Goa, Capetown, Vietnam (1 Viewer)

I have a couple of weeks holiday left to use by the end of the year. I was looking at maybe going away in November somewhere for some independent birding. I would welcome advice on how easy it is to get around the above places. I'm not sure that I would want to do much travelling out there and would rather target a few species in any 1 of the 3 countries (bar-bellied pitta in Vietnam, sugarbirds, malachite sunbird Capetown blue-bearded bee-eater, Indian pitta Goa). Just thinking about possible options at the moment.

Capetown will require a car and a fair bit of driving, Cape Sugarbird is the most easily gettable from Cape Town, Malachite Sunbird is easier at place like Wakkestroom.

Vietnam is the most logistically challenging whilst Goa is very easy, possible form a single base depending what you want, Blue-beared Bee-eater is very miss-able in Goa but there are plenty of other Western Ghats specials that should be easily seen.

I've sent you a few reports.

Logistically, I think I read somewhere in Birdforum that you can now get a direct bus from SaiGon to Nam Cat Tien. Once you have a room inside the NP, you can just walk or use one of the bikes provided. Bar-bellied Pittas are everywhere here on the forest floor - just need a little patience - and there's a chance of 300+ other bird species. Or you can pay $20 (so I'm told) for a guide to take you to a photographic bird-feeding hide to get the excellent photos you see here on Birdforum, though you might think this is not so different from paying $1 to see them in the Saigon Zoo.
Google says "You can get a bus from Bến xe Miền Đông bus station in Ho Chi Minh City directly to Nam Cat Tien at 7:40am, 9.30am, 10:30am, and 12:30pm. You can buy a ticket in the station at counter 5 for 90,000 VND" A metered taxi from the airport will take you to the East Bus Station (must be Mien Dong - SaiGon has many bus termini).

glennmanc said:

Logistically, I think I read somewhere in Birdforum that you can now get a direct bus from SaiGon to Nam Cat Tien. Once you have a room inside the NP, you can just walk or use one of the bikes provided. Bar-bellied Pittas are everywhere here on the forest floor - just need a little patience - and there's a chance of 300+ other bird species. Or you can pay $20 (so I'm told) for a guide to take you to a photographic bird-feeding hide to get the excellent photos you see here on Birdforum, though you might think this is not so different from paying $1 to see them in the Saigon Zoo.
Google says "You can get a bus from Bến xe Miền Đông bus station in Ho Chi Minh City directly to Nam Cat Tien at 7:40am, 9.30am, 10:30am, and 12:30pm. You can buy a ticket in the station at counter 5 for 90,000 VND" A metered taxi from the airport will take you to the East Bus Station (must be Mien Dong - SaiGon has many bus termini).

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Always been the case AFAIK, certainly was when we did in 2002.

You get off the bus at the corner and take a bike the rest of the way.

The direct bus takes you right to the gate of Cat Tien NP, no need to take the 20 km motorbike ride from the main road. I think there is detailed and recent info in the Vietnam section.
The more comfortable and expensive option is hiring a taxi, very straight forward, so logistics should not stay in the way of you and a Pitta. Perhaps a leech or two though

dalat said:

The direct bus takes you right to the gate of Cat Tien NP, no need to take the 20 km motorbike ride from the main road. I think there is detailed and recent info in the Vietnam section.
The more comfortable and expensive option is hiring a taxi, very straight forward, so logistics should not stay in the way of you and a Pitta. Perhaps a leech or two though

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Funny how memory works, I had no idea or recollection that it was that far!

dalat said:

The direct bus takes you right to the gate of Cat Tien NP, no need to take the 20 km motorbike ride from the main road. I think there is detailed and recent info in the Vietnam section.
The more comfortable and expensive option is hiring a taxi, very straight forward, so logistics should not stay in the way of you and a Pitta. Perhaps a leech or two though

Click to expand...

Funny how memory works, I had no idea or recollection that it was that far!

We didn't even have to work for BbP here, they would just appear or you could hear them rustling in the dry leaves, especially on the track down to Crocodile Lake.