Amazon Lowlands Birding 8-Day Tour
A seven-night birding adventure to Amazon Lowlands from Iquitos.
Variety of accommodation - 5 in total - with all meals, in & around Amazon & Napo rivers.
Despite lack of elevation, a wide diversity of ever-changing eco-systems means rich avifauna.
Chance to visit Canopy Walkway at various times of day, for optimum birding.
Can depart any day, year round.
Overview
Amazon Lowlands Birding 8D: Itinerary Outline:
Day 1: Arrive in Iquitos. Transfer to hotel. Overnight at Garden House Hotel.
Day 2: Transfer to Explorama Lodge; varzea birding. Overnight at Explorama Lodge.
Day 3: Bushmaster Trail birding (terra firme). Overnight at Explorama Lodge.
Day 4: Transfer to Explornapo Lodge; local trails & nocturnal boat ride. Overnight at Explornapo Lodge.
Day 5: Napo River: oxbow lake & tributaries. Overnight at Explornapo Lodge.
Day 6: Canopy Walkway; Medicinal Trail. Overnight at ACTS Field Station.
Day 7: Dawn @ Canopy Walkway; transfer to Ceiba Tops. Overnight at Ceiba Tops.
Day 8: Ceiba Tree & Amazon River Birding; Transfer to Iquitos.
Prices
The below price is based on two passengers, sharing a room and includes accommodation, transport, all meals, & excursions with private birding guide
| Itinerary | Length | Prices From |
|---|---|---|
| Low Amazon | 8 Days | £1,769 / $2,392 |
If travelling solo, or in a larger group, please ask us for amended rates.
Itinerary
8-Day Amazon Lowlands Birding Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive Iquitos (Dinner)
Upon arrival at Iquitos Airport, you will be welcomed and transferred in a private vehicle to the Garden House, a comfortable hotel in the centre of Iquitos.
For early arrivals there will be time to walk to the banks of the Amazon to see your first Amazonian birds. In addition to the ubiquitous Greater Kiskadee and Black Vultures you are likely to see several of the more common seed finches.
In the evening, both the Plaza de Armas and the ‘Boulevard’ are great places to watch people strolling along … and imagine yourself as a great rubber baron.
Dinner (if arrival flight time permits) & overnight at Garden House Hotel (Iquitos).
Day 2: Iquitos - Explorama Lodge (All meals)
After breakfast at the hotel, it is a short car journey to the Explorama boat dock. From here you board a speedboat to take us 80 km (50 miles) down the Amazon River to Explorama Lodge - a journey of roughly 90 minutes.
Once at the lodge, you will have your first exposure to Amazonian forest birds as you search the camp grounds for the Black-fronted Nunbird and the Thrush-like Wren. Near the stream you may also see Sun Bittern.
After lunch, you will hike along the ‘Lake Trail’ looking for varzea (flood plain) specialists like the Silvered Antbird and Pale-legged Hornero.
Dinner & overnight at Explorama Lodge.
Day 3: Explorama Lodge Birding (All meals)
Before sunrise, take an early morning walk on the ‘Bushmaster Trail’, in terra firma forest, where the highest diversity of tree species of any location in the world has been discovered. With luck, a mixed flock of birds feeding over an army ant column will be found. At times these flocks have over 40 species of birds.
After breakfast, you will return to the Bushmaster Trail hoping to observe Golden-headed and Bearded Manakins on their display leks.
During the afternoon, there will be an open boat trip on the Amazon looking for river edge species like the Black-collared Hawk, Capped Heron and three species of Kingfishers. We will also search for both pink and grey freshwater river dolphins, commonly found where tributaries meet.
Dinner & overnight at Explorama Lodge.
Day 4: Explorama Lodge - ExplorNapo Lodge (All meals)
After breakfast, you will board a speedboat for a trip on the Amazon and Napo Rivers to ExplorNapo Lodge - a distance of 80km (50 miles) that takes about 1½ hours.
The trails in the rainforest reserve surrounding ExplorNapo are innumerable and offer an opportunity for birdwatching in almost every rainforest habitat. This is the best location in the world to see rarities like Nocturnal Currasow and the Black-necked Red Cotinga.
This evening you will enjoy an open boat ride in search of caiman and frogs, while listening to the night sounds. If it is a clear night, you can enjoy the overwhelming number of stars of the Southern sky.
Dinner & overnight at ExplorNapo Lodge.
Day 5: Napo River (All meals)
Early morning birding before breakfast.
Morning excursion in an open boat and hiking to a black water oxbow lake formed when water from the Napo River became separated from the main flow of the river. These lakes are often covered with giant Victoria Regia water lilies and sometimes offer a glimpse of the elusive Hoatzin bird.
Afternoon boating excursion along one of the Napo tributaries spotting for sloth, birding and having a try at fishing for piranha.
Dinner & overnight at ExplorNapo Lodge.
Day 6: Canopy Walkway; Medicinal Trail (All meals)
Early morning birding walk before breakfast.
Morning hike to the Amazon Conservatory Field Station. Here you access the Canopy Walkway, a series of suspension bridges spanning 500 m (one-third of a mile), connected by tree platforms and reaching a height of over 36 m (115 ft) above the ground. Here there is time to observe a part of the rainforest rarely seen by man.
Afternoon excursion along the ‘Medicinal and Useful Plants Trail’ where your guide will explain the uses of many of the rainforest plants.
In the late afternoon you will be back up at canopy level when the birds return to roost … and to watch the sunset from the treetops.
After dark there is the opportunity to rediscover the canopy dwellers at night and to find the phosphorescent fungi that grows on the forest leaf litter near the Canopy Walkway. When you turn off any lights, the forest floor glows like a starry sky.
Dinner & overnight at ACTS Field Station.
Day 7: ExplorNapo Lodge - Ceiba Tops (All meals)
Departure to the Canopy Walkway in time to welcome the day from high in the treetops, an unforgettable natural history experience, as mixed species flocks form and their morning chorus begins. Motmots, woodcreepers, antbirds, flycatchers, barbets, toucans and even Red-Throated Caracara add to the cacophony.
After breakfast you hike out to the Sucusari Stream and board the speedboat to take you to Ceiba Tops, a journey of roughly two hours covering 120 km (75 miles).
On arrival, you may find a Great Potoo on the short walk between the boat dock and reception.
Once checked in, private air-conditioned rooms and hot water showers gently ease you back into civilisation!
After lunch, you will visit islands that were formed at different times by the meandering Amazon River, forming unique habitats where some species of birds spend their entire lives.
On the return to Ceiba Tops you will travel close to the shore where both grey and pink dolphins are often seen, and, with luck, there will be a colourful sunset over the Amazon River.
Dinner & overnight at Ceiba Tops Lodge.
Day 8: Ceiba Tops - Iqutios (Breakfast & lunch)
Early morning birdwatching on a short walk to the huge Ceiba Tree after which the lodge is named. Many organisms spend their entire lives in this single rainforest giant.
Depending on your departure flight from Iquitos, there may be time for an open boat ride on the channels of the Amazon in front of Ceiba Tops before lunch at the lodge.
Whatever your flight time, a boat ride will return you the 40 km (25 miles) to Iquitos (which should take just under an hour).
Then a private bus will take you to the airport in time for your departure flight to Lima. Or to your Iquitos hotel.
NB. Due to the ever-changing nature of the rainforest and the levels of the rivers, day-by-day activities may vary according to local conditions.