TRINIDAD & TOBAGO NATURE

• You are met on arrival at Trinidad’s Piarco airport and driven to Pax Guest House–your base for the next 3 nights. This characterful but simple birders retreat is set on a monastic estate. Raptors and hummingbirds are the main attraction here, not all rooms have en-suite facilities, so if you prefer you could stay in a more comfortable guesthouse or hotel in Port of Spain.

• In the morning visit Point-a-Pierre Wild Fowl Trust, with a picnic lunch. • Late in the afternoon go by flat bottomed boat (with your guide but boats may be shared with others) to explore Caroni Swamp and watch scarlet ibis fly in to roost.

• Head for the magnificently wild East Coast, driving alongside long palm-backed beaches from Manzanilla to Mayaro to visit Nariva Swamp and Bush Bush Nature Reserve. • Either by starting out early or staying until dusk you could see red-bellied macaws.

• Private transfer by road to Asa Wright, Trinidad’s premier birding lodge, for 3 nights. Settle in and take an orientation tour of the property

• As well as many different species of birds there are good possibilities of seeing agoutis, pacas, iguanas and blue morpho butterflies. The flora here is also magnificent

• To limit the disturbance to the birds this is reserved for guests staying at the lodge for 3 nights or more. • Other optional excursions are available from the lodge.

• Transfer by road to the quiet village of Grande Riviere on Trinidad’s northeast corner, to stay for 2 nights at the laid-back Mount Plaisir Estate, set right on the beach.

• Private transfer by road back to the airport to take the short flight to Tobago. • On arrival you will be collected and taken to Cuffie River, a small lodge on the edge of the western hemisphere’s oldest preserved rainforest your base for 3 nights . • Your host, Regina, will look after you well.

• A local guide will accompany you on the Gilpin Trace trail into the rainforest where you have the chance of see wild vivid red heliconia and the lovely blue-crowned motmot. Bats even fly during the daytime in dark sections of the forest. The star find here is the near endemic white-tailed sabrewing hummingbird which has a display lek near the trail. • Continue on to the beachfront Blue Waters Inn where you stay for the next 3 nights

• This morning you visit Little Tobago island by glass-bottomed boat. • Here you can see impressive flocks of frigatebirds, boobies, terns and the elegant and delicate red-billed tropicbird. • Afternoon free

• Private transfer to the airport for the short flight back to Trinidad in time for your international flight home