Manu

by Gunnar Engblom June 15, 2010 1

Budget Tambopata vs Budget Manu

Sunbittern Eurypyga helias - Tambopata Alex Durand

Sunbittern is one of the birds that is easily seen at the new Lodge that is being built near Puerto Maldonado. Photo: Alex Durand

Sometimes one has to make a change of plan. A great idea needs to be modified because the external conditions have changed. The initial conditions two years ago was that the communities of Amarakaeri reserve had four lodges spread out along the eco-touristy fluvial route down the Alto Madre de Dios river to the Blanquillo area and the spectacular Macaw-clay lick, Giant Otter lake , the Tapir clay-lick and 12 species of monkeys. This is the heart of the wild Manu at the edge of Manu National Park and the richest, most bio-diverse place on earth. Finally, the indigenous communities had the means of getting their piece of the cake of the lucrative eco-tourism industry. Had they really?

I was invited to fam trip (“fam” is tour operator lingo for familiarizing trip) by the community company Wanamei two years ago and it became very clear already on that tour that the communities would not be very prepared to run the lodges with all the logistics involved. They needed a commercial partner. Kolibri Expeditions had sustained talks with Wanamei about starting to market the route to birders. Many birders are prepared to take some logistical deficiencies, as long as the birding yield is great. This way the communities would slowly get into the operation and do it well.

To market the product I organized a big give-away of one free trip per departure to prominent bird bloggers as well as Twitter and Facebook users, who would help spreading the word on Social Media platforms. We also offered a pretrip to young birders at a much reduced price – with the idea that young birders would be even more resilient to logistical problems as long as they saw the birds.

So far, in theory, this looked interesting and feasible as well as a novel marketing approach. We just finished the first two trips in May. One Young Birder trip on May 17 and the first regular departure for bloggers with Bill Lynch as host on May 23. The coming hosts and takers of these trips are of course curious to know how it went and what was seen, why I will deal with this below.|

I shall principally deal with the logistics here. The birding result from the trip shall be seen on the Facebooks, blogs and Flickr accounts of the participants.

Here are the names of the participants of each group and their Facebook and Flickr accounts. For Facebook you will need to be friends with them to see the photos and walls.

Young birders:

Alex Harper Facebook

Ross Gallardy Facebook

Josh Wentz Facebook

Briana Adams Facebook

Blogging trip.

Josh Shramo Facebook

Bill Lynch Facebook Flickr

Dana Patterson Facebook

Logistics.

Maybe I have not been all that clear but running a rain forest lodge is a logistical nightmare, especially in the Manu area. Supplies can only be brought in by truck/air and boat. It is expensive. Contact with outer world (Cusco) is via short-wave radio with a minor obstacle in between – the Andes! Reception is often very poor and it may be days before a message can actually come across. Furthermore, everyone else (the competion and the rivals) will hear about your logistic deficiencies (more common than organization). Some of the more renowned lodges have put in Satellite Telephone/Internet services which of course is the solution to connectivity problems. But in order to afford the service there is a need of a continuous stream of visitors. It’s a Catch-22.

When you put indigenous community into the equation there is yet another factor. Community in the Amazon doosn’t exist. The communities we see today are families lumped together by the church or the geo-political “progress”. We need your oil, Indian!

In reality, the natives in the amazon are grouped by their kin. Their family or the clan is what is important. This is a major factor why community projects imposed from the outside rarely are successful.

Budget Manu Lodges.

Shintuya.

End of the Manu road. Worked well. This lodge has been in used almost continuously for two years and the community now has some experience of managing it. The birding is very good along the roadside and at the lodge itself. We only stayed one night here, but may opt to two nights in the future.

Centro Medicina Tradicional.

Situated on the other side of a river island. The river arm next to the lodge has been cut off, so it was hard to get there. Time was wasted on the first Young birder trip and the second trip did not even try. A nearby budget lodge called Yanayacu was used instead. They were a bit unprepared for our arrival but did provide showers and beds with mosquito netting.

The toilet had a huge Tarrantula nesting, which maybe is not the kind of jungle experience the clients want.

Charro.

I am sad to learn that this lodge could not be used at all. I was very impressed by the birding here two years ago and our guide Alex Durand praised the place with great birds that included Elusive Antpitta.
The trail was overgrown now and hard work. The young birders did see some good birds here, but the boat staff headed on the lodge area to see it was totally deserted without beds. The first group decided to head on to Blanco Lodge and the second group did not bother to even try.

Blanco Lodge.

This is the key lodge in the system of lodges as it is very close to macaw clay lick and the Giant Otter lake of Cocha Blanco. Furthermore there is a tower nearby overlooking the small Cocha Nueva lake. We knew in before hand that the water supply to the lodge was not working, as all the tubing was broken. When the lodge was build all the PVC tubes were not laid in deep trenches but too close to the ground, why people later have trod on them resulting in smashed tubes.

The cabins and the main dining-hall/kitchen building were infested by termites. While the young birders found that quite fascinating, it was not at all appreciated by Bill Lynch’s group. The mosquito nets were not present with the first group, while some mosquito nets were arranged by the boatmen of the second group.

After hearing of some of the problems of the first group, I made arrangements to let second group to come back via Amazonia Lodge at the bottom of Manu road. While this was appreciated and added many good observations it also lead to more travel time. Furthermore, Bill Lynch’s group had bad luck with the weather. A Patagonian cold front known as friaje was present during most of their trio, which lowered the general birding activity. The Young birder group were lucky with a massive Army Antswarm at Blanco which positively added to their experience. Both groups saw Giant Otter and visited the Macaw Lick. The macaws at the macaw lick never came to the mud wall to digest the clay, but kept flying around perching on nearby brances.

Operating problems

All this show that there are severe problems operating this trip, and frankly I don’t think it is worth our while, if the lodges are not accessible and improved. We thought we were going to be able to arrive some agreement with community company Wanamei, who managed the set-up, however some of the individual communities are no longer interested in having Wanamei as operator and prefer to make a deal directly with individual companies. This makes our participation as lodge operators more difficult as we wanted to operate a network of lodges. It is no problem of buy the services of another operator though once they get strarted, but to me it seems likely that CMT and Charro are decaying even more as they are less attractive for non-birders. Blanco can possibly be turned around because of its strategic position, but it will take some while before it is offered to the public and as good or better than other nearby more basic options.

Another complaint was that was that the transport sections were too long. The lodges lying between Shintuya and Blanco was too log without CMT and Charro as stepping stone. Too much time is lost in a program as short as only 8 days if the lodges are too far in between. In any case, I shall have to make it clear in the programs that there is a lot of travel.

Alternative program – Budget Tambopata

We still have many booked trips for the community programs, why I must find alternatives for these. The costs of the Manu program with alternative lodges will simply become too expensive, especially if the group size is less than 7 people. What further make it difficult to operate within the budget I originally set for the trips, is the fact that the flight prices for foreigners with LAN have increased since last year, and the alternative airline to Puerto Maldonado – Star Peru – does not give return prices for open jaw routes.

Suddenly the perfect alternative emerged from nowhere, solving many issues of the deficient community program. The brothers of Kolibri Expeditions’s top guide Alex Durand are building a lodge in vicinity of the Infierno community near Puerto Maldonado. This is just a stone’s throw away from the more famous Posada Amazonas, with access to Giant Otter lake and macaw lick by 30 minutes of boat on the Tambopatata . Right now it is more of a camp than a lodge, although cabins are being built. Having said this, they have a dining room and kitchen, toilets and showers, and a platform with beds and mosquito netting. The Young birders spent two nights here and the report the trail system was excellent. Alex Duran made a 3 day recce to check what birds are there and compiled a birdlist of 370 species. Birdwise there is no difference to Manu. There is good bamboo at the lodge with all the specialist birds. The main advantage with Manu is Tapir and the large number of monkeys. You will see monkeys in Tambopata as well, but there will be fewer species.

Purus Jacamar - Galbalcyrhynchus purusianus. Tambopata. Photo: Alex Durand

Purus Jacamar is an uncommon Jacamar of flooded forest, which is difficult to get in Manu but easier in near Puerto Maldonado.

Overall, we solve several issues with the community program this way. Let’s list the advantages.

less travelling and more birding efficient.
beds with good mosquito netting
working toilets
running water
a great trail system
Access to Harpy Eagle nest with NO surcharge.
return flight tickets Lima-Cusco allowing birdng at all different altitudes along the new Transoceanic highway between Cusco and Puerto Maldonado. It also gives almost a full day of birding in Lima.
Overall the number of species in 8 days will be much higher with this alternative program with more different types of habitat and more time in field and less time lost on transport.

Here is the new 9 day program that we shall run in August replacing the community program while the condtions are not great. It has one extra day added to sample the cloud forest more amply. For other programs we shall run the same program over just 8 days. Young birders up to 25 years old have a special price of $699 for 8 days trip (airfare and Lima day not included) and $609 for 7 days (later programs) .

Links to previous posts with background about the Amarakaeri Manu community lodges:

by Gunnar Engblom April 25, 2010 1

In 2010 I will go birding in…..

….a lot of places …and I like you to come with me.

This past year immersing myself into social media, has been amazing getting to know so many birders on line. I would like to meet all of you. Although my year is not completely staked out, I’d like to give you an outline the birding trips and events I have lined up for myself. Maybe our paths shall cross somewhere. Or maybe you want to come along joining me on some of these adventures. I shall write more detailed blogposts presenting each of them. Let me know which you would like to hear more about in the comment section below and I will prioritize.

I have already knocked off a North Peru trip and two Tumbes itineraries with Pelagics in January. In February I was in Colombia with the family and managed to see a couple of nice new birds. (Blog post is practically ready, but need some photos – maybe someone can please lend me photos of Golden-ringed and Black and Gold Tanager?). I am planning to get a Colombia tour together for Januay 2011 if anyone is interested. Here is an old draft of a Colombia Tour, but I certainly will change some as there are now new exciting reserves that can be visited.

Marathon. May 2 and July 18

First on my agenda is Lima Marathon. One may ask what that has to do with birding, but it does. Last year I ran it for the first time and turned it into a fund-raiser for the community on Satipo road. A marathon for conservation. This activity made Rain Forest Partnership interested in starting a small project here. My training has not gone the way I wanted this year, but I am still running the Marathon. I shall be happy if I make it all the way around. So here is a pledge – the same as last year. I will run the Lima Marathon 42.195km on May 2 after sporadic training the last 10 weeks (interrupted by 2 weeks sickness and an injured knee) at 4h13min or less. 4 hours and 13 minutes makes an average speed of 6:00 min per kilometer, which is more or less the speed that I have managed on the long runs I have done so far.

Sign-up in the comment section. And if you have not made the donation from the pledge last year available yet to Rain Forest Partnership, let me know.

My personal goal is to qualify to Boston Marathon. It will not happen at this race, but I have already a new Marathon in my mind where I shall much better trained. Rio de Janeiro Marathon on July 18. That is one week before I turn 50. I have to run in 3:35. I have 14 more weeks to find my top form.

Pelagics

I guess it is the viking in me that always take me to the sea. Contrary to our Peruvian guides, I never get seasick – so I guide practically all of Kolibri Expeditions’ pelagics. Pelagics from Lima are very good with up to 5-6 species of Storm-Petrels seen regularly including the localized Markham’s and Ringed (Hornby’s) Storm-Petrel. The Critically Endangered Waved Albatross is seen on practically every trip. So far the following pelagic tours have clients booked and will thus surely run: May 6, July 19 and 26, Sep 9 and 25, Oct 2, Nov 13 and 26. There are a couple of more dates in the tour calendar but without bookings. Most of these dates have been put there because they are at the beginning or the end of a scheduled trip. Since all trips in Peru begin or end in Lima it is easy to add a pelagic tour – providing we get enough people to run it.

May 17-24 Young Birders Manu community Tour

This is an idea that struck to me recently. Why not offer some tours that needs more assessment to people who would not normally come on birding tours, but are highly motivated birders. When testing new things, there may be things that will not work 100%. Therefore a pre-trip to the community lodges in the Manu area that are promoted this year with the help of bloggers ,will get a jumpstart by young birders on a promotrip.

The gain is on several levels.

Young birders get some guiding in the most difficult habitat to bird. The Amazon rainforest and at a reasonable price.
Our company keeps staff busy and paid, and while the revenue for the company is not great, there will be lots of important pieces of information of what works and what doesn’t on this pilot trip – to be implemented on the coming trips.
The communities get some revenue and the chance to set all right for more comfort demanding clients.

And it will be fun to bird with intense young birders up to 25 years old. I bet we shall make a monster list of birds seen – and that there will be very little sleep! There are 4 vacancies on the trip. Max age 25 years old.
If you don’t qualify age wise, check out all the fixed departures that supports the communities in the Manu area. Still very good value for money and a good cause.

Meet-up / Tweet-up in Lima May 29

@Burdr tweeted a few days ago that it would be wonderful to meet every birder that one has been connected with via Twitter, Facebook or the blog and I could not agree less. When I said so in my tweet-reply, @Burdr said: Let’s all meet in Peru. It clicked as an idea. Dawn Fine has arranged meeting with birders all over the US arranging meet-ups for birders that blog, tweet or chirp. We could do something similar in Lima.

Both locals and visitors and even clients – can meet up for some birding one morning every month. I am considering Saturday mornings when my wife works. That means that my two daughters (and our maid) would be joining us. Join Gunnar, Luciana and Anahi for the first birding meet-up on May 29. I hope to be able to do a meet up once every month or other month.

The training of a new Peruvian guide.

June 15-23 there is scheduled a trip to North Peru and the land of Marvelous Spatuletail. Santos Montenegro is a local campesino who has become interested in birds and in particular the Marvelous Spatuletail. He was the guy who found the displaying Spatultetail that was recently filmed by the BBC on land that was purchased by Santos with funds acquired by Kolibri Expeditions. I recently interview Santos to feature a blog about him and how he got interested in birds. Through help from our clients we have provided Santos with birdbook, binoculars and birdcalls so that he has learnt all the birds in the area so well that local conservation organization ECOAN employed him full time. In June he has holiday and time to join us on a full tour and in July he has to decide whether or not renew the contract with ECOAN or opt to become a bird guide. June 15-23 will be crucial. If you want to be part of forming a new local guide now you know.

British Bird Fair

August 20-22 it is time for the British Birdwatching Fair. Kolibri Expeditions have participated here every year since 2002 together with PromPeru, so we are sad to learn that PromPeru will not be putting up the stand this year. There may be stand for us anyway. I am waiting in anticipation for the decision by the organizers. In any case, I think I will go. It is a unique chance to meet up with clients and business partners. Especially after the Social Media boom, this event has the potential to become a giant meet-up, where you put person to a Facebook profile. Are you going to be at the BirdFair? Shall we meet up?

The biggest day!

September 1-13 . When I write this it is spring in the northern hemisphere and teams are forming to do Birdathons and big days all over for grand causes of bird conservation. Lots of fun, lots of coffee, adrenalin and speed birding.
How about transforming the idea to a business model in the bird richest area of the world? Is it at all possible? The Biggest Day tour!
Ted Parker and Scott Robinson set the world record of 331 species from Manu in 1982 – without motorized vehicle. The idea is to try to beat it or at least get very close to it at Amigos research Center between Manu and Tambopata. The trip will work as birding workshop where the participants will learn to seperate the Amazonian birds by sight and especially call the first 8 days. Day 9 is dress rehearsal, we form teams with the leaders who include guides Antonio Coral, Alex Durand and myself. All the teams should get over 300 species . The results are collected and analyzed before the gran finale on day 12. An attempt on the world record. Now the guides form a team together with one of the participants (a raffle will be made to select the person), while the rest form one or two teams to compete against the guides. Day 13 will be dedicated for the highlights once again and to see some of the elusive vocal species. Day 14 it is back to Puerto Maldonado and flight on to Lima or Cusco. Sound like fun?

Birding in Manu with Rick Wright

Rick Wright former editor of Winging-It and director and guide for Wings, hosts the Community Manu program in September 17-24 – together with me. Rick blogs at Aimophila Adventure. This shall be a fantastic trip with the possibility to add a pelagic in Lima on September 25 and Satipo road/Carpish Community on Sep 26-Oct 3 hosted by Chris West.

Photographic project with Hadoram Shirihai.

All through October to November Hadoram Shirihai and David Beadle will travel in Peru with us on a private photographic expedition. I shall be guiding the first part in Puno, while Alex Durand does all the Manu area. At the end of the period, I shall be guiding again in Central Peru (Carpish and Satipo road).

Scarlet-banded Barbet in Sira Mountains

I have a request for a Scarlet-banded Barbet expedtion from David Matson and Dave Sargeant around Oct 22. There is a new Barbet from southern Sira mountains yet to be described – whether species or subspecies status remains to be seen. Our expedition goes from Puerto Inca further North, where there is access to the highest peaks and from where Kolibri Expeditions already has a good set-up with local contacts. Obviously we don’t know that there will be a Barbet here but since it is the same mountain range as the southern population and our site is right between that and the original site of Scarlet-banded Barbet, there is a very good chance. We get a good gradient of habitats as we reach the highest peaks of over 2000m. Other species that can be seen on this trip include the endemic Sira Tanager, (Peruvian) Horned Curassow (good species based on voice and genetic isolation soon to be split), Sharpbill, Rufous-brown Solitaire, Rufous-webbed Briliant, Creamy-bellied Antwren, White-plumed Antbird, Blue-headed Macaw, Curl-crested Aracari, Chestnut-crowned Gnateater, Wing-banded Wren and many more.

15 Antpittas – and hopefully Banded Ground Cuckoo.

In December I have set up a program that runs from Tarapoto in Peru to Quito in Ecuador and is aiming to pick up 15 species of Antpitta on the way (actually there are 17 species, of Antpittas possible I don’t want to press my luck). We already have three bookings on this trip, which include well known bird book author Klaus Malling Olsen. This will be an epic trip, with lots of endemics. It is especially suitable for those that birded Ecuador in the 90s and want to fill in the gaps as more and more sites for then elusive species have emerged. It is a completely different Ecuador for birding today. Many places have Antpittas feeders – following the success of Angel Paz and his by now world famous Giant Antpitta Maria. The tour runs Nov 28 to Dec 17, with the option to add an eastern Amazonian lowland program of 3-4 days.

That is it. Well not really… because I am also spending a week in May with the family at the beach in Piura as well as a likely holiday somewhere abroad with the family in July or August to be determined.

If you can’t join me, but still want to be birding in Peru during 2010, I suggest you take a look at our tour Calendar, where there are loads of different bird tours scheduled that you can choose from.

by Gunnar Engblom January 13, 2010 10

Young birder trips to Peru 8 days $699

Young birders - Photo: Chris West of https://swallowtailedkite.blogspot.com/.

Here is a spinn-off from our recent Peru-trip give away, in which many young birders participated, although most did not make it all the way to win a free trip. I did reserve several slots for young birders, but I had also to see what possibility the participants would have to be able to raise interest among fully paying participants. Although the social media skills were great, I felt many would have difficulty in getting friends to pay full price. I felt very sorry, considering all the hard work they put in.

Since, then I have been balling a few ideas with Young birders Chris West and Kai Reed. Maybe it would be possible to cater a trip for young birders during our low season at a special discounted price, where some of the costly private transport or expensive hotels are scaled off.
From them I understood that during spring term there would be little chance of going away if the trips were not centered around some holiday. I also understood that price was more important than comfort. This is what I have come up with. The first reactions are very positive among the young birders I have been in contact with, so it is likely that the trips will take off, in spite of the short notice.

We shall offer a birding Carpish/Satipo road program for Young birders SUB25 Feb 14-21 $699 (President’s birthday holiday) and birdwatching in Manu National Park and Amarakaeri communal reserve ~~Feb 25-March 4~~ May 17-24 $699, with possibility to do Manu road or Abra Malaga/Machu Picchu self-guided prior to start of that section. The idea is to provide affordable trips for young birders – and also prepare the communities for when more comfort demanding clients will arrive.

UPDATE: ~~We shall not fill either trip, why we offer both trips also for those birders young at heart, but older than 25 years old. Price is $120/day. An 8 day trip would therefore be only $960. Unbeatable!~~ Satipo road trip set off slightly modified with 3 people on Feb 15. The Manu trip is postponed to May 17. There are still a few vacancies.

Carpish/Satipo would be much less expensive in total than the Manu trip because no internal flight are involved.

What is the catch?

It is rainy season, which traditionally has kept birders away from Peru. However, that should not keep a birder away. The birding is still fantastic – and it beats shoveling snow any day, right!
Some of the Manu lodges are at this point abandoned, but bringing in a large group will allow for the communities to send people there to clear the clearings, which will be a bit overgrown, and making maintenance. It is likely, that not all maintenance shall be ready, but we shall also bring camping equipment to be able to stay wherever we want en route.
No extras are included. That means the flight to Cuzco is not included (we can help with purchase for best price available). Alternatively, a bus can be take to Cuzco (21 hours) from Lima, with the possibility to stop and bird in Abancay. Bus cost is about 50$. The transport to Atalaya from where the Manu trip begins is also not included. This allows for participants to either go down the Manu road with the local bus (Mo, We, Fri) and make stops or travel straight there. The bus is around 20-30 dollars.
One may travel overland back to Cuzco from Maldonado (cost 20-30 dollars) or fly to Lima or Cuzco (we can help for best price). The overland option gives some opportunity to bird around Quincemil and Marcapata.
There are no extras on the Central Peru option.

And what do you get?

Apart from the limitations above, everything else is included. You get an expert English speaking bird guide that knows all calls of the birds to separate antbirds and flycatchers. You have a cook that makes sure you get great food and drinks through-out the trip. A private boat in Manu and private car in Carpish with professional boatmen and driver.

And you should get minimum 300 species of birds with up to over 400 possible.Carpish/Satipo road is potentially more species rich as you pass through many different habitats.

Here are the links again, if you want to read more about the trips.

There will be limited space on the tours. So don’t wait too long to book. Please spread the word through your network of young birders.

Great thanks to Chris West for getting me the excellent picture for this blogpost. Check out Chris West’s blog here.

by Gunnar Engblom December 25, 2009 2

Hummingbirds in South East Peru, part 2

Hummingbirds in Manu

Here is the second installment of Hummingbirds from South East Peru. This time the Manu lowlands. Hummingbirds below 700m altitude.
Many of the photos are from Amazonia Lodge. All of them digiscoped with Vortex Nomad telescope by Alex Durand. Enjoy!

by Gunnar Engblom December 22, 2009 4

Hummingbirds in South East Peru, part 1

Hummers in Cuzco, Abra Malaga and Machu Picchu

Hummingbirds are such fantastic creatures. No closer presentation or introduction is needed. Let’s just look at a sample of all the hummingbirds that can be seen in SE Peru on a tour that includes Machu Picchu and Manu National Park.

In this first delivery I present the hummers in Cuzco with surroundings such as Huacarpay lake , Abra Malaga and Machu Picchu. The following deliveries will treat Manu Road and the Manu lowlands.
I shall do frequent updates to this post to include more photos as I get them. All pictures are clickable for larger images and contain the name of the species as you pass the cursor over it.

All pictures in this installment are made by Alex Durand with a Vortex Nomad telescope and a small Fuji pòint and shoot camera.

by Gunnar Engblom December 15, 2009 3

Kolibri News Dec 15, 2009

Golden-backed Tanager - one of the star birds possible during Kolibri Epxeditions Give-Away of 15 birding tours during 2010.

Golden-backed Tanager - one of the star birds possible during Kolibri Expeditions Give-Away of 15 birding tours during 2010.

I decided to present the full version on the Kolibri News directly on the blog today. However, the give-away of free birding trips is only for the opt-in Newsletter. If you haven’t signed up yet, do so on the right of the blog.

In this issue:

Free birding trip in Peru
Upcoming trips – Fixed departures
Blog posts by Gunnar since the last newsletter
A. Birding in Peru
B. Fascination by Mega twitches, new species to science, re-discovered species and critically threatened species.
C. Social Media for birders
Recommended external links the last month from Gunnar’s Facebook stream

Free birding trip in Peru

Last Saturday, I pulled a PR stunt, giving away 14 birding trips to Manu and Carpish/Satipo road in Peru. The give-away is still active if you follow the directions on my blog. This is not just bold advertising for my company, but more than anything else an attempt to draw attention to birding areas that have communities that can be involved in the conservation of the same and initiate eco-tourism benefiting the same communities.

To be eligible for a free trip, you need to sign-up for our opt-in newsletter – if you have not done so already (there is a form on the blog), and you need to start sharing this link https://bit.ly/8s830C where ever you can (Facebook, Forums, Blog, Twitter, Listservers for birders, Flickr, etc.). The newsletter that will be sent out to you after you have signed up will contain all the additional information and rules that you need to participate.

Fixed departures-upcoming confirmed tours.

The Kolibri Expeditions Birding Tour Calendar for 2009 is beginning to take a more final shape. Our fixed departures have been placed here. There are still a couple of tours that need to be uploaded as fixed departures so do pop in later. I imagine by the end of the week it shall be complete. The give-away hosts will be announced on Christmas Day. The fixed departures shall have both a lower price and an expert leader designated well in advance. Some tours are promotional for new areas and some are an intention to get slightly larger groups so that we can give you a better price. If you don’t find a departure to your favorite destination for your preferred dates, we can still arrange a trip for you. Just let us know your preferences.

Here are a few examples:

Satipo road – short 7 day tour FIXED DEPARTURE Guide: Jose Antonio Padilla. Before: $1085 Now: $868 based on 5 group of five people.. Support the local community at Satipo road. Birding like Manu road and several yet undescribed species. Dec 26, 2009
North Peru 1: Tumbes and pelagic FIXED DEPARTURE: One extra day in Tumbes forest (surcharge 120 US$). With pelagic from Punta Sal. Only 2 vacancies. Jan 4, 2010.
North Peru 2. Piura to Tarapoto. Featuring White-winged Guan, Marvelous Spatuletail, Crescentchest, Royal Sunangel, etc. Departure: Jan 9. More North Peru trips will be scheduled for later in the year.
Amigos SE Peru. The best birding in SE Peru. A place where you have a single base for your birding during the entire stay. 7 or 14 days. At least one departure per month leaving always on a Thursday. Can be arrange also on demand. On Sep 2, 2010 we arrange a lowland amazonian birding workshop. Learn how to separate all the Furnarides, Antbirds, Flycatchers and Woodcreepers by voice. The trip ends with a BIG day for the clients and finally on the last day an attempt for the 24h world record. Everyone should get a personal best.
Guyana, Suriname and Roraima (Guyanan Tepui area in Venezuela) 3 weeks. Start on March 27. Price to be announced. It is possible to make a shorter one or two week trip. I am working on the details and the price for this tour the coming week.
Butterfly-watching. Trip in May in Central Peru is under production. Also a the trip to Manu Communities in December with Corey Finger will include a fair bit of butterflies.

Gunnar’s blog the last three weeks.

A. Birding in Peru.

Anyone seen the Great White Shark or Willy lately. About the uncontrolled Swim-with-the-Sealions activity in front of Palomino island. From the Nov 18 “Pelagic”.
Skua and Tern ID-nuts. From the Nov 18 “Pelagic”
The Pelagic that never happened. As a pelagic the trip on Nov 18 was a bit lame, but I nevertheless managed to get three blog posts out of it, so in that respect it was quite productive! This last one, show some of the additional birds we saw.
I found the world’s most accessible Oilbird cave. Basically, just park your vehicle, walk 50 m along the road to the bridge over the gorge and look down. The oilbirds can be seen during the day, and you don’t need to enter a moldy cave where you risk getting Histoplasmosis (Caused by bat guano fungus).

B. Critically endangered species.

Slender billed Curlew – Extinct birds don’t count. Link to a great series of two posts on 10000 birds and some thoughts on that birders and especially listers ought to do more for birds that are critically endangered.

C. Social Media and Blog Carnivals for Birders

Twitter updates Nov 29, 2009. A mistake auto-created by the Twitter Tools application for the WordPress platform. While this post is a bit boring, it struck me as it could be used for a weekly summary of the Twitter activity. I just had to edit the tweets into different categories (see below for the weekly updates.)
Facebook News Feed and Live Feed. What is the difference? Customize your own News Feed. This was a bit of a revelation to me. How could I hope to engage with over 2000 friends on Facebook. Well, you can’t! But what you can try to do is to follow more intensely the ones that have been kind enough to comment anything you have posted on your wall. I created a customized newsfeed and get this to open first when I open Facebook. This post shows you how.
How to read a blog carnival and leave comments to 23 posts in 59 minutes. I and the Bird #114. This slightly provocative article questioned the value of blog carnivals. It received one of the most interesting stream of comments of all the posts I have posted on my blog.
Weekly Twitter updates Dec 7, 2009. First try of weekly summaries (see above).
Science for Dummies. Scientia Pro Publica Blog Carnival. The best Natural History and Science blogs explained to ordinary people.
Carnival of the Blue. Blog Carnival about the oceans.
Weekly Twitter updates Dec 14, 2009. Second delivery. This definitely looks more and more like a good idea. It stimulates to share even more stuff on Twitter.

by Gunnar Engblom December 12, 2009 41

Do you want to go on a birding trip in Peru for FREE?

Are you joking?

No I am not joking. I am giving away 4 trips to Manu and 10 trips to Carpish/Satipo road in Central Peru. Below the macaw-picture are the departures you can chose from:

Manu 8 days

Manu needs no presentation I think. The lowland amazonian rainforest of SE Peru is world famous. How would you like to come on a totally free birding trip from Lima. You don’t even have to pay for the flights to Cusco and back from Puerto Maldonado. Available departures on the following dates. February 21, April 3, June 27 and July 18.

Carpish/Satipo road 8 days

Central Peru is less known but is great for birding and is also very inexpensive if you want to bring a friend on your free trip. This particular promotions aims to promote the area and create a continuous demand so it will be worthwhile for the communities to set up some basic lodging. At the beginning the conditions will be basic and some camping may be needed, but at the end of the year it is hoped that no camping shall be needed and that the areas should be able to receive visitors throughout the year in the future. Departures as follow: March 17, April 29, June 1, July 6, July 27, August 12, September 25, October 19, Nov 22 and December 12

Why?

I am a tree-hugger at heart. More than a birdwatcher really. There is too much habitat destruction going on. Eco-tourism can be a sustainable way to protect habitat. But true eco-tourism is not possible if the community that lives around or in the area you’d like to conserve is excluded from the master plan. The only way in reality for conservation and true eco-tourism to be successful, is to give local communities true and immediate benefits. The projects I am involved in centre around the communities.

To highlight both to the birding world as well as the communities that there areas are important I have chosen to highlight these areas in “Fixed Departures” that run monthly. Each departure has a host who has been given a free trip. I hope that this marketing, with free trips and the social media platform to get the message across, will be a very effective way to let the world know in very short time about these new birding destinations with extremely diverse wildlife, lush forests and spectacular scenery.
Also, from the perspective of the project itself and to be successful, both areas need groups fast and frequently. Otherwise, it is likely that the communities will not bother about the conservation and the eco-tourism.

What is in it for me? Disclaimer!

Kolibri Expeditions is a small company. This PR-stunt (I don’t think anyone else have tried such a bold trip give-away earlier) should/could become almost viral (at least among birders). I hope this could get our company out of little league. We are doing a good thing. We employe Peruvian guides. We work with communities. We are environmentally concerned. We have compatible prices.

Yet, we still have had problems at the end of the year for the past three years to get it together (although 2009 looks better than many previous years). The main reason for the poor result is low sales between December and May and our fixed cost that are even through-out the year. Our staff is mainly on pay-roll with legal rights to overtime, vacation, social health care and pension. So even in our slow months we have staff to pay. There is really no reason why birders should not come to Peru all year around. You will always find more birds in Peru than in your own country in the northern hemisphere. Costa Rica and Ecuador do not shut down in the rainy season – Why should Peru do so?

To sell more trips through-out the year, Kolibri Expeditions must become better known. The give-away should help!

So what is the catch?

There isn’t much of a catch really. The trips will be totally free from Lima. , Since there are only 14 trips in total given away I shall chose those that provide the biggest value to the company. How you can supply that value to us will be treated in my next opt-in newsletter due Saturday Dec 12 (the newsletter will also be sent to anyone signing up later). This is what you need to do now to be eligable for a free birding trip in Peru.

The first thing you need to do is to sign-up to our new opt-in newletter if you have not already done so. Where? In the center column just below the big picture of a Tanager or Mr Engblom with child, there is a form to fill in. Email and Name, please! Then you will get an email telling you to click the confirmation link. That is it! You are now subscribed to the bi-weekly Kolibri Expeditions newsletter.
Is that it? No! One more thing! The idea is to use Social Media. Social media is all about sharing. Here is the link to this post that you need to share: https://bit.ly/8s830C
In order to be eligable for a free trip you need to share. The more you share, the bigger chance you have for a free trip. I am not saying you have to become a spammer, but I am sure your friends would like to know about this possibility. Even if you don’t win one of the free trips, you will by participating and sharing win a lot of Karma, so that new opportunities will be given to you for substancial discounts or other special offers or promotions.So where and how do you share? Twitter and Facebook are the two most obvious platforms and where you probably heard of this first. However, you may be participating in different forums for birders, listservers for birders, My Space, Hi5, Linked In, FriendFeed, Chatterbirds, Chirptracker, picture sharing platforms such as Flickr, Picasa, etc. Good ol’ email and blogging also works. Write your friends and write about this in your blog. I will promote cross-link on my social media platforms to your blogpost as well as some other post on your blog which should bring you some traffic
Also make sure you use all sorts of link sharing platforms such as Delicious, Digg and Stumble Upon and that you re-tweet this everytime you open this page (check the re-tweet button and digg button above-I’ll see if I can find a SU button somewhere so please come back!).
Finally, let’s mention Facebook again. You should share this link https://bit.ly/8s830C on your wall and become fan of, monitor and participate on, the Kolibri Expeditions Facebook page. Every time you do, there is a little note on your own wall, that you have posted something on Kolibri’s wall.
Do you get the picture? Social Media rocks!

That is all you need to do for now. Easy, huh?

FAQ

Q. I am not a hard core birder, I just like nature in general.Can I still participate.

A. Yes, you can! These indigenous communities can hardly make enough money, if they have to rely only on birders. Nevertheless, there is a reason why we chose to start promoting to birders. Birding is a great way to promote new area if the ornithological value is high.
You should not expect the set-up to be 100% functional when communities, completely new to the challanges of eco-tourism, are involved. However, as a birder, as long as you see a lot of birds, some hardships and things not being perfect can be dealt with. When birders will tell other birders how great an area is for birding, it rarely has to do with what food they ate , or what temperature the shower had, but what birds they have seen. In this sense birders are the cutting edge of eco-tourism – as they can withstand less than perfect comfort as long as they see the birds.
Having said this, I am keen to offer Manu departures with other themes than birding. Anyone being avid in photography, mammals, herps, butterflies or botany would have a great chance of receiving a free trip.
If you merely have a general interest in the rain forest, these trips are not for you. However, if you have a large network of contacts and feel you can generate some interest among others to see the Amazon rain forest, Giant Otter, Tapir, Macaw-lick and up to 10 species of monkeys, I would be happy to discuss the opening of some general natural history departures also during this first promotional year – and if you can recruit members to such a trip and host it – so much better as I could then supply you with a freebie.

Q. Will you repeat this in 2011r?

A. Probably not! At least not in this form directed to birders in general. Some tour operators, birding magazines and prominent bloggers may get an offer, but it is unlikely I will present it to the public in this massive way as now. It is now or never! In any case we hope by next year that we have raised enough money to increase comfort and that it shall be no problem selling the trips for a higher amount.

Q. Why don’t you spit it out? What tours are you talking about?

A. Sorry! I was carried away talking about how great the trips are without presenting them. Here they are Manu community lodges 8 days and Satipo road and Carpish. The first is a Amazonian lowland destination and the second is a cloud forest destination. The person winning the free trip would act as host for the trip.

Q. Where can I learn more about the community projects you are involved in?

A. Here are a couple of links. I realize I need soon to write an update on the advances on the Satipo road and Amarakaeri projects, but in any case these old posts give you some background.

Amarakaeri/Manu
Birdwatching in a communal reserve next to Manu
News from Amarakaeri – the communal reserve next to Manu.

Satipo road project
Outline of ideas behind Satipo road project – before trip to Mindo, Ecuador.
A marathon for conservation – A fundraising marathon and some update on the project from 2009.

Q. I want to travel with my partner. Can we both get a free trip?

A. Yes and no! The Manu trips are tied back to back with the Carpish/Satipo road trips. Although you and your friend would not get freebie to same Manu trip, your partner could ask for a freebie to the Carpish trip that follows. This may be a advantage, when it comes down to selecting the hosts. Make sure you let me know if you are a pair.

I suggest you send me lots of other questions to my email kolibriexp@gmail.com so I can deal with them in the next newsletter.

See you on the other side.

Once again this is what you need to do:

Sign-up for the newsletter on the top of the mid column -just below the Tanager photo or the photo of me and Luciana.
Share this link https://bit.ly/8s830C on Facebook and Twitter and any other Social Media platform you can think of. Don’t link directly to the trip pages, please. We don’t need to shove it down their throats.
Please don’t mention the company name in head-lines… don’t want it to appear spammy! Mentioning my name and a link to the blog should be OK, but please don’t link directly to the trip pages. Again, that would appear as too spammy in a message to many people.

Many thanks for taking part in this social media experiment.

The photo depicts 3 species of Macaws from Tambopata. The Blue and Yellow Macaw is not found on the clay lick at Manu, but the species is generarlly seen in the area. Photo Credit: Tim Ryan From the Faraway, Nearby.

by Gunnar Engblom September 22, 2009 3

Interview with GrrlScientist. Official Manu community blogger 1.

GrrlScientist - Devorah Bennnu

It is a great pleasure to me to announce that Devorah Bennu – GrrlScientist will help out promoting the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, which essentially is a protected area in continuation to Manu National Park on the other side of the river. Last week I posted updates about our strategy inviting prominent bird and nature bloggers to promote community sustainable ecotourism and act as hosts for a series of special monthly blogger departures until the end of 2010. The first trip with Devorah is coming up very soon as it is scheduled for Dec 6 (new date) so the takers can join a Satipo road trip prior to the immersion in the Amazon lowland. Read the detailed Manu itinerary.

Some bio from her Grrl Scientist’s blog.

GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her “dream” research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands and published in SCIENCE (September 2009) and NATURE (August 2009. GrrlScientist has written a blog about science since 4 August 2004. That she has a profound interest in birds is shown by her frequent column called Birds in the News. Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted) by GrrlScientist, is one of the most popular Natural History blocks on the net with several thousand hits daily.

The interview

Q. Who is GrrlScientst?

GrrlScientist is a lifelong student of nature and birds are my first, and best, teachers. For that reason, I’ve dedicated my life to learning everything I can learn about them. Birds inspire me to learn more about the world and for that reason, they motivate me to strive to be better than I am. Ever since I watched a large group of Waxwings perched on a fence on a cold and snowy January morning, carefully passing a bright red berry from one bird to the next, I’ve been fascinated by birds; their beauty, their behaviors and their ability to survive seemingly impossible circumstances.
Why do they do what they do?
How do they know where (and when) to go when they migrate?
Why are there different species in different parts of the world?
Do they perceive the world the same way that humans do?
How do birds communicate with each other?

Q. Tell me about your love of parrots?

Parrots have been my companions and my family for most of my life, so I have a strong emotional connection to them. But beyond that, I view parrots as ambassadors. They help people to understand birds, especially people who might never have looked at a bird as anything other than buffalo wings or an annoyance. Parrots — gaudy, outgoing and personable — are the one group of birds that people from all walks of life are most likely to recognize and are most often impressed by. As a result, parrots provide people with a window into the lives of birds and in doing so, they help sensitize people to all birds, they help us learn to appreciate the lives of birds and they teach us the value of protecting and preserving birds and their habitats so future generations can discover the same joys that we experience through them.

Q. What makes you a great host for the first blogger’s Manu community lodges?

I am a great host for the Manu community lodges birding expedition because of my enthusiasm, knowledge and desire to learn. I love new experiences, and birding provides that rare combination of connecting with a small group of my fellow explorers, learning more about the birdlife in a particular area of the world, and sharing the wonder and beauty of that with others through my words, photographs and other media. Because I have been writing the popular science blog, Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted), for more than 5 years, I have a well established platform where I can publish these articles, essays, photoessays and other media where the public can follow everyone’s adventures for free

Q: The communities have difficulties getting started with eco’tourism in spite of lodges be donated to them. How do you think this initiative with a birdwatching outfitter inviting bloggers can make a difference?

I really don’t know how to respond to this because I am not familiar with this situation. However, once I am there, I am certain I’ll learn more how the local communities can make eco-tourism work better for them and my blog can serve as a conduit for information exchange to this end between my readers and the local communities.

Devorah recently aspired an official blogging status for an Antarctica cruise by Quark Expeditions. The fact that she came in 3rd among 708 bloggers with over 2200 votes shows how extremely fortunate we are to have Devorah Bennu as our first official Manu blogger .

Once again, sign up NOW for a trip to the Manu area with Devorah Blennu and expert local guides from Kolibri Expeditions. Your participation will do a lot of good for the community and their efforts to conserve a piece of the Amazon and find a sustainable way of living that respects their mindset and traditions through true eco-tourism.

Oct 23

by Gunnar Engblom September 9, 2009 6

News from Amarakaeri- the communal reserve next to Manu.

Sharpbill. <i>Oxyruncus cristatus</i>. First record from Manu. Photo: Alex Durand

Sharpbill. Canopy tower at Blanco Lodge. Maybe the first record from Lowland Manu? Photo: Alex Durand

Some of you may recall my post from last year about the communal reserve Amarakaeri and how we Kolibri Expeditions were going to start using the community owned lodges in our itineraries for birders. Don’t remember? Check out this. Birdwatching in Communal reserve next to Manu.

In short:

8 indigineous communities of 3 ethnical groups Yine, Matsiguenka and and Harakmbut form the communal reserve Amarakaeri in
They receive aid for various projects in managing the reserve including the donations of at least 400.000 dollars to build 4 lodges. (I am a bit uncertain of the total,but this is more or less the money spent on building the lodges).
They formed a communal eco-tourism company called Wanamei.
Although they did get a lot of guidance and training work-shops by the funding non-profits, they still have difficulty reaching the market and providing a product that stands out compared to the many already established tour operators in the Manu area. They had no commercial partner.
And this is where Kolibri comes in. Our idea: They could become prime birdwatching lodges with trained native local resident guides. No lodge in Manu have resident guides. Eventually, they should step away from being “cheap” lodges, but rather high-end, but that is a different project all together. Birding helps the initial marketing efforts.

Disclaimer.

Although, our interest may sound altruistic, there is obviously also a thought that it will be a good business venture for Kolibri Expeditions. We currently only run some 6 birding tours per year to the Manu area and with this low volume it really does not make much sense to operate our “own” lodges. We could of course play it safe and just keep on doing what we have done so far. Most people I talk to warn me to try to work with communities. The sensible thing to do is to continue do a good job and slowly but surely through our successful trips build our reputation. For that business model we don’t need to own or manage any lodges. Kolibri needs to grow just a little bit to be able to maintain stafff of 5 full-time at the office and 5 birdguides.

To me, doing the” right and correct” becomes a bit boring. I have been told that our “rough” birding expeditions to new areas risk to spoil our reputation, as things always don’t go as planned. It is true. We are taking a risk. But it is fun to expore new areas and we can build new awareness when we visit. I sure would like to see Carpish and Satipo road as prime birding destinations in the future. If we don’t promote these areas who will? Finally, we have managed to get a conservation project started on Satipo road together with Rainforest Partnership.

Shaman Mateo and his family at Centro Medicina Tradicional (CMT). Photo: Alex Duran

Our collaboration with the Amarakaeri may or may not be a way for us to enter with our “own” operation in the Manu area. It is an alternative way that feels right. Most, if not all other commercial companies are not interested in investing in or working with the communities, as there are no guarantees for the investments they make. Many contracts have been broken and many intentions have failed in the past.

But there are facts that still make this interesting. First of all for most operators of birding tours, owning a lodge would be more of a headache than an asset. The costs are enormous and the payback slow. However, here most of the infrastructure is already there. Relatively small investments are needed that can be covered by small donations. For further development, we shall persuade conservation and sustainable development non-profit agencies and NGO:s to invest in infrastructure that will be fully owned by the communities against a committment of conservation and sustainable development. This way, the commercial risk for us will be relatively small. We will be a marketing vehicle for the communities. I have no idea if this will work, but it would be a shame not to try. If it works it shall be a feather in the cap for us and of great satisfaction. Hopefully, we shall make enough goodwill, to grow from a very small company that runs max 6 Manu trips per year, to one that runs Manu trips every week. In the process we are also helping out the local communities giving them a sustainable alternative.

Amarakaeri updates

Since I wrote the linked blogpost on Amarakaeri above, there are some important news.

I took the idea to develop these lodges to a high end lodging operation. The idea was that the lodges should eventually become highend luxury lodges, because only as such can the sustain a large number of community members and give substantial income. This would need rather large investments, but after some initial marketing as prime birding lodges it would be the logical step to take. A commercial partner from start experienced with luxury lodging would be desirable. However, soon I realized what I mentioned above. They are interested in the area, but would not like to have a partnership without having actual ownership of the investments. Therefore, I have changed strategy and now build this campaign on the social media platform and with the help of donations by NGO:s and individuals to cover necessary investments on short and medium term. RainForest Partnership of Austin, Texas that are now starting an eco-tourism/conservation project on Satipo road in Central Peru has expressed interest in this project as well.
Two of the lodges – the best ones for birding – Charro and Blanco- are deserted and not in operation as I write this. The last rains got some of the gear wet and it has been destroyed, and since there were hardly no booking, the clearing has overgrown. Cost to get them going is around 6000 US$ dollars in total. We are setting up some promotional trips from December, 2009 to raise the money needed. Kolibri is also sending a volunteer this month to get the lodges in top shape prior to our first trip. I am also looking for ways that people can donate directly.
More than half of the park is threatened by oil-exploits by Hunt Oil. Read this link now: https://digg.com/d3117ML. While there may not be much one can do about this, there should be a lot of eyes inspecting the actions and voices to be raised when/if the prospecting is too damaging. Having an alternative industry such as eco-tourism will possibly not save the reserve from oil exploition, but will ensure that it is done in the most sustainable way. Of course, for the sake of conservation and for the eco-tourism in the area, I hope that no fossil fuels will be found and that Hunt Oil will loose interest in the area. While it may be possible to actually get oil out in a sustainable way, we have yet to see examples made in practice in Peru. Hunt Oil has not got a good track record regarding the natural gas in Camisea.

In any case, many of the indigenous groups are forming resistance. The battle have just begun and your support for an alternative sustainable showcase both for the community as well as the rest of the world in more urgent than ever.

Our strategy.

Volunteers. A volunteer is initially expected to cover his/her own costs and that of a native assistant. This cost is around 20-25 dollars per day. When groups enter food costs are being covered. Eventually, when the project is running fully, volunteers will have food costs accounted for. Minimum stay is one month.
Bloggers promotional trips. We have invited some of the top nature and bird bloggers on our monthly fixed departures running from December 2009 to December 2010. Each participant on this trip automatically donates $100 to the project.
Donate directly. If you donate $100 to this project we grant you a $100 discount on your next trip with Kolibri Expeditions lasting more than 7 days. This is a win-win offer. Only valid for new bookings as of per today.

This way it should be possible to get the lodges up and running. When they are functional, they will also be more interesting for other operators using them.

What you should expect visiting the community lodges of Amarakaeri!

You should expect the unexpected! Then your mind is set at the right level. The lodges are remote and they are logistical nightmares to run. We have had some incidents that most birders would not bother too much about as long as they see birds. Some of these inconveniences listed here have happened in the past and may happen on your trip. I also supply solutions to these “disasters”.

run out of tea – drink coffee or chocolate or stock up on a secret supply.
run out of coffee – not at the same time as we ran out of tea.
shower curtain missing at Blanco Lodge – shower with your clothes on or in the dark
too few candles -bring a flashlight and plenty of batteries
no mineral water in the end and had to rely on boiled or treated water – bring purifying pills or a filter bottle just in case.
a missing towel – bring your own
a lodge did not have soap – bring your own.
the generator did not work so batteries could no be loaded – Bring plenty of batteries and consider a suncell charger. UPDATE: Kolibri has purchased a small generator.

Obviously, we will do our best to anticipate so that these problems do not happen, but if one such problem does emerge there is not much you can do except accepting the situation and make the best of it. That is why you need to have an open mind and understand that logistics here are difficult.

As for the birds you should see close to 300 species on this trip including the Macaw lick at Blanquillo. There are 12 species of primates regularly seen. Giant Otter is a speciality of the area. Tapirs are often seen in the dry season. Harpy Eagle can be seen at a nest for an additional charge of 50 US$ (this is not our operation and is paid at the spot) near Puerto Maldonado.

Your next step is to tell me when you want to go.

Carpish-Satipo road add-on.

I have already talked much about the community project on Satipo road that we are developing. By adding Satipo road and the Carpish area in Central Peru, this pretty much replace the need to do Manu road more extensively prior to the Manu trip and it saves you money. All together it will give a great and very complete 17 day trip with possibly over 600 species. One may through in a daytrip in Lima in between.

A 17 day blogger program would look something like this.

Day 0. Arriving in Lima. Some birding in Lima if time permits. Flight at 13.55 to Cusco allows to bird Huacarpay in the afternoon. Alternatively, with a very early flight you may make a one day Machu Picchu visit.

Day 1-8. Manu community lodges. On arrival in Lima some birding nearby.

Day 9. Pelagic or Lima day tour. Night bus to Satipo

Day 10-17. Satipo road and Carpish. Program forthcoming, but it would include Golden-backed Tanager, Junin Grebe, Diademed Sandpiper-Plover and White-bellied Cinclodes.

by Gunnar Engblom April 26, 2009 0

Bicolor-spined Porcupine (Coendou bicolor)

Porcupine in Manu

I just checked Birdchicks blog, where she is in Oklahoma looking for Lesser Prarie Chickens and other birds. However, today instead she is blogging about North American porcupine (Erithizon dorsatum) which is not uncommon in NW US. This caused me to remember that I still had not uploaded my crappy pictures taken with my Blackberry in Manu last year. It was my first encounter with a porcupine ever, so to me it was a major happening seeing a new mammal – as new birds are getting fewer apart on the more familiar routes that I am doing. Never to late. Here they are.

We had just visited the famous Macawlick at Blanquillo a few hours down river from Boca Manu. That morning was great with a hunting Ocelot also attaining the lick – luring to try to catch a macaw. On the way back as we canoed back I noticed a strange shape on the roots of a fallen tree in the river. I thought it was part of the roots at first, but soon realized it was some strange animal. We could approach quite near. Unfortunately, I was the only one having a camera handy – on my telephone! Apparantly, it is a good swimmer cause it was not there when another group past later.

According to Emmons “Neotropical Rain Forest Mammals” the only Porcupine in range is the Bicolor-spined Porcupine (Coendou bicolor). Normally, it should have white tips on some spines, but some are completely dark. Several days further down river there is another species – the Brazilian Porcupine (Coendou prehensilis). I don’t suppose it would swim upriver to confuse us?

1 2 Next

Change of plan