CLIENT COMMENTS

• “I always like you to know that your hard work had great results! It was a spectacular trip and you are right that the MWC staff is excellent. They took great care of us -- we were the only people there from the 14th until the 25th when a group of 6 arrived. So we really had the place to ourselves. Amazing. I think December is a great time to go. The birding was just wonderful and we saw 265 species. Some of the best birds were Harpy Eagle (he flew into the tree right above our heads when we were up in the canopy tower and sat motionless, looking at us for 10 minutes), Crested Eagle, P-w Trumpeter, Little Cuckoo, Festive Coquette, Black bellied Thorntail, Pavonine Quetzal, Chestnut-capped Puffbird, Rusty-belted Tapaculo (seen), Short-tailed Pygmy-Tyrant, Band-tailed Manakin and lots and lots of wonderful antbirds, antshrikes, antwrens. Best mammal -- the tapir who stopped by the lodge for a handout and was about 5 feet away from us. We loved staying at MWC for 2 weeks and we could have staying a month. The trip in is quite the journey, so it is nice to have a long stay before you have to do the trip out!”13-28 Dec 2011, JP, El Paso, TX, USA.
• "The trip was great. The only thing that could improve the trip would have been to add another week . We ended up seeing 423 species with 153 lifers. The week with Charley went well and Guillermo was an excellent driver. Charley had us up at 3:30 to start the Manu road drive to get in as much birding on the Manu road as possible, and Guillermo knew that construction on the normal route out of Cusco might delay us by 2-4 hours. We took a lesser known route and arrived at the beginning of Manu road just past dawn. We also saw some nice birds that we missed in Abra Malaga.... Abra Malaga was the best birding on the trip and we are grateful that you included this in the trip. The hike in the valley was awesome and it was the best stop for lifers...Machu Picchu was great with hotel, food and setting being first class. You were correct in planning this part of the trip...The bird watching was slow with it being very dry and sunny but visiting MP was the primary reason for this stop. The numbers of birds were not great but the quality like the Inca Wren & Masked Fruiteater was well worth the visit. Manu Road lived up to its reputation as a great place to bird. We were a little late in the season to find the large mixed flocks but we saw lots of small flocks and many birds....we should have added 2 more days to bird the Manu road. Amazonia Lodge was also a great place to stay and we should have added 3 days. We had some rain while at the lodge but not enough to stop us from spending every available minute bird watching...Manu Wildlife Center was also a first class operation. We saw 11 Tapirs on our overnight stay at the lick and took some good pictures. The itinerary was well set up...We also saw 7 monkey species including the Emperor Tamarin. The stay at Manu WC was the right length of time... Finally the trip was great....We have been to SA three times in the last 12 months, and we are off to Argentina & Antarctica in Nov 2009... Stay in touch and let us know if any special trips come up that might be interesting as you are our company of choice for the area." 4-17 Sept 2009, W&KH, Canada

• "Our trip was wonderful and we thank you for making such good arrangements for us throughout the trip. Alexis was an excellent driver. He was courteous, very knowledgeable about Arequipa and environs, a careful, safe driver, and an all around nice person....Hotel La Gruta was great -- clean, safe and well located. The internal flights were great. All were on time and the planes and service were wonderful. The hotel in Cusco was great. We really liked it and the breakfast they served was great. Guillermo was the greatest. He is a superb driver and got us around on the way to Manu and back. He was unfailingly kind, considerate and helpful. He found us great places to bird and was so patient with our requests. He even came in to the Cusco airport with us at the end of the trip. Manu Paradise Lodge was excellent. We were the only guests for the first 4 nights. Valentina and Jose were so kind and fixed us wonderful vegan food. The birding around the lodge was the best we have encountered anywhere. The room weas clean, comfortable and we loved the balcony. Birding at Abra Malaga and Penas was phenomenal. We thank you for all your advice (which was always right on the money)...We would love to work with you again on a future trip." 14-30 December, 2008, JP, El Paso, TX, USA.

White-winged Guan                        Stripe-headed Antpitta  Tawny Tit-Spinetail                             Cactus Canastero   Great Jacamar                                Andean Potoo Collared Antshrike                              Bearded Mountaineer Marvelous Spatuletail Andean Condor

Photos by Charles Hesse

Peruvian Thicknees by Sandy Darling   Diademed Sandpiper-Plover Photo by Dusan Brinkhuizen                                                                                                    Comfortable lodging amid lovely gardens Spectacular scenery and birds along the Abra Malaga Road     Paramo birding at its best! Wet polylepis habitat - home of the Royal Cinclodes!

Local festival near Paucartambo Santos Montenegro, keeper of the Marvelous Spatuletail Train to Machu Picchu    Photos by Jane Lyons Trip Reports Peru-Lima-Manu-Sept-2012.pdf In Sept-Oct 2010 we arranged and co-led a Northern Peru and Manu Extension Tour for Rockjumper Tours, with an astounding final trip list of 900+ species! Peru_trip_report_2008.pdf