We let John Arvin suggest an itinerary for us. After spending the night in Lima thanks to a decidedly unfriendly airline schedule, we flew to Cusco early on the next morning. After dumping our bags at a nice hotel, we spent the rest of the day birding around Lake Huycarpay, a short drive from Cusco.

The next morning, we took the train to Machu Picchu, or tried to. A wreck on the tracks forced a two-hour delay, so we arrived in the area around lunch time. We spent the afternoon walking around the ruins, and enjoying the incredible vistas. No one knows exactly why the Incas invested so much time and energy into the site, but the explanation that it was a royal retreat seems to be a reasonable explanation. Think of it as the Incan equivalent of Camp David. Jim was particularly impressed by the "fountains," a series of connected pools fed by a spring high up in the mountains. The spring was cleared of debris a few years ago and the fountains began working again. Pretty good engineering.

After an overnight visit to Cusco, we set off driving and birding along a road well-known to all serious birders. Driving on this one-lane road with two-way traffic -- and precipitous drop-offs -- is definitely a job for professionals. Our driver knew the road well, and was friends with every other driver we passed. The road crosses the Andes at about 14,000 feet, in a curious habitat called "puna." Then it descends through several different life zones before finally reaching the Rio Alto Madre de Dios. This river is the subject of Aldo Leopold’s essay, “The River of the Mother of God,” and also appears prominently, though unnamed, in the recent documentary, Keep the River on Your Right, which we saw in Dallas after we got back.

We spent several days birding the area around the Manu Cloud Forest Lodge at about 7,000 feet elevation. The highlight of that stop, and Linda's vote for the bird of the trip, was the Andean Cock of the Rock. Most people get up before dawn and hike to a lek, a special area where the males display. John told us, "We can go about 4:30 in the afternoon and see the same show." Now, that's a cooperative bird! We captured the performance on video.

After a long day's drive and a short boat ride, we arrived at Amazonia Lodge, an erstwhile tea plantation with some primary forest nearby. We spent several days roaming around the lowlands before starting the long trip back. Many tours opt to fly out, rather than driving back, a reasonable choice. However, we would have missed Jim's choice for bird of the trip had we done so. The Cinnamon-faced Tyrannulet, Phyloscartes parkeri, is a tiny brown, very active flycatcher named for the famous ornithologist Ted Parker. Only within the past year has the species been recognized, and it still doesn't appear on the checklists of Peru. We had magnificent looks at a pair that responded to a tape of their call.

We had a final day to spend in Lima, thanks again to the ridiculous airline schedule. However, some last minute birding at a parco ecologico produced a few new species, including Linda's 2500th recorded species, so it was probably all worth it.