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Focus on Brazil


Brazil is a vast country with several distinctly different biomes. Discover them all with Focus Tours: Brazil

Focus on Argentina

The 8th largest country in the world, Argentina offers a wealth of experiences. From the subtropical rain forests of Iguazú Falls to the high Andes. Discover more with Focus Tours: Argentina 

Focus on Bolivia

Bolivia, nestled between Brazil, Peru, Chile and Paraguay, is the poorest and least developed country in South America, but also biologically and culturally the richest, safest and friendliest. Discover more with Focus Tours: Bolivia

Focus on Chile

Chile is the only truly temperate country in the Neotropics, and occupies more degrees of latitude than any other nation worldwide. Perhaps it is not surprising that Chile offers several extremes of the natural world. Discover more with Focus Tours: Chile

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Jaguar Tours

The northern Pantanal is the richest area in the world for spotting Jaguars in the wild and, our naturalist guides are some of the best. Together with our boatmen we can take you into the best areas for jaguars and many other creatures. Read more about Jaguar Tours.

Bird Watching Tours

Douglas Trent is a scientist, bird watcher and wildlife photographer and his be operating Bird Watcing Tours for around two decades now. The tour possibilities in South America are many. Read more about Bird Watching Tours.

Wildlife Photography Tours

Douglas Trent is a wildlife photographer and guides groups of professional, or enthusiastc amateur, photographers and film crews on focused wildlife tours. Read more about Wildlife Photography Tours 

Funding Conservation

 

A percentage of our profits has been funding in-country conservation projects since 1981. They directly benefit the local communities we visit and, when possible, are self-sustable, generating benefits long after our initial donation. Your visit will benefit you, the environment and your hosts.

ORURO & THE LAGO URU-URU: Flamingos, Flamingos & Flamingos


Oruro is a mining city built on the slopes of a hill at 12,150 feet. The city does not have much to offer the visitor aside from the La Diablada festival, which has become the best known and largest annual celebration in the country.

Festivities begin the first Saturday after Ash Wednesday, and those wishing to experience should make their reservations well in advance. Brightly colored costumes feature wild masks, which can be purchased in the city any time of the year. Another interesting stop is the Museo Mineralógico, with its collection of precious stones, fossils, minerals and crystals from around the world.

The other draw to the city is the Uru-Uru Lake, with its rich avian delights. An ancient inland sea once covered this lake as well as Titicaca and the other saline lakes in the Altiplano. Today, the two lakes are only connected in wet years by the Desaguardero River.

Uru-Uru has extensive shallow shores with teeming waterfowl, shorebirds, marshbirds and waders. The most important of these is the endemic Short-winged Grebe. At times the lake teems with three species of flamingos: Chilean, Andean and a small number of James'. Puna Yellow-Finch and other interesting species of land birds can also be seen. Birders on a tighter schedule can leave Cochabamba early, bird on the way to Oruro and visit the lake after lunch. It is only three hours on to La Paz from Oruro.