Tinamu: Birding in Paradise!

January 27-30, 2025

It was only 11:30am, we were hot, dirty, thirsty, a little flustered. Then we arrived in Paradise! Even though it was way too early to check-in, we were greeted by staff and escorted to our room. I wasn’t even allowed to carry the bags.

From the moment we arrived, I felt a little like I was back in Summer Camp, just for adults instead of kids. Each day, guests go out to bird with their guides (camp counselor?) at 6:30 am. Our guide was Fernando – he is very famous and their senior guide:

At 8:30 everyone meets back at the main open air dining are for breakfast. The Chef has prepared something yummy – eggs, fruit, fresh squeezed juice, and arepe (of course!) and Sandra serves the food. Sandra is the site manager. She is a remarkable woman. If I ever return, I promised her I would speak better Spanish so we can have a proper conversation.

At about 10:00, everyone heads out again with their guides to find some incredle birds, etc.

After a satisfying morning looking at the wildlife, we head back to the “dining hall” for another gourmet meal. Lunches are huge! The first course is hot soup which seems odd because everyone is perspiring from wandering in the jungle. Surprisingly, it’s quite good. Soup is followed by meat or fish. We had fish twice – it is fresh from the pond on site. Oh and the breakfast eggs are gathered from the chickens every morning. A leisurly lunch during which all of the guests are visiting and the guides are telling stories is followed by another walk out in a different direction to see more birds and animals.

Dinner is simpler, but still pretty fancy:

The only thing missing from the summer camp feeling was a sing along session!!

Our second day we opted to stay around “camp” to watch birds at the feeders. The staff restocks the feeders with bananas a couple times a day. There about 7 hummingbird feeders and the gardens a planted to attract birds.