Getting Back to Birding

Following on from the last Azores & Madeira post, we've decided to go a few steps further now and add another Macaronesian tour in our short series of tours in the 'Getting Back to Birding" programme. The current situation around the UK and Europe is still promising and within the next 2 weeks our wonderful government (that's tongue-in-cheek by the way) are going to announce a list of countries that are going to be safe to travel to...... Hmmmmm...... well, let's see! Well, we thought Portugal was going to be in the top 3 of that list but it seems despite the Azores & Madeira barely having any cases of Covid-19 we would still have to quarantine upon return to UK - the government have made this very confusing. And the next best/safest destination could well be the Canary Islands. So with pretty cheap flights from the UK and Europe, throwing in a bunch of endemics, add a list of endemic subspecies that could well be split in the future, a few seabirds, throw in the odd Houbara Bustard and Cream-coloured Courser into the mix and it looks like a recipe for a damn decent trip. Oh and let's spice it up a bit by some island hopping and call in to Gran Canaria for the recently split Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch on top of visits to Tenerife, La Gomera and Fuerteventura and all this in just a 9 day tour. See tour info here - Canary Islands Info

See our 'Getting Back to Birding' philosophy here - Getting Back to Birding Info

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That's all ok but these are difficult times and our invisible enemy is still out there somewhere, lurking in plain sight.... That's Covid-19 by the way. So we have hired large, private villas on Tenerife and Fuerteventura for a 3 night stay on each island, with a 2 night stop on Gran Canaria at an all-inclusive resort. As with all our other 'Getting Back to Birding' tours we will bring our own cook/housekeeper rather than get a bunch of strangers in a restaurant to prepare food for us. We will also have 2 vehicles so we can manage the social distancing requirements whilst travelling to and from sites etc. We've even looked at etiquette around using leaders' scopes and hygiene issues and social distancing...! Then there's the hygiene and cleaning of our vehicle each day... And on and on. But what I really want to stress is how seriously we are taking all this, and how seriously we are looking at making your next birding trip as safe as possible. This isn't just a business to us, this is us looking after friends on a birding trip. This is us looking after you.We know how most birders feel about not travelling, about our confidence being affected with the travel industry and with travelling in general right now. But it will get better. 

Other tours in our "Getting Back to Birding' Programme:

Azores & Madeira - See full tour info here

Isles of Scilly & Land's End - See full tour info here

Scotland in Winter - See full tour info here

We believe there is a way to 'Get Back to Birding' in a safe and sensible manner. And we believe we've got it covered as much as possible. Let's go birding!