JANUARY 14 - 23, 2011
COST PER PERSON, DOUBLE OCCUPANCY: $3600
SINGLE SUPPLEMENT: $750
DEPOSIT: $500
From Tucson; includes nine nights lodging, all meals (gourmet) from the first night to our return to Tucson, beverages (including alco-hol), excursions, guides, taxes & tips.
Not included: Air to Tucson, laundry, phone calls, other personal expenses
Easy with a couple of moderately strenuous hikes of up to 2 miles that are optional.
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For several years now, our trips to friendly Sonora, Mexico have been in great demand. The colonial town of Alamos has especially charmed our guests. As in past years, we are especially pleased to offer to our guests a singularly unique lodging in Alamos: The Hacienda de los Santos, a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World.
Hacienda de Los Santos was built in the late 17th century for a wealthy silver baron. It has been lovingly restored and expanded by the Swickard family: Jim, Nancy and daughter, Jamie. The Swickards live on the premises and manage the The Hacienda. Their warm hospitality makes the Inn that much more attractive, and they often join guests at the gourmet dinners served in their fine restaurant. Guests will be staying in spacious mini-suites. The bar offers over 400 different Tequilas, perhaps the most extensive collection anywhere. The on-site spa offers a full menu of treatments at a rea-sonable cost. Three swimming pools are available on grounds to guests. We are confident that your stay at the Hacienda will be an experience you will never forget!
We’ll spend the first and last nights in Tucson. We’ll break up the trip going down by staying in the charming seaside town of San Carlos. Our rooms will overlook the beach at the San Carlos Plaza, a de-luxe hotel. This year, we may also be able to offer an option of flying down from Tucson on the Hacienda’s chartered plane. You would get an additional night in Alamos to compensate for the lost night in San Carlos. We can give you a price for that if interested.
DAY ONE: Upon arrival in Tucson, you can take the free shuttle to the Marriott Courtyard Inn at the Airport. We will meet at 6:00 PM. Dinner will be downtown at the renowned Café Poca Cosa.
DAY TWO: Breakfast provided by Courtyard starting at 6:00. Meet at 7:30 to load the van and get on the road to San Carlos. The trip is about four hours, and we’ll stop periodically to let you stretch your legs, use restroom, have lunch, etc. Don’t hesitate to let us know if you need to stop at some point. Box lunch at about 11:30 AM. Arrive San Carlos Plaza about about 5:30 PM. Cocktails at 7:00 followed by dinner at the Plaza. We should see many of the Sea of Cortez seabirds including Brown and Blue-footed Booby; Magnificent Frigatebird; Yellow-footed and Heermann’s Gull.
DAY THREE: Breakfast at 7:30 AM at Plaza. We’ll bird along the beach in the morning and depart for Alamos around noon. Lunch along the way. Arrive Alamos about 4:00 PM, check into Hacienda de los Santos. Drinks and dinner at 6:30 at the Hacienda.
DAY FOUR: Breakfast at 6:30 AM. We’ll take it slow today, birding in the Alamos area including Aduana. In the Alamos area, we encounter pristine tropical deciduous forest representing the Northern extent of this habitat that stretches all the way to Costa Rica. The Rio Cuchijaqui provides a rich riparian garden for many of the tropical species. Military Macaw nest in the cliffs of the Sierra de Alamos during the summer. Bare-throated Tiger-Heron; Rufous-bellied Chachalaca; Crane Hawk; White-tailed Hawk; Great Black Hawk; Solitary Eagle; Laughing Falcon; White-fronted and Lilac-crowned Parrots; Mexican Parrotlet; White-tipped Dove; Ruddy Ground-Dove; Lesser Roadrunner; Groove-billed Ani; Ferruginous Pygmy-owl; Mottled Owl; Plain-capped Starthroat; Violet-crowned Hummingbird; Russet-crowned Motmot, Lineated and Pale-billed Woodpeckers, Ivory-billed Woodcreeper; Tufted & Nutting’s Fly-catcher; Great Kiskadee; Social Flycatcher; Thick-billed & Tropical Kingbird; Rufous-backed Robin; Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush; Purplish-backed Jay; Sinaloa Crow; Sinaloa & Happy Wren; Five-striped Sparrow; Tropical Parula, Scrub Euphonia, Yellow Grosbeak, and Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow have all been recorded in the Alamos area.
Back for lunch at the Hacienda at noon. On your own and siesta until 4:00 PM, then out to an undisturbed area of Tropical Deciduous Forest to see what we can find. Cocktails and dinner at 6:30 PM at MacKay’s restaurant. Jennifer MacKay is a excellent chef, and she’s prepares imaginative creations with local ingredients.
DAY SIX: Breafast at 7:30 AM at Hacienda. Trip to Isla Huivilai for an incredible water bird display. Birding around lower Rio Mayo. Box lunch. Return to the Hacienda about 3:30 or so. Cocktails at 5:30 PM, then off to Sam’s Gourmet Restaurant in 16th century town of Aduana for dinner at 6:30 PM.
DAY SEVEN: Breakfast at 6:30 AM, drive out to Rio Mayo for rafting trip. This is basically a flat water trip, and the birds and scenery are stunning. We’ll have lunch on the Rio Mayo. We’ll make a stop at a Mayo Indian village. We’ll also check some petroglyphs along the way. Return about 3:30 PM to the Hacienda. Relax until 6:15. Cocktails and dinner at Terri Arnold’s where she provide a unique tasting menu as well as some of the finest martinis anywhere!
DAY EIGHT: Breakfast at 6:30 AM. If the road is opened, we can drive the 17 miles out to El Cajon, a trip that usually yields many interesting critters and birds. The trip takes about 3 hours outbound, but faster inbound. If not opened, we might want to hike up the Sierra de Alamos. This is a day that some of you might just want to hang out and relax at the Inn. Return about 3:30 PM. Relax until 6:30. Cocktails and dinner at the Hacienda.
DAY NINE: Breakfast at 6:30 AM. Departure at 7:30 AM for return to Tucson. We should arrive by about 6:30 PM. Rooms are rented for those staying over, but you’ll be your own for dinner. There are restaurants within walking distance of the Courtyard.
DAY TEN: Shuttle to airport for flights home..
Temperatures will generally be in the 60’s to 80’s, but it can get cool in the morning, down to 50 or so.
Casual, informal attire is acceptable everywhere we’ll be dining, although you’re welcome to dress up if you’d like. You would fit in either way.
The best field guide for birding in Mexico is A Guide To The Birds Of Mexico and Northern Central America by Steve N.G. Howell and Sophie Webb; Oxford University Press; 1995. If you buy it at Audubon Shoppe, have them do the plates separately, or go to Kinko’s and have them cut and bind.
The Secret Forest by Charles Bowden; University of New Mexico Press; Albuquerque, 1993.
The Birds of Sonora by Steven Russell & Gale Monson; The University of Arizona Press; Tucson; 1998. Unfortunately, bird distribution patterns are already outdated, but still a good reference.
All books can be obtained from Madison Audubon Shoppe (888) 505-9056 at a 10% discount for High Lonesome BirdTours trip participants