Category Archives: Ecotourism

Ecotourism Through The Ages

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Ecotourism is an extremely rewarding experience for people of all ages.  Given the diversity of places you can go and the range of adventures from very soft “Birding from a cruise ship” to the most challenging treks through dense jungles; how do you decide which type of adventure is right for you?  Let’s take a look at various age groups and see what they have going for them and what challenges they face.  Don’t take the age groups TOO seriously, these are generalizations and not meant to be strict guidelines but simply food for thought!

Travel expenditure by age group

18-30

backpackers

These people are young, (hopefully) healthy and have more freedom.  They are at the beginning of their careers, have probably not settled down yet to marriage, kids and a mortgage.  They can save their discretionary cash for travel but since they are just starting out jobwise, won’t be raking in the big bucks yet.  Of course there are exceptions with young adults who go straight into high-powered careers and do have more money to spend.  People in this age group will have no problem with more physically challenging treks, are usually happy to don a backpack, fly economy and stay in hostels or budget hotels.  They lack experience in travel and dealing with other cultures but will learn quickly if they are open-minded.  They are most likely to seek out a social life and want to spend the evening partying and still be able to wake at dawn for birding.  They also are likely to meet other like-minded travelers at hostels and form impromptu groups for safaris or trekking.

Suggestions:  Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico, India

31-45

Off the beaten track

These people are now pretty well established in their careers and may not find it so easy to get time off work.  Even if they do get vacation time each year, they may not like leaving their job to a temp for a couple weeks.  They are likely to be married and have a kid or several so they may need to  plan trips around school holidays.  This means travel during peak seasons.  They are still young enough to be physically fit and will have more travel experience under their belts.  They may have grandparents who can watch the kids so they can get away on a big trip and they will have the means to do so.  They have traveled quite a bit by now and are more confident and ready to seek out new adventures.

Suggestions:  Venezuela, Laos, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Bolivia

45-60

Birding from a tower

At this age, many people will be at the top of their careers, and have more discretionary income.  If their kids are grown, they will have freedom to travel when they wish and avoid high season.  They are no longer as strong and fit as they used to be and their eyesight may be declining.  They can still go on jungle treks but may have trouble keeping up with the group and stop to rest more.  They may also have more trouble spotting birds at a distance as glasses steam up in the tropics.  They will need a good guide to help them find birds.  They are well-experienced travelers by  this time, used to dealing with other cultures whether they speak the language or not and take minor inconveniences in stride.

Suggestions:  Pacific Islands, Africa, Peru, Ecuador

60 and Up

Cruise ship adventures

This is when most people start thinking about retirement, so they will have plenty of free time.  Depending on income, they may have the means or they may be on the pension and a tight budget.  At this age, travel insurance companies start raising the premiums and they may have other pre-existing conditions like heart conditions, arthritis, gout that also affect travel insurance.  They will need to take things slower and may not be able to hike through steamy rainforests; or carry their own gear.

Suggestions:  Birding from a cruise ship-Panama and Caribbean itineraries often visit places rich in birdlife.

Which one am I?  My husband and I are in the 45-60 group.  I am a very experienced traveler having crossed Africa on my own in my early 30’s and always traveled on a budget and independently.  We aren’t fussy about accommodation but like it to be as natural as possible and blend into the environment; but are not afraid to use hotel points for 5 star hotels at gateway cities and airline miles to fly business class.  We embrace different cultures and are ready to try almost anything (maybe not all kinds of food though).  We know how to pace ourselves and can trek in the rainforest but move slowly and stop for rests more often so try to avoid younger groups where the people would become impatient.  I have a great camera kit and long lenses but don’t have the strength to hold it for a long time to focus on birds in flight or camouflaged in trees.  My eyesight isn’t the greatest so I do appreciate a good eagle-eyed guide!  My husband has gout so we only have a couple travel insurance companies we can use.  We are lower income and need to budget; if it weren’t for miles and points we couldn’t go anywhere!

So where do you fit in?  Are you a 35 year old accountant with 2 kids who wants to go to Brazil?  Are you a 55 year old who likes hostelling and budget traveling and wants to go to Australia?  Are you a 21 year old entrepreneur who has already made his/her first million and wants to spend a month in Indonesia?  Let’s hear your story in the comments!

Top Twelve Countries For Wild Parrot Species (Number Of Species)

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I thought you might be curious about which countries have the most species of parrots!  Of course many of these countries are very large and the parrots are spread out so you shouldn’t expect to see ALL of a country’s native parrot species in one visit but I will be blogging about one or two species each week and where to see them until all species are covered.  These may or may not be the best/easiest places to see each species, we will be looking at that when I cover the individual species in turn.  And it doesn’t even begin to cover smaller countries that are GREAT for birding/parrots like Costa Rica, Panama, India, Philippines, New Zealand and some Pacific & Caribbean Islands or for any of the African countries where parrot populations are spread out.  But in the meanwhile, it should give you a good idea of where you will need to travel to so you can start acquiring enough miles to make your dream trip!

BRAZIL – Species – 82

INDONESIA – Species – 77

COLOMBIA – Species – 57

AUSTRALIA – Species – 53

PERU – Species – 53

BOLIVIA – Species – 51

VENEZUELA – Species – 50

ECUADOR – Species – 49

PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Species – 48

ARGENTINA – Species – 27

GUYANA – Species – 24

MEXICO – Species – 23

All together, there are 356 species of parrots in the world.  If you would like to learn more about them, this is an excellent book, it’s taken Lonely Planet’s place as my travel “Bible”!

In 2013, Resolve To See At Least One New Bird Habitat

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I hope everyone had a great New Year’s celebration and are not TOO hungover!  LOL!  OK, on to the dreaded New Year’s Resolutions.  Yes there are the usual ones:

Lose weight (I have to do this)

Stop smoking (don’t smoke)

Cut down on debt (don’t spend more than you can pay in one month)

Spend more time with family, friends, pets (never been a problem here)

But let’s all add ONE more resolution.  In 2013, make a point to visit at least ONE new nature reserve or wildlife habitat that you haven’t been to before.  Find out what species are there, how you get there and use the resources tab in the top navigation to help you get there.  So here are my new bird habitats for 2013 all of which are extremely rich in all kinds of birdlife.

1.  Biak, Indonesia for all things feathered with “Geelvink” in their name.

2.  Nimbokrang (near Jayapura), Indonesia for 15 species of parrots, Victoria Crowned Pigeons, and maybe Cassowaries

3.  Raja Ampat, Indonesia for Birds of Paradise and more parrots including Palm Cockatoos

4.  Arfak Mounains, Indonesia for more Birds of Paradise, Arfak Apastria, hopefully Pesquet’s Parrot

5.  Crooked Tree, Belize for Amazons and more

6.  Tikal, Guatemala, you can’t beat the setting of a spectacular Mayan ruin with birds galore!

7.  La Selva, Costa Rica for Great Green Macaws

8.  Laguna del Lagarto, Costa Rica for Great Green Macaws and more

9.  Monteverde for Respendant Quetzal, Barred Parakeets and more

10.  Carara, Costa Rica; we’ve been here before but can’t pass up a second chance to see Scarlet Macaws!

11.  Savegre, Costa Rica, another chance at Resplendant Quetzal, Sulphur Winged Conures

12.  Soberania National Park, Panama for Brown-throated Conures and Blue-fronted Parrotlets and hopefully more!

 

Now don’t be put off if you can’t travel anywhere this year.  Look at the tips I have to earn frequent flyer miles so you can get to these fantastic destinations, you may be surprised at what is achievable with a little bit of effort!

What new bird habitat are you going to visit in 2013?  Please comment here!

Birding In Indonesia

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INDONESIA’S BIRDING HOTSPOTS

From Crowned-Pigeons and Birds-of-Paradise, to endemic Pheasants and Pittas, not to mention a wide variety of parrots such as Cockatoos, Lories, Fig Parrots, Eclectus and more – Indonesia has some of the world’s best birdwatching.   Spanning two continents and home to over 1,600 species (including almost 400 endemics) there are plenty of reasons to come birding in Indonesia, then come again and again.

I have found the Burung Nusantara website a tremendous resource for planning my own trip to West Papua in the near future.  They also have comprehensive guides on how to get to the birding hotspots, what species to look for and how to organize guides.  Some places where birders flock to such as the Arfak Mountains and Raja Ampat don’t have email or cell phones so it can be very difficult to get ahold of guides or book things in advance.   In the low season, it should be feasible to just show up and ask for a guide, preferably one of the recommended guides on this site as they have good experience and skills.  In the busy season, you will probably need to find some way to book in advance, otherwise you may find that the best guides are already booked by major birding tour operators.Ekkie

Here’s a selection of recommended birding hotspots and where you can read more about them.  In future posts, I will take each one in more detail as to how to get there and organize the birding in that area and how you can reach Indonesia from your country using your frequent flyer miles.

 

SERAM

Key bird species:

Forsten’s Scrubfowl; Rufous-necked Sparrowhawk; Meyer’s Goshawk; ‘Seram’ (Long-tailed) Mountain-Pigeon; Salmon-crested Cockatoo; Red Lory; Blue-eared Lory; Purple-naped Lory; Moluccan King-Parrot; Moluccan Scops-Owl; Moluccan Boobook; Lesser Masked-Owl; Lazuli Kingfisher; ‘Seram’ Swiftlet; Olive Honeyeater; Seram Honeyeater; Seram Myzomela; Wakolo Myzomela; Seram Friarbird; Moluccan Cuckoo-shrike; Pale-gray Cuckoo-shrike; Black-chinned Monarch; ‘Seram’ Golden Bulbul; Cinnamon-chested Flycatcher; Seram Thrush; Streaky-breasted Fantail; Drab Whistler; Seram White-eye; Rufescent White-eye; Gray-hooded White-eye; Seram Oriole; Moluccan Starling; Long-crested Myna.

 

ARFAK

 

Key species:

Magnificent Bird-or-Paradise; Black Sicklebill; Long-tailed Paradigalla; Arfak Astrapia; Arfak Bowerbird; Lesser Bird-of-Paradise; Superb Bird-of-Paradise; New Guinea Eagle; Feline Owlet-Nightjar; Mountain Owlet-Nightjar; Spotted Jewel-Babbler; Chestnut-backed Jewel-Babbler Spotted Catbird; Flame Bowerbird; Magnificent Riflebird; Buff-tailed Sicklebill.

 

RAJA AMPAT

 

Key species:

Wilson’s Bird-of-Paradise; Red Bird-of-Pardise; King Bird-of-Paradise; Northern Cassowary; Western Crowned-pigeon; Pheasant Pigeon; Black Lory; Beach Kingfisher; Bruijn’s Brush-turkey.

 

NIMBOKRANG

 

Key species:

Northern Cassowary; Pale-billed Sicklebill; Blue-and-Black Kingfisher; Brown Lory; Twelve-wired Bird-of-Paradise; Shovel-billed Kingfisher; Victoria Crowned Pigeon; King Bird-of-Paradise; Blue Jewel Babbler; Brown-necked Crow; Hook-billed Kingfisher; Vulturine Parrot; Papuan Hawk-owl; Lesser Bird-of-Paradise; Brown-collared Brush-turkey; Greater Black Coucal; Papuan Nightjar; Grey Crow; Black-sided Robin; Lowland Peltops; White-eared Catbird; Wompoo Fruit-Dove; Coroneted Fruit-Dove.

 

BIAK AND NUMFOR

 

Key species:

Long-tailed Starling, Biak Black Flycatcher; Biak Paradise-kingfisher; Biak Lory; Geelvink Pygmy-parrot; Biak Scops-owl; Biak Monarch; Biak Coucal; Biak Scrubfowl; Biak Gerygone; Biak White-eye; Numfor Paradise-kingfisher.

 

LORE LINDU

 

Key bird species:

Small Sparrowhawk; Bare-faced Rail; Sulawesi Woodcock; Metallic Pigeon; Ornate Lorikeet; Yellow-and-green Lorikeet; Ochre-bellied Hawk-Owl; Cinnabar Hawk-Owl; Speckled Hawk-Owl; Diabolical Nightjar; Scaly Kingfisher; Purple-bearded Bee-eater; Cerulean Cuckoo-shrike; Pygmy Cuckoo-shrike; Chestnut-backed Bush-Warbler; Blue-fronted Flycatcher; Sulawesi Blue-Flycatcher; Geomalia; Sulawesi Thrush; Great Shortwing; Olive-flanked Whistler; Maroon-backed Whistler; Malia; White-backed Woodswallow; Sulawesi Myna; Fiery-browed Myna; Mountain Serin

 

BALI BARAT

 

Key bird species:

Beach Thick-knee; Orange-breasted Pigeon; Javan Cuckoo-shrike; Black-winged Starling; Banded Pitta; Bali Starling (Myna); Java Sparrow

 

 

Making Your Dream Eco-Trip A Reality!

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About a month ago, I posted about the supposed Mayan apocalypse and asked people what they would want to see if the world as we know it was going to end.  It’s now either 22 or 23 Dec around the world.  The Mayans were wrong!  We are all still here!  The world is still here!  The birds that bring so much joy to our lives are still here!  So many of us dream to see the world and experience nature up close and personal, but how many of us will actually do it?Dream Travel

Learning how to use frequent flier miles and loyalty points can bring even the most exotic trip to the far corners of the earth within anyone’s reach, but it does take some effort.  My goal with this fledgling blog is to show you a new destination each week and how you can achieve an exciting trip to see fascinating birds and animals and stay at the best eco-lodges and support local conservation efforts while doing so!

Let’s start with the 3 people who posted in the other thread.

1.  Ellen:  I’d have to make two stops. The first would be Qatar to see the spix’s macaws. If I haven’t died and gone to heaven at that point, Australia would be my final destination. I dearly would love to see the Australian species in the wild that I only see in cages in the United States.

I’ve already blogged about Spix’s Macaws and one state in Australia-Tasmania.  Australia is a huge country with lots of birding hotspots so you can expect to see an Australian destination at least once a month.

2.  Lynda:  I would be torn between Congo greys in Africa and Cockatoos in Indonesia!

Africa is going to be a challenge but I’m up for it!  Indonesia will be much easier as I will be there in early 2013 and that means you guys will be too!

3.  Tara:

Because I live with a captive bred little corella, I dearly want to visit Australia to see his cousins flying free in the wild. I want to see flocks of budgies, and to feed the sulphur crested cockies in a Sydney park.

And then I want to hop over to New Zealand and visit the kakapo on Codfish Island. I want to meet Sirocco, the conservation spokesbird, and give him macadamia nuts. If humanity is to go extinct, I can think of no better place to meet my end than beside a species that is drawing back from the brink of extinction itself.

Another vote for Australia!  And New Zealand, just a hop over the ditch and awesome birds to see!

All these destinations will be featured as destinations of the week within the next couple months plus a lot more!

Please feel free to add your dream destination to the comments in this post to give me more ideas on where to blog about.  I will close the other Mayan post now and leave this one as the “Master Dream Trip” post.

The Enigmatic Macaws Of Tambopata

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If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is this video worth?  Sorry, they don’t allow embedding but click on the link below to watch it on Vimeo.

The enigmatic Macaws of Tambopata from Christian Declercq on Vimeo.

Every time I watch this I want to book the next flight back to Peru.  If you are inspired, check out the other posts I have on how to see the Enigmatic Macaws of Tambopata for yourself!

Getting to Peru

Gateway Lima

Getting to Tambopata

Choosing an Eco-Lodge

Tambopata Eco-Lodges

Review of Refugio Amazonas and Tambopata Research Center

 

Birding As A Competitive Sport

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Yay or nay-do birding competitions help or hinder eco-tourism?  I think most birders have at least heard of (if not seen) the movie, “The Big Year”.   If not, you can get it from Amazon.com (my link).

It’s an entertaining film but not my style at all.  It just seemed that all they wanted to do was tick as many birds off a list as possible and beat other birders.  They were all rushing around, tripping over each other and not taking the time to appreciate the birds.

And now there is a new competition in Peru.  Part of it takes place in the Tambopata National Reserve so you can see my posts on how to get there.  Birding Adventures has the video on YouTube.  Interestingly, there are no women on any of the teams, I wonder why?  I see plenty of female birders at eco-lodges.  It did seem that the teams spread out so they weren’t all rushing around the same area at the same time and they did find some fantastic birds as you can see by the video.  The men in the video all seem to be very experienced birders.

What are your opinions of birding as a competitive sport?  Do you think it helps people become better birders and see more birds?  Or do you think it gets people too focused on the competition when they should be appreciating nature?  Please comment below!

Destination Hobart, Tasmania (Melaleuca)

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GETTING TO HOBART

Yesterday, I gave some information about the endangered Orange-bellied Parrot.  Now let’s find out how to get to see them in the wild!   The “A” shows where Melaleuca is in relation to Hobart.

Tasmania is the smallest state in Australia and I am going to assume that if you are coming from overseas, it won’t be your only destination in Australia.  I have another post  about how to get from overseas to Australia on miles.

There are two major airlines that fly from the mainland to the main airport, Hobart (HOB) – Virgin Australia and Qantas.  Virgin is not yet in any major airline alliance and there are few opportunities to use other airline partners on domestic Virgin (DJ) flights.  Aussies can readily get Velocity points from credit cards and other partners.  Here’s an example of a round trip redemption from Sydney to Hobart.   From Brisbane it is the same, from Melbourne a bit less and from Adelaide a bit more.  From Perth, it goes up quite a bit.

 

QANTAS also has a distanced based award chart with a handy award calculator.

Sydney and Brisbane both are in Zone 2.

By contrast, have a look at the award cost from Perth.

Qantas is a member of One World so it often works out cheaper in both miles and money to use their partner American Airlines to book this flight.  AA has a flat fee of 10,000 miles each way no matter where you are flying to and from in Australia so they are a good bargain for longer flights.

 

British Airways has a distance based chart but short distances can be a bargain when booked with Avios.  They start as low as 4500 from Melbourne, 9000 from Brisbane up to 12,500 from Perth each way.

WHERE TO STAY

The flights to Melaleuca leave from Cambridge Airfield which is very close to Hobart Airport where your flight from the mainland arrives.  The purple dot indicates the location of the Quality Airport Hotel.  This runs around $125-ish in cash or since they are part of the Choice hotel chain you can use 25,000 points to book it for free!

 

HOW TO GET TO MELALEUCA FROM HOBART

Only small aircraft that seat 6-10 people fly this route.  Par Avion is the main tour operator that does day trips to Melaleuca and take you to the bird hides to see the Orange-bellied Parrots.

 They can also provide flights for people who want to spend a few days at Melaleuca and camp out.  There are more details on their website.

The Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service website has more information.  Be sure to check out the sound clip of the OBP, they are pretty quiet for parrots!

For bushwalkers and those who are able to fly into the Tasmanian south-west, there is a good chance of seeing Orange-bellied Parrots. At Melaleuca, in the Southwest National Park, a bird hide has been built especially for observing the birds. From mid-October until the end of March, the birds are regular visitors, coming and going throughout the day. However the best times to see them are in the early mornings or late afternoons. There are two bushwalkers’ huts with room for up to 20 people.

If you are VERY lucky, you may also see Ground Parrots like this blogger reports!   Tasmania has a wealth of nature reserves that have great birding, so I would recommend spending at least a week here.  I will be doing more posts later about other birding hotspots in Tasmania.

 

Recap – Building Your Eco-Tourism Adventure

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Over the past couple of weeks, I have shown you the different elements to consider when building your customized ecotourism adventure and how to facilitate it with miles and points so you have more to spend on the eco-lodges and supporting the local economies.  During the course of this blog, I will be adding MANY destinations that are ideal for birders and eco-travelers in general but this is a good start!

 

1.  Identify the goal of your trip.  What bird species are you most interested in?  Are birds the only focus or do you want other animals too?  Use the right guidebooks and resources to help you plan.  Use the maps in the book to help you locate the best places to see your target species.

2.  Be familiar with airline alliances.  There are 3 alliances:  Star Alliance, One World and Sky Team.  Know which one can get you to your destination as easily and cheaply as possible.  Check this example of using miles to get to Lima, Peru.  Know how to use airline partners such as credit cards, online shopping malls and services you already use such as phone companies, internet providers, supermarkets and insurance companies to get free miles for paying for things you already use.  Don’t shop more, shop smarter!  Check the resources tab at the top of this blog for advice on this.

3.  Know how to save money by using hotel points for free nights at the gateway city before you head off into the bush.  Depending on your flight schedule, you may need a gateway hotel in your home country before the flight and/or the destination country between your international connection and domestic flight to the staging point.  See this example of Lima, Peru.

4.  Research how exactly you get to your main destination.  Can you fly?  Drive?  Take a bus or riverboat?  Or maybe a combination?  What do you have to pay for and what is included in the cost of your eco-lodge’s package.  See this example of Tambopata National Reserve for ideas on how to do this.

5.  Know how to choose an eco-lodge in an area where there are many options available.  How do you find the various options?  See this example of Tambopata National Reserve’s lodges and how I analyzed an area where there are a lot of choices and sorted them out by my priorities.

6.  Read as many reviews as possible of the lodges and try to get a feel of the people who posted them.  For example, one lodge may get a bad review because they were too remote and hard to get to by someone who likes more of a bar/social scene.  Or one lodge may get a bad review because there were or were not facilities for kids.  Trip Advisor, Fat Birder and Surfbirds all have lodge reviews or trip reports from people of all walks of life so try to find reviews by people who are similar to you.  Here is a review I did for Tambopata Research Center.  My priorities were sustainable, helping conservation efforts, abundance of parrots and other birds and preferably adults or at least teens only(no small kids).  Remoteness, social life not an issue but I did need to keep in a budget.  They have packages of various sizes to suit most anyone.

7.  If you don’t know, don’t be afraid to ask questions!  Use the comments on any of my posts if you have a specific question or want to request advice on a specific location.

Free Lonely Planet Book On Being A Volunteer

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One of the most rewarding things you can do as an ecotourist is to volunteer with an organization that is studying wild birds.  You get a much more in-depth experience than someone who can only visit for a few days, you will work with some of the world’s best conservationists and you get to do your share in helping to save the planet.  What a great way to go Green!

When I do posts on ecolodges, I will also be mentioning any volunteer programs they may have.  There are some great ones in Peru, Brazil and Costa Rica just to name a few.

Lonely Planet is currently offering their book “Volunteer – A Traveler’s Guide” for free as a pdf download.  This book normally sells for $19.95 but if you use this link, you can download it for free!   It is also available for free in the iBookstore – what a great way to pass time on a flight with no IFE (or with bad IFE)!   I don’t know how long this will last so don’t delay, download it now!