For many consecutive winters Birding groups have been happily plying the Souss Valley westwards, from the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains to Morocco’s spectacular Atlantic coast south of Agadir. Here, in the autumn, late winter and spring, the nearby estuaries of the Oued Souss and Oued Massa are thronged with migrating waders, gulls and terns. Yet it is the draw of one of the Western Palearctic’s most enigmatic — and endangered — birds, the Northern Bald Ibis, which has provided the highlight of so many tours.
The 33,800-hectare Souss-Massa National Park was created in 1991. Lying between Agadir to the north and Sidi Ifni to the south, this Atlantic coastal site incorporates a variety of habitats, ranging from Argania spinosa woodland, cultivated fields and Retama and Euphorbia steppe, to dunes, cliffs, sandy beaches and wetlands. It encompasses the estuaries of the Oued Souss (the northern limit of the park) and the Oued Massa, a large and magical lagoon that has formed where the estuary is cut off from the sea by sand dunes.
Having long believed the Souss- Massa to be worthy of a tour in its own right, and having have found a new and wonderfully-appointed hotel, it is now the perfect base for a short, rewarding, yet relaxing birdwatching holiday. With Morocco’s rich heritage in mind, the owners have built and decorated their hotel tastefully, using a fine mix of traditional materials, local handicrafts and luxurious carpets and fabrics, all collected from Morocco’s varied and bustling souks. The lavishness of the beds and bedclothes, indeed of all fixtures and fittings, exude a feeling of calm and invite relaxation. You will have plenty of time to fully enjoy the hotel’s enviable location!
A relaxed five days is envisaged, for some of the best local birding is available from the hotel terrace! Together with an open-air pool, the hotel boasts a traditional Hammam (Turkish bath/massage room) offering a suite of health treatments, and fine cuisine (salads and grilled fish and meat being a particular speciality) to be enjoyed on a beautiful outdoor terrace overlooking the ocean. 
The Souss-Massa National Park holds a wealth of birds, and the diversity of habitats within it ensure us of a wide variety during our stay. However, the park derives its greatest importance from its protection of three of the four Moroccan breeding colonies of the Northern Bald Ibis. These three colonies are located on coastal cliffs within the park and totalled 33 breeding pairs in 2000, or 52% of the Moroccan and world population. Several roost sites exist, and most of the coastal steppes and fallow fields are used as feeding areas at different times of the year.
In addition, the park attracts a host of migrant birds, both on passage and during the winter. In fact, almost anything can and does turn up here and the chance of finding a vagrant from southern Africa or the Americas adds to the excitement of this locality. However, it is the plight of the Ibis which provides the principal focus on this tour. In the face of threatened invasive tourism development, several organisations, including the RSPB and BirdLife International, are working to protect the Northern Bald Ibis whose breeding population now stands at over 100 pairs, of which 75 pairs breed in the Souss-Massa National Park and 25 in the Tamri region, 60 kilometres north of Agadir.
On this holiday, your minibus being driven by a local driver, provides the flexibility to explore the park and to ensure a relaxed pace. Tamri will certainly be on your list of places to visit, a real stronghold for the Ibis. Barbary Falcons can regularly be seen around the cliffs here, whilst the beach often supports a flock of Audouin’s Gulls in a variety of plumages.
At other times the focus will remain within the
picturesque Souss-Massa National Park where, during the five days in which you explore its rich mosaic of habitats, a wealth of birds may include such species as Greater Flamingo, Bald Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Marbled Teal, Ferruginous Duck, Common Crane, Osprey, Marsh Harrier, Tawny Eagle, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Black-winged Stilt, Laughing Dove, Alpine Swift, Plain Martin, Tawny Pipit, Black-crowned Tchagra, Zitting Cisticola and Moustached Warbler amongst many others.
For pleasant winter warmth and sunshine, good birding, an appreciation of conservation in action and authentic local hospitality, we think this new holiday will be hard to beat!
If this example is not exactly what you are looking for please Request a Personal Quotation or contact us and we can discuss ways of tailor-making the perfect holiday for you.
You start from Lima, heading south along the Pan-American highway through some of the driest deserts on earth. Calling in at the small fishing village of Pucusana for lunch and a boat trip, you should arrive at Paracas in the late afternoon. The Ballestas Islands and the Península de Paracas make up La Reserva National de Paracas, the most important wildlife sanctuary on the Peruvian coast. During a morning excursion on a small launch you should hope to see Humboldt Penguin, Peruvian Pelican, Peruvian Booby, Peruvian Tern and the beautiful Inca Tern amongst the Southern Sea-lions and many other birds. Later on you will be offered the chance to fly over the famous Nasca Lines in a light aircraft whilst others may prefer to continue exploring the habitats around the peninsula in search of such specialities as Coastal Miner, Peruvian Thick-knee and Peruvian Sheartail. 
Back in the capital, a domestic flight takes you high over the majestic Andes and down into the Amazon Basin and the jungle boom-town of Puerto Maldonado. A 4-hour motorised canoe journey takes you up the Tambopata River to Tambopata Jungle Lodge, your base for one night. From here you strike out upstream, away from civilisation, and stay beside one of nature’s most spectacular sights. At dawn the next day, with dry weather, you should hope to see hundreds of Scarlet, Red-and-Green and Blue-and-Yellow Macaws descending onto an almost vertical bank of red clay to take advantage of the high mineral and salt content of the soil. It should be a sight to behold, and one of the highlights of your holiday. Your days will be spent on the trails that take you through superb virgin floodplain rainforest as you search for inner forest birds, such primates as Red Howler, Dusky Titi, Brown Capuchin, Squirrel Monkeys and, with luck, the endangered Black Spider Monkey. The lowland rainforest ecosystem is a fascinating one and there is so much to learn. For those wishing to do so there are clear rainforest streams to bathe in and, on red-letter days, the sighting of a Brazilian Tapir or a Giant River Otter is not out of the question. Two of the groups since September 2000 have also had magnificent views of Jaguar. After two nights you descend to Tambopata Jungle Lodge for one night, before flying to Cusco in the heart of the Andes for the final leg of the trip. 
Your first afternoon will wisely be spent acclimatising to the altitude in Cusco with a gentle city tour. Next, you will enjoy a day exploring the area, including a visit to the Huacarpay lakes. You will look out for Cinnamon, Speckled and Puna Teal, Andean Negrito, Wren-like Rushbird, Manycoloured Rush-tyrant, Bearded Mountaineer and Cinereous Harrier. Moving around to the north of Cusco and the Pisac ruins, you can hope to see Chestnutbreasted Mountain-Finch and Bearded Mountaineer amongst a fine selection of Andean birds. You will be free in the evenings to explore some of Cusco’s varied restaurants and perhaps sample some of the local culinary specialities. 
