Explore two of the world’s richest butterfly regions on one extraordinary journey…

After an exceptionally successful previous tour, on which we encountered nearly 600 butterfly species, we’re returning to Peru in 2028 – and you can join us!

Peru is quite simply one of the world’s great butterfly destinations. More than 4,000 species are known from the country, with further species continuing to be discovered and described. In forests of such extraordinary diversity, there is even the exciting possibility of encountering butterflies that are new to science.

Our previous Peru tours have typically produced 400–500 photographed species in a fortnight, while our most recent trip approached an astonishing 600 species. For butterfly enthusiasts and photographers, the sheer variety can be remarkable – so plenty of memory cards, spare batteries and storage space are highly recommended!

A particular strength of this holiday is the opportunity to explore two very different centres of butterfly diversity. Our first base takes us into the mid-elevation forests of the eastern Andes, before we travel to Iquitos in the Amazonian lowlands. The contrasting elevations, habitats and butterfly communities mean that each part of the tour offers a distinctly different range of species, greatly increasing the overall diversity we can hope to encounter.

And it isn’t only about butterflies. Peru’s extraordinarily rich habitats support a fascinating array of other insects, including colourful shield bugs, damselflies, grasshoppers and beetles.

During our time at the ecolodge in the eastern Andes, we will also be able to run a moth light on suitable evenings, revealing another remarkable side to Peru’s insect diversity. The moths can be breathtaking, encompassing an extraordinary variety of shapes, colours, patterns and forms. Moth lighting will not be possible during the Iquitos part of the holiday, where our accommodation is in the city and is not suitable for this activity.

Our adventure begins in the historic Andean city of Cusco, where we spend our first night recovering from the international journey. The following morning we begin our journey eastwards, travelling by minibus for approximately five hours along the spectacular road towards Puerto Maldonado. We will make stops along the way to search for and photograph butterflies as we descend through changing Andean habitats.

Our base for the next six nights is a simple but comfortable ecolodge at mid-elevation in the eastern Andes. From here, daily excursions of around 10–45 minutes take us into a variety of highly productive butterfly habitats.

We’ll explore quiet roadsides, forest trails, stream edges and other sunny openings where butterflies gather to mud-puddle, bask and nectar. Rubber boots will be essential for some locations! The diversity can be tremendous, with possibilities including spectacular Morphos and Owl butterflies, Daggerwings, Banners, Numberwings, Sisters, Swallowtails, Sulphurs, Glasswings, Hairstreaks, Metalmarks and Skippers, amongst many others.

We then make our way back towards Cusco, again taking our time to stop at promising butterfly sites along the route while enjoying the magnificent Andean scenery and glimpses of local life. After another night in Cusco, an early flight takes us via Lima to Iquitos, deep in the Peruvian Amazon.

We spend six nights in Iquitos, staying in a comfortable city hotel and making daily excursions into the remarkable Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve. Here we encounter a very different butterfly fauna from that of the eastern Andes, adding greatly to the diversity of the holiday.

The forests around Iquitos offer opportunities for an exciting assortment of Metalmarks, Hairstreaks, Glasswings, large Firetip skippers, Leafwings, Satyrs and Cattlehearts, together with an immense variety of other Nymphalids, Pierids and Swallowtails. With so many species potentially present, every excursion offers the possibility of something new.

Finally, we fly back to Lima for our international flights home that evening or the following day.

Combining the eastern slopes of the Andes with the forests of Amazonia, this is an intensive butterfly and photography holiday offering the opportunity to experience one of the richest butterfly faunas anywhere on Earth.

Travel Information

This tour starts at Cusco airport and ends at Iquitos airport. The internal flights (Lima-Cusco return, and Lima-Iquitos return) are NOT included in the tour cost. Guests will be notified which international and domestic flights to book at least 3 months prior to trip. Road travel is by minibus. There is no boat travel involved.

Spending extra time in Cusco

Our itinerary includes an overnight stay in Cusco at the beginning of the holiday, primarily to allow guests to rest after their international journey. However, guests who would like the opportunity to explore Cusco may wish to arrive a day early and book an additional hotel night at their own expense. This gives you time to discover this beautiful and fascinating historic city at a more relaxed pace before the butterfly adventure begins.

This is an adventurous wildlife holiday, taking us into parts of Peru where tourism infrastructure can be relatively basic. Guests should therefore be prepared for some minor discomforts during overland travel.

Vehicles used locally may be older and more basic than the modern minibuses you might expect on many of our other holidays. More comfortable vehicles are not always available or suitable for the routes we use, some of which involve rough or poorly maintained roads. Journeys can therefore occasionally be slow or bumpy, but they allow us to reach some exceptionally rewarding butterfly habitats.

Travelling in these more remote areas also requires a degree of flexibility and a sense of adventure. Road conditions, weather and other local circumstances can sometimes affect our plans, and the itinerary may need to be adjusted at short notice. Our leaders and local team will always make decisions based on the conditions at the time, while aiming to provide the best possible wildlife experience.

Guests who join this holiday should come prepared for these occasional inconveniences as part of the experience of exploring some of Peru’s outstanding butterfly habitats.

Leaders

You will be accompanied by Adrian Hoskins, author of Butterflies of the World and 1000 Butterflies, as well as several scientific papers. Adrian has exceptional experience of Neotropical butterflies, having undertaken numerous tours in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela, together with more than a dozen previous tours to Peru.

We will also be joined by an experienced local, English-speaking butterfly guide, whose knowledge of the area will be invaluable. Liquid baits will be placed at suitable locations along trails and on foliage to attract butterflies and provide additional opportunities for observation and photography.

An important note about the style of this tour

This holiday is deliberately run differently from many of our more traditional guided butterfly tours. We do not generally move through the habitats as a single group, with the leaders pointing out and identifying butterflies as they are encountered.

Instead, guests are encouraged to explore the trails and habitats independently and at their own pace, allowing plenty of time to find, observe and photograph butterflies without having to keep up with a group. This approach is particularly well suited to the extraordinary diversity of butterflies in Peru and to guests who want to devote time to photography.

Expert identification support remains an important part of the holiday. Each evening, Adrian will help identify butterflies photographed during the day using images on guests’ cameras and laptops. He will also provide PDF identification resources illustrating a high proportion of the species we are likely to encounter.

This combination of independent daytime exploration, local field knowledge and Adrian’s exceptional Neotropical expertise gives guests the freedom to enjoy the forests at their own pace while still benefiting from expert help in identifying the remarkable diversity of butterflies encountered.