Hola ,
If you are vaccinated and you are a world birder this is getting close to impossible. One would have thought that once everyone are vaccinated the world would open up a bit, but on the contrary, much of the world is still closed for travel. There are some exceptions, and I thought I'd tempt you with some upcoming destinations. Perhaps, your scheduled birding trip was just cancelled. If so, read on... this newsletter is for you. Where can you bird right now without quarantine if you have had
your COVID vaccinations?
I will be in Europe in late September for my mom's 80th birthday (Sep 24) and to run the Berlin Marathon (Sep 26). I already had some plans to combine this with birding trips that I would guide in the old world.
But, both the scheduled
Cambodia and
China 7 Wonders Birding trips are off the radar right now due to COVID, so I am
re-organizing my time.
In this newsletter, I am looking at the period of Aug 30-Oct 30 to schedule, on very short notice, trips to destinations in the old world that requires no quarantine to enter. I realize that many birders around the world have quarantine rules for returning to their own countries, so some of this may not be for everyone.
- Just take 5 days off from work for an experience of a lifetime!
Our trips are suitable for birders with little time, and for those who feel the traditional birding tours are too long.
For example leave Los Angeles on a Friday night/Saturday morning and travel back on the following Saturday night to arrive on Sunday late afternoon. This way we fit in six and half days of the absolutely best birding and iconic mammals of the destination sandwiched between two weekends.
- Do you have more time? Make the trip into two weeks or more with our extensions.
✅ Namibia - Best place in the world for Pangolin, Cheetah and Black Rhino. Program in production. I'll send out an email about this new program on Saturday.
✅ Tanzania - climbing (including summiting) and birding Kilimanjaro. Oct 24-30 confirmed with two clients already. Program is in production. A 6 day pre-trip with Usambara endemics is offered as well. I'll send out details about this program tomorrow (Friday).
✅ Tanzania - Birding Safari in Serengeti and Ngorongoro. One week possibly with Wildebeest migration. Program in production.
If you feel compelled to join any of these programs let me know immediately.
I shall be doing updates over the next few days. All of these trips will not be included, but some definitely will. So if you have interest, it is important that others get to know which trip and what dates as soon as possible. I will also make marketing on Facebook once we have the dates and destinations settled.
Southern Spain.
I am returning to my roots as a bird and nature guide. This is where I started my guiding-career in 1987 for the Swedish operator Temaresor.
I LOVE SPAIN! And I would love to show you the best spots in Andalucia. Check out our very
exciting program that includes Iberian Lynx and Alhambra and lots of exciting birds and mediterranean cuisine.
If you have more time I would arrange an extension to the exiting bird migration hotspot at Tarifa and the reintroduced population of Waldrapp - Northern Bald Ibis.
The departure is set for first week of October, but we could well do this a week later.
Some good news for UK birders!
British birders have been more locked down for traveling during COVID than any other European nation. Of course this has hit us hard here in Peru, as we were to have several UK birders joining us this fall.
Peru, like most Central and South America, are classified as Red, which means that coming back to the UK, one would have to quarantine at very high costs.
The good news now, is that coming back from Amber classified countries from Monday Oct 9 quarantine is not necessary coming back to the UK if you have gotten the vaccine in Europe or the US.
Here are the new rules for Amber.
Entering the UK from places on the amber list requires three Covid-19 tests — the first, at least three days prior to departure; the second, on the day of arrival or before Day 2; and the third, on or after Day 8. Home quarantine for 10 days is also mandatory.
For UK nationals who are fully vaccinated, neither quarantine nor the Day 8 test are required.
People who have been fully vaccinated in the United States or many European countries will not need to quarantine when they arrive in England or take the Day 8 test.
Examples of Amber countries are Spain, Honduras and India.
So if you are in the UK you can join me in Spain (See above).
We have a Honduras program in the pipeline, but it has not been presented quite yet. Let me know if this is something that would be of interest to you.
The fact that India has been downgraded from Red to Amber, gives me some hope that our Bhutan trip over Christmas will run with the extension to Tiger and Taj Mahal. Bhutan is
listed as amber, but since India and Thailand have had an upsurge of cases, their borders have recently been closed.
They may well open before Christmas, though.
As mentioned, tomorrow I shall send out more information about Tanzania. In the meantime, let me know where you want to go birding in September and October.
Saludos
Gunnar
