Some of these have been previously published in the Web by www.birdtours.co.uk, a very useful site if you are planning a birding trip, as well as in the OSME ( Ornithological Society for the Middle East website ).
I have revised and updated them where needed.

The obvious advantage of travelling with an organized tour is that you don’t have to search for the birds yourself, nor waste time with logistics such as finding accommodation or food. Your whole time from dawn till dusk is fully dedicated to seeing the birds that are found for you by the leaders and their local help.

This is an excellent approach if you want to maximize the number of species ticked, and especially useful in countries like Kenya, where the national park system seems designed for organized groups rather than single individuals, or Finland, where in order to see certain species in the immense taiga forests you absolutely need professional help from people who know the location of nests and nesting boxes. In my case, I have found professional guided tours very useful for trips in countries with totally unfamiliar (to me) avifauna: Panama and Venezuela were wonderful, but birding in the Neotropics for the first time can be overwhelming, and good advice and help can make the best of a trip.

I’ve read some horror stories about people having bad experiences with group members on organized tours, bad chemistry with the tour leaders or poorly organized logistics; I must have been very lucky so far, since all my trips with professional companies have been excellent. I have met very nice and interesting people and always enjoyed myself. So far, I have used Birdquest (Kenya), VENT (Venezuela), Ecoventures (Panama), Heatherlea (Scotland), and Ibis Excursions.

That said, in my opinion nothing can beat the feeling of finding your own birds on a little explored location, or “discovering” a previously unknown site. My personal approach to birding is rather casual, in the way that I don’t care much for numbers when writing down the trip’s list, so I prefer to travel on my own or with a few friends whenever the destination allows it.

Here’s what you can find on this website so far:


Fuerteventura, Canary Islands trip report, March 2001.

Varanger, Norway trip report, June 2001.

Kenya, with Birdquest, July-August 2002. A general account with photos rather than an exhaustive report.

The Netherlands, January 2003, brief report with some photos.

Mauritania, February 2004, trip report with photos. As far as I know, this is the only trip report on this country available on the Web.

Jordan. March 2002, July 2003, and May 2004 reports, with photos.

Uganda, August 2004. A summary of the trip and some selected species, with many photos.

Southern Morocco, December 2004 Trip report, with photos.

Trinidad & Tobago, March 2005. A brief account of a guided tour, photos.

Alaska, June 2005. Another trip with Jan Hansen's Otus Asio.

Gambia & Northern Senegal, October 2005. Account and photos of an independant trip.