Belize & Tikal 13-Day: Tropical Birding Bonanza

After going through customs we will load our van and begin our adventure driving the north to the tropical dry forests of the Rio Bravo Conservation Area.

The RBCA covers 5% of Belize’s land area and is a privately held wildlife sanctuary and research area within the tropical dry forest region. The La Milpa Station, named for the ancient Mayan ruins found on the site, offers great food a excellent accommodations.

NOTE: Though most birds we pass will be new to everyone, we will stop only for birds that are less common so as to spend less time on the road and more quality time birding! Dinner our Lodge.

After dinner we will have a short group discussion and an orientation to Belize before turning-in to rest before an early rise.

Pre-breakfast birding will offer an orchestra of bird song. We will bird the grounds around the lodge until breakfast is served. After a quick breakfast served family style we will continue our birding through the grounds and seldom used entry road.

Lunch (as with all our meals) will be at La Milpa and will be followed by a brief siesta in the heat of the day. However, butterflies in the area can be fantastic at this time of day!

Birding the property around Rio Bravo is a great experience from dawn to dusk, and beyond, offering a multitude of species. Collared Forest Falcons, Ocellated Turkeys, Northern Potoos and a multitude of tanagers, honeycreepers and hummingbirds may be seen.

Night spotlighting may offer Spectacled Owl, Mottled Owl, Black-and-White Owl and a number of roosting passerines. We have also seen Jaguar, Margay, Kinkajou, Tapir and other mammals!

Today’s birding will take us to the La Milpa ruins where the forest remains little disturbed and the birding is often interrupted by Black Howler Monkeys and Spider Monkeys! We always hope for an ant swarm here to bring in a number of tanagers and woodcreepers. More spotlighting will extend our day!

After breakfast we will depart for the Cayo District with birding stops along the way.

Lunch will be at a local favorite, Cheers, on the Western Highway near Belmopan. Continuing on we will arrive at our lodge in time for some birding and exploration before dark.

Today will be spent exploring the property around the lodge, which has many opportunities for birding and photography abound on the trails and the entrance road to the lodge. All meals will be at the lodge.

Today we will rise early to drive to the famous Mayan ruins of Caracol for amazing birding in the broadleaf rainforest. We will take a packed breakfast to be at the site in time for the dawn chorus. We will enjoy the trails and the ruins and have a packed lunch at the site.

After lunch we will begin our drive back to the lodge with stops along the way in the Mountain Pine Ridge to look for habitat-specific species, including the rare Orange-breasted Falcon.

Tikal departures—you will need to be prepared for customs entry into Guatemala, including changing any Belize or US dollars to the Guatemalan Quetzal. When we arrive at the border we will be inundated with “money changers.” Glenn will handle the negotiations for changing any money if you desire. Most vendors in Tikal will accept US dollars, but not Belize dollars. It is a good idea to change a little money for souvenirs, snacks, drinks, etc.

Money changing is separate from customs, which will be our next step, so please keep US$25 or BZ$50 available for customs! This is a quick process on the Belize side… keep passport ready!

The next stop will be in Guatemala and will be US$5 “tourist fee”. We will also be required to fill out a customs form, have a pen handy along with your passport. Please stay together during the customs exchanges and border crossing while Glenn handles the issues with the bus connection. The bus will meet us on the other side of the gate after we enter Guatemala. We will arrive at Tikal in time for dinner.

Tikal is the best known of the Mayan Cities. The temples tower high over the forest canopy. The birding in this forest can be phenomenal!

After breakfast each morning we will enter the park, along with a Guatemalan guide to explore this incredible area through its many trails. There is also a roadway from our lodge, an old runway actually, that leads to several ponds, around which we have found Pheasant Cuckoo and other rarely seen species. In the evening many birds and other wildlife come to the ponds to drink and bath.

Lunches will be at local restaurants, dinner at our lodge.

The Crooked Tree Sanctuary is part of the village of Crooked Tree. This village, named for an old Bullet Tree that is no longer standing, is on an island in the fresh-water Crooked Tree Lagoon. This inland waterway is the drainage for the surrounding savanna area of northern Belize, and is a “magnet” for birds of many species throughout the year.

Rise early for pre-breakfast birding. After breakfast we will board our boat to explore the Crooked Tree Lagoon and Spanish Creek in search of crocodiles, howler monkeys and, of course, many birds! The lagoons, streams and surrounding marsh all drain into Black Creek, and eventually into the Belize River. The vegetation along the creek is relatively low, affording some excellent views of the wildlife.

After lunch back at the lodge, we will take a short rest before we explore the upper end of the island of Crooked Tree, a pine/oak savanna home to many hard-to-find species such as Yellow-lored Parrot and Yucatan Jay.

Dinner at the lodge. After dinner we will have a group discussion and list updating, and of course, time to relax and enjoy the moonrise over Crooked Tree Lagoon. This is also a great area for stargazing!

Rise early for pre-breakfast birding. After breakfast we will explore the village looking for endemics and other species we may have missed. Returning to the lodge for lunch we will have a short siesta before boarding the boat for a trip into the northern end of the lagoon.

After Breakfast we will drive back to the Belize International Airport for our flights home. (Lunch is available for purchase in the airport’s restaurant.)