An inexpensive and adventuresome Peru birding tour!

Here is where I will keep a running account of the information I generate concerning this tour.

The first e-mail I will re-post is one that discusses the Itinerary and Costs.

As of 1/7/2012:

Itinerary:

We will visit:

The coast:                                                                     Lomas de Lachay  - Pantanos de Villa
The Central, Southern Cordillera:                       Lago Junín – Bosque de Zárate – Marcopomacocha
The areas from Cusco to Machu Picchu:              El Valle Sagrado – Machu Picchu
The Southern Jungle:                                                   Manu Road or an area near Puerto Maldonado

21 or so days. Any time in July.  I hope to accommodate everyone interested, which at present might be 4 people in addition to me. When is best for you?

I have not yet finalized the itinerary.  I was originally going to follow the same route I took last time, but I am hoping to get us into a jungle lodge cheaply. The tour will last about 21 days, and you can come for almost any segment or the whole thing.

So the tour will start in Lima, where we will all get together and do some local birding.

Then we will check out the costal Marshes, particularly las Lomas de Lachay and Pantanos de Villa. A hired driver will ferry us to and from these places.

Then, depending on how we have scheduled the Jungle element, We will move on to bird Lake Junín and Marcapomacocha  (Pomacocha) and Bosque de Zárate (which I missed last time but am so excited to see, bird and photograph) just before Junín where we can see several rarities like the Diademed Plover!

After this, we will back track some and move onto Cusco and its environs. This will be especially fun because Cusco, El Valle Sagrado and Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu) offer an enormous variety of birds and cultural/archaeological adventure at the same time. Birding Machu Picchu is especially exciting.

From here we will continue on to either Manu Road, if I can get it cheap enough, or a lodge outside of Puerto Maldonado.

So the first week will be spent in Lima, it surroundings and Junín, the second in and around Machu Picchu and the third in the Jungle.

 I will have all these plans finalized by February sometime, but I also hope that prospective tour members will suggest where they would like to go. I am quite ready to go to some place new.

Cost

Total $2,000-$2,100 –  Flight = $1,200.00 per person – Actual expenses in country $800-$900.

Well, you should budget about $30-$40 a day. Peru can be traveled comfortably for about $25 a day and I did so for much less when I lived there from 2009-2010. But birding adds certain costs which must be accounted for. Actually, my estimate is conservatively high but this way there will be no surprises.

The actual living costs will be about $25 with the rest going to pay for guides, private transportation at birding locations, and about $60 per person for a flight back from Puerto Maldonado to Lima.

Our accommodations will be locally owned hotels which will cost about $10-$15 a couple per day. Food which we will have at an awesome variety of places will cost from $1-$10 dollars (delicious street food to up-scale dinners).

I am not charging anything for my services but I will ask people to cooperate with my expenses at the end, especially if they like the tour. I will do this whether or not anyone comes, but certainly help will be appreciated in exchange for my services, birds, and the time of a lifetime.  If this sounds a little vague, I apologize. Mostly, I cannot wait to see you folks insanely excited by the incredible time.

At present I am negotiating with some bird guides for the region of Cusco, where I think I will have better luck with the assistance this time. I am also working on re-contacting several of the guides I met in my time there.

I want to convey the informal and relaxed nature of this trip. My goal in doing this is manifold. First, I enjoy birding and meeting fellow birders. Second, I hope to lessen my costs of birding by sharing the shareable expenses with other birders. Third, as I have been trying to start a birding tourism outfit, these informal tours will help promote me and make me known in the community. I also hope to make the idea of low-cost, more environmentally friendly tours popular.