Program
Last Frontier Expeditions & safaris is
proud to be able to offer this exciting one of a kind birding safari to the
republic of Cuba. It is our goal to
introduce you to many of the 355 species that have been recorded on the island.
This includes about 25 endemics that occur nowhere else in the world, as well as
several distinctive races of mainland species. And, we will be on constant alert
for sightings of the famed and, previously thought extinct Ivory Billed
Woodpecker!
Day 1 Arrive in Cancun,
Mexico no later than 5:00 PM. Depart for Havana, Cuba via Aerocaribe at 7:00 PM.Transfer to the legendary, Five Star Hotel National De Cuba.
Welcome cocktail and cigar reception at the hotel
Day 2 Breakfast. Havana city tour. Lunch at Hemingway's favorite haunt Restaurante La
Bodegita del Medio. Tour Botanical Gardens and Lenin Park (or optional and
individual tours). Dinner at Havanas most popular Restaurante El Aljibe.
Day 3 Breakfast. Morning tour orientation. Depart
(one hour) for the Las Terrazas Biosphere Reserve. Reception. Meet local birding
guides. Birding session. Lunch at farmers house. Visit coffee plantation ruins
and San Juan river area. This is home to the worlds smallest hummingbird! Depart
(2 hours) to the San Diego de Los Banos forest. Check into the Hotel ä El
Mirador. Dinner and reception at the hotel. *Possible species for viewing are:
Endemic Cuban Grassquit, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Antillean Palm Swift, Greater
Antillean Grackle, Common Black hawk, Black-Cowled Oriole, Greater Antillean
Nightjar, Palm Crow and the first potential new species, the Cuban subspecies of
the Eastern Meadowlark (possibly to become Sturnella hippocrepis), Cuban
Grassquit, White warblers, Great Lizard-Cuckoo.
Day 4 Breakfast. Birding session in Mil Cumbres
natural zone. Lunch in the field. Return to the El Mirador Hotel. Dinner at the
hotel.
*Possible species for viewing are: the endemic Cuban Solitaire,
Red-legged Honeycreepers, the spectacular Red-legged Thrush, the Cuban Trogo
(National Bird), Loggerhead Kingbirds, and (3) more endemics: Yellow-headed
Warbler, Cuban Tody and Cuban Bullfinch. West Indian Woodpecker, Western
Stripe-headed Tanager, Cuban Vireo, Cuban (Crescent-eyed) Pewee and the
Olive-capped an Warblers. You Must Have A Valid Passport!
Day 5 Breakfast. Depart (3 hours) for the lake
Guama preserve. Reception a Fiesta Campesina campgrounds. Boat tour around lake
Del Tesoro which harbors a very large diversity of endemic birds. Travel through
the Aldea Taina reserve. Return to Boca de Guama for lunch. Visit the regional
Flora & Fauna Conservation Center. Meet local birding experts who will
present a session on the endemic birds of the area. Check into the Hotel Playa
Larga. Evening birding session. Dinner at hotel. *Expect to view the following
species: Zapata Wrens (one of the very rare birds in the world), Zapata Rail,
Purple Gallinules, Red-shouldered Blackbird, Spotted Rail, King Rails, Gundlachs
Hawk, Baltimore Oriole, Shiny Cowbird and G Ëray-headed Quail-Dove.
Day 6 Breakfast. Departure for the Las Salinas
reserve in the famous Zapata Swamp. Cubas most important World Wildlife
Federation Reserve. Birding session. Lunch at Restaurante La Cueva de Los Peces.
Afternoon birding session. Return to Hotel Playa Larga. Dinner at the hotel.
*Possible species for viewing this day and tomorrow are: Blue-headed Quail-Dove,
White-collared Swifts, Tawny- shouldered Blackbirds, Pale race of barn Owls,
Black- bellied Plover, Bare-legged Owl, Ovenbird, Black-throated Blue, Cape May,
Western Stripe-headed Tanagers, Crescent-eyed Pewee, Bare-legged Owl,
Bare-legged Giron, Key West Quail Dove, Black-cowled Orioles,Cuban Green
Woodpeckers (second rarest woodpecker in Cuba), Limpkin, endemic Rose-throated
Parrots, the very endangered Fernandinas Flicker,Chuck-wills-ani, Quail Doves
(gray-headed and Key West) and the Great Antillean Nightjar and the Stygian Owl.
Day 7 Breakfast. Depart (one hour) to Cubas oldest
town of Trinidad. Tour city. Visit the legendary Canchanchara Bar. Lunch at
Restaurante Plaza mayor. Depart to the Topes de Collante region. Check into the
Hotel Los Helechos. Dinner at the hotel. November 14 Breakfast. Morning birding
session.Lunch in the field. Afternoon birding session. Return to the hotel for
dinner. Evening birding session optional.
Day 8 Breakfast. Morning birding session. Lunch at
Restaurante La Represa. Return (two hours) to Havana. Check into the ocean front
Hotel Copacabana. Farewell BBQ dinner at the Hotel Copacabana.
Day 9 Depart for Cancun, Mexico at either 7:00 AM
or 3:05 PM depending upon your departure from Mexico to the USA.
Walking conditions will be usually relatively easy, occasionally
moderate but the hike into the Zapata Swamp will require some bush walking.
Throughout the birding section of the tour you will be accompanied by very
experienced and talented, English-speaking, local birding guides, naturalists
and a Cuban Ornithologist and Last Frontier Expeditions English-speaking guides
and drivers. All accommodations will be with private bathrooms very rural at
times but no less than three stars! The Hotel Nacional De Cuba is definitely
five star! We will be accompanied at all times by some of Cuba's most
knowledgeable Ornithologists and birding guides.
Guides will be English speaking.
Program will include: will include: R/T air Cancun, Mexico to Havana, Cuba; Visas;
Airport transfers in Cuba; (1) night at Hotel Nacional De Cuba w/breakfast;
Welcome reception; All lodging and meals on birding program; Air-conditioned
transportation to all events; English speaking guides and drivers; (12 nights at
Hotel Copacabana w/breakfast; El Aljibe dinner; La Bodeguita lunch; Havana city
tour; Farewell BBQ; Custom T-shirt & cap; Cuba birding and
identification book; Tour birding supplies and charts and Last Frontier
Expeditions & Safaris guides and services.
Pictures provided by: Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba / Orlando H.
Garrido, Arturo Kirkconnell, Illustrated by: Roman F.Company,Forward
by Lester L. Short.
"Cuban
Birding Safaris"