Description: A broad interest Natural History trip in May 2023 at the height of high water in much of the Amazon. Join us for 1 night in Iquitos, Peru, and 6 nights in the Amazon jungle at the Madre Selva Biological Station on a tour designed for lovers of nature and photographers. We will focus activities to cater to the interests of participants, whether that be bird-watching, herpetology, botany, photography or something else. These trips regularly encounter well over 120 species of birds, along with dozens of species of snakes, lizards, crocodilians, turtles, geckos, frogs, toads, caecilians and salamanders. When it comes to colorful or amazing insects or arachnids, there is no way to keep count. Those with a botanical bent will have no shortage of plants to admire, from tiny saprophytic Voyria flowers to giant ceiba trees. You can even visit an undescribed species of Retrophyllum - a 100+ foot tall conifer known only from Madre Selva. One of the special herp rarities at Madre Selva is the harlequin toad (Atelopus spumarius), but there are good possibilities of seeing coral snakes (and their mimics), as well as 30 to 50 other species of frogs, lizards, crocodilians and snakes. A list of the reptiles and amphibians recorded from the two sites is available on the Project Amazonas website. Whatever your interests, there is much to enjoy. The birding is fantastic, the vegetation is incomparably diverse, and with both pink and gray river dolphins, marmosets, many other small mammals (bigger ones are there too, but hard to spot!), and fantastic butterflies and other insects, there is no time to be bored. Where else can you find a spiny devil conehead?
Participants have the opportunity to hike or kayak on your own, or with a guide, both day and night. We prioritize immediate access to great habitats at the field stations. Hear a weird frog or bird call at 4 AM? Get up and look for it!. Want to hit the trails at 6 AM for early morning birding? Fresh coffee will already be on.
Cost: $1445 (1st time adult rate) (repeat client rate = $1245. This includes airport reception and drop-off, 1 night hotel in Iquitos (at beginning), all meals, lodging and fees at field stations, river and ground transportation, field station fees, guides and crew services. Discounted rates are available for teens (ages 13-18) and pre-teens (age 12 and under).
Itinerary: We’ll be based at the Madre Selva Biological Station (Orosa River-south of the Amazon about 125 km east of Iquitos). There will be opportunity for day and night excursions on the Orosa river for bird- and mammal-watching and to search for nocturnal critters of all types.
6 May 2023 (Sat) - Participants should arrive in Iquitos Saturday afternoon if possible. Overnight in Iquitos in a standard hotel room w A/C and hot water (hotel is included in trip costs). We’ll have dinner together on the waterfront, and go over plans for the following week. If it is difficult to arrange flights to arrive on the 6th, try to arrive on one of the early Lima-Iquitos flights on the 7th. The first flights arrive around 6-7 AM.
7 May 2023 (Sun) - Breakfast (included) on the Plaza de Armas (7 AM), followed by transfer to the port of Iquitos at 8 AM for travel via speedboat to the Madre Selva Biological Station (~4 hours total travel time, but with a stop along the way.
13 May 2023 (Sat) - After breakfast at the field station, we’ll travel from Madre Selva to Iquitos, with a stop at Isla de los Monos, a primate rehabilitation center, along the way. After a final group meal on the waterfront, you’ll be free to head to the airport (transfers included) for departure from Iquitos, from ~ 4 PM onward. If you are planning on participating in the Santa Cruz Forest Reserve extension, accommodations the night of 13 May are included.
Santa Cruz Extension (14-17 May: $575)
*14 May 2023 (Sun) - After breakfast in Iquitos, we’ll take speedboat to a port downriver on the Amazon, followed by a short overland motokar ride to the Napo River, and then another boat ride up to the Santa Cruz Forest Reserve on the Mazan River. Total travel time is 2 to 2.5 hours. At Santa Cruz, we’ll hike inland to the field station (porters will be available). This will be our base for exploration for the following days. Station manager Emerson Torres will be the host on site.
*alternatively, we can arrange for extensioners to go directly to Santa Cruz on 13 May, rather than returning to Iquitos.
17 May 2023 (Wed) - After breakfast at Santa Cruz, we’ll do the reverse trip to Iquitos. There will be opportunity to revisit the Isla de los Monos if you are interested.
Leader(s) & Contact:
Devon Graham (MTAE - logistics, booking, payments)