Dear Friends,

Welcome to the August edition of our e-newsletter.

This Month's Newsletter Features

Join us for drinks at the British Birdwatching Fair

Once again, we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the annual British Birdwatching Fair, held at Rutland Water from Friday, 20th August to Sunday, 22nd August 2004 (inclusive). We also invite you to join us for a drink and ‘nibbles’ on Friday and/or Saturday, at 5 p.m. Please do join us. A great many of our staff, tour leaders and ground operators will be attending, including Paul Stanbury, Paul Dukes, David Mills, Andy Tucker, Phil Wadge and Debbie Ward from our office.

Panama – new tour for 2005

We are pleased to announce a new Bargain Birding tour to Panama for 2005 which will enable you to experience the Neotropical rainforest by living in it for a week at the famous Canopy Tower in Soberania National Park. Our busy Canopy Tower birdwatching programme also includes such top birding sites as Pipeline Road, Gamboa and Cerro Azul.

Please call Philip Wadge (or email: phil@naturetrek.co.uk) for a copy of the trip dossier and further details.

Trip Reports

New Zealand’s Natural History

Operations Manager Paul Dukes left his desk to lead the November departure of our ever-popular Natural History tour of New Zealand. Below is an account of his trip.

Unique is an overworked word but how else can you adequately describe the remarkable experiences that comprise a natural history tour of New Zealand? A dawn chorus containing the songs of Song Thrush, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Tui, Fantail and Bellbird issuing from a forest of tree-ferns, and moss-covered ancient trees give a flavour of the bizarre combinations of the familiar and exotic which characterise the birding in this extraordinary country. It is certainly the longest of long-hauls to reach New Zealand from Europe, but the 2003 Naturetrek group arrived raring to get into the field and within hours of arriving in Auckland we were admiring close-up views of nesting Australian Gannets at their Muriwai colony, a great start to the holiday. For the next 18 days we meandered through the best wildlife sites of both North and South Islands covering some 3,000 miles in our comfortable tour coach and enjoying an abundance of superlative scenery including the stunning mountains of the Southern Alps which formed the backdrop to many of the scenes in the 'Lord of the Rings' film trilogy. To read Paul Dukes' full synopsis click here.

Why not join our next trip which is running from 6th – 27th November 2004 and experience New Zealand ’s Natural History for yourself?

To view the trip dossier and full itinerary click here.

Or call Maryanne Mills (or email: maryanne@naturetrek.co.uk) for further details.

Estonia in Spring Trip Report

The relatively unspoilt former Soviet Republics offer some of the most exhilarating birdwatching experiences in modern Europe and this was amply demonstrated by our Estonia tour in May. This was a tour of intriguing contrasts as the group moved from scenes reminiscent of the British winter with fields filled with geese, to the heart of spring with butterflies on the wing, frantic nesting activity and the air filled with bird song. Excellent food, warm hospitality from our Estonian hosts and a great bird list made this a tour to remember. For Gerald Broddelez's detailed account of the tour please click here.

France - The Cevennes

In late May, leaders Peter Dunn and Jenny Willsher accompanied a group of Naturetrek clients in search of birds, plants and butterflies to the Cévennes, in the south-eastern corner of the Massif Central. The 8-day holiday was based in a pleasant and traditional village hotel from where the group enjoyed natural history day walks and excursions. To read the highlights of the trip written by Peter & Jenny, complete with colour photos, click here.

Spain's Picos de Europa Mountains

On the 12th June an enthusiastic group of Naturetrek clients commenced an extremely enjoyable and memorable 8-day holiday to the Picos de Europa Mountains in northern Spain. The participants witnessed some wonderful sightings of birds, plants and butterflies in addition to some spectacular scenery. To read the tour leader, Matthew Hobbs', report of this successful trip click here.

Peru’s Rainforest Mammals

The end of June saw another successful tour return from the Amazon Rainforest Conservation Centre, or ARCC for short (as in Noah’s). 148 bird species and 17 species of mammals were seen, including 7 monkey species, all of which were seen repeatedly. The highlights were some spectacular acrobatic displays from the Black Spider Monkeys, the morning wake-up calls of the beautifully coloured Red Howler Monkeys and the inquisitive antics of the Brown and White-fronted Capuchin Monkeys. But the stars of the show were the resident Giant River Otter family, which were seen on most days whilst at ARCC. One of our group wrote afterwards “I loved the Giant Otters and when they came playfully near our boat on the lake it was lovely!”

Recently an additional group of 4 Giant Otters have been sporadically visiting the 6 regular members of Lake Soledad ’s Otter family – an unusual occurrence, and we are also hoping that they will produce two or three young as usual this season. With luck our September and October groups will see the youngsters closely chaperoned by the family whilst they are still in their infancy. Caimans are one of their enemies, one of which has recently been estimated at nearly 6 metres in length. Although it is very secretive, its bellowing mating call can often be heard from the lodge on November nights. ARCC still think that there should be good chances for visiting the now very large Crested Eagle chick this Autumn (a slim version of a Harpy Eagle), which is now flying in the vicinity of its nest on one of the trails. The parrot and macaw clay-licks were quiet in June, but the end of the dry season should produce the best clay-lick activity, attracting large numbers of Red and Green Macaws and Mealy Parrots to feast on the clay in order to combat the acidity of the unripe seeds they are forced to consume at the end of the dry season. Although the tour highlights for most people have been the close views of a variety of endangered Neotropical mammals whilst based at the idyllic ARCC lodge, the bird life at ARCC is also spectacular and appreciated by even non-birdwatchers, where the birds are easily seen in often dazzling bright plumages around the lake edges.

For further details of this trip and to view our Slide Show click here.

Kazakhstan - Alpine flowers of the Tien Shan Mountains

Kazakhstan is perhaps little known to most people but its stunning scenery, flora and fauna make it one of our most highly rated destinations. The wonderful scenery of the Tien Shan Mountains and the abundant natural history of this huge Central Asian Republic have been enjoyed by many Naturetrek groups over the last ten years and Neil Anderson returned for the second time in three months to escort our most recent tour in late June. The principal focus of the tour was the colourful array of Alpine flora in the mountains but along the way the group encountered many interesting birds, mammals and insects. To read Neil's full account of the trip click here.

Special offers to India!

With our business to India booming this year, we have been able to negotiate some very favourable rates which, assisted by the weak US Dollar, have allowed us to reduce the cost of some of our India tours, as follows:

The National Parks of Southern India
Sat, 30th Oct – Wed, 17th Nov 2004
Sat, 29th Oct – Wed, 16th Nov 2005

Save £600! Price reduced from £2,895 to £2,295

Northern India & The Himalayan Foothills
Fri, 21st Jan – Sun, 6th Feb 2005

Save £200! Price reduced from £2,195 to £1,995

Arunachal Pradesh & Assam
Sun, 23rd Jan – Sun, 6th Feb 2005

Save £200! Price reduced from £2,995 to £2,795

Kulu & Ladakh’s Markha Valley
Fri, 22nd Jul – Fri, 12th Aug 2005

Save £100! Price reduced from £2,195 to £2,095

EIA PANNA TIGER TOUR
Fri, 4th Mar – Sun, 13th Mar 2005
Fri, 25th Nov – Sun, 4th Dec 2005
Bandhavgarh Extension available

Save £100! Price reduced from £1,795 to £1,695

Please contact Rajan Jolly, our Indian specialist, for further details on rajan@naturetrek.co.uk

Bargain Selection

We are pleased to announce confirmed dates and prices for our increasingly popular Bargain Selection range. We hope you will enjoy looking at the portfolio of destinations on offer, which we have expanded for 2005 to include Brazil, Ecuador’s Endemics and India’s Bharatpur.

These action-packed, long-haul birding and mammal tours – each led by an expert ornithologist / naturalist - offer excellent value for money, and outstanding birding and mammal-viewing.

To view a list of our Bargain Selection trips please click on one of the following links - Bargain Bird Tours | Bargain Mammals Tours.

Regional Departures

As a result of your feedback, we are increasingly aware that for many clients departing from regional airports, as opposed to London, is more preferable.

If you are aware that there is a flight departing from a convenient regional airport for one of our tours, please mention this when making your booking and we will endeavour to assist you in booking it.

Naturetrek Desktop Wallpapers

Operations Manager Paul Stanbury took some stunning images during his recce to Antarctica last winter. Some of his photos are now available as free downloadable desktop wallpapers. Click here to see them.

Please see below for late availability. Do not hesitate to give us a call on 01962 733051 if we can help with any queries or questions.

Kind regards,

The Naturetrek Team

If you would prefer not to hear from us in this way, please email remove@naturetrek.co.uk

For more information on any of our holidays please call us on 01962 733051