El Triunfo, Chiapas: Birding and Natural History in Mexico's Greatest Wilderness

April 19 - 28, 2011 - in association with Bird Treks 

Over the years I've had the good fortune to travel in and enjoy the natural riches of most of the states in west Mexico, from the borderlands of Sonora and Chihuahua to the rugged diversity of Oaxaca.  Though all those journeys have been memorable, I have never experienced a landscape in Mexico as wild and pristine as that of the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve in southern Chiapas.  Perhaps the most bird and wildlife rich area in the country, the El Triunfo region is magical for many reasons, the most important, perhaps, being that people have left it alone.  With no roads, villages, livestock, or other habitat altering activities, and with superb management by the Mexican government, local communities, and several NGOs, El Triunfo provides an opportunity to experience a tremendous diversity of habitats and species.  Within the tropical dry forests of the interior valley and the Pacific lowlands, the evergreen tropical forests of the mid elevations, and the towering epiphyte-laden trees of the high cloud forest, one can find some of the rarest and most beautiful birds in the world while enjoying one of the most spectacular natural adventures anywhere.

We begin this unforgettable journey in Tuxtla Gutierrez where we start our trip with a visit to Sumidero Canyon, a deep and dramatic liquid incision through a limestone dome.  Within the dry forests of the park we'll look for white-throated magpie jay, white-lored gnatcatcher, Nutting's flycatcher, bar-winged and streak-backed orioles, banded wren, russet-crowned motmot, blue-and-white mockingbird and some of the rarer species such as belted flycatcher.  From Tuxtla, we head south to the small town of Jaltenango, our take-off point for El Triunfo.  The magic begins as we leave Jaltenango and travel along the Rio Jaltenango valley through forest that gradually becomes less and less altered as we reach the biosphere boundary.  Along the way, birds are plentiful and include white-winged tanager, orange-billed nightingale-thrush, plain wren, golden-olive woodpecker, green parakeet, azure-crowned hummingbird, blue-headed vireo, chestnut-collared swift, and many others.  As we arrive at Finca Prusia, a German coffee hacienda dating back to the late 1800s, we'll be surrounded by high, forest-covered mountains that seem to go on forever.  From here the real fun begins, at least if you think of an 8-mile uphill walk as fun.  We'll quickly ascend through the shade grown coffee plantation and gradually enter the best cloud forest remaining in Mexico.  During our hike we'll look for blue-crowned motmot, gartered (violaceous) trogon, emerald-chinned hummingbird, scaly-throated foliage-gleaner, brown-capped vireo, blue-crowned chlorophonia, and emerald toucanet.  As we near the camp at El Triunfo, we'll hopefully find some of the area's specialties such as the rare and wonderful horned guan, resplendent quetzal, spotted nightingale-thrush, black robin, and green-throated mountain gem.

We'll spend three nights at El Triunfo where we'll be treated to the warm hospitality and great food of our Mexican hosts who seem to pull off miracle after miracle in coordinating our logistics in this remote and roadless area.  From our camp, where yellow grosbeak, flame-colored tanager, gray silky-flycatcher, and black robin are common, we'll explore several gorgeous trails looking for horned guans and quetzals as well as highland guan, mountain robin, gray-breasted wood and rufous-browed wrens, unicolored and black-throated jays, white-faced quail dove, ruddy-capped nightingale-thrush, violet sabrewing, wine-throated hummingbird, black-crested coquette, spot-crowned woodcreeper, ruddy foliage-gleaner, yellowish flycatcher, yellow-throated and chestnut-capped brush-finches, fulvous owl and many more.

From the high camp, we'll make a three-day descent to the Pacific lowlands, intimately enjoying the changing habitats and the species variety they present.  From the trail and from our well chosen campsites, we'll hope to have good views of up to five species of motmot (blue-crowned, turquoise-browed, tody, blue-throated, and russet-crowned), white-eared ground-sparrow and its rarer cousin, Prevost's ground-sparrow, rufous sabrewing, tawny-throated leaftosser, green-shrike vireo, elegant euphonia, rufous-and-white wren, blue-tailed hummingbird, fan-tailed warbler, rufous-breasted spinetail, spot-breasted oriole, and one of the most striking birds of the route, the long-tailed manakin.

Our trip concludes in Tapachula where we'll enjoy a great hotel with giant wren, Pacific screech owl, white-bellied chachalaca, yellow-winged cacique, cinnamon hummingbird, and orange-chinned parakeets right on the grounds.  We may also, as we have in the past, be treated to a "river of raptors" show over the hotel.

The El Triunfo trip is a wilderness adventure that may be a physical challenge for some people.  We'll spend 6 nights camping in the reserve (possibly 3 of these in the dorm with hot shower) and 3 nights at hotels.  Walks are mostly at a birding pace and average about 5-6 miles, with the longest being 8 miles and the shortest, at the high camp, of perhaps 2 miles.  Mules and horses will carry our gear so that we only need to carry daypacks in the field.  The rewards for the adventure, however, are memories of a lifetime.

Detailed itinerary and references available upon request.

Custom trips can also be arranged.

 Photos: Highland guan, Cabanis' tanager, and blue-throated motmot by Misty Vaughn

Last updated: August 31, 2010.