Oaxaca: Birds and Natural History of
Southern Mexico
Dec. 2008 and Jan. 2009 trips are
Full
Dec.
2009 and Jan. 2010 dates TBA
The state of Oaxaca is wonderfully
diverse in flora and fauna, history, culture, cuisine, and scenery. Our
tour is designed to provide us optimum exposure to this richness at a
comfortable pace while enjoying unique and superb lodging experiences, great
natural history and 
birds, and fascinating cultural experiences. While in the
city of Oaxaca we'll stay at the charming Hotel
Azucenas, a wonderful place with
an intimate atmosphere located in a quiet neighborhood. From there we'll visit
the arid scrub around Teotitlan del Valle, a Zapotec town well known for its
fine weaving. On past trips we've seen as many
as 90 species of
birds in the day we spend in this area - some of the specialties include
white-throated towhee, Boucard's wren, ocellated thrasher, Oaxaca and bridled sparrows, dusky
hummingbird, grey-breasted woodpecker, golden vireo, and white-striped
woodcreeper.
To the north, in the Sierra Juarez,
we'll enjoy rich cloud forest and have good opportunities to find the endemic dwarf jay as well as gray-barred wren, golden-browed and red warblers,
spot-crowned woodcreeper, collared towhee, chestnut-capped and rufous-capped
brush-finches, and gray-breasted wood-wren.
We'll trade the
color of Oaxaca City for the color of the Sierra Miahuatlan where we'll spend a
hotel on a mountain ridge surrounded by
pine forest and flowering pla
nts with hummingbirds, cinnamon-bellied flowerpiercer, and hooded yellowthroat.
Fruiting pyracantha bushes may provide close-up
views of white-throated robin, brown-backed solitaire, gray-silky flycatcher, and
russet nightingale-thrush. In the nearby forests and on our descent to the
Pacific coast, we'll look for common
bush-tanager, red-headed tanager, blue-capped and bumblebee hummingbirds, mountain trogon,
and golden vireo, as well as some striking butterflies amidst the rich tropical
vegetation. Here we'll also visit a shade grown coffee plantation where
we've seen dozens of fan-tailed warblers, double-toothed kite, barred
woodcreeper, emerald toucanet, and outstanding butterflies. The Gomez
family, who run the coffee plantation, will be our gracious hosts and tour
guides, educating us about the biodiversity, watershed, and community benefits
of their organic shade grown coffee.
On the Pacific coast, we'll stay at
the lovely and unique Rancho Cerro Largo where white-throated magpie jay, banded
wren, russet-crowned motmot, lesser ground cuckoo, orange
-breasted
bunting, red-breasted chat, and citreoline trogon can be found right on the
lodge grounds. Out over the Pacific,
we'll see red-billed tropicbirds and brown boobies soaring with magnificent
frigatebirds. In the nearby forest we should find Colima pygmy owl, happy
wren, blue bunting, yellow-winged cacique, golden-cheeked woodpecker and many
other avian wonders. In the Puerto Escondido area we visit the mouth of
the Rio Colotepec, which is wonderfully rich in waders, shorebirds, and terns,
and also the Laguna Manialtepec, a mangrove-lined lagoon where we should see
bare-throated tiger and boat-billed herons, mangrove vireo and mangrove swallow, collared
plover, and possibly ruddy-breasted seedeater and mangrove cuckoo.
Our journey combines exciting
birding, rich natural history, outstanding food, the warm hospitality of the people of
Oaxaca, and a suite of memorable cultural experiences. These include a visit to a Zapotec village renowned for its fine
weaving, a tour of the ancient
ruins of Monte Alban, a visit to the Oaxaca Cultural Museum, a tour of Finca El
Pacifico (a bird-rich, shade grown, organic coffee plantation), and the trip
highlight, a day of culture,
cuisine, and botany with Susana Trilling of Seasons of
My Heart Cooking School.
