Peru | Investigating Ecology of the Amazon

Overnight flight to Lima, Peru.

Upon arrival in Lima, connect with the flight to Iquitos. From there, journey by speedboat along the Amazon River to Tahuayo Lodge. Along the way, you can see many marsh birds, as well as small villages dotting the river banks. Continue up a smaller tributary, the Tahuayo River, which leads to the Área de Conservación Regional Comunal Tamshiyacu Tahuayo (ACRCTT). Exceeding 1.1 million acres, the ACRCTT is the most diverse bioreserve in northeastern Peru. Studies have found more trees, primates, and non-volant mammals here than in any other site studied in the Amazon. An evening boat excursion provides an opportunity to see nocturnal fauna such as pauraques, potoos, nightjars, herons, owls, bats, and night monkeys.

Have a program orientation with your guide this morning, then spend the day exploring the varzea ecosystem. This forest is flooded one to three months out of the year and is characterized by a unique assemblage of flora and fauna. Look for pygmy marmosets, owl monkeys, mealy parrots, and a manakin breeding lek. Treetop platforms provide panoramic views and opportunities for close-up observation of orchids and giant bromeliads. The zip line canopy is an exciting way for visitors to fly above the forest from platform to platform. This evening, engage in discussions on the history of the ACRCTT reserve and an overview of the conservation program.

Spend a full day exploring the terra firme ecosystem along the Quebrada Blanco tributary of the Tahuayo River. Terra firme is high forest of rolling hills that does not flood, and consequently has the Amazon's richest diversity of flora and fauna. En route, visit the Mauritia Palm Agronomy Conservation Project to learn about their efforts. Next, trek to Frog Valley to learn about the poison dart frog conservation and breeding study project. Take an evening hike in varzea forest to see nocturnal mammals, amphibians, insects, and reptiles.

Travel upriver by motorized boats to the Amazon Research Center Lodge (ARC). En route, stop to view the wildlife of riverine ecology: bats, monkeys, sloths, toucans, anhingas, and raptorial birds. This evening your lecture will be on the research program of the ARC.

The main research facility of the ARC consists of a series of transect trails laid out as a grid to facilitate sampling population density in the forest. Ecosystems represented on the grid include high restinga (forest that is flooded once every few years), low restinga (forest that is flooded for a month every other year), and aguajal (swamp). In the mornings and afternoons, hike the trails with trained observers to collect data on birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals, including the red-faced bald uakari monkey, which exists only in the ACRCTT. In the evenings, group discussions will focus on a variety of aspects of Amazonian biodiversity.

Spend a second day hiking the trails with trained observers, collecting data on birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals. Evening group discussion.

Spend another full day hiking the trails with trained observers, collecting data on birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals. Evening group discussion.

This morning, participate in a final hike along the trail grid. After lunch, return by boat to Iquitos for your connection to Lima before your international flight home.

Arrive home.