Northwest Argentina: The High Andes, Yungas, and Monte Desert

12 days
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Small Group Tour
From the lush yungas forest with its distinctive avifauna, to the dramatic cactus-studded Andean deserts, to the high altiplano with its flamingo-studded lakes, this tour offers a fascinating variety of habitats and birds. There is a huge number of different species for birders who have only visited the north Andean countries, with evocative names like earthc...
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Overview

Trip type
Small Group Tour
Lodging level
Premium - 4 star
Physical level
Easy
Trip pace
Balanced schedule

Highlights

    • From dry lowland forest to flamingo-studded lakes high in the Andes, you will experience a fascinating variety of habitats and birds.
    • You will find Dusky-legged Guan, Spot-breasted Thornbird, Rusty-browed Warbling-Finch, Fulvous-headed and White-browed Brush-Finches, Plush-crested Jay, Red-tailed Comet, Plumbeous Black-Tyrant in the Yungas forests.
    • In Monte Desert you will see the White-throated Cacholote, as well as the handsome Ringed Warling-Finch and White-fronted Woodpecker.

What's this trip about?

    From the lush yungas forest with its distinctive avifauna, to the dramatic cactus-studded Andean deserts, to the high altiplano with its flamingo-studded lakes, this tour offers a fascinating variety of habitats and birds. There is a huge number of different species for birders who have only visited the north Andean countries, with evocative names like earthcreepers, brushrunners, cachalotes, and gallitos. We cover a lot of ground on this tour, but it is quite comfortable thanks to Argentina’s good infrastructure and friendly people. Wine aficionados will enjoy sampling the great local vintages during our evening meals.

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Details

Itinerary focusClassic Highlights
Group sizeIntimate group - max of 8 people
Age rangeNo age restrictions
Flights and transportAll internal ground transport included
Start CitySalta
End CityTucuman

Travel Themes

  • Nature & Wildlife
  • Birding
  • National Parks

Destinations

Activities

Max Group Size

  • Max Group Size: 8

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Itinerary

Travel Map

Day 1: Salta

On arrival in Salta, you will be transferred to great hotel in a wooded suburb of the city. If you arrive in time, we can do some easy birding near the hotel for species like White-bellied Hummingbird, Golden-billed Saltator, Scaly-headed Parrot, Plush-crested Jay, White-barred Piculet, and Cream-backed Woodpecker.

Day 2: Salta to the Rio Yala

Leaving Salta, we’ll drive north stopping along a scenic highway through the mountains. Lakes here have a good variety of waterbirds such as Brazilian Teal, Yellow-billed and White-cheeked Pintails, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, White-winged Coot, White-tufted Grebe, Black-...

Day 3: Rio Yala and the Humahuaca Valley

We’ll have another morning in the Yala area, looking for more Yungas specialties such as Slender-tailed Woodstar, Large-tailed Dove, and Yungas Pygmy-Owl along with more common species like Buff-browed Foliage-gleaner, Rufous-capped Antshrike, and Rust-and-yellow Tana...

Day 4: Laguna de los Pozuelos

An early start and packed breakfast and lunch are necessary today as we drive a long way on rough roads to the remote Laguna de los Pozuelos. This huge lake is also a magnet for flamingos as well as high Andean waterfowl, Puna Plovers, and wintering shorebirds. The dr...

Day 5: Sierra de Santa Victoria and Yavi

We’ll need another early start as we drive east to a 14,700 ft (4500 m) pass, the highest elevation we reach on the tour. The scenery here is nothing short of spectacular, and while species numbers are low, what we do see is quite different. The smartly-dressed Red-ba...

Day 6: Yavi to Salta

We’ll spend the morning targeting anything else we still need in this area before driving back to Salta, where we spend another two nights in the same hotel. In the afternoon, we’ll look for foothill species such as Saffron-billed Sparrow, Giant Antshrike, Green-cheeked Parakeet, and Stripe-capped Sparrow.

Day 7: Palomitas

Today we leave early and drive down into the dry foothills east of Salta. Some superb birds can be found here along an easy dirt road, such as Many-colored Chaco Finch, Spot-backed Puffbird, Ultramarine Grosbeak, Stripe-backed Antbird, Black-capped Warbling-Finch, Che...

Day 8: Salta to Cachi

After the late night of owling, we’ll have a fairly relaxed start. After breakfast, we’ll drive south of Salta, and then turn west into the mountains. The road snakes up a steep valley known as the Cuesta del Obispo, where roadside scrub and woodland hold some extreme...

Day 9: Cachí to Cafayate

We’ll return to the desert after an early breakfast, looking for anything we missed the previous day. Later in the afternoon, we’ll drive south through one of the most scenic areas on the continent with rock formations reminiscent of the American west. En route we’ll ...

Day 10: Cafayate to Tafí del Valle

South of the Cafayate we return to the Monte Desert, looking for White-throated Cacholote if we haven’t seen it yet, as well as the handsome Ringed Warling-Finch and White-fronted Woodpecker. As we head up into the mountains, we’ll target the rare endemic Steinbach’s ...

Day 11: El Infiernillo and Rio Los Sosa

We’ll bird this high mountain pass at dawn for Buff-breasted Earthcreeper, Tucuman Mountain-Finch, Andean Tinamou, White-browed Tapaculo, and Hellmayr’s Pipit. Flower patches lower down the valley could have Andean and White-sided Hillstars, Giant Hummingbird, or Spar...

Day 12: Tafí to Tucumán

We’ll drive about 2 hours to the city of Tucumán, where the tour ends. We plan to arrive in time for mid-day flights to Buenos Aires, allowing for plenty of time to transfer to the international airport of onward connections.

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Dates & Availability

Price From $3,990
Price per day$333
Single supplement (single occupancy)$350
Last Updated: 8/2/2018

Single supplement: $350

Prices may vary due to local taxes and trip seasonality. Click "Request Info" to inquire directly with the tour operator for the final trip price.

Check Current Availability, prices, specials with Tropical Birding.

The total tour cost includes the tour price (regular or promotional) and the compulsory local payment. The promotional price is subject to change. Check directly with the operator for the latest price offer. The tour operator requires you to pay only the tour price to purchase your travel. The compulsory local payment will be paid when you join the trip. All prices are based on double, twin or triple share occupancy. Solo passengers will be accommodated in a double, twin or triple room according to availability with a passenger(s) of the same gender. Single supplement only needs to be paid if the passenger does not want to share and requests their own room. Discounts can only be applied at the time of booking and cannot be added at a later date, regardless of any changes made to the original booking.

Prices may vary due to local taxes and trip seasonality. Click "Request Info" to inquire directly with the tour operator for the final trip price.

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Logistics

Accommodation

Good to excellent

Guides
Sam Woods Sam’s obsession for birds began with a pair of tits in a Royal London park at age 11. Working for TB fits in perfectly with his plan of building up a massive world list, and now he guides on five continents. Now well known around the world for his affable English gentlemanly demeanor and his skilled guiding, his prodigious output of trip reports has almost surpassed those qualities. Sam supposedly resides in Ecuador, but his schedule hardly allows any time there. Sam uses Swarovski binoculars and a Swarovski scope. Andrés Vásquez Andrés has been chasing birds all over his native Ecuador for a decade now. As part of our team he has not only explored his country extensively but also he has birded Peru, Brazil, Southeast Asia and South Africa learning new families and tons of new birds. Based in Quito, when not in the field, he can be found at his computer working on book publishing; he has already released several wildlife guidebooks for Ecuador, including a fieldguide to the birds of Northwest Ecuador, one for the birds of the Amazon and he is close to releasing a wildlife book for the entire country. Andres guides in the neotropical region. Andres uses Leica binoculars and a Kowa scope.
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Age Requirements
No age restrictions
Additional Information
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Trip ID
tropic1-NorArgTro

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