HONDURAS Western Honduras Day 1 Arrival in San Pedro Sula and transfer to Lake Yojoa Day 2 Birding in Los Naranjos archaeological park and freshwater wetlands Day 3 Birding in Cerro Azul Meambar National Park Day 4 Birding in Santa Bárbara NP and visit to La Fuente de Vida project Day 5 Transfer to Gracias and birding around Celaque NP visitors centre Day 6 Birding in search of Honduran Emerald and Ocellated Quail Day 7 Transfer to Copán and birding along the Copán river Day 8 Birding in various Mayan archaeological sites Day 9 Birding in Hacienda San Lucas and Rastrojon Day 10 Transfer to San Pedro Sula airport
HONDURAS General description Honduras packs several personalities into a country the size of Virginia, boasting fantastic natural beauty, cultural richness, and a relaxing tropical vibe waiting to be discovered along a less tourist-trodden path. The north coast is characterized by beautiful jungles, mangroves, and rainforests, such as Pico Bonito National Park, whereas east Honduras has the largest area of amazonian jungle in Central America, La Moskítia. The south is arid, but offers breathtaking landscapes, and the authentic fishing communities make this a particularly interesting place to visit. West Honduras for its part boasts the country s highest peak, Cerro the las Minas in Celaque National Park. It is also strongly influenced by the ancient Maya culture, which you will clearly in see in sites such as Copán Ruinas. This particular trip focuses on the western part of Honduras. View of Lake Yojoa and Santa Bárbara NP Rising majestically above the beautiful Lake Yojoa in central Honduras are two of the country s more impressive mountain ranges: Montaña Santa Barbara and Cerro Azul Meambar. Here the combination of limestone and volcanic landscapes surrounding the lake supports a rich diversity of habitat types including freshwater wetlands, pine-oak forest, lowland rainforest and cloud forest and a corresponding diversity of plants and animals. Some species of interest we can find here are the Keel-billed Motmot, Prevost ground-sparrow, Resplendent Quetzal, Emerald-chinned Hummingbird, Barred and Collared Forest-Falcons, Collared Aracari, Blue-crowned Motmot, Masked Tityra, Crimson-collared Tanager, Northern Barred Woodcreeper. To talk about Gracias is to talk about the impressive mountains of Celaque National Park, which is characterized mainly by pine-oak forest, dry forest and cloud forest on the park s highest elevations. These types of habitats support motmots, hummingbirds, antbirds and toucans, and two stunning prize birds, for Celaque is also home to the elusive Ocellated Quail and to Honduras only endemic so far: the Honduran Emerald!
Although not the largest Mayan city, Copán was the principal Mayan cultural center during the 400 years when the city was at the peak of its development, far ahead of other larger Mayan cities in its development of sculpture, astronomy, and hieroglyphic writing. The area offers the perfect combination of Mayan history and bird watching, with some beautiful species such as the Red-throated Parakeet, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Elegant Trogon, Ivory-billed and Spotted Woodcreeper, Rose-throated Becard, Golden-crowned Warbler and White-throated Magpie-Jay. Birding at the Mayan sites of Copán Day-by-day Itinerary Day 1 Arrival in San Pedro Sula and transfer to Lake Yojoa After picking you up from San Pedro international airport, we drive to beautiful Lake Yojoa, Honduras only natural freshwater lake. Species like the Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Rufousbreasted Spinetail, and Blue-crowned Motmot are some of the key birds of this area. If time allows, we will go out for our first introduction to the birds of Honduras, hoping to spot a Green-backed Sparrow, Rufous-breasted Spinetail, Crimson-collared Tanager and many more. Day 2 Birding in Los Naranjos archaeological park and the freshwater wetlands Visiting Los Naranjos Archaeological Park will give you an insight in the Lenca culture, all the while chasing a host of specialities such as the beautiful Rufous-naped Wren, Rufousand-white Wren, and Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture. As we walk along the trails, we will be surrounded by Montezuma and Chestnut-headed Oropendulas.
HONDURAS The freshwater wetlands and the lower hills around Lake Yojoa offer excellent opportunities to spot key species such as the Masked Duck, Grey-crowned Yellowthroat, Snail Kite, Limpkin, Least Bittern, Tody Flycatcher, Ruddy and Grey-breasted Crake, Fulvous and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Pied Grebes and many more aquatic birds. Day 3 Birding in Cerro Azul Meambar National Park We spend all of today birding the luxuriant rainforests of Cerro Azul Meambar where excellent trails, lookouts and towers give us the opportunity to explore the forest, take in the surrounding landscape as well as peer into the forest canopy. We are likely to see some of the most wanted birds in the area, including the rare Keel-billed Motmot, White-throated Thrush, Black-crested Coquette, Mexican Antthrush, Long-billed Starthroat, Stripe-throated Hermit, Montezuma Oropendola, Gartered Trogon, and a whole host of tanagers including Blue-gray Tanager, Golden-hooded Tanager, Yellow-winged Tanager, Common bush-tanager and Crimson-collared Tanager. Keel-billed Motmot Day 4 Birding in Santa Bárbara NP and visit to La Fuente de Vida project This morning we drive up to Santa Bárbara National Park. We visit the La Fuente de Vida ecotourism project that Beaks and Peaks is supporting. The communities up here are trying to protect a beautfiful parch of forest for the future. They have decided to make the change from exclusive coffee growing to providing sustainable tourism services. They have for example built a series of beautiful trails that offer excellent birdwatching opportunities.
Resplendent Quetzal in its tree trunk nest Very early in the morning, we drive up to the community. That should take us about an hour. Upon arrival we enjoy breakfast with one of the local families and after that we start looking for birds such as the Prevost-ground Sparrow, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Resplendent Quetzal, Emerald-chinned Hummingbird, Whitebreasted Hawk, Green-throated MountainGem, Buffy-crowned Woodpatrigth, Slatecolored Solitare, Rusty Sparrow, Collared Trogon, Spotted Woodcreeper, Ruddy Foliage-Gleaner, Scaly-throated FoliageGleaner, Buff-throated Foliage-Gleaner, Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush, Chesnutcapped Brush-Finch, White-naped Brush Finch, Spot-breasted Wren etcaetera. Day 5 Transfer to Gracias and birding around Celaque NP visitors centre Gracias was once the first capital of Honduras and is still a very pleasant town in West Honduras, located in the shadow of Honduras highest peak Cerro de las Minas. The area combines virgin cloud forest, dry pine/oak and broadleaf woodland, with a surrounding mosaic of farmland, coffee plantations and patches of woodland, making this region a birding paradise that is also rich in culture. The diversity of habitats support motmots, hummingbirds and toucans amongst many other species. Also, Gracias is home to the Meso-american endemic Bushy-crested Jay, the elusive Ocellated Quail and to the only Honduran endemic so far the Honduran Emerald! Upon arrival in Gracias, we go out for some afternoon birding in Villa Verde, a community at the foot of the park, and along the lower elevation trails in Celaque National Park itself. Day 6 Birding in search of Honduran Emerald and Ocellated Quail This morning we go in search of the only endemic bird of Honduras so far: the Honduran Emerald! A small population of this gorgeous hummer was discovered here in April 2013. Before, it was thought that it only occurred in hard-to-access Olancho! The region is also home to many other drier-country birds, amongst others the Elegant Trogon, Striped Cuckoo, Turquoise-browed Motmot and many more. Along the Río Grande, we will also see some water birds such as Green Herons, Black Phoebes, different Kingfisher species etc.
HONDURAS In the afternoon we drive up into Celaque National Park to get one of our targets birds: the elusive Ocellated Quail, another bird which only recently was documented here! A hard bird to get, but Celaque NP offers some excellent opportunities, so keep your fingers crossed that you are one of the lucky few to get a glimpse of this shy quail. Other species we may see up hare are the King Vulture, Crested Bobwhite, Azure-crowned Hummingbird, Whiskered Screech-Owl and many more. First photo record of the Honduran Emerald in Gracias First photo record of the Ocellated Quail in Celaque NP Day 7 Transfer to Copán and birding along the Copán river The UNESCO World Heritage site of Copán Ruinas offers a grand combination of Mayan history and bird watching. Although not the largest Mayan city, Copán was the principal Mayan cultural center during the 400 years when the city was at the peak of its development, far ahead of other larger Mayan cities in its development of sculpture, astronomy, and hieroglyphic writing. Copán lies in a fertile valley traversed by the Copán river, an excellent location for our afternoon birding. We are on the lookout for White-fronted Parrots, Green Kingfishers, Rufous-naped Wren, Barn Swallows, Blue-black Grassquits, Squirrel Cuckoos and others. Day 8 Birding in various Mayan archaeological sites Our visit today to the main archaeological sites and Sepulturas offers the perfect combination of history and birding, with good chances to see Red-throated Parakeets, Turquoise-browed Motmots, Elegant Trogons, Rufous-browed Peppershrikes, Rufous-naped Wrens, Streakheaded Woodcreepers, Streak-backed Orioles and many more.
Day 9 Birding in Hacienda San Lucas and Rastrojon On your last full day of birding in Honduras, we enjoy an excellent Honduran-with-atwist lunch in the beautiful Hacienda San Lucas, nestled in the hillls of Copán valley and overlooking the Mayan sites Copán is known for. The pine-oak forest in this Hacienda is home to the stunning Elegant Trogon, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, White-throated MagpieJay and Cinnamon Hummingbird. Afterwards we visit another Mayan site called Rastrojon, where we search for the Spot-breasted Wren, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Rose-throated Becard, Yellow-throated Euphonia etcaetera. Upon return to the village, we gather for our farewell dinner, enjoying both the company and the food. Refined artwork at Copán s Mayan sites Day 10 Transfer to San pedro Sula airport Your trip unfortunately has come to an end and we will drive you to San Pedro Sula international airport in time for your flight. We hope you enjoyed the tour and wish you a safe journey home. And who knows... hasta la proxima?!
HONDURAS Your guides William Orellana William started birding at an early age in his hometown, Gracias Lempira, Honduras. William s first career was with the government, where he eventually became a math professor and later worked for a NGO helping communities to develop. He wisely decided on a complete change of career and started birding in 2005, rapidly becoming a key member of the Honduran Ornithology Association of Honduras (ASHO). William is also one of the best bird photographers throughout the country of Honduras. William has travelled extensively in search of birds, visiting over 15 countries in Asia, Europe, North America and Central America. He has spent considerable time in the field. He also created the first youth birdwatching club in Honduras named Tanunas. William has a long experience and skills to show you the best of Honduras. Katinka Domen Katinka was born and raised in Belgium, but fell head over heels in love with Central America particularly Honduras while traveling here. It didn t take her long to wave goodbye to her old life and cross the Atlantic to settle in her new home. Not one for sitting still, Katinka has been building up a portfolio of adventure tours including hiking, rafting, kayaking, etc, and rapidly became a skilled birder as well. Katinka is fluent in many languages, and will be able to guide you in English, French, German, Dutch and Spanish. Furthermore, she has obtained a certificate in wilderness first aid, so you are in safe hands! She likes nothing better than introducing this magnificent country she now calls home to other visitors. Her enthusiasm and sense of adventure will no doubt kindle a passion for Honduras with anyone who visits.