Bar-bellied Pitta is one of the special birds in Cuc Phuong National Park. Photo: Suppalak Klabdee
Stretching one thousand miles down the east coast of Southeast Asia, Vietnam supports a vast array of habitats. Between the mighty deltas of the Red River in the north and the Mekong in the south are endless beautiful beaches, fertile coastal plains, lush lowland rainforest and high plateaus with rhododendron-covered peaks rising to over 9000 feet.
It is no wonder then that Vietnam is home to nearly 850 species of birds and more endemics than any other country in Southeast Asia. By visiting both the north and the south we’ll see a great variety of Vietnam’s distinctive birdlife, which combines influences from the Himalayas, the Palearctic and Malaysia, including a large number of Indochinese specialties that are difficult to find elsewhere in the region.
With the ravages of the past well and truly behind it, Vietnam has emerged as one of Asia’s most thriving economies and also one of its most popular tourist destinations. It has an infrastructure to match this popularity and we are assured of a warm welcome everywhere we travel in this fascinating country.
Day 1: The tour begins this evening in Ho Chi Minh City.
Day 2: After breakfast we’ll set off for Cat Tien National Park, just under 100 miles from Ho Chi Minh City. Traveling up Highway One, we’ll leave the city’s urban sprawl and pass through large areas of rubber plantations before branching off to the park. Cat Tien contains the largest remaining area of lowland tropical forest in southern Vietnam and an incredible diversity of animal life including more than 330 bird species. Endangered birds found here include Germain’s Peacock-Pheasant, Green Peafowl and the very elusive Orange-necked Partridge. Mammals that may be seen along the trails include Leopard Cat, Wild Boar, Lesser Oriental Chevrotain, Sambar, Muntjac and Gaur as well as two endangered primates, Black-shanked Douc Langur and Yellow-cheeked Gibbon. We’ll spend the first afternoon exploring areas close to the park headquarters, becoming familiar with many of the more common birds. Night at Cat Tien headquarters.
Days 3-5: We’ll awake to the magical sounds of the rainforest with many weird and wonderful noises echoing through the mighty trees. We’ll have two full days of birding here, both from the roads and along forest trails, and we’ll explore a range of lowland forest habitats including semi-evergreen and swamp forests and nearby wetlands. Birding here can require patience but the rewards are fantastic and during our stay we hope to see Lesser Adjutant, Woolly-necked Stork, Gray-headed Fishing-Eagle, Green Peafowl, Germain’s Peacock-Pheasant, Siamese Fireback, White-bellied and Great Slaty Woodpeckers, Black-and-red, Banded and Dusky Broadbills, Orange-breasted Trogon, Bar-bellied and Blue-rumped Pittas and Gray-faced Tit-Babbler. Nights at Cat Tien headquarters.
Day 6: We’ll spend a final morning at Cat Tien, birding along the paved road that runs through the park, where Green-eared, Blue-eared, Lineated and Red-vented Barbets can often be seen perched high up in the roadside trees. After lunch we’ll begin our journey toward the highlands of Da Lat. Our road will take us over a forested mountain pass that is home to several of the Da Lat Plateau specialties including Black-hooded, Orange-breasted and White-cheeked Laughingthrushes and Black-headed Parrotbill. We’ll spend a pleasant afternoon birding along the road before retracing our steps to Bao Loc. Night in Bao Loc.
Day 7: We’ll begin the day by returning to the same mountain pass road, where the early morning activity may reveal Blue and Rusty-naped Pittas, Indochinese Green Magpie or Green Cochoa. Located at 4600 feet, the former French colonial hill station of Da Lat is now a popular tourist destination and is also one of Vietnam’s top birding locales. After lunch we’ll visit Ta Nung Valley, an area of remnant evergreen forest that is the most accessible site for the rare and endemic Gray-crowned Crocias. This arboreal babbler was known from only a few specimens collected in 1938 until it was rediscovered in 1994. Night in Da Lat.
Day 8: We’ll have a full day birding in the cool pine and montane evergreen forests of Mount Lang Bian, just a 20-minute drive from Da Lat. Some of the many interesting birds we’ll look for here are Silver Pheasant, Golden-throated Barbet, the resident form of Scaly Thrush, wintering Mugimaki Flycatcher, Gray-crowned Tit, Silver-eared Mesia, Lesser Shortwing and Black-crowned Fulvetta. The most sought-after species at Lang Bian, however, is the beautiful and skulking endemic Collared Laughingthrush, and we have a good chance of seeing one. Night in Da Lat.
Day 9: Tuyen Lam Lake, just two miles from the center of town, is Da Lat’s third hotspot for birders. Traveling either by boat or by road, we’ll visit the far side of the lake where a track wanders through pines to areas of remnant tropical evergreen forest. Slender-billed Oriole, Burmese Shrike, Vietnamese Cutia, Red Crossbill and Vietnamese Greenfinch can be found in the pines while the evergreen forest is home to Yellow-billed Nuthatch, Gray-crowned Crocias and Black-headed Parrotbill among others. Night in Da Lat.
Day 10: For our final day in the region we’ll return to wonderful, bird-filled Ta Nung Valley. Such is the bird diversity of this valley that there are bound to be new species still awaiting us, perhaps including the very distinctive local subspecies of Blue-winged Minla, Rufous-backed and Black-headed Sibias and Black-throated Sunbird. Night at Da Lat.
Day 11: We’ll transfer to the airport for a morning flight to Hanoi. On arrival in Hanoi we’ll make the 90-minute drive to Tam Dao, a hill resort situated in lush evergreen forest at 3000 feet. We’ll spend the afternoon birding locally searching for Black-throated Laughingthrush, White-hooded Babbler, Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler, Black-chinned Yuhina and Fork-tailed Sunbird among others. Night at Tam Dao.
Days 12-13: We’ll have two full days to explore the birdrich bamboo and montane evergreen forest above the town. Specialties here include the elusive Blue-naped Pitta, Red-headed Trogon, Purple and Green Cochoas, Slaty-bellied Tesia, Chestnut Bulbul, Gray Laughingthrush, Coral-billed and Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babblers and Greater Rufous-headed and Short-tailed Parrotbills. Between December and March, Tam Dao can also be an excellent place to observe Palearctic migrants, perhaps including Black-breasted Thrush, Japanese Thrush and Fujian Niltava. Nights at Tam Dao.
Day 14: There may be time for some early morning birding before we drive back to Hanoi for an early lunch and then continue toward Cuc Phuong National Park, a three-hour drive south of the capital. We’ll stop in the late afternoon at Van Long Nature Reserve, just before Cuc Phuong, to take a sampan to the dramatic limestone cliffs that are home to the largest population of the endangered Delacour Langur. Various waders, herons, bitterns and a breeding pair of Bonelli’s Eagles are often seen here. We’ll then continue to Cuc Phuong, arriving just before dusk. Night at the park’s headquarters guest house.
Days 15-16: The first national park to be established in Vietnam, Cuc Phuong is an area of limestone hills covered in primary rainforest. Some of the special birds we’ll hope to see are Bar-bellied, Blue-rumped and Eared Pittas, Silver-breasted Broadbill, White-tailed Flycatcher, White-winged Magpie, Racket-tailed Treepie, Rufous-throated Fulvetta, Limestone Wren-Babbler, Fujian Niltava and Pied Falconet. Nights at the park’s headquarters guest house.
Day 17: After a final morning at Cuc Phuong we’ll return to Hanoi in the afternoon. Night in Hanoi.
Day 18: The tour ends this morning in Hanoi.
Updated: 04 January 2008
Prices
- 2009 price not yet available.
Notes
Tour dates have changed since original publication.
Maximum group size 7 with two leaders. Both leaders will accompany the tour regardless of group size. This tour is organized by our English company, Sunbird.