The trip was excellent. There were long days with a lot of driving time, but this was an itinerary that demanded a lot of driving. We covered a lot of area and a number of unique habitats, which put us in place to see a lot of birds. The guide, Juan, was outstanding. He knew virtually all the birds immediately with a brief sighting or call and was able to show them to us. The driver, Henry, was excellent, safe, and cautious, which is the sort of driver one wants on mountain roads. The places we stopped for food were always great--Lomo Saltado most of the time for one of us--and lodging was usually very good. We would have liked a few more nights at lodges, rather than hotels, but the hotels were generally fine. We were tired at the end of the tour, but we put in the hours that left us tired and pleased with the tour. Thanks!

We were a small group of three friends who went on the 'birding north Perú' trip with a two day pre-trip extension to Santa Eulalia canyon and Ticlio - a total of 18 days. With the expert guidance of Juan and driving by Henry, we saw an amazing 569 species. Juan's guiding abilities were truly exceptional - his ability to hear and identify bird calls/songs are among the best I have encountered anywhere. Further, he worked hard to make sure that all three of us were able to see each bird well. It was very evident from our tour that Juan spends much time researching new sites to find rare and otherwise difficult birds to see and this clearly resulted in our excellent bird list. Henry was a fabulous driver, who was very safe and cautious on windy mountain dirt roads. Additionally, he was always very friendly and helpful and made some of the best breakfasts we had while birding out in the field. In retrospect, it would have been nice to spend more time in lodges so that we could spend more time early morning and late afternoon in high quality birding areas (although this probably would have reduced the number of areas we visited as well as the number of birds seen). Regardless, Gunnar was upfront about the schedule and the type of lodging that we would have - so this is not a criticism.

We greatly enjoyed our trip to Pucusana. Considering that it was our first visit to Peru, we were not looking for rare species as every species was potentially new to us, except some species migrating between south and north America. This is why we opted for a multifaceted trip minimizing driving time and optimizing the variety of habitats visited (sea and coastal; wetlands; terrestrial/agricultural). Doing this, we saw a large variety of species from colibris to large whales that was exactly what we aimed at. We made a coffee and filled-bread break in the morning and an empanadas break in the afternoon. The guide and the driver were both extremely friendly and competent and we spent a marvelous day altogether!