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Butterfly-watching
Holidays 2012
small groups, relaxed pace, perfect for photographers
India - Sikkim & Assam
-
departs 5th April 2013 -
ground cost £2295
TOUR FULL
Central Peru
- departs 31st July 2012 - ground cost £2795
TRIP REPORT
here
Southern Ghana
-
departs 12th Sept 2012 - ground cost £1730
TRIP REPORT
coming soon
Previous trip
reports - Trinidad,
Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Borneo
Testimonials
- what people say about our tours
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Central Peru
An
adventure to the best butterfly-watching sites in central
Peru
Tingo Maria, the Chanchamayo valley, and the rainforests of
Atalaya
departs 31st July 2012
TOUR FULL
£ 2795 per person ground cost only
(
maximum group
size 6 participants )
Deposit £300 per person
payable by bank transfer - to book a place on this tour
please enquire by
e-mail and I will provide
the necessary bank details.
Cost includes twin share
accommodation, meals as indicated, and transportation within
Peru, but does NOT include
air fares which are approx. £950 economy class
London-Lima return.
Please do NOT book your
international flights until your place on the tour has been
confirmed.
Fact sheets will be provided
regarding health requirements, visas, security, climate etc.
Tour leaders Adrian Hoskins,
Emily Halsey
and local guides. |
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Peru has over 3,700 butterfly
species - more than any other country, and equal to about 20% of
the world total. The butterflies of Peru however are still
vastly under-recorded - it is estimated that as many as 4,200
will eventually be discovered. The great diversity and
abundance is due to the
extraordinary range of climatic conditions and the vast diversity of
habitats which include the Amazonian rainforests, the
cloudforests and snow-capped mountains of the Andes, deserts and
puna grasslands. Together these create a vast array of ecological
niches in which species can exist and evolve.
On arrival at Lima airport we
will be greeted by our hosts, and transferred to a comfortable
hotel in Miraflores, about an hours drive from Lima. We leave
early the next morning to begin our all day journey by road
across the Andes mountains to our hotel in the friendly bustling
town of Satipo, arriving in the early evening.
The following morning we drive
to Shima and then travel by motorised longboat along the Rio
Tambo to Atalaya, our base for 3 days of exploration of lowland
rainforest butterflies. We expect to see a wide variety of
species here including Caligo,
Catonephele,
Hamadryas, Dryas etc; but
these are nothing however
compared to what awaits us at Rio Shima, where over 800 species
have been recorded in the immediate vicinity of the forest hut
which will be our base for the next 3 days. Thousands of
butterflies descend here to mud-puddle along the banks of a
small stream, and on a tiny island nearby. This area is truly a
butterfly watchers paradise, with huge
Morpho and Caligo species,
hordes of stunning metalmarks including
Rhetus, Amarynthis,
Caria,
Lasaia,
Ancyluris, Lyropteryx,
Chorinea etc; not to mention Agrias,
Callicore and an excellent variety
of Ithomiinae, Satyrinae, Papilionidae and Pieridae!
The following morning we drive
to Catarata Bayoz, a small but spectacular waterfall in the
Chanchamayo valley. Along quiet trails and undisturbed roadsides
we will see a spectacular variety of butterflies including
Diaethria,
Smyrna, Dryas,
Catonephele,
Historis, Biblis,
Nessaea and many others.
Afterwards we travel to beautiful Tingo Maria, where we stay in a small
hotel with it's own large butterfly gardens on the edge of the
forest. This is a wonderful base from which we will explore
the surrounding cloudforests where yet more beautiful butterfly
species await our discovery.
Please note that I reserve the
right to vary the itinerary below, e.g. the sites may be visited
in a different order, or we may spend more or less time at
certain sites depending on local conditions at the time of
the tour.
Itinerary
31
Jly
- arrive Lima international airport, transfer to hotel.
01 Aug - minibus journey over the Andes via La Oroya and La Merced
to Satipo.
02 Aug - drive to Atalaya,
overnight Atalaya.
03 Aug
- full day butterfly-watching in lowland rainforest near
Atalaya, overnight Atalaya.
04 Aug - full day butterfly-watching in lowland rainforest near
Atalaya, overnight Atalaya.
05 Aug - drive Atalaya to Rio Shima, afternoon butterfly-watching,
overnight Shima.
06 Aug - full day butterfly-watching at Shima, overnight Shima.
07 Aug - full day butterfly-watching at Shima, overnight Shima.
08 Aug - drive to Catarata Bayoz waterfall, butterfly watching,
drive to Tarma, overnight Tarma.
09 Aug
- drive Tarma to Tingo Maria.
10 Aug
- full day butterfly-watching at Rio Onolulo, Tingo Maria.
11 Aug
- butterfly watching Tingo Maria national park.
12 Aug
- drive to Carpish ( 2800m ) butterfly watching, drive to Lima,
overnight Lima.
13 Aug
- depart Lima.
Accommodation - good quality
city hotel in Lima, simple but comfortable hotels in Satipo
and Atalaya, comfortable hotel with large butterfly garden in
Tingo Maria. For our 3 nights at Shima we will be camping in a
small forest hut where conditions are crude, but most visitors
consider that the rewards in terms of the butterflies that can be
seen far outweigh the discomforts!
Meals - all meals are included
throughout the tour.
Transportation - minibus,
motorised longboat.
Fitness - the tour is suitable
or anyone in good health. Walking is generally easy but there are
places where it will be necessary to clamber over boulders or wade
across shallow streams.
Flights - please note that
international flights are NOT included in the cost. You will need
to book and pay for your own flights. I will advise you of the
correct flights for the tour, but please do NOT book flights until
your place on the tour has been confirmed.
Collecting or netting of
butterflies is NOT permitted.
Climate - our tour takes place
in the middle of the dry season, when days will usually be very
warm and sunny, with little likelihood of rain. Nights tend to be
warm and slightly humid.
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How to book your holiday
To reserve a place simply send me an
e-mail stating the following
details :
Name - your full name as it appears
in your passport
Passport
number
Passport
expiry date
Sex
Full
postal address
Date
of birth
Nationality
Tour - name of the tour you wish to
join
I will then
reserve your place on the tour pending arrival of your deposit which can be paid by cheque or direct to my bank
account of which I will provide details. The final
balance is due 90 days before departure. Please do
NOT book flights until your place has been confirmed. Prices are based on sharing twin
bedded rooms. Single supplements may be available, please
enquire.
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What to
expect
Adrian Hoskins, owner of this website, organises and
escorts private butterfly-watching tours
for individuals and small groups, to destinations
including Brazil, Costa Rica, Trinidad,
Peru, Ecuador, Malaysia, Borneo
and Ghana.
I use the best ground operators
available in the countries visited.
Typically these tours are of 10 - 20 days duration, and we spend
about 3 days at each
location,
allowing plenty of time to fully explore the habitats and get to know
the sites and their butterflies intimately. The sites are
thoroughly researched, all sites have been previously
visited by the tour leader, and all visits are timed to coincide with the peak
butterfly season and best weather.
Accommodation is chosen for
proximity to the butterfly habitats - sometimes we stay in
lodges, and at other times we use small hotels or guest houses.
On certain tours we camp on Amazonian riverbanks or stay
in forest huts. Food is varied and delicious, and we
are happy to cater for vegetarians. Beer, soft drinks and
bottled water are all generally available.
My tour style differs from that offered by
most wildlife tour operators - my approach is to take you
to places where butterflies are prolific and diverse, give you a
brief introduction to the trail system and habitats, and then to
leave you to explore the
trails at your own pace. You are free to wander alone or in pairs
on the trails.
I don't carry out on-the-spot identifications ( I'll be
busy photographing butterflies myself for the website ! ), but I will
gladly assist with IDs from digital images in the evenings.
Tour groups are kept small, never more than 6 persons,
so you can relax and photograph the butterflies without a queue of people behind
you. Participants must be aged 18 or over. There are no upper
age restrictions but I may require those aged over 65 to provide a
medical certificate of fitness. Singles, couples and groups of
friends are all welcome.
I do not permit
collecting, or the use of butterfly nets, but we usually run moth
lights at night and have a photo-and-release session in the
mornings. If you wish to participate in moth photography you
should bring your own pots and catch those specimens that you
wish to photograph.
For further details
please contact me by
e-mail.
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Caria mantinea ( Riodinidae ), Rio
Shima, central Peru ©
Adrian Hoskins
Temenis laothoe
( Nymphalidae ), Peru ©
Adrian Hoskins
A typical learnaboutbutterflies tour group in Peru.
Top row, left to right: Dave, Ruben, Emily, Adrian and Hiro;
bottom row, left to right: Abel and Manuel.
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