San Martín

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive in Lima early after an overnight flight. Leave shortly for a quick flight to Tarapoto, with a drive to Moyobamba where we'll check into our hotel, possibly see some adorable monkeys, and begin our birding adventure near the Río Mayo (May River), a tributary of the Amazon River. Overnight in Moyobamba.

Day 2: Up early for a long trip down "Hummingbird Highway" to Huembo where we will try to find the marvelous spatuletail and several other hummingbirds species, some of which only dwell in this area. This is a long day of driving but will be worth it. We'll stop many times for birding and of course for food. We'll return to Moyobamba in the late afternoon. Overnight in Moyobamba.

Day 3: After an early breakfast, we'll head out with friends from a local organization to bird a cacao farm and learn about cacao production and birds. We'll have lunch with a local family and continue birding in the afternoon by small boat in a seasonally flooded forest to look for kingfishers, toucans, and trogons, among other birds. After that, we'll head back to Moyobamba for dinner. Overnight in Moyobamba.

Day 4: Up early to bird a nearby hummingbird station. Its eBird hotspot has registered an incredible 677 species! After breakfast, we'll head to a nearby coffee farm for a birding-coffee adventure. We'll look at birds, learn more about coffee production, and taste the fantastic organic coffee produced there. In the afternoon, we will bird more areas around the lodge and visit its beauitful orchid garden. Overnight in Moyobamba.

Day 5: Early birding before breakfast, then we're off to Tarapoto where we'll check into our absolutely stunning jungle lodge and bird on its grounds before lunch. That afternoon, we'll visit a conservation and wildlife rehabilitation center, Centro Urku. Next, we'll drive to a hummingbird tower to see more hummers, like the exquisite golden-tailed sapphire, Gould's jewelfront, and white-necked Jacobin. Overnight in Tarapoto.

Day 6:  We leave early for a nearby cacao-producing community to bird and learn how the community's cacao production is helping protect its forest. We'll eat lunch with a local organization, then spend some more time birding before returning to our hotel. Overnight in Tarapoto.

Day 7: Early birding before breakfast and later check out of hotel to fly back to Lima. We'll check in our hotel, then head to a few nearby museums and ruins for lunch and culture. There will be time to hit the artisan market and buy beautiful crafts from all over Peru. Later in the afteroon, we'll head to Pantanos de Villa Wildlife Refuge for some wading birds and hopefully get a look at the adorable many-colored rush tyrant and the wren-like rushbird. Goodbye dinner. Overnight in Lima.

Day 8: Return home. For those who have night flights, we will return to Pantanos de Villa and spend more time in Lima tasting great food and visiting cultural sites.