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We are proud to be able to offer this exciting one of a kind birding safari to the republic of Cuba. It is our goal to introduce you to many of the 355 species that have been recorded on the island. This includes about 25 endemics that occur nowhere else in the world, as well as several distinctive races of mainland species. And, we will be on constant alert for sightings of the famed and, previously thought extinct Ivory Billed Woodpecker!
Day 1: Arrival in Havana
Depart for Havana, Cuba via Aerocaribe at 7:00 PM.Transfer to the legendary, Five Star Hotel National De Cuba. Welcome cocktail and cigar reception at the hotel
Day 2: Havana - Tour Botanical Gardens and Lenin Park
Breakfast. Havana city tour. Lunch at Hemingway's favorite haunt Restaurante La Bodegita del Medio. Tour Botanical Gardens and Lenin Park (or optional and individual tours). Dinner at Havanas most popular Restaurante El Aljibe.
Day 3: Las Terrazas- Pinar del Rio
Day 3 Breakfast. Morning tour orientation. Depart (one hour) for the Las Terrazas Biosphere Reserve. Reception. Meet local birding guides. Birding session. Lunch at farmers house. Visit coffee plantation ruins and San Juan river area. This is home to the worlds smallest hummingbird. Depart (2 hours) to the San Diego de Los Banos forest. Check into the Hotel El Mirador. Dinner and reception at the hotel. *Possible species for viewing are: Endemic Cuban Grassquit, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Antillean Palm Swift, Greater Antillean Grackle, Common Black hawk, Black-Cowled Oriole, Greater Antillean Nightjar, Palm Crow and the first potential new species, the Cuban subspecies of the Eastern Meadowlark (possibly to become Sturnella hippocrepis), Cuban Grassquit, White warblers, Great Lizard-Cuckoo.
Day 4: Mil Cumbres - Pinar del Rio
Breakfast. Birding session in Mil Cumbres natural zone. Lunch in the field. Return to the El Mirador Hotel. Dinner at the hotel.
*Possible species for viewing are: the endemic Cuban Solitaire, Red-legged Honeycreepers, the spectacular Red-legged Thrush, the Cuban Trogo (National Bird), Loggerhead Kingbirds, and (3) more endemics: Yellow-headed Warbler, Cuban Tody and Cuban Bullfinch. West Indian Woodpecker, Western Stripe-headed Tanager, Cuban Vireo, Cuban (Crescent-eyed) Pewee and the Olive-capped an Warblers. You Must Have A Valid Passport!
Day 5: Lake Guama - Zapata Swamp
Depart (3 hours) for the lake Guama preserve. Reception a Fiesta Campesina campgrounds. Boat tour around lake Del Tesoro which harbors a very large diversity of endemic birds. Travel through the Aldea Taina reserve. Return to Boca de Guama for lunch. Visit the regional Flora & Fauna Conservation Center. Meet local birding experts who will present a session on the endemic birds of the area. Check into the Hotel Playa Larga. Evening birding session. Dinner at hotel. *Expect to view the following species: Zapata Wrens (one of the very rare birds in the world), Zapata Rail, Purple Gallinules, Red-shouldered Blackbird, Spotted Rail, King Rails, Gundlachs Hawk, Baltimore Oriole, Shiny Cowbird and G Ëray-headed Quail-Dove.
Day 6: Las Salinas - Zapata Swamp
Departure for the Las Salinas reserve in the famous Zapata Swamp. Cubas most important World Wildlife Federation Reserve. Birding session. Lunch at Restaurante La Cueva de Los Peces. Afternoon birding session. Return to Hotel Playa Larga. Dinner at the hotel. *Possible species for viewing this day and tomorrow are: Blue-headed Quail-Dove, White-collared Swifts, Tawny- shouldered Blackbirds, Pale race of barn Owls, Black- bellied Plover, Bare-legged Owl, Ovenbird, Black-throated Blue, Cape May, Western Stripe-headed Tanagers, Crescent-eyed Pewee, Bare-legged Owl, Bare-legged Giron, Key West Quail Dove, Black-cowled Orioles,Cuban Green Woodpeckers (second rarest woodpecker in Cuba), Limpkin, endemic Rose-throated Parrots, the very endangered Fernandinas Flicker,Chuck-wills-ani, Quail Doves (gray-headed and Key West) and the Great Antillean Nightjar and the Stygian Owl.
Day 7: Topes de Collantes - Santic Spiritu
Depart (one hour) to Cubas oldest town of Trinidad. Tour city. Visit the legendary Canchanchara Bar. Lunch at Restaurante Plaza mayor. Depart to the Topes de Collante region. Check into the Hotel Los Helechos. Dinner at the hotel. November 14 Breakfast. Morning birding session.Lunch in the field. Afternoon birding session. Return to the hotel for dinner. Evening birding session optional.
Day 8: Havana
Morning birding session. Lunch at Restaurante La Represa. Return (two hours) to Havana. Check into the ocean front Hotel Copacabana. Farewell BBQ dinner at the Hotel Copacabana.
Walking conditions will be usually relatively easy, occasionally moderate but the hike into the Zapata Swamp will require some bush walking. Throughout the birding section of the tour you will be accompanied by very experienced and talented, English-speaking, local birding guides, naturalists and a Cuban Ornithologist and English-speaking guides and drivers. All accommodations will be with private bathrooms very rural at times but no less than three stars! The Hotel Nacional De Cuba is definitely five star! We will be accompanied at all times by some of Cuba's most knowledgeable Ornithologists and birding guides.
Guides will be English speaking.
Program will include: will include: Airport transfers in Cuba; (1) night at Hotel Nacional De Cuba w/breakfast; Welcome reception; All lodging and meals on birding program; Air-conditioned transportation to all events; English speaking guides and drivers; (12 nights at Hotel Copacabana w/breakfast; El Aljibe dinner; La Bodeguita lunch; Havana city tour; Farewell Party
MORE ABOUT BIRDWATCHING IN CUBA
At your request, a program can be arranged to exact your interest. |
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ZAPATA SWAMP
Ornithologists say that the Zapata Peninsula is one of the best place for birdwatching in Cuba. Two hundred and eighteen of the 350 species of birds that have been reported in Cuba -62 percent of the total- can be seen on the Peninsula ... more info.
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MIL CUMBRES & SIERRA DEL ROSARIO
Mil Cumbres & Sierra del Rosario in Pinar del Rio province conforms one of the best birdwatching area in Cuba. Two specialties found quite easily here are the near-endemic Olive-capped Warbler and the endemic Cuban Solitaire .... more info.
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CIEGO DE AVILA
In Gran Humedal del Norte de Ciego de Ávila birdwatching and other attributes of the environment are charming, it is the area of the island where more varieties of birds inhabit, besides having one of the biggest colonies in rosy flamenco of the Caribbean ... more info.
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