Arrival at the international airport in Lima and transfer to a nearby hotel. Overnight in Lima.

We leave our hotel and return to the airport for our morning flight to Arequipa. Condors are our quest for the next two days and once out of the city we'll be stopping for birding. In the Puna zone we'll be on the look out for Dark-winged Canastero and White-throated Sierra Finch. We'll stop at any lakes we pass as these often have some passage shorebirds at the edges as well as Chilean Flamingos, Crested Ducks and Speckled Teals. In the damper areas of the Puna there should be some Andean Geese and Puna Ibis and Aplomado Falcon is always a possibility here too as is the Diademed Sandpiper Plover. Eventually we will arrive at Colca Lodge or similar where we'll spend the night. B:L:D

Early start, to be in place at Colca Canyon to watch the Andean Condors rise from their roost. As the morning sun comes up and warms the air the condors take to the skies. At times these huge birds pass close to the observers waiting at the edge of this deep canyon and photo opportunities are unbelievable here! Peregrine Falcon, Puna Hawk, American Kestrels and Aplomado Falcon can also be seen here. Once this spectacle has finished we'll make our way back to Arequipa birding as we go. Overnight in the city. B:L:D

Full days birding out from Arequipa. The nearby Salinas (huge salt lakes) are the home of large flocks of flamingos. With luck we'll be able to approach within range to identify three species here: Chilean, Andean and Puna. Andean Avocet and Puna Plover are other possibilities as well. Turning our attention to smaller birds we'll spend some time in the montane scrub where we hope to see Tamarugo Conebill, Streaked Tit-Spinetail, Black Metaltail, Andean Hillstar and White-browed Chat-Tyrant. The arid areas and gullies in this region are good for birding and we stand a good chance of seeing White-throated and Straight-billed Earthcreeper today. In the late afternoon we'll be back at Arequipa. Overnight at our hotel in Arequipa. B:L:D.

This morning we fly from Arequipa to Lima where we'll be met by our bus. We'll be spending the night in the Andean foothills not far from the capital tonight, but first we'll make a detour to a local nature reserve. Lomas de Lachay is an area of low-lying hills, seemingly an oasis in this stark, barren, arid landscape. The moisture from the coastal mist (formed by the offshore Humboldt Current) produces a carpet of vegetation here and a haven for birds. Coastal Miners can be seen on the entrance road to the reserve and in the low pampa we may see Least Seedsnipe, Tawny-throated Dotterel (seasonal), Peruvian Meadowlark and Yellowish Pipit. Our main targets here will be the Thick-billed and Greyish Miners, although the latter seems to be another seasonal bird at the reserve. Other birds may include Raimondi's Yellow-Finch, Grassland Yellow-Finch, Purple-collared Woodstar and depending on available flowers, Peruvian Sheartail. Before leaving for our hotel in Santa Eulalia we will search one of the nearby canyons for another endemic - Cactus Canastero. B:L:D

An early start along the dusty but spectacular Santa Eulalia road will take us high into the mountains above Lima. After crossing a bridge over a tremendous chasm we shall reach a shrubby hillside and small ravine where the rare and endemic Rufous-breasted Warbling-Finch is still regularly seen. As the early morning sun hits the slopes we will be sorting through flocks of the much more numerous Mourning Sierra-Finches in the hopes of finding this elusive speciality. Lower down we will enter a mosaic of small farms with irrigated fields and hedgerows, where we will check flowering bushes for the endemic Bronze-tailed Comet. Other endemics we will try to find here are Black-necked Woodpecker, Striated Earthcreeper, Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail, Canyon Canastero and Rusty-bellied Brush-Finch. Tall groves of introduced Eucalyptus trees often hold the diminutive Peruvian Pygmy-Owl, and depending on weather conditions the majestic Andean Condor may take to the air. Descending farther, we reach the arid cactus-clad slopes, which are the home to another highly-prized endemic, the Great Inca-Finch. Other birds we will look for in the course of the day are Bare-faced Ground-Dove, White-tipped Dove, Andean Swift, Sparkling Violetear, Peruvian Sheartail, Purple-collared Woodstar, Pied-crested Tit-Tyrant, White-browed Chat-Tyrant, House Wren, Long-tailed Mockingbird, White-capped Dipper, Chiguanco Thrush, Cinereous Conebill, Blue-capped Tanager, Mourning Sierra-Finch, Band-tailed Seedeater, Golden-bellied Saltator and Scrub Blackbird. We’ll return to our hotel in Santa Eulalia for the night B:L:D

Early start today as we head for the high altitude bogs near Marcopomacocha. Diademed Sandpiper-Plover will be the bird on most folk's 'wish list' here but this is a great area for another rare endemic - the White-bellied Cinclodes. This is arguably one of the most attractive Furnariids and well worth the stomp around the bogs alone! However, there is much more to see: Rufous-bellied and Grey-breasted Seedsnipes, Puna Snipe, Bright-rumped Yellow-Finches, White-winged Diuca-Finch, White-fronted Ground-Tyrant, Streak-throated Canastero and Olivaceous Thornbill are here too. One of the most common terrestrial birds here is another Peruvian endemic…the Dark-winged Miner. Stopping at some bushes favoured by Black-breasted Hillstar we may also stumble on something unexpected like Black-fronted Ground-Tyrant as we have done in the past. Eventually we will have to make the decision to leave the bogs but on the way back down we may have time to search for Stripe-headed Antpitta and Junin Canastero. We’ll return to Lima where we may join up with the group arriving for the Manu tour. B:L:D