Hello ,
Remember, I told you about a short trip to Spain in April? I just realized that this tour closes the circle of 35 years as a guide, and that calls for a celebration. More below.
Let me first tell you how I fell into nature guiding in the first place.
Time flies!
My first international birding trip went to Venezuela over Christmas and New Years 1986-1987. I joined four far more experienced Stockholm birders than myself in a month-long odyssey over all of Venezuela. On one of the first days, we ran in to legendary pioneering DIY birder Alan Greensmith and his girlfriend, who had travelled across South America in VW beetle for six months
and had seen over 1000 species of birds. My tiny list of only 220 or so species in Sweden felt very small. My Swedish friends were all over 300, but had been birding since they were kids. I had just started a few years earlier.
1000 species in 6 months was mind-blowing to me. I remember thinking to myself..."I will never be as good as my friends with Swedish Birds - but in South America I could build up experience and learn about birds that few people know anything about. This should be my goal".
Later on that same trip we had a break-in to our rental car. Some participants lost travel documents and traveller's checks (remember those?). Since I was the only one who spoke Spanish, I had to make the translations to get the police report for the insurance. This was a pivotal moment!
One of the members said, I could apply for a job as a guide to lead nature watching trips in Spain. Since I knew about birds and plants, spoke Spanish and also could deal with difficult situations in Spanish, that kind of job could suit me very well.
Said and done. Back in Sweden I applied for a on-demand guide position with the Temaresor - the leading Swedish operator to Nature and Culture in the Mediterranean area.
I got the job, and the first assignment was to go to Southern Spain to learn from a more experienced guide and then guide the same tour myself in the autumn.
The spring tour took us to great birding in Andalucia. It was full of spring flowers as we hiked in the mountains of Cazorla and Grazalema. The participants were more interested in plants than in birds, but that was OK. I thoroughly enjoyed being out in the nature (getting paid for it) and to learn the plants as I went along. The birds would not be a problem.
Then came autumn, and I was to lead my first tour on my own. I thought, nothing could go wrong. I mean, there were no flowers to worry about, only birds, right?
I was wrong!
It was close to a disaster, as I nervously noted that the people that had signed up for the trip, had very little interest in the birds. They had come to see Alhambra and to hike in the mountains.
I had not read up enough on culture and the society. I knew some of course, since my wife at the time was from Spain, but the Moorish history of Al-Andaluz was completely away from knowledge.
Fortunately, we had a good local guide at Alhambra to set things straight and to cover for my ignorance.
It was regardless a turning point for me. I learnt to appreciate the whole experience, to learn about the locations and to relate this to the clients. All of a sudden History, which I was bad at in school, became relevant and something I would dive into by myself just to satisfy my own curiosity.
RETURN TO ANDALUCIA!
Is is with great pleasure that I can announce that I am guiding a confirmed 7WB tour to Southern Spain April 23-28, to watch Iberian Lynx, amazing raptors such as Spanish Imperial Eagle and Lammergeier and of
course also a visit to Alhambra.
To incite you to come with me, I am offering a $350 discount if you r espond to this email by Wednesday March 23. What do you say?
I know it is not a lot of time, but remember that the departure is only a month away the week after Easter.
Uganda - Gorillas and Shoebill
I also mentioned the Uganda Shoebill+Gorilla tour before in the previous newsletters. I just wanted to update you that the tour is confirmed for July 22. We have extended to 9 days to have more time for endemics in the
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest area.
Have a look at the updated UGANDA itinerary on the website.
There are a four spots more available, but hurry as the Gorilla permits usually get sold out.
Where are you birding this Easter and the rest of the spring?
What? Easter already? I know, time flies!
Indeed, Easter is only three weeks away - and if you haven't made any plans yet, you would think you're screwed.
No worries! We have some confirmed departure dates that still can take a few more punters. Both for Easter and the next coming months. See the list below with confirmed departures. These trips can be cemented together either back to back, or with Lima or Cusco days in between, like for instance the confirmed and scheduled Sta Eulalia with Marcapomacocha departures below (condor and Diademed Sandpiper-Plover among the highlights. People with little time in Cusco area often just add a day trip to
Abra Malaga and a DIY trip to Machu Picchu,
Although, there are specific dates for the trips below, we can run them at any time.
- 22 March, 2022
- 14 April, 2022 (Easter)
- 15 May, 2022
- 7 April, 2022
- 22 May, 2022
- 1 July, 2022
- 14 Nov, 2022
- 21 Nov, 2022
- 28 June, 2022
- 19 November, 2022
- 26 November, 2022
- 27 March, 2022
- 20 May, 2022
- 24 November, 2022
- 1 December, 2022.
The cool thing about these short trips is that they will give clients a lot of flexibility, You can build your perfect trip with these building blocks, and you can take days off in between if you need a slower pace.
You have the option to let other people join for the same dates as you, which would give you a better price .
So what about Cambodia and Madagascar I talked about in the previous emails?
Both are confirmed.
Cambodia on Oct 9 and Madagascar main tour starting 0n Nov 27. There are a three day prec tour and three day post tour that can be added to the 7 day program.
After that a week to 10 days of adventure for the hard core.
I shall upload Madagascar this week, so stain tuned.
Thanks for you patience with this longer email.
Next time you hear from me will likely be when a new podcast episode is up. I am in the last stretch of editing a very interesting interview with Terry Townshend of Birding Beijing. I have also interviewed well known conservationist Byron Swift.
Saludos
Gunnar
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Founder and Guide of
7 Wonders Birding
and Kolibri Expeditions.
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