Site Report: Santuario Nacional de Ampay, Peru

Visits

• 2026-05-11: There were some endemic birds that we wanted to find around Abancay. We went to an agent in Cusco to buy a bus ticket to get there. However, when we arrived at the bus station, we found out that the scheduled bus had been cancelled. So, we changed plans to try and take a collectivo. There were many people waiting for collectivos. It was also mother's day, so there was less transport. Eventually, we got a collectivo, and the driver drove very insanely to get us to Abancay. There was the usual aggressive passing by oil tanker trucks on foggy curvy mountain roads as well. In the morning, we took a taxi to the trailhead. It took us 6 hours to do the 2 hour hike to reach Laguna Uspaccocha. On the way back down, I had a pretty dramatic fall. Fortunately, I hit my leg muscle on a rock rather than my knee. The leg was swollen for a few weeks after that. We took the local bus back into town. The main road in Abancay is very steep and running for miles. They make a big deal about roads like this that are just a few blocks long in San Francisco.

Species Seen

Lifelists

• South America
• World

Trips

• Bolivia and Peru