Mokka mit Schlag

These are mostly my personal notes to help me plan. Thus they’re heavy on companies that go to Europe and the Americas, light on Africa and Asia.

• Avian Journeys
• Birdtrek has some cheaper tours to Costa Rica
• BirdQuest
• Caligo Ventures (especially for Trinidad and Tobago; Gil Schrank recommends)
• Caravan Tours: not really a birding/ecotour company but cheap and good for traveling with non-birding spouses
• Cheepers (word of mouth is mixed; some folks really like them; some folks warn me away)
• Cheeseman’s (seems on the expensive side)
• Ecotours Colombia
• Holbrook Travel especially for Costa Rica
• Field Guides
• Hi Lonesome Bird Tours
• Limosa: specializes in relatively easy-going trips with late starts and early returns
• Manu Expeditions (The Salzmans recommend. I am told many of these tours are canceled if they don’t fill up.)
• Mark Pretti Nature Tours has some nice trips to Mexico, Belize, and other points in Latin America
• Naturalist Journeys (Good for Mexico)
• Ornitholidays
• Rockjumper (seems on the expensive side)
• Bill Murphy for Trinidad and Tobago; limited departures and they sell out; plan in advance
• Kaiyote Tours. In particular they seem to have very reasonably priced trips to France in April and October.
• Traveling Naturalist: has a lot of butterfly and other non-birding tours too; various destinations in Europe
• VENT
• Wildwings
• Wings

A number of Audubon chapters run trips that are sometimes cheaper:

• Audubon Nature Odysseys
• Massachusetts Audubon
• Avian Adventures/San Diego Audubon
• NYC Audubon
• Audubon Tours
• Tucson Audubon
• Tropical Birding
• New Jersey Audubon
• Golden Gate Audubon

• ABA endorsed tours

Current, tentative plans:

• Cuba, March/April, 2012
• Adirondack Birding Festival, Ferds Bog, Hamilton County, New York, June, 2012
• Bugshot, Archbold Biological Station, Lake Placid, FL, August, 2012
• Netherlands in Winter, January 26-30, 2013
• Space Coast Birding Festival, Titusville, Florida, January 23-28, 2013
• NANPA Conference, Jacksonville, Florida, Feb. 27 – March 2, 2013
• Florida Birding and Photo Fest, April 24-28, 2013
• Netherlands, August 2013
• France, October, 2013

Most desired destinations, with specific trips where indicated:

• Belize
• Colombia Endemics
• Costa Rica
• Dominican Republic, winter or early Spring, possibly with Wings
• Bill Murphy for Trinidad and Tobago
• Colima/Jalisco
• The Galapagos; perhaps on the National Geographic Islander?
• Monterey, California (I assume one of these years I’ll be visiting Northern California during pelagic season, so I don’t want to plan a special trip)
• Netherlands in Winter
• French Guiana
• Guyana
• Hawaii
• Jamaica

Festivals to consider:

• Space Coast Birding Festival
• Laredo Birding Festival
• Wings over the Hills
• San Diego Birding Festival
• Florida Birding and Photo Fest

Lodges that might be worth an independent visit:

• None yet; need to research these