Asa Wright Nature Lodge in Trinidad permanently ceases operations (1 Viewer)

[Mysticete]

Another unfortunate victim to the Pandemic, Asa Wright has permanently shut down as a lodge. The land is still protected and open for research and presumably birding, at least whenever you can finally visit Trinidad.

This completely bums me out, as visiting the Lodge was long on the list of trips I wanted to make, especially as the nearby cave was one of the most accessible and price-friendly ways of adding oilbird to your lifelist. I really hope when the pandemic is over that this whole thing sorts out and some folk are able manage and operate it again.

Asa Wright Nature Centre - Home

Welcome to the Asa Wright Nature Centre (AWNC) We are a non-profit Land Trust in Trinidad and Tobago and our mission is “to preserve a part […]

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Have any folks here visited the lodge before?

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

No, but be aware there is an oilbird site right next to a road in Peru.

 

[Trystan]

I was there in 2014. It was a really wonderful experience not only because of the birds, but the brilliant staff. Really sad news.

 

[kb57]

Sorry to hear that...I know Trinidad is a classic site for oilbird, but Rio Claro nature reserve in Colombia is pretty easy to get to as well, on the main road between Medellin and Bogota with decent accommodation.

 

[dandsblair]

What a shame.
We have been twice the last time in October 19 after a trip to Guyana.
The number of Oilbirds were down significantly at that visit and only guests staying more than 3 days could go down to the cave with the guide while he/she was checking out the numbers, you couldn't go in the cave. We saw only 3 birds from the entrance although others may have been further back in the cave.

 

[Steve Lister]

One of the classic wildlife lodges - gone. I wonder how many others are heading the same way. They depend upon international visitors and with the pandemic they won't be getting many at all. Plus the movement to discourage air travel could well prevent a recovery once Covid is not such a big problem. Wildlife tourism/travel is essential to keep these places going - the habitats as well as the infrastructure.

 

[birdboybowley]

Was there in 2018.....what an absolute crying shame. Thought the place was amazing....😔

 

[Mysticete]

One of the appeals of Asa Wright (for me) was that they had package deals which you could take any time of the year, and which were not too expensive. As an assistant professor at a teaching focused university, I can really only travel during January or May-August. I suffer from anxiety and self-guided travel in most foreign countries stresses me out to the point that it interferes with me actually enjoying birding (I would rather let other people deal with the driving and logistics).

Tours to the relevant parts of Colombia are not terribly expensive, but most of the ones I have come across run on dates when I teach. Which is a bummer.

 

[Jon Turner]

Only managed a day there on our trip to Trinidad, so didn't get the Oilbirds, but the bird-life (and animals) were truly prolific. Very disappointing news.

 

[opisska]

We randomly encountered Oilbirds repeatedly while walking in the night in the forest behind Yellow House in Mindo - which is as budget as it gets, really, so they can be seen cheaply for sure. I suspect the somewhat mythical status of them is to a large part because most birders don't spend a lot of time strolling through the jungle in the depth of the night

 

[Britseye]

My first encounter with an Oilbird was a rather memorable one as it flew past a full moon I was admiring from outside my digs at Bombuscaro in South-East Ecuador. Reminded me somewhat of a Pom Skua in flight, for some reason? Saw a stack of them by day in the caves at Tingo Maria, Peru later the same trip: returning in the evening to watch several hundred flying out into the twilight.

 

[stuartelsom]

Totally agree with Adam. My wife Jill & I stayed at Asa Wright for our Honeymoon, just under 20 years ago. Certainly a great place to stay with the aroma of fresh coffee every morning while you sit and relax taking in the early morning activity on the hummer feeders. The lodge had helpful staff and guides, wonderful grounds to walk around with some great birds which allow for wonderful photographic opportunities. Of course the cave for the oilbirds, if you stayed 3+ nights...

This is such a shame, and one hopes that in time when travel returns there might be hope that AWNC opens again.

Stu

 

[Lerxst]

This is terrible news.

We birded for a week or so in T & T back in 2014 and spent 4 or 5 days at Asa Wright. While it was older and less swanky than some other eco-lodges, we still consider it the gold standard by which we compare all others. They had an immense covered deck with many feeders very close by. I recall they had a slogan to the effect of "30 species before breakfast" and I think we were able to do just that most mornings there. Many good guides were on the staff, lots of good trails on premises, and they arranged tours afield as well, including night birding and boat birding in the PM for the spectacular Scarlet Ibises coming in to roost. They also had insanely good rum punch that poured for you rather freely in the late afternoon. Not only were the oilbirds near at hand, it was not much of a walk to go see some eardrum-shattering bellbirds.

Was a great area to get at least some birds typical of Venezuela, which isn't exactly an easy place to go anymore.

There is a guide based out of Tobago named Newton George - spent a few days with him and did really well also. He corrdinated with Asa Wright's tours. Hopefully he will still be in business going forward. And once normalcy returns, I'm optimistic that the infrastructure of a place like Asa Wright won't lie dormant for too long. Eventually the demand will resume and someone will take advantage of the opportunity. I hope.

 

[Lerxst]

From Asa Wright, they also took us one day out to Yerette: https://www.yerettett.com/story - this is a small sanctuary in the back yard of a fellow that is a bona fide hummingbird aficionado. No lodging there, but can accomodate a pretty large group for a few hours. Hopefully with the lower overhead of a place like this, it will be around for years to come, and will help drive the demand for nearby Asa to eventually get back on its feet....

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Stayed there for a couple nights in 2011. We didn't get to see the Oilbirds, but saw Trinidad Motmot coming to the feeders as well as Bearded Bellbirds on the grounds. Great place. Sad news.

As to Oilbirds, I saw them at Rio Claro in Colombia and at a ravine along the road near Tarapoto in Peru (I believe that's the place Welsh Peregrine is referring to in post #2). We also had one at the Owlet Lodge in Peru harassing a Rufous-banded Owl.

 

[Lee Baines]

Shocking news. Spent several hours there one day being guided around the bird friendly grounds, and viewing the forest from the balcony. Quick day trip from Tobago. How many non profit bird lodges will go the same way? I was all set to book a week for November 2020 at Morgan Kunda Lodges up river in The Gambia just as Covid 19 closed everywhere.

 

[Andy Adcock]

This is sad news indeed, I went with a Wildwings group and they too are surely beset with issues from covid, hot on the heals of the tragic and premature death of JBG, anyone have any info on their current status?

As well as Oilbirds, the other standoout for me here was Ornate Hawk Eagle, a real beauty.

Edit: Apologies, hadn't seen the thread about the sad, demise of Wildwings.

 

[dandsblair]

If anyone is interested in the story of Asa Wright Nature Centre - The Old House and the Dream; is worth a read, although it is slightly ironic that Section IV "the dream and the future" ends at 2020.

 

[swerve]

Just picked up on this thread late as usual. We stayed at Pax guest house and visited Asa for the day. Pax was great nice people running it. Not sure if its still open but worth a look.

 

[DMW]

It seems an odd decision to permanently close a popular eco-lodge like this. The infrastructure will still be there after the pandemic has ended, local people needing employment will still be there, and I think demand will quickly recover. While I may be being slightly simplistic, if it was a profit-generating operation pre-Covid, then so long as they have kept the property maintained, why wouldn't they just start taking bookings, hire staff and re-open?

I wonder whether announcing a permanent closure enabled them lawfully to save costs (e.g. avoid paying business rates or make staff redundant more easily than if they announced a temporary closure), and that at some point in the future, they may start operating again.