Bird Treks - A Quality Birdwatching Tour Company
Tours & Destinations - honduras
Honduras
Mountains, Coast & MANY Motmots
27 January 2011 - 4 February 2011, 11 days & 10 nightsHONDURAS is a land of stunning beauty and stark contrasts. It is a place where in some aspects time has stood still, where mountains meet the sea, where ancient civilizations once thrived, and where one can still be immersed in large expanses of untrammeled wilderness. Some species that are easier to see here than elsewhere in their range include the Keel-billed and Blue-throated Motmots, Lovely Cotinga, Fulvous Owl, White-breasted Hawk, Guatemalan Screech-Owl, Great Swallow-tailed Swift, Speckled Mourner, and White-vented Euphonia, to name a few. The first part of the tour goes along north central Honduras, where you will first visit the historical Lancetilla Botanical Gardens. We will bird part of the entrance road and a section of reserve behind the gardens. After Lancetilla we travel to Olanchito, gateway to the Aguan Valley's arid thorn scrub forest and home to the endemic Honduran Emerald. Being there you will almost think that you are in Arizona's desert environment. After Olanchito we will be indulged by our three-night stay at the luxurious Lodge at Pico Bonito. It is nestled at the base of 250,000-acre Pico Bonito National Park, which has contiguous forest cover from sea level to over 8000 feet. During the rainy season, Resplendent Quetzal, White-winged Tanager, Common Bush-Tanager, Green-breasted Mountain-Gem, and other cloud forest denizens regularly migrate down slope and can at times be found here. We will hike the lodge trails through lowland rain forest in search of keynote species such as the prized Keel-billed Motmot. The observation tower by the river regularly produces the breath taking Lovely Cotinga that often sits atop the emergent trees. During our stay we will also visit the 30,000-acre Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge, a coastal mangrove estuary. We must take a short train ride to reach the reserve. Then we take a two-hour boat ride in search of mammals, reptiles, and birds. The final part of the main tour is in the scenic Lake Yojoa area. This is the country's largest natural lake that covers some 50 square miles and actually sits in a volcanic depression. It is also one of the wettest places in Honduras due to the position of the mountains around it. The towering Santa Barbara National Park covers some 30,000 acres and sits to the west, with 40,000-acre Cerro Azul Meambar National Park to the east. The various forested habitats combined with the wetlands make this one of the most avian rich areas in the country and contains well over 460 species. We will stay three nights in the cabins of Agua Azul along the north shore. Robert Gallardo and Bob Schutsky will be your tour guides.
Price: $2955.00 from San Pedro Sula, Honduras
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Honduran Extension to Copan
Maya Ruins & Spectacular Birding
4 February 2011 - 7 February 2011, 4 days & 3 nightsThe extension to Copan Ruinas is a must for those wishing to see one of the most well known of all Maya archaeological sites. Its well-preserved carved glyphs found on stelae, walls, stairways, and other structures tell the history of Copan and have been interpreted by top scholars from around the world. A guided tour of the site will be given. The birding in Copan is also good and the area harbors more than 400 species. Copan has a wide variety of forested habitats and sits close to the continental divide, so it shares both Pacific and Caribbean slope elements. We will stay three nights at the newly built La Chorcha Lodge, located on the grounds of the Enchanted Wings Nature Center, built and operated by your in-country guide, Robert Gallardo. We will bird two different sites and hope to encounter some interior specialties. Bob Schutsky will assist Robert in guiding the tour.
Price: $845.00 from San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Itinerary
Photos
Previous Tours
Birds Previously Seen
Pay Balance Due