PERU - AMAZON AND MACHU PICCHU 2010

Steve, 

I hope you know it goes without saying that none of this would have happened if you had not organised it so well - every detail !!

Thanks so much

Patsy  (Idaho, USA)

BRAZIL NOVEMBER 2008 - ATLANTIC RAINFOREST AND PANTANAL

I had a great time with your tour in Brazil, and that I appreciate the thought and effort you made to provide for and allow each person to have a wonderful and truthful experience of Brazil and its wildlife (as much as is possible within 3 weeks).
 
Organizing the tour so that we spent time first in REGUA, and then finished in the Pantanal was insightful and important to understanding conservation on a broad scale and over time. I began the trip, with a rather narrow primary focus on parrots. So, it came as a wonderful and unexpected surprise to fall in love with so many of the other incredible birds: the great and snowy egrets, the hummingbirds (frilled coquette, hermits, and Jacobin), the blue manakin, the white-headed marsh tyrant, the violaceous euphonia, the green-headed tanager, guira cuckoo, and others I will recognize again when my guide to Brazilian birds arrives.
 
I suppose some people may have wished to see more parrots during the trip. However, the reality is that parrots are endangered; present in small numbers, hopefully wary of people in the interest of survival, and desperately dependant on conservation efforts like those in REGUA and the Pantanal. It was a privilege to see and hear my dear white-eyed conures on several occasions and in more than one location during the 18 days; as well as 2 subspecies of Maxmillian’s Pionus parrots. Accompanying the Hyacinth Macaw Project in the Pantanal, and observing the baby hyacinths and greenwings, was inspirational and humbling. And by the end of the tour we had seen almost all of the listed parrot species.
 
Even so, it is the magnitude of REGUA's comprehensive conservation/reforestation agenda that has truly impressed me. It provides a framework which promises to generate enthusiastic support from many individuals and organizations of diverse scientific and conservation interests, as well as providing a sort of prototype for future conservation efforts. The abundance of wildlife in the Pantanal offered an opportunity for me (I hope for all on the tour) to imagine how REGUA might come to provide home to greater numbers of birds and animals as REGUA expands and attains the years in conservation that the Pantanal now has.
 
The gracious and casual hospitality at REGUA and at Caiman Lodge made the trip an intimate and personal experience. This trip has changed the way I view the world, even the world in my own backyard. I hope to return to Brazil more than once in my future travels, and am already considering my next trip with Wild Parrots Up Close. 
 
Lanette Raymond, PhD
President, Long Island Parrot Society, USA

BRAZIL NOVEMBER 2008 - ATLANTIC RAINFOREST AND PANTANAL

"Thanks for a fantastic holiday, Brazil was everything I dreamt it would be.  The natural beauty and eco-diversity of the Atlantic rainforest was amazing equalled only by the wealth of different species of birds and animals in the Pantanal.  I was especially thrilled to see the toco toucans, hyacinth macaws and the flock of yellow collared macaws we saw feeding in the trees.  The travel arrangements were well organised  and the accommodation at both lodges of an excellent standard in terms of comfort, amenities, meals and friendly staff.  My husband and I look forward to joining you again in another location at some point in the future".   

Linda Morley  (UK)

'I thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip - thankyou for organising everything .....'   

 Geraint Rhys (UK)

 Brazil trip 2006 to Atlantic Rainforest and Pantanal.