texcin

On 7/28/2018 at 7:20 AM, hvbaskey said:

Trip Report from Puerto Madryn, Argentina [29 Dec 2017]

On 7/28/2018 at 7:20 AM, hvbaskey said:

Trip Report from Puerto Madryn, Argentina [29 Dec 2017]

I still need to add the full species list/count - but it gives a general idea of what we did with our hired Guide.

 

Hi Heather,  I've procrastinating about this, but feel that full disclosure is needed.  As you may remember, I too was booked with Agustín Esmoris of “Birding Puerto Madryn the day after your trip.  I was sailing on the Emerald Princess in the opposite direction as your Celebrity Cruise and had been communication with Agustin since August with good results.  

 

Bottom line is that Agustin called when I was on the dock awaiting his arrival the morning of the trip, canceling his trip with me.  He reported having a cold. Apparently you guys "over stressed" him the day before! HaHa! He reported that you 'll had a good day of birding.   I appreciate that people become ill, but I was quite disappointed.  I had prepaid through PayPal. The final straw, and the reasons I am posting are that it took 2 emails & 3 weeks to receive my refund through PayPal, minus $15.70 fee.  When I emailed Agustin re: this fee amount, I received no reply.

 

I have hired many international bird guides and have never had a problem like this.   I am a person who believes "things happen for a reason," but I don't believe I was treated fairly by Agustin.  

I would NOT recommend him to others.  

Cinda Crosley

Quote

 

So happy I found your review! Absolutely love all the pictures & links. Always nice to find a "birder" on CC. We're heading to the Baltic in August. Wonder if you would share you trip birdlist with me?

Cinda

Texascinda(at)gmail(dot)com

I have received word that the Puerto Rican Parrot facility is safe as are the parrots being captive bred. As soon as they can, they will assess the fate of the wild population.

Thank you for posting this. I was concerned about the parrots since they were nearly wiped out in previous hurricanes.

Cinda

Agustin of birdingpuertomadryn.com

 

He does half days and full days - we are doing a full day combination of wildlife and birds.

 

Heather

Thank you Heather for your help. I was able to to book Augustin in Puerto Madryn and Birds Chile for Puerto Montt. I saw that WINGS offers this Tour/cruise. I'm am going to try my best with Pelagics! Let's keep in touch & exchange bird lists here!

Cinda

Nice!!! we are doing South America as well in December ---> Buenos Aires to Santiago.

 

We have hired local guides in BA, Punta Del Este, Puerto Madryn, Puerto Montt, and Santiago.

 

Heather

One last question: Who are you using for for Puerto Madryn?

Cinda

Thanks for the species #s, they are impressive and will be mostly lifers for us. Did you enter them on ebird?.

Yes I use ebird. Here are my checklists:

Grand Cayman -- 41 species: https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22264007 ; https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22243800 ; https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22244121

https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22244068

Colombia -- 93 species/7hrs: https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22244175

Panama -- 93 species/6hrs; https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22263050

Costa Rica -- 60 species/6hrs (even though it was a wet day!) https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22263523

Belize -- 77 species/6hrs https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22263692 https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22263017

Cozumel -- 70 species/ 5 hrs. https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S22263352

Nice!!! we are doing South America as well in December ---> Buenos Aires to Santiago.

 

We have hired local guides in BA, Punta Del Este, Puerto Madryn, Puerto Montt, and Santiago.

 

Heather

We are sailing from LA 3 Dec - BA 3 January. I checked the schedules to see if we were in port together. Of course, no. We are heading in opposite directs but our paths cross. Looks like it will be "2 ships passing in the night" as we port in Puerto Madryn on the 30th and you port there on the 29th.

My guides:

Buenos Aires: 1/2/18 -- Diego Gallegos

Ushuaia: 12/26/17 -- Esteban Daniels

Lima: 12/14/17 -- Alejandro Tello

Have tours for:

Falkland Islands -- Volunteer Point

Punta Arenas -- Magdalena Island & Penguin Reserve

I'm looking for a guide for Valparaiso Chile or Puerto Montt Chile & also Puerto Madryn AR. If you wouldn't mind sharing your guide info for these places, I would appreciate it.

Cinda

Hello all cruise ship birders. I'm scheduled for a Los Angeles to Buenos Aires cruise 3 Dec 2017 and have hired some local guides. I'll post info here and hopefully my checklists.

Cinda

Not sure if anyone here knows about this thread, but I started a new one for Birding & Cruising (not specific to the Caribbean):

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2527845

 

Hoping all birders who cruise unite and share their global stories! our next cruise is South America and cannot wait to report back with Southern Hemisphere specialities :)

 

Heather

Hi Heather! I'll check that board. Amazing, we are also doing a SA cruise. When is yours? Ours is 3 December 2017 on the Emerald Princess. I've scheduled with some private guides, and reached out on CC looking for birders, but no luck :(

Cinda

We have just booked birding tour with Carefree Birding tours for Jan 29 2018 on Celebrity Reflection. Kevin Karlson will be a guide. Will visit Grand Cayman, Costa Rica, Colombia, Cozumel and Panama. This is our first trip south of Florida so we are sure to get lots of life birds.

You Made a Great Choice!

I sailed with Carefree Birding in 2015 and pretty much the same itinerary. I loved it and saw over 150 life species. We were accompanied by James Currie of the "Nikkon Birding Adventure" show. I can't express how great it was to see so many birds in that period of time & so easy. I usually hire my own guides when I travel, but this was awesome. In Panama, there were so many birds that it was hard to see them all. The local guides were very knowledgeable (ears/eyes) Here is a total of species seen @ each port.

Grand Cayman -- 36 species

Colombia -- 91 species/7hrs

Panama -- 89 species/6hrs

Costa Rica -- 60 species/6hrs (even though it was a wet day!)

Belize -- 77 species/6hrs

Cozumel -- 70 species/ 5 hrs.

Ken & Linda of Carefree Birding are so much fun and really take care of everyone. They balance each other well. Ken wore his signature pink Crocs most times! James Currie was one of the presenters for the Celebrity cruise. He's a very interesting guy from South Africa with lots of stories.

If you want specifics, feel free to email me: jackcin at juno dot com

Say hi to Ken & Linda for me!

Cinda Crosley

near Austin, TX

Heather,

i'm anxious to hear about your Tuscan birding!!

If you do the Caribbean, let me know if you need help with some of the ports.

Cinda

Hi Cinda - what is a carefree birding cruise?.... we could not find any birders on the roll call :(

Heather

Carefree Birding is a company (2 very personable individuals/ Ken & Linda) that arrange birding groups on different cruises. Google them. They have a website.

I have always made my own arrangements, so this was definitely different for me. James Currie from "Nikon Birding Adventures" was the lead in our group of 18. Each port had a local guide prearranged. Ken & Linda are a blast.

This is a GREAT idea.

Thanks, Dena

That's what gave Ken the idea. There is a whole write up about it on their website. I had heard about it from a couple that I birded with in Jamaica. Also Kevin Karlson was leading a birding group @ Galveston (TX) Featherfest and he mentioned that he lead some of these trips for Ken & Linda, so I checked it out.

Happy birding everyone,

Cinda

Well, I did something I never thought I would do. I joined a 'Carefree Birding cruise' with Ken & Linda on the Equinox last March. James Currie was along with his cameraman Jeff filming episodes for his Nikon Birding Adventures which is on Destination America channel. He also was the Enrichment Speaker. We hit 6 ports and 6 birding sites. It is not your usual birding group. There were 18 of us and we birded: Cartegena on a private ranch, Colon on the old US Fort with Carlos Bethancourt from Canopy Towers, Puerto Limon rural area with local guide; Queen Elizabeth Botanical Park, Grand Cayman; Cozumel; and Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize.

It was a blast and I may do it again someday.

Cinda

As a "birder" I particularly enjoyed your flora/fauna photos, but everything was great. Thanks for doing this.

Cinda

I'm back to Jamaica in 2 wks and have hired Wendy Lee again to bird Cockpit Country. She tells me there are two of us on the Independence booked with her that day. So, Bruce if you are out there lurking, I'll see you on the 12th.

Cinda

Thank you for the information Rob's Chickaee. I'll let you know how it works out for me.

Cinda

Have you considered hiring a birding guide? We did that in Puerto Rico & Hawaii and had wonderful experiences.

We are cruising in Hawaii in June and I was wondering which Islands you birded and if you might recommend a guide.

Thanks,

Cinda

Hey ya'll,

I have 3 cruises set for the Caribbean this year and plan to bird in several areas:

Dominica: 19 endemics! I've hired Bertrand Jno Baptiste. Very reasonable. Supplies transportation from Roseau

Puerto Rico: Hilda Morales! Staying one day post cruise for endemics in the North. Hilda requests birder to (rent a car) provide own transportation. (Gabriel Lugo is not available ;(()

Jamaica: 28 endemics! Hired Wendy Lee. Great conservationalist for the island. Supplies transportation from Falmouth Port to Cockpit Country.

St. Lucia: 2 endemic parrots! Still working on it!!

Happy Birding,

Cinda

1. arrive couple of days early in San Juan, take the rain forest tour, check out the parks in town and near the harbor mouth..

Last year I hired Gabriel Lugo as a guide during our cruise ship stop in San Juan. I was very pleased. He has a great ear and was excellent. You can read about him on trip advisor. You can also check his bird lists on ebird.pr

Happy birding!!

Cinda

We are sailing the Liberty of the Seas from Miami on 3/5/2011 to San Juan, St. Martin, St. Thomas & Labadee, Haiti. We will dive @ one site and I get to bird (officially) @ one stop. Any recommendations or guides?

Cinda

Several years ago, we did this. Turned out to be a promotion for vacation timeshares.

After 6-9 months of bugging them, we, (2 People) finally received our free, $300 cruise. We sailed from Miami on the Majesty in an inside stateroom for 4 nights. Not the worst cruise or the worst price, but won't go through that again. It was only due to my husbands persisting that we got it.