| Guide
to Bird Watching in Bolivia
This guide is based on four central hubs: Santa Cruz,
Cochabamba, La Paz, and Rurrenabaque. Each has connecting main roads
with connecting daily busses and flights (La Paz and Santa Cruz
with international flights). Given the high altitude problems that
some experience arriving directly in La Paz, we recommend and have
placed the hubs in order of best acclimation to altitude, inicially
with Santa Cruz (lowlands), Cochabamba (medium highlands), La Paz
(very high). Keep in mind American Airlines flights will allow you
to land in Santa Cruz and fly out of La Paz, for the same cost.
SANTA
CRUZ AREA
The city of Santa Cruz de
la Sierra, often just called Santa Cruz, is found on the central western edge of the
department of Santa Cruz, almost in the middle
of Bolivia. Santa Cruz is the best place to start any kind of birding adventure in Bolivia
with excellent hotels and
unique birding sites within the city, all accessible by local taxi. Santa Cruz along with Rurrenabaque, is the entrance point to the Bolivian lowlands. It is a perfect spot to rest up, prep up and
set off. Even only for a short visit to
Bolivia
,
the bird community around the city is different enough to be worth a full
morning. We would recommend for a
two-week tour in Bolivia at least passing two mornings in Santa Cruz city sites.
CLOSE
TO THE CITY
Within the city of
Santa Cruz you can visit the sites of Lomas de Arena Municipal Park, Viru-Viru Airport, and Santa Cruz Botanical Garden with local micros and taxis. Lomas de Arena is sandy halfway in, so you might
need to walk the farthest bit.
NEW
ROAD TO
COCHABAMBA
From Santa Cruz you can take
the new road to
Cochabamba which passes through
Montero leading to the town of Buena
Vista (about a 3 hour drive). There are local trufi
taxis, which fill with passengers like a bus, that travel to Buena Vista where
you could visit the sites Buena
Vista pumping station and Hotel Flora and Fauna. The Southern-horned Curassow site can be then visited from
Buena Vista in car, but best to make arrangements in
Santa Cruz without a car.
OLD ROAD TO COCHABAMBA
The old
road to
Cochabamba travels from
Santa
Cruz almost up the dry
Andes. It
is not paved all the way to
Cochabamba,
but up to Comorapa. Along this road, traveling up the Andes it is possible to
visit the site Los Volcanes (2.5 hrs from
Santa Cruz) but you must make a
reservation before hand in
Santa Cruz.
There are many trufi taxis daily that travel to Samaipata, where you could
visit Las Ruinas and with local
tour guide help Yungas de Samaipata. The Red-fronted Macaw
lodge will require a reservation in
Santa
Cruz. Check with Birdbolivia@unete.com.bo for more
information.
OUTER
BENI AND
SANTA CRUZ
From
Santa Cruz
you can also visit the Selvablue Lodge, which protects an excellent rare Cerrado forest with flooded savannas,
dry forest and tropical forest. The Neol Kempff Mercado
National Park is also of interest for it Cerrado and Tropical
forest, though tourism infrastructure has not been kept up. Unfortunely Pantanal in
Bolivia
has no tourism
infrastructure, but you can visit Brazilian Pantanal and the Hycinth Macaw just
over the border of eastern
Bolivia
.
COCHABAMBAAREA
The Department of
Cochabamba (with the department capital of the same name) lies in the
geographical center of Bolivia. The city of Cochabamba itself lies in a fertile
valley that centuries ago was the breadbasket of
Bolivia
, supplying the mining towns
of Potosí. Much of the original vegetation in the valley has given way to
farmland and industrial parks, but both
Lake
Alalay
in the center of town and the outstanding Polylepis forest in San Miguel near
Quillacollo offer interesting birding sites easily reached by taxi. It is also
a center of endemism, with most of the key Bolivian endemics found within the
department. At an altitude of 2600m, the city of
Cochabamba is firmly in the highlands, but
the abundance of city parks and small-town atmosphere make it a pleasant base
for birding explorations. The surrounding areas offer high habitat diversity,
from high altitude Polylepis forests, to dry valles, to an interesting
transect though Yungas montane forest down into the tropical lowlands. The city
of
Cochabamba
offers hotel accommodation in every price range and an excellent selection of
restaurants. In order to insure a quality car rental we suggest using the Avis
car rental now available in Cochabamba, next door to the
La Portales Hotel.
CLOSE
TO THE CITY
A taxi or local bus
can take you to Lake Albarrancho or Lake Alalay within the city. An hour taxi
ride up the Mountians from the city will take you to the San Miguel Polylepis forest
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CHAPARE
YUNGAS (CLOUD FOREST)
Cloud forest
birdwatching is only a two hour drive outside of the city of
Cochabamba. Since its construction in the
early 1980's, the road linking Cochabamba and the Chapare, a sub-tropical
region that is Bolivia's prime coca growing area, has been a favorite
of birders. Most Bolivian records of such spectacular species such as
Scimitar-winged Piha and Hooded Mountain-Toucan come from this road. However in
the last decade, settlement along the road has increased and deforestation for
small-scale agriculture has taken its toll. Though of more difficult access,
the road through the Apolo Yungas offers more intact cloud forest.
The Chapare road
travels through Cochabamba Yungas, a humid forest area along the eastern slope of
the Andes, to the main Chapare town of
Villa
Tunari. Starting at an altitude of 3800m outside of
Cochabamba, the road drops
quickly over a
100
kilometer stretch to 500m at Villa Tunari. As a result,
the road travels through a variety of habitat types: Upper Montane (
2600 m and above),  Middle Montane (1600-
2600 m), Upper Tropical (900 - 1600 m), Hill Tropical (500-
900 m) and Lower Tropical (500 m and below). However,
whether due to habitat loss or geographic position, the Hill Tropical and Lower
Tropical habitats around Villa Tunari are not that rich in terms of bird life.
If your trip also includes visiting lowland habitats in another area of
Bolivia
,
spend most of your time above
1000 meters.
A good strategy for
maximizing the number of species seen is to make stops at
2900 meters (Site 20:
Tablas Monte),
1900
meters (Site 21: Miguelito) and somewhere on the
roadside at about 1000
meters. Birding can be good in the upper elevations even
in the midday sun, even in one of the frequent mist showers. And do not be
fooled, birding in the rain is often fantastic above
2000 meters. Villa
Tunari offers several nice hotel options and makes a good base for exploring
the region.
Unlike most roads in
Bolivia
,
the Chapare road has occasional kilometer markers that make providing
directions somewhat easier. Coming from
Cochabamba,
the kilometers posts start at zero at the tool booth in the city of
Cochabamba. The
Chapare Road, after
passing though Villa Tunari, continues on to
Santa Cruz. As it is the main highway linking
Santa Cruz to the highlands, it is also known as
the "new road" to
Santa Cruz.
Some road signs also mention "Sacaba," a small town just outside of
Cochabamba. Thus, the
"
Chapare Road,"
the "new road to
Santa Cruz"
and "road to Sacaba" are all really one and the same.
GPS reading at tollbooth leaving
Cochabamba
for the
Chapare Rd:
S 17 23.895' W 66 03.223'
From the top of the road coming down into the Cloud forest check
sites as Tablas Monte Road, Miguelito, Lower Chapare Road, Carrasco
National Park Road, and Hotel
El Puente grounds (Villa Tunari).
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SOUTH OF
COCHABAMBA
TOWARD
POTOSI
A relatively
under-explored area by birders, the vast collection of dry mesothermic valleys
south of
Cochabamba
is home to the endangered Red-Fronted Macaw. The macaw is restricted to a small
area of south-central
Bolivia
and is usually present in the Rio Caine valley, but requires a long hard
drive in. Few tourists venture this direction and the area has the added bonus
of the little known
Torotoro
National Park.
NORTH
OF
COCHABAMBA
The endemic Rio
Cocapata watershed dry Andean valley
forest
of Machaca is an interesting site for
birdwatchers and naturalists alike. Armonia is working at this site to protect
the last stand of the Endangerd (probably Critically) Bolivian Spinetail Cranioleuca henricae. This is for hardy
birders, with a 6 hour dirt road drive in, but an interesting habitat.
If you are travelling
on the paved highway between
Cochabamba and
La Paz,
you might want to visit the Cochabamba Arid valleys for an hour
or so of birding.
Andean Condor can often be found soaring in late morning along the highway.
LA PAZ AREA
Bolivia's largest city is not itself a
particularly exciting birding destination. But it does offer
"daytrip" access to some truly spectacular sites, including the Yungas cloud forests, puna grasslands,
Lake Titicaca
and even dry valles.
Though La Paz is not actually the highest capital in the world, it is one of the highest cities in the world.
CLOSE
TO THE CITY
Some of these sites
can be easily combined to make good all-day trips. For example, after a dawn
stop at the UMSA Botanical Gardens, one can continue up the road
and visit Huni Pass (on the Palca
Road) and still return in time for a late lunch. The Ravine below Zenon Iturralde Park could be visited in half a
day and with local transportation. The Mecapaca site deserves a full day to
find many of the lower dry valley resident birds.
The famous (or infamous to many nail-biting passengers)
Coroico Road is one
of the most spectacular roads in
South America.
Carved into the cliff face, it is the main road linking
La Paz
and Coroico. For birders, it offers a stunning transect from the high altitude
puna grassland to the subtropical "Yungas" forests. From the top, La Cumbre, the road travels down to Upper Coroico Road (between
La Cumbre and Pongo), Choquetanga
Valley, the Cotapata trail, Chuspipata, and Hotel La Finca, Coroico.
The road continues to travel down but we have no good birding site information
for these areas yet.
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SOUTH YUNGAS ROAD (ROAD TO CHULUMANI)
The South Yungas road, which effectively ends in the Yungas
town of Chulumani, has less traffic than the more famous North Yungas (Coroico)
Road and is statistically safer. The directions for each site assume you re-set
to zero your odometer at the start of the junction for the South Yungas road.
The raod travels down through Upper South Yungas Road, Chojlla aqueduct trail,
arriving at the final destination of Apa-apa reserve. Another option in the area is the Takesi Trek.
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LAKE TITICACA
AREA AND ALTIPLANO
Few visitors to
Bolivia
,
even the most hard-core birders, will want to leave
Bolivia
without a quick visit to
Lake Titicaca. At
3810 meters (
12,500 feet), Lake
Titicaca is often called the highest, navigable lake in the world, although
there seem to be several other more likely candidates. Nevertheless, Lake
Titicaca is a very pleasant birding destination, especially towards the tail
end of a long birding trip when early mornings and long days in the field have
begun to take their toll. As might be expected, waterbirds are the key
attraction. Diversity is not that high (an average day might reach 50 species),
but many of the target birds are high-altitude specialties. One of the most
sought-after birds is the flightless Short-winged Grebe, relatively common in
its stronghold on Lake Titicaca. We recommened two sites: Huatajata lakeshore and Yampupata Peninsula. You might also
want to investigate the Sorata site if
you are in the general area.
For more similar Altiplano birds based in
La Paz, you can visit Sajama Polylepis forest, Laguna Huanakota area, Lagunas area and
border with Chile, and Northern Chile and the High Andes.
APOLO
The Apolo area is a fantastic part
of
Bolivia
and Madidi
National
Park that deserves more attention. But the
logistics are difficult, so Apolo is not a spot one can place on a 10 site, two
week Bolivia visit. The problem is the area is not very well developed to
receive tourists- which we know for some of you would be a positive point. A
visit to Apolo would include birdwatching the Apolo Yungas as you travel down the lush cloud forest, from
3500 down to
2000 m,
searching the Inter-Andean dry forests of Machariapo valley, and the odd Apolo
Semi-humid forest and savannas with the endemic Palkachupa Cotinga, once
considered a subspecies of the Swallow-tailed Cotinga and 20 savannah
species.
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VALLE TOWNS
OF LA PAZ DEPARTMENT
Southeast of the city of
La Paz, the stark,
limitless expanses of the Altiplano give way to the spine of the
Andes. The descent into these dry valleys from the
Altiplano offer some of the most spectacular scenery in
La Paz Department and
some very special birds. Of interest in general is the Urmiri/Sapahaqui circuit and Inquisivi.
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Rurrenabaque
At the junction
between the last foothills (serranías) of the Andes and the beginning of a large
expanse of flat, lowland tropical forest and pampas, Rurrenabaque is a gateway
to the Amazonian lowlands of Bolivia.
The immediate area
around Rurrenabaque for bird watching is mostly
disturbed, second growth forest of limited interest. If you find yourself in Rurrenabaque for a
morning or afternoon of birding, try to get some distance between you and the
town. Renting a motorcycle or taxi for
the day or half-day is an easy proposition.
From
Rurrenabaque you can plan guided tours to the rainforest visiting the Wattled Curassow Lodge, Mapajo Lodge, and Chalalan
Eco-lodge. You can create your own trip, or get one of the many tourism
agencies in Rurrenabaque to do it for you to visit Beni flooded savannas, Serrania Pilón, Serranía Sadiri, Alto Madidi, and San José de
Uchupiamonas. There is public transportation to many of these sites, within
hiking distance. Also of interest in the area might be Beni Biological Station.
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MADIDI
NATIONAL PARK
Madidi
National Park is a phenomenal protected area worth more attention. The park
covers almost 2 million hectares, from some of the most important highland Polylepis forests, down the Andean cloud
forest to the richest rain forest site in Bolivia (site 57: Alto Madidi) and
north to cover ungrazed, unburnt savannahs. The problem is that most of this
natural area is inaccessible- and what roads do exist are only 50% of the time
functional. We are hoping to see more tourism development
in Madidi in the oncoming years, but progress has been slow.
The best known
site with tourism infrastructure is Chalalan Eco-lodge, but other sites like Serranía Sadiri, Alto Madidi, San José de
Uchupiamonas, and Apolo semi-humid forest and Machariapo Valley dry forest might be a bit rough, but well worth it for the birds.
Acknowledgments
We are greatful for the assistance and
comments made by Victor Bullen, Claudia Coca, Isabel Gomez, Sebastian Herzog, Jon Hornbuckle, Alvaro
Jaramillo, Charles
Hesse, Michael Kessler, Barbara Knapton, Tim Miller, Douglas
Mason, Preston Motes, Manual Olivera, Carmen Quiroga, Jonathan Rossouw,
David Recalde, Joe Tobias, Jim Turner, Melinda Walton, Bret Whitney, and Brian Woods.
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