birding trips abroad (1 Viewer)

While on the thread of birding abroad I am always amazed to see how many birders sign up for these (in my opinion) OTT priced birding tours Not because I run a non profit making birding club either.

But because in my experience organising a group to bird abroad is quite an easy task, especially with the technology aforded us these days.

I compared my recent trip to S.Africa to one run by an established eco touring company. We did it for nearly half the price came away with 67 species more, paid only one guide for the difficult species and stayed at excellent accomodation to boot. We also made good contacts for further trips to the states thanks to two Americans who came along.

So before any of you guys go galavanting abroad its worth a bit of research.

( and by the way I agree Point Pelee in Ontario, Also Hillmans Marsh and Rondoe are all fantastic places to bird especially during migration.

cheers
john

Amen John,

We(6 of us) put together a trip to Ecuador in Feb. that cost about half the price of those advertised in birding magazines. We saw 300 species in 7 days.

dennis

I agree that it is usually cheaper, but sometimes its nice if someone else is doing all the work! The only reason I ever book package deals is to save myself the hassle of having to organise everything (not just with birding but fanily hols too). If the money is there and you an't be bothered withputting in the effort, then why not.

birding abroad

A fair enough point to make Ashley thanks for your view. It depends on how you define hassle. I think (form my point of view anyway) the organising is all part of the homework. I get so engrossed I see it as part of the adventure. the best challenge of all is finding and Identifying new species for yourself or even as a group. Its also amazing what you learn about the infrastructure and culture of the places you are about to visit.
cheers
john

We're of a like mind on this one. The pre-trip planning gets me fired up. I enjoy making contacts and planing an itinerary. For me the research on the destination is quite educational.

We did stay at a bird lodge and hire a guide for our Ecuador trip. These were easily booked on the internet. So was our airline and ground transportation. If you contact a local lodge they will set up all the guide service and ground transportation for you. You simply contact them with the time your plane arrives. Nothing simpler.

Maybe I'm a travel agent at heart.

dennis

I have mixed feelings on the subject of commercial birdtours. They are certainly way OTT when it comes to price, but some companies, Naturetrek for example, have come up with what they term bargain trips. These cheaper options actually do come out at a similar price to what you could do it for yourself. I have been on Naturetrek £990 bargains to Ethiopia and UAE and would recommend them. We bumped into a confirmed 'do-it-yourself' friend in Dubai and he was gutted at how little we had spent, and how much local info he was lacking.

Complicated trips, such as touring Borneo and Malaysia, or a three week trip around Kenya, I have used Birdquest, and they are hard to fault, but you certainly have to pay!! A lot depends on where you are going; I have been to the States on commercial trips three times, but each time I have said that I could have done it myself; the driving is the only hassle that would put me off.

Maybe there is a niche available for a body to facilitate individual birders getting together to plan their own trips. In the States there is a group called Ornifolks who do just that, and here in the UK there is the Budget Birders' Club, which I have recently joined with an Australia trip in mind.

I have just come back from 15 days in SW Spain. It was totally self-organised, and the total cost, including food, came to about £850 each. You could pay a lot more than that for just 7 days with a birdtour company, and see a lot less than the 183 species of birds, 27 species of butterflies, and several excellent bottles of Crianza Riojas that we did.

Really, it all comes down to personal preference and what you can. or want to, pay.

Steve