The Spectacled Bear remains one of South America’s most enigmatic and elusive mammals. So, we were very excited when news came in that Spectacled Bears had been seen on not just one, but two of our holidays to South America this October – our tour to Northern Peru, and on our Ecuador’s Amazonian (Bargain) Mammal tour.
Ecuador: Amazonian Mammals – Spectacled Bear!
Tour participant Paul Markley describes our Ecuador bear sighting:
After a productive few days at Napo Wildlife Centre (which included sightings of seven primate species, both Southern Two-toed and Brown-throated Three-toed Sloths, and Giant River Otters) our guide for the Highlands leg, Willy, alerted us about a particular species of tree which he knew Spectacled Bears like to feed on in the Maquipucuna Reserve. He took us to visit these particular trees that had not fruited during February or March, but which were fruiting at the time of our tour.
It proved an excellent tip-off, as this is indeed where the bears were now feeding at this reserve! On the road near the reserve we were rewarded with a large male crossing the road in front of our bus, and we all had a sighting!
This is also a great area for hummingbirds, and we saw Kinkajous feeding on bananas as well!
Northern Peru – Spectacled Bear!
Naturetrek client Wendy Black reports on the Northern Peru tour sightings:
‘Just a quick email to let you know what a wonderful time we had with Alejandro in Northern Peru. As you said, he is a superb guide and tour leader, and his knowledge of birds is fantastic. As you may already know we saw over 550 birds and that does not include the ‘heards’, but it did include marvellous views of a male Marvellous Spatuletail Hummingbird at a feeder!
‘We were also extremely lucky to see Pink Dolphins in the Amazon and a real WILD Spectacled Bear in Chaparri. This is a really lovely place to stay and to visit.
‘Then there was the joy of seeing the fortress at Kuelap. Three of us certainly felt it was every bit as good as Machu Picchu. And finally, we had an absolute eye-opener when we visited the museum with the treasures of the Lords of Sipan – a culture none of us knew anything about. So very many thanks indeed for organising such a wonderful tour.’
For more information about these tours contact Andy on 01962 733051 or email andy@naturetrek.co.uk