Days 1 and 2: Welcome to Brazil! First stop is Tancredo Neves International Airport where our English speaking guide will meet all everyone participating.  From here, we will take a relatively short drive to Serra do Cipó National Park. This National Park is located northeast of Belo Horizonte, the sprawling capital of Mines Gerais and the third largest city in Brazil. This park is “Cerrado” which is a mountainous, rocky version of savanna and home to some of the countries most beautiful birds. There is a bonus treat for visitors of this national park. We will have a great chance to see the indigenous orange colored maned wolf and wild spotted ocelots. And of course, there are many endemic bird species unique to this part of the world!   One of our main targets is the endemic Cipó Canastero (Asthenes luizae), an isolated ovenbird that was first described as late as 1985. We will trek to the top of the plateau where it usually forages on the ground. Others lifers here in Çipo are the Cinereous Warbling-Finch, Pale-throated Serra-Finch, Gray-backed Tachuri and the Velvety Black-Tyrant. All of these species are endemic to Brazil! Other amazing birds to be seen are the Cinnamon Tanager and incredibly beautiful Yellow-billed Blue Finch. Hummingbird lovers can take heart that they will get a chance to see the endemic Hyacinth Visorbearer  and rare Horned Sungem. These are just a few of the highlights! One of the most memorable part of your journey will be the food served at these locations. After a long day hiking and searching for birds, you will build up an appetite. Prepare yourself for some amazing food!

Days 3, 4, 5 and 6: After an early Brazilian breakfast we hit the road heading South toward the romantic rolling hills of the Caraça Monastery. This historic Neo-Gothic Monastery was established in 1774 by a Portuguese monk called Brother Lourenço and is located smack dab in the middle of the treasured Atlantic rainforest and outlying patches of Cerrado. Within this dream setting lives a unique mix of wildlife species unique to the area. Birders and wildlife photographers from all over the world come here to enjoy the relatively easy trail system while searching for rare bird species. Some of the highlights include the Serra Antwren, Rufous Gnateater, Orange-eyed Thornbird, Dusky-tailed, Swallow-tailed Cotinga, Buff-browed Foliage-gleaner, Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail, Rock Tapaculo, Golden-chevroned, Blackish Rail, Pale-throated Pampa-Finch, White-shouldered Fire-eye, Ochre-rumped Antbirds, Pin-tailed Manakin, Brassy-breasted, Gilt-edged, Rufous-capped Spinetail and others. Many are endemic to this region of to Brazil. As an added bonus, we will be in presence of some interesting mammals that will most likely make their presence known. One is the Black-fronted Titi Monkeys which exchange humorous calls between each other. In the evening, if we are lucky, one of the priests from the sanctuary will call out and bring food for some maned wolves who eagerly show up at the back gate. Later on, tapirs make their way around the grounds and we might get a special glimpse.  It’s quite simply a unique opportunity that you have to see!

Days 7, 8, 9 and 10: Again, we’ll leave early morning after our hearty breakfast of freshly squeezed orange and exotic fruit juice, typical “cheese bread”, local cheese, breads and strong Brazilian coffee. Our next stop is Serra da Canastra National Park which is one of the most beautiful nature preserves in Brazil. It contains more than 488,800 acres of Cerrado (Brazilian Savanna) and is home to even more species.  There are two distinct biomes in the park: The top of the Canastra plateau and the base of the plateau located at the lowest altitude. At the top of the plateau we’ll find a mixture of savanna grassland and sections of the gallery forest. The diversity between the two biomes gives us a wonderful mix of birds and the species you find here are very different from what we will see at the base! 
These are some of the birds we’ll see on our visit: Red-winged Tinamou, Ochre-breasted Pipit, Crested Black-Tyrant, Cock-tailed Tyrant, Black-masked Finch, Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch, Gray-backed Tachuri, Sharp-tailed Tyrant, Stripe-tailed Yellow-Finch among others. Rare and endemic birds can be seen in the gallery forest such as the Rufous-winged Antshrike, White-rumped Tanager, Brasilia Tapaculo, Black-throated Saltator, White-vented Violetear, White-banded Tanager, Plain-crested Elaenia, White-rumped Monjita, Cinnamon Tanager, and many more. One of the interesting things you’ll see here are the termite mounds spread all over. Termites are interesting? Yes! They are not only a great food source for the birds but also for the Giant Anteater! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to get a glance at one of South America’s most beautiful mammals?  

Additionally, at the base of the plateau we will looking for the extremely rare and almost extinct Brazilian Merganser. This odd-looking thin billed duck depends on extremely pure water for its survival and it’s estimated that less than 250 of these birds are left in the world. They are in danger to such a scale that very little is even known about their traditional breeding techniques. There is a decent chance we may see one along the Sao Francisco River which begins its life here in the National Park. In the forest along the river, we’ll find amazing birds such as Toco Toucan, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Red-breasted Toucan, Pileated Finch, Rufous-sided Crake, White-shouldered Fire-eye, Helmeted Manakin, Gray-cowled Wood-Rail, Ruby-crowned Tanager, Curl-crested Jay, Masked Water-Tyrant, Sooty Tyrannulet, and even Aplomado Falcon, Chestnut-capped Blackbird and one of the most beautiful tyrant-flycatchers, the Streamer-tailed Tyrant. On our final day, we take the road back toward Belo Horizonte where we will spend the night at the hotel near Tancredo Neves International airport and rest for a safe and satisfied flight back home! 
 
Starting point: The tour begins and ends in Belo Horizonte city, in Minas Gerais. Belo Horizonte is reached by frequent daily flights from São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia and also directly from Orlando and Panama City.