Honduras: The Lodge at Pico Bonito

2013 Cost
$2475 from San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Prices per person, double occupancy.

Copan Extension Cost: $1025 per person double occupancy.

Full payment required 120 days prior to departure date.

Price based on double occupancy. If a single room is preferred, a single supplement fee of $660 will be assessed.

Brief Itinerary

Day 1 : Arrive San Pedro Sula; transfer to Pico Bonito
Day 2 : Pico Bonito
Day 3 : Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge
Day 4 : Pico Bonito
Day 5 : Rio Aguan Valley
Day 6 : Lancetilla Botanical Garden; Pico Bonito
Day 7 : Depart San Pedro Sula

Detailed itinerary

Day 1 - Arrival in Honduras

Arrive San Pedro Sula; transfer to Pico Bonito Lodge

Day 2 - Birding the Lodge grounds
Birding the property around Pico Bonito. Several well-maintained trails start from behind the pool, one of them leading to an impressive canopy tower only ten minutes away. As canopy towers go, this is one of the easiest to climb as it is located on a slope overlooking a forested valley. Large enough for the whole group and offers canopy views as well as a piece of the river below. We'll watch for perched and soaring raptors including White Hawk and Bat Falcon and scan the treetops for the turquoise of a male Lovely Cotinga.

Day 3 - Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge
The Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge, which preserves an estuarine habitat of mangroves and taller tropical forest. Along the rail route we will encounter a number of open-country birds and the wetlands may offer views of various herons and egrets including Bare-throated Tiger-Heron and perhaps Wood Stork and even Jabiru. At the refuge we will take boats into the mangrove-lined waterways and forests of the extensive lagoon. All five of the northern Central American kingfishers can be seen here including the tiny American Pygmy Kingfisher. Other species we will seek include Boat-billed Heron, Sungrebe, Gray-neck Wood-Rail, Squirrel Cuckoo, Collared Aracari and Spot-breasted Wren.

Day 4 - Birding the Lodge grounds
Today we will explore many more of the trails around the property... so many possibilities!

Day 5 - Rio Aguan Valley
The valley of the Rio Aguan is arid and flat, with impressive columnar cacti and epiphyte-laden oaks. Though clearing and overgrazing have impacted much of the valley, this area of cactus/thorn-scrub woodland persists undisturbed... here we can still find the country's only endemic, the critically endangered Honduran Emerald.

Day 6 - Lancetilla Botanical Garden
Morning trip to the botanical gardens where we will bird the entrance road for Great Antshrike, Cocoa Woodcreeper, and Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher before taking a stroll down to the river and birding along the protected watershed. Other birds we could encounter include Slaty-breasted Tinamou, Black-headed Trogon, Keel-billed Toucan, Collared Aracari, Chestnut-colored woodpeckers, Black-crowned Tityra, and many species of warblers.

Day 7 - Return Home
Depart for our return home...

Pico Bonito Lodge

Adventure, nature, and luxurious comfort surrounded by 400 acres of tropical wilderness, one of Central America's largest unexplored rainforests. These forests are home to over 420 species of birds plus many tropical amphibians and mammals such as kinkajous, peccaries, coatis, monkeys, tyras and jaguars.

Cabins are approximately 400 square feet with private bathroom with shower, louvered and screened windows, two ceiling fans, and private veranda with hammock. Cabins also have a CD player, alarm clock and coffee maker with Honduran organic coffee. Outlets are 110v.

Birds Seen in Honduras