Description: A broad interest Natural History trip in October 2023. Join us for 1 night in Iquitos, Peru, and 6 nights in the Amazon jungle at the Santa Cruz Forest Reserve 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. There is a good chance of seeing a bushmaster (Lachesis muta), the holy grail of Amazon herpers at the Santa Cruz Forest Reserve, a site which has become known as “Bushmaster Central”. Possible herp rarities include the Emerald Tree Boa (Corallus batesii), and lime-green arboreal vipers (Bothrops bilineatus) and many others. 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). Should you also sign up for the subsequent Tapiche Reserve trip, we’ll give you the repeat client rate for this trip (or if you are already a repeat client, we’ll take off an additional $200.

Itinerary: We’ll be based at the Santa Cruz Forest Reserve (Mazan River-north of the Amazon and west of the the Napo River). There will be opportunity for day and night excursions on the Mazan river for bird- and mammal-watching and to search for nocturnal critters of all types.

7 Oct 2023 (Sat) - Participants should arrive in Iquitos Saturday afternoon if possible. Overnight in Iquitos in a standard hotel room (w A/C- 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 7th, try to arrive on one of the early Lima-Iquitos flights on the 8th. The first flights arrive around 6-7 AM.

8 Oct 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 Santa Cruz Forest Reserve (~2 hours total travel time.

14 Oct 2023 (Sat) - After breakfast at the field station, we’ll travel from Santa Cruz 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 ~ 3 PM onward. If you are planning on participating in the subsequent Tapiche Reserve trip, accommodations the night of 14 October are included.

Leader(s) & Contact: 

Devon Graham (MTAE - logistics, booking, payments)

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)

Description: Another herpetology and photography trip in early 2023. Join us for 1 night in Iquitos, Peru, and 11 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 the Santa Cruz Forest Reserve, a site which has become known as “Bushmaster Central”. Possible rarities include the Emerald Tree Boa (Corallus batesii), the Amazon Harlequin Toad (Atelopus spumarius) 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!), 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 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. 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: This trip is at capacity, but if you’d like to be on a wait list (in case of a cancellation), or kept updated on future trips of this nature, send us a message.

Cost: $1960 (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 $1760 (adult). Discounted rates are available for teens (ages 13-18) and pre-teens (age 12 and under). 

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 Feb 2023 (Tue) - Participants should arrive in Iquitos by 2 PM if possible. Overnight in Iquitos in a standard hotel room (w A/C- hotel is included in trip costs). Those with the energy are invited to do some afternoon and nighttime road cruising for herps outside of Iquitos (van transport included). Opportunity for a chicken dinner in Nauta (your dime) before slowly returning to Iquitos. For those who might stay in Iquitos, there are many restaurants close by the hotel.

22 Feb 2023 (Wed) - Breakfast (included) 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 23-26 Feb spent at Madre Selva. 

27 Feb 2023 (Mon) - AM travel from Santa Cruz to Madre Selva Biological Station (~4 hours). Nights of 27 Feb-3 Mar spent at Santa Cruz. 

4 Mar 2023 (Sat) - Light breakfast at Santa Cruz, followed by travel back to Iquitos (~2 hours) with arrival by ~11 AM. Early good-bye lunch (included) 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)

Description: A Natural History and Photography expedition to the Madre Selva Biological Station in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. The Amazon rainforest has so much to see and photograph that nature buffs and photographers will be challenged to take it all in. Macro-photographers, in particular will find an incredible array of fantastic insects, spiders, frogs, and flowers to test their skills on. Tele-photographers will want to focus on some of the fantastic birdlife that abounds in the area. Those wishing for more time in the Amazon can take advantage of an extension to the Santa Cruz Forest Reserve (inquire about details)

Cost and Space: US $1425 (repeat client rate = $1225). Includes airport reception and drop-off, 1 night hotel in Iquitos, all meals, lodging and fess at field stations, river and ground transportation and guides Discounted rates available for teens and pre-teens. Inquire. 

Santa Cruz extension: $595. Discounted rate available for teens and pre-teens. 

Itinerary: Visits the Madre Selva Biological Station (Orosa River, south bank tributary of the Amazon). 

Participants should arrive in Iquitos the afternoon of 11 June, or on an early flight the following morning. Overnight in Iquitos (hotel and welcome dinner included). 

12 Jun  - Transfer to port of Iquitos and travel via speedboat to Madre Selva Biological Station (3.5 hours + stops).

18 Jun - AM travel from Madre Selva back Iquitos with noon arrival and a farewell lunch on the waterfront. Participants doing the extension will travel onward to the Santa Cruz Forest Reserve in the early afternoon. For departing participants, out-bound flights can be booked anytime from mid-afternoon onward. 

22 Jun - Extension participants travel from Santa Cruz to Iquitos, arriving at noon. Departure flights can be booked anytime from mid-afternoon onward. 

Leader(s) and Contact: Devon Graham, PhD tropical biology (logistics, booking, payments, trip preparation) (devon.mtamazonexpeditions@gmail.com)