The Birds & Nature of Northern Peru is a 14-day tour that mixes nature exploration with focus on birds, history, and a culture; staying at the best hotels and eco-lodges of the region.
The tour visits three valleys of the eastern slope of the Andes: Huallaga, Mayo and Utcubamba. All of them with different ecological conditions, allowing different nature and cultural experiences.
Most of the lodges and nature reserves we visit have very active bird feeders (specially for hummingbirds) and hiking trails inside their properties.
Lost World Adventures itineraries can be tailor-made according to your plans and preferences: budget, hotel selections, travel dates, optional excursions, length of trip, etc.
Upon arrival you will be met and escorted to your hotel
Overnight at Wyndham Lima Airport Hotel, located adjacent to the terminal. Breakfast is included.
AYou will take a morning flight to the city of Tarapoto, upon arrival you will be transferred to the Sumaj Lodge.
Sumaj Lodge is a high standard lodge located by Laguna El Sauce.
In the afternoon we can explore the lake on a private boat and then do a short hike in the forest. You can spend the last hours of daylight enjoying the toucans, parrots, and woodpecker’s activity from the comfort of your own veranda.
Overnight at Sumaj Lodge. All meals included today.
A morning hike in the morning will allow you to discover the forest inside the lodge’s property. This well preserved forest is full of colorful insects, birds, and even we might have the chance to encounter some monkeys.
We will be back to the lodge on time for lunch.
We will leave on your own in the afternoon to rest from the hike, or we can visit the Butterfly House that is just behind the lodge.
Overnight at Sumaj Lodge All meals included today.
Early in the morning we will drive to the Aconabikh reserve, a private conservation area created to preserve the Koepcke’s Hermit, an endemic hummingbird of the Cordillera Escalera mountains. Other hummingbirds attending the feeders in the reserve are Gould’s Brilliant, Black-throated Brilliant, Pale-tailed Barbthroat, and others.
A two hours’ hike inside the Aconabikh forest can produce interesting sights of frogs, birds, giant ferns and trees.
By mid-afternoon we will drive for about three hours to our next lodge in the city of Moyobamba.
Overnight at Alta Vista Casa Hotel. All meals included today.
We will spend the first hours of the morning enjoying the birds coming to the feeders in the lodge.
After breakfast we will drive to the Waqanki Private Reserve. This is a family owned reserve in the montane forests near the city of Moyobamba. We will spend the full morning at the hummingbird feeders and the gardens in the lodge’s property. The canopy tower has a great view of the forest.
Near Waqanki’s main house there is also an orchids garden, featuring more than 100 species of these beautiful plants.
In the afternoon we can hike the trail up the Mishquillaquillo creek trying to spot colourful birds and some species of monkeys.
Overnight at Alta Vista Casa Hotel. All meals included today.
Today we leave Moyobamba driving for about 2 hours to the town of Aguas Verdes, for a visit to the Arena Blanca Reserve. This is a private reserve located in a patch of white-sand forest.
We plan to spend most of the day at the hummingbird and tinamou feeders. Regular visitors at the hummingbird feeders are Blue-fronted Lancebill, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, Wire-crested Thorntail, Rufous-crested Coquette, Black-throated Brilliant, just to mention a few. The Tinamou feeders are good for Gray-necked Wood-Rail, Rufous-breasted Wood-Quail, Little and Cinereous Tinamous, and others.
We will take a picnic lunch at the reserve.
After lunch we will depart towards Abra Patricia lodge. The lodge is strategically located inside the Abra Patricia Protected Area, surrounded by pristine montane cloud forest.
Overnight at Abra Patricia Owlet Lodge. All meals included today.
Full morning at the hummingbird feeders. Will have ample time to enjoy the myriad of hummingbirds coming to the feeders.
Also, regular visitors to the lodge gardens are birds like White-sided Flowerpiercer, Flame-faced Tanager, and many other colorful birds. A family of Tayras also walks around the gardens regularly.
By mid-afternoon we will hike the 1 Km long “Long-whiskered Owlet trail” looking for this mythical owl. We might also find Spectacle Bears or Yellow-tailed Woolly-monkeys (although they are very rare!).
Overnight at Abra Patricia Owlet Lodge. All meals included today.
After breakfast we will try to attract the rare Chestnut Antpitta to its feeding station. This is a very rare bird that can be found in this mountains only.
Then, we will drive for about 15 minutes to Fundo Alto Nieva Private Reserve, where the hummingbird feeders attract Botted Racket-tail, Royal Sunangel, Rufous-vented Whitetip, and a few other hummers.
We will drive back to the Owlet Lodge for lunch.
Afternoon hike along the “Tino trail” looking for more birds and mammals of the mountain forest.
Overnight at Abra Patricia Owlet Lodge. All meals included today.
This morning we will drive down the mountains for a visit to the La Llanteria hummingbird feeders, our targets are Gray-chinned Hermit, White-tipped Sicklebill, and Ecuadorian Piedtail hummingbirds. Around La Llanteria we will try to get good views of the iconic Andean Cock-of-the-Rock.
We will drive back to the Owlet Lodge for lunch.
We will then leave Abra Patricia towards our next lodge.
Overnight at Huembo Lodge. All meals included today.
Huembo is a nature reserve created to protect the endemic and endangered Marvelous Spatuletail hummingbird.
After an early breakfast we will drive for about 20 minutes to the town of San Lorenzo, from where we will make a hike up the hills for about four hours along forests with bamboo patches, rocky areas, and paramo. If lucky, we could have good sights of the Pale-billed Antpitta, a rare bird endemic to this kind of forest.
We will be back to Huembo for lunch.
We plan to spend the afternoon at the hummingbird feeders for the Marvelous Spatuletail and other hummingbirds like Andean Emerald, Purple-throated Woodstar, or White-bellied Woodstar. The forest inside the reserve is also an excellent place for Sickle-winged and Andean Guans, Silvery Tanager, and many other bird species.
Overnight at Huembo Lodge. All meals included today.
We spend the morning at the hummingbird feeders and the trails around the lodge.
After lunch we will drive for about two hours to hotel Hacienda Achamaqui, near the city of Chachapoyas. From here we will explore the archaeological site of Kuelap.
Overnight at Hotel Hacienda Achamaqui. All meals included today.
This morning we will drive to the town of El Tingo Nuevo for the visit to Kuelap archaeological site.
There we will take a cable car to take us to the top of the Kuelap mountain. Here, we will find an imposing building on the edge of a deep cliff. Recent archaeological research points out that this could have been an important religious center dedicated to the Chachapoyans gods, probably the god of thunder and rain.
An impressive 2,000 feet long wall surrounds the citadel, the gates or main entrances are constructed as narrow walled passage ways that continue to narrow as they reach upwards and into the fortress, so the income would remain restricted to the complex. The site has been elected “the best far and away overseas attraction” in 2017 by the National Geographic Traveller Reader Awards in the UK.
Overnight at Hotel Hacienda Achamaqui. All meals included today.
A half day hike to visit one of the highest waterfalls in the world. Its 2,530 feet drop, in two impressive falls, provides a spectacular show and an experience you will always remember. As you walk through the rainforest, you’ll see orchids, giant ferns trees and lots of birds. If you wish, you can swim in the lake below the waterfall.
We will have a typical lunch in the town of Cocachimba before heading back to the hotel.
Overnight at Hotel Hacienda Achamaqui. All meals included today.
At proper time you will be transferred to the airport in Jaén for your flight to Lima.
Before heading to the airport we will visit a chocolate and coffee shop in Jaén for a taste of the best Peruvian chocolate and coffee.
Breakfast and lunch included today.
