Day 1: CUZCO TO LIMATAMBO
Today it’s basically a travel day (fly from Puerto Maldonado/Lima to Cuzco and then 2 hours by road approximately to our destination); because we are doing this trip at the beginning or ending your main Peru tour, but depending on the time we arrive to Cuzco we may be doing some birding stops along the way.
At night we can look for Koepcke’s Screech-Owl and Peruvian Pygmy-Owl and in the near-by we have seen before Buff-fronted Owl.
Overnight at Limatambo.
Day 2:LIMATAMBO TO OLLANTAYTAMBO
After a substantial breakfast at our Hotel we will go birding along the SORAYPAMPA road the whole morning.
The road holds small patch of Montane forest with some Polylepis trees where holds some very important Peruvian endemics including the very localize Vilcabamba Tapaculo (E) among others such the Apurimac Brush-Finch (E), Apurimac Spinetail (E), Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch (E), Creamy-crested Spinetail (E), White-tufted Sunbeam (E), Andean Flicker, Andean Lapwing, Peruvian Sierra-Finch, Plumbeous Sierra-Finch, Cinereous Conebill, Tit-like Dacnis, Band-tailed Seedeater, Cream-winged Cinclodes, Giant Hummingbird, Tyrian Metaltail, Golden-billed Saltator, Black-back Grosbeak, White-browed Chat-tyrant and more, if we are very lucky we might find the Pale-tailed Canastero and White-eared Puffbird.
After a field lunch we will drive to Ollantaytambo.
Overnight at Ollantaytambo.
Day 3:OLLANTAYTAMBO TO ABRA MALAGA (west slope)
Early breakfast at our Hotel and then one and a half hour drive to Abra Malaga (West slope) where we will start our descending hike birding throughout the <em>Polylepis</em> forest toward the valley, where there is a good number of Peruvian endemics and also some localize species of this interesting type of habitat and one of the best places for the Royal Cinclodes (a very localize bird species), some other species include Andean Condor, White-browed Tit-Spinetail (E), Tawny Tit-Spinetail, Line-fronted Canastero, Junín Canastero (E), Ash-breasted Tit-Tyrant (E), Puna Tapaculo, Stripe-headed Antpitta, Tit-like Dacnis, Giant Conebill, Cinereous Conebill, Blue-mantled and Olivaceous Thornbill, Thick-billed Siskin, White-winged Diuca-Finch, Plumbeous Sierra-Finch, Peruvian Sierra-Finch, Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch, Cream-winged Cinclodes and also depending on the season we could see some Ground-Tyrants, such Rufous-napped, Cinereous, Taczanowski’s, White-browed, Ochre-napped White-fronted and Puna Ground-Tyrant and also Rufous-webbed Bush-Tyrant and more.
And in the afternoon in our way back along the road we could see Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch (E), White-tufted Sunbeam (E), and Great Saphirewing including some time Andean Parakeets.
Overnight at Ollantaytambo.
Day 4: OLLANTAYTAMBO TO ABRA MALAGA (east slope)
Another early start, after breakfast we will drive one an half hours this time to the east slope of Abra Malaga where it will be a type of cloud forest mixt with bamboo (<em>chusquea</em>) and some remaining <em>polylepis</em> trees; where some species won’t be found in the Manu cloud forest road such the Cuzco Brush-Finch (E), Parodi’s Hemispingus (E), Unstreaked Tit-Tytant (E) and the Inca Wren (E); but also a great first or last chance for some that we will be looking on the Manu Road such Undulated Antpitta and Rufous Antpitta, Diademed Tapaculo, Trilling Tapaculo, Marcapata Spinetail (E), Moustached and Masked Flowerpiercer, Three-striped Hemispingus, Superciliaried Hemispingus, Chestnut-bellied Mountain-Tanager, Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager, White-browed Conebill and more.
After a field lunch we will slowly return to Ollantaytambo with some birding stops along the way where we can look for Andean Goose, Black-faced (Andean) Ibis, Gray-breasted Seedsnipe and more.
Overnight at Ollantaytambo.
Day 5: OLLANTAYTAMBO TO MACHU-PICCHU
After breakfast in our Hotel we will take the train for one and a half hours to Aguas Caliente (during the train ride will be our first chance to see Torrent Ducks, White-capped Dipper and Fasciated Tiger-Heron along the Urubamba River) where after arrival we will meet our local guide and take the bus up to the Machu-Picchu citadel for the two hours cultural tour and after that we will have a wonderful buffet lunch at the Belmond Sanctuary Lodge which is just outside of the ruins, and before heading down we will look for the Inca Wren (E) and then we take our bus down the road toward our Hotel at Aguas Caliente but we will get off the bus about half of the way down for birding the lowest section of the road and a bit along the Urubamba River toward our Hotel; where in this section we will focus in the localize Peruvian endemic Masked Fruiteater, Green-and-White Hummingbird and in the mix-species flocks we will look for Ocellated Piculet, Streak Xenops, Ashy-headed Tyrannulet, Sclater’s Tyrannulet, Plumbeous-crowned Tyrannulet, Mottle-checked Tyrannulet, Versicolored Barbet, Golden-olive Woodpecker and also we can encounter with flocks of Mitred Parakeets, Speckled-faced Parrot and Saffron-crowned Tanager, Beryl-spangled Tanager, Blue-necked Tanager, Silvery Tanager, Blue Dacnis and more.
Overnight at Aguas Caliente.
DAY 6 : MACHU-PICCHU TO CUZCO – End of the Tour.
Morning birding along the train rail toward Mandor valley where we will have second chance for some species that we could have miss the first day such the Masked Fruiteater or Ocellated Piculet, but also for some new ones like White-tipped Swift, Andean Motmot, Black-streaked Puffbird, Dusky-green Oropendola, Gray-breasted Wood-Wren, Inca Jay, Dull-colored Grassquit Short-billed Chlorospingus, if we are lucky Golden-headed Quetzal; great place for all the Tanagers such Saffron-crowned, Fawn-breasted, Blue-necked, Beryl-spangled, Bay-headed, Slaty, Blue-gray and Palm Tanager, Silver-beaked Tanager, Thick-billed and Orange-bellied Euphonia, Blue-napped Chlorophonia and more.
Also we will be looking for Fasciated Tiger-Heron, Torrent Ducks and White-capped Dippers and Torrent Tyrannulet, Black Phoebe along the Urubamba River.
After a delicious lunch at Aguas Caliente in the late afternoon we will take the train back to Ollantaytambo where will be waiting for as our bus to return to Cusco.
Overnight in Cusco.
End of the tour.
