Vietnam:
Birds & Culture
October 29-November 13, 2024
Your place on this Venture is reserved with your completed registration and deposit of $700/person are submitted. Deposit may be made via the ‘book now’ button above, or by contacting the Ventures office. We accept credit cards for an additional fee (2.9% for MC, Visa, Discover; 3.9% for AmEx), but you may also pay by bank transfer via our website. If paying by cash, check, or money order (payable to ‘VENTURES BIRDING’), please mail in your payment with a paper registration form to PO Box 1095, Skyland, NC 28776, or contact our office. This Venture is limited to 10 participants.
Cost of Vietnam: Birds & Culture Venture: $6,595 per person, based on double occupancy, from Ho Chi Minh; $625 – single supplement Price includes: All land transportation in air-conditioned private tour bus, all accommodations as per itinerary, all meals from dinner on arrival day to lunch on final day, all entrance fees & permits for birding sites and sightseeing tours, jeep transportation at Cat Tien National Park & Dalat, domestic flights, boat ride at Van Long Nature Reserve, services of 2 guides (one Ventures Guide & one local guide) throughout, mineral water throughout. Not included: Vietnam visa, personal travel insurance (compulsory), International flights to/from Vietnam, drinks (other than mineral water), telephone calls, laundry, tips and other items of a personal nature.
Experience the best birding and cultural highlights of Vietnam, one of Southeast Asia’s most bird-rich nations, on this brand new, 16-day tour.
Held back by decades of economic struggle in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, this lush, avian-rich country has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in recent years, and for good reason! Its ever-improving infrastructure means it is now easier to explore than ever, and with its wealth of endemic and near-endemic bird species, and 24 species of primate, Vietnam offers much allure to both visiting birders and naturalists alike.
Our 16-day tour has been designed to showcase the very best of Vietnam’s birding & cultural highlights, and we will do all we can to find as many endemics and regional endemics as possible while also setting adequate time aside to visit several cultural and historical attractions. Beginning in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon), we explore the fantastic Cat Tien National Park, one of Vietnam’s primary hotspots and the largest remaining area of lowland tropical forest in southern Vietnam. The park is home to a variety of highly sought-after species, from the endemic Orange-necked Partridge and Germain’s Peacock-Pheasant to the endangered Green Peafowl and such near-endemics as Blue-rumped and Bar-bellied Pittas, Gray-faced Tit-Babbler, and the beautiful Siamese Fireback, among many others. After 3 full days exploring Cat Tien, we move up in elevation to the cooler climes and montane coniferous forests of the Dalat Plateau, home of the endemic Dalat Shrike-Babbler. Other endemics found here include Vietnamese Greenfinch, Black-crowned Fulvetta, Orange-breasted & Collared Laughingthrushes, and Gray-crowned Crocias. Our tour finishes up in the far north of the country, at Cuc Phuong National Park, an area of limestone hills covered with primary rainforest. Here we will search for such specialties as Pied Falconet, Eared Pitta, Silver-breasted Broadbill, and the breathtaking Fijian Niltava, just to name a few.
In addition to all the endemic and near-endemic bird targets on this tour, we can expect to find a colorful array of broadbills, hornbills, pittas, kingfishers, woodpeckers, mynas, and sunbirds, plus a diversity of primates, including the critically endangered Delacour’s Langur, Black-shanked Douc Langur, Silvered Langur, and Buff-cheeked Gibbon. For cultural attractions, we will visit: Hoi An, a major trading port in the 17th and 18th centuries, known for its relaxed lifestyle, colorful market, and 400-year old Japanese covered bridge; Hue, the former imperial capital, where we will see the Imperial Citadel and the impressive, seven-tiered Thien Mu Pagoda; and My Son, a site of ruined Hindi temples and red brick towers nestled in a lush green valley, that was once the religious center and capital of the former Champa Kingdom.
Some of the birds we hope to see: Orange-necked Partridge, Silver Pheasant, Siamese Fireback, Green Peafowl, Scaly-breasted Partridge, Germain's Peacock-Pheasant, Woolly-necked Stork, Lesser Adjutant, White-bellied, Great Slaty, Pale-headed, Black-and-buff & Heart-spotted Woodpeckers; Pied Falconet, Silver-breasted Broadbill, Blue, Rusty-naped, Blue-rumped & Bar-bellied, and Eared Pittas; Indochinese Cuckooshrike, Dalat Shrike-Babbler, White-winged Magpie, Slender-billed Oriole, Gray-faced Tit-Babbler, Black-throated Tit, Limestone Leaf Warbler, Annam Limestone Babbler, Black-headed Parrotbill, Black-crowned Fulvetta, Gray-crowned Crocias, Vietnamese Cutia, White-cheeked, Black-hooded, Orange-breasted and Collared Laughingthrushes, Yellow-billed Nuthatch, Hume's Treecreeper, White-tailed Flycatcher, Fujian Niltava, Vietnamese Greenfinch, and many, many more.
Mammals: Leopard Cat, Lesser Mousedeer, Gaur, Black-shanked Douc Langur, Silvered Langur, Delacour's Langur, and Buff-cheeked Gibbon, among others