Birding trip NW Venezuela
7-14 March 2005 - general info (here) - daily report - photos of birding sites |
John van der Woude - www.jvanderw.nl |
As
a side trip of our stay at relatives on the Netherlands Antilles'
Curacao (only 30 minutes flight from Caracas) we have been birding for
8 days in northwest Venezuela. This was our 5th trip to this highly
varied tropical country, all from Curacao. We visited three altitudinal zones, from low to high: 1. Maracaibo basin lowlands: dry scrub and moist savanna near Maracaibo (Zulia state), 2. mid-elevation andean forests at Yacambú NP southwest of Barquisimeto (Lara state), and 3. high andean forest and paramo in Guaramacal NP at Bocono (Trujillo state). Only the latter site had we visited earlier (1998), but that was in the rain. Now we had splendid weather all the time. The aims of the trip were: seeing a great diversity of (forest) birds, getting some more lifers after the earlier trips to Venezuela and other southamerican countries, and trying out Maracaibo as a relatively new birding destination. For Yacambú we got birding and lodging info from Chris Sharpe, and for Maracaibo from Jurgen Beckers. For more general info about birding Yacambú and Guaramacal we used Goodwin's Birding in Venezuela.
Because
of the flight connections at Caracas when coming from Curacao, our best
option was flying to Maracaibo (the 2nd city of Venezuela) and also
back from there. Travel in the Maracaibo basin is fast so we didn't
bother too much about having to go back to Maracaibo again. This time
we did not rent a car, but traveled by taxis and buses (mainly taxis).
Bus fares are very low, but the private taxis cost us on average about
10 dollar or less per hour. The flights were with Aeropostal,
currently the carrier with the most flights in Venezuela (and
permitted to land in the USA, which is regarded as a quality proof).
Phone number inside Venezuela (for reconfirmation) was 0800 2846 637.
This
time we did not bring wellingtons, nor a scope, nor recording
equipment, but I brought a minidisc with the sounds of target species
plus a small speaker (which I use sparingly only). Our binoculars are
8x and 12x (Leica). This was the first time we used the superb new
Birds of Venezuela field guide by Hilty (2003). I cannot stress enough
how important this book is, especially because of the very detailed
descriptions (similar species, voice, behavior, habitat, range,
status). As a general map of Venezuela we used the 1:1400000 from
Reise Know-How (2002, 8 euro), and I printed quite a few detailed
regional sections from the map downloaded at www.gpsve.net. This site
is mainly for GPS-aficionados and before the trip I also stored some
important waypoints in my GPS-device (took them from those detailed
maps). Also, Jurgen had given me two GPS-waypoints for the Maracaibo
birding sites. Of course, for your convenience I also made new
GPS-waypoints in the field.
We
stayed at the following hotels:
1.
Maracaibo: hotel Aeropuerto, email hotelaeropuerto@cantv.net, phone
+58 (0)261 7875 881, fax +58 (0)261 7875 445, at GPS221. Good rate.
A
very reasonable hotel with good restaurant and a delicious swimming
pool. Motel-like, spacious, quiet, and safely enclosed. The hotel is
not really close to the airport, but near the main road to the
airport. Airport pickup possible.
Venicio
is one of the hotel taxi drivers, and he also patiently drove us along
the dirt roads west of Maracaibo (the Campo Boscan savanne area). His
son Jendry is also a taxi driver (at a posh hotel), and he brought us
to the dry scrub site of Cabimas and we continued with him all the way
to Sanare (Yacambú).
2.
Sanare (for Yacambú NP): lodge El Encanto (www.posadaelencanto.com) at c. 10 km SW of Sanare,
phone +58 (0)253 4490 784 (and 639). A splendid place to be, with an
enormous view across the valley (see photo), and a good restaurant.
The restaurant (also called El Encanto) is at 4 km from the lodge back
to Sanare but you will be brought to the restaurant whenever you like
(breakfast is at the lodge itself). The owner of the lodge is Manuel,
a former naval captain and he speaks English. The restaurant is owned
by his sister. Manuel will arrange everything for you, like the drive
(with his assistant José Alberto as driver) into the national park
(with packed lunch), picking you up there again wherever and whenever
you like, and finding a reasonably priced taxi for the drive to Bocono.
He will also arrange airport pickup at Barquisimeto. Thoroughly
recommended! By the way, the road from Sanare/El Encanto SW down to El
Vigiadero (near El Tocuyo) has been improved so you can reach El
Encanto from both sides. 3. Bocono (for Guaramacal NP): hotel Vega del Rio, phone +58 (0)272 6522 992 (or 493), at GPS232, at 1200 m altitude. In the northern outskirts of this provincial town, near the road to Trujillo, and about 1,5 km from the new bus station. A reasonable hotel with a quiet location and a reasonable restaurant. The arrangement (via the waiter) to have a 4WD car into the national park failed but then we found rather quickly another driver nearby. Staying more in the center of this town may have the advantage of finding a regular 4WD driver more easily (not sure about this). Taxi driver at the hotel ensures easy transport from and to the bus station. The bus connection to Maracaibo (via Valera) is frequent, about once per hour.
Birding
sites:
1a.
Campo Boscan. This llanos-type oil field west of Maracaibo (pointed
out to me by Jurgen Beckers) holds a good variety of lowland bird
species. There is dry savanna, wet savanna, woodlands and scrubs, and
all birding can be done from the many dirt roads. See map for how to
find this area, but do take enough time to find your way inside this
area. Most dirt roads are
freely accessible, but the more interesting (southern) ones have gates
(mostly of the oil company). We entered the gate at GPS216 by friendly
asking the gatekeeper (and giving him a small tip when we left), but I
am not sure if this will always work.
Some
of the better species we got here were Dwarf Cuckoo, Northern
Scrub-Flycatcher, Russet-throated Puffbird (single-banded type),
White-naped Xenopsaris, Grey Pileated-Finch, King Vulture.
1b.
Cabimas. East of Maracaibo (so on the east side of Lake Maracaibo) is
the town Cabimas, situated in an extensive dry scrub area. The dirt
road/track we birded (see map) was on the east side of the main road
to Barquisimeto, although Jurgen visited the area on the west side.
This dirt track was very nice, and in the early morning hours we saw,
during only 2 hours or so, several of the specialties here (see
below). If you come here with a rental car, then you may want to drive
the track for some distance (2WD passable, unless after rains maybe)
and not leave it at the main road. Maybe you can also ask the friendly
people who live at the start of the track, to keep an eye on your car.
This is typically where a taxi is easier, also because it is only a
short drive from Maracaibo.
For more details of the birding sites, read the daily reports. |
GPS-waypoints
(in WGS84): GPS213 N10°19'55,48" W072°01'06,05" GPS214 N10°19'51,45" W072°00'44,44" GPS215 N10°20'12,15" W072°00'31,10" GPS216 N10°21'08,69" W071°59'57,18" GPS217 N10°21'45,62" W071°59'35,27" GPS218 N10°23'07,15" W071°58'46,70" GPS219 N10°25'28,57" W071°58'58,67" GPS220 N10°29'09,85" W071°59'00,31" GPS221 N10°37'32,35" W071°39'18,98" GPS222 N10°30'56,95" W071°26'51,42" GPS223 N10°30'59,50" W071°27'29,42" GPS224 N09°42'55,06" W069°41'37,04" GPS225 N09°42'09,65" W069°35'41,51" GPS226 N09°42'24,81" W069°35'45,39" GPS227 N09°14'19,02" W070°11'05,57" GPS228 N09°14'11,12" W070°11'22,70" GPS229 N09°14'48,16" W070°12'32,15" GPS230 N09°15'03,40" W070°12'56,94" GPS231 N09°15'09,15" W070°12'47,50" GPS232 N09°15'07,61" W070°16'34,88" GPS233 N10°25'28,32" W071°59'00,21" GPS234 N12°04'41,68" W068°52'10,83" |