There are a few small villages along the road that are receptive to talks about conservation. Kolibri Expeditions has been using the village school at Apaya village as base during camp nights in the area and at every visit we enforce the message that conserving the forest is their best asset for the future. The lower areas can be accessed from Satipo, where there are hotels.

But the paradise may soon be lost. On my recent visit, the chain-saw noise competed with the birdsong. Areas are being cleared for pastures and agriculture and even the steepest slopes where such practices are impossible have been burnt in some areas. But the trend could be halted by a conservation project with this novel approach.

Key project activities are the following.

• Take the community leaders on an overland trip to Mindo in Ecuador to broaden their horizons. Mindo has changed over the last 10-15 years from being a place where forest was cut down to become cattle farms to become today a place where people invest in eco-lodges and private reserves. It is today a million dollar center of eco-tourism industry.
  Many good examples (orchid and butterfly gardens, hummingbird feeders, lodges, restaurants, water sports, Cock-of-the Rock licks, etc) will be shown to the community leaders of Satipo road and it will be filmed to later be shown to their communities.
• Build two communal guesthouses in conjunction with the schools in Mariposa and Apaya with 4 to 5 individual 2-bed rooms and a separate WC and shower building to accommodate guests.
• Train some people to provide food. Prepare a recipe booklet with 5 simple main courses that are easy to prepare and palatable to the tourists. A hygiene section is included in the booklet to ensure that the tourists do not get sick.
• Get all the land in the valley officially titled - so that it belongs to someone. Only then can we hope that individuals will start caring about areas that are being cleared.
• If lots of the land is communal maybe a communal reserve can be set up or the land can be sold to a conservation organization that would want to manage it - and thus release very important funds for urgent social infrastructure - or communal projects like a trout farm.
• Some land may be sold to foreigners that may either want to start an eco-business or just find a diversity-rich area to settle down when they retire. This will both release funds for other causes as well as generate investments to the area.
• Market the area to 4x4 overland excursions from Lima and among tour operators in Lima and Huancayo. Not only birdwatching makes this area interesting. It is very suitable for mountain-bike down-hill set-ups, hiking, butterfly and orchid watching, rafting and in general a very scenic route to take with very little traffic on the road during daytime. In a day maybe 5 vehicles pass!

Mindo can serve as a good example for the people on Satipo road. Only little more than a decade ago, Mindo as a biodiversity hotspot was only known to relatively few birders. There were few places to stay and even fewer places to eat some decent food without risk for stomach problems. The area suffered from deforestation as forest was clear-cut and the remains burnt to create grazing areas for cattle. Birders were watching birds to the sound of the chain-saws.
But more birders came and more and more lodges were built. When I was there in a few years ago, the change was astonishing. In Mindo and the Tandayapa valley there were now a multitude of lodges and restaurants. All had hummingbird feeders that attracted both hummingbirds and tourists. Not only foreign birdwatchers come to Mindo, but also Ecuadorian weekend visitors from Quito, school groups and general tourists that never watched birds before in their entire life. Non-birding activities are offered such as orchid gardens, river rafting, trekking, mountain bikes, butterfly gardens, etc. Mindo had changed route since the clearcutting and burning of the 90s. Now the land is more worth with forest than without forest, and old grazing fields are abandoned and are slowly recovering (and can provide quite good birding). Investors today look eco-business opportunities. Eco-tourism in Mindo is a multi million dollar eco-industry.

Yet there are differences between Satipo road and the way Mindo is placed in proximity to the capital of Quito. It is much more accessible from Quito, than Satipo road is from Liam. But there are also enough similarities to make this project worthwhile.

• Huancayo with a population close to 500.000 people (including the nearby attractive villages of Jauja - the first capital of Peru- and Concepcion), at one end is a quite large town that receives a lot of national tourists and at least formerly many backpackers on the Lima-Huancayo- Huancavelica-Ayacucho-Andahuyalas-Apurimac-Cusco road.
  There are many travel agencies in Huancayo that offers tours to as far as San Ramon from Huancayo and there is not reason why they could also offer the scenic Satipo road itinerary. Like Mindo it will be more important to try to reach national tourists than concentrate only on birdwatchers. Once there are facilities for national tourists (cheap in price) there will be more incentive for investors (or retired mortgage free US citizens that wish to sell their house at home to invest to live in Eden-like cloud forest in Peru) to make lodges to more up-market clients, since there will be guarantees, through a more environmentally aware population, that the forest along the road will stay quite intact.
• There are so far at least 32 species of Hummingbirds and 55 species of tanagers recorded on this road and an additional 10 species of hummingbirds between Lima and Huancayo. Rather than calling it the poor man's Manu road we will use the slogan "The Hummingbird circuit" for this campaign. Thus the experience from Mindo will be very worthwhile.
• The Satipo road, while being a dirt road, it is regularly maintained and quite smooth surfaced. 4WD is not necessary. 30 minutes from Huancayo is the Mission of Ocopa. Passing the highland Pomacocha Lake it is only an hour and a half to Comas, where there already is a basic hotel decent enough to serve the local market. Near Comas the municipality has elevated an attractive roadside stop at some scenic waterfalls - and a small trail for visitors. (Should be good birding in spite not having had time to stop here). Continuing along the road the deep cut gorges are breath-taking views and after one and half to two hours one reaches the pass of the west slope at Lake Pahuarcocha. Just below here the forest starts. It is from here around 3.5 hours driving to Satipo. Lodging along the way would be a very welcome improvement why part of the plan is to let the communities run basic - but clean with good hygienic toilet and shower facilities, as well as many well run hummingbird feeders. At the other end is Satipo with a population of around 30.000 which is the gateway to the Amazon. Further lowland explorations can be made from here.
• Both Huancayo (7 hours) and Satipo (10 hours) are served with very modern and comfortable (and very cheap) night-buses on tarmac road so accessibility is actually quite good. In a sense this makes Satipo road nearly as accessible as Mindo as one can hire a taxi quite cheaply for a day or two in any of the towns.
• The birdlife is spectacular no doubts. The hummingbirds, tanagers, several Cock-of-the-Rock leks, Torrent Ducks and many areas where display of Swallow-tailed and Lyre-tailed Nightjar can be witnessed, can hope to catch the attention of casual visitors that don't have to be birdwatchers to enjoy these displays.
• The area also very good for mammals. On the last trips we have seen Black Spider Monkey, Pudu!!!, Paca, Bolivian Squirrel and Opossums. The locals say Spectacled Bears, Pumas and Jaguars are occasionally seen.
• There are many very beautiful waterfalls that can be seen and visited.
• Mountain-bike valley for down-hill mountain-bike operations
• Rafting in the lower regions.

Satipo road has a lot to offer. What are lacking are incentives for the local communities to invest in preserving their habitat and create basic but clean and hygienic overnight facilities - as well as hummingbird feeders. Kolibri has founded a toilet and shower building next to the community school of Apaya, where we usually camp. The trip to Mindo will be an eye-opener. We shall document with video filming to show the rest of the community.

The Satipo goes to Mindo project will be carried out in late March or early April, 2008. We need to raise 3000 US$ to be able to bring 5 community leaders to Mindo visiting other community projects en route. The tour is for 12 days with 5-6 days in Ecuador and a visit to the communal reserve at Chaparri near Chiclayo. If we can find only 30 donors of US$ 100 to this project we could start right away. Contact kolibriexp@gmail.com if you like to help with this project or want to visit Satipo Road. All donors will get a 100 US$ discount on their next trip with us. It is a win-win situation!! More conservation, more community development and more birders to Peru with Kolibri Expeditions (using the discount).

Around Easter, a special Satipo road birdwatching tour is scheduled to raise funds for the project. If we can raise more money we could also invite community members from Unchog and Carpish, as well as the Santa Eulalia canyon. With proper lodging benefiting the communities in these places, it would help both the conservation as promoting eco-tourism to central Peru. When camping no longer is necessary here it shall be much easier to promote these areas to a wider public.

I am too tired to be nice right now (1.30 AM) , so I'd like to rant a bit. In spite of the great birding, Iquitos gives somewhat a bad aftertaste. One would think that the heart of the Peruvian Amazonon with zilions of eco-lodges (well at least 40-50) that the people here would care about conserving biodiversity. But NOT.

The first impression one gets of the town is a noicy, chaotic and immensly un-attractive town. The moto-taxis are each noicer than the five combies in Lima - the word silencer does not work in Iquitos.

When one tells the street vendors that we are "ecologistas" and do not want to buy a glass-cabinet of mounted Morpho and Swallow-wing butterflies, less are allowed to bring them through customs, the vendor tucks the cabinet away and takes out a roll of a hide that he starts folding out to a skin of a 16 ft Anaconda.

Going five hours by speed boat one would think one would arrvie in some pristince jungle, but there are countless of villages up the Tahuayo river. One does not see any larger animals. There must been a lot of hunting here.

Along the river bank as we flow down the Tahuayo river the people have stacked up huge 100 liter bags filled with charcoal. This charcoal is to be taken to Iquitos to be sold as fuel to the local Chicken placesand the wildmeat restaurants in Iquitos. The circle is closed.

We are looking for observations from in general and Central Peru in particular. We would be very pleased if you could share such sightings with us. The best would be if you could insert the sighting on the www.birdingperu.com database. (http://www.birdingperu.com/masterperu/ )

We will use a quite novel approach in that we will invite the public to participate in the project and make this a way to popularize birdwatching in Peru. The studies will be conducted when Peruvian students have summer holidays (January-March). The project will also be open to foreign volunteers - if they want to particpate as students or leaders. The cost for for peruvians and resident expats will be around 30 dollars per day. We will charge foreign visitors double price for the course - in order to allow for a Peruvian with little means to go free.

The principle objectives of this project are:

1. Establish threat picture and population of wintering Dendroica cerulea in .

2. Popularize birdwatching in Peru through active school holidays for the students. This a grand opportunity for primary school and university students, tourism guides and the general public to learn the birds of the upper tropical and subtropical forests. 

3. Get better knowledge about the avifauna in the central part of Peru to be able to promote birdwatching in these areas. Afterall, it is the closest rain-forest to Lima and as such it should have a good chance of attracting both national as well as foreigh tourists. 

4. Specifically for this project develop the online bird data base on www.birdingperu.com so that more people insert their sightings in the data-base.

5. Promote INCASPIZA as a conservation organization that involves and activates the public to be participate in the conservation work. The principle of INCASPIZA is to be open for anyone to participate with the general cause of the organization to protect threatened birds in Peru and to generally promote birdiwatching. 

The courses will be held for the following groups at the following geographical areas. Each block will last for 10 days.

• Cerro de Sira January 10-19 for people that already knows about birds. During this course the people that will act as leaders during the following courses will be trained.
• Serrania San Mateo (between Villa Rica and Puerto Bermudas) and Paujil (lowland rainforest in Yanachaga-Chemillen National Park) open to the general public, already graduated biologists and tourist guides. January 24–February 2.
• Villa Rica. Open for all interested. February 7-16.
• Oxapampa and Pozuso. Open for all interested. February 22 – March 3.
• Pampa Hermosa. Open for all interested. March 6-15.

Please feel free of contacting me gunnar@kolibriexpeditions.com if you want to participate in this project in any way.

Gunnar Engblom

Kolibri Expeditions

www.kolibriexpeditions.com .

Condors rest overnight in colonies in cliffs, but breed well seperated from other couples in caves not necessary that close from the overnight cliffs. The overnight cliffs are usually facing east to catch the morning sun. I learnt that one can tell if it is a nest there or just a resting place, by the way a Condor flies into the cliffs to land. If it makes a very steep and direct fly-in it is likely there is a nest here. If the flight is very circular coming into landing, it indicates a resting cliff. Mabye we can get find the overnight cliffs in Santa Eulalia valley soon and if very lucky some nests.

The Condor in Peru is not reciveing any attention nationally for its protection. It is only in Colca Cañon near Arequipa where it is reasonable safe. Roger Ahlman and myself recently wrote this article on the Condor for the newsletter of the American & Canadian Association of Peru.

Ask around in Lima where one can see Andean Condors (Vultur gryphus) in Peru and the answer will be Colca Canyon near Arequipa. Well, this is true but why travel all the way down there when you have Condors just a few hours inland from Lima?

A healthy population exists in the mountains in the upper Santa Eulalia and Rimac valleys and they can even be seen crossing the Central Highway between Chosica and the Ticlio pass.

The Andean Condor is one of the most spectacular and culturally most important bird species of South America. In spite of this, in almost all of Peru its population is decreasing, though there is no hard data or thorough studies to support this statement just a general observation by the scarcity of records in many suitable areas. Its scarcity and apparent decrease in recent years has made the Peruvian conservation agency INRENA list it as Endangered in Peru. So why is it declining? The sad truth is often persecution. The Condor lives almost entirely of carcasses. Poisoned carcasses are often left out just to kill the Condors. The Condors in the upper Santa Eulalia valley seems to be doing alright as several immature birds have been seen, a good evidence that they are breeding successfully.

More than 65,000 people travel to the Colca Canyon near Arequipa every year to see the Condors and the spectacular canyon. It hasn't always been like this, in the mid-90´s only a few thousand people ventured all the way to Colca but through marketing and almost guaranteed sightings, this has become a major tourist attraction and obviously generates money for a lot of people. These Condors are worth a lot of money but only alive!

What would happen if watching Condors just four hours from Lima became as popular as around Arequipa? Certainly improved roads up the valley, perhaps good lodging for people wanting to stay overnight, jobs will be created and a lot of money will be generated. More importantly, the Condors and their habitat will become a valuable asset. This will not only benefit the Condors but also the other 4-5 species of threatened birds living in the upper Santa Eulalia valley.

Starting this year, Asociación Incaspiza will conduct a survey to investigate the population of the Condors and the other threatened birds in the valley. A special effort will be made to find their night-roost and breeding areas, and whether there might be a good watchpoint within reasonable distance allowing good views without disturbing the birds. These surveys will be open to anyone interested to join the project, and we will announce the surveys as outings of the Lima Birdwatching Club.

The Lima Birdwatching Club recently visited Ensenada de San Fernando in Nazca department (short trip report here). It seems that there are always condors here just by the coast. It remains to be seen if they also nest here. Hopefully, with the information that Lorenzo has given us we can find nests here, which would be the first confirmed nests from the Peruvian coast. Around 15 condors were seen on the last trip there. Kolibri Expeditions has included San Fernando in our new Southern circuit tour as a wilder alternative to more famous Paracas.

A national program for the Condor is much needed. All through Peru it is actively persecuted by man due to alleged attacks on livestock. It is also suffering from poisoning directed towards pumas and foxes in the Andes (a poisoned carcass is put out).

Hopefully our Incaspiza project can do something for the condors in Santa Eulalia and the eco-tourism to San Fernando could very soon create a protected area here. These actions could be a beginning to a larger coordinated condor conservation program in Peru.

Gunnar Engblom
www.kolibriexpeditions.com
Birding in Peru and South America

I never done a blog before - so this is a bit of a trial. At least I get to use all these e-motions - Hey Betto (that is our web-master) there are only 21 e-motions - and I am not even sure what they mean...

I have a few birding trips coming up. Next for me is a trip to Pampa Hermosa in Junin. Roger Ahlman recently had some weird Pyrrhura parakets there. I'll bring the video camera to try to capture them on film.

I am also very excited about being able to go to Tahuayo Lodge in Iquitos area on our upcoming Iquitos trip on September 6. Roger recently did a trip there and had things like Band-tailed Nighthawk, Rufous-necked Puffbird, Brown Nunlet, and Bluish-cheeked Jacamar....   I should be able to pass 1500 species in Peru.