Chuncho Macaw Clay Lick

Visiting the Chunco Macaw Clay Lick in the Tambopata National Reserve is nothing short of spectacular. It is one of the highest rated and most popular expedition offered by Refugio Amazonas.

The trip begins before sunrise. After a 15 minute jungle trek to the boat dock, you will travel down the Rio Tambopata watching the sun rise over the Amazon rainforest.

The boat ride is about an hour. You may want to wear a windbreaker, the boat does have enough speed for the breeze to be very chilly in the morning. On the way back to the lodge, the breeze just feels amazing. We sat at the very back of the boat. This way we had people in front of us who were blocking some of the wind and we had an unobstructed view behind the boat.

The boat pulls ashore at the trail that leads through the jungle to the viewing area. It is approximately a 15 minute hike.  I was really excited for this excursion, but also slightly nervous. I found myself wondering what happens if anyone gets ‘attacked’ by an animal.

Then I happened to notice that all of our guides had knives or machetes or both with them.  Seeing that reinforced my idea about staying close to the guides. I felt better knowing that my only defense was no longer to outrun at least one person.

The trail ends at a sitting area behind tall grasses across from the Chuncho Macaw Clay Lick. We were each given a small folding chair to sit on while we had our breakfast and watched and listened to the macaws flying overhead.

Many of the parrots came flying in two by two, as macaws typically mate for life. We saw both Scarlet and Blue and Gold Macaws.

They would fly in and position themselves at the top of the canopy. If there was too much noise or movement, they would fly off. There are other tour companies that come to this location. During our visit, there were four other groups. One group was particularly noisy, so they would fly in, stay awhile in the tree tops and fly off.

I highly recommend bringing binoculars and a telephoto lens. The photo above was taken by placing my cell phone over a monocular. Our guide, Alfredo, took this for me. He had obviously done this many times. I had not practiced enough before our trip to get these fantastic shots. I will be bringing the monocular along on a trip to Sanibel Island, I am hoping that my skill level has increased.

Some of the tour groups, including the noisy one, left after about an hour. We were so happy that they did. Our guide told us we should stay for another hour, as the macaws weren’t coming down from the trees because of all of the noise. Our patience and quiet paid off. We watched as they very slowly flew down and landed on lower and lower branches. Then either the bravest, or most foolish, (we don’t know which) flew down onto the clay lick and started licking the minerals off the clay.

Here is an 8 second video of the first Macaw landing on the clay lick.

Soon, more and more macaws were dropping down.

Another picture, compliments of Alfredo.

Once the clay lick was getting full, we were treated to some noisy, territorial displays between the macaws. Eventually they all flew off and we headed back through the jungle to the boat.

As a side note, the excursion takes half a day. You leave before breakfast and return for lunch. When you eventually have to go to the bathroom, the jungle floor is your only option. Bring your own toilet paper and a friend to watch out for animals. The second part may be unnecessary, but I was not going off alone. (Also a bag, as you are not to leave anything behind.)

As soon as our boat pushed off shore, our driver pointed out a caiman floating near the shore. I was so glad that I was all ready in the boat! The camouflage was amazing, it blends in perfectly not only with the brown, murky water, but also with the green foliage reflecting off the surface. Can you see it? I’ll give you some hints. It took all of us awhile to spot it. All you can see of it is the eye and the top of the head and mouth. It is very close to the shore and near the center of the picture.

Just in case you can’t find it. That was the only one we saw on our entire trip.

Our next scheduled activity was the Canopy Tower Tour. It was scheduled for late afternoon, to avoid the worst heat of the day. As always, wishing you happy travels and fantastic adventures in this thing called life.

(All pictures are available for purchase as Fine Art or Digital Downloads at full resolution through Alamy. If you see something you like, click on the link. If you are unable to find it, use the Contact Me page and I will make sure the image is available.)

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