Hi ,
Did you plan your birding for 2018 yet, or are you making the plans during the last couple of days of the year? Let me help you a little bit telling you what Kolibri Expeditions/7 Wonders Birding have in the pipeline. I am sure you shall find something that inspires you.
I'll be doing 5 posts that are published a day a part what this coming year entails and what to expect in 2020. In this post I explain the difference between Kolibri Expeditions and our new brainchild 7 Wonders Birding, plus I present the tours available January to March.
You already know that Kolibri Expeditions provide birding for all type of birders in Peru, and for traditional birding trips elsewhere in Latin America, sometimes with a partial focus on for example hummingbirds (like our Hummingbird trip in Brazil in October) or cultural sights (like
Yucatan in end of January or Guatemala in June - only one spot left).
7 Wonders Birding is completely different, in that we provide very short trips of typically 5 days of Bucket List Birding. Birders, like most people, have bucket lists. These lists do not only include the most iconic World Heritage Sites, but also the most spectacular birds and the most impressive mammals. We concentrate on your main
targets that you will remember for the rest of your life and we help you to get good photos that you can share with your friends. You will see a lot of cool stuff in a very short time and spending less money (time is money, right?) than on the long birding trips that include the same, but also aim to see every little brown job endemic that you probably will forget 5 minutes afterwards you see it anyway.
The beautiful thing about our 5 day birding trips which include a World Heritage site or some spectacular mammal, is that is quite easy to lure your non-birding spouse into such an adventure. Who would not put up with a couple of days of birding when they also get to see Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu or Angkor Wat? Or perhaps a Tiger, Jaguar, Snow Leopard, Orangutan, Koala, Platypus or Blue Whale will do the trick? And there is still time for other activities
before or after the trip, so it does not have to be birding all the time for the whole trip.
7 Wonders Birding is also for the people who can’t take long periods of time off work. For Americans this is often a limiting factor, and obviously just taking 5 days off from work for 9 day holiday is very attractive proposition.
Let's not forget that this day and age, people seem to always be busy, even when they are not working.
People in Europe, who enjoy up to 5 weeks of holiday often find themselves in the same situation. They are expected to be connected 24/7 and will lose opportunities if they are not. Many people can’t be off email for more of than a day ot two at the time, and long trips of several weeks become torturous. All the emails in need to attend to, will pile up, and coming back to work after what was supposed to have been a relaxing holiday will become a
nightmare, and it will be a cause of worry during the whole holiday.
Concentrating on the essentials you want to see with 7 Wonders Birding solves this problem. You can tick off any bucket list item anywhere on Earth in less than a week with the 7 Wonders Birding approach. With 7 Wonders Birding you have time to make your dreams come true. Less time and less money compared to a two-three week trip.
7 Wonders Birding trips are just as good for beginners and more advanced birders alike. It is unlikely that a beginner birder will sign up for a long trip with advanced birders, because it will both feel too overwhelming with the number of species, as well as somewhat intimidating having experienced hard core birdes around who know so much more than yourself for such a long time. A shorter trip makes more sense, because the beginner
likely has other interests as well that they can explore before or after the trip if they have the time.
For the experienced birder in contrast who wants to do a longer trip including almost all the endemic species of the area, or specific other targets, we offer extensions before and after ranging between 1-5 days. It results in a more traditional tour when several blocks are put back to back this way.
There is a great chance that this new concept will strike a chord in a lot of people, especially in the huge number of new birders that have entered the birdwatching hobby through use of digital cameras. So, the main chore tour would allow for larger groups of up to 10-14 people, while the extensions will have far less people and be more suited for the experienced birders. Having said that, also most of the more experienced birders realize that they will probably never see all
the birds in the world anyway, and will have to start focusing on the birds, mammals, natural wonders, world heritage sites and overall destinations they really want to see before they put the binoculars on the shelf. The focused approach of 7 Wonders Birding is the way to go.
In the following four newsletters I shall present our coming tours in 2019-2020.
Upcoming Kolibri Expeditions trips Jan-March 2019.
January to March is the best time of year for North Peru for many reason. The birds are getting into breeding mode on the west slope and the Marañon. So species like Black-and-White Tanager, Ochre-bellied Dove, Henna-hooded and Rufous-necked Foliage-gleaners, Bluish Seedeater and Gray-headed Antbird are more active and easier to find. Spectacled Bear comes down from the mountains to eat mangos at Chaparri
(there is a mother with a cub there right now) and the Marvelous Spatuletail is lekking (Check this clip with David Attenborough’s narrative).
Lastly, there are many good offers to fly to Peru during this time.
Kolibri Expeditions offers a series of tours of different length and prices are still 2018 prices. We have a few spots left on our confirmed North Peru departures during this time. Below also some suggestions of extensions you can do if you have more time.
Bare-bone North Peru in Spanish.
You know how the budget airlines offer dead cheap no-frills rates? This is something similar. We have some days between our scheduled North Peru trips, and thought that we could put our vehicle to work as well as providing a practice run for our new trainee guide Juan Julca, and this way make an affordable trip for Peruvians.
Hence, we offer a 7 day tour that includes car, driver and guide between January 8-14 starting in Tarapoto and ending in Chiclayo for only $799 (Peruvians and foreigners with residence in Peru pay only $630). Food, entrance fees and hotels are paid by yourself as you go along. It is possible to add a Chaparri program on January 15-16 featuring Spectacled Bear and lots of birds. We need your reservation within the next 24h if you are interested in this option.
Juan Julca is a young local guide from Chaparri, who has done the Northern circuit several times, and is well familiarized with the birds en route. He is still learning English, but knows all the English bird-names. Our driver Manuel Zamora, who has served Birdquest and several other groups, additionally knows all the stake-outs for the key species.
Tumbes. Jan 17-21
Tumbes this time of year is the best. All the birds are coming into breeding and are very active. Special birds include Gray-backed Hawk, Ochre-bellied Dove, Saffron Siskin, Pacific Royal Flycatcher, Watkin’s Antpitta, Black-and-White Tanager and many more. Also a pelagic and mangroves of Tumbes. Guide: Gunnar Engblom.
Huancabamba area. Jan 22-23 Travelling to Chiclayo from Piura we sample a number of birds that have a small range in Peru. They include Bearded Guan, Black-chested Fruiteater, Black-chested Mountain-Tanager, Neblina Metaltail, Beautiful Jay, Chusquea Tapaculo, and Gray-headed Antbird. Ask us for price if you want to combine Tumbes and the below.
For the third year in a row we offer Winter Japan. This year we double the departures. There are still a few spaces left. Small groups. There is a pre tour Feb 22-24 to Izumi to see cranes on the island of Kyushu. Four species of cranes can be seen here in thousands (Sandhill, White-naped, Common and Hooded Cranes) and excellent photography opportunities.
Post tours on March 9-10 Guided Miyake-Jima Pelagic Departure in the late evening and March 11-14 Okinawa extension. Ask me about the details.
