2012 Tour Details

 FAIR ISLE & SHETLAND ISLANDS, UK       FULL

Date:    18th - 28th May  (Friday till Monday)

Tour leader:  Ian Cowgill

Cost of Tour:  £1295  (2080 USD, 1510 EURO)  Single supplement is £40. full deposit is £400.  This tour starts at Edinburgh Airport. The price includes return flights between Edinburgh & Sumburgh, Shetland with Flybe, as well as return flights from Tingwall, Shetland to Fair Isleand with Direct Flights. Accomodation is in single/double/twin bedded hotel/guest house/bird observatory rooms for 10 nights, all meals (including packed lunches), all ground transportation including ferry trips and minibus, and all guiding services throughout. Excluded are travel/personal insurance, drinks, gratuities and items of a personal nature.

Party Size: Maximum of 6 (excluding Tour leader)

Areas to be visited: Various habitats will be visited in search of birds including sea coast and beach, heather moorland, pine and deciduous forest, wet marsh, freshwater lakes and ponds, farmland and short grassland. We will also be visiting the broch on Mousa Island to see and hear the Storm Petrel colony.

General Information: The weather in Shetland can be variable at this time of year, and a selection of layers will be required, including pullover, raincoat, waterproof trousers, gloves and hats. Walking boots/and or Wellingtons are also required. There are no special health requirements but please make sure you bring all your personal medications. The pace of the tour will be mostly gentle. As there will be some short sea crossings on Shetland please bring along any medication required to prevent seasickness.

Travel Insurance for this trip is available with INSURE & GO from £6.00 (excluding any pre-existing medical conditions). See http://www.insureandgo.com/ for details (This includes Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance cover of £1000)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO TAKE A LOOK AT A DETAILED ITINERARY FOR THIS HOLIDAY PLEASE GO TO THE "HOLIDAYS" PAGE AND CLICK ON THE TOUR TITLE TO BRING UP THE PDF FILE

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SOUTH AFRICA

Date:    4th - 16th September   (Tuesday till Sunday)

Tour leaders: Ian Cowgill & one of the Tropical Birding pro guides (name to be confirmed)

Cost of Tour:  £2295 (3625 USD, 2705 EURO)  (single room supplement is £270; full deposit is £400 per person (PLEASE NOTE: The Balance payment will be requested around the 4th July as long as we have the minimum number. If the trip is cancelled full deposit payments are fully refundable) The price includes accomodation in quality twin bedded hotel rooms for 12 nights, all meals and non-bar drinks, all ground transportation including airport transfers, pelagic trip fee and reserve entrance fees, and all guiding services throughout. Excluded are insurance, soft and alchoholic drinks and snacks, laundry services, gratuities and items of a personal nature. Please note that this tour starts and finishes at Cape Town International Airport. You will meet your guides in the arrivals hall between 10:30 & 11:00 hrs on Tuesday 4th September. Flights for UK based customers are available from London Heathrow with South African Airways for £841.00 return (price correct as of late February 2012) departing at 21:00 on the 3rd, arriving at 10:05 on the 4th.The return flight is on the 16th departing at 18:50 and arriving  Heathrow at 06:20 on the 17th. Other flights are available with Virgin Atlantic & BA departing at 21:00 & 19:30 hrs respectively  on the 3rd. (see www.flysaa.com to book) IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU BOOK YOUR FLIGHTS AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE.

Party Size:  Maximum of 10 (excluding leaders). Minimum number for the tour to go ahead is 5.

Areas to be visited:  We will be birding in the Western Cape region but this will mean travelling some distance by road transport on a couple of occasions. There is an impressive diversity of habitats that we will visit including the coastal fynbos, the semi-desert of the Little Karoo, the forests at Knysna and the grasslands and scrub of the Agulhas Plain. We will also be birding from a boat on a Simonstown Pelagic on day 2 or 3 (depending on weather conditions). 11 endemic or near endemic species are possible. See http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/checklist.jsp?region=zawc&list=clements for an up to date bird list of the Western Cape region. The Cape is also famous for its spring flowers in September and a good variety of mammals should be seen.

General Information: The weather in South Africa during September is usually cool or warm so you will need a few layers of light clothing and coats. Walking boots or sturdy shoes are recommended. There are a number of health requirements before travel so please consult your GP a few weeks in advance. The overall pace of the holiday is easy to moderate.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO TAKE A LOOK AT A DETAILED ITINERARY FOR THIS HOLIDAY PLEASE GO TO THE "HOLIDAYS" PAGE AND CLICK ON THE TOUR TITLE TO BRING UP THE PDF FILE.

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GOA (India)

Date:    10th - 25th November  (Saturday till Sunday)

Tour leaders: Paul Hobson & one of the Backwoods guides (name to be confirmed)

Cost of Tour:  £1695 (2720 USD, 1975 EURO)  (single room supplements are £240 for the hotel and £35 for Backwoods; full deposit is £200 per person, also you can upgrade your flight to the premium cabin for an additional £264 per person. The price includes return flights between London Gatwick and Goa with Monarch Airlines, accomodation in double/twin bedded hotel rooms for 10 nights and twin-bedded tents/cottages for 4 nights, breakfasts at the hotel and all meals at Backwoods, all ground transportation including boat trips and all guiding services throughout. Excluded are insurance, visa (£30), drinks and snacks, camera fees for reserves, gratuities and items of a personal nature. PLEASE NOTE: This tour (flights and hotel) is fully protected through the ATOL bonding and ABTA membership of our package holiday provider COSMOS HOLIDAYS.

Party Size:  Maximum of 12 (excluding leaders). Minimum number for the tour to go ahead is 6.

Areas to be visited:  Being the smallest state in India, birding in Goa means travelling relatively short distances. There is an impressive diversity of habitats that we will visit including sandy beaches, shallow inland lakes, marshes, mangrove-lined estuaries, rocky plateau, scrub forest and the semi-tropical forests of the Western Ghats mountain range. This is an excellent introduction to Indian sub-continent birding, especially as a number of Indian endemic species should be seen.

General Information: The weather in Goa during November is usually hot and dry (33C average daytime high) so you will need only a couple of layers of light clothing since even overnight temperatures average around 22C. Walking boots or sturdy shoes are recommended. There are a number of health requirements before travel so please consult your GP a few weeks in advance. Visas are required. The overall pace of the holiday is easy, and there will be opportunities to take some time out for further relaxation on request.

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  Isles of Scilly, UK

Date:      13th-20th October (Saturday till Saturday)

Tour Leader:  Gary Hobson

Cost Breakdown:   £825 (1325 USD, 965 EURO)  (single supplement is £35), full deposit is £200 per person. This tour starts at Newquay Airport. The price includes return flights from Newquay to St.Mary's with Skybus, accomodation in double/twin bedded hotel rooms for 7 nights, all breakfasts at the hotel and the first nights dinner, and your guiding services throughout. Dinners will be available at the hotel for the duration of your stay at an additional cost of £15 per meal, and the menu will be put out at breakfast so you can choose whether to eat "in house" or not. Also included will be two return boat trips to other islands. Excluded are lunches, 6 nights dinner, all drinks, travel insurance, parking at Newquay Airport (£56 for the week [2011 rates]), gratuities and items of a purely personal nature. Please note that the accomodation on offer is not a guesthouse or B+B, it is a 2 star accredited and beautifully appointed hotel in a prime location by Hugh Town beach. One of the recent guest reviews read as follows "We have returned for the fourth or fifth time because of the convenience of the hotel to the harbour but more particularly for the warm welcome, quaint layout, good food and fantastic views over the yacht harbour. It is like coming home to the family and we have already booked our holiday there for next year! I think this says it all".

Party Size:  Maximum of 12 (including tour leader). Minimum number for the tour to go ahead is 6.

Areas to be visited:  The majority of the birding will be done on the main island St. Mary's. This island has a wide variety of habitats including lowland heath, coastal grassland, tamarisk hedgerow and shelter belts, rocky sea coast headlands, freshwater marsh and pools, granite walls and inter-island salt waters. We will also visit Tresco which has the only extensive area of woodland on Scilly, but also holds dune systems and large freshwater pools. The other three main islands are St. Martin's, St Agnes & Bryher. We will also visit at least one of these.

General Information:  The weather on the Isles is usually very mild even in October but there are occasional days of strong north-westerlies when the temperature can drop significantly. Therefore, a couple of layers are recommended, along with waterproof coat and trousers. Boat crossings can be choppy so it is advisable to wear waterproofs in these conditions. All the usual facilities are available on St. Mary's including banks, cash till, restaurants, pubs, cafes, post office, grocery shop, doctors surgery and hospital etc. The only utility that can be a problem is mobile phone reception. Only Vodafone and Orange have any service on the islands and even this can be hit and miss. If you have a walky talky or bird pagers then these are useful to take for up to date bird news. The overall pace of the holiday is mostly gentle and there will be ample ooportunity for "time out" from the bird chasing. The itinerary will be very flexible.

SOME PHOTOS FROM THE ISLES OF SCILLY September 2010 (by Gary Hobson)

The MV Scillonian III at the Quay, St. Mary's harbour, Hugh Town 

Porthcressa beach, St.Mary's