THE REPUBLIC OF BOLIVIA 

THE EASTERN LOWLANDS, CLOUD FOREST AND HIGHLANDS 

21 DAYS 

Bolivia stretches across the widest part of the Andean mountain chain and is one of the poorest, highest and most isolated of Latin American republics. The country is as varied as it's people and ranges from steaming Amazonian rainforest, high saline lakes and high steppe desert, rolling tropical savanna to snow covered peaks and glaciers. This varied topography makes for many habitat types and consequently one of the largest bird lists for a landlocked country in the world   Bolivia has two endemic big Macaws and a flightless Grebe.  This trip is designed around Bolivian specialities and we will see a broad selection of habitats and species on this trip.  

Day 01 : International flights arrive at Viru-Viru airport in Santa Cruz early in the morning so we'll head out birding just north of the airport to some open grasslands and gallery woodland. We'll be looking for some of the following : White-bellied Northura, Red-winged Tinamou, Long-winged Harrier, Golden-collared Macaw, Bicolored Seedeater, White Woodpecker, and Greater Rhea amongst others. The afternoon we'll spend at a locality where we have had luck in the past with the strange Red-legged Seriema Here the birds we'll be looking for as well as the Seriema include Blue-crowned and Yellow-chevroned Parakeets, Picazuro Pigeon, Epaulet Oriole, Straight billed and Narrow-billed Woodcreepers, Spot-backed Puffbird. Night at our comfortable air conditioned hotel in Santa Cruz. 

Day 02 – A full day to explore the Lomas de Arena regional park. This small municipal park protects some very good habitat. In the morning we’ll work the chaco type scrub for birds which include, White-eared Puffbird, Pale-breasted and Chotoy Spinetails, Common and Greater Thornbirds, Plush-crested and Purplish Jays, White-rumped Monjita, Chaco Suriri, White-crested Elaenia, Southern Lapwing, Blue-winged Parrotlet, Campo Flicker, Great Antshrike, Mouse-colored Tyrannulet, Pearly-vented Tody-Flycatcher. After lunch and a short break at the hotel we’ll visit an area of woodland more reminiscent of Brazilian cerrado habitat where we’ll be looking for Stripe-backed Antbird, Plumbeous Seedeater, Chalk-browed and White-banded Mockingbirds and more. Night at our hotel in Santa Cruz. 

Day 03 : A full morning to pick up species we may have missed in the  savanna and chaco habitats near town. We'll pay particular attention to any Santa Cruz specialities we may have missed. In the afternoon and during the heat of the day we'll head north thru Montero to the flooded fields around Okinawa where Chestnut-capped Blackbird is common . Golden-bellied Warbler, Matto Grosso Antbird, Plain Softail and Fawn-breasted Wren inhabit the Gallery forest patches With a picnic lunch we'll be on the lookout for a variety of waterfowl, Ibis and Herons found here.   We should see Greater Rhea as well and Nacunda  Nighthawks will be overhead at  dusk. Night  at our hotel in Santa Cruz. 

Day 04: Early start for a full days birding on the road to Saimaipata. In the Andean foothills  bird the dry forest and canyons. This is a good area for Parrots and we may see any  of the following - Mitred and Green-cheeked Parakeet, Scaly-naped and Red-billed Parrot. This is also an area  where we have seen Military Macaw in the past. Other possibilities here include Plush-crested Jay, the rare Large-tailed Dove, Blue-crowned Trogon, Ocellated Piculet, Black-capped Antwren and Guira Tanager, White-backed fire-eye. In the afternoon we'll arrive at the German run and comfortable Refugio Los Volcanes and bird access road  - Glittring-bellied Emerald, Chestnut-backed Antshrike, Tatauapa Tinamou, Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner, Black-banded Woodpecker, Two-banded Warbler. 

Day 05 : Morning birding around Refugio Los Volcanes in  the dry semi-deiduous  forest. Possibilities we will be looking for include Bolivian Tapaculo, Yungas Manakin, Slender-tailed Woodstar, Buff-bellied Hermit, Blue-browed Tanager, Southern Scrub Flycatcher, Bicolored Hawk, Military Macaw, Ochre-cheeked Spinetail, Streak-throated Bush-Tyrant. The endemic Bolivian Recurvebill has been seen here too. After an early lunch we’ll haed onto Samaipata with a special stop for Masked Duck along the way. Night in Samaipata. 

Day 6 : Morning birding around Samaipata. Spot-backed Puffbird, Glittering-bellied Emerald, Red-crested Finch, Black-capped Warbling-finch, Sooty fronted and Stripe-crowned Spinetails, Ochre-faced Tody-Flycatcher, Giant Antshrike  In he afternoon we'll drive west thru Tambo to Comarapa and our hotel. If time permits we'll do some birding around Tambo in an area where we have had luck with Dusky-legged Guan White-tipped Plantcutter, Greater Wagtail-tyrant, Masked Gnatcatcher. Night in Comarapa. 

Day 07  : Morning around the cultivated  fields between Tambo and Saipina. Regular  birds to be seen include : the endemic Bolivian Earthcreeper, White-bellied Hummingbird, Stripe-crowned Spinetail, White-fronted Woodpecker, Chaco Suiriri Flycatcher, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, Cream-backed Woodpecker, Streak-fronted Thornbird, Rufous-capped Antshrike, White-bellied Tyrannulet, Narrow-billed Woodcreeper,Bay-winged Cowbird, Ringed Warbling-finch, Gray-crested  Finch, Rusty-browed Warbling-Finch, and Saffron-billed Sparrow. In the afternoon we’ll head to Saipina and some agricultural areas along the Rio Misque - here Red-fronted Macaws(endemic) , Blue-crowned Parakeets and Turquoise-fronted Amazons raid the crops. We  should see Black and Rufous Warbling-finch here as well. Night at in Comarapa. 

Day 08 : Early start for the humid temperate forest at Siberia. We'll spend all day with a picnic lunch exxploring side roads and trails. this will be our  first  introduction to  cloud forest  birding with lot's more to come  further north.  Birds we are  likely to see here include the - Giant Antshrike - largest of all Antbirds, Andean Guan,  Violet-throated Starfrontlet, Red-crested Cotinga, Tawny-rumped Tyrannulet, White-browed Conebill, Pale-footed Swallow, Pale-legged Warbler, Crested Quetzal  and Blue-winged and Chestnut-bellied Mountain-tanagers. we'll look for Great Pampa-finch  and Red-tailed Comet on the way  back to Tambo. We  may  want  to  spend the  afternoon in some dry semi deciduous habitat looking for Bolivian (endemic) and Rufous-sided Warbling-finches, speckle-breasted Thornbird and Olive-crowned Crscentchest. We also have located a roosting site  for Red-fronted Macaw if we have yet not seen it. Night in Comarapa.      

Day 09 : Very early start with a picnic breakfast. To-day we head for the pleasant city of Cochabamba. We'll stop for some early morning birding at Siberia looking for species  we may have missed. Continuing on we pass some remnant scrub Polylepis woodland - here possibilities include Giant Conebill, Gray-hooded Parakeet, Rock Earthcreeper, Andean Swift, Gray-bellied Flowerpiercer (endemic), Rufous-bellied Saltator, Wedge-tailed Hillstar,Rufous-sided and Rufous-browed Warbling-finches. We may see the very pretty Olive-crowned Crescentchest  here. We,ll stop on the high grasslands for Puna Canastero and a variety of  Miners. Continuing on we'll spend the afternoon birding a cultivated stream area where we hope to see Citron-headed Yellow-finch (endemic), Red-tailed Comet, Giant Hummingbird, Golden-breasted Flicker, Brown-capped Tit-spinetail, Black-hooded Sierra-finch  Fulvous-headed Brush-finch, Rufous-bellied Saltator, Rusty-vented Canastero Finally we descend into the fertile Cochabamba valley.  Night at hotel in Cochabamba. 

Day 10 : Early start  for the temperate forest of the yungas (cloud forest) of Chapare. We'll start at  treeline and hope to see some of the following : Undulated Antpitta, Andean Tapaculo, Great Sapphirewing, Cochabamba Thistletail (endemic), Black-eared and Black-crowned Parrot, Hooded-mountain Toucan, Chestnut-crested Cotinga, Light-crowned Spinetail and Crowned Chat-tyrant. We'll carry on to Villa Tunari rather than return to Cochabamba and if time permits stop in the upper tropical zone for low altitude Amazonian species if  time permits. Night at Hotel El Puente. 

Day 11 :  Early start for the middle elevations of the  old road to Cochabamba  road. We'll take a picnic breakfast and lunch. Possibilities include Bolivian, Sclater's and Buff-banded Tyrannulets, Yungas tody-tyrant (endemic) , Yellow-rumped Antwren, Hazel-fronted Pygmy-tyrant, Southern White-crowned Tapaculo, Hooded Tinamou, Collared Inca, Booted Raquetail, Golden-headed and Crested Quetzals, Masked Trogon,  Ochre-faced Tody-flycatcher, Saffron-crowned and Spotted Tanagers and much,much more. We'll return to El Puente in Villa Tunari for the night. 

Day 12 : We'll slowly work our  way back to Cochabamba to-day stopping at various sites along the way picking up cloud forest species we may have missed.  We'll be on the  lookout  for Amazonian Umerellabird, Cock-of- the- Rock, Black and Chestnut Eagle and lots  more. We'll arrive in Cochabamba in the early evening. Night in hotel in Cochabamba. 

Day 13 : As a complete contrast  to the previous day we'll visit a dry Andean valley above Quillacolla where stands of mature Polylepis woodland still exist. This should be an exciting days birding. Endemics are the order of the day here and we will pay special attention  to Cochabamba Mountain-finch (endemic), Wedge-tailed Hillstar (endemic), Bolivian Blackbird(endemic) and Bolivian Warbling-finch(endemic), Rufous-bellied Saltator,    other possibities include : Black-winged Ground-dove, Andean Hillstar, White-winged Black-tyrant, Tufted Tit-tyrant, Tawny-Tit-tyrant, Andean Swallow, Cinereous and Giant Conebills. We'll head up to the high puna grasslands for the local Short-tailed Finch, Streak-throated Canastero, White-winged Diuca-finch and  a variety of Ground-tyrants and Sierra-finches. We'll return to Cochabamba for the night. Hotel in Cochabamba. 

Day 14 : To-day we'll drive to the high windswept town of Oruro.  We'll take all day birding the route. our first stop will be for Bolivian Blackbird in the arid canyons west  of  Cochabmaba should we have missed it  up until now.  Brown-backed Mockingbird is here too. The rest of the days journey is through high puna grasslands and we'll bird particular areas for high altitude species such as Puna Hawk, Andean Flicker, Bright-rumped Yellow-Finch Cordilleran Canastero, Iquico Canastero, Puna Canastero, Slender-billed and Rufous-banded Miner, Mountain Parakeet and Plain-mantled Tit-spinetail. We may be  lucky and see an Ornate Tinamou. Night at Hotel International Park in Oruro. 

Day 15 : All morning birding at Lake Uru-uru. Much depends  on the water level of the lake but we should see large numbers of three species of Flamingo - Puna, Andean and Chilean. Other specialities include Andean Avocet, Puna Plover, Puna Ibis,  White-tufted  Grebe, and a variety of high Andean Waterfowl. Reed beds should hold Many-colored Rush-tyrant and Wren-like Rushbird.   We'll spend the whole morning here and  look for Plan-mantled Tit-spinetail in the desert  scrub. In the  afternoon on our way to La Paz   we’ll spend some time on the grassy plains and around a  small lake  for Tinamous, Tawny-throated Dotterel, Golden- spotted Ground-dove, Puna and Common Miner  Andean Negrito, Seedsnipe , Short-billed and Hellmayer’s Pipits and more. Well arrive in La Paz in the late afternoon and we should arrive as the last rays of the sun are illuminating the Cordillera Real and Mount Illimani which dominates La Paz. Night at  Hotel in La Paz. 

Day 16 : We'll bird  the road to Coroico to-day.  This road is spectacular and  good for  birds. We'll concentrate on the upper temperate forest  in the morning. exploring trails and side roads we expect to see some of the  folowing  species : Golden-collared Tanager, Citrine Warbler, Three-striped Hemispingus, Ochraceous-breasted Flycatcher, Black-throated Thistletail (endemic), Yungas Manakin, Black-hooded Sunbeam, Moustached Flowerpiercer, Three-striped and Supercilliaried Hemispingus Plush-cap, Orange-browed Hemispingus, Hooded and Scarlet-bellied Mopuntain Tanagers Rufous-faced Antpitta, Sword-billed Hummingbird and a wide variety of Mountain-tanagers.  We’ll head for the Apa Apa cloud forest reserve in the afternoon with some birding on the way. We’ll spend the night at the Tamaypaya Hotel in the warm sub-tropical lowlands. 

Day 17 :We'll bird the Apa Apa reserve. At these lower elevations birds we will be on the lookout for include - Chestnut-crested Cotinga, Andean Guan, Andean and White-eared Solitaires, Grass-green Tanager, Barred Becard, Plum-crowned and Black-eared Parrots. Mixed flocks will contain many species of colorful Tanagers. In the afternoon we’ll look for Cock of the Rocks by a rushing stream. Night Hotel Tamapaya 

Day 18 :We'll bird the upper temperate forest and  La Cumbre area on the way back to La Paz and should see some high altitude species such as Short-tailed Finch, Andean Tapaculo and Scribble-tailed Canastero.  Night at Hotel in La Paz. 

Day 19: Early start for the Sorata area. We'll take a picnic breakfast and with the towering snow peak of Illampu at our backs, scan a small Andean lake for Giant  Coot, Andean Coot, a  variety of waterfowl and Puna Ibis. As  we approach the dry Sorata valley we will begin to see the large stick nests of the Berschlep's Canastero an endemic restricted to this valley only, one of our target birds  to-day. We'll also search the gardens of a small village  for the spectacular Black-hooded Sunbeam (endemic).  Other possibilities include Peruvian Sierra -finch, Green-tailed Trainbearer,  Puna Hawk, Black-throated Flowerpiercer. Returning to the  shores of Lake Titicaca we'll make the near  endemic flightless Short-winged Grebe our priority and look for Plumbeous Rail, Wren-like Rushbird and Many-colored Rush-tyrant in the  reedbeds.  We plan to arrrive in La Paz early this afternoon for shopping or relaxing. Night hotel in La Paz.. 

Day 20 : To El Alto airport and connect with international flights or start the Riberalta extention. 

The town of Riberalta in the far north of Bolivia lies at the confluence of the rivers Beni and Madre de Dios, at the boundary on Pando and Beni, some 80km from the border with Brazil. It is easily reached by air from La Paz  although flights are not daily. The rare Rufous-sided Pygmy-Tyrant and Spotted Antpitta Hylopezus macularius occur here. It has been discovered that the latter sings differently from the better known population, warranting specific status as H. auricularis, which is named Masked Antpitta. 

Day 01 : Flight from La Paz to Riberalta. After cehcking into our air conditioned hotel, we’ll head for the nearby site of Hamburgo. This low-lying area of patchy riverine forest and scrub between the town and the Rio Beni, past the brick-making plants on the western edge of town. As well as the Antpitta, it holds Slender-footed Tyrannulet, Johannis' and Spotted Tody-Tyrants, Ashy-headed Greenlet and Chestnut (Purus) Jacamar. Possibilities are many here and we’ll devote the rest of the day to the locality, Sungrebe, White-wedged Piculet, Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Rusty-fronted Tody-Flycatcher, Varzea Mourner, Fawn-breasted Wren, Bicolored Seedeater, Solitary Cacique, Band-tailed Antbird, In the evening an area just outside town should produce Band-tailed Nighthawk. 

Day 02 -03 :  Pre-dawn starts and early birding on the roads to Santa Rosa and Antofogasta. Possibilities include : Four pairs of Rufous-sided Pygmy-Tyrants were present on previous trips,  White-rumped Tanagers,  White-bellied Parrots and  Horned Sungem,  Cock-tailed Tyrant , a variety of Ibis, Herons, macaws and Parrots. As the day heats up we’ll return to our hotel for a break. In the afternoon we’ll go to the nearby locality of Antafogasta which is wetter Amazonian lowland rainforest. – Possibilities include   White-browed Hawk, Leaden and Streaked Antwrens, Rufous-tailed Flatbill, Sulphur-bellied Tyrant-Manakin and Black-billed Seed-Finch, Amazonian Royal Flycatcher, Paradise Jacamar, Lettered Aracari, Long-billed Woodcreeper, White-throated Antbird and Flame-crowned Manakin. Nights in Riberalta. 

Day 04 : Flight from Riberalta to La Paz for international flights or overnight