Note: This itinerary is sometimes run in a different order due to lodge availabity, but all sites will still be visited.

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Day 1: Arrival in Lima

The tour begins this evening in Lima. Our hotel is located next to the airport, so you can be checking in a few minutes after clearing customs.

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Day 2: Lima to Huembo Lodge

In the morning, we shall take a short flight to Jaén in northern Peru, from where we will make the final journey to Huembo Lodge by road, arriving in the afternoon. Depending on flight schedules, we may have time for some hummingbird photography in the afternoon.

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Day 3: Marvelous Spatuletail (Huembo)

For many this day will be central to the whole reason for signing up on the tour, as we will be based at the only place in the world to photograph the Marvelous Saptuletail, an absurdly gorgeous hummingbird that is frequently spoken of as the most beautiful hummingbird on Earth. Ordinarily it is hard to find, let alone photograph, but at this relatively new lodge, this spectacular hummingbird is a daily visitor to the feeders, and will be the center of our attentions all day long. We will use multiflash techniques to get the very best photographs possible of this flagship species. Other species that are likely to feature too are Bronzy Inca, White-bellied Hummingbird, White-bellied and Little Woodstars, Andean Emerald, Silvery Tanager, Streaked Saltator, and White-sided Flowerpiercer.

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Day 4: Huembo to Owlet Lodge

After another morning at Huembo, we'll drive an hour or two to Owlet Lodge, located in the huge Abra Patricia bird reserve. We will be greeted with the sight of hummingbirds right on the doorstep of this wonderful lodge, where species like Chestnut-breasted Coronet, Emerald-bellied Puffleg, Bronzy Inca, and White-bellied Woodstar can all count themselves as regular. Four nights will be spent at the comfortable Owlet Lodge, surrounded by beautiful cloudforest.

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Days 5-6: Owlet Lodge

On these days, the main focus will be on the many hummingbirds that visit the lodge feeders. We will use multiflash techniques to ensure we all get perfectly crisp photos of species mentioned before, in addition to Lesser and Sparkling Violetears, Speckled Hummingbird, Long-tailed Sylph, and the outrageous Sword-billed Hummingbird. In between bouts of hummingbird photography, we may also get photos of other birds that come through the area as part of mixed feeding flocks, which could include colorful species like tanagers, with Saffron-headed, Blue-and-black, White-capped, and Yellow=scarfed just some of the many species occurring in this, one of the world’s most biodiverse spots.

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Day 7:  Alto Nieva

This private reserve is close to, but downslope from, Owlet Lodge, and possesses another set of exciting hummingbird feeders, which attract some of the same species as Owlet Lodge, but some different ones too due to the altitudinal change. Most notably it includes the chance for the deep blue Royal Sunagel, a rare and local hummer near impossible to photograph elsewhere. Along with this species we will try to photograph the beautiful Amethyst-throated Sunangel, Greenish Puffleg, Peruvian Racket-tail, Rufous-vented Whitetip and Violet-fronted Brilliant. There are plentiful other birds in the area, and some on-the-fly photography could produce woodcrepeers, warblers, flycatchers, tanagers, and more.

 

Day 8: Owlet Lodge to Arena Blanca

After some final shooting around the lodge at Abra Patricia, we shall head east to the small private reserve of Arena Blanca. This small reserve has a brand new lodge conveniently located in the forest, where we plan to stay for two nights. The lodge is very small, so for larger groups we may have to stay at another lodge in the area.

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Day 9: Arena Blanca Reserve
Arena Blanca has large, wooden blind built for photographing shy forest understory birds including Rufous-breasted Wood-Quail, Cinereous and Little Tinamous, and Orange-billed Sparrow. The fruit feeders can  be incredible active and give us the chance for the endemic Black-bellied Tanager along with others like Magpie Tanager, Speckled Chachalaca, Golden-bellied Euphonia, and sometimes even monkeys. Hummingbird feeders and flowering plants attract a constant stream of hummingbirds too, with Wire-crested Thorntail often being the star of the show. Mixed species flocks often come through the main clearing of the reserve along with the occasional surprise like Red-ruffed Fruitcrow and Fiery-capped Manakin.

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Day 10: Huembo to Waqanki Lodge

After another morning at Arena Blanca, we'll continue east to Waqanki Lodge, not far from the city of Moyobamba. Waqanki  quickly rose to prominence for the superb birding in the foothills of the Andes, and its amazing hummingbird feeders, which attract not only hundreds of individuals, but sometimes double figures in terms of species, many of which will be different from those found at our higher elevation sites visited earlier on the trip. We will settle into this excellent lodge for a two-night stay, still needing ample memory card space to deal with yet another hummingbird onslaught!

 

Day 11: Hummingbirds of Waqanki Lodge

This is an excellent location for hummingbirds; feeders are placed at various heights in multiple directions, and many of them are free from the forest shade that dominates so many potentially good feeders at other sites in the World. Of course, we will also try multiflash methods too to get those “frozen” shots, but the wonderful natural light and open nature of the feeders at Waqanki makes it well worth photographing without the aid of flash too. We will have plentiful time to try both at length. The species on offer are dazzling, and include widespread species like White-necked Jacobin, Brown Violetear, Violet-headed Hummingbird, Black-throated Mango, and Fork-tailed Woodnymph, but also less common species that are unlikely to be photographed away from Waqanki, like Great-billed and Black-throated Hermits, the incredible Rufous-crested Coquette, Gray-breasted Sabrewing, Golden-tailed Sapphire, and Sapphire-spangled Emerald. Other non-hummigbirds that may pose for our lenses include White-vented and Purple-throated Euphonias, Black-faced Dacnis, Blue Dacnis, and Black-bellied Tanager, among many other possibilities.

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Day 12: Waqanki to Tarapoto; fly to Lima. DEPARTURE

On the final day of the tour, we shall drive to Tarapoto airport in order to take flights back to Lima, arriving in the afternoon in time for international departures in the late evening. Depending on flight schedules, there may be some final time at Waqanki to grab a few last shots before departure. Those taking the extension will spend this night in the airport hotel in Lima.