Continuing from yesterday’s post, I will share some of the extra events that were part of the VIII International Parrot Convention.

VISIT TO LA VERA BREEDING CENTRE

This is something extra you can add on to your conference package.  For an extra 90 €, you get a one year membership in Loro Parque Fundación, 1 year of free visits to Loro Parque and a visit to the La Vera Breeding Centre.  It’s well worth joining just to see the stunning parrots they have and support their conservation programs!  Their breeding aviaries are spacious, well-planted and offer 5 star accommodation to the birds.  If only everyone who breeds parrots could follow this example!  These are just a few pics as I took way too many!  For some reason, I am partial to Golden Conures!

EVENING SOCIAL EVENTS

Unfortunately I didn’t get photos of this event.  I did manage to catch up with a few old and new friends.  There were so many people there it was hard to find people in the crowd!  There was plenty of champagne though!

TUESDAY

I met some nice people from the States and we hung out together at this BBQ.  I am not used to eating so late at night and I was pretty tired so left early.  The food was excellent!  I really wish this had been a lunch event.  It would have given us more time to chat and get to know each other without worrying about getting enough sleep.  The weather was perfect and it would have been nice to have an afternoon beach party!  (Hint hint for 2018)!

WEDNESDAY

Somehow this one went wrong.  We were bussed to the venue after walking to the shopping centre next door making me regret that I wore high heels.  The venue is stunning and most of us were mesmerized by the sunset.  We waited patiently (somewhat) for the dinner while enjoying some lovely wine and a few hors d’oeuvres which were brought around on trays.  Remembering the lavish buffet of the day before, I only nibbled a few hors d’oeuvres because I wanted to save room for the main course.  I was not the only one!  We soon realized that the hors d’oeuvres were all we were getting!  Many people went home hungry that evening.  I got one of the first buses back so I could get some sleep.

THURSDAY

The closing Gala Dinner was spectacular and very classy with most people dressed in formal or semi-formal clothes.  The food was delicious and the entertainment was interesting, sort of a multi-coloured Blue Man show!

My husband Ina & I with our friend Aviva

Sometimes it pays to have a husband who doesn’t drink as I got his champagne as well as my own, LOL! The dessert was divine!

The next day we flew off to Venice to take a Mediterranean cruise.  Some people stayed on a few days to participate in the workshops and attend the grand opening of Animal Embassy at Loro Parque.

Tomorrow I will review the hotel we stayed at – the spectacular Hotel Botanico!

Held once every 4 years, the VIII International Parrot Convention sponsored by Fundacion Loro Parque was an overwhelming success this year!  Around 840 parrot enthusiasts from all over the world were in attendance.  We met people in person from Facebook, saw old friends from the last conference we attended in 2010 and enjoyed 3 days of amazing lectures from top parrot conservationists around the world.

ENTRANCE AND GROUNDS OF THE CONVENTION CENTRE

Every day we were welcomed to the conference by the friendly Loro Parque staff and the Scarlet Macaw mascot.  Everyone was given a headset so they could hear the lecture in their own language as some speakers spoke English, some spoke Spanish, French or German.  Between presentations, snacks were served on tables scattered around the lawn.

VENDOR BOOTHS AND ARTWORK INSIDE

As you come into the building, there are several vendor stalls of people who specialize in parrot orientated products.

Aviva and David Vishnia from Israel with their Inca Incubators

Loro Parque T-shirts and other merchandise

PRESENTATION TOPICS

Here I will only post some title slides to protect the copyright of the speaker’s material.  I didn’t get all of them as my SD card filled up unexpectedly.  Most of them were conservation orientated which is why I love this conference so much.  Topics which catered to breeders were of a more scientific nature so even if you are not a breeder (like me) you still learn something!  A full list of speakers and topics can be found here.

The whole conference was amazing and everyone learned something new about parrots!  Even the breeders who previously weren’t familiar with conservation efforts learned a lot.  The one thing that I found a bit sad is that attendance dropped off on the third day.  I think some people were so exhausted from the late nights of the social program they just couldn’t get up for the early starts of the actual conference.

I personally would have preferred a much earlier social program (luncheons or BBQs?) on the 1st & 2nd day of the conference.  The 3rd day doesn’t matter as you leave the next day unless you stayed on in Tenerife for tourism or some of the Loro Parque workshops.  I ended up leaving the evening events as soon as possible to try to get some sleep as I didn’t want to miss any of the lectures.

In tomorrow’s post, I will show a few shots from the evening social programs and the visit to the La Vera Breeding Facility.