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BHUTAN - BIRDING, CULTURE & NATURAL HISTORYBirding Focused
Dates: November 25-December 11, 2008
Price: $4,652 from Bangkok

We are happy to announce our 4th WBA tour to the Himalayan Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan. Nestled between India and Tibet, Bhutan is culturally fascinating, habitat-rich and teeming with over 600 bird species, including some of the most exotic and rare species in the eastern Himalayas. The Buddhist philosophy of respect for all living things and a progressive government approach to development have nurtured a healthy environment where flora and fauna flourish. As a result, Bhutan lies in an area designated as one of the world’s ten biodiversity hotspots.

As you may know, independent travel in Bhutan is not permitted. All visitors must be guided by Bhutanese tour guides. We work with a small company that specializes in birding and natural history, as well as culture – a perfect fit with WBA. Having traveled with them for a total of 10 weeks in three visits, we consider them dear and trusted friends. WBA will return this year for another spectacularly rewarding exploration of the natural and cultural wonders of this magical mountain kingdom. Our trip will combine camping and inns, day-hiking and road travel, birding and cultural explorations, high altitude Himalayan habitats and moist lowland forests. Bhutan has been open to tourism only since the late 1970s. It is growing fast in popularity and in population. Even with an impressively forward-thinking government, change is occurring rapidly.

Our itinerary begins with our flight into Paro on Day 1, heading east by road that day to the capital city of Thimphu. After spending a day hiking and birding around and ancient hilltop monastery, we’ll camp and continue northeast to visit the majestic Punakha Dzong and keep our eyes open for the rare Pallas’ Fish Eagle. Continuing north into Jigme Dorji National Park, we’ll camp, hike and bird in the lush forest along the river Mo. From there, we visit Punakha and its impressive dzong (secular and monastic regional headquarters) and look for the rare and endangered White-bellied Heron. From Punakha, we head to Wangdi and south to explore the low elevation habitat along the gorgeous turquoise Kame river where we’ll look for the endemic primate Golden Langhur and Great Hornbills. Then we head east over Pele La pass into the Black Mountains and the Trongsa valley. We’ll continue east into the Bumthang region, with one night at an inn at Jakar, two nights camping near Yongkhola, a night at Mongar to take in the local tsechu (festival), and back to Jakar and Trongsa. Then we’ll head for the Phobjikha Valley, winter home of the rare Black-necked Cranes. A visit to the monastery and a hike into the valley to watch the cranes come in to roost makes this day a highlight of the trip. We’ll work our way back to Paro by way of Wangdi and Dochu La pass, spending our last three nights at a lovely inn amid the farmlands in the Paro Valley. From Paro, we’ll take a side trip up to Cheli La pass at nearly = 14,000 feet with stunning views of the Himalaya and possibilities of seeing Lammergeiers. Our second side trip from Paro will be to hike up to the Taktshang (Tiger’s Nest) monastery, built into a cliff wall as dramatic as the walls of Yosemite valley. A party at our guide’s family farm will bring our trip to a sad but sweet close.

Our WBA leader for this tour is Aaron Lang. Aaron spent two winters in Tibet working with the International Crane Foundation on environmental education curricula using the endangered Black-necked Crane as the focal point for understanding ecosystems. He has extensive experience birding in Asia and is the lead author of the annotated list of wintering birds in the greater Lhasa region of Tibet, published in 2007 in Forktail. It will be a treat for him to see Black-necked Cranes in their Bhutanese wintering grounds. Aaron has worked for WBA since 2002 and has consistently impressed our participants with his sharp-eyed birding skills, knowledge of natural history, unfailing sense of humor and people skills.