2012 Brazil Amazon Tour

TOUR OVERVIEW

The mystique of the Brazilian Amazon grabs every birder's attention, but this extraordinary rainforest seems beyond reach for many. Now that is not so true. It's possible to fly into Bogota Colombia and then from there to the border town of Leticia. After crossing the border, a 3-hour boat trip takes us to a comfortable lodge within the Heliconia Reserve of the Brazilian Amazon. This remote region of northwestern Brazil is still largely unspoiled and is home to numerous widely distributed Amazonian birds plus some species found only in this small corner of the country. During this extraordinary tour we'll spend nearly 5 full days birding unspoiled rainforest by boat and along trails. We'll also visit a poorly known parrot roost in Leticia upon our arrival the first day. A professional birding guide from Leticia will be guiding us throughout our stay.

PHOTOS OF SOME LIKELY SPECIES ON TOUR

TOUR ITINERARY

DATE	ACTIVITY	MEALS	ACCOMMODATIONS
1-Fri 08/31	Arrive in Bogota, Colombia.	D	La Casona del Patio
2-Sat 09/01	Mid-day flight from Bogota to Leticia. Afternoon bird around Leticia.	BLD	TBA
3-Sun 09/02	Transfer by boat to reserve, birding en route (3-4 hours). Afternoon birding in reserve.	BLD	Heliconia Eco-lodge
4-Mon 09/03	All day birding Heliconia Reserve.	BLD	Heliconia Eco-lodge
5-Tue 09/04	All day birding Heliconia Reserve.	BLD	Heliconia Eco-lodge
6-Wed 09/05	All day birding Heliconia Reserve.	BLD	Heliconia Eco-lodge
7-Thu 09/06	All day birding Heliconia Reserve.	BLD	Heliconia Eco-lodge
8-Fri 09/07	Morning transfer by boat to Leticia. Afternoon flight to Bogota.	BLD	La Casona del Patio
9-Sat 09/08	Travel day home.	None

TOUR MAP

TOUR DESCRIPTION

DAY 1 - TRAVEL DAY

Arrive El Dorado International Airport in Bogota and transfer to hotel. Meet and orientation at hotel in evening. Night at La Casona del Patio in Bogota.

DAY 2 - LA FLORIDA AND FLIGHT TO LETICIA

Early morning birding La Florida Park, a wetland outside Bogota. Endemics we hope to see include the endangered Bogota Rail, Silvery-throated Spinetail, Apolinar's Wren, and Rufous-browed Conebill. Afternoon flight to Leticia. Late afternoon visit parrot roost in Leticia. Night at hotel in Leticia.   Show Key Species

DAY 3 - TRANSFER TO HELICONIA RESERVE

The staff from Heliconia Eco-lodge will meet us in the morning and assist with immigration across the border into Brazil. Everyone must have proof of yellow fever vaccination, and US citizens must have a valid visa. Non-US citizens should check on visa requirements before the tour. After the border crossing, 3-hour motorized boat trip up the Amazon River and then up the Javari River, an important tributary forming the border between Brazil and Peru. En route we'll be looking for riverine and varzea specialties like Zigzag Heron, Festive Parrot, Short-tailed Parrot, Leaden Antwren, Black-tailed Antbird, as well as many other Amazonian species that can be seen during the transfer. Night at Heliconia Eco-lodge.

DAY 4-7 - HELICONIA RESERVE

We'll have 4 full days to bird the diverse habitats within the Heliconia Reserve. We'll be using a professional English-speaking birding guide who resides in Leticia during our visit. He knows where the birds are better than anyone not living in the region. Birding will be by boat along the river and backwater tributaries throughvarzea forest as well as on foot along trails through terra firme forest. The Amazon is a rich and diverse environment. Species diversity is high but numbers of many species are relatively low. Every visit produces its own surprises as well as species that are seen on nearly every tour. Of particular interest is finding the Gray Wren, as this part of the Amazon is the only place it can be found. It's possible for us to find species new to science, as 2 new as yet unnamed species have already been discovered but are not yet published from the area. Some notable target species we hope to see include Harpy Eagle (regularly seen in the area, Pale-winged Trumpeter, Pavonine Quetzal, Curl-crested Aracari, Zimmer's Woodcreeper, and Reddish-winged Bare-eye. The Amazon is a vast region and many species are found only in the higher reaches of the western Amazon. See the list of possibilities below by clicking the 'Show' button. Nights at Heliconia Eco-lodge.   Show Possible Species

DAY 8 - TRANSFER

After breakfast boat trip back to Leticia. Then mid-day flight to Bogota. Night at La Casona del Patio in Bogota.

DAY 9 - TRAVEL DAY

Tour ends with breakfast at the hotel. International flights home.

ACCOMMODATIONS DURING TOUR

HOTEL HELICONIA

Hotel Heliconia is an excellent hotel offering fine accommodations within the small town of Monteverde. It is conveniently located at the junction with the road leading up to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and the road leading down to Selvatura Skywalk and the Ecological Farm. The hotel features a fine dining room and is within walking distance of several excellent restaurants. The hotel offers professional therapeutic massage and provides indoor jacuzzi tubs for use by the guests.

Hotel rooms are well appointed and upscale. Some have balconies with views into the treetops, where birding is excellent, as well as fine views of sunsets over the valley below. Rooms feature 2 comfortable full-sized beds, private bath with bathtub as well as shower, hot water, and a ceiling fan. TOP

JIM WITTENBERGER

Jim Wittenberger developed a fascination for birding as a teenager, a passion that carried him through to a PhD in Zoology from the University of California. As a graduate student, he studied polygamous mating behavior, territorial behavior, gender differences in parental behavior, and avian song dialects of Bobolinks in eastern Oregon, leading to publication of several empirical and theoretical papers on the species. He published a variety of subsequent papers in leading scientific journals on song behavior, colonial behavior, territorial behavior, and mammalian social behavior. These culminated in publication of a far-reaching textbook he authored on the evolution of animal social behavior, which was widely received as a significant contribution to the field. He was an invited speaker at the British Animal Behavior Society meetings in Cambridge England, and his contribution became the closing chapter of the symposium proceedings. He was honored as an Elective Member of the American Ornithologists Union in 1981 and received the Harry R. Painton Award from the Cooper Ornithological Society for best paper of the year in 1983. Shortly thereafter, he decided to enter the then relatively new field of software engineering, a career he has pursued ever since. He has traveled extensively throughout the world, including to Hawaii, Alaska, the Pribilof Islands, Central America, South America, Europe, Australia, East Africa, and much of North America.

BIRDING GUIDE

We'll be using a well-trained, professional birding guide who lives in country and is very knowledgeable about the birds and birding areas covered by the tour. Our guides are adept at finding even very secretive species and are experts at identifying birds by calls and songs as well as visual field marks. We may use two guides to cover different parts of the tour.