BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//jEvents 2.0 for Joomla//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT UID:b94f0ae7c99cc24b26baff4de69207d4 CATEGORIES:Central America CREATED:20170802T115038 SUMMARY:Honduras: The Lodge at Pico Bonito DESCRIPTION:Perhaps you've savored a week in San Blas, Nayarit, plowing through the Wes t Mexican endemics, all the while based in one delightful hotel and working your way through Betty's wonderful menu. A week at The Lodge at Pico Boni to in Honduras is the east coast mirror of that experience, with an entirel y different suite of birds. The Lodge itself is a modern facility situated on 400 acres of prime birding habitat. Tropical birds abound on the ground s, and field trips to the nearby coast and mountains encompassed by Pico Bo nito National Park all lie with easy reach. Public and private wildlife ref uges and botanical gardens are also on the docket. A multitude of toucans, trogons, and dazzling neon tanagers will elicit sighs, mews, and even gasps of delight, and there is no better location in Central America for the vel vet purple and royal blue tree ornament that is a Lovely Cotinga. A visit t o one of the three observation towers onsite should reveal this and many ot her canopy-dwelling gems best enjoyed from a lofty locale. Not all the bird s will come as easily, of course, but with luck we may encounter Ornate Haw k-Eagle, Spectacled Owl, Great Potoo, Purple-crowned Fairy, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Turqoise-browed Motmot, and Chestnut-colored Woodpecker. At Pic o Bonito we have a realistic chance of seeing all of them. The extremely lo cal and endemic Honduran Emerald will lead us to its nearby cactus-clad hau nts that seem so improbable juxtaposed with Pico Bonito's towering rain for ests. If a relaxing week in a luxuriant eco-lodge surrounded by a tropical tapestry of bird song appeals, please join us this winter in a birder's par adise at Pico Bonito Lodge.\nAdding extra days before arriving at the Lodge at Pico Bonito on our Highlands & Copán Ruins pre-tour (/tours/central -america/eventdetail/52/-/honduran-highlands-pre-tour.html) allows us to ad d up to 200 species to the entire Honduras experience! We’ll begin at a sim ple but comfortable inn near the entrance of La Tigra National Park. Relati vely easy, open trails make for a great birding experience here, as does ac cess to bromeliad-laden cloud forest and pine-oak woodland. Resplendent Que tzal, for example, is quite likely to grace us with its presence at the exp ansive La Tigra, the first national park established in Honduras. Singing Q uail, Wine-throated Hummingbird, Azure-crowned Hummingbird, Bushy-crested J ay, Blue-and-white Mockingbird and Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush are just a few other possibilities. It’s amazing to think all of this natural splen dor lies only 30 minutes from our arrival airport in the capital city of Te gucigalpa! We’ll spend our next two nights at the Panacam Lodge, shrouded i n lush cloud forest. In the Panacam lowlands, we‘ll seek Prevost’s Ground-S parrow and the black velvet Passerini’s Tanager, with its intensely scarlet rump. Birding near Lake Yojoa, bordered by the impressively steep mountain s of Cerro Azul National Park, may produce the seldom seen Keel-billed and Tody Motmots, the most occult members of their tribe. Black-crested Coquett e and Spectacled Foliage-Gleaner are two other charismatic species we’ll se ek. After absorbing a panoply of color at Panacam, we proceed onward to the equally bird-soaked region around the famous Mayan ruins at Copán. Occupie d for more than two thousand years, from 5th to 9th centuries A.D., Copán w as the capital city of a major Classic period kingdom. Images of the Scarle t Macaw are carved into stone throughout the complex, and efforts are under way to reintroduce this breathtaking species into the area. Featuring a wel l-preserved acropolis, ballcourt, hieroglyphic stairway, and impressive por trait stelae, a tour of this Mayan site will provide a foundation to unders tanding both the avifauna and the human culture of present-day Honduras.\nL eader: John Yerger\nCo st of our Honduras: The Lodge at Pico Bonito tour includes all meals and ac commodations, all entrance fees, and all transportation beginning and endin g in San Pedro Sula—$2695.\nCost of the Honduran Highlands pre-tour include s all meals and accommodations, all entrance fees, and all transportation b eginning and ending in Tegucigalpa and ending in San Pedro Sula—$2395.\nPho to: Lovely CotingaPhoto by: James Adams, copyright The Lodge at Pico Boni to\n (component/joomgallery/honduras-photo-gallery.html?Itemid=49)\nView Photo Gallery \n\n (index.php ?option=com_joomgallery&view=category&catid=12&Itemid=163) X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:
Perhaps you've savored a week in San Blas, Nayari t, plowing through the West Mexican endemics, all the while based in one de lightful hotel and working your way through Betty's wonderful menu. A week at The Lodge at Pico Bonito in Honduras is the east coast mirror of that experience, with an entirely different suite of birds. The Lodge itself is a modern facility situated on 400 acres of prime birding habitat. Tropical birds abound on the grounds, and field trips to the nearby coast and mountains encompassed by Pico Bonito National Park all lie with easy reach. Public and private wildlife refuges and botanical gar dens are also on the docket. A multitude of toucans, trogons, and dazzling neon tanagers will elicit sighs, mews, and even gasps of delight, and there is no better location in Central America for the velvet purple and royal b lue tree ornament that is a Lovely Cotinga. A visit to one of the three obs ervation towers onsite should reveal this and many other canopy-dwelling ge ms best enjoyed from a lofty locale. Not all the birds will come as easily, of course, but with luck we may encounter Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Spectacled Ow l, Great Potoo, Purple-crowned Fairy, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Turqoise-b rowed Motmot, and Chestnut-colored Woodpecker. At Pico Bonito we have a rea listic chance of seeing all of them. The extremely local and endemic Hondur an Emerald will lead us to its nearby cactus-clad haunts that seem so impro bable juxtaposed with Pico Bonito's towering rain forests. If a relaxing we ek in a luxuriant eco-lodge surrounded by a tropical tapestry of bird song appeals, please join us this winter in a birder's paradise at Pico Bonito L odge.
Leader:  ;John Yerger< /p>
Cost of our Honduras: The Lodge at Pico Bonito tour includes all meals and accommodations, all entrance fees, and all transportation beginning and ending in San Pedro Sula—$2695.
Cost of the Honduran Highlands pre-to ur includes all meals and accommodations, all entrance fees, and all tr ansportation beginning and ending in Tegucigalpa and ending in San Pedro Su la—$2395.
Photo: Lovely Cotin
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Photo b
y: James Adams, copyright The Lodge at Pico Bonito