Day 1: Arrival day
|
We will pick you up at Cancun airport and transfer to the hotel in Puerto Morelos, a charming little Caribbean town and one of the oldest ports in Quintana Roo. Depending on your arrival time we can plan to go birding in the evening to try some crepuscular and nocturnal birds. We will have dinner together and will review the itinerary of the trip and answer any questions you may have.
|
Day 2: Puerto Morelos - Río Lagartos
We will start birding in Puerto Morelos Reserve, a well preserved medium forest area where our targets will be the Yucatan Flycatcher, Green-backed Sparrow, Orange Oriole, Rose-throated Tanager among other ~70 species that we will see in the morning. Then, after lunch, we will drive to Río Lagartos where we will take a boat trip to the mangrove ría to search for the American Flamingo, the Mangrove Warbler, Clapper Rail, several species of herons, egrets, terns, shorebirds and more. Once the sun goes down and still in the boat we will look for the Yucatan Nightjar, a bird difficult to see in other places.
|
|
Day 3: Rio Lagartos
This morning we will be birding in the coastal sand dune and mangrove vegetation at Rio Lagartos Reserve, a site with a very particular habitat, home of restricted range birds. The Mexican Sheartail, Yucatan Wren, Black-throated Bobwhite, Zenaida Dove, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Lesser Roadrunner will be some of the birds we will search.
|
|
|
Day 4: Rio Lagartos -Valladolid
In the morning, in Rio Lagartos, will focus on the needed targets, by going to sites like Las Coloradas and San Felipe. Then, in the afternoon, we will travel south to Valladolid with a very active trail where we will have chances to find several forest species like Thicket Tinamou, Mayan Antthrush, Rose-throated Tanager, Gray-throated Chat and several others. Theres a chance to see the Yucatan Poorwill and Middle-american Screech Owl that night near. |
|
|
Day 5: Chichen Itza- Merida
We will take advantage of the first hours of the morning birding near Chichen Itza archaeological site, we will focus on the species of the area that we still need to find. After this we will arrive to Chichen Itza where we will be guided by an specialst in the Mayan Culture. After lunch we will drive to Merida to search for the Yucatan Gnatcatcher an endemic restricted to Northwest of the Peninsula. |
|
|
Day 6: Merida - Campeche
This day we will drive to Campeche state, making several stops on the way. First we will visit a small reserve south of Merida city, then we will stop near Campeche city in a beautiful reserve with water springs and a lagoon. Finally we will visit Miguel Colorado cenotes with good habitat for forest birds in the surroundings. We will sleep near Escarcega to be near of our next day birding spot. |
|
|
Day 7: Mamantel - Bat cave
The main birding activity of this day will be In Mamantel river, we will take a boat in search for the Sungrebe, but with chances to see several other birds like Ringed Kingfisher, American pygmy Kingfisher, Crane Hawk, Least Grebe. We will move to Calakmul area and in the evening we will visit the bat cave, an amazing show of millions of bats going out of its cave, usually we can see raptors hunting them. |
|
Day 8: Calakmul
Full day birding at Calakmul Reserve, with an incredibly vast biodiversity, there's lots to discover in one the largest tropical forest in the Mayan region. We will go to the Archaeological Zone of Calakmul, and on the way we will stop at several spots to see interesting species such as Ocellated Turkey, Yellow-lored Parrot, Ornate Hawk-eagle, Mayan Antthrush, Tawny-winged Woodcreeper, Red-capped Manakin and Blue Bunting are just some of the amazing species we can find in this magic reserve in the south of the Peninsula.
|
|
|
Day 9: Dos Naciones
Full day birding at Dos Naciones Calakmul, this town is located 70 kilometers south of Xpujil near Guatemala border. This birding hotspot present many opportunities to find birds with limited distribution in the Yucatan Peninsula, its main distribution is in Chiapas state or Guatemala. Target species are: White collared Manakin, Rufous Tailed Jacamar, Yellow Bellied Tyrannulet, Toddy Motmot, King Vulture, Stripe-throated Hermit, Dusky Antbird and others. |
|
Day 10: Hormiguero - Kohunlich - Tulum
|
Early morning birding in the Hormiguero area and archaeological site, we will visit some small lagoons with chances for the Russet-naped Wood Rail, Northern Jacanas, Keel-billed Toucan, also we can find interesting forest birds like Northern-barred Woodcreeper, Stub-tailed Spadebill, Plain Xenops and many other birds that like the fruits and seeds of the trees in the area.
Afterwards we are going to the archaeological site of Kohunlich with amazing ceremonial and residential Mayan buildings, we will have chances to find the Gray-headed Dove, Chestnut-colored Woodpecker, Red-capped Manakin, White-necked Puffbird among others. We will have lunch in the beautiful lagoon of Bacalar, then we will drive to Playa del Carmen where we will spend the night. |
|
Day 11: Cozumel Island
On this day we will travel by ferry to the amazing island of Cozumel, where we will explore al day in the forest, mangroves and coastal dunes. The Cozumel Emerald and the Cozumel Vireo will be our main objectives, but the island is home of many more species, as well as endemic subspecies and interesting caribbean specialties. We will have our meals in the Island, and then we will return to Playa del Carmen where we will spend the night.
|
|
Day 12: Drop-off
Depending on the time of your flight ticket, we may be able to go birding at some places near the airport before drop you off in the airport.