Hi Everyone - just wanted to send you a quick update on upcoming trips to the Peruvian Amazon. I recently returned from hosting a great high school group at our Madre Selva Biological Station on the Orosa River, and am looking forward to returning next month with a medical service group to the remote Ampiyacu River area. Upcoming ecotour trips that we have, however are for the following dates:

 

6-12 May - Herpetology/Photography - Madre Selva field station - this will likely be a small group, sent by speedboat and accompanied by Peruvian herpetologist Ian Paul Simon Medina Torres (Ian, for short!). Ian has conducted amphibian and reptile surveys at all three of the field sites utilized by our trips, and is a frog expert in particular, having recorded a number of new species records for the sites, and also having co-authored some new species descriptions. Cost: $1375/person

 

13-18 May - Herpetology/Photography - Santa Cruz forest reserve - again, this will be a smallish group. Santa Cruz is only 2-hours travel time from Iquitos but hosts some fantastic tall forest and has been the reliable go-to place to find two-lined forest vipers, and also the best place for bushmasters. Some new accommodations and a completed reservoir (already inhabited by a caiman) add to the fun of the site. This trip will also be hosted by Ian Paul Simon Medina Torres. Cost: $1375/person (or $1045 as an extension from the previous week).

 

The middle months of summer are packed full of courses and medical trips, but if that is the only time you have to visit the Amazon, let us know what range of dates you have available and we can see what arrangements can be made for you!

 

Fish collecting trips start in August when low water should be in full swing. Both trips will be hosted by Amazon fish expert David Schleser, who has made dozens of fish collecting trips to various parts of the Amazon. I will be serving as the charming "campground" host!  Costs per week is $1485 (or $1225 as an extension from the first week). Fish will be shipped back to the USA after the end of the 2nd week's trip, but fish shipping costs are not included in trip pricing. Both fish trips promise to be full with several people already signed up for both weeks, so if you're interested in participating, act fast. The next fish trips are tentatively scheduled for 20-26 January 2013 and 27 Jan-2 Feb 2013.

 

12-18 Aug - Fish collecting - Nanay River - this is a beautiful black-water river and last years 1-week trip on this river netted 193 fish species, including some potentially undescribed Corydoras catfishes. Don't feel like sleeping on the boat? There are lots of white-sand beaches on this river, and very few insects.

 

19-25 Aug - Fish collecting - Amazon, Apayacu and Ampiyacu Rivers - this trip covers a wide range of habitats - from the large white-water rivers like the Amazon, to transitional waters, black water rivers and forest creeks and pools. We expect a species count in excess of 200 species. Included will be a visit to the galleries/home of eccentric but always entertaining Peruvian artist Francisco Grippa, who lives in the historic town of Pevas.

 

Come down and join us later this year!  As you may have heard, it is likely to be a record flood year on the Amazon in 2012, peaking in May - in our past experience, extreme weather years (either very wet, or very dry) usually produce some very unusual fauna finds both on land and in the water as the normal ecosystem dynamics are shaken up a bit.

 

Travel Agent contact info:

Maggie Morgenstein
Group Coordinator
Express Travel
5000 SW 75th Ave. Suite 300
Miami FL 33155
305-341-1200 Ext 279
305-341-1211 Fax mmorgenstein@expresstravelus.com