Detailed Itinerary
Tuesday, October 23 — Arrival/Sadila House. Today you arrive in the lovely tropical island country of Trinidad, where you'll be transported from Trinidad's modern, air-conditioned terminal to a pleasant bed and breakfast only minutes from the airport. If you arrive during daylight hours, you'll have an opportunity to start adding new birds to your list immediately. Overnight at Sadila House B&B.
Wednesday, October 24 — Southern Tobago - The Lowlands
Early this morning we'll catch a 20-minute Tobago Express flight and arrive at Tobago's petite Crown Point International Airport. For increased comfort during the day, our luggage will be transferred separately to the Cuffie River Nature Retreat while we spend the day birding southwestern Tobago, the only flat part of the island. We'll visit hotspots such as the Hilton and Bon Accord ponds, Crown Point, Turtle Beach, and the Grafton/Caledonia Bird Sanctuary. These photogenic areas provide breathtaking views of the Caribbean. Target species will include Cattle Egret, Laughing Gull, Royal Tern, Smooth-billed Ani, Red-crowned Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Tropical and Gray Kingbirds, Caribbean Martin, Spectacled Thrush, Tropical Mockingbird, Scrub Greenlet, Bananaquit, Blue-gray Tanager, Black-faced Grassquit, Carib Grackle, and Crested Oropendola. Tobago's historic forts, such as those at Crown Point and Store Bay, predate those in North America by 100 years.
After enjoying delicious local food at Store Bay, we'll move northeast, visiting Adventure Farm and the Grafton/Caledonia Bird Sanctuary. Here you'll have superb opportunities to photograph a variety of hummingbirds. We'll look for Rufous-vented Chachalaca, Trinidad Motmot, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, White-fringed Antwren, Fuscous Flycatcher, Blue-backed Manakin, and Scrub Greenlet, mostly species found on Tobago but not on Trinidad. It was here at Grafton Estate, after the devastating Hurricane Flora in 1963, that the owner, Eleanor Alefounder, began feeding wild birds whose forest habitat had been damaged. The birds remain relatively tame to this day. The afternoon bird-feeding spectacle can be fascinating.
As evening approaches we'll check in at the secluded Cuffie River Nature Retreat.
Thursday, October 25 — Cuffie River Nature Retreat
Today we'll join Desmond Wright, our top-notch resident guide, on a morning hike along the Cuffie River Trail, where some of Tobago's best montane forests are found. Target birds will include White-tailed Sabrewing, Blue-backed Manakin, Yellow-legged Thrush, and other Tobago specialties including Rufous-vented Chachalaca, Ruby-topaz Hummingbird, Collared Trogon, Red-crowned Woodpecker, and White-fringed Antwren. After enjoying a late lunch you'll have the afternoon free for more birding, splashing in the magnificent elevated swimming pool, hiking the trails, or relaxing on your veranda.
Friday, October 26 — Main Ridge Reserve and Little Tobago Island
Today's birding begins with a 2,000-foot ride up the Roxborough-Bloody Bay Road through some of the world's most beautiful rainforest. The Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve is the oldest wildlife sanctuary in the entire Western Hemisphere. We'll stop at several promising locations in the cool mountain heights while scanning the area for our target birds: Great Black-Hawk, Orange-winged Parrot, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Collared Trogon, Stripe-breasted Spinetail, Venezuelan Flycatcher, Yellow-legged Thrush, Blue-backed Manakin, and Rufous-breasted Hermit hummingbird. We'll explore primeval Gilpin Trace, which rambles through a deep, narrow, pristine ravine. Gilpin Trace is home to most of the remaining White-tailed Sabrewing hummingbirds on Tobago. We'll also watch for a lovely black-and-green swallowtail butterfly, the White-tailed Patch, which is sometimes conspicuous in the heights. In Speyside we'll enjoy a very special and savory lunch at Jemma's, a unique restaurant built partially in a seaside tree. All of the food on the trip will be very good, but Jemma's is always especially tasty, and the ambiance is certainly unique.
From Speyside we will travel by glass-bottomed boat to Little Tobago Island, observing along the way a magnificent coral reef that holds the world's largest Brain Coral, locally called "Einstein." Passing cactus-festooned islets, we'll arrive at uninhabited, starfish-shaped Little Tobago Island at mid-morning. Also called Bird-of-Paradise Island and Ingram's Island, Little Tobago is now a protected nature reserve. Because of the lack of fresh water, no settlements have ever been established on Little Tobago Island. Thus the climax semi-deciduous dry forest that we'll explore appears the same as it did to the first human visitors millennia ago.
Your visit to Little Tobago Island is certain to be a highlight of your trip. Here we'll seek endemic Tobago races of Blue-gray Tanager and Bananaquit, larger and brighter than those found in Trinidad. We'll peer into tunnels under Anthurium root masses looking for nesting Audubon's Shearwaters and view Red-billed Tropicbird, Brown and Red-footed Booby, and possibly several species of terns on the sea cliffs before heading back to Cuffie River.
Saturday, October 27 — Trinidad / Asa Wright Nature Centre
This morning we bid farewell to Cuffie River and take a short flight back to Trinidad, where you'll enjoy a 45-minute drive to the Asa Wright Nature Centre in the cool heights of the Arima Valley. The Asa Wright Nature Centre, formerly a plantation called Springhill Estate, is renowned for the ease with which birds can be observed. You could easily see 20 or more life birds from the veranda at the Asa Wright Nature Centre, including Guianan Trogon, Channel-billed Toucan, Copper-rumped Hummingbird, Purple and Green Honeycreepers, and four kinds of tanagers, including the plush Silver-beaked Tanager. As we explore the sinuous entrance drive we'll see plenty of new species, examine the fascinating world of leaf-cutter and army ants, and to photograph orchids and other tropical flora. After lunch we will follow the Discovery Trail to see a lek of White-bearded Manakins. We will also make a special effort to observe the Bearded Bellbird, whose call can be heard as much as a mile away.
Sunday, October 28 — Western Trinidad
This will be a day of contrasts as we examine many different habitats. We'll enjoy a second breakfast and lunch at local eateries, where you'll have a chance to eat the same food as the locals. Mmmm, good! And perfectly safe!
South A rather long pre-dawn drive puts us at our destination at the perfect time of day for birding. We'll begin by exploring the upper Oropouche Swamp, walking along a mangrove-lined river edge where the most common resident is likely to be Spotted Tody-Flycatcher. Among the many species possible in this bird-rich habitat are Long-winged Harrier, Green-rumped Parrotlet, Greater Ani, Green Kingfisher, Red-capped Cardinal, Black-crested Antshrike, and Bicolored Conebill.
Southern Caroni District Trinidad's West Coast contains the most productive mudflats along the Gulf of Paria. The area is a magnet for vagrants, having produced Caribbean Flamingo, Lesser Black-backed and Kelp Gulls, Pomarine Jaeger, Rufous Crab-Hawk, and Trinidad's only Maguari Stork to date. Target species include Neotropic Cormorant, Yellow-headed Caracara, Pearl Kite, nine species of herons and egrets, Large-billed and Yellow-billed Terns, migrant shorebirds, and Greater Ani.
Monday, October 29 — Northern Range - Blanchisseuse Road,
On these mornings you will awaken to the clattering courtship ritual of the Crested Oropendola and a host of other exotic sounds. Before the sky begins to brighten, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls will be chanting, hopefully right outside your window. Soon you will be greeted by the raucous calls of Great Kiskadee and a host of other exotic sounds. You never know what life birds you might pick up on the short walk from your bungalow to the Main House for breakfast.
Today sees us on an excursion across the Northern Range as far as the hamlet of Morne La Croix, en route exploring the upper Arima Valley, Morne Bleu, and the Morne La Croix area. In the forests we'll look for target birds including Speckled Tanager, Common Black-Hawk, White Hawk, all three species of trogons, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, and Blue-headed Parrot, along with species missed on previous days. We'll be alert for foraging groups that usually include Golden-headed Manakin, Blue Dacnis, Yellow-breasted and Slaty-capped Flycatchers, Tropical Parula, and Long-billed Gnatwren and for fruiting fig trees that will attract thrushes as well as other fruit-eating species. In mid-afternoon we'll head back to the Asa Wright Nature Centre, with endless opportunities to explore, relax in the cool freshwater pool, and soak in the ambiance of this wonderful locale.
Tuesday, October 30 — Eastern Trinidad
On this birding day we'll journey to Trinidad's east coast and the Nariva Swamp, the largest freshwater herbaceous swamp in T&T. Along its edges are found palm 'islands', where the tall Moriche palm is common. Here, too, we'll see a unique mangrove community composed primarily of stilt-rooted Rhizophora mangroves, which often reach heights of 80 feet. On the way we'll visit the Aripo Agricultural Research Farm, where our target species will include Savannah Hawk, Red-breasted Blackbird, Southern Lapwing, White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, Green-rumped Parrotlet, and a species newly arrived in Trinidad, the Grassland Yellow-Finch.
Arriving at the Atlantic coastal plain we'll have an opportunity to view Magnificent Frigatebird, Brown Pelican, and seabirds flying offshore. This area has produced the majority of sightings of pelagic birds in Trinidad, so we'll watch for petrels and shearwaters. Beyond this point we may see Red Howler Monkeys in any dense stand of trees. Pinnated Bittern, Wattled Jacana, herons, and egrets populate the shallow marshes, with Limpkin seen from time to time. In the Nariva Swamp proper we'll spend several hours exploring the tall wild rice, rushes, hyacinth, and other aquatic vegetation for a variety of species. Nariva is a particularly productive spot for raptors. In late afternoon we'll head back north to Waller Field to observe clamoring Red-bellied Macaws returning to their roosts.
Wednesday, October 31 — Oilbirds and Scarlet Ibis
This morning we'll explore the AWNC grounds and take a very special hike through the spectacular rainforest that covers much of this rich and diverse wildlife sanctuary. In the beautiful riparian Guacharo Gorge we'll stand beside a shallow stream to observe the world's most accessible colony of Oilbirds, which nest deep in the cave. This rare, nocturnal, fruit-eating bird is the only species known to navigate by echo-location.
After enjoying a scrumptious lunch buffet, we'll travel to the Caroni Basin, a very specialized habitat that hosts three species of mangroves. The mangroves show classic examples of plant adaptations in this unique brackish community. We'll board experienced guide Sean Madoo in one of his very stable flat-bottomed boat for our exploration of this area. Target species include Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons and all other regularly occurring herons and egrets, Scarlet Ibis, Limpkin, Large-billed and Yellow-billed Terns, a wide variety of raptors and shorebirds, Mangrove and Little Cuckoos, Common Potoo, Green Kingfisher, Green-throated Mango, Straight-billed Woodcreeper, Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Black-crested Antshrike, Red-capped Cardinal, and Bicolored Conebill. Boat-billed Heron is a possibility after dark, usually seen flapping silently far overhead. We'll also seek Amazon (Cook's) Tree Boa, Spectacled Caiman, Green Iguana, and Silky Anteater. In the channels we'll look for the curious Four-eyed Fish (Anableps). The highlight of the day, if not of the trip, will be the spectacular flight of Scarlet Ibis returning to their roosts in the mangroves. This is truly one of the world's most dramatic natural moments.
Thursday, November 1 — Departure
Your fabulous journey to the tropics concludes this morning as you board your homeward flight at Trinidad's Piarco International Airport.
