Gavia
Well-known member
Hello BirdForum;
In March and April 2008 our Maritimes Nature Travel Club went to the Serra dos Tucanos Lodge in the Rio de Janeiro State of Brazil. There are already many fine trip reports on-line detailing the delights of this wonderful eco-lodge, but our adventure was different in a couple of respects.
1) - Because there was so much interest in this trip among our group, and because the lodge can only house a maximum of 12 guests, we went in three different groups.
2) - Each group stayed two weeks, a longer time that the typical commercial tour. Within this two week period we were offered four full-day excursions and four half-day excursions, leaving three full days for birding around the lodge, or organising special trips elsewhere. And as it turned out each group chose to spend a day with our lodge guide exploring new areas for future excursions. We found this fun, and the Lodge owners found this useful, as the commercial tours never have such free days built into their schedule, and during the busy austral summer season the Lodge staff do not have time to do scouting on their own.
This report does not offer a detailed review of this fine lodge -- it is sufficient to say that all three of our groups greatly enjoyed the facility and praise the staff. We recommend the Lodge to you. Thumbs Up!
Because our group members visited the same trails on multiple occasions during the three trips, I was able to chart out each group’s species list on comparative tables, to provide a useful perspective regarding the similarities and differences among the different lists. This approach is rarely done with trip reports, and gives a better idea regarding what a future visitor is likely to encounter on the various excursions.
During our stay there were a succession of low pressure weather systems that passed over our area, bringing periods of cloud and rain. Because of the flexibility built into our schedule we were able to alter our itinerary to ensure the best weather possible for various excursions (at least to a point).
I am aware that BirdForum prefers that the trip report be posted within the forum as opposed to being linked to a web site, but this is not practical for our detailed trip report, as there are many tables, and links to hundreds of photos. I invite you, therefore, to read the report here:
http://tinyurl.com/68stmo3
I invite your comments and questions.
Good birding, and safe journeys,
Blake Maybank
In March and April 2008 our Maritimes Nature Travel Club went to the Serra dos Tucanos Lodge in the Rio de Janeiro State of Brazil. There are already many fine trip reports on-line detailing the delights of this wonderful eco-lodge, but our adventure was different in a couple of respects.
1) - Because there was so much interest in this trip among our group, and because the lodge can only house a maximum of 12 guests, we went in three different groups.
2) - Each group stayed two weeks, a longer time that the typical commercial tour. Within this two week period we were offered four full-day excursions and four half-day excursions, leaving three full days for birding around the lodge, or organising special trips elsewhere. And as it turned out each group chose to spend a day with our lodge guide exploring new areas for future excursions. We found this fun, and the Lodge owners found this useful, as the commercial tours never have such free days built into their schedule, and during the busy austral summer season the Lodge staff do not have time to do scouting on their own.
This report does not offer a detailed review of this fine lodge -- it is sufficient to say that all three of our groups greatly enjoyed the facility and praise the staff. We recommend the Lodge to you. Thumbs Up!
Because our group members visited the same trails on multiple occasions during the three trips, I was able to chart out each group’s species list on comparative tables, to provide a useful perspective regarding the similarities and differences among the different lists. This approach is rarely done with trip reports, and gives a better idea regarding what a future visitor is likely to encounter on the various excursions.
During our stay there were a succession of low pressure weather systems that passed over our area, bringing periods of cloud and rain. Because of the flexibility built into our schedule we were able to alter our itinerary to ensure the best weather possible for various excursions (at least to a point).
I am aware that BirdForum prefers that the trip report be posted within the forum as opposed to being linked to a web site, but this is not practical for our detailed trip report, as there are many tables, and links to hundreds of photos. I invite you, therefore, to read the report here:
http://tinyurl.com/68stmo3
I invite your comments and questions.
Good birding, and safe journeys,
Blake Maybank
