Boasting over 3,000 bird species South America is known as the ‛bird continent’-
Venezuela can flaunt some 1300 species in its various ecological zones. In the Henri
Pittier Park alone there are over 550 species. During our tour we will visit three of
these zones – the spectacular high Andes in the west, the lush rainforests and costal
mountain regions in the north as well as the vast marshes and grasslands of the flat
Llanos.
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- Package does not include tips (participants usually allow ca. £ 50 for this purpose).
- By booking this tour you will be supporting the Venezuelan Conservation programmes.
- Day 1
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Arrival
Upon arrival we will be transferred to our inn, Posada El Limón, in Maracay,
gateway to Henri Pittier National Park. The impressive Park bird list comprises
over 550 species, including over 30 species of hummingbirds. This 220,000 acre
biological wonderland extends from cloud forest at 4,000 feet, through several
diverse habitats, reaching down to the Caribbean Sea.
- Day 2
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Ocumare Road, Rancho Grande
Leaving our inn after an early breakfast, we will bird the famous Ocumare Road
at dawn before visiting the world renowned Rancho Grande Biological Station. Here
we will explore the trails looking for secretive forest birds such as Venezuelan
Wood-Quail, Guttulated Foliage-gleaner, Grey-throated Leaftosser, Venezuelan
Antvireo, Black-faced Anthrush, Plain-backed Antpitta and - with luck - Violaceous
Quail-Dove. We will hope for a mixed feeding flock with endemics such as
Venezuelan Bristle-Tyrant and Handsome Fruiteater. Once the sun rises high
enough, we will be on the terrace of the biological station on the lookout for
soaring raptors like Ornate and Black Hawk-Eagles, White Hawk and Great Black-Hawk.
Blood-eared Parakeet, White-tipped Quetzal, Rufous-lored Tyrannulet, Swallow
Tanager, neotropical migrants and hummingbirds can often be seen from our vantage
point too. In addition, Rancho Grande is a great place to get a good look at Red
Howler Monkeys and Three-toed Sloths.
- Day 3
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Choroní Road
Today we will bird from the cloud forest along the famous Choroní Road. Our day
will begin with a picnic breakfast at the cloud forest pass searching for such
species as Band-tailed Guan, Groove-billed Toucanet, Golden-breasted Fruiteater,
Rufous-cheeked Tanager and perhaps the secretive Schwartz’s Antthrush. The rest
of the day will be spend birding the cloud forest and lower elevations on either
side of the mountain pass.
- Day 4
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Turiamo Road, Caribbean Coast
We will drive over the mountain range to the Turiamo Road and the small town of
Cumboto, where we will picnic at one of the cocoa plantations looking for
Black-backed Antshrike, Lance-tailed and Wire-tailed Manakins and Venezuelan
Flycatcher. Hopefully, we will have time to visit the Caribbean coast to see
Brown Boobies, Magnificent Frigatebirds and Brown Pelicans. We will also search
for Pale-bellied Hermit, Buffy Hummingbird, Glaucous Tanager and Black-faced
Grassquit.
- Day 5
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Henri Pittier National Park
Our last morning in Henri Pittier NP will be spent looking for and specialities
and endemics we are still missing. We might be searching for Northern Helmeted
Curassows or Foothill Screech-Owls along the Ocumare Road or teasing Golden-winged
Sparrows out of the deciduous forests lower down. Or perhaps we will simply spend
a morning watching raptors and photographing tanagers or hummingbirds on the
terrace of the Rancho Grande Biological Station. After lunch we will take the
late flight to Mérida, Venezuela’s gateway to the Andes. The city is set in a
deep valley surrounded by the country’s highest peaks, Pico Bolívar and Pico
Espejo, both over 16,000 feet. It is a region that still maintains a colonial
flavour to its culture and architecture. On arrival we will drive to our lodgings
at the Posada Doña Rosa, a charming colonial coffee hacienda situated at 5000 feet
below the Pico Bolívar. The grounds offer us further opportunity for bird
watching, with Tropical Screech-Owl, Rufous Nightjar and Rufous-bellied Nighthawk
a possibility in the evening.
- Day 6
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Pico Humboldt Trail, Mérida City
We will spend the morning birding the subtropical and montane elevations at the
lower end of the renowned Pico Humboldt Trail. Typical target birds are
Rose-crowned Parakeet, Narrow-tailed Emerald, Longuemare‘s Sunangel, Gorgeted
Woodstar, White-capped Dipper, Torrent Tyrannulet and Moustached Brush-Finch
together with a nice selection of Andean tanagers and wintering American warblers.
In the afternoon we will bird around Mérida city and perhaps making a stop at a
local market.
- Day 7
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Cloud Forest
We will start early for the cloud forest of the Humboldt Trail. In this lush,
misty forest we will look for Andean Guan, White-capped and Rusty-faced Parrot,
Golden Starfrontlet, Crested and Golden-headed Quetzals, Chestnut-crowned and
Grey-naped Antpittas, Mérida Tapaculo, Green-and-black Fruiteater, Black-collared
Jay, White-fronted Whitestart and Grey-capped Hemispingus. This is the best site
for the unpredictable endemic Slaty-backed Hemispingus.
- Day 8
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Andean Villages, Santo Domingo Valley
Once more we will visit the Humboldt Trail during the morning to locate those
species we still have not seen. After lunch we will take a scenic drive through
Andean Villages, climbing into the highlands and our hotel for the evening in the
spectacular Santo Domingo Valley. A good selection of high altitude avifauna is to
be found right at the hotel.
- Day 9
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Páramo, Laguna de Mucubají
This morning we will have a leisurely start after breakfast to explore the high
altitude meadows known as páramo. This treeless environment found above 8,000 feet
has a unique flora, the dominant plant being a composite, Espeletia. Typical
Andean páramo bird species occur here, such as Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle,
Bearded Helmetcrest, Andean Tit-Spinetail, Streak-backed Canastero, Páramo Pipit
and Plumbeous Sierra-Finch. We will also search for the endemic Mérida Wren and
Ochre-browed Thistletail. We will visit the highest accessible peaks at over
13,000 feet in order to look for Andean Condor and will also stop at Laguna de
Mucubají, a glacial lake, for Andean Teal and migrant American shorebirds.
- Day 10
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Santo Domingo Valley
After checking out of the hotel we will work our way down the Santo Domingo
Valley, birding as we go. Our first stop may produce Orange-throated Sunangel,
Pearled Treerunner, Streaked Tuftedcheek, Lacrimose Mountain Tanager, Mérida
Flowerpiercer and a host of other dwarf forest inhabitants. Later we will hope
to pick up Torrent Duck and then a number of lower elevation species such as
Cliff Flycatcher. We will spend the night in another colonial inn on the plaza
of the quiet coffee producing village of Altamira.
- Day 11
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Santo Domingo Valley
Today we will begin early in the subtropical forest of the Santo Domingo Valley.
Our goal will be to visit a lek of the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, a spectacular
bright orange bird is known for the elaborate display of the males as they attempt
to attract a female. In this exquisite forest, rich in bromeliads, tree-ferns and
orchids, we will look for fruiting trees in order to observe feeding fruiteaters
and tanagers. We will also be on the lookout for Black-and-Chestnut Eagle,
Saffron-headed Parrot, Red-headed Barbet, Crested Quetzal and Orange-crowned
Oriole. In the afternoon we will continue downward into the drier habitats looking
for Pale-headed Jacamar, White-browed Antbird, and White-ruffed Manakin.
- Day 12-14
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Llanos
On the morning of day twelve we will depart early to drive into the vast interior
of Venezuela: the Llanos. Here at Hato El Cedral, a 106,000 acre private wildlife
sanctuary, we will be introduced to one of the world’s great wildlife spectacles.
Three days of excursions on this working cattle ranch will likely give us good
looks at waterbirds such as Jabiru, Maguari and Wood-Stork; seven species of Ibis;
Cocoi, Whistling and Capped Herons, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Homed Screamer,
White-faced and Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks and Orinoco Goose. We have the best
chance anywhere in their range for such coveted birds as Agami Heron,
Zig-zag Heron, Hoatzin, Sunbittern, Aplomado Falcon, Amazonian Black-Tyrant and
White-naped Xenopsaris. Plus Hato Cedral boasts a long list of 300 other
possibilities including Chestnut-fronted and Scarlet Macaws, Yellow-knobbed
Curassow, Black-capped Donacobius and White-bearded Flycatcher. Night excursions
can produce Lesser, Band-tailed and Nacunda Nighthawks and Savanna Foxes. In
addition we should see herds of Capybara, hundreds of Spectacled Caiman,
Anacondas, along with mammals such as Red Howler Monkey, Crab-eating Raccoon,
and Pink River Dolphin.
Our accommodation at Hato El Cedral is in spacious, air-conditioned,
attractively furnished bungalows, each with private bathroom. The dining room
serves excellent family-style meals, and the swimming pool is available throughout
our visit. At the end of a long day we may be entertained by the famous Venezuelan
cowboys, the Llaneros, who with their harps, cuatros (four-stringed guitars),
and maracas present their beautiful national music for visitors.
- Day 15
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Departure
We will have an early morning departure for Barinas, and our flight back to
Caracas connecting with our evening flight home.
- Day 16
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Arrival in London
Possible extensions:
1. Canaima & Angel Falls extension (4 days / 3 nights)
Visit the Pemon indigenous village of Canaima in the Canaima National Park and UNESCO
World Heritage Site, the gateway to the Angel Falls, the world’s highest waterfall. This
30,000 sq. km park is one of the ten largest in the world and forms part of the largest
tropical wilderness on the planet. It is famous for the characteristic flat-topped Table
Mountains, or tepuis, popularised in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel The Lost World and much
filmed by the BBC for natural history documentaries as well as by Hollywood film-makers like
Stephen Spielberg. This tour is a good way to see the tepuis and to experience the natural
environments of the region. There will be ample scope for relaxation, swimming, photography,
wildlife watching and an opportunity to see birds as well. Our guides will be support local
indigenous people.
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