AT CAPACITY - WAIT LIST ONLY
Description: Our first herpetology and photography trip of 2025. Join us for 1 night in Iquitos, Peru, and 10 nights in the Amazon jungle at the Santa Cruz Forest Reserve and the Madre Selva Biological Station on a tour designed for reptile and amphibian lovers and photographers. Veteran Amazon trip leaders Matt Cage and Mike Pingleton will be your hosts. These trips regularly encounter over 100 species of snakes, lizards, crocodilians, turtles, geckos, frogs, toads, caecilians and salamanders. There is a good chance of seeing a bushmaster (Lachesis muta), the holy grail of Amazon herpers at both the Santa Cruz Forest Reserve, a site which has become known as “Bushmaster Central” as well as at Madre Selva, where a 3 meter (9’) individual was found in 2024. Possible rarities include the Emerald Tree Boa (Corallus batesii), the Amazon Harlequin Toad (Atelopus spumarius - regular at Madre Selva) and many others. A list of the reptiles and amphibians recorded from the two sites is available on the Project Amazonas website. There is also much to engage the interest of non-herpers as well. 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! - check out the “All Creatures” blog), and fantastic butterflies and other insects, there is no time to be bored. Where else can you find a spiny devil conehead? (Check out additional details and links on the previous trip)
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 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 prepared. To join the conversation about Amazon herp trips, visit the MT Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/MTAmazonExpeditions/) or Matt Cage’s website (www.cages.smugmug.com). Many past trip participants post regularly on these sites, so you can obtain first-hand, honest, and unfiltered information on what a trip is like. Don’t just take our word that the trips are great fun, and be sure to ask about the food.
IMPORTANT: These trips are limited to 12 participants to ensure a quality experience. They tend to fill fast (6-8 months in advance), so don’t delay in sending in a reservation and deposit.
Cost: $2100 (1st time adult rate). 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. Repeat client rate is $1900 (adult). Discounted rates are available for teens (ages 13-18 [75% of adult rate]) and pre-teens (age 12 and under [50% of adult rate}.
Itinerary: Includes the Madre Selva Biological Station (Orosa River, south bank tributary of the Amazon), and the Santa Cruz Forest Reserve (Mazan River-north of the Amazon and west of the the Napo River). The two sites are separated by a major biogeographical barrier (the Amazon River) which adds considerable additional diversity of reptiles and amphibians (and birds) over what would be seen at just one site.
21 January 2025 (Tue) - Participants should arrive in Iquitos by 2 PM if possible. Overnight in Iquitos in a standard hostal room (w A/C and hot water). For those that arrive in time, there will be an excursion on the Iquitos-Nauta road to look for herps in some specialty locations. Included will be dinner at a polleria (roast-chicken restaurant [vegetarian options are available]) in Nauta, followed by some night-time road-herping on the way back to Iquitos.
22 January 2025 (Wed) - Breakfast on the Plaza de Armas (8 AM), followed by transfer to the port of Iquitos at 9 AM for travel via speedboat to Madre Selva Biological Station (3.5 to 4 hours travel time, but with a mid-way stop). Nights of 7-10 Feb spent at Madre Selva. If necessary due to flight schedules, late arrivals can arrive on one of the early flights to Iquitos (0600 to 0630 hours) and still join the group for travel to Madre Selva.
27 January 2025 (Mon) - AM travel from Madre Selva Biological Station to the Santa Cruz Forest Reserve (~4 hours).
1 Feb 2025 (Sat) - Light breakfast at Santa Cruz, followed by travel back to Iquitos (~2 hours) with arrival by ~11 AM. Early good-bye lunch on the Iquitos waterfront, with participants free to depart Iquitos for onward destinations from ~2 PM onward.
Leader(s) & Contact:
Matt Cage or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cage150 (herp identification, photography)
Mike Pingleton (Expedition Co-Leader - herp identification, photography)
Devon Graham (MTAE - logistics, booking, payments)