BELIZE EXPRESS EXPEDITION
Tour Description

January 14 to March 19, 2007

65 Day Tour:  Pharr (1 night), Tampico (1), Poza Rica (2), Veracruz (1), Villahermosa (1), Palenque (2), Chetumal (1), Belize (48, various campsites, several side trips), Chetumal (2), Villahermosa (1), Veracruz (2), Costa Esmeralda (1), Tampico (1), Pharr.

Birding Sites:  El Tajín, Palenque, La Libertad ranch, Corozal beach, Cerros, New River & Lamanai *, Hill Bank *, San Victor, Cay Caulker *, Half Moon Cay *, Mennonite farms, La Milpa *, Chan Chich *, Altun Ha, Old Northern Highway, Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize Zoo, Tropical Education Center, Coastal Highway, Gales Point, Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Baboon Sanctuary, du Plooy's, Chaa Creek, Black Rock River, Pook's Hill, 1000 Foot Falls, Caracol Natural Reservation *, Hidden Valley *, Xunantunich, Blue Hole National Park, Tikal (Guatemala) 2-day *, Gragra Lagoon National Park, Red Bank, Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Mayflower Bocawina National Park, BFREE, Bladen Reserve, Five Blues National Park, Moho River, Cattle Landing, VoA Station, Lubaantun, Joe Taylor Creek, Nim Li Punit ruins, Big Falls, Manfredi, Blue Creek Village, Aguacaliente Swamp, Oxtankah, Las Barrancas.
* sites included on optional side trips.    

Our repeat customers often ask for more time in Belize. Well, here's our response: 49 days in Belize, canvassing the whole country for its excellent birding opportunities! We'll hit all the birding hotspots (Lamanai, Cockscomb, Blue Hole) as well as many lesser known, but great, birding locations that we've become aware of in past years. Belize is a small country with a big bird list of 575 species, including accidentals.  Last year we identified 84% of the regularly occurring wintering species.  We have a few new places on this year's itinerary, so maybe we'll find the rest.

Northern Belize is a land of coastal savannahs transformed into sugar cane fields and Mennonite farmlands. Flocks of White-fronted Parrots graze on sorghum; Green-breasted Mangos and other brightly colored hummingbirds peruse the brushy fencerows; long-legged waders, including Jabiru, pick through the rice paddies. Along the densely tree-lined New River we've counted nearly 100 species during a daylong boat ride. Up to five species of kingfisher, including American Pygmy-Kingfisher, are prominent along the river, but we also see Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Black-collared Hawk, and on another river we've found Agami Herons.

The Cays, located along the barrier reef off the coast of Belize, offer a few species we probably won't see elsewhere, such as Caribbean Dove, Caribbean Elaenia and Black Catbird. We'll reach these islands by boat or air, exploring Cay Caulker and Half-Moon Cay for nesting Red-footed Boobies.

Western Belize takes us to lowland broadleaf forests in search of Ocellated Turkey , Black Hawk-Eagle and Yellow-bellied Tyrannulet. While adding a plethora of birds to our life lists, we are bound to come across a few unusual mammals as well, such as Ocelots, Tayras and Agoutis ambling across the forest floor and Kinkajous feeding in the canopy at night and maybe even a Jaguar. On this side trip, we will be staying in cabanas in a remote jungle, an experience you'll never forget. In addition to the abundant bird life, our local guide will tell us about the medicinal plants that proliferate along the jungle paths we hike.

South-central Belize puts us at higher elevation from the foothills of the Maya Mountains to the pine forests of Mountain Pine Ridge. Favorite sites along the Hummingbird Highway hide in wetter broadleaf jungles, taller and denser than what we've seen in Western Belize. A few of the many highlights are White Hawk, Wedge-billed Woodcreeper and White-whiskered Puffbird . The climb into the mountains brings a dramatic change in scenery. Here's where we can find Rusty Sparrow and Azure-crowned Hummingbird. We'll spend a day or two farther south at Caracol Natural Reservation and Rio Frio Caves, looking for Keel-billed and Tody Motmots.

We're adding something new to our trips: an extensive visit to southern Belize, including the great birding spots near Punta Gorda such as Aguacaliente Swamp for Sungrebe and Muscovy Duck, the rice fields near Manfredi for crakes and rails and the rainforests along the Moho River for Western Slaty Antshrike and White-vented Euphonia. We'll bird at the floral grounds surrounding the Mayan ruins at Lubaantun and Nim Li Punit and listen for Nightingale Wren at the Blue Creek Rainforest Preserve.

If you've birded Belize before, you'll notice a lot of exciting additions to our itinerary, including many you haven't visited before. If this is you first trip to Belize, you will be simply overwhelmed by the magnificence of this birding paradise.

Many extras included on our caravans

There's time for other activities as well, especially if you are a non-birding partner.   Most visitors to Belize are more familiar with the great snorkeling and scuba diving than the wonderful birds.  Our visits to the cays and our stays along the Caribbean will give you opportunities to see the wonders below the surface.  Although we usually think of other countries when it comes to Mayan ruins, in fact, Belize has many ruins of its own and they'll give you quite a different perspective from the tourist-flocking ruins of the Yucatán. You'll like sampling Belizean food as well, and maybe some of the local rum that the country is known for.  Our tour guide has some other surprises in mind as well.  You'll be intrigued by a tour of Marie Sharp's factory and how such a simple family-run operation can have an international reputation.   Our travels will include beautiful scenery and tropical paradises, and whether or not you are a birder, you'll be thrilled by the lushness of the jungles and the diversity of life that we find.

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Revised: September 22, 2007.