My wife and I are hardcore birders. We’ve been lifting our bins together for 27 years, and we’ve worked with guides on six continents. I estimate that we have hired over seventy different individuals during our trips, sometimes free-lancers, and other times the staff of established tour companies.  We can say with some authority, then, that the three professionals we worked with from Brazil Birding Experts, namely, Gabriel, Caio, and Ciro, are among the very best guides in the world.

During our 25-day tour through three different regions, we never had a single outing where our guide was not intimately familiar with the habitat and the species mix. More importantly, each of them could effortlessly identify every vocalization – and this is no mean feat in a country so large and species diverse. They all had the uncanny skill to often predict where a particular skulky bird would likely show itself for a moment, and the patience to get the bird to appear multiple times. This is especially important for me, as I have a severe visual disability and I often miss the bird the first, or second, or third time.

Not only did BBE tailor an itinerary to our specific needs, they were able to make changes on the fly when one of the state parks we were to visit was unexpectedly shut down. Due to their flexibility and knowledge of birding locations, they were able to get us into the same habitat and secure good lodging. An inexperienced outfit would not have been able to do this. Also, we never had an issue with food-bourne illness, which I wish I could say about other tropical locations we have visited in the past.

Brazil has become our single most productive destination. Not only did this trip net us 672 species, we got enjoy seeing them at some of the most spectacular locations, including various Amazon islands near Manaus, Campos do Jordao (the “Switzerland of Brazil”), and the breathtaking Chapada Diamantina region. These are locations that every serious global birder should visit, and by working with BBE they can be assured that they will get the most from their time there.

We will certainly be coming back to go birding with BBE again.

January, 2021