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Birding and Cultural Trips Throughout Mexico
El Pedregal Nature Lodge and Retreat Center
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Springtime is here and we are enjoying
one of the birdiest times of year at El Pedregal!
In this newsletter:
Information on summertime birding trips to the Sierra Madre!
Trip reports from several recent trips
More trip dates for 2012-12 (and a few changes to our trip schedule)
News about our participation at the Tucson Birds and Wildlife Festival
Information on a Gambell, Alaska birding trip this fall!
Embroidery efforts with the women of the community of Sabinito
Summertime special rates at El Pedregal
...and more!
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SUMMERTIME BIRDING TRIPS IN THE SIERRA MADRE MOUNTAINS!
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Thick-billed Parrots
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During the hot summer months here in Mexico, we like to migrate up to the higher elevations of the Sierra Madre mountains, where the weather is perfect, the scenery is spectacular and the birding is the best! We have three different trips to choose from and hope you can join us! On all of these trips, we enjoy the simplicity of the mountain life, authentic rancho-style food, the warm hospitality of our Mexican hosts, unending dramatic scenery and much more!
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A big bend on the Copper Canyon train line in the summertime!
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Northwest Mexico
August 10-17, 2012 (new dates)
Thick-billed Parrots, Aztec Thrush, one of the highest waterfalls in the world, and the high country, wild west beauty of the Sierra Madres in the monsoon season!
Madera
September 9-11, 2012 (new dates)
A quickie trip to see the highly endemic and endangered Thick-billed Parrots that live in the big, deep pine forests above the lumber town of Madera.
Copper Canyon
September 17-25, 2012
Seaside birding, train travel into the rugged Sierra Madre, Eared Quetzal, Mountain Trogon and Tarahumara Indians culture.
For more information on any of these trips, including a complete itinerary and bird list, please contact us.
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More Birding Trips in 2012 and 2013
(w/Sunrise Birding)
September 29-October 5
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Aztec Thrush In Yecora Sonora |
January 20-26,2013
Yucatan
January 20-February 7
Durango Highway San Blas
February 14-23
Colima Jalisco (NEW itinerary!)
February 26-March 5
West Mexico - Mazatlan to Manzanillo
(w/ Zoothera)
March 8-21
(contact us for a detailed itinerary)
Oaxaca Valley (NEW trip!)
March 22-28
(contact us for a detailed itinerary)
Colorado Grouse and Chicken Trip (NEW for 2013!)
April 2-10
(contact us for a detailed itinerary)
Yecora Alamos
April 12-20
You may have noticed that we are not offering very many scheduled trips this fall, the reason for this is that we are busy with custom and private tours for individuals and organizations. We specialize in creating great custom trips for you and your group! For more information, please go to Custom Trips. We look forward to hearing from you!
www.solipaso.com |
TRIP REPORTS 
For every trip we run, David takes the time to write up a great and entertaining report. Not only does he highlight the birding moments, but he recalls the many funny things that happen while on the road and other memorable events. Click on the links below for stories from our recent trips to get a better sense of what it's like to travel with Solipaso!
And if you'd rather just look at lots of great pictures, go to our Flickr page and take a look at photos from many of our trips and much more!
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TUCSON BIRDS AND WILDLIFE FESTIVAL
 As proud members of the Birds and Business Alliance members of the Tucson Audubon Society, we are looking forward to participating in the second annual Birds and Wildlife Festival. Last year, this event was a resounding success and we were happy to participate by having a booth in the vendor area. This year we are going to be there again...Not only will we have a booth, but David will be doing a presentation on Saturday entitled 'Arizona's Tropical Backyard: The Birds and Habitats of Western Mexico'. And the most exciting thing is that we'll be offering a post-festival trip to see the Thick-billed Parrots of Madera! Contact us for more information about this special trip!For more information about the Festival, follow the link below! We'll see you there!
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Want to go birding this Fall in Gambell, Alaska?....Join us!
It has been a couple of years, but we are looking forward to going back to the remote and beautiful Saint Lawrance Island for some serious rarity chasing this fall!
For the past several years, a majority of the North American first records for birds have occurred on the remote Alaska outpost of Gambell, Saint Lawrence Island only 38 miles from the Russian coast! This is a starkly beautiful land where millions of birds pass on their migration every year. We work with High Lonesome Bird Tours on this trip...David guides, Jen cooks and everyone has a great time!
The dates of the trip are September 1-8, 2012.
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THE EMBROIDERY WOMEN OF SABINITO
About an hour from town lies the village of Sabinito Sur. With a population of about 100 people, this little town in the foothills of the Sierra Madre is remote and rural and it's people are kind, hard working, genuine and always looking for ways to make a living. The women of Sabinito are very skilled a many crafts and make many beautiful embroideries, baskets and low-fired pottery pieces. Their embroidery skills have been promoted a very enterprising woman, Claudia Karafotas. She has partnered with the women of Sabinito to create small, beautifully embroidered bags that then are filled with high quality sea salt from the Sea of Cortez . For more information on this wonderful project and product, see Sal del Mar.
 Having helped Claudia with this project, Jen had also been working on ways to provide more embroidery work opportunities for these women. Through her work with the local conservation project, Rancho Ecologico Monte Mojino, we have gotten to know the people who run the Northern Jaguar Project in northern Sonora. The folks at NJP saw one of the Sabinito embroideries of a jaguar and asked if more could be done. This week, we sent 30 jaguar embroideries to Tucson for an NJP event! Hopefully, this will become another source of work for the great women of Sabinito! If anyone else has embroidery projects they'd like to do, let us know! We like to think it of one community and conservation project helping another! |
SPECIAL SUMMERTIME RATES AT EL PEDREGAL
 Because of the hot weather in Alamos, summer has tended to be our slow time of year. However, we often feel like people are missing out the best time of year in Alamos! May and June are hot and very dry! Then the monsoons come and the dry forest turns emerald green and it is hot and humid! The summer storms, technicolor sunsets, cool mornings and quiet days are worth experiencing! As a way to entice you here, we are offering a special rate for the months of May through September at El Pedregal! Our room rates are normally $100 per night...and for the summer we are offering rates of $85 per night! This includes a full breakfast, taxes and lots of rest and relaxation! Read our stellar Trip Advisor reviews to see what our guests say about their time at El Pedregal!
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Here at Jen's Korny Korner, dogs seem to be the theme these days...our little puppy ain't so little anymore. Chico seems to double in size each week! But he's a good pup and the other dogs are getting used to him...although Mina still wants nothing to do with him. Roscoe (pictured here w/ Chico) is much more accepting. So, now the reality that we actually have three dogs is sinking in! Sometimes we can't quite believe it! But they make us happy and keep life fun here at El Pedregal for both us and our guests. We are looking forward to heading to Alaska for a little while this May/June to work! Jen will be cooking in Gambell and David will be working for High Lonesome Bird Tours in Adak, Gambell and Nome! After that we look forward to enjoying the sleepy days of summer here in Alamos and running our trips up in the Sierra Madre! We look forward to hearing from or crossing paths with you soon!
David and Jennifer MacKay
www.solipaso.com
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