiskered Owlet, a bunch of endemics, Oilbird, and several species of owls, manakins, tanagers and mixed species flocks in the cloud forest, and it is no wonder it has become such a popular short tour.
Complete Northern Peru Nov 18-Dec 3.
Join a small group for this clean-up of North Peruvian endemics. Over 50 species of hummingbirds are
usually seen during this trip.
Colombia - in the pipeline. December 2023.
I am working on putting
together a series of shorter modules to cover a full month of birding in Colombia from Dec 4. The core modules are those around Bogotá and Santa Marta, but we are also planning to offer extensions to for instance the higher parts of Santa Marta Mountains hiking for the endemic Blue-bearded Helmetcrest and Santa Marta Wren, as well as a visit to Serranía de Perijá on the border with Venezuela. Native communities serve as guides and provide the local
logistics.
In order to avoid heavy rainfall, we will focus on areas east of the Central Andes. To the west the rainy (rainier) season has
begun.
Send me an email if any of this sounds interesting and how much time you have available. We will likely do the classic Santa Marta
program over Christmas, and finish with high parts of Santa Marta over New Years. I will be working on the detailed schedule the coming week, and send out another newsletter by next week.
What is happening in 2024?
For next week, I shall also have most of 7 Wonders Birding's 2024 scheduled. For example, we are looking at Japan in February-March likely two trips back to back with extensions, Uganda in June, Tanzania with Kilimanjaro and Serengeti in October and Madagascar in November.
Where is Gunnar the rest of the year 2023?
In less than two weeks, I shall be at the Global Birdfair in Oakham, UK. You find me at the PromPeru stand. If you are going to the Birdfair and want to get together for a chat, let me know.
I could not find a room at the Oakham School where I usually stay, so I am in need of a closer place to overnight than then Corby, where I have a temporary reservation.
If you are
single in a twin room and want to share, let me know. Otherwise, I will have to run, I guess. It is only 22k, so it is like a park run for a marathon runner like myself, but I am not so sure after a few pints. Cheers! 🍺🍺🍺
After the Birdfair, I will take the train to Birmingham to stay overnight. Never been to Birmingham, but I hear Indian cuisine is good.
The next day I fly via Dublin, with a 12 hour stop-over to get to know the city (Sorry Ireland, that my first visit to the green island will be too short), and then on to Stockholm, Sweden for a week and also celebrating my 25th birthday...err, I meant my 63rd birthday on the 25th of July.
My band Guran Guran is releasing yet another tune on Spotify and Apple Music etc, around the date of my birthday, so I
will likely do some Live TikTok streaming promoting the new song. New, is relative of course, since the melody and lyrics were written about 40 years ago, but we recorded it only last year.
August will be calm. There is not a single trip planned. I will likely take some time to get our Andean Condor hide and
the condor feeding station up and running. I also hope to get a volunteer for the Satipo road community hostel project, which is coming on very nicely with a shower and toilet installed, new mattresses and linen, and room separations.
I am running Lima Half Marathon on August 27. Very proud that this year also my girls Luciana (16) and Anahí (14) are participating in the 10k category.
From mid-September to mid-October, I will be in Brazil and Argentina,
with three different groups back to back. Meanwhile, tours in Peru will be guided by our excellent guides.
In November, I might go to Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival.
On December 3, I am
running California International Marathon. I am thinking perhaps do a few days of birding before the race. I have never been to Yosemite.
After the race, I´ll drive back to San Francisco to be on the plane to Bogota and start birding Colombia for a month.
Let me know if our paths will cross somewhere this year.
Saludos
Gunnar
PS: Kolibri Expeditions is celebrating 25 years this year. As a special project, I have connected with communities in the
Purus area in the remote Peruvian Amazon on the border to Brazil offering a reward of 200 soles to someone sending me a recording of Elusive Antpitta from their area.
Elusive Antpitta has never been photographed in the wild. I have August free to do an emergency trip should someone get back to me with a recording. I will keep you posted.