Nature Lodges
12 days, US$ 5,700
May 8-19, 2022; June 24- Aug 4, 2022; September 1-14, 2022 

ToucanAre you tired of bird tours where you have to leave your plush hotel at 4 am to drive 2 hours to your birding destination? Tired of unpacking that night, only to pack your bags the next morning? Or sitting in the bushes for an hour to see some drab Antpitta because two people in the group “need” it? Would you rather listen to owls and crickets at night, than air conditioner fans, hotel plumbing and traffic?

Well, this is the tour for you. We have designed this tour to return to the joy of birdwatching-where great birds are two steps out your door. The tour is based around three new lodges in Bolivia that offer a comfortable way to visit some amazing habitats. We will calmly visit Amazonian rainforest for 4 nights in the spectacular Sadiri Lodge in Madidi National Park. Sadiri offers a spectacular cool foothill forest birding lodge, with trails that wind down into the humid rainforest. The area offers all the great jungle birds plus many of the rare foothill species hard to see (see bird list).
Cock-tailed TyrantThen as a complete contrast, we will travel to the Beni Tropical Savannah to visit the recently created Barba Azul Nature Reserve. This reserve was created to protect the most important site in the world for the Bolivian endemic Blue-throated Macaw. The site protects rare tall grass savannas in this cattle ranching country. The reserve is a sanctuary for rare and threatened tall grass species and mammals. The endangered Cock-tailed Tyrant, Sharp-tailed Tyrant, Black-masked Finch are residents in the protected tall-grass. As well the regional Streamer-tailed Tyrant and Great Pampa-Finch occur here. Along with all the hundreds of amazing Beni Savannah birds, like Toco Toucan, Greater Rhea, Long-winged Harrier, …(see bird list).

And from here we travel slightly up Bolivia’s dry Andes to stay at the Asociacion Armonia’s Red-fronted Macaw Reserve. Cool nights, clear skies; the reserve protects an important river-edge breeding cliff. This area not only has the Bolivian endemic Red-fronted Macaw, but also Bolivian endemic Cliff Parakeet, Bolivian Blackbird and Bolivian Earthcreeper. The birding is easy in this open area with tame wildlife around the breeding cliff as Andean Condor, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle, and Fawn-breasted Tanager and Andean Great Pampa-Finch in the farming fields (see bird list).