NEW MEXICO WINTER BIRDING plus Minnesota pre-tour extension

LEADER: Nick Bray

GROUND PRICE (MAIN TOUR): £1750.00 - Albuquerque/Albuquerque
GROUND PRICE (PRE-TOUR EXT): £1195.00 - Minneapolis/Minneapolis
GROUND PRICE  (POST-TOUR EXT: Ask our office for info

AIRFARE: £600.00 - £700.00 (Approx) - UK/UK

SINGLE SUPPLEMEMNT (MAIN): £245.00
SINGLE SUPPLEMENT (PRE-TOUR EXT): £200.00

DEPOSIT: £0.00

GROUP SIZE: Minimum of 4 and maximum 9.

INCLUDED IN COST: Accommodation in twin rooms en-suite throughout, transport in 15-seater minibus, bottled water, all reserve entrance fees, and services of English-speaking guides.

NOT INCLUDED: International airfare, Minneapolis - Albuquerque flight (if participating in pre-tour), meals apart from most breakfasts,  ESTA, insurance, most drinks, tips and items of a personal nature.

MEALS: Only meals indicated in the itinerary are included in the cost of this tour (included hotel breakfasts.)  Because a person can eat quite well for as little as $35 per day or they can choose to spend three or four times that amount for a single day, depending upon your choices - we do not include meals where we cannot control the costs. Zoothera Birding has a policy of NOT overcharging one person to cover another’s POTENTIAL meal choices - which we would have to do if all meals were budgeted into the cost of this tour. So we plan to take motel breakfasts and then purchase provisions for a picnic lunch. Dinner will usually be taken at a diner/restaurant of our choosing.

HOTELS: The motels and lodges we will use are all of a medium to good quality and within easy reach of the areas we wish to bird. Some will have laundry facilities and all of them have air-conditioning, hot showers & comfortable beds.

TOUR CODE: A relaxed birding break for all levels of ability and fitness. Leisurely walking, very occasionally over moderately rough terrain, is the only physical requirement on most days. We may well walk for a few kilometres through some arid canyons, but most birding will be done near the vehicles. On other days we may spend long periods of time at a lake or dam scannning through thousands of wildfowl, or soaking in the spectacle of countless geese and cranes flying in to the marshes and ponds right in front of us, or even twitching a particular rarity that has appeared in areas close to our birding circuit. As it is winter, expect warm daytime temperatures to cold/freezing conditions with the chance of some rain or even snow in the mountains. You will need to pack for winter birding! Opportunities for photography are good! Meals are not included in the tour price but are relatively inexpensive and you should budget for £20 - £30 per day depending on your requirements.

COVID-19:  To join this tour you will need to be doubly vaccinated.

We do ask that you take a test at home before flying to the USA, even though proof of a negative test IS NOT a requirement of entering USA at present - this is liable to change. Social distancing  in a birding group is rather impossible, so our policy for this particular tour will be to conduct it in the usual social setting. We would advise you to wear masks when coming into contact with anyone outside of our bubble - although we envisage this scenario will be kept to a minimum. Each one of us needs to adopt a safety-first mentality throughout our time together and whilst travelling to/from USA. We understand masks are not everyone's favourite thing but for the foreseeable future they are going to be part of every birders kit, so please wear them if it make syou feel more comfortable. Saying that, most of our time will be spent in the outdoors and we deem a birding tour to be much safer than more 'normal' holidays! The vehicle we use every day will also be sterilized every day and hand gel will be made available to all.

All costs arising from any Covid-19-related issues are NOT included in the Zoothera Birding tour fee, and the individual tour participant is responsible for all of these payments. These include, but are not restricted to, payment for Covid treatment/medical fees on tour, transport and accommodation in case of quarantine, and the costs of any Covid tests needed for the tour, either before, during, or after the tour. Zoothera Birding will facilitate all arrangements in terms of ensuring that participants are safe and given rapid access to the best locally available medical treatment, but costs are to be borne solely by the tour participant. If anyone in the group shows some of the common symptons of Covid, they will need to obtain a PCR test locally and will have to isolate from the rest of the group - at their own expense.