We depart London Heathrow today on a British Airways or American Airlines flight to Miami. After a transit period in Miami we board our overnight American Airlines flight to La Paz, Bolivia, and on Santa Cruz.

Our overnight AA flight will land for a period in La Paz before taking off again to Viru Viru airport (named after a local plant) in Santa Cruz. The airport is surrounded by beautiful natural grasslands and it is hard to resist picking up the binoculars even before we leave the airport!

After collecting our baggage and meeting our local guide and driver, we will explore some of the nearby woodlands and grasslands in search of species like White-bellied Nothura, Red-winged Tinamou, Long winged Harrier (uncommon), Golden-collared Macaw, Bicolored Seedeater, White Woodpecker and Greater Rhea amongst others (we will have access to our luggage and facilities at the airport if we need to change clothes). After lunch and a wellearned rest at our hotel after the long journey, we will continue birding in the afternoon visiting the Lomas de Arena Regional Park, where some of the target birds include Peach-fronted Parakeet, White-eared Puffbird (rare here), Rufous-fronted Thornbird, Barred Antshrike, Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant and Chalk-browed Mockingbird. After an exciting start to the tour we will have a good night’s sleep in our hotel in Santa Cruz.

The time difference between the UK and Bolivia should help us to be up and about bright and early this morning as we plan to depart Santa Cruz very early (probably 0430 or 0500) in order to reach our first birding trail during peak morning activity. En-route, we will enjoy a picnic breakfast in semi-humid forest along a rushing river on the lower mountain slopes, then hike a dry, gently undulating trail through the forest. Continuing westward, we will eventually reach the southern boundary zone of Amboró National Park.

Amboró is a large wilderness area of 1.5 million acres that straddles the eastern foothills of the Andes in the Department of Santa Cruz. It is conveniently situated at the confluence of four very different biogeographical zones: the southern rim of the Amazon Basin (with its humid tropical rainforests), the western edge of the Brazilian shield (with its subtropical deciduous forests), the northern limit of the Chaco (temperate woodlands), and the very diverse subtropical and temperate forests of the Andes. This mosaic of ecosystems shelters a correspondingly rich diversity of plants and animals, including no less than 830 bird species! The comfortable Refugio Los Volcanes is conveniently located in the subtropical and temperate forests of Amboró National Park, and will provide us with a good base for two nights from which we will explore the nearby forests.

The lodge is located in a valley which is favoured by many species of parrots, including Mitred, Blue-crowned, Green-cheeked, and Yellow-chevroned Parakeets, and in November the strikingly beautiful Military Macaws breed here. Two-banded Warblers are almost guaranteed, and we have also had past success with King Vulture, Sunbittern, Band-bellied Owl, Toco Toucan, Crimson-crested Woodpecker, Ocellated Woodcreeper, Black-capped Antwren, White-backed Fire-Eye, the shy and elusive Slaty Gnateater, Bolivian Tapaculo, Sclater’s Tyrannulet, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, Yungas Manakin, Rufous bellied Thrush, and Plush-crested Jay. We’ll hope to track down good mixed species flocks that feature a diverse group of tanagers including a distinct race of Common Bush- Tanager, Guira Tanager and Black-goggled Tanager. Between the months of May and November, cold fronts from the Antarctic drive higher altitude species down to lower elevations providing us with opportunities to see Whitewinged, Saffron-crowned and Blue-necked Tanagers. This is definitely one of the most exciting times to visit the lodge as figs begin to fruit during this time period. Other species we will be looking for include Andean Condor, King Vulture, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle, Yungas (Large-tailed) Dove, Military Macaw (seasonal), Scaly-headed Parrot, Turquoise- fronted Parrot, Planalto Hermit, Buff bellied Hermit, Versicolored Barbet, the endemic Bolivian Recurvebill (rare), Ochre-cheeked Spinetail, Gray-throated Leaftosser, Blue-naped Chlorophonia and Straw-backed Tanager (seasonal), amongst others. Looking for birds in the more disturbed habitat along the way from the main highway, from the small village of Montero to Refugio Los Volcanes, might produce the very rare Huayco Tinamou, White-eared Puffbird, Giant Antshrike and Green-winged Saltator.

The pace at the lodge is normally relatively relaxed. We will be waking up very early to have breakfast before dawn, then bird until late in the morning when the sun becomes too hot and the bird activity dies down. This is a perfect time to enjoy the crystal-clear waters of the streams found near the lodge and we will even have the opportunity to swim in a natural pool that has formed at the base of a small waterfall. We will continue birding in the afternoon and into the early evening when nocturnal birds such as Band-bellied Owl will become our target.

A number of localized species hard to see elsewhere in Bolivia occur around Samaipata, and we will spend the morning trying to get good looks at as many of these species as possible. Some of the local specialties include Huayco Tinamou, Andean Condor, Dusky-legged Guan, the endemic Red-fronted Macaw, Cream-backed Woodpecker, Stripe-crowned Spinetail, Giant Antshrike, Greater Wagtail-Tyrant and White-tipped Plantcutter.

Following lunch, we will continue our trip westward. With a birding stop or two along the way, we will pass through dry deciduous forests before eventually entering into a zone of arid inter-Andean valleys lying within a rain shadow formed by the surrounding mountains. Around dusk we will pull into the little town of Tambo (about 1,700 metres). This area of Bolivia is rural to say the least, and distant from any large town. We will check in to the one small hotel, the Monteblanco (it’s actually a Christian conference centre), which offers clean rooms with private bathrooms and a canteen for food.

Birding the hot, dry habitats near Tambo and Torrecillas dictates that we concentrate our efforts in the early morning and late afternoon. In the Andean foothills and the semi-deciduous woodlands and shrub-desert near Tambo we hope to see Tataupa Tinamou (rare), Spot-backed Puffbird, the endemic Bolivian Earthcreeper and White-tipped Plantcutter. A short distance away from Tambo and during the nights we will be looking for the super Scissor-tailed Nightjar.

The higher elevation dry scrub near the tiny village of Torrecillas should produce Red-tailed Comet, Olive-crowned Crescent-chest, the endemic Bolivian Warbling-Finch (rare), Rusty-browed Warbling Finch, Fulvous-headed Brush- Finch, and the endemic Gray-bellied Flower-piercer among others.

On one of the days we will go to a very different habitat: the cloud forests of Siberia. Just a couple of hours west of Tambo, the mountain range is high enough (2,600m) to catch the last of the moisture laden easterlies and thus represents the southernmost limit of humid-temperate cloud forest (called ‘Yungas’ in Bolivia) in South America. It also marks the southern terminus in the distribution of numerous species of high-elevation forest birds. Birding will be mainly along level roads in both the arid zone and in the cloud forest. The roads are quite poor (dusty or muddy, depending on the prevailing weather conditions), and stout footwear is recommended. In this habitat we will be looking for Violet-throated Starfrontlet, Blue-capped Puffleg, the endemic Rufous-faced Antpitta, Trilling Tapaculo, Andean Tyrant, Spot-breasted Thornbird, Pale-footed Swallow (seasonal) and Pale-legged Warbler.

The main purpose of our trip to this remote region of Bolivia, however, is to attempt to see the endemic Redfronted Macaw. This large green macaw, highlighted with scarlet forehead and underwings, brilliant blue primaries and tail, and flaming orange epaulets, is not only one of the most spectacular of all macaws, it also ranks as one of the rarest birds in South America. It is possible that only a few hundred Red-fronted Macaws remain in the wild, and they are restricted to the arid canyons of the central Bolivian Andes. The birds are erratic, moving to food supplies, but with perseverance and a little bit of luck, we could come away with excellent views of these magnificent birds.

We undertake a birding transfer today back to Santa Cruz, picking up on any species that we may have missed, before arriving back at our familiar hotel in the late afternoon.

We arrive in London during the morning.