Need Father/Son Birding Trip Destination Idea (1 Viewer)

[Wolfpack43]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum. My son (13) and I love to bird. We took our first international trip to Costa Rica this year and had a blast (Got both Resplendent Quetzal and Bellbird, along with 229 lifers). Shout out to Jehudy Carballo who is an excellent guide. We had so much fun. I want to reproduce that trip for him for a Xmas present next year traveling 12/26-1/3. We live in North Carolina, USA. I am open to travel just about anywhere within reason given we only have about 8 days to work with. The things I loved about Costa Rica was it was safe and we got to do some non birding fun stuff as well. I also really like higher end lodges and really good food. So I'm on a quest to find a location where we can get a ton of new birds, stay in really nice lodges, eat good food and have some other fun stuff to do when we aren't birding. I'd prefer a guide/driver to be with us most of the time. I've landed on Mindo, Ecuador and the Jardin, Colombia area but I'm open to other suggestions. A really good lodge or two and a really good guide can make a trip. I know those exist all over the world.

Do you have any recommendations?

Thanks so much!

 

[tehri]

India (dear to my heart!), would be a very beautiful country to introduce to your son (and perhaps to you).... it is a continent, an extraordinary Culture, but also wonderful to observe Nature, wild life.
The birds are legion there, India's one of the richest for birding, and the offers of tours numerous. 😉
(I don't know any personally, traveling alone and organizing myself, and through encounters.But regarding your question, you will probably have countries suggestions from all over the world here, lol ! )

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

Just to say that it could also be a good time of year to do Japan, or Morocco.

 

[Wolfpack43]

Japan, Morocco, India... all bucket list for me. Issue I have is we only have 7-8 days for this trip. I don't think I could do any of those locations justice in that amount of time. Great suggestions though!

 

[Wolfpack43]

Welsh, are you from Whales? How is birding in the UK that time of year?

 

[tehri]

Japan, Morocco, India... all bucket list for me. Issue I have is we only have 7-8 days for this trip. I don't think I could do any of those locations justice in that amount of time. Great suggestions though!

For this limited time, a single place in the middle of the fauna, the flora, stay there and walk there, discover it for a week... then to 'do justice' to an entire country, you have to come back

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Arizona? A friend of mine had an enjoyable week or so there last winter.

How is birding in the UK that time of year?

Variable! Perhaps a good time to visit if you don't mind the rain: wildfowl, waders, raptors, and aggregations of passerines are possible, combining a bit of time in the SW before hitting the east coast could make for an enjoyable trip though.

 

[dalat]

I would stick with the Neotropics. Hard to beat just for the shear wealth of things to be seen, and how easy and close birds can be seen. For an enjoyable experience for a 13 year old, spoiled by a trip to Costa Rica, I think this is the best bet.
I can't offer specific tips, but maybe there are good options nearer to you, e.g in Mexico or Belize, or in the Caribbean?

Ps: I also had a wonderful trip to Costa Rica last summer, and my 10 year old daughter loved it and wants to go back. Have to find a suitable next destination as well some time soon...

 

[temmie]

It's not that easy to recommend a place based on the info;

It depends a bit on what exactly you like to do next to birding, how much travel time you can tolerate, and what the priorities are if you mention food, good birding and other activities. I have been to excellent places for birds with crap food, places with excellent food and no birds, and so on. There are pretty awesome lodges for e.g. fishing or diving that offer excellent birding (in e.g. Brazil or Indonesia).
Face it: N-Carolina (and the whole of the Americas) is as far away from excellent food as any place with bad food (maybe NE Siberia and Antarctica are similar in distance to really good food) --> I know I'm upsetting some people with this info, but it is what it is

E.g. Borneo or Thailand or India has (imho) very nice food and great birding, but maybe that's a bit too far away for 8 days?
Japan, W-Europe have awesome food but I wouldn't go there birding during Christmas holidays.
Manaus and Ecuadorian Napo lodges have excellent birds (and great lodges), and sometimes surprisingly good food, but maybe not enough other activities besides the birding?
Colombia in a whole has excellent birding and it's a great place to find adventure of all sorts (trekking, death rides, rock climbing, parapente, snorkeling, mountainbiking, but maybe the food is not what you would call excellent (it is pretty good I think but no haute cuisine of some sorts)?

and so on...

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

U.K. birding can be interesting at that time of year, but I would head to Islay, or North Norfolk by choice rather than Wales.

 

[Wolfpack43]

I would stick with the Neotropics. Hard to beat just for the shear wealth of things to be seen, and how easy and close birds can be seen. For an enjoyable experience for a 13 year old, spoiled by a trip to Costa Rica, I think this is the best bet.
I can't offer specific tips, but maybe there are good options nearer to you, e.g in Mexico or Belize, or in the Caribbean?

Ps: I also had a wonderful trip to Costa Rica last summer, and my 10 year old daughter loved it and wants to go back. Have to find a suitable next destination as well some time soon...

Bingo! I ruined birding for us by doing Costa Rica on the first trip. It was almost too good and too much fun. Now it's like how I do I find an encore that can compete

 

[Wolfpack43]

It's not that easy to recommend a place based on the info;

It depends a bit on what exactly you like to do next to birding, how much travel time you can tolerate, and what the priorities are if you mention food, good birding and other activities. I have been to excellent places for birds with crap food, places with excellent food and no birds, and so on. There are pretty awesome lodges for e.g. fishing or diving that offer excellent birding (in e.g. Brazil or Indonesia).
Face it: N-Carolina (and the whole of the Americas) is as far away from excellent food as any place with bad food (maybe NE Siberia and Antarctica are similar in distance to really good food) --> I know I'm upsetting some people with this info, but it is what it is

E.g. Borneo or Thailand or India has (imho) very nice food and great birding, but maybe that's a bit too far away for 8 days?
Japan, W-Europe have awesome food but I wouldn't go there birding during Christmas holidays.
Manaus and Ecuadorian Napo lodges have excellent birds (and great lodges), and sometimes surprisingly good food, but maybe not enough other activities besides the birding?
Colombia in a whole has excellent birding and it's a great place to find adventure of all sorts (trekking, death rides, rock climbing, parapente, snorkeling, mountainbiking, but maybe the food is not what you would call excellent (it is pretty good I think but no haute cuisine of some sorts)?

and so on...

I guess my point in the mentioning "food" is I know some birding lodges can be really rustic. I liked that in CR we were in the rainforest and yet we were still staying in nice places and eating good food and we had hot showers, etc. etc. We don't need fine dining. I just like how comfortable it was in addition to the birding. I know all our future birding trips won't match that but I'm just wondering if there are some similar destinations that offer really good birding in addition to being a really good vacation. We did a chocolate tour, our resort had a heated pool, we did a night jungle hike at the friend of our guide, we ziplined. It was like we had this amazing birding trip all rolled into an amazing vacation (I have to keep reminding myself he's still a kid... his hobbies are birding, bird photography and watching Seinfeld)

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

My experience of Ugandan lodges is also of great food and accommodation, but you need more than 8 days!

 

[tehri]

.. his hobbies are birding, bird photography and watching Seinfeld)

Being 13 and enjoying birding... i would probably also enjoy going somewhere observing boobies and tits !!! Lol !!!

 

[temmie]

I would really recommend the Brazilian atlantic forest (but also a lot of other places all over Brazil) for that matter, if some comfort / good food is appreciated. (but again: it's maybe a bit too far?)

What I really liked about the Atlantic (South-East, i.e. around Sao Paulo and Rio, but Bahia / Espirito Santucan do as well) forest is that the birding is spectacular while the whole area is really well-developed: you can enjoy throdding through dense rain forest on a muddy trail one hour, and the next you're sipping a perfect caipirinha, eating in a sushi or churrasceria 15 minutes driving and another 15 minutes away is the beach with great seafood and some more kids-friendly activities.

The more convenient / logic choices (in terms of travel time) would be either Ecuador and the Mindo area (or the Napo lodges) or Colombia (the Santa Marta area is the most obvious choice, but I would also consider the area around Manizales, combining a bit of C-Andes around Nevado del Ruiz with a place in the Choco). If you have good connections to Manaus or the Guyanas and are prepared for the heat, I would look at that, too.

 

[Wolfpack43]

I would really recommend the Brazilian atlantic forest (but also a lot of other places all over Brazil) for that matter, if some comfort / good food is appreciated. (but again: it's maybe a bit too far?)

What I really liked about the Atlantic (South-East, i.e. around Sao Paulo and Rio, but Bahia / Espirito Santucan do as well) forest is that the birding is spectacular while the whole area is really well-developed: you can enjoy throdding through dense rain forest on a muddy trail one hour, and the next you're sipping a perfect caipirinha, eating in a sushi or churrasceria 15 minutes driving and another 15 minutes away is the beach with great seafood and some more kids-friendly activities.

The more convenient / logic choices (in terms of travel time) would be either Ecuador and the Mindo area (or the Napo lodges) or Colombia (the Santa Marta area is the most obvious choice, but I would also consider the area around Manizales, combining a bit of C-Andes around Nevado del Ruiz with a place in the Choco). If you have good connections to Manaus or the Guyanas and are prepared for the heat, I would look at that, too.

Temmie,

Many of your suggestions interest me. I've reached out to 2 guides in Mindo but neither have gotten back to me. I'm in contact with a guide for Manizales area but no details shared yet so open to other ideas.

Do you think Santa Marta area would check more of our boxes than the Manizales area?

We have non stop flights to miami so really all of South America is an easy 1 stop flight for us. I'd love to know more about Manaus and the Brazilian Atlantic? Are there any guides/lodges in those areas you'd recommend? How would you compare those area to CR in terms of number of bird species we are likely to see and quality of infrastructure supporting birding/vacationing?

 

[temmie]

You will easily see as many (if not more) species in all of the areas mentioned, compared to Costa Rica.
There are plenty of suggestions to give but I would first decide on the area, as that will be easier than just spout out names and lodges in 5 totally different areas.

You can also opt for different strategies with regards to the logistics, e.g. in Colombia it pays off more to have one contact person handle / organize all things for you (incl. guiding), while e.g. the Mindo area is pretty straightforwards if you book accomodation yourself and e.g. ask for lodges to provide you with a guide and / or a 2-3 day package deal visiting nearby reservers and even ask for other activities.

 

[JWN Andrewes]

Brazil's Atlantic forest is a great shout, some spectacular birds to be seen (Saffron Toucanet springs to mind), and doable from a single base.

I'd throw Ibera in north east Argentina into the mix, if not this time then at some point down the road. Not the wealth of species of some other suggestions, but a contrast in habitat and landscape.

A couple of places that might fit the bill that I haven't been to but sound great would be Iguacu or Pantanaal.

 

[dandsblair]

You could look at NE Brazil - going into Fortaleza or Recife from Miami some great place within a days drive. You could look at Brazil Birding Experts web site for ideas.
Alternately we did some time in West Mexico not too strenuous and some really great endemic birds we did just a coupel of days guided and stayed in a good hotel at the coast with snorkelling, etc.
Alternately if numbers are not the sole criteria then Jamaica is pretty good.

Would also support Santa Marta perhaps and Mindo.

 

[heydn62]

I visited Colombia for the first time last year, and like you was intrigued by Jardin. I looked at some hotspots there and kept seeing eBird lists from Aramacao Tours. I did some research on Aramacao and ended up booking with them and had a wonderful time. So much so that I booked another trip with them this past January for a different part of the country. Guillermo (he runs the company) takes care of everything and will make arrangements based on what you want to do. My first trip was solo and based out of Jardin; my second trip, I had a companion and we visited 2 national parks each a few hours drive from Medellin. Each time he picked me up at the airport and took care of every detail of the trip. My lodgings were basic as we stayed at the park lodges, but I know he can put you up at nicer places to stay, as he was telling us about the clients he had coming in after us. He is an excellent guide and also a very good photographer, so he'll put you in places for the best view of the birds. He likes to stick to places he is familiar with, because he knows where the birds are, but he seems familiar with places all over the country. If you want to reach out to him, you can tell him what you are looking for and he can put together an itinerary for you. Just google Aramacao tours. He needs to update his website, but the WhatsApp number is there.

I'm also trying to arrange a trip to Black Rock Lodge in Belize this summer, so hopefully I can report on that in the future. It looks like a more upscale lodge near the Guatamala border. And I've been to Panama birding 4 times in the past 2 1/2 years, so let me know if you need any info from there.

It's great to have a 13 year old to share a hobby with. My son and I use to take dive trips together and we had some great times.

Have a wonderful year and let me know if you have any questions.