Hi Folks
Just back from a couple of weeks in Peru. The first week was Lima and work, but the second was at a couple of lodges on the Amazonian watershed: Wayqecha (at 2700 meters, in cloud forest) and Villa Carmen, at 500 meters; not quite lowland, but noticeably much warmer and lusher than Wayqecha. I saw a couple of hundred species or so (have not counted from the checklist yet), most of which will be lifers, and almost entirely thanks to my superb guide, Ramiro Yabar. Having only one functional eye, I find birding in visually cluttered environments very demanding, and Ramiro was not just a superb birder and natural historian, he was endlessly patient and good humoured in helping me get onto the birds (even the little bastards in bamboo thickets; bloody bamboo specialists). If anyone has ambitions to see birds in the Peruvian rainforest, I would most strongly recommend him. He can be contacted at:
He was also very good and cheeful company in the evenings. I would also recommend the two lodges: the rooms were very comfortable; the food was good (very good, at Villa Carmen); they had internet; they had bars; the staff were friendly and helpful (though not many had English; the guide, Ramiro, spoke excellent english), and Villa Carmen was alive with birds. The same organisation that runs these two lodges runs a third in the true lowlands, and I am seriously thinking of a return in a couple of years.
There are extraordinary and spectacular birds to be seen there; do not miss it if you have a chance.
Kim
Kim Sterelny
Philosophy Program
RSSS, ANU
e-mail
Kim.Sterelny@anu.edu.au, Kim.Sterelny@vuw.ac.nz
ANU Contact Information
Philosophy Program
Research School of the Social Sciences
Australian National University
0200 Canberra, ACT, Australia
phone
61- (0)2 6125-2886; messages: Philosophy Program
61-(0)2 -6125 2341,
fax 61-(0)2 – 6125 3294
