Peru or Colombia by public transport (1 Viewer)

simmojunior · Jun 4, 2016

Hi everyone,

I am currently starting to think of my next adventure and thinking of taking two or three weeks off in the winter (between mid November and mid January). I went to Ecuador a few years ago and loved it so I was thinking of heading back to South America.

Does anyone know how easy it is to bird by public transport in other South American countries? I found Ecuador relatively easy by bus but do not know if it is similar in other countries? Plenty of unfinished business in Ecuador so I could return there.

I do not have a driving license and do not tend to use guides as they are expensive and like finding the birds myself.

Thanks in advance,

Oli

Ben88 · Jun 5, 2016

This excellent trip report describes how to do North Peru on public transport: http://users.ugent.be/~hmatheve/hm/PERU10.html

If you prefer to spend more time at fewer sites, you can do Manu Road without a private vehicle. There's a bus from Cuzco. You stay at two elevations - Waqecha (3000 meters) and San Pedro (1600 meters). You can cover most of the good habitat along the road by a combination of foot travel and hitchhiking. If you have more time, you can probably find a boat with extra space going from Atalaya at the end of the road to an Amazon Lodge (Pantiacolla is relatively inexpensive). I did this on my first world birding trip five years ago, and it's what got me hooked. Let me know if you want more information. However, the northern winter is the wet season there and I don't know how that would affect birding.

cajanuma · Jun 6, 2016

By and large both Colombia and Peru are fairly easy by public transport, although of course not every site will be easily reachable, especially if you aim to 'clean up' every last endemic. Lots of great sites in Colombia are quite easy to reach by bus, and an added plus is that there are many Amazonian destinations that you can fly to, and then spend a week or more birding while staying in cheap accomodations and only traveling short distances by motorbike or canoe (Mitu, Puerto Inirida, Puerto Leguizamo, etc.). The same can be said for the Chocò, you could fly to Bahia Solano from Medellin and stay cheaply in El Valle for some excellent birding (Nuqui is another alternative in the Chocò that I have not been to). The birdfinding guide to Colombia by Jurgen Beckers and Pablo Florez is particularly useful for those traveling on public transport.

simmojunior · Jun 7, 2016

Thanks Cajanuma & Ben. I think the trip report involves too much traveling around for my liking. I would prefer to visit 3 or 4 really good sites. I'll definitely look in to the other suggestions though.

temmie · Jun 7, 2016

That trip report is about northern Peru, and like it or not, if you want to see a decent set of birds in that part of the world, you have to accept to spend some time travelling.

One thing to keep in mind is that some travel times have shortened considerably, e.g. between Cajamarca and Leymebamba (largely asphalted now).

The lower you go towards the amazon or the Choco (in Colombia or Ecuador), the less sites you can visit and still see new birds every day. But some sites in the Andes of N-Peru are barely enough to spend a morning so you have to keep moving. The landscapes are stunnig nevertheless.

Ben88 · Jun 7, 2016

simmojunior said:
Thanks Cajanuma & Ben. I think the trip report involves too much traveling around for my liking. I would prefer to visit 3 or 4 really good sites. I'll definitely look in to the other suggestions though.

Let me know if you want more Manu info. One of my friends is birding the road by foot now.

Another option is to spend all your time at one Amazon lodge. Even with three weeks (or three months), you won't see everything. That's what my plan is for August. AFAIK, there aren't many lodges in the northern Amazon (dry season = northern winter) that allow you to walk to the trails without a guide. Gareno is an exception, I think.

temmie · Jun 8, 2016

Maybe interesting for both Ben and Simmo:
I spent 4 days in Amazonia and 2 days in Pantiacolla, and I absolutely loved every bit of it.

Pantiacolla can easily compete with any other lodge in the amazon + it has both foothill birds on a low ridge and lowland terra firme. There is a clay lick for Blue-headed macaws and some more parrots closeby. This was definitely the place I would have wanted to spend more time.

The 4 days in Amazonia could have been stretched to a week, but things will slow down obviously after that time. The most rewarding thing about Amazonia was for sure an antswarm with many Black-spotted Bare-eyes, Goeldi's Antbird, White-chinned Woodcreeper and to top things off a marvelous Rufous-vented Ground-cuckoo.
Most if not all of the birds in Amazonia can be had in Pantiacolla (we heard Ground-cuckoo, for example), but there is more in Pantiacolla, as it has the clay lick and has some bamboo birds + you can find stuff like Rufous-webbed Brilliant on the ridge.

Larry Sweetland · Jun 8, 2016

Looking at this with interest as trying to work this out for us too! Temmie, you mention Pantiacolla, but looking at the timing of Simmojunior's visit, wouldn't it be full on wet season in Amazonian Peru, but better to visit Amazonian sites in Colombia weatherwise?? We need to know this, as we are also planning a trip to start early in the year.

simmojunior · Jun 9, 2016

Thanks for all the comments. I may have to park Peru until I have time one summer. Do you know how much the lodges like Pantiacolla cost? I assume they'll be out of my budget.

temmie · Jun 9, 2016

I will not comment too much about the weather, but it was dry and pretty cold (friaje) in July 2012 when I was there.
(predicting Amazonian weather is like predicting Belgian weather!)

The cost for Pantiacolla is somewhere between 75 and 95 dollar / night all inclusive (pretty basic accomodation, shared showerblock, decent food). The main cost is getting there with a boat. It should be possible to arrange a boat to bring you to Pantiacolla and back (with Amazonia on the way), but while Amazonia is a 15-minute ride from the end of the Manu road to Amazonia, it is 2 hrs downstream to Pantiacolla (so 3-4 hours upstream?), thus more costly.

Birding Peru · Jun 10, 2016

Manu road is a drag in the rain season (like January-early April) and Amazonia Lodge has always been closed during this period, although this may change with the new owners. As Temmie says, you can have screwed up weather any time of year. I think temmie would agree that rainy season with daily showers is far better than hitting Manu with a friaje. If you get a shower, activity is excellent right afterwards.

So instead of hitting the lodges in the Manu area, I would go for lodges accessible from Puerto Maldonado which you can visit any time of year.

Some of the best lodges with reasonable prices are Explorer's Inn and Amigos. Also check out Saona Lodge close to Infierno, which is accessible by road and has great birding. I went there with Noah Strycker on his big year.

Gunnar

Steve Keen · Jun 11, 2016

I did Colombia by public transport for 25 days in January and it was really straightforward. Some sites, such as Santa Marta Mts, it's necessary to hire private transport to get you there, and, for example, I hired a taxi one day to target two endemics (Chestnut-winged Chachalaca and Sapphire-bellied Hummer). Even accounting for this, an occasional other "big" expense and the cost of staying at Proaves's lodges (I advise emailing them before booking - I was given a promo code that gave 35% off all the prices, which is a lot of money at their prices), the trip only cost me about £1400 (exc international flights) travelling alone, and I saw 41 endemics out of a total possible on my route of about 50.

Larry Sweetland · Jun 11, 2016

Steve Keen said:
I did Colombia by public transport for 25 days in January and it was really straightforward.

Hi Steve, did you visit any Amazonian sites on that trip?

simmojunior · Jun 12, 2016

Steve Keen said:
I did Colombia by public transport for 25 days in January and it was really straightforward. Some sites, such as Santa Marta Mts, it's necessary to hire private transport to get you there, and, for example, I hired a taxi one day to target two endemics (Chestnut-winged Chachalaca and Sapphire-bellied Hummer). Even accounting for this, an occasional other "big" expense and the cost of staying at Proaves's lodges (I advise emailing them before booking - I was given a promo code that gave 35% off all the prices, which is a lot of money at their prices), the trip only cost me about £1400 (exc international flights) travelling alone, and I saw 41 endemics out of a total possible on my route of about 50.

Great stuff Steve, did you write a trip report so I can see where you went?

Steve Keen · Jun 12, 2016

No I didn't do any Amazonian sites unfortunately, and haven't as yet got very far with a trip report, just never have the time.

Sites visited were Sta Marta and the N coast, Chestnut-capped Piha and Dusky Starfrontlet Proaves reserves, Montezuma Road, Otun Quimbaya, Rio Blanco, Bolombolo, Jardin and Parque la Florida (OK to fill a final morning). Also did Rio Claro, but not very well due to illness (did finally catch up with a Little Tinamou visual here though, and it has Oilbirds, non-tick of the trip).

I've not ruled out finishing the trip report, but in the meantime those by de Temmerman and Matheve served me best and the site guide is well worth having.

Happy to answer any questions on here (when I get the chance to get online) or by email (stevekeen7 AT live dot com).

In the process of working out whether I can realistically do northern Peru next January on the same budget!

Steve Keen · Jun 12, 2016

Apologies to Oli for stealing his thread, but what are the practicalities of doing the northern route with a small hire car?

simmojunior · Jun 18, 2016

Steve Keen said:
Apologies to Oli for stealing his thread, but what are the practicalities of doing the northern route with a small hire car?

No worries about "stealing" the thread, Steve! Looks like you might need a new thread if you want people to respond.

Colombia looks like a good plan for either this winter or one in the near future.

Steve Keen · Jun 20, 2016

Re-threaded on the Peru page and things are coming along nicely thanks Oli

Larry Sweetland · Jun 23, 2016

Just done some minimal research, and it looks to me like the answer to the OP's question (and mine!) must surely be Colombia for a long trip including Amazonian sites. Looks like the months mentioned aren't wet season for the northern Colombian Amazonian sites, eg Mitu, but are wet season for Peru's Amazonian sites.

Peru or Colombia by public transport (1 Viewer)

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