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Friday 10 February to Sunday 26 February 2012 with Northern extension to Sunday 4 March with Richard Craik
Cost: £2120 plus about £900 for flights (2012) with Northern extension: £3430 plus about £900 for flights (2012) Single room supplement: £360
Please click here for details and an explanation of the price breakdown Maximum group size: 8 with 1 leader.
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Photo by Suppalak Klabdee/Vietnam Birding |
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Stretching one thousand miles down the east coast of Southeast Asia, Vietnam consists of a staggering array of habitats. Between the mighty deltas of the Red River in the north and the Mekong in the south can be found endless beautiful beaches, fertile coastal plains, lush lowland rainforest and high plateaus with rhododendron-covered peaks rising to over 9000 feet. It is no wonder then that Vietnam is home to over 850 species of birds and has the highest number of endemics of any country in mainland southeast Asia. It offers the birdwatcher an unparalleled opportunity to see a large number of Indochinese specialities that can be so difficult to see elsewhere in the region. This tour has been designed to fulfill that need and, by visiting both the north and the south, we’ll have a wonderful chance to see a great variety of Vietnam’s distinctive birdlife, which combines influences from the Himalayas, the Palearctic and Malaysia. With the ravages of the past well and truly behind it, Vietnam has emerged as one of Asia’s most thriving economies and also one of its most popular tourist destinations. It has an infrastructure to match this popularity and we are assured of a warm welcome everywhere we travel to in this fascinating country. Day 1: The tour begins in London with an overnight flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Day 2: After clearing customs. we'll set out by road for Cat Tien national park, a journey of around three hours. We should arrive in time for some late afternoon birding at Cat Tien after checking into our accommodation located at the Park's headquarters. Night at Cat Tien Headquarters. Day 3-5: We’ll awake to the magical sounds of the rainforest with many weird and wonderful noises echoing through the mighty trees. Cat Tien National Park contains the largest remaining area of lowland tropical forest in southern Vietnam and an incredible diversity of birds and mammals including over 330 bird species. Endangered birds found here include Germain’s Peacock Pheasant, Green Peafowl and the very elusive Orange-necked Partridge. Mammals that may be seen include Eurasian Wild Pig, Sambar, Red Muntjac and Gaur as well as two endangered primates, Black-shanked Douc Langur and Buff-cheeked Gibbon. We take jeeps to visit areas further afield such as Bird Lake and Crocodile Lake, where Grey-headed Fish Eagle and Lesser Adjutant may be seen. The three mile walk through the forest to Crocodile Lake is one of the best places to look for Blue-rumped and Bar-bellied Pitta as well as Red-and-Black and Banded Broadbill and Orange-breasted Trogon amongst others. Other specialities at Cat Tien include Scaly-breasted Partridge, Siamese Fireback, Germain’s Peacock Pheasant, White-bellied, Great Slaty, Pale-headed and Black-and-Buff Woodpecker, Red-vented Barbet, Woolly-necked Stork, and Grey-faced Tit-Babbler. Overnight at Cat Tien HQ. Day 6: We'll have a final morning of birding along the forest trails or the surfaced road through Cat Tien National Park, where Green-eared, Blue-eared, Lineated and Red-vented Barbet can often be seen perched high up in the roadside trees. After an early lunch we'll continue along Highway 20 to Dalat, a former colonial hill station in the Central Highlands. After checking-in at our family-run hotel there should be time for the first of several visits to the Ta Nung Valley, an area of remnant evergreen forest 10 km from Dalat. This is the most accessible site for the rare and endemic Grey-crowned Crocias, as well as White-cheeked and Orange-breasted Laughingthrush, and the recently split Black-crowned Parrotbill. The very distinct local sub-species of Blue-winged Minla, Rufous-backed and Black-headed Sibias and Black-throated Sunbird can also be found here. Night in Dalat. Days 7-9: In addition to the wonderful Ta Nung Valley there are two other main sites we will concentrate our efforts on around Dalat - Mount Lang Bian and Ho Tuyen Lam. Mount Lang Bian is a 6700 feet peak about twenty minutes by road from Dalat and we'll spend a day exploring its pine and montane evergreen forests. The main species we'll be concentrating on here include Silver Pheasant, wintering Mugimaki Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Nuthatch, Grey-crowned Tit, Vietnamese Cutia, Black-crowned Fulvetta and Vietnamese Greenfinch. The most sought-after species at Lang Bian however is the beautiful and skulking endemic Collared Laughingthrush. Ho Tuyen Lam is a man-made lake, just two miles from the centre of town where the pines are home to Burmese Shrike, Slender-billed Oriole, Indochinese Cuckooshrike, and Crossbill among many other species. Night in Dalat. Day 10: We depart Dalat after an early breakfast for the scenic drive north to Mang Den in Kontum Province. There should be time for some late afternoon birding around Mang Den on arrival. Overnight at Mang Den. Day 11: We have a full day’s birding at Mang Den where the seldom-seen endemic, Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush, will be our main quarry. Only discovered in 1999, it remains a bird seen by only a handful of birdwatchers. Mang Den is also the most reliable site in Vietnam for three other scarce birds - Pale-capped Pigeon, Yellow-billed Nuthatch and Black-hooded Laughingthrush. Overnight at Mang Den. Day 12: There is time for some final early morning birding at Mang Den where other birds that are rarely seen elsewhere in Vietnam include Rufous-faced Warbler, Pale Blue Flycatcher and Grey-headed Parrotbill. Leaving Mang Den around mid-morning we drive northwards up the Ho Chi Minh Highway to the Lo Xo Pass. We should reach the pass in the late afternoon and will spend some time looking for the Indochinese endemic Black-crowned Barwing, only discovered in 1996. Overnight at Kham Duc. Day 13: We return to the Lo Xo Pass in the morning where in addition to the Black-crowned Barwing we’ll also be looking for White-winged Magpie, Yellow-billed Nuthatch, Red-tailed Minla and Red-tailed Laughingthrush. We return to Kham Duc in the mid-morning and continue northwards to Bach Ma National Park, arriving there in the late afternoon with time for some birding. Overnight at Bach Ma National Park. Day 14: Bach Ma National Park, where the Annamite Mountain Range meets the sea, is home to several Vietnamese and regional endemics including Annam Partridge, Silver Pheasant, Red-vented Barbet, Blyth’s Kingfisher, White-winged Magpie and Indochinese Wren Babbler. Other spectacular birds we will be looking for at Bach Ma include Hodgson’s Frogmouth, Ratchet-tailed Treepie, Indochinese Green Magpie, Black-throated and Lesser-necklaced Laughngthrushes and a very distinct subspecies of Sultan Tit with a glossy blue-black crown – a possible future split? A very beautiful and endangered primate, Red-shanked Douc Langur, is sometimes seen in the treetops below the summit trails. Later in the afternoon, we’ll leave Bach Ma and drive to Phong Nha National Park. Night at in Phong Nha Day 15: We have a full day to explore the limestone forest of Phong Nha National Park in search such specialities as the Indochinese endemic Sooty Babbler, Siamese Fireback and Red-collared Woodpecker. In addition to birds we'll keep an eye out for the scarce Ha Tinh Langur, one of Vietnam’s many endangered primates. Night in Phong Nha. Day 16: After a final morning birdwatching around Phong Nha, we'll drive back to Hue to connect with a flight to Hanoi, where after our final delicious Vietnamese meal, we'll take a flight back to london where the tour ends on Day 17. Those taking the extension will spend the night in Hanoi.
Northern extension: Day 17: We'll leave Hanoi after breakfast for the drive to Cuc Phuong National Park. The first national park to be established in Vietnam, Cuc Phuong is an area of limestone hills covered in primary rainforest. Night at the Park’s headquarters guest house. Days 18-19: The first national park to be established in Vietnam, Cuc Phuong is an area of limestone hills covered in primary rainforest. During our time here we will hope to see some of the Park’s special birds including Bar-bellied, Blue-rumped and Eared Pittas, Silver-breasted Broadbill, White-tailed Flycatcher, White-winged Magpie, Rachet-tailed Treepie, Rufous-throated Fulvetta, Limestone Wren-Babbler, Fujian Niltava and Pied Falconet. Nights at Park’s headquarters guest house. Day 20: After breakfast we'll leave Cuc Phuong. We’ll stop on the way at Van Long Nature Reserve to take a sampan to the dramatic limestone cliffs that are home to the largest population of the endangered Delacour Langur. Various waders, herons, bitterns and a breeding pair of Bonelli’s Eagle are often seen here. Leaving Van Long we'll head north on Highway 21 to Ba Vi National Park wher we should arrive in time to spend the afternoo birding in the park. Night at Ba Vi Headquarters. Day 21: Ba Vi National Park is a little visited birding site around forty miles to the west of Hanoi. The weather can be often be rather cold and misty but it is good place to look for wintering thrushes including Japanese, Black-breasted, Grey-backed and Dusky Thrush. The forest around the 4000 feet summit is home to the secretive Rufous-cheeked Laughingthrush while Red-billed Blue Magpies are common in the gardens around the accommodation at the Park HQ. Later in the day we'll head to Hanoi and continue on to Tam Dao, a hill resort to the north of the capital. Night in Tam Dao.
Day 22: We'll spend the day birdwatching around the montane evergreen and bamboo forest above the town. Specialities we will be looking for here include Chestnut Bulbul, Grey Laughingthrush, Coral-billed and Streak-breasted Scimitar Babblers, Collared Babbler and Greater Rufous-headed and Short-tailed Parrotbills. Winter visitors that can turn up at Tam Dao between December and March include Black-breasted Thrush, Japanese Thrush and Fujian Niltava. Night in Tam Dao. Day 23: After our last morning birding around Tam Dao, we'll drive back to Hanoi to connect with our onward flight to London, where the tour ends on Day 24.
E-mail or phone +44 (0)1767 262522 for availability.
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