Pantanos de Villa is a wildlife refuge very close to the city. If you are a beginner bird watcher or a more experienced traveler, you will enjoy this place, with the help of our guides who love nature and birds will help you on this tour. It is a natural area where many migratory birds from different countries visit us and also live with many resident birds.
The Los Pantanos bird watching excursion will be by both walking in a shoreline area and boating in a marsh area. This location is on the south end of the Lima area. Our guide for our trip was Nicole Henriod and she was excellent in leading the bird viewing. She is bilingual with solid birding skills.
Absolutely fantastic experience. The guides were brilliant. We were accompanied by Manuel, who was passionate and knowledgeable, despite having only been there for a short time. Saw around thirty birds which were new for me in a few short hours, including some incredibly close. Highlights included vermilion flycatchers, many coloured rush tyrants (who are apparently sometimes difficult to spot, but were incredibly obliging for us), Wilson's phalarope, Harris hawks, and many more. Also heard, but not seen, was the very shy least bittern. I'd like to thank again our fantastic guides, who offered not only knowledge of the local wildlife, including insects, spiders and snakes, as well as birds, but also insight on the people and area (in multiple languages as well) Great value for money and a wonderful birdwatching experience. Highly recommended.
I went on a private birding tour of Pantanos de Villa with Nicole. She was highly knowldgable and knew where to find my target birds including the Many-colored Rush Tyrant, Peruvian Meadowlark and the Plumbeous Rail. There was also a very nice driver so Nicole and I could focus on the birds. I was picked up promptly at my hotel and delivered back to the hotel.
I was with Nicole. She has an eagle eye to spot birds. All the birds were lifer to me as it is the first time i am in South America. This wildlife refuge was a gem to see forest birds and shore birds. It is also close to Miraflores- another 13 km south of Barranco.
The tour was a nice diversion from the hectic city. Nicole was very knowledgable about the birds and we learned a lot. An enjoyable morning!
Jorge was a great guide. Kind and well-educated. Very knowledgeable about birds. Could ID by audio on most occasions. Added 19 new species to my life list today! About 58 in total for the day, wonderful! Jorge was also very engaged with the public, who may or may not be as invested in protecting the natural area. But you can see how his passion enables him to inform people and enlist them into the values of conservation. The boat tour as well was a special way to experience the humedal (brackish swamp). It would not have been possible to enter this park during birding hours without his bona fide guide credentials. Some favorites: the many-colored rush tyrant, Peruvian pipit, Peruvian meadowlark, burrowing owls, Peruvian thick-knee, Chilean Flamingo, and Great Grebe!
Jorge was an excellent birdwatching guide and worked hard to help me find my target birds in Pantanos de Villa and surrounding areas. He was very knowledgeable and great company. My family enjoy nature but would be bored with a typical birdwatching trip, but Jorge did a great job at making sure everybody was having fun. Recommend wholeheartedly.
Our guide was friendly and knowledgeable and we learned a lot about the birds and Peru and it's capital. We had a lovely experience.
Great tour guide , we saw a lot of birds. Highly recommend. Jorge is very knowledgeable about birds.
Jorge was an amazing guide. Very personable and knowledgeable. He helped me prioritize seeing the birds I wanted to see and talked about other wildlife in the area. Cannot recommend this tour enough!
Wonderful guide! Go early, the bird activity is impressive! A good way to see more of the wildlife in the area.
Nicole was a very knowledgeable guide. She had the names of the birds in english & she spoke with very good English. We were picked up & dropped back to our hotel on time. We Would definitely use her again.
I enjoyed this excursion very much. The tour guide was very personable and knowledgeable. The only downside was that it was a sanctuary for waterfowl and limited in viewing options. I thought I would see more wildlife indigenous to Peru.
Nicole was an excellent guide. Very friendly and knowlegeable. It was lovely to get away from the bustle of Lima to enjoy nature, see wildlife, and view the beach. I highly recommend this tour.
We had one free day in Lima before our trip to Iquitos and an Amazon cruise, and found this tour by Viator of the Pantanos de Villa Wildlife Reserve in Lima to fill part of the day. Touring this reserve ranks among the best for local bird life viewing. It is home to thousands of birds, and was conducted by Nicole who met us at our hotel. She is extremely knowledgeable and amazing in spotting and identifying the dozens of Peruvian coastal bird varieties that are found there, many of which are solitary and hide in the reeds along many waterways in the reserve. Nicole is also gracious and personable, and was accommodating to one of us who was wary of loose sand while recovering from an injured ankle . This was an excellent beginning to our trip. Thank you Viator and Nicole.
Nicole is so knowledgeable and friendly. I had a wonderful time talking about birds and finding many different species with her. The extra cost of the boat trip was absolutely worth it. I saw my first baby coot in the wild! The location is really neat, with varied habitats and many different kinds of birds. Totally worth the time and money! Thank you so much Nicole!
The description & prior review are pretty accurate; our guide did their best & we did see about 25 birds in the 1st part (boat for 3 was 12 Pen ~US$4 extra) & saw thousands of birds on beach. With 1000s of birds bring closed, old shoes as you will come back with evidence of 1000s of birds. Only port a potty available in each location. Trip was less than 4 hours including transportation to & from Isidro hotel but could have been longer if we took more photos or had others with us—it was just my husband & I.
Our wonderful guide, Nicole, helped us see 40 species of birds in just a few hours. The wetland at Pantanos de Villa was packed with birds. After our tour in this reserve, which included a boat tour, Nicole took us down to the beach where an incredible number of see and coastal birds were present for viewing. We strongly recommend this outing.
Saw a review on Trip Advisor and decided to give it a try. Absolutely amazing, from the moment that I meet guide Nicole it was obvious how passionate she was about wildlife and the tour did not disappoint. Plenty of birds seen and Nicole’s knowledge was incredible. Take the little boat ride (12 sol) it is worth it to get closer to some of the species. Definitely a must for bird fans.
Our guide (Nicole) was very nice, enthusiastic and spoke good English. The wetlands themselves are not terribly large but there many birds, spiders and other animals that you get to see up close. The boat ride (extra 12 soles) is definitely recommended.
This was an excellent tour. Our guide Nicole was personable and well-informed. She had a guide of the birds we might encounter with their English names, which she said she had put together herself. We were picked up at our hotel exactly on time, and during the drive she gave us some books to look at so we would know what birds to look for. She also provided bottles of water for each of us. Once at the refuge, we walked to an observation tower, took a boat ride, and walked around a lagoon at the beach. Make sure you have sturdy, comfortable shoes, as the terrain varies from marsh to grass to sand. It was amazing to see a wild area like this in the middle of such a large city. I definitely recommend taking this tour.
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