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Round the world birding travel advice needed (1 Viewer)

So much to do, so many birds and places to see, so little time! I might make it longer than just six months as I have very little desire to return to working at B&Q in any case; I hate the place.
 
If you are going to Texas, I would thoroughly recommend stopping by Arizona and southern California (certainly the Salton sea) if you can make it.

David
 
DavidP said:
If you are going to Texas, I would thoroughly recommend stopping by Arizona and southern California (certainly the Salton sea) if you can make it.

David
Agreed! To a point. Fab locations & actually not too expensive if you camp! But spending time there will still gobble up your budget just eating!! Anyway, if you do linger in the Southern US whatever else you do don't waste too much time looking for "Mexican" rares at the edge of their range when a month later you'll be 300 miles further south & knee-deep in 'em ;)
The advantage for you, starting in Texas in April, is catching a fistful of Nearctic migrants before they slip away North - I'd concentrate on those & the Edward's Plateau endemics & then scarper south, save yourself a ton of money & see all of the rest of the stuff in Spanish, as it were!?!
 
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Vectis Birder said:
So much to do, so many birds and places to see, so little time! I might make it longer than just six months as I have very little desire to return to working at B&Q in any case; I hate the place.

Very wise. It took me 15 months to finally want to go back to work, even though my budget had declined to ten dollars a day by the end. In hindsight three years would have been better.
 
Thanks for all the info so far. I'm now leaning towards doing Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia [inc. Borneo] and possibly India too). I've always wanted to visit Asia properly.

What I might do is go to Texas for a couple of weeks to meet my friends and go to the Texas Star Party (went last year and it was fantastic), bird the area for a while - Big Bend NP is nearby and is good for birds - come home, go back to B&Q for a couple of months to replenish the savings, renew my passport which expires in April 09 and then take off.
 
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Wise choice I'd say!! I did the round the world thing once & saw 1000+ lifers - head-spinning stuff at the time but in retrospect it was seven blurry months, and all I'm left with is some patchy diary notes, a pile of ticks on a list and, beyond that, I can hardly recall about 20% of what I saw or did!!
I think concentrating on a single continent as you suggest will offer you a much richer experience and also get you much more deeply into the birds, if that makes sense. You'll get familiar with the common birds of the region and their vocalisations & easily pick out something more unusual; you'll start to understand the landscape & what's likely to be found where; and, best of all, you'll end up with an overall context in which a list makes some kind of sense! ...and of course, doin it this way, £3000+ will keep you going for...well, ages anyway!!
In the meantime: keep dreaming, get saving, & the more preparation & study you do in advance the better! ...and soon B&Q will be a distant nightmare ;)
Cheers, Dave C
 
VB,

Would have posted plenty of thoughts and tips earlier but currently been in Vietnam for a few weeks and out of internet range. I can only offer advise for SE Asia....

Agree with all the points made, not much more for me to add. I spent a few years with a backpack birding round SE Asia for 7 months at a time, can't recommend it enough. First things first, get yourself Lonely Planet guides, invaluable for finding cheap digs and locating bus stations, routes and offers insights to the countries history etc. You can buy these as you go along, all backpacker areas in each country sell the neighbouring countries guides, to save space.

Costs - On your own expect to live on 20-30USD a day, Asia countries are steadily increasing in price, cheap accommodation. When you can, team up with others, sharing costs (taxis to airports, bus stations etc) this may only save 50p a time but it soon adds up and can reduce costs to under 20USD a day. Alot over 7 months.

7 months in SE Asia can get you to many countries. If your starting in April, spend a month in Thailand or Vietnam, moving south to Malaysia for May (I have an apartment here, no probs staying with us on the couch, saves you some pennies and we can give you some local info), June visit Sabah, Borneo, an absolute must, spend at least a month here (Danum Valley Field Centre will cost 30USD a day). July and August could send you to Indonesia (ignore anyone who tells you its dangerous blah blah, it is is b*&^%$), start in Sumatra and work your way eastwards through Java then spend a week or so relaxing in Bali and visit Komodo Island and Flores, wonderful islands. From September weather isn't so good in SE Asia, so if you want, carry in to Oz, easy to do from Bali, or fly back to Singapore and fly Tiger Airways to Darwin.

Alternatively, look at visiting Sichuan, China in May/June, Vietnam in March (a budget country that is superbly setup for backpackers and birders). Birding in Cambodia is out of budget for single birders unfortuntely.

Hope this helps a little, e-mail me if you need more advise.

James
 
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