Birding Tours
As owner/operator of Epic Bird Tours it is my goal to lead birdwatching tours and show people a good time. If I have any lofty goals, they are: to show people that tours can be comfortable yet inexpensive, to show our hosts that tourism is a dependable way to make money as long as they conserve the objects of the tourism, and of course, to cheat death. Also, it is my goal to see 10,000 bird species before I (don’t) die.
Character of my tours:
Sooty Trush, San Gerardo, Costa Rica
My tours differ (I hope) significantly from those of other tour companies’. Firstly, my own credentials and experience are of those not so commonly seen among tour leaders. Secondly, my aim is not financial profit, as far st 20th and 21st century capitalism would have it. Like I said above, I want to travel, show my customers a good time, and make enough money to pay the rent. Thirdly, none of my tours will be harried, gasoline-laden races to se as many birds as possible. Sure, we will see lots of birds and lifers and all, but we won’t knock the forest down to do it. Birding from the hammock is a reliable way to see birds too. Fourthly, my tours ain’t luxury tours, though no one used to middle-class comforts ought complain of the accommodations and transportation I arrange. Comfy beds, good food, new friends and incredible travels are all one needs. Accordingly my tours are not nearly as expensive as many others and the price-per-lifer is often lower.
Scheduling and other formalities:
So because I broke down and decided to get a job that pays regularly, and thus decided to go to grad school, (make no mistake about it, its a job) my tours all exist on an As Arranged status. This is how it works: You find a tour you like & you write me. We decide when to do it and it becomes your job to drag people along or pay for it yourself. The prices listed on my site all assume 6 guests as minimum. I realize that this is not the most attractive approach, since if you are looking to pay for a tour, you want to do the least work possible. But that’s the deal.
Additionally, I am trying to recruit others to promote their tours on my site, and they will run theirs as they wish.
When to schedule: Most birders seem to schedule their tours 9 months in advance, and even earlier. That is fine with me. three months before the tour date I will require some monies, to guarantee the lodgings, flights, guides etcetera. If this doesn’t work for you, then neither do I 
. Remember, I myself will only be conduction tours during the summer and winter break. Any other tour leaders working with me (if the ever do) will have their own terms listed on their own dedicated page.
