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Birding and Cultural Trips Throughout Mexico
El Pedregal Nature Lodge and Retreat Center |
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La Sierra de Alamos and Arroyo El Chalaton in the summer |
Greetings from Alamos, where the electric green mountains surround us, the rains continue and we are getting ready for the big '16 de septiembre' independence day celebrations! It's a week of parties, parades, politics and lots of beer drinking!
In this newsletter you will find:
- Trip reports from our recent trips to Chihuahua and northern Sonora
- Upcoming birding and cultural trips you should consider joining us on!
- Dates for the 2011-12 Audubon Christmas Counts (corrected)
- A couple of links to Solipaso and the Mackays in the media!
- Information on an upcoming Solipaso presentation in the Arizona
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Summertime in the Sierra Madre
David recently returned from two very successful trips to the northern Sierra Madre, where the lasting impression is the absolute beauty of this remote area during the rainy summer season! Crystal clear, bright blue skies with towering white clouds, fields of green, lakes and water everywhere...and of course, great birds! All of our guests commented on the breath taking beauty of this little-visited corner of the world. Along with the visual beauty, the weather was perfect...even the summer rains! Our first trip, Northwest Mexico, had five great folks on it with varying degrees of ability and a good time was had by all. Our second trip, Madera, had six guests and they all had the goal of adding the Thick-billed Parrot to their life list, which they did...plus the bonus bird, Eared Quetzal!
For a full and entertaining account of both trips and lots of photos, follow the links below:
Northwest Mexico Trip Report
Madera Trip Report
And, planning ahead...we'll be offering these two trips again next summer on the following dates:
Northwest Mexico
August 24-31, 2012
Madera
September 3-6, 2012
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Which trogon do you want to see? Upcoming trips that still have space on them! Great birds, food, fun...even opera!
And you get to see the trogons!
Yecora Alamos
October 21-29
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Mountain Trogon |
This classic Sonora trip has a bit everything...from the desert to river valleys to the sierra to the sea! We mainly spend time in the pine-oak around the mellow lumber town of Yecora, followed by several days in the tropical deciduous forest around the colonial jewel of Alamos, a "Pueblo Magico" of Mexico. Here, we get to stay at the beautiful El Pedregal Nature Lodge. While enjoying great lodging and home cooked food, we bird the best areas around Alamos and enjoy many moments in the palapa, watching the feeder activity and enjoying the peace and quiet of El Pedregal.
Contact us for more information! (Insider tip: On this trip you can actually see both of these trogons!)
Alamos - Birds and Music Festival
Januray 22-28, 2012
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Elegant Trogon |
Every January, Alamos is home to the internationally renowned Festival Alfonso Ortiz Tirado (FAOT). This festival highlights opera, bel canto and classical music. Now in its 27th year, it draws talent from all over the world and also highlights the best in Mexican talent. During the day, there are artisans in the plaza, musical performances of all kinds in several different venues, indigenous music and food and workshops for children. Every evening there is a different gala performance followed by a 'callejoneada' through the streets of Alamos (traditional singing group that performs while wandering the streets), complete with a burro carrying big jugs of wine for all! We are offering a birding trip to Alamos during the week of the Festival. We'll pace our days to get out and bird each day while also enjoying the best of the music and events of the festival. We'll stay at the peaceful El Pedregal Nature Lodge, far from the crowds during this popular festival!
Contact us for more information or to reserve a spot on this very unique trip, which is already filling up!
MORE BIRDING TRIPS COMING UP IN 2011-2012
2011
Yucatan Endemics
October 13-18
$1995 ($375 single)
San Blas
November 7-14
$2250 ($450 single)
2012
Yucatan (only a few spaces left!)
January 10-19
$3250 ($625 single)
Durango Highway and San Blas
February 4-13
$2850 ($525 single)
Colima and Jalisco
February 15-23
$2300 ($475 single)
Chiapas - Pacific Coast and Central Valley
March 5-10
$1850 ($375 single)
Chiapas - Highlands, Lacandon Jungle and Palenque
March 10-20
$2900 ($550 single)
Yecora Alamos
April 14-22
$2250 ($475 single)
Beyond our scheduled dates, we also specialize in doing custom trips. For more information, please go to Custom Trips . We look forward to hearing from you!
www.solipaso.com |
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Upcoming Cultural Trips
Day of the Dead in Alamos and pre-Christmas time in Oaxaca...Mexico loves to celebrate and it's a great time to visit these two distinctly different places. We'll explore the markets, learn to cook, visit the artisans, learn about history, gain insight into the local culture, eat really well, stay in the best places and have lots of fun throughout. Join us!
Alamos - Crafts, Culture and Cuisine
October 31-November 5, 2011
Oaxaca - Crafts, Culture and Cuisine
December 6-12, 2011
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Christmas Counts in Southern Sonora - Save the Dates!
(please note these dates are corrected dates...!)
Come to Alamos for Christmas and participate in one, two or three distinctly different and unique Christmas Counts! In addition to the Counts, we'll be planning a couple of festive events during the 'trifecta' Count week! So, come down for the holidays, the birding and the fun!
Navopatia (at the coast) - December 23
Rancho Ecologico Monte Mojino (in the Sierra Madre) - December 27
Alamos - December 29
Contact us for more information and look for more info in our upcoming newsletters.
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SOLIPASO AND THE MACKAYS....IN THE MEDIA!
Yes, we just keep getting more famous! In late August, PBS aired the documentary, Big Birding Day, as part of its acclaimed POV series. In case you didn't get a chance to see it, follow the link below. It's a very entertaining short film about birding, adventure and friendship:
http://www.pbs.org/pov/bigbirdingday/full.php
And, because of the Big Birding Day being shown on PBS, we were contacted by Rhondi Ewing, a former classmate of David's from his Mount Vernon, Iowa days. She wanted to do an article on us for their local paper. Iowans are proud of their people! Follow the link below for a good read:
http://www.mvlsun.com/article.php?viewID=8775
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MARICOPA AUDUBON PRESENTATION
On October 4th, 2011 we'll be in Phoenix to do a presentation for the Maricopa Audubon Society. The topic will be 'Where the Sonoran Desert Meets the Tropics: Bird Life and Natural History of Sonora, Mexico'. Lots of great images, information and anecdotes about life in Mexico. The presentation will be at 7:30 p.m. at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. We'd love to see you there! And tell all your friends!
For more information, contact us or go to the Maricopa Audubon website.
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Recently, we have received a number of inquiries for private trips, which we love doing. Custom itineraries and new ideas, people in search of specific species, new opportunities to explore cool places in Mexico. We encourage you to contact us with any trip ideas you might have. Also, here in Alamos, at El Pedregal, we are organizing several retreats and small group events. El Pedregal is at it's best when it's full of people. If you have a group and want a great place to go, consider coming to Alamos. We can create the perfect environment for you. Also in Alamos, Jen continues to work with the conservation project, Rancho Ecologico Monte Mojino (Nature and Culture Interantional) and is also starting to work on a project to create a greenspace and park for the town of Alamos! We'll be highlighting more about these exciting and worthwhile projects in the months to come. And, beyond, Mexico, David has been dreaming about far off places like Guyana and Costa Rica...stay tuned! We hope you enjoy our newsletters as much as we enjoy doing them. As always, we look forward to hearing from you!
Saludos,
David and Jennifer MacKay
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