Our plan for 2023 was already made last year: we were planning to bird the Colombian Amazon with Edwin. When we reached out, Edwin was already fully booked for the month of November. We were disappointed but happy for him that his business was prospering. Not sure where to go, I spent endless hours searching the internet for the best birding opportunity all over South America. One day, I came across a Nature Tour Operator in Bolivia called Nick's Adventures Bolivia. I did a quick check on the birds of Bolivia, a land locked nation, and was completely blown away by the lengthy list of cryptic unfamiliar exciting species and knew this was the country we should visit.
Nick's Adventures Bolivia seemed to specialize mostly in nature/wildlife-viewing type of tours but did offer a few birding packages. However, their pre-made tours listed on their website were both too short and a little out of our budget. Without much expectation, I contacted the company with my customized itinerary to see if they could work with me. For the next few weeks, the owner, Nick, worked tirelessly and patiently with me through numerous emails until we had what I thought was a perfect birding tour. The birding route was pretty much what I had in mind and the price was right (we opted to stay at basic accommodations instead of upscale ecolodges). This was our first time visiting Bolivia so we weren't sure what to expect but we knew one thing: this trip was going to be a *lifer* (or a non-birder would say, new bird) bonanza!
A week before our trip, we learned that US citizens were required to obtain a Tourist Visa to enter Bolivia and this turned out to be a real nightmare. We called the Bolivian Consulate in New York but they were nothing but rude and unhelpful. We checked the US Department of State website and their listed requirements for a Bolivian Visa were quite different from the list provided by the Bolivian Consulate website. Worried and confused, we searched the internet and found more variations of Bolivian visa requirements. Finally, we asked Nick and he sent us all the necessary documents and assured us that getting a tourist visa at the border would be pretty easy and straightforward. The night before our departure, we double-checked our documents but still could not stop worrying about us being denied entry... Needless to say, we did not sleep well that night.
November 15, 2023travel day
There was nothing good about the travel day other than the fact it was a process we had to go through to get to the promised land inhabited by mystical never-seen-before birds. Since our flight was leaving in the afternoon, we decided to take the New York City subway to get to the airport. The airport seemed less crowded and we went through check-in and security-check in a breeze. After the airline changed the departure time a few weeks ago, we had less than 2 hours to catch our connecting flight in Panama so we were quite relieved when our COPA flight left New York on time. As luck would have it, the departure gate for our connecting flight in Panama was located at the exact opposite of where our plane landed. Thankfully, it was not a huge airport so we were able to get to the gate before the boarding time. It was an overnight flight but neither of us slept much even with the aid of sleeping pills.
November 16, 2023bolivia is burning
Our plane landed at Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra at 4:30am. Nick was right. Obtaining a visa at the border was relatively quick and easy. The immigration officer for the visa was as pleasant as an immigration officer can be. She asked for the passport, return tickets, and invoice from our first hotel then took a photo and that was it. At the gate, the most important person of this trip was waiting for us with a big sign with our names and even a bigger smile on his face. Meet Saúl Arias, our bird guide extraordinaire/driver/translator/historian/naturalist/chef/security blanket among other things. He is a highly-respected ornithologist in Bolivia with over 25 years of birding experience and with advanced ecological training from Bolivia, England and the United States. To top it off, he truly was a nice person and we immediately took a liking to him.
Our tour started with a nice quick breakfast at the airport. When we came out of the airport, the very first things we noticed were the blustery wind and the very strong smell of smoke. Saúl told us that it had been extremely windy for the last few days. The smoke was caused by multiple wildfires which were said to have burned over a whopping 445,000 hectares of land. Sadly, the majority of the wildfires are caused by humans burning forests to make agricultural land and it has had a devastating effect on Bolivia's ecosystem. Reuters reports that Bolivia ranks third in the world for forest loss. The country has burned 3 million hectares of forest this year alone, 25 % of which is said to be in the protected areas. Every Bolivian we spoke to strongly agreed that wildfire was at crisis level and needed to be addressed urgently. Bolivia is a socialist country and the socialist party's main supporters are local farmers. The government is unwilling to set farmer unfriendly policy so they somehow look the other way. It is a very sticky situation but with this pace, Bolivia will have no primary forest left in the near future. Throughout the trip, we witnessed it firsthand. Mountain after mountain, there just were absolutely no trees and that bare landscape went on for miles.
We drove through the busy streets of Santa Cruz for about an hour to get to our first birding stop, Lomas de Arena Regional Park.
Before entering the Park, Saúl made a stop on a roadside since the park did not open until 8am. As soon as we got out of the car, we were bombarded by the plethora of unfamiliar peculiar feathered creatures. The new bird marathon had officially begun! We birded Lomas de Arena for 5 hours straight which felt like 5 minutes. Despite the wind gusting up to 50mph, the birding was absolutely phenomenal. High wind usually meant low bird activity but not in Bolivia. We saw over 40 species of birds, many of them lifers and this was on a slowish day. The temperature in Santa Cruz was above 100° but with the strong wind,it did not feel that hot.
Spot-backed Puffbird
Tropical Kingbird
Chopi Blackbird
Southern Lapwing
Ocellated Piculet
Eastern Kingbird
Red-crested Cardinal
Streaked Flycatcher
Purplish Jay
Squirrel Cuckoo
Burrowing Owl
Narrow-billed Woodcreeper
Cobalt-rumped Parrotlet
White Woodpecker
Lomas de Arena eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S154588857
However, the high winds probably contributed to us missing one of our major targets, Red-legged Seriema. It is a relatively large prehistoric looking bird found in dry open grassland, such as the habitat we were in. Lomas de Arenas was the only place we had a chance of seeing the bird on this trip 😭.
While looking for Seriema, our car got stuck in the sand as the area had been so dry (because of the drought) which consequently forced us to abort the search mission. Well, missing Seriema just meant we would have to come back to Bolivia one day.
En route to our next birding stop, we grab a late quick lunch at Tipico Chef located in a food court of a megamarket.
Driving in Santa Cruz de la Sierra...
It was almost 3 o'clock when we got to Santa Cruz de la Sierra Botanical Garden.
The garden was meticulously maintained and gorgeous but we had absolutely no time for plants and flowers. For the next 3 hours, we birded the botanical garden like nobody's business.
Alligator
Turtle
Little Blue Heron
Limpkin
Black-billed Thrush
Black-backed Water-Tyrant
Black-necked Stilt
Bare-faced Ibis
Rufous Hornero
Amazonian Motmot
Green Kingfisher
Neotropic Cormorant
Yellow-tufted Woodpecker
Scaly-headed Parrot
Smooth-billed Ani
Chopi Blackbird
Yellow-headed Caracara
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Guira Cuckoo
Whistling Heron
Santa Cruz Botanical Garden eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S154592295
We had a monstrous first day in Bolivia. We saw 69 species, 20 of which were lifers. Crazy good, right!? We had one more important business to take care of. We dropped by Nick's office to pay the remainder of the fee. Nick was out in the field leading his jungle tour but we met with his assistant who took care of all of our logistics.
It was almost 8pm when Saúl dropped us off at Chairu Eco Hotel just a few blocks away from Nick's office. It was a modern elegant hotel with an air conditioning unit! I bought 2 SIM cards to use with our cell phones earlier that day but couldn't make the SIM work. So I asked the front desk if they knew how to activate it. In my past experiences using SIM cards in South America, it had always been simple and straightforward, not so in Bolivia. Luckily, the young man at the front desk knew how to activate it but it took him nearly half an hour to set it all up. He had to register us as foreign guests, upload passports and speak to someone at TIGO to register us online. No way we could have done that. With the phone business taken care of, it was time to feed ourselves. We again asked the front desk and they recommended an Italian restaurant, Brunello Trattoria, next door and were glad we took their advice. The food was absolutely delicious. By that point, we were beyond exhausted: we barely slept on the plane the night before then we birded the entire day at full throttle. When we finally got back to our room, we just collapsed onto the bed.
Day 1 total species: 69, lifer: 20 (Black-backed Water-Tyrant, Chopi Blackbird, Chotoy Spinetail, Cobalt-rumped Parrotlet, Double-collared Seedeater, Gray-headed Kite, Guira Cuckoo, Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, Ocellated Piculet, Picui Ground Dove, Plush-crested Jay, Purplish Jay, Red-crested Cardinal, Rufous Hornero, Sayaka Tanager, Scaly-headed Parrot, Spot-backed Puffbird, Whistling Heron, White Woodpecker, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet)
November 17, 2023lost and found
Saúl came to pick us up at 7:30am at the hotel. We thought the 7:30am start was way too late for birding but figured we could use a little extra sleep to recharge. Today, we were driving to the renowned Refugio Los Volcanes Ecolodge about 2 hours away to have lunch and, of course, to bird. Like any other big cities, traffic at Santa Cruz was horrendous especially at morning rush hours. It took us a good hour to leave the city. En route to the lodge, we stopped at a roadside near the small town of La Angostura to look for Andean Condors. Although we did not see a Condor, we were greeted by a nice group of familiar yet interesting birds. You really can bird anywhere in Bolivia!
Roadside by La Angostura (-18.171, -63.535) eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S154660708
We arrived at the spot where we needed to be picked up by the Volcano Lodge staff. While waiting, we looked around and quickly bagged another lifer, Dusky-green Oropendola. Life was good in Bolivia!
After about 30 minutes, a young man from the lodge drove up in a 4x4 to take us to the lodge. The dirt road to the lodge was steep and rough. We could see why the lodge would do a pickup to drive their guests for this particular segment of the road. Following half an hour of bumpy ride, we arrived at the picturesque Refugio Los Volcanes Ecolodge nestled in towering canyons. This lodge is owned and operated by a family of German descent. While in Bolivia, we learned that many Germans settled in Bolivia after the war. The first order of business was lunch! The dining room was quite busy with European tourists. This lodge actually was the only place we saw foreign tourists or really any tourists. The buffet style lunch there was spectacular.
The time had come to set our foot onto the legendary tropical rainforest of Refugio Los Vocanes. Filled with hopeful anticipation, we birded the trail leading up to the mirador then back for over three hours. Unfortunately, the entire area was eerily quiet though exceptionally windy.
We caught a glimpse of some sought-after species such as Barred Forest-Falcon, Blue-crowned Trogon, Bolivian Tapaculo, and Yungus Manakin but sightings were few and far between. Certainly, the windy smoky weather condition didn't help. Saúl said that the trail generally had been very birdy but today wasn't the day. We did see a couple of beautiful Military Macaws flying above us and that saved the day (and lunch, of course 😉).
Refugio Los Volcanes eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S154660718
It was almost 6:30pm when we got back to the lodge from birding. We had another young driver to take us back to the dropoff spot. Let me tell you this young man put the pedal to the metal and flew through the forest. I'm not kidding when I say we were all bouncing up and down inside the car like tennis balls in a can. Due to some cement work, part of the road was closed and we had to walk to switch trucks. The good news was that his speedy driving cut the travel time in half, the bad news was that Noel's cell phone had gone missing! Just when Saúl was about to start the car, Noel said that he couldn't locate his cell phone. He looked through all his belongings while Saúl and I looked around the area. Noel was certain that he had it while he was in the car. So we put two and two together and were convinced that it fell out of his pocket while we were bouncing in the car. Saúl called the lodge. After some negotiations, a guy on a motorcycle agreed to come back up. Thankfully, he found the phone in the second car and this whole charade took less than an hour.
Due to the mishap with the phone, we didn't get to our hotel until after 9pm. Hotel Casa Blanca was a lovely old colonial style hotel in Samaipata. If it wasn't for the buzzing mosquitoes and cold shower, it would have been a perfect stay though the cold shower part was solely our fault (I'll explain later). We were, in fact, supposed to stay in another town closer to the Amboro National Park but there was no water in the town so Nick's office made an emergency change to have us stay in the much bigger Samaipata town. Saúl told us that it hadn't been raining for weeks and the water shortage was a major issue in this part of Bolivia, at least. Saúl actually is from Samaipata so he dropped us at the hotel to stay with his family. We walked to the town center and had a delicious dinner at La Terraza Restaurant.
Day 2 total species: 31, lifer: 8 (Barred Forest-Falcon, Bolivian Tapaculo, Dusky-green Oropendola, Golden-crowned Flycatcher, Military Macaw, Turquoise-fronted Parrot, Two-banded Warbler, Yungus Manakin)
November 18, 2023abracadabra in abra de los toros
Saúl picked us up at the hotel bright and early at 5:30am and off we went to explore the cloudforest of Amboro National Park. En route, we made a quick stop by the stream near the small village of Achiras. We were so excited to find a large group of Guira Cuckoos congregating by the stream bed. Believe it or not, we had seen Guira Cuckoos many times in New York City. They are in the Bronx Zoo's Bird House. We had dreamt of seeing them in their natural habitat and that dream came true today! The first sighting of an Andean Condor occurred here as well. I have to admit that it wasn't as awe-inspiring as I had thought it would be. For starters, the darn condor was so high up in the sky I wouldn't have been able to differentiate it from other common vultures if it wasn't for its enormous size.
Achiras eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S154662435
From our past experiences, we knew that cloudforest birding was hard. Cloudforests are generally thick and dark with trees towering over your head. Of course, the tiniest birds are always flittering on top of the tree canopy. On the ground, there are those skulking birds we always hear but rarely see. We prepared ourselves mentally as to not get too frustrated. Well, there was a big surprise waiting for us at the cloudforest of Abra de los Toros. The forest was packed with breath-taking, extraordinary, rather friendly birds! There were so many birds that we barely had time to breathe. Listen to this. We started birding before 7am and didn't stop until 5:30pm (we had both breakfast and lunch in the forest). That was 10 straight hours of birding and, of course, it felt like 10 minutes. We were utterly blown away by the quality and quantity of the birds there. Absolutely the best birding so far. Of course, having Saúl with us was the key to finding all the birds. His ability to recognize birds by ear was one of the best we had seen. Saúl was born and raised in this very area so he knew the area like the back of his hand.
Abra de los Toros
Masked Trogon
Masked Trogon
Variable Antshrike
Bolivian Brushfinch
Blue-banded Toucanet
Saffron-crowned Tanager
Green-cheeked Parakeet
Swallow-tailed Kite
Smoky-brown Woodpecker
Versicolored Barbet
Common Chlorospingus
Blue-winged Mountain Tanager
Streake-necked Flycatcher
Mountain Wren
White-eared Solitaire
Crested Quetzal
Abra de los Toros
Abra de los Toros eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S154730922
We bid farewell to the magical forest of Abra de los Toros while watching the eerie orange sun (as a result of wildfires), reminiscent of the sun we had seen during the Canadian wildfire in New York City.
On our way back to the hotel, we made a brief stop at the stream where we had seen Guira Cuckoos this morning and found a Ringed Kingsfisher and a Gray-cowled Wood-Rail. Opportunities to find birds are always abundant in Bolivia.
Achiras eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S154729199
Saúl dropped us off at the hotel around 6:30pm. We had a nice dinner at La Chakana in the town center. Before leaving the hotel for dinner, we asked Saúl to ask the front desk to check our shower. Buzzing mosquitoes were still with us at the hotel but we had a nice hot shower.
Day 3 total species: 43, lifer: 10 (Andean Condor,
Black-winged Parrot, Blue-banded Toucanet, Bolivian Brushfinch, Crested Quetzal, Green-cheeked Parakeet, Green-throated Tanager, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Versicolored Barbet, White-eared Solitaire)
November 19, 2023land where fabled parrots once flourished
Today, we were going to visit a very special hummingbird center, El Refugio de Colibríes. It is the only place in Bolivia dedicated to hummingbirds, owned and operated by our very own, Saúl Arias and his family. You can watch a YouTube video here to learn more about the center (Saúl's garden is featured in the second portion of the clip). He and his wife built the center from scratch all by themselves. Over the years, it had become a hotspot for many local and international tourists and birders. When Saúl started the center, there were only 3 species of hummingbirds coming to his feeders. Now as many as 21 species can be seen in his garden.
After breakfast at the hotel, Saúl came by to take us to his garden. Timing couldn't have been more perfect for hummingbird viewing. To local residents' delight (and to our dismay), it was raining and watching hummingbirds from his porch was a perfect way to enjoy birding on a rainy day. Hummingbirds are one of the few birds who generally stay active even in the rain.
White-vented Violetear
Sparkling Violetear
White-bellied Hummingbird
Glittering-bellied Emerald
Great-billed Hermit
Fork-tailed Woodnymph
The garden wasn't just for hummingbirds. It was also excellent for "larger" birds as well. We grabbed 7 lifers here just by watching his garden from the porch. What a place!
When the rain stopped around 10:30am, we decided to check out the area adjacent to Saúl's property and the birds just kept coming. In the end, we got a whopping 12 lifers just by birding around his property!!!
Chivi Vireo
Plush-crested Jay
Sayaka Tanager
Southern Yellowthroat
Saffron Finch
Rufous-belliled Thrush
Red-crested Finch
Creamy-bellied Thrush
Before leaving Samaipata to look for *the* bird of the trip, we had a nice lunch at La Terraza restaurant. I was going to just have Milanesa de Pollo (a popular Bolivian version of Italian dish) but Saúl urged us also to try their Sopa de Maní, a very popular dish in this region of Bolivia. As the name suggests (if you speak Spanish), it is a soup made with raw peanuts and it just didn't sound appetizing to me. With Saúl's urging, I reluctantly gave it a try and the soup instantly became my favorite Bolivian dish! I knew this was the soup I was going to have every day for the rest of the trip (or so I thought).
We started our 3-hour drive to find the must-see bird of the trip - the Red-fronted Macaw. On the way, we had to take a small detour due to the Socialist party's political rally taking place on the road.
Red-fronted Macaws are beautifully colored endemic macaws living only in the small range we were visiting. Current estimated population is about 1,000 but the macaws are still in decline due to habitat loss, illegal pet trade, persecution as a crop pest, and contamination by pesticides. We arrived at the Red-fronted Macaw Reserve just before 5pm. The reserve was created by Asociacón Armonía with the support from the American Birding Conservancy to protect the largest breeding colony of Red-fronted Macaws.
The Macaws were easy to spot with their loud shrieks, large bodies and colorful plumage. It really took our breath away watching gorgeously colored macaws flying freely in the canyon. We just stood there watching them in awe for well over an hour until the darkness came upon us.
Red-fronted Macaw Reserve eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S154819726
It was an absolutely phenomenal birding day.
We drove 1 hour to the town of Tambo. Our lodging there was a nice big comfortable cabin in a Christian Day Camp called Monteblanco. The lady who works for the kitchen prepared us a simple hearty dinner served in a large school-like lunchroom. After the dinner, we hurried back into our cabin, took a cold shower (kinda getting used to this) and were fast asleep.
Day 4 total species: 51, lifer: 16 (Andean Swift, Black-capped Warbling Finch, Bolivian Blackbird, Creamy-bellied Thrush, Glittering-bellied Emerald, Gray-crested Finch, Great-billed Hermit, Green-barred Woodpecker, Green-winged Saltator, Red-fronted Macaw, Planalto Hermit, Red-crested Finch, Slender-tailed Woodstar, Southern Yellowthroat, White-crested Tyrannulet, White-vented Violetear)
November 20, 2023comet strike in siberia!
The chef lady made us pancakes for breakfast and it was definitely by far the best breakfast we had on this trip! Our initial plan was to check out the areas around the camp for a few minutes then drive out to hit some of the hotspots around Tambo. We ended up spending an hour and a half just right outside of the camp gate. The bushy shrubby patch across the gate was unimaginably birdy with all sorts of obscure yet exquisite seed-eating creatures such as plantcutters, warbling finches, grosbeaks, saltators and sparrows.
Crowned Slaty Flycatcher
Bran-colored Flycatcher
White-tipped Plantcutter
Ringed Warbling Finch
Golden-billed Saltator
Purple-throated Euphonia
Black-backed Grosbeak
Chivi Vireo
Moss-backed Sparrow
Blue-crowned Parakeet
Greater Wagtail-Tyrant
Southern Mouse-colored Tyrannulet
Variable Antshrike
Saúl had to finally drag us out of Monteblanco to another roadside spot in Tambo. Now that we had checked out two spots, we were firmly convinced that there was no such thing as second-rate birding in Tambo. This area was as birdy but with a different set of birds.
Rufous-collared Sparrow
Glittering-bellied Emerald
White-fronted Woodpecker
Blue-and-yellow Tanager
Gray-crested Finch
White-tipped Dove
Striped Cuckoo
Bran-colored Flycatcher
Striped Woodpecker
Hepatic Tanager
Bolivian Earthcreeper
Spot-backed Puffbird
Thoroughly satisfied, we went back to Monteblanco for lunch. As we were leaving a Greater Wagtail-Tyrant was waving good-bye to us at the gate (with his tail, naturally). Everything about Tambo was dream-like, even the House Sparrows looked handsome.
Tambo eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S154851196
We arrived at the Siberia Cloudforest a little past 3pm. Roughly at 9,000 feet, the air was getting thinner and crisper. The temperature must have been around 60° but it was bone-chillingly cold with damp air and a blustering wind. It was called Siberia for a good reason. The worst of it all was the fog. The fog was so thick that seeing only a few feet away was a challenge. So putting all these conditions together birding became unfeasible. Despite the adversity, we marched into the beautiful yet inhospitable cloudforest of Siberia. The forest was dead silent except for the occasional melodious calls from Thrushes. As luck would have it, I looked down a little ravine to see if I could spot something. To my surprise, there was a tiny black bird walking on the ground. OMG, a Tapaculo! Birders have a love-and-hate relationship with this little songster and master teaser. If you get a glimpse of this bird, consider yourself lucky. I told Saúl about the Tapaculo and he suggested we hide behind the trees while he called the bird. In less than a minute, the cutest tiny black furball hopped onto a rock, looked around for a few seconds and then disappeared into the darkness.
Coundforest can make the impossible possible. Just when we thought it was impossible for the fog to get worse, it thickened. Saúl made the call to go to a lower elevation to find somewhere a little more birder friendly. We found an area clear of the fog after driving for about 10 minutes. It wasn't foggy at that moment but the wind was blowing at no less than 40mph. It was so windy that we almost had to hold onto something to not get blown away. Then we saw something bright pink/orange fly across... Oh great, hallucination must be kicking in due to the altitude. There certainly was no earthly creature we knew of adorning such vivid colors. Was that a unicorn we saw? Then Saúl yelled out "Comet!!!". Seriously? Our guide was losing his mind too!???. Saúl again shouted "Comet", pointing to the bush across the road. When we saw the hummingbird our jaws dropped. It was one of the most mystical extraordinary things we had ever seen. We were so awestruck that we stood there silently gazing at the otherworldly hummingbird until the thick fog prevented us from seeing anything at all.
We had a record-breaking birding day with 20 lifers. The best part of it, however, wasn't the quantity but the quality of birds. We stopped by a casual fried chicken joint in Comarapa for a quick dinner before settling into a basic, but comfortable, Hotel Brisas de Comarapa. This was where I made a breaking discovery 🧐. Most hotel rooms were equipped with an on/off switch on the wall that controls water temperature. In order to take a hot shower, one had to turn the switch on in addition to the controls attached to the shower head. From that moment on, we never had to take a cold shower!
Day 5 total species: 58, lifer: 20 (Andean Slaty Thrush, Black-backed Grosbeak, Blue-capped Puffleg, Blue-crowned Parakeet, Bolivian Earthcreeper, Bran-colored Flycatcher, Chiguanco Thrush, Dull-colored Grassquit, Golden-billed Saltator, Greater Wagtail-Tyrant, Moss-backed Sparrow, Red-tailed Comet, Ringed Warbling Finch, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, Striped Cuckoo, Striped Woodpecker, Stripe-crowned Spinetail, Trilling Tapaculo, White-fronted Woodpecker, White-tipped Plantcutter)
November 21, 2023land of lost finches
We had an entire day to explore Siberia today. Although the hotel didn't serve breakfast, the owner let us use the kitchen and Saúl made us a nice delicious breakfast. I told you he wore many hats. This sort of thing really makes me appreciate and love staying at small local hotels. Imagine walking into a kitchen of some major hotel chain and asking if it's OK to make our own meal in their kitchen!? They would look at you like you had completely lost your mind 🤣
Our Siberia exploration started at a lower elevation (below the clounds) to check out their legendary finches. Words cannot describe how extraordinary those finches were. This was actually our first experience that such hallmark birds of South America as tanagers took backseat to finches.
Red-tailed Comet
Fulvous-headed Brushfinch
Brown-capped Redstart
Olive-crowned Crescentchest
Rusty-browed Warbling Finch
Rufous-capped Antshrike
Golden-billed Saltator
Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant
Rufous-collared Sparrow
Great Thrush
Highland Elaenia
Sayaka Tanager
House Wren
Eared Dove
Blue-and-yellow Tanager
Blue-crowned Parakeet
Siberia Lower Slopes eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S155003021
After spending nearly 3 hours at this location, it was time for us to tackle cloudforest birding once again. By just looking up, we could see the ominous thick clouds surrounding the peaks. As suspected, the cloudforest was pretty foggy though not as bad as yesterday. We decided to walk the opposite side of the trail and, to our surprise, the surrounding forest was filled with bird calls. Saúl told us the sounds were coming from Rufous-faced Antpitta, a mega target! We heard the call pretty much at every corner of this trail. How hard could it be to see one!? Saúl said the antpitta was very difficult to see but asked us if we wanted to give it a try. We replied with a big fat YES and there begun the torture. As usual, Saúl told us to hide behind the trees and we patiently waited for the bird to show itself even for a second. There were two birds calling each other from the opposite sides of the trail. One of them sounded so close to us that we could have stepped on it if we had moved. Yet no sighting of the bird. Not even a movement nor shadow. Now Saúl sent us to sit inside the forest motionless while he called the bird. Again, it came so close to us we could almost smell it but no sighting. Later, Saúl told us that when he stepped out to answer nature's call, he saw one casually walking inside the forest. Grr... Antpitta or not, birding certainly was better than yesterday though foggy conditions did make everything much harder.
Bolivian Brushfinch
White-crested Elaenia
Speckled Nightingale-Thrush
Mountain Wren
Pale-legged Warbler
Brown-capped Redstart
White-throated Tyrannulet
Foggy in Siberia
Foggy in Siberia
Siberia Cloudforest eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S155003028
We had birded the cloudforest for over 6 hours. By that point, the forest was covered with the heavy dense fog and it was time for us to begin our drive to the next town. Check out the video below to see how it was like driving in the fog.
En route to our hotel in Pojo, we had to make a few roadside birding stops. It was around 5pm when we saw 2 Great Pampa-Finches on the road. Immediately we stopped the car to investigate and this area turned out to be a true goldmine overflowing with birds.
Siberia West Slopes eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S155012933
Finally, it was time for us to head to Pojo where we would be spending the night. When we got to Pojo, the main road to town was blocked for construction. Saúl spoke to someone there to find out the situation and was told to take the detour. So we took this dodgy looking detour where we saw a bus get stuck in sand right before us. Pojo definitely was the smallest town with a church and a town square we visited during this trip.
Saúl said that there were 2 restaurants in town and he picked the cleaner one. I don't wanna know what the other "less clean" restaurant looked like as the one we ate certainly wouldn't pass any restaurant inspection. It was easy to decide what to eat since there were only 2 things on the menu (chicken/beef and rice). Our hotel room at Alojamiento CANAAM was very basic and small but had Wifi, a hot shower (yes, I did turn the switch on) and a comfortable bed, just what we needed.
Day 6 total species: 50, lifer: 18 (Band-tailed Seedeater, Brown-capped Redstart, Brown-capped Tit-Spinetail, Fulvous-headed Brushfinch, Gray-bellied Flowerpiercer, Great Pampa-Finch, Highland Elaenia, Lined Seedeater, Mountain Caracara, Olive-crowned Crescentchest, Pale-legged Warbler, Rufous-bellied Mountain Tanager, Rufous-capped Antshrike, Rust-and-yellow Tanager, Rusty-browed Warbling Finch, Speckled Nightingale-Thrush, White-browed Brushfinch, Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant)
November 22, 2023no soup for you!
As usual, our day started at 5:30am. We were birding another cloudforest near Pojo but in a different National Park (Carrasco National Park). When we got to the park, the sky was clear and the area was birdy from the get-go. We were hopeful that the weather would stay that way but nature always had a mind of its own. Within an hour, the familiar thick fog slowly but surely started to creep in and before we knew it we were in a zero-visibility forest yet again. Saúl said that the fog was caused by the heavy rain in the Amazon. A few days before, the moisture from the Amazon rain rose into the mountains. At a certain altitude, the result is fog. It had not rained for quite some time prior to us arriving - just our luck. Foggy or not, it was still an exciting birding day.
Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager
White-crested Elaenia
Blue-capped Tanager
Giant Antshrike
Foggy Cloudforest
Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant
Stripe-crowned Spinetail
Hooded Siskin Male
Hooded Siskin Female
Carrasco Cloudforest eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S155003046
We had about 5 hours of driving to do today to get to our ecolodge in Cochabamba. We left the park before 3pm then grabbed a quick lunch at a nice clean roadside restaurant, Restaurante Copacabana, just outside of Pojo. I wanted a peanut soup but Saúl said it was only served on weekends. That didn't mean no soup, just at this restaurant, but at all the restaurants in Bolivia! Who came up with such a NUTTY(no pun intended) rule to deprive the entire nation from enjoying the delicious peanut soup 5 out of 7 days!? Anyways, I settled for chicken Milaneza and it was absolutely delicious. I could not believe the dish was just 10 BOP which was about $1.50! If I had lived in Pojo, I would have eaten here every day!
The drive to Cochabamba was long but pretty uncomplicated. Roads were much straighter than I had expected. I suppose since we were already in the highlands, there weren't any mountains to go up and down. It was almost 8pm when we got to Cochabamba. To save time, we picked up fried chicken for dinner on the way to our ecolodge. You won't believe how many fried chicken restaurants there were in Cochabamba! You don't see any American fast food restaurants but you see loads of fried chicken restaurants one after another. We arrived at El Poncho Ecolodge around 9pm. The gate was closed so Saúl rang the bell but there was no sign of human activity on the other side. After waiting for about 10 minutes, Saúl finally got ahold of the owner on the phone. He came to open the gate with his 8 dogs. It was a very eccentric hotel with an eccentric owner. I was really tired and couldn't wait to go to sleep but the owner just wouldn't stop talking. By the end of the evening, I knew his entire life history. He definitely wasn't my cup of tea.
Day 7 total species: 28, lifer: 4 (Black-throated Thistletail, Giant Antshrike, Pale-footed Swallow, Rufous-bellied Bush-Tyrant)
November 23, 2023high on birds (and coca!?)
We had to convince the lodge owner to have breakfast at 6am (we wanted 5am, he wanted 7am, settled at 6am). He, of course, had to sit with us and talk the entire time we were eating. Needless to say, I was quite happy that we were staying there only for 1 night.
Today's agenda was to explore the highly acclaimed San Miguel Polylepis Forest in Tunari National Park. Polylepis is a genus comprising of 28 recognised shrub and tree species, that are endemic to the mid- and high-elevation regions of the tropical Andes. Due to human intervention, Polylepis forests are disappearing rapidly throughout the Andes. San Miguel Polylepis Forest is one of the few that still maintains a high density of polylepis. The forest was magnificent but sadly was littered with trash.
Birding started as soon as we left town and it was jaw-droppingly amazing! While passing through local communities, Saúl told us to respect and give space to the locals as they could be and had previously been hostile to outsiders. Standing at over 10,000 feet, we started to get minor headaches, the first sign of altitude sickness. When I got sick with altitude in Colombia, I tried a coca tea which seemed to have done nothing. This time, we tried chewing on coca leaves and that somehow made our headaches disappear. I personally hated the taste and the texture of coca leaves though.
With the aid of a banned substance (coca is illegal in the US) we birded the forest for a whopping 10 straight hours with the sightings of 46 sensational species. And guess what? Those 10 hours felt like 10 minutes and you know what that meant 😉. As usual, we had an amazing field lunch - bread, cheese, jam, penut butter, cake and coffee.
Gray-hooded Parakeet
White-winged Black-Tyrant
Bolivian Blackbird
Southern-beardless Tyrannulet
House Wren
Grayish Baywing
Chiguanco Thrush
Picui Ground Dove
Green-barred Woodpecker
Rufous-sided Warbling Finch
Eared Dove
American Kestrel
Tufted Tit-Tyrant
Rusty-browed Warbling Finch
Brown-capped Tit-Spinetail
Bare-faced Ground Dove
Rufous Hornero
Brown-capped Redstart
Gray-bellied Flowerpiercer
Golden-billed Saltator
Black-chested Buzzard Eagle
Creamy-breasted Canastero
Ringed Warbling Finch
Giant Hummingbird
Variable Hawk
Band-tailed Pigeon
2 Happy Birders
The highlight was definitely seeing a Cochabamba Mountain Finch. We "accidentally" found it while looking at a Ringed Warbling Finch in a bush across a small potato field.
San Miguel Polylepis Forest eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S155401535
It was almost 5 o'clock and we really had to start our drive toward our next destination in Santa Isabel which was about 3 hours away. We unfortunately ran out of time to check out the birds at the highest altitude. So many birds so little time!
The drive to Manantiales de Fátima Ecolodge in Santa Isabel turned out to be an awful ordeal. On paper, it didn't seem too bad at just under 70 miles of mostly highway driving. After switching the highway from Route 7 to Route 4, it became an ordeal with slow trucks on this two-lane road. Unlike the MAC truck semis in the US, these trucks were smaller rigs struggling to pull overloaded hauls up the mountains. Most of them didn't go above 10mph which meant we had to pass them without regards to road markings all while avoiding collision with oncoming traffic. To make matters worse, it began to pour and of course, we had lots of fog. After 3 hours of hell, we finally reached Santa Isabel but we couldn't find the road to the lodge. As usual, Google Map proved to be totally useless. After asking some locals, we were finally able to locate the side road to the lodge. While driving on a dirt road in pitch dark in pouring rain, I saw a couple of concrete buildings with high barbed wire fences. I was praying that those weren't prisons (it turned out to be hydroelectric power plant facilities). Saúl called the lodge and was in conversation with the owner while looking for the lodge. We must have gone down the dirt road up and down at least 3 times. When we finally made it to the lodge, we were utterly exhausted. Before going to sleep, we had a nice dinner at the lodge.
Day 8 total species: 46, lifer: 12 (Andean Tinamou, Ash-breasted Sierra Finch, Bare-faced Ground Dove, Bolivian Warbling Finch, Cochabamba Mountain Finch, Creamy-breasted Canastero, Gray-hooded Parakeet, Grayish Baywing, Rufous-sided Warbling Finch, Variable Hawk, White-winged Black-Tyrant, Yellow-browed Tyrant)
November 24, 2023after rain came pandemonium
When I woke up, I could unfortunately hear the sound of rain drops. Rain is definitely bad news for birding, but if I had to pick a day for rain, I would have picked today for sure. The lodge was designed for local eco tourists and their main attraction was a zipline. There were 2 tall towers to connect both ends of wires which we used as sheltered bird viewing platforms. Also the main floor of the building was completely open so we could sit there and watch birds. It certainly didn't hurt that the lodge had a sweetest 3-month old kitten. As you can see, Noel's lap became the kitten's favorite place to nap. Saúl told me that this area was one of the rainiest places in Bolivia so the rain was expected.
Manantiales de Fátima Ecolodge
Manantiales de Fátima Ecolodge
Kitten
Noel and Kitten
Noel and Kitten
Who was I to complain if I could spot a Strong-billed Woodcreeper in the backyard and a Black-streaked Puffbird from the tower. Then a magnificent Andean Cock-of-the-Rock flew in to perch right in front of us!
Strong-billed Woodcreeper
Green Jay
Black-streaked Puffbird
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
Dusky-green Oropendola
CommonChlorispingus
As soon as the rain turned into drizzle around 11am we geared up to hit the road leading up to the forest. The forest was quiet with some interesting birds until we ran into a large flock. Now, it was all heart-pumping spine-tingling pandemonium. The first wave consisted of mainly fruiteating tanagers and barbets foraging mostly on the canopy top followed by insect eating flycatchers and woodcreepers at mid level. The problem with a large flock like this was identification. There were too many birds moving too fast preventing us from focusing on a single bird for more than a mere few moments. Witnessing a flock always is a real adrenaline rush for us though.
Red-necked Woodpercker
Channel-billed Toucan
Versicolored Barbet
Blue-winged Mountain Tanager
Orange-bellied Euphonia
Common Chlorospingus
Masked Trogon Male
Masked Trogon Female
Andean Solitaire
We returned to the lodge for a late lunch at 3pm and then we were right back at birding for more. After we got a tip from the non-birder lodge owner that she had seen a pair of Torrent Ducks down at the dam, we drove down there to investigate. Unfortunately, the road was closed due to the flash flood but we did get to see the cutest little Torrent Tyrannulets. We headed back to the cloudforest and flirted with a coy Bolivian Tapaculo who just loved to play hard-to-get. The Tapaculo never came out in the open completely but we were happy just to see the dark shape moving in the bush. We birded until sunset just like when we were little kids.
Manantiales de Fátima eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S155402793
Day 9 total species: 38, lifer: 1 (Black-streaked Puffbird)
November 25, 2023you are a ray of sunlight
After the delicious breakfast at the lodge, we headed out to nearby Laguna Corani to see some waterbirds and, more importantly, to find mystical Black-hooded Sunbeams. The only black hummingbird in this region (plus it is endemic only to Bolivia). We thought that finding a Sunbeam would require a lot of patience and luck and were ready to do whatever necessary. As soon as we got out of the car, we saw a stunning Sunbeam fluttering from flower to flower. It was quite foggy and chilly but thankfully the fog cleared within the next hour. We then drove onward to enter an area managed by the local community. Once we came through the gate, it was just a Sunbeam love-fest. There were just so many of them!
Black-throated Thistletail
Chiguanco Thrush
Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant
Black-hooded Sunbeam
Black-hooded Sunbeam
Happy Birder Selfie
After our hot date with the Sunbeams we headed to the Laguna Corani for ducks and shorebirds.
Upon arrival, it appeared the water level was pretty low at the lake but there were enough water birds to keep us occupied. It has been pretty dry in this region for quite some time. It was nice to see a flock of Chilean Flamingos chilling in the distance.
Yellow-billed Teals
Yellow-billed Pintails
White-cheeked Pintails Sleeping...
Black-necked Stilts
Neotropic Cormorants
Cream-winged Cinclodes
Laguna Corani Area eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S155403246
Before going back to Manantiales de Fátima Lodge for lunch, we made a few birding stops along Highway 4. Just like any highway but especially in Bolivia, the roadside area was littered with all sorts of garbage.
The majority of the drivers passing by gave us curious looks as we stood on the side of a busy road armed with binoculars and cameras.
To anyone's surprise, one of the roadside stops was mind-blowingly good. When we looked around, we knew why so many extraordinary birds were there. We were basically standing on a highway in the middle of a cloudforest. We were thrilled and sad at the same time to see the surreal list of species such as Bolivian Antpitta, Bolivian Brushfinch, Blue-capped Conebill and Moustached Flowerpiercer inhabiting so close to the major road because it really meant that birds were losing grounds big time to us humans.
Garbage
Spectacled Redstart
Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant
Bolivian Brushfinch
Moustached Flowerpiercer
Blue-backed Conebill
Tablas Monte Area eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S155269136
We returned to Manantiales de Fátima Lodge around 2pm for our last meal there. Saúl told us that this lodge hadn't officially been open yet and we were the first birders to stay there. They did have a group of biologists stay there before us but they were studying reptiles. That also explained why many of the facilities were still under construction. The whole family was there to bid us farewell. I have to say we really enjoyed staying there. The owner went out of her way to meet our (unreasonable) needs (ie. breakfast at 5:30am, lunch at 3pm, dinner at 9pm...) and really took care of us well. We sincerely thanked her for her generosity and kindness and wished them all the success in the future.
Before starting our drive to the town of Villa Tunari (about 2 hours away) Saúl had important business to take care of. We had to refuel his Toyota 4x4 with the diesel we had been transporting in containers. So what was the deal? Did he forget to fill up? No, we had been looking to do so at every gas station for the last 3 days but the diesel was either sold out or long line of trucks was waiting to gas up. Saúl explained to us what was causing the diesel shortage. In Bolivia, the state owned oil company buys gasoline/diesel mainly from Argentina and Chile. Due to the country's lack of US dollars and economic deficiencies and mismanagement, they are unable to make timely payments which creates massive diesel shortages. You can read more about it here. We just happened to visit Bolivia during this diesel crisis. For you conspiracy theorists, we were told by the chatty owner of El Poncho, the government was using the diesel to burn the forests. Thank heavens for Saúl's preparedness, for keeping an emergency portable diesel supply in his car.
On the way to Villa Tunari we sensed that Saúl wasn't too thrilled about going there. We had spent 10 days together so we could sort of tell each other's moods. Initially, we were supposed to spend 2 nights in Villa Tunari but we shortened the stay to 1 night with Saúl's recommendation. When he nervously mentioned that we would soon be passing a police check-point, we had to ask what the check-point was for. Basically, the area we were visiting, famously called The Chapare, is known for legal/illegal coca production and is not the safest area compared to the rest of the country. Even a Wiki page would tell you of the troubled history of coca production in the region. Growing and selling coca is legal in certain parts of Bolivia, the Chapare being one of them; however, much of the coca produced there is known to be smuggled to Colombia to manufacture cocaine. According to Saúl, the majority of the local farmers in Villa Tunari were coca farmers and were generally more aggressive and possibly violent. Saúl had experienced some non-violent troubles such as road blocks with coca farmers in the area which could still cause us massive headaches. When Saúl said the MAJORITY of the locals grew coca, we didn't believe him until we actually saw house after house drying coca leaves in their front yeards. We could see why Bolivia ranks third in coca leaf production behind Colombia and Peru. Due to aggressive coca cultivation, there is almost no primary rainforest left in the region which meant the birds of this rainforest are disappearing rapidly. After hearing about our birding history, Saúl had realized that we had seen most of the common rainforest species from our past trips in South America and it wasn't worth our time to spend too much time in the Chapare. With the lack of good primary rainforest, the chance of us seeing uncommon species was small.
We arrived at Hotel de Selva El Puente before 6pm. It was a very typical charming ecolodge with a swimming pool and an air conditioning unit. Although we were back in hot humid lowland, it was rather cool in the evening.
We drove to the town of Villa Tunari for a tasty dinner at Restaurant San Silvestre.
Day 10 total species: 37, lifer: 14 (Andean Ibis, Andean Lapwing, Black-hooded Sunbeam, Bolivian Antpitta, Chilean Flamingo, Cream-winged Cinclodes, Moustached Flowerpiercer, Silvery Grebe, Slate-colored Coot, Violet-throated Starfrontlet, White-browed Chat-Tyrant, White-tufted Grebe, Yellow-billed Pintail, Yellow-billed Teal)
November 26, 2023caves and bats
It's 5:30am and we had a big decision to make this morning. The hotel didn't serve breakfast until 8am and that was way too late for birding. We could either bird the area around the lodge or head to the national park and have a picnic breakfast there although the park did not open until 8am. We looked around the lodge and there seemed to be enough birds to keep us engaged until breakfast so we opted to stay. We did not regret the decision as we saw some interesting birds and the breakfast at the lodge was excellent.
Red-crested Ant-Tanager
Smooth-billed Anis
Chestnut-eared Aracari
Unidentified Juvenile Hawk
Black-fronted Nunbird
Speckled Chachalaca
Silver-beaked Tanager
Capuchin Monkey
Hotel de Selva El Puente eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S155293276
With a full stomach, it was time to explore Parque Nacional Carrasco. The name sounds familiar, doesn't it? That's because we had already been there on this trip. Carrasco National Park is enormous and covers various biogeographical regions. We remembered being in the cold and foggy cloudforest of Carrasco at 10,000 feet high near Pojo. This time, we were birding in hot and humid lowland rainforest covering the northwestern part of the park. This is the Amazon basin. We arrived at the park around 10am and were told to wait by the visitor center for the park ranger to take us to cross the river to see oilbirds in a cave.
There wasn't any trail around the visitor center to explore but we kept ourselves busy with ever-so secretive antbirds and antshrikes. The ranger returned from the caves at noon with a large group of young people on a school trip.
Lucky for us that the ranger helped us cross the river but left us there on our own to explore the park. Our other option would have been to bird with a bunch of non-birding teenagers. The young ranger knew to trust Saúl. Afterall, Saúl was one of the original group of ornithologists who setup the gate to the oilbird cave.
After crossing the river zipline style, we were standing in a primary rainforest eager to find any feathered soul. The forest was quiet until we encountered a large flock of birds. Guess who showed up to break up the party!? A pack of angry dogs (supposedly belonged to local coca farmers) barked incessantly at us. At the station, the ranger warned Saúl to be careful with the dogs as there had been an incident with one of the dogs biting a tourist. We quicly retreated from the barking dogs but they still managed to scare birds we were attempting to lure closer. Bolivia was filled with stray dogs and they were all harmless until now. Plus, they never interfered with our birding.
We finally reached the famous Repechon Cave, ready to meet weird and wonderful oilbirds. Well not so fast, we had to first meet not-so-wonderful bats first in 2 other caves.
We had seen oilbirds before but seeing them always leaves my mouth agape. They are just out-of-this-world bizarre and marvelous. They roost in caves during the day and eat the fruit of the forest at dusk.
Carrasco National Park Repechón Cave Area eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S155300899
We left the park around 3pm to start our long drive back to Cochabamba. Before leaving the town, we stopped at San Silvestre Restaurant to enjoy our last meal in Villa Tunari. We all had a local fish called surubí and it was absolutely delicious.
After about 4 hours of driving we arrived at our hotel, Hotel Anteus, in Cochabamba to spend our last evening in Bolivia. We purposely left tomorrow free so we could pick a place with the highest probability of seeing the birds we had missed. It was quite difficult to decide on a perfect last birding spot. We tentatively had decided to check out the highest part of San Miguel Polylepis Forest as we had run out of time before getting to the highest elevation. It was a bitter sweet evening. We were sad that it was our last night in Bolivia but were happy to have seen so many amazing birds.
Day 11 total species: 35, lifer: 3 (Plain-winged Antshrike, Variegated Flycatcher, White-chinned Woodcreeper)
November 27, 2023save the best for the last
Our last day in Bolivia started with rain. Luckily, the hotel had an amazing breakfast buffet to lift our spirit. At the breakfast table, we were still debating where to go. Saúl, in the end, convinced us to try a new area around the high Andean village of Vacas as he thought we had a good chance of seeing quite a few new species there. Our domestic flight to Santa Cruz was leaving at 6:30pm so we had a fair amount of hours left for birding.
By the time we drove past the town of Arani the rain fortunately stopped. During our ascent to Vacas which stood at over 12,000 feet, Noel yelled out "Mockingbird"! This was the near endemic Mockingbird we had been looking for! We immediately stopped the car to locate the mockingbird. The bird was perched proudly on top of a large cactus waiting to be found. While enjoying the stunning close-up view of the mockingbird, Saúl found another lifer, Streak-fronted Thornbird! We had never seen a Thornbird let alone a Streak-fronted Thornbird! It was safe to say we were off to a good start. What did I tell you? Saúl knew the best.
Road from Arani to Vacas eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S155344095
From that point on, we birded like there was no tomorrow. Oh wait, there was no tomorrow for us in Bolivia 😭 Birding in Vacas was truly magical, one of the best in Bolivia. It was unreal when we spotted an Andean Flicker sitting on the ground staring right at us. The Mockingbird and the Flicker were two birds we were discussing in the car the other day where we could possibly see them. Exceptional birding wasn't the only thing Vacas offered. The desolate landscape surrounding Vacas was breath-takingly beautiful. We also got a little glimpse into the lives of indigenous Andean people. Saúl said that the people followed a traditional way of life and many of them only spoke their native language of Quechua.
Queen of the Andes
Rufous-naped Ground-Tyrant
Puna Ibis
American Kestrel
Andean Flicker
Grayish Baywing
Turkey Vultures
Black-winged Ground Dove
Rufous Hornero
Saffron Finch
Chilean Flamingos
Andean Gull
Yellow-billed Teal
Vacas eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S155403279
We were having grand old time at nearly 13,000 feet in the air but everyone seemed to be forgetting something. We had a plane to catch. I had to be the bad guy to tell Noel and Saúl that we had to leave on time. I gave them a hard deadline to leave Vacas. We would have easily spent many more hours there on any other day but I had to put my foot down. It pained me that we only had a cursory to the draught ravaged lake. We actually did find a lifer we had previously missed, Andean Gull. Luck of rain is real and often changes what we will be seeing versus what is usually expected.
On the way to the airport, we stopped by a supermarket to do last minute souvenir shopping for folks back home. Thanks to me 😉 we got to the airport by 4:30pm. There already was a long line of people waiting to check-in. Honestly, I was fairly nervous about taking a Boliviana de Aviación flight due to the countless negative reviews I had read online. There was a yelling situation at the counter ahead of us but police were called and thankfully that incident did not affect our check-in.
We sincerely thanked Saúl and said good-bye at the gate. The flight to Santa Cruz was short and uneventful. We had a long wait at the Santa Cruz International Airport to catch our flight back to New York. We used the waiting time to check our eBird listings and the photos. Before you knew it, it was time to board our plane.
Day 12 total species: , lifer: 9 (Andean Flicker, Andean Gull, Black-winged Ground Dove, Brown-backed Mockingbird, Puna Ibis, Rufous-naped Ground-Tyrant, Rufous-webbed Bush-Tyrant, Streak-fronted Thornbird, White-fronted Ground-Tyrant)
Epilogue
Oh what a trip it was! I had expected to see many new birds but not of this magnitude. I would have laughed in your face if you had told me before our trip that nearly half the birds would be lifers. I feel so fortunate and privileged to have a bird guide as extraordinary as Saúl Arias. In addition to his birding expertise, he taught us so much about Bolivian people, culture, tradition, food, land, nature, politics and much more. He was always kind, hard-working, passionate, and respectful. I have a strong belief that a bird guide can make or break a birder's vacation. Obviously, Saúl MADE our trip. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you Saúl and also everyone at Nick's office. Hope we meet again in THE LAND OF MYTHICAL FINCHES.
Bolivia eBird Trip Report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/171843
total species: 291, lifer: 135
