We booked our twelve-day (including travel) trip with Caligo Ventures. Click on their name to go to their web site.
The itinerary has been simplified from that issued by Caligo. The trip is truly wonderful every day (except for travel days; I do not like flying).
Day 0: Fly from Boston to New York City. We spent the night at the Pan American Hotel.
Day 1: Fly to Trinidad. Settle into our room at the Asa Wright Nature Center. Watch birds from the veranda.
Day 2: View birds from the Asa Wright veranda (as we did every day at Asa Wright). Walk some of the trails at Asa Wright with an Asa Wright guide.
Day 3: Tour guided by Mahase Ramlal (our guide in Trinidad) over the mountains to the seaside town of Blanchisseuse. For more information about all our guides look under the section "Tips and Suggestions" on the left side of your browser, then under "Guides".
Day 4: Tour guided by Mahase across the mountains to Trinidad's east coast and the Nariva swamp.
Day 5: A free day. My wife and I rested while some of the group went out (for a small additional fee) with Mahase Ramlal. They saw an additional 15 birds that we never saw. That night we did go with Mahase (for a small additional fee of 20 US$/person) to an abandoned airport where we saw owls and nightjars. It was fantastic!
Day 6: Tour guided by Mahase to the Aripo Savannah and the Arena Forest.
Day 7: Tour guided by an Asa Wright guide to see oilbirds in the cave on the sanctuary. Tour guided by Mahase to the Caroni Marsh. At the marsh we went by boat (without Mahase) to see several birds plus the flocks of scarlet ibis coming in to roost for the night.
Day 8: Leave Asa Wright to fly to Tobago and check in at the Blue Waters Inn. Were driven by our Tobago guide, Adolphus James, over the mountains to the seaside town of Blanchisseuse, then to Kings Bay where we took a guided walk to see more birds.
Day 9: Went by glass bottom boat to Little Tobago Island. Had a tour guided by Frank of "Frank's Glass Bottom Boat Tours" to see many birds including some on the nest. Also saw interesting fish and coral formations.
Day 10: Tour guided by Adolphus walking into a rainforest preserve where we saw several species including four species endemic to Tobago.
Day 11: Travel by car to the airport on Tobago, fly to Trinidad, fly to New York where we spent the night at the Pan American Hotel.
Day 12: Flew home to Boston.
Make the trip! The entire trip was great! My wife and I highly recommend it to any birder. We have been told that it is a good way to start tropical birdwatching. Although I studied 350 birds before going to Trinidad, Costa Rica requires knowing many more.
Want to ask me some questions about the trip?
Do you like watching birds? Never done any tropical bird watching? Don't wait! Go to Trinidad and Tobago! Start with a visit to the Caligo Ventures web site. They put together a wonderful birding tour.