Peru: A Community Effort II

Our guide on my Kolibri Expeditions tour was Alex Durand, one of the most knowledgeable birders–and two of the keenest eyes and ears–I’ve ever met in South America.

Along with six of his brothers, Alex is also catering to the physical needs of visiting birders by building a new eco-lodge on land they own together.

Right now, the Durand Brothers Lodge is still a basic place, hosting chiefly backpacking birders whose simple expectations are likely to be happily exceeded by the showers and flush toilet already installed.

But the spacious new dining room is a sign of greater things to come.

Alex and his brothers are hoping to have the new lodge complete by May 2011, offering comfortable accommodations and hot food to birders who would otherwise have to commute from Puerto Maldonado (as we did) or even farther.

And are there birds?

Oh yes.

We spent two full days birding the rich forests around the lodge, concentrating largely on such bamboo stunners as Rufous-headed Woodpecker and Bamboo Antshrike, both of which we saw remarkably well. Red-throated Caracaras announced our passage through the forest, and at one point we were surrounded by a herd of white-lipped peccaries–the only time during the entire tour when I felt the least bit nervous about my safety!

Fortunately they left us pretty much alone, crashing and gnashing their way through the undergrowth, as did the several monkey species flashing through the treetops overhead.