Highlights Include: Welcome Reception Hosted By the Governor of Yucatan, The Mayor of Merida, and The Secretary of State for Tourism; “The Birds of Yucatan, Past and Present” a visual exhibition; Birding and Photography Workshops; 4 Day Guided Tour to Uxmal in the Puuc Hills and Calakmul Biosphere Reserve; 2 day Birdathon Competition in Ria Celestun and Ria Lagarto 4 nights Colonial City of Merida Optional Tulum or Celestun Beach Vacations Download printer friendly tour here
Xoc Chi'ch' Birdathon Two days of the program are made up of a bird count competition. Thursday afternoon people are broken into groups of 8, then travel to a location with a local birding guide. Friday morning the bird count begins and continues to Saturday morning. Returning by 1:00 each team drops off its entry count. Saturday evening, at a reception and banquet, winning team members are awarded a prize consisting of original Mayan art. There are 2 streams in this event, one for serious experienced birders and a “lite” version for less serious participants. It’s all good friendly fun.
	Special Group Tour Lead By Naturalist Host, Chris Fisher Chris is a well-known Canadian author of several Natural History field guides, a university lecturer, a writer for award-winning television shows including Acorn, The Nature Nut, The Nature of Things, Discovering Wildness and writer/host of Wildfiles.tv. Dividing his time between writing and teaching, Chris also serves as guest naturalist on board Holland America's South American cruises through Patagonia and the Falkland Islands among other destinations. More about Chris. Shop for Chris's books at Amazon.ca Yucatan has held a long time interest for Chris and he welcomes this chance to explore it with you. "This tour offers a balance of interest to both casual and more advanced birders, plus it offers a chance to explore the amazing Mayan ruins of Uxmal and Calakmul."
Itinerary Programs We are offering 2 core programs and 2 post festival vacation options for people. Program 1: Nov 12—21 We recommend this program if you can spare the Friday travel day as it ensures your arrival in plenty of time for the festival inauguration Saturday afternoon starting at 5:00PM. This date also gives you the choice of flying directly to Merida, or to Cancun and taking an optional land transfer to Merida. Friday Nov 12—Arrive in Merida, check into hotel. Meet your host Chris Fisher this evening. Hotel Caribe Saturday Nov 13—Today, you may wish to explore Merida, the White City, on your own today or take a scheduled tour to Chichen Itza. 5:00 PM is the official opening of the 3rd Annual Yucatan Bird Festival with a reception and snacks. (B, D) Hotel Caribe Sunday Nov 14—Today we begin a 4 day exploration of Yucatan encompassing a combination of Mayan archeological sites and biosphere reserves. Today our destination is the ancient Mayan city of Uxmal. Uxmal at its height in the late classic period around 700-1000 AD had perhaps 25,000 people. It dominated the region known as the Puuc Hills, where several other Mayan cities existed. It highlights detailed friezes and the only known Mayan pyramid with rounded corners. This area of Puuc hills is also well known for excellent birding. Some of the Xoc ch’ich’ groups will take place in the Puuc hills. Overnight Hacienda Uxmal. Monday Nov 15—Wed 17 We continue to the Calakmul Biosphere reserve. The Calakmul Biosphere Reserve has three extraordinary features: it is the second largest protected area in Mexico, covering 1,700,000 acres of rainforest; it is host to one of the largest and best kept Mayan archaeological sites and Calakmul was recently declared world heritage site by UNESCO. Calakmul also has the largest population of jaguars in North and Central America. We will spend two nights here at Chicanna Ecovillage. Local guides will assist in exploring the archeological site and the rainforest. (2B, 2D) Thursday Nov 18—In Merida today there will be morning seminars as part of the conference on subjects such as Fire Ecology and distinguishing minor differences in Yucatan bird species. This afternoon, people will depart for the field locations of the Xoc ch’ich’ which are Celestun, Ria Lagarto, Progresso and Chichen Itza. Lite participants will remain at one location while regular particpants will be in two locations. (D) Friday Nov 19—Xoc ch’ich’(B, L, D) Saturday Nov 20—return to Merida and drop off entries. Afternoon free and this evening take part in the final night banquet. (B, D) Hotel Caribe Sunday Nov 21—Depart for home or other Yucatan option.
Program 2: Nov 13—21 The same as program 1 except arrival is on Saturday Nov 13. (Depending on flight arrival times in Merida, there is a chance of missing the opening reception at 5:00 PM.)
Beach Options While in Yucatan, why not add on a natural beach vacation at an ecolodge? We are featuring two excellent options: the Xixim Ecoparadise near Celestun and the Cabanas Tulum on the Caribbean side. Tulum would be a good choice if flying in and out of Cancun. Both offer beach and biospheres. Note: we can also arrange transfers to/from Cancun approx $40 US PP o/way. Transfers to Tulum and Celestun beaches arranged upon request. Download printer friendly tour here

2004 Tours and Options	Twin Rate PP $CAD	Single Rate PP $CAD
Program 1 * 10 Day/9Night Nov 12—21	$2399	$2649
Program 2 * 9Day/8Night Nov 13-21	$2349	$2549
Tulum Beach (6 Nights, Room and Cont. Breakfast)	$499	$999
Celestun Beach (6 Nights Private bungalow, meals, tours, bikes, kayaks)	$1189	NA