Huacarpay Lake

The Huacarpay lakes are a group of shallow wetlands in a basin about thirty kilometres south-east of Cusco at around 3,200 metres, protected as a Ramsar site and holding somewhere near a hundred bird species - Andean and cinnamon teal, Puna ibis, Andean gulls, grebes, plumbeous rail, and the many-coloured rush tyrant in the reeds, which is the one birders come specifically for. A road runs around the basin with tracks and viewpoints. On the ridge above stands Pikillacta, a Wari city of the seventh to tenth centuries laid out in a rigid grid of hundreds of rectangular compounds over some fifty hectares - pre-Inca by centuries, and one of the largest Wari sites known, with the Rumicolca gate nearby, a Wari structure later refaced by the Inca. The two together make a half day from Cusco that almost no visitor makes, since the tour circuit runs the other way.

What you actually see

• The wetland birds - around a hundred species, including the rush tyrant in the reeds.
• Pikillacta - a Wari grid city of hundreds of compounds on the ridge above.
• Rumicolca - the Wari gate later refaced by the Inca.
• The quiet - a basin the Cusco tour circuit does not visit.

When to go

April to October, the dry season. Early morning for the birds. Half a day covers the lake and Pikillacta together.

Honest expectations

No facilities at the lake and no hides - birding is from the road and tracks. Pikillacta is largely low walls and foundations, and needs interest in pre-Inca archaeology to hold attention. Exposed at 3,200 metres.

Nearby

Pikillacta and Rumicolca are on the ridge; Tipón and Andahuaylillas are on the same road.