eco
TOURS-LATIN AMERICA & WORLDWIDE
Nature & Culture - hand in hand Stop Dreaming-Start Booking

Pacific Paradise Birding - Costa Rica

Birds at Pacific habitats of COSTA RICA

Spend 2 weeks with discovering the best birding habitats on the Pacific side. From volcanoes through sandy and rocky beaches, form lush tropical lowland forests, through wetlands and mangroves, till middle-elevation “foothills” up to high elevation cloud-forests and paramo we visit all the most interesting bird- and wildlife rich areas of the Pacific Costa Rica. We will encounter loads of birds, mammals, butterflies and other wildlife for sure during the tour.

Trip Report of Pacific Birding March2020

Fact File

- 14 days in Costa Rica visiting National Parks, reserves & hidden places
- start and finish in San Jose
- using most of the accommodations for 2nights (except upon arrival and departure and at our lodge), all of them offer great on-site birding

Highlights

- Savegre Reserve, high mountain cloud forests, Paramo
- visits to Pacific Coast sanctuaries, National Parks and reserves
– SW corner of the coutry, close to Panama
- optional boat trip on Tarcoles River, Carara NP
- birding at several different habitats
-birding at Volcan Tenorio area, one of the richest areas for birds in CR
- wide variety of birds, mammals, reptiles, butterflies and habitats

Accommodation

1 night San Jose
2 nights at a Lodge in Bijagua, Volcan Tenorio, close to Nicaragua
2 nights at either Ensenada Lodge, NPacific or Villas Lapas,Carara NP
3 nights at Toucan EcoLodge at Southern Central Pacific
2 nights at either Wilson’s Botanical Garden or Esquinas Lodge, South Pacific, close to Panama
2 nights at San Gerardo de Dota at Savegre Mountain,
1 night at San Jose (1overnight flight home if you came from Europe)

Prices

Our price includes
- all travel within the country as noted in the itinerary;
- all accommodation based on shared rooms, single rooms for extra charge;
- 3 meals per day, generally breakfast, box lunch, dinner - services of the leader(s);
- trip materials

Price does not include
-drinks, but you can fill your water bottle during the day;
-any personal expenses; tips
-entrance fees to places not included in the itinerary
-price of optional programmes such as Boat Tours: Mangrove; Whale/Dolphin; Turtle Tours

Activity level

Easy to moderate walks; some areas are hot and humid; up in the cloud forest can be cool, rain is possible however it is dry season

Itinerary with highlight species

Day 1 Arrival to San Jose and transfer to our hotel, birding on site if possible.

Days 2-3 Bijagua at Volcan Tenorio, close to Nicaraguan border

The Volcan Tenorio National park covers 12,000 hectares and it is part of the Tenorio-Miravalles Biological Corridor. The area has a special microclimate and has a special geographical location as well partly because it is at the dividing line between the Atlantic and Pacific regions and partly because it is between 300 and 2000 meters. We will stay at around 600/800 meters. Volcan Tenorio and Celeste Mountain was just recently discovered by birding companies, most of them still do not visit this excellent area despite the fact that more than half of the bird species of Costa Rica can be found here. What is more, not just the variety amazing, but the quality of species as well. Imagine if we could concentrate just on owls, theoretically we would have a chance for 10 species! Can’t recall any other area either in CR or outside with that potential. Add to this such sought after species like Tody Motmot, Keel-billed Motmot, Bare-necked Umbrella Bird, Brown-hooded Parrot, Coppery-headed Emerald, White-collared and Whiteruffed Manakin, Green Shrike Vireo, Rufous-winged Tanager, Yellow-eared Toucanet, Three-wattled Bellbird, Dull-mantled Ant-bird, Lattice-tailed Trogon, Violaceous and Purplish-backed Quail-Dove or even Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo – well, any of these would be highlights of the tour.

We will surely bird around the road going from Bijagua up towards the National Park. There are always some mix species flocks and sometimes you can find further excellent species such as Lovely Cotinga, White-fronted Nunbird, Lattice-tailed Toucan or Northern Schiffornis. we should always keep an eye on the sky as well and we might be rewarded by an Ornate Hawk-Eagle, White Hawk or Black Hawk-Eagle. Apart from the common Hummingbird species we have a chance for such specialities as Snowcap and Black-crested Coquette, especially if lot of shrubs in flower. The area of the accommodation offers very good birding as well with a long list of species, so we mention just a few such as Barred Ant-shrike, Bay Wren, several Tanagers like Passerini’s, Silver-throated, Blue-Grey and Hepatic Tanager, Yellow-throated Euphonia, Baltimore Oriole and Black-cheeked Woodpecker. If we can find a good ant-swarm then loads of otherwise hard to see birds can be seen relatively easy as well, including a long list of Antbirds, such as Dull-mantled, Ocellated, Spotted, Bicolored and Zeledon’s Antbird. Also in this way it would be easier to see Streak-crowned Antvireo, Buff-throated Foliage-Gleaner, Spotted Woodcreeper, Spotted Barbtail, Golden-crowned Warbler, Rufous-winged Tanager, Song Wren, Tawny-faced Gnatwren, Nightingale Wren or White-throated Spadebill. Motmot here would be represented by Keel-billed, Rufous and Broad-billed Motmot. If we will have time, we might visit the trails of Heliconias as well where Long-billed Starthroat is the most commonly seen hummingbird species around the lodge. This would give a second chance for Great Curassow, Crested Guan, Tody Motmot, Blackcrested Coquette, Yellow-eared Toucanet, Spotted Antbird, Ocellated Antbird, Streak-crowned Antvireo, Sharpbill, Song Wren, Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo. Sometimes Black-and-White Owl hunts at the lights near the lodge entrance, Mottled and Crested Owls are also possible. Pacific Screech Owl can be at the more open fields below the lodge, while further down Tropical Screech Owl replaces it in the town. Barn and Striped Owls are also quite common at deforested areas. If you like Moths you will feel in paradise, there are hundreds of species around every night from tiny one to huge ones, even without a proper moth trap the variety is amazing.

Days 4-5 From the Northern corner of the country we travel South towards the Central Pacific region close to Carara National Park.

During the way we pass Palo Verde, a huge wetland system and depending on the season we might make a detour there. We also can stop on the way to discover dry habitats and look for species there such as Double-striped Thick-Knee, Banded Wren, Scrub Euphonia, White-throated Magpie-Jay, Stripeheaded Sparrow or Spot-breasted Oriole. With some luck we can even encounter Spot-bellied Bobwhite or Lesser GroundCuckoo or Yellow-naped Parrot.

Next day most of the time will be spent at Carara National Park which boasts of pristine lowland tropical forests and some secondary forest, scrub, wetlands, mudflats and mangrove thickets, each of which has its own range of species including Great Curassow, Laughing Falcon, Yellow-headed Caracara, Collared Forest-falcon, Grey and Roadside Hawks, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher and Streak-backed Oriole. Our optional boat Safari on the Tarcoles river visits the estuary which is one of the best locations to see endangered birds such as the Mangrove Cuckoo, Mangrove Hummingbird, Mangrove Vireo and Panama Flycatcher, and more common ones such as Pelicans, Boat-billed Heron, Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork, White Ibis, Barethroated Tiger-heron, American Purple Gallinule, Black Skimmer, Magnificent Frigatebird, Mangrove Warbler, Mangrove Black-hawk and American Pygmy Kingfisher. At and around our accommodation we will find Grey-headed Dove, Crimson-fronted Parakeet, Scarlet Macaw, Whitecollared Swift, Long-billed Hermit, Scalybreasted Hummingbird, White-necked Jacobin, Blue-crowned/Diademed Motmot, White-wiskered Puffbird, Hoffman’s Woodpecker, Plain Xenops, Cocoa Woodcreeper, Chestnut-backed Antbird, Bright-rumped Attila, Northern Royal Flycatcher, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Streaked Flycatcher, Cinnamon & Rosethroated Becard, Blue-crowned Manakin, Yellow-green Vireo, Rufous-naped Wren, Buff-rumped Warbler, Grey-headed Tanager, Red-legged Honeycreeper.

Days 6-8 3 nights at Toucan EcoLodge at Southern Central Pacific

Before breakfast we have a last walk when we may add some new species to our already long list. After breakfast we have to say goodbye to this lovely place and all the birds. We pack again and continue our journey. From here we travel further South partly nearby the coast, sometimes with excellent views of the Pacific Ocean and finally a bit up on the slopes of the Baru Volcano to our next accommodation at Toucan EcoLodge and Wildlife Reserve. We might break the journey with a stop at a suitable places for some birding. Possible species include Fiery-billed Araçari, Blue-throated Goldentail, Blue-black Grosbeak and many more. From here we continue towards the slopes of the Baru Hill to our Toucan EcoLodge which is surrounded by 23 hectares of primary and secondary tropical rainforests and a bit of garden with fruits and flowers. This is home for abundant wildlife from tiny insects through colourful poison-arrow frogs, some mammals, but the most active and numerous vertebrates are the birds. We have about 5 kilometres or 3 miles excellent trails through the garden and mainly in the forest where it is possible to observe more than 200 species of birds throughout the year. Yellow-throated Toucan, Riverside Wren and Crested Guan usually greeting you first in the garden. Various other species can be around such as Crimson-fronted Parakeet, White-crowned Parrot, Gray-cowled Wood-rail and sometimes even Great Currassow. There are always many flowers and a few feeders as well for Hummingbirds, including Violet-crowned Woodnymph, Long-tailed and Stripe-throated Hermits, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird and Purple-crowned Fairy. Other new species can be here Golden-naped Woodpecker, Plain Xenops, Wedge-billed, Black-striped, Cocoa and Northern Barred Woodcreeper. We have 3 Manakin species around, the most common one here is the Blue-crowned, then the Red-capped but seasonally we have White-ruffed as well. Blackhooded-Antshrike and Chestnut-backed Antbird should be common as well. Much harder to find Rufous Mourner, Great Tinamu or one of the several Trogon species which possible alongside the trails. In the meantime we can here Mantled Howler Monkeys or spot a 3- toed Sloth or an Orange-billed Sparrow. From here we can venture out to lower elevations where alongside a river bank we can look for Tricolored Heron and American White Ibis, Willet, Greater Yellowleg and Spotted Sandpiper. Royal Tern, Common Black Hawk, Inca Dove and even Scarlet Macaw all possible here. Garthered Trogon, Ringed and Green Kingfisher, Blueand-White Swallow and Mangrove Swallow can colour the day further here! On another day we also can go a bit higher to middle elevations or foothills where with some luck we can bump into a mixed flock of White-lined, Speckled and Silvery-throated Tanagers, Bufffronted Foliage-gleaner, Plain Antvireo and many more. Collared Trogon can be a highlight here and there is a long list of further species possible at this elevation. Surely it is a place where we can practice to find and ID forest flycatcher species as well such as the Slaty-capped Flycatcher or the tiny but sometimes really loud Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant. During the evenings you can find Common Pauraque on our entrance road and quite regularly we can hear Mottled Owl as well.

Crested Guans are regularly around while Great Curassow sometimes checking out our compost pile. A nice surprise can be a Zone-tailed Hawk which many times overlooked or mistaken as a Turkey Vulture. Generally never easy to see well but for us it is a regular resident both Collared Forest-Falcon and Gray-headed Kite. Parakeets and parrots can be represented by Orangechinned and Crimson-collared Parakeet, a locally common White-crowned Parrot and a bit rarer Red-lored and Mealy Amazon. Further species include Slaty-tailed Trogon, Palebilled & Golden-naped Woodpeckers, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Golden-winged Warbler, Blue Dacnis, Scarlet-rumped Cacique and Montezuma Oropendula, without mentioning of course all the possibilities.

Days 9-10 Today we have to say goodbye to our amazing base and drive down from the hills further South and gradually approach the Eastern edge of the country, close to the Panamanian border. On the way we will pass Park Nacional Marino Ballena, also will stop from time to time for some birding to find Baird's Trogon for example before we arrive to San Vito area. Here we stay at the famous Wilson Botanical Garden which has great trails in primary and secondary forests, beside the amazing variety of trees and wildflowers in the garden itself. It is a perfect place to look for a wide variety of Tanagers, Flycatchers, Tinamus, Parrots, Parakeets, Woodpeckers and Woodcreepers, plus several Hummingbird species and some endemics as well. The fruit feeder and the surrounding flowering and fruiting trees are always busy with several species. We can observe raptors such as Bicolored Hawk, Barred Hawk, White Hawk & more, plus find some birds in the surrounding canopy of the forest from a lookout tower. On one of the days we might make an excursion to the Golfito area to look for Brown-chested Martin, Baird’s Trogon, Blue-crowned Manakin, Ruddy-breasted Seedeater, Scrub Greenlet and Thick-billed Euphonia. Forktailed Flycatcher should be easy if it is around. We will have a chance for Red-breasted Blackbird and with some luck even the endemic Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager.

Days 11-12 After our last morning at Southern corner of Costa Rica we travel North at the beginning on smaller roads than later on the Panamerican Road. Later on we start to climb on the curvy but good quality road up the Cordillera de Talamanca & Cerro de la Muerte to the Savegre Area crossing farmlands, tropical forests, cloud forests and paramo with species endemic to Costa Rican and Panamian hills: Coppery-headed Emerald, Volcano Hummingbird, Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher and Peg-billed Finch. As we descend into the valley we will brake the journey to find Large-footed & Yellow-tighted Finch, Golden-browed Chlorophonia, White-throated & Greytailed Mountain Gem, Silvery-throated Jay, Black-billed Nightingale Thrush, Sooty-capped Bush Tanager, Flamecoloured Tanager, Slaty Flowerpiercer and some more. Next day we will concentrate on different trogon species, Resplendent Quetzal & Blue-throated Toucanet. There is a good chance that we find Black Guan, Spotted Wood Quail, Sulphur-winged Parakeet & Barred Parakeet as well. A wide variety of hummingbirds will be around our accommodation & restaurant such as Magnificent Hummingbird, Green Violetear, Snowy-bellied Hummingbird, Volcano & Scintillant Hummingbird. On our last tour beside all the previous ones we added some other local specialities as well, such as Ruddy Treerunner, Spotted Barbtail, Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, Torrent Tyrannulet, Ruddy-capped Nightingale Thrush, Flame-throated Warbler, Collared Whitestart, Black-cheeked Warbler & Spangle-cheeked Tanager, not to mention the common species.

Day 13 Half of the day we still can spend at this beautiful area and we will concentrate on finding species whatever we happened to miss before. During the afternoon we travel back to San Jose where our comfortable hotel has also attractive garden with birds around. Day 14 After a morning birding in the hotel garden finally we return to San Jose airport for our flight back home.

 Put together your own group and receive significant discounts!

Millions of Raptors & Tropical Birding

Amazing Raptor Migration & number one Jungle Birding
 
We put together a superb combination of a spectacular massive raptor migration, number one in the World with some easy, lowland tropical rainforest birding with many sought after species. October and beginning of November is ideal, usually that is the peak time for the Raptor Migration. We should witness a constant flow of Hawks, Vultures, Kites sometimes blackening the sky and there is a good chance to see every day over hundred-thousand raptors.
During on one of our tours our record was an unbelievable 1.2 million birds within a few hours!
After the Raptor full days we add a huge variety of rare and colourful tropical denizens such as Blue Cotinga, dozens of Hummingbirds, several Trogon species, Motmots, Toucans, Woodpeckers, Puffbirds, Manakins, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Chuck-will’s-widow, about 30 species of Flycatchers, various Anthshrikes, Antwrens, Antbirds, Ant-thrushes & Antpittas, Green Shrike-Vireo, Wrens, tropical Warblers, Caciques & Orioles, dazzling variety of Tanagers.
Beautiful butterflies & some interesting mammals such as Sloths and Geoffrey's Tamarind Monkey colour the scene during the easy birding days. Please read Trip Report Panama
 

Fact File

- 10 birding days in Panama, watching the world-famous Raptor migration & visiting National Parks and nature reserves for tropical lowland rainforest birding
- start and finish in Panama City - using 2 accommodations with great on site birding
- very short daily transfers

Highlights

- birding at word famous sites such as Metropolitan Nature Park, Panama City Wetlands, rainforests of Pipeline Road & Ammo Ponds at Soberanía National Park and other areas

- wide variety of birds, plus some mammals, reptiles, butterflies and interesting habitats

Accommodation

5 nights at the foot of the most famous Raptor watching point in Panama City
3 nights at Gamboa Reserve
1 night back again in Panama city
 

Itinerary

Day 1 - arrival in the afternoon to Panama City International airport, transfer the group from the airport to the hotel with green area around, offering good on-site birding possibility. We discuss next day’s program during our dinner at a nearby restaurant.
Days 2-5 - Panama city area
Each morning we start birding in our hotel garden and in the tranquil, green area nearby which produc for us a long list of various species such as White-necked Jacobin, Black-throated Mango, Garden Emerald, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Blue-chested Hummingbird, Lineated Woodpecker, Orange-chinned Parakeet, Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Southern Beardless Tyrannulet, Common Tody Flycatcher, Streaked & Boat-billed Flycatcher, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Swainson's Thrush, Clay-colored Robin, Yellow Warbler, Variable Seed-eater, Crimson-backed-, Blue-gray, Summer and Palm Tanager, Yellow-crowned Tanager.
Each morning after breakfast if the weather is suitable we drive up to the top of a nearby hill which offers a perfect panoramic view of the large kettles of migrating raptors. Our timing should be perfect since at the end of October we can get the peak time for mainly hundreds of thousands of Swainson’s, Short-tailed and Broad-winged Hawks. We might be lucky to see some late Swallow-tailed Kites and Mississippi Kites as well.
From time to time we point out some Zone-tailed Hawks, Yellow-headed Caracaras and fast Peregrine Falcons. We also should see some fishing Ospreys and hunting Crane Hawks. We might pick up some rarer species as well, such as Gray-lined Hawk or King Vulture.
During our visits of the hill we also have a chance to find both Chuck-will's Widow and Lesser Nighthawk.
On a good day the sheer number of birds in the sky can be stunning. Once with a group we witnessed a constant River of Raptors flowing in front of us with more than 1.2 million birds within just a half day!
One of the days we will spend a few hours at the Metropolitan National Park where we will search Gray-headed Chachalaca, Black-crowned & Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Barred Antshrike, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Prothonotary Warbler, Saffron Finch.
Another day we might make a detour towards the Bayano Lowland area which can produce Little Tinamou, Wood Stork, Green & Cocoi Heron, Anhinga and we can add a few more raptors such as Crested Caracara, American Kestrel, White-tailed Kite. Further new species which possible here are Blue Ground Dove, Red-lored Parrot, Smooth-billed Ani, Common Nighthawk, Pale-bellied Hermit. We hope to find local specialities such as Black-tailed Trogon, Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker, Pied Puffbird, Golden Collared Manakin, Fasciated Antshrike, Black Antshrike, Western Slaty/Black-crowned Antshrike, Dusky and Jet Antbird, Bay Wren, Bay-breasted Warbler and the very localized Streaked Xenops.
 
Days 6-9 -  Tropical Lowland Birding
Each day we discover different parts of the Gamboa Forest, Soberania National Park and other World-famous trails, such as Pipeline Road or Plantation Road. Travelling distances are very short every day, walks are generally on flat area, but some days can be really humid especially after sporadic rains. The list of birds we have a chance to see here is really quite long. Here we mention just some of those which we usually see quite easily such as Great Tinamu, Muscovy Duck, Rufescent Tiger Heron, Agami Heron, Boat-billed Heron, Tricolored Heron, King Vulture, Bat Falcon, Snail Kite, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, White-throated Crake, Gray-necked Wood Rail, Purple Gallinule, Scaled Pigeon, Mealy Parrot, Greater Ani, Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift.
A dazzling variety of hummingbirds waits for us, such as Western Long-tailed and Stripe-throated Hermit, Purple-crowned Woodnymph, Violet-bellied and Blue-chested Hummingbird, White-vented Plumeleteer. We will search and hopefully find all 5 possible Trogon species, namely Black-throated, White-tailed, Garthered/Violaceous, Slaty-tailed and Black-tailed. Also we should find Blue-crowned, Rufous and Broad-billed Motmots. Other colourful species to be mentioned are Collared Aracari and Chestnut-mandibled Toucan. We get some unique Woodpecker species such as Black-cheeked, Cinnamon and Crimson-crested. We also should locate White-necked and Black-breasted Puffbirds. Some of the notable highlights of tropical birding are Blue-crowned and Lance-tailed Manakin, but Blue Cotinga and Purple-throated Fruitcrow can steal the show. :-)
Actually it is a perfect timing to witnes males displaying.
The biggest challenge is always to identify the many different flycatcher species especially that here more than 30 is possible. We usually find more than 2 dozens including Southern Bentbill, Eye-ringed Flatbill, Ruddytailed and of course Panama Flycatcher. Antshrikes are represented by Fasciated and Western Slaty/Black-crowned, while Antwrens include Checker-throated, White-flanked and Dot-winged. We will also look for several different Antbird species as well such as Dusky, White-bellied, Chestnut-backed, Bicolored and Spotted. With some luck we should find Black-faced Ant-thrush and Streakchested Antpitta as well. Most of the above mentioned species we should be able to observe very well especially when we find some big ant-swarms. Pipeline Road is World famous for having strong an-tswarms.
Other interesting species we can see during the tour include Green Shrike-Vireo, Black-bellied Wren, different tropical Warblers, Caciques & Orioles, Scaly-breasted/Southern Nightingale Wren, a dazzling variety of Tanagers including Rosy-thrush Tanager and the strangely, but aptly named Brownish Twistwing.
For the last night we returned to Panama city.
 
Day 10 - If flight schedule permits than on last day we still look for birds alongside the seaside. Several different herons, such as Black-crowned & Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Semipalmated Plover, Long-billed Curlew, Tricolored Heron, Royal Tern and some other species possible here. Rarely even Blue-footed Booby can be spotted. Finally we have a transfer to the airport to catch our flight and arrive back home.

Activity level

easy to moderate walks;
some areas are hot and humid;
a few times possible short, but sometimes strong tropical rain falls

 

ecotours-Newsletter-2020April

 
 

Newsletter Spring 2020

Ecotours - Worldwide
KONDOR EcoLodge - Hungary
toucan ecolodge-costa rica

The original & only registered Ecotours with 2 lodges & offices at 2 continents

Untitled-1b


Europe, Latin America, Africa
 

Untitled-3
0 NEWSLETTER Jaguar Brazil Pantanal Ecotours Kondor S05A9428
 
 
 
 
 
Untitled-3
 

Dear Ecotours Travellers & Friends,

 
Our beautiful Planet is seriously sick and our human population suffering a pandemic. Some say that Mother Earth sent us home to think about what we have done... We only can hope that although it is tragic what is going on perhaps it will prompt a positive change, a different approach to many aspects of the global economy, politics and decision making.
 
Among many others perhaps tourism will change and focus will be more on small group and private tours than mass tourism. We have decades of experience in small scale birding and ecotourism and more than a decade ago we started to promote one-centred birding and wildlife tours to lower even further our carbon footprint. If you choose your destination wisely you do not need to roam around spending at each place only one or 2 nights but you can have amazing birds and wildlife around you just at that great well-selected lodge. This is what we offer at our 2 excelent lodges, Kondor EcoLodge at Kiskunság National Park in HUNGARY, Europe and at Toucan Birding EcoLodge & Wildlife Reserve in COSTA RICA. 
 
This will be the first Spring & Summer during decades that we will not be continuously on tours. We have just finished our first full season at Toucan EcoLodge and although all of our guests managed to finish the tours and travel home safely we stucked here in paradise. We are very lucky since we locked down in a 23 hectares beautiful garden and tropical primary and secondary forest which provides everyday something new even for us. Now we can find time to work on Trip Reports and we would like to help you to enjoy at least virtual travels by reading some of our newest ones here:
 
You can download our newToucan EcoLodge & Wildlife Reserve brochure here. 
 
We are continuously checking the Coronavirus situation and we believe that all Spring and Summer tours will be cancelled. We contact each of you who has a booking with us regarding each destination, tour or accommodation booking. We also advise you to follow the suggestions of your goverment regarding any travel. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
 
LAST Minute Offers
 

BRAZIL tour: combination of Pantanal & Atlantic Forest

BRAZIL - Pantanal: Jaguars, Jabirus & other Jewels - unique tour, incredible cruise,  very different from what anybody else offers, unique style Pantanal, BRAZIL cruise with Jaguars, Giant Anteaters, Giant Otters and colourful birds around.   Even the most travelled guests of ours said it was the best experience ever! 

22October -2November, 2020 12 days price: $5500 plus 600 single room/cabin supplement; spaces are limited

BRAZIL - endemics bonanza at the Atlantic Forest; can be combined with Pantanal: Jaguars, Jabirus & other Jewels  2-9November, 2020; Price 8 days at $2700 + 400 srs

Brasil Pantanal S05A9619 190x190S05A9779 Jaguar Pantanal Brasil 190x190Brasil Pantanal TocoTucan S05A0503 190x190

This almost 3 weeks long big adventure, the BRAZIL Birding & Wildlife tour has 2 completely different parts and it is possible to do either part or combined. The Pantanal part has a few days of terrestrial birding and wildlife alongside the Transpantaneria road with Giant Ant-eater, Hyacinth Macaw and many more, followed by an incredible and enjoyable boat journey for more than a week through the Pantanal jungle where you can have several Jaguars, Giant River Otters and loads of unforgotable birds and finally we spend a week in the Atlantic Forest looking for and finding close to 70 endemic bird species! If you are interested in more details of this tour, please click here.

Itinerary with Atlantic Forest extension

S05A3002S05A3025S05A2777

Upcoming Tours - Early Bird Offers

LATIN AMERICA & WORLDWIDE

We have started to receive bookings for the next Winter-early Spring Season from  November 2020 till April 2021 at our Toucan EcoLodge, COSTA RICA. 

For those who book before the next BirdFair we offer the same special introductory price as before:

Half Board $89 or €80 or Ł74 per person per night 
Full Board $99 or €88 or Ł81 per person per night  

If you would be interested in a circuit tour visiting different parts of Costa Rica please send us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will send you an offer as soon as possible.

COSTA RICA One-centre holiday at our lodge, Home of Toucans, Tanagers, Trogons and more Between November2020 and April, 2021 ; 7days at: 1499 + 219 USD srs

COSTA RICA Birds at Rainforests, Volcanoes and Beaches - round trip
Costa Rican endemics and near-endemics, Resplendent Quetzal, lowland and highland specialities Between November2020 and April, 202114 days at: 2999 + 419 USD

S05A7534-Snowy Cotinga male-E-closer-160x160S05A6853-crop160x160S05A2750

We also offer Panama, Mexico, Belize, Brazil where we have had dozens of tours during the last 14 years.

Generally land prices are around 2 weeks for USD2,999+USD399srs depending on destination, group size and season

PANAMA – Migration Special & Top Tropical Birding - imagine more than a million Raptor in the sky!

clouds of several Raptor species, various Antbirds, Purple-throated Fruit-crow, White-throated Crake, Blue-crowned, Golden-collared Manakin, Rosy Bush-tanager, Golden-fronted Greenlet & many more - 10 days at: 2,499 USD + 359 USD srs

MEXICO Yucatan & Chiapas Yucatan endemics, plus Mexican Ant-thrush, Royal Flycatcher and much more
 

BELIZE with a bit of Yucatanand extension possibility to Guatemala
Spectacled Owl, Agami Heron, Jabiru, Orange-breasted Falcon, Speckled Pigeon, Sungrebe & more

MEXICO Yucatan & BELIZE from the Caribbean seaside into real jungles of Belize and up to the Mountain Pine Ridge. Wide variety of wildlife plus breathtaking Mayan ruins. If you are interested in more details of this tour, please click here.

Raptor Migration Panama-S05A0868

EASTERN EUROPE

 TRANSYLVANIA-DANUBE DELTA Birds & Bears Sept, 2021 ; 10days $1599+ $299srs

S05A2700DSCN5922S05A2078

Birds & Budapest during Winter, HUNGARY - mix of birding seasoned with culture

Winter Bird Photography Tour, HUNGARY - specialized & personalised bird photography tour, attractive Winter bird species such as Wallcreeper, Alpine Accentor, Red-breasted Geese, but it is also possible to look for Ural Owl and several Woodpecker species. 

Estonia - Steller's Eider Tour - another popular Winter tour - March, 2021 - 4days Ł575 + srs

Georgia 0D1A1973 2kislilik News 190x190ludak csonkapeter 7886 news 190x190

For a LIST OF OTHER TOURS with suggested dates & prices please click hereWe also created a TOUR SELECTOR where you can filter all the tours based on destination or focus of the tour or monthIf you would like to Read More about the various tours we have done please visit our NEW Trip Report pages on our website.

We tend to do more tours than trip reports, but work hard to catch up with the paperwork as well, so please check our website and Facebook  pages regularly. J

S05A2583S05A2615S05A2370

Early Bird Offers
 

EASTERN EUROPE

GEORGIA April, 2021 $1549 + $199 srs
w
ith loads of the Caucasian endemics, Lammergeier, Wallcreeper, 3 species of Rock Nuthatches, several Wheatear species, Black Francolin, Chuckar and many more.

BELARUS May, 2021 $1399 + $230 srs
with Azure Tit, Terek Sandpiper, Great Snipe, Great Grey Owl, Citrine Wagtail, Tengmalm's and Pygmy Owl, European Bison, Elk and many more.

HUNGARY - various tours at our KONDOR EcoLodgefrom Wildlife at Leisure Tour till special Bird & Macro-Photography Tour June, 2021 $1599 + $199 srs with Roller, Bee-eater, Hoopoe, Great Bustard, Red-footed & Saker Falcons, Imperial Eagle & many more species around.

During all of our tours we use Swarovski bins & scopes which you can try at our Kondor EcoLodge, Hungary's first and only natural Swarovski showroom. You can check the quality of the products in our garden or around, focusing on Rollers, Bee-eaters, Orioles or Hoopoes. Try, hire or buy and you will get a special discount from our tours as well.

At each destination our aim is to come up with something new & different than others do and also offer more for less!

Please also check our attractive FaceBook pageyou do not have to be a member to enjoy it!

We offer excellent quality for attractive prices in Eastern Europe, Latin America & Worldwide.

All prices above include all the services, single room supplement, but without flight tickets! Please ask for details! All pics were made during our tours!

We hope to enjoy a great tour together with plenty of wildlife!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
copy

Brazil Atlantic Forest - 1 week

With more than 70 endemics possible during a week

Leaders: Gabor Orban & Andrea Katona

ATLANTIC FOREST ENDEMIC & WILDLIFE BONANZA - BRAZIL WILDLIFE & PHOTO TOUR

We planned originally this itinerary as a week-long extension to our annual October or November Pantanal tour, but actually the Atlantic Forest of Brazil is so reach in birds and wildlife that it should be a prime destination itself.

It is one of the richest areas on the entire planet in terms of biodiversity, especially the number of endemic bird species but other wildlife as well.

We stay at the Guapi Assu Bird Lodge at Reserva Ecologica de Guapiacu which is a great base for onsight birding and also shorter and longer daily adventures during the week.

It is also quite convenient that the driving distance between the Rio airport and the lodge is just 1,5 or 2 hours. Our idea at this one-base tour that we alternate days spent at or nearby our lodge discovering the various trails with shorter or longer daily excursions to the best birding areas in the region.

When we do this tour as an extension of the Pantanal Tour then we have an Arrival (or Ground zero) day arriving from Cuiaba, Pantanal to Rio and then transfer to the lodge.

Please note that order of the daily programmes can be changed depending on the actual weather.

1st Day we explore the trails in the reserve, at wetlands, lowland pastures, gardens and sections of primary and secondary rainforest

2nd Day excursion to dry Atlantic Forest near Carmo, 3toed Jacamar Day

3rd Day Waldemor Trail

4th Day full day excursion to Macai de Cima

5th Day 4x4 trail

6th Day full day at the lush montane forests of Pico de Caledonia

7th Day morning at Maroon trail, late afternoon travel to domestic airport

At this time of the year we generally can be lucky with the weather, not much rain however there can be sudden changes, especially when we visit higher elevation areas or when we venture to larger distances. You will be delighted to record between 200-300 species.

Out of the few hundred species around 60-80 will be endemic without a really serious effort. This means that almost every third bird species we find should be endemic! Quite incredible!

Although we have been on tours here several times we will surely use an excellent local guide as well throughout the week to maximize our chance to have an excellent result. We aim to form a great team where all of us help each other not to miss anything.

Gabor puts the scope on the bird quickly and also helps with a laser pointer with directions while Andi helps spotting any new birds and wildlife beside helping in other issues and being a cheerful company.


We usually have excellent possibilities to photograph not just various birds, but mammals, butterflies, dragonflies and a long list of wildflower species as well. It is a perfect birding and wildlife holiday with amazing photography possibilities.

At the end of the tour it is usually very difficult to pick the best species or the most exciting visited areas or other highlights of the tour. The following is just a short list as an example of the possibilities:

the echoing Bare-throated Bellbird and the countryside near Nova Freiburg, Long-tailed Antshrike and the Giant Moth attracted by the moth trap light, White-tufted Marmosets, lush forests of Pico de Caledonia, Three-toed Jacamars and Tapirs, Warbling Finch, White-eyed Foliage-gleaner, the colours of the Brassy-breasted Tanager, Mouse-colored or Serro do Mar Tapaculo.

But there are so many more from colourful toucans, through shining tanagers, manakins and various hummingbirds, hiding antbirds, herons and egrets and the list can go on and on…

Surely neither of us will be bored and you will feel that we could easily spend some more relaxing days here and we could easily find even more things. It is also great to learn about the conservation projects here, to feel the success of reforestation.

We will surely enjoy great food which is made locally and the only danger is to became quite quickly addicted to the pre-dinner caipirinha sessions. The extensive library and the different leaflets are helpful as well to read about birds and wildlife around.

It is a memorable holiday in really good company!

ecotours-Newsletter-2020-Winter

 
 

Newsletter Winter 2020

Ecotours - Worldwide
KONDOR EcoLodge - Hungary
toucan ecolodge-costa rica

The original & only registered Ecotours seasonally at 2 continents

Untitled-1b


Europe, Latin America, Africa
 

Untitled-3
0 NEWSLETTER Jaguar Brazil Pantanal Ecotours Kondor S05A9428
 
 
 
 
 
Untitled-3
 

Dear Ecotours Travellers & Friends,

Our last Newsletter was sent out early April, we skipped the Summer one. We lamented at that time that our beautiful Planet is seriously sick and we are suffering a pandemic. We wrote that Mother Earth sent us home to think about what we have done...We hope that beside dealing with the pandemic finally a different approach to solve the global environmental problems will be prompted as well.
At least there are a few good signs. Vaccines are around the corner and some great ecotourism destinations started to open. Costa Rica is definitely a good example.
There were some positive side effects of the lockdown as well. First of all we have had much more time for each other, for our friends and relatives and have managed to work on things we could not do during the last extremly busy 2 decades. Have spent much more time in the garden, created brand new Bird & Mammal Watching Photography hides. We are so optimistic that in the not so distant future you would like to travel again that we have joined to the Blue Sky Wildlife Team and advertise our Kondor Ecolodge-based Hungary tours there. Please check the special offers here:
https://www.blueskywildlife.com/operator/ecotours-kondor-ecolodge-hungary We really would like to thank all of our guests, tour leaders and friends who sent their reviews to Blue Sky so we became one of the best featured companies!
We are also continuously working on our different websites. Recently updated www.kondorecolodge.hu with loads of new photogalleries, reviews and tour infos.
Also there are plenty of new info on our www.ecotours-worldwide.com website.
We hope that tourism will change and focus will be more on small group and private tours than mass tourism. We have decades of experience in small scale birding and ecotourism and more than a decade ago we started to promote one-centred birding and wildlife tours to lower even further our carbon footprint. If you choose your destination wisely you do not need to roam around spending at each place only one or 2 nights but you can have amazing birds and wildlife around you just at that great well-selected lodge. This is what we offer at our excelent lodge, Kondor EcoLodge at Kiskunság National Park in HUNGARY, Europe and try to do also in Costa Rica.
 
LAST Minute Offers
LATIN AMERICA & WORLDWIDE

Now that vaccine is around the corner and Costa Rica easied the entry plus flight tickets from UK or US have never been so low during the last couple of years we have started to receive bookings for this Winter & Early Spring Season till April 2021

General description of Costa Rica, Trip Reports, Photo Gallery and below links to our different group or private tour offers you can find here.

If you would be interested in a private circuit tour visiting different parts of Costa Rica please send us an email and we will send you an offer as soon as possible.

For those who book before the end of the year we offer a special price.
Please write to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


Each of the below itineraries can be tailor-made and adjusted to your needs. You will experience not jut Costa Rican endemics and near-endemics, Resplendent Quetzal, lowland and highland bird specialities but also amazing, colourful wildlife from butterflies, mammals, frogs and reptiles and lush vegetation.

Pacific Paradise Birding - Costa Rica

Caribbean Birding Bonanza - Costa Rica

Grand Costa Rica circle with Tenorio

Suggested timing is between Decemberer2020-April2021 & November2021-April2022

Generally land prices for small groups are around 2 weeks between USD2,999-3500 +srs depending on the actual accommodation during the circle & group size and exact dates

S05A7534-Snowy Cotinga male-E-closer-160x160S05A6853-crop160x160S05A2750

We also offer Panama, Mexico, Belize, Brazil where we have had dozens of tours during the last 15 years.  
BRAZIL - PANTANAL unique cruise, very different from any other offers
BRAZIL - ATLANTIC FOREST more than 70 endemics can be seen leisurely during a week
It is possible to combine the above 2 tours which can be your best tour ever.

PANAMA – Migration Special & Top Tropical Birding 10 days at: 2,499 USD + 359 USD srs

Imagine more than a million Raptor in the sky! clouds of several Raptor species, various Antbirds, Purple-throated Fruit-crow, White-throated Crake, Blue-crowned, Golden-collared Manakin, Rosy Bush-tanager, Golden-fronted Greenlet & many more 

MEXICO Yucatan & Chiapas several Yucatan endemic species, plus Mexican Ant-thrush, Royal Flycatcher and much more

MEXICO Yucatan & BELIZE from the Caribbean seaside into real jungles of Belize and up to the Mountain Pine Ridge. Wide variety of wildlife plus breathtaking Mayan ruins. 
Spectacled Owl, Agami Heron, Jabiru, Orange-breasted Falcon, Speckled Pigeon, Sungrebe & more
If you are interested in more details of this tour, please click here.

Raptor Migration Panama-S05A0868

EASTERN EUROPE

Birds & Budapest during Winter, HUNGARY - mix of birding seasoned with a bit of culture

Winter Bird Photography Tour, HUNGARY - specialized & personalized bird photography tour with attractive species such as Wallcreeper, Alpine Accentor, Red-breasted Geese, Imperial Eagle, Rough-legged Buzzard, Hen Harrier, but it is also possible to photograph Ural Owl and several Woodpecker species. 

Estonia-Steller's Eider Tour-another popular Winter tour 18-21March2021 4days Ł549/$699 + Ł79/$99

Georgia 0D1A1973 2kislilik News 190x190ludak csonkapeter 7886 news 190x190

Click here for a LIST OF OTHER TOURS with suggested dates & prices
We also created a TOUR SELECTOR where you can filter all the tours based on destination or focus of the tour or monthIf you would like to Read More about the various tours we have done please visit our NEW Trip Report pages on our website.

We tend to do more tours than trip reports, but work hard to catch up with the paperwork as well, so please check our website and Facebook  pages regularly. J

S05A2583S05A2615S05A2370

Upcoming Tours - Early Bird Offers 

EASTERN EUROPE

GEORGIA 24-30April, 2021 $1549 + $199 srs or with extension $1999 + $260
w
ith loads of the Caucasian endemics, Lammergeier, Wallcreeper, 3 species of Rock Nuthatches, several Wheatear species, Black Francolin, Chuckar and many more.

BELARUS 15-23May, 2021 $1599 + $299 srs
with Azure Tit, Terek Sandpiper, Great Snipe, Great Grey Owl, Citrine Wagtail, Tengmalm's and Pygmy Owl, European Bison, Elk and many more.

HUNGARY - various tours at our KONDOR EcoLodge and other areas

Roller, Bee-eater, Hoopoe, Great Bustard, Red-footed & Saker Falcons, Imperial Eagle & many more species around.

1. Birding at Kiskunság & Bükk National Parks

2. Birding and Wildlife at and around Kondor EcoLodge

3. Bird Photography Tour

TRANSYLVANIA-DANUBE DELTA Birds & Bears Sept, 2021 ; 10days $1849+ $320srs

S05A2700DSCN5922S05A2078

During all of our tours we use Swarovski bins & scopes which you can try at our Kondor EcoLodge, Hungary's first and only natural Swarovski showroom. You can check the quality of the products in our garden or around, focusing on Rollers, Bee-eaters, Orioles or Hoopoes. Try, hire or buy and you will get a special discount from our tours as well.

At each destination our aim is to come up with something new & different than others do and also offer more for less!

Please also check our attractive FaceBook pageyou do not have to be a member to enjoy it!

We offer excellent quality for attractive prices in Eastern Europe, Latin America & Worldwide.

All prices above include all the services, single room supplement, but without flight tickets! Please ask for details! All pics were made during our tours!

We hope to enjoy a great tour together with plenty of wildlife!

 
 
 
 
 
 
0 NEWSLETTER Jaguar Brazil Pantanal Ecotours Kondor S05A9428
 
copy