A 4 AM start is necessary to make it to the base of the Sorayapampa Road just above the village of Mollepata at dawn. Here one can find the localized Pale-tailed Canastero ssp usheri and Spot-eared Puffbird. Higher up the road we find Apurimac Spinetail and Apurimac Brush-Finch. Other birds here include Creamy-crested Spintail, Undullated Antpitta and White-winged Black-Tyrant. At the top and the end of road look for Vilcabamba Tapaculo, and a number of other highland birds such as Andean Flicker, Andean Lapwing, Mountain Caracara.
After lunch in Limatambo, we continue to the charming village of Chonta on a winding mountain road. Chonta sits on a saddle with the deep Apurimac canyon on one side and the Anta valley on the other with views of the snow capped peaks of Vilcabamba mountains with Salcantay rising to 6450m above sea level.
Birds that can be seen around Chonta include Cinereous Ground-Tyrant, Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant and Andean Lapwing.
Creamy-crested Spinetail and Rusty-fronted Canastero can be seen on the strenuous 3.5km hike to the lookout point, although one usually tries to get to the condors as fast as possible. The Andean Condor with 3.3m wingfont is incredibly impressive and a must see for any serious birder. Other raptors that sometime soar on the updrafts include Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle, Puna Hawk, American Kestrel and White-throated Hawk.
It will take 3 hours to drive back to Cusco or Ollantaytambo.
