Bird Watching: Audubon Vietnam – 18 Days & 17 Nights
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DAY 1: ARRIVE SAIGON
Arrive to Saigon after your long journey and you will be pleasantly welcomed by one of our local team members that will take care of your luggage and escort you through the city to your hotel. We know you had a long journey, for this day depending on your flight arrival time we have a few options that will suit your energy level and desires.
If you are feeling energetic and rested we can make visit to the Cu Chi Tunnel, a renowned historic site around 50km from Ho Chi Minh City. Cu Chi Tunnels are a vast tunnelling system used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.
If you have an early arrival flight we can make a short drive to Can Gio site for waders, where we can spot our first birds of the journey such as White-faced Plover, Spoon-billed Sandpiper, and Normand Green-shank.
The third option is to just head to the hotel, relax, rejuvenate and wind down after and arduous overseas flight. In the evening we will have a welcome briefing and delightful dinner. We have an amazing journey ahead of us! Tomorrow you will meet your birding expert that will take you throughout the regions and help you search for the many different species in Vietnam!
DAY 2: SAIGON – CAT TIEN
After an early start our tour and discovery will drive you northwards towards the renowned Cat Tien National Park. Our journey will stop along the way to find the rare endemic Orange-necked Partridge. This area also includes other endemic forms such as Indochinese Green Magpie, as well as Bar-bellied and Blue-rumped Pittas. We will have lunch then our afternoon into the National Park will start! We will have 3 nights in this park and stay at a local guesthouse in the National Park that will put you right at the front door of nature!
DAY 3 & 4: CAT TIEN NATIONAL PARK
Cat Tien is located in Cochinchina in the Da Lat foothills and is the premier National Park in Southern Vietnam. Cat Tien is home to a superb network of forest and seasonal wetlands which largely escaped the deforestation during the Vietnam War. We will spend the next 2 days going over through the vast forest system for birding. By jeep track and forest trails we will bird to seek out the endemic Germain’s Peackock-Pheasant, other spectacular birds such as Siamese Fireback, endemic Pittas, Green Peafowl and Scaly-breasted Partridge, Tit-Babbler and a plethora of other species also known from Thailand and Malaysia.
Cat Tien National Park is home to several primate species such as Black-shanked Douc Langur and Buff-cheeked Gibbon. Other mammals in the area include Wild Boar and Pig-tailed Macaque as well as the huge Gaur and Sambur. The evening will wind down with a tropical fruit demonstration where you will learn about the native fruits in the area!
DAY 5: CAT TIEN – DI LINH
Our day of tour and discovery will start us on a short drive to Di Linh. It is often easier to spot birds in the Nui San Pass than in Da Lat. This area is known for having Spotted Forktail, Blue and Rusty-naped Pittas, White-cheeked, Black-hooded and Orange-breasted Laughing-Thrushes, Vietnamese Cutia and “Black-headed” Parrotbill, a probable split from the more widespread Grey-headed. Wind down in the evening with some rest and relaxation or to the sounds of local traditional music playing in the background.
DAY 6: DI LINH - DALAT
After an early morning return to the Nui San pass with the hopes of spotting the elusive Green Cochoa, we will drive up to the Langbian Plateau and make our way towards the beautiful resort of Da Lat. We will stop at any interesting patches of habitat along the way and also see several attractive waterfalls. Da Lat is situated at a higher altitude that brings cool weather throughout the year. It is a beautiful city filled with lakes and waterfalls and surrounded by forest including various native pine woodlands. We will have 3 nights in this charming city and you will have time to walk around and explore the local markets and food native to this region!
After a few days in the guest houses your body might be requiring a little bit of luxury, well this is the place! Enjoy the evening in your beautiful hotel and pass the night away with laughs, love and stories with your friends and loved ones.
DAY 7 & 8: DALAT PLATEAU
We will explore the Da Lat Plateau as well as the 2169 meter high Mt Langbian, covered with evergreen forest right up to its peak. Our efforts should be rewarded however as this is the home of the spectacular endemic Collared Laughing-Thrush, as well as Yellow-billed Nuthatch and the Vietnamese forms of Cutia, Rufous-winged (Black-crowned) Fulvetta and Black-throated Grey-crowned Tit which may not be around too much longer. The elusive and handsome Green Cochoa can also be seen and heard in this region as well as other winter birds of Asia.
Closer Da Lat itself is Ta Nung Valley, famous for the re-discovered Grey-crowned Crocias which is regularly encountered here. Other endemics such as Black-hooded and Orange-breasted Laughing thrushes and Vietnamese Greenfinch can also be seen in this area! Tonight you will have dinner in a local restaurant serving the best of Central Highlands Vietnamese cuisine!
DAY 9: DALAT – YOK DON
Our day of discovery will start with an early morning departure for Ban Me Thuot and a stop at Lak lake for a look at some waterbirds and wintering warblers along the way! Later in the day we will reach Yok Don national park for 1 night stay at the Ban Don Tourism area. Our main target here is Mekong Wagtail but other species such as Black-headed Woodpecker, Collared Falconet, Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch can be seen here and are among the specialities. We will stay overnight in a cozy guesthouse.
DAY 10: YOK DON – MANG DEN
After our morning birding excursion at Serepok river bank for Mekong Wagtail, we will head for the rarely visited Mang Canh Forest. This wilderness forest excursion is where we will search for the Grey-shanked Douc Langur, one of our prime mammal targets and an area where other fine range of Indochinese birds may be expected. We will stay in the Mang Canh forest area for 2 days and 2 nights.
DAY 11: MANG CANH FOREST
Our main targets at Mang Canh are Grey-shanked Duoc Langur and Chestnut-eared Laughing-Thrush but we will be searching for the Black-hooded Laughingthrush, Pale-capped Pigeon, the endemic Ratchet-tailed Treepie and we have another chance for Yellow-billed Nuthatch.
DAY 12: MANG DEN - LO XO – KHAM DUC
In the morning, we will drive on to the Lox Xo pass which has reached recent birding fame as a site to see the endemic Black-crowned Barwing. Here, at the forest edge, we have a great chance of finding this species and others such as the Brown Hornbill, Indochinese Wren-Babbler aka as Short-tailed Scimitar-Babbler, White-winged Magpie, Red-tailed Laughingthrush and another chance for Yellow-billed Nuthatch. We will stay one night in this area.
DAY 13: KHAM DUC - LO XO – BACH MA
This beautiful morning will take you to Lo Xo for searching our main target, Black-crowned Barwing that can often be seen in this area. After the morning’s excursion, we will check out and have a succulent lunch before driving to Bach Ma national park. This has been a long journey; today we will make our way to the Bach Ma National Park and stay in a local guesthouse and rest up for the next day’s adventures!
DAY 14: BACH MA NATIONAL PARK
Our tour and discovery today is on Bach Ma Mountain where we will have our best chance for spotting the Indochinese Wren-Babbler, Chestnut-collared (Indochinese) Yuhina, Black-throated Laughingthrush, and Rufous-throated Partridge. We will stay at a Bach Ma guesthouse.
DAY 15: BACH MA – PHONG NHA
Today we will start a beautiful morning where we will access the mid ranges of Bach Ma and search for the endemic but elusive Annam Partridge. Later we do some foothill birding to look for the Masked Laughingthrush. Late afternoon we drive to Phong Nha – Ke Bang national park. This site is home to the newly discovered and biggest caves in the world to date. We will stay overnight for 2 days at the Phong Nha National Park. Depending on the birding time, we will also have time to visit into the Phone Nha enormous caves!
DAY 16: PHONG NHA – KE BANG NATIONAL PARK
Our day of touring and discovering in Phong Nha, will concentrate on the near endemic Sooty Babbler. Here we also have further chances for a range of spotting birds such as the Siamese Fireback, Red-collared Woodpecker, Brown Hornbill as well as the isolated form of Sulphur-breasted Warbler now split as “Limestone Warbler”.
DAY 17: PHONG NHA – HUE - SAIGON
A pre-dawn search for two endangered primates - Black and Ha Tinh Leaf Monkeys as well as the beautiful Red-shanked Duoc langur before the drive southward to Hue (Phu Bai airport) for the end of our birding excursion. We will fly to Saigon in the afternoon.
DAY 18: SAIGON – TOUR DEPARTURE DAY
This is the last day of the main program. If you are heading home we want to thank you for choosing 4UTOURS INTERNATIONAL and we hope we have exceeded your expectations. If you are staying in Saigon or continuing with us for a Post Extension program, your local tour manager will give you the information for the following program! We hope you have seen and experienced much more than you could have ever imagined in this beautiful country!
*** While in the National Parks, breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be included in your daily program as well as stay in the Guest houses on site.