We are specialists in the tropics
The world is filled with incredible birding destinations, so we have
decided to concentrate on tropical areas that can be tricky for most
people to visit alone. The tropics support 80% of the world's bird
species, and the diversity and numbers of birds can at times be
overwhelming. Birding can be tough with many similar species in the
same flock, and with others so secretive that they can only be located
by voice. We have built up a storehouse of knowledge on where to find
some of the world's rarest birds, and our tours offer the finest
birding on the planet. You will finish your trip not only with plenty
of birds, but also with a real understanding for the areas you have
visited.
We find the gems and polish them
Rather than grabbing big names in ornithology as a draw card, and
having you tag along as part of their
entourage, our focus is on finding talented people from extremely
varied backgrounds who we train to be the best guides all
over the world regardless of what they look like or what passport they
carry. Once trained to become a Tropical Birding Leader, the guides all
work in a variety of countries and most are able to lead on two or
three continents. The egos are left elsewhere but the varied
personalities and characters combine to form a guiding culture that is
as at home in Africa as it is in the Americas. When you are with a
Tropical Birding guide, you understand that the trip is about you
seeing as many birds as possible while having a great time.
Guiding is not a part time job
Too many times have we come across groups with leaders who do not know
the birds well enough. Doing this once a year as an alternative holiday
is just not acceptable in most cases. People paying for the services of
a tour leader deserve the expertise of a world-class professional. Our
guides spend more time in the field than they do at home. In fact, for
some of them, the field is home. Not only do they know the birds and
the areas we visit as well as anyone else in the world, they also
understand that it is your holiday, not theirs.
We live where the birds are
Satisfied clients often ask us why we have such reasonable prices. The
answer is simple: our main offices are in Ecuador and South Africa,
where we not only save on operational costs and negotiate preferential
rates with local agents, but we are completely up to date with the
logistics of local operations. By keeping our costs down we pass the
savings on to you without any sacrifice in quality. This is something
US and UK based operators simply cannot achieve. We have staff from six
continents, and our full time leaders live in Africa, South America,
and Asia where they guide on a regular basis, giving them unsurpassed
local knowledge in the areas they visit.
We are the company that actively
supports bird conservation
On the next two pages you will read about how we do not just give
lip-service to protecting the threatened birds our livelihoods depend
on; we are active in all aspects of bird conservation. This not only
involves generation of funds for purchase of endangered habitats, but
also includes consulting for conservation organizations, training
guides, and establishing the avitourism industry in developing nations.
We offer the best value birding
tours on the market
We have managed to strike a balance by providing world-class tours
without charging outrageous prices. While this is not the means by
which we differentiate ourselves from the other operators, it is a
pleasant side-effect of being the most efficient operator in our target
destinations. A quick comparison with other companies will show that
while we still stay at the best lodges and have top guides, we retain
our more competitive prices.
Even our bad days are good
No matter what you do sometimes the birding is slow or the weather is
bad. Although your guide is sweating and doing everything to find you
the birds, he also strives to maintain a friendly atmosphere you still
have a great time.
THE EVOLVING TROPICAL BIRDING ETHOS
Tropical
Birding’s efforts with respect to bird conservation, promoting
youth birding, and generating money for communities living near
important birding sites are well documented. In most respects we have
contributed more in the eight years of our existence than many of our
competitors have in their three-decade histories.
 Conservation
objectives can be achieved in many different ways, land purchase,
habitat management and making conservation viable for communities
living adjacent to them. Our efforts with the Mindo Cloudforest
Foundation in Ecuador, with communities adjacent to Korup National Park
in Cameroon, and with the promotion and development of new ecotourism
products and opportunities in the earthquake stricken Sichuan Province
in China continue. However, there is another method to achieve
conservation objectives, arguably in a much more powerful way: by
simply getting people outdoors and enjoying birds and nature. It is a
very simple equation: once people develop an interest in the hobby,
they have a good chance to become passionate about it, and passionate
birders are almost always strong supporters of conservation.
While
it might sound arrogant that just one tour company can achieve anything
in this way, we have used our High Island project in Texas to good
effect. This is a joint project with the Houston Audubon Society that
is doing an incredible job with land conservation issues on the Upper
Texas Coast. In 2008 our information centre and 42-ft high bird
observation tower attracted thousands of visitors. Many of these
enjoyed the free guided outings, (operated in conjunction with the
Houston Audubon Society), between late March and early May. Others just
loved interacting with our good-natured and helpful guides, getting
accurate site information, and chatting about everything from the
status of nearby reserves to international birding opportunities. The
enthusiasm from folks both novice and experienced was amazing and
infectious, with many telling us that they would now be spending more
time birding, or joining organizations such as The Nature Conservancy
and the Houston Audubon Society to support local conservation
initiatives and causes. Most vowed to return and we look forward to
seeing them again.
In the fall of 2008 Hurricane Ike garnered much publicity and several
important birding sites on the Upper Texas Coast were badly damaged.
Fortunately, High Island emerged relatively unscathed, but many thousands of
people have been left homeless by the devastation in the Galveston and Crystal
Beach areas. Therefore, the communities, shops and people in this area
desperately need all the help they can get, so please head down there this year
and support these towns. We will still be there; our enthusiasm and support is
unmoved (as was our tower), so we really hope to see you there in the future.
Based on the massive success of our High Island project in 2008 we will
be offering a similar experience at Crane Creek, Ohio between 5 and 25 May 2009
in conjunction with the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, and we hope to generate
the same levels of enthusiasm and inject the excitement of birding and
appreciation of nature to another huge group of people.
By supporting education initiatives, youth programs, conservation
projects, and direct land purchase, we believe that we can help protect
habitat, save birds, and promote birding for future generations using real and
successful projects. In this vein, we are working closely with Leica Sports
Optic on these and other projects to help inspire future birders. It’s amazing
what an eye-popping view of a familiar bird through crystal clear, top-notch
optics can do to get people more excited and interested in what we think is the
coolest of all hobbies.
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