Avian Naturescapes

-Validity from immediate to 31st October 2011 only
-Prices are based on twin sharing of rooms
-Single supplement charges will apply if you wish for a single room.
-Prices are valid for a fixed validity period and subject to revision whenever possible to allow for savings from off-peak periods and new promotions by the hotel.
-Trip is subject to a minimum of only 1 confirmed place.

Our track record speaks for itself!

Read our Customer Testimonials & Feedback here

Notes

This is only a sample itinerary, and the routes and timing may change according to local weather & environmental conditions, but the content of the trip will remain essentially the same as stated above.

The guiding for all my Guided Nature Photo Safaris are not outsourced. Be assured that I, myself will be personally leading each and every one of the tours offered on this website. For the 3 Photo Safaris to Southern Thailand, I will have a local Thai assistant guide to facilitate the language barrier but I will be primarily be leading the group.

This program is well structured for the bird photographer with ample time allocated to allow for getting a better photograph and there will be regular feeding stations where the photographer will be able to get near to the birds without much difficulty.

This is a Instructional Guided Photo Safari.

Have no concerns if you are a beginner bird photographer as there will be full on-hand instructions & tips on site on actual shooting techniques so that you can learn to take great pictures on the fly. I will be there to guide you on proper camera metering, WB and exposure settings, proper handling techniques for your setup and also advice on the compositional and creative aspects of bird photography. Tips on techniques & tools used in post capture image editing will also be available after hours.

The peak hours for bird activity at the venues in this itinerary is from 0700hrs to 1100hrs and again from 1530hrs to 1700hrs.

All trips are available all year round, but prices may be adjusted for peak periods (school & public holidays).

Advance booking is required for adequate forward planning. Kindly allow minimum two months prior to departure date.

Personal Travel Insurance

We strongly recommend that you purchase relevant & adequate travel insurance to cover your entire stay in Malaysia that includes this trip. Be assured that there is no high risk activity offered in this itinerary that is not covered by a standard travel insurance policy.

We can purchase travel insurance for you if you are not covered at an additional charge of MYR 70.00 per person.

Payment & Deposit

- Payment of 50% is required upon confirmation of booking (confirmation is subject to availability of rooms)

- The balance of the payment must be made 14 days prior to the date of commencement of trip.

- We reserve the right to cancel the booking should the payment not received by the deadline given.

Payment can be made by fund transfer to any of the following bank accounts :

- Maybank (MBB) Account Number : 107152135075

- CIMB Bank Account Number : 07140006886059

(note - all under account holder name ”CHOO TSE CHIEN”)

For convenience, payments and booking deposits can also be accepted in your local home currency using Paypal. Please request for conversion to your local currency for this.

Contact

Please contact me at tsechien@me.com or by calling +60124748354 (if in Malaysia, just dial 0124748354) if you are interested in getting a place on this this trip.

DAY 3

(Breakfast, lunch & dinner included)

Depart Khao Pra-Bang Khram for Krabi River and then onward to Krung Ching

0500hrs - Early morning departure for Krabi town for bird watching on the boat along the Krabi river, home of Brown-winged Kingfisher, Ruddy Kingfisher, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Mangrove Pitta and other shorebirds.

0600hrs - we will have breakfast before boarding the boat and we will have 3 to 4 hours birding from the boat.

1200hrs - Back on land at Krabi for back to land for lunch.

1400hrs - depart for Krung Ching which is about 3 hours away

1700hrs - arrival in Krung Ching, Arrival and check into chalets inside park area. Overnight accommodation in a bungalow inside the National Park area. Standard room, no air-conditioning, with attached shower & toilet.

Remaining part of the day will be spent in the park and around the bungalow. If the fig tree is fruiting, there will be a bariety of species of bulbuls feeding on the fruits. After dark, there are usually Buffly-fish Owls and Brown Wood Owls present around the bungalow area.

Itinerary :

DAY 1

(Only dinner is included)

Krabi Airport to Khao Pra-Bang Khram

Pick up at the hotel in Krabi and then drive to Khao Pra-Bang Khram (approxinately 1 hour’s away) or to Khao Nor Chuchi, after check into Morakot Resort and then to spend the remaining part of the day for birding & photography in the park area.

Birds such as Banded Pittas, Green Broadbills, Puff-throated Babblers, Red-throated Barbets, Grey-capped Woodpeckers, Common Flamebacks, White-rumped Shamas, Oriental Dwarf Kingfishers, Lesser Cuckoo-shrikes, Pied Trillers, Bar-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes, Ochraceous Bulbuls, Yellow-bellied Bulbuls, Streaked Spiderhunters, and Gurney's Pitta are found here.

In the main trail about 1 km away, there is Sra Morakot, a crystal clear natural hot spring pond located near the birding trails. You can enjoy a dip or a swim here and relax as the day ends

1900hrs to 2200hrs - Searching oriental bay owl and javan frogmouth in nearby rubber plantation site.

Overnight at Morakot Resort.

DAY 2

(Breakfast, lunch & dinner included)

Khao Pra-Bang Khram - entire day for birding & photography in the park area.

Overnight at Morakot Resort.

Photo Safari (#ST3-5/4FB) - 5 Days / 4 Nights Southern Thailand Explorer III (Krabi & Krung Ching)

Wednesday, 11, May 2011

Southern Thailand Explorer III, 4 Days / 3 Nights- ex Krabi, Thailand

(Full board (F/B), guiding fees, all transportation, accommodation inclusive all meals B/L/D)

Krabi

Krabi is one of the southern most provinces of Thailand, at the shore of the Andaman Sea. It is most famous for it's azure tropical sandy beaches and limestone outcrop islands. Phuket island is a province to the west of Krabi. The capital of this province and the largest town is Krabi.

Located at the shores of the Andaman Sea, the landscape here are dotted with limestone hills, both on land and out on the sea as islands. Rock climbers from all over the world travel to the famous Railay Beach to climb. Of the 130 islands belonging to Krabi province, Ko Phi Phi Lee is perhaps the most famous. Other islands nearby include Ko Phi Phi Don, part of the Phi Phi group of islands and Ko Lanta, a larger island to the south.

Khao Pra-Bang Khram, Krabi Province

Over 300 bird species have been seen in Khao Pra-Bang Khram or Khao Nor Chuchi. Of that number, 247 of these are resident! Khao Nor Chuchi represents the largest remaining area of lowland jungle in Southern Thailand. Unfortunately almost all of the former lowland jungle has been cut down for conversion to plant rubber trees or oil palm plantations and Khao Nor Chuchi is under constant threat from encroaching farmers.

Birding habitats here are in the vast secondary growth forests, open country, farmland, plantations and bamboo forests. One of the most appealing features of this area is the abundance of crystal clear spring water. There are two jungle pools within the protected area as well as several flowing creeks. The turquoise colored water in these jungle pools is truly breathtaking. The plant life includes orchids and carnivorous nepenthes Pitcher Plants. The birding habitat can also be broken down further into tall forest, extremely lowland with gullies (the favorite habitat of the much sought after gurney’s pitta), forest edges and even villages. Some species such as sunbirds, flowerpeckers and bulbuls are often seen in the vicinity of villages.

For birding trails, there is a system of nature trails in Khao Nor Chuchi. Some trails produce certain species, while others are well-known for a specific species. The gurney’s pitta prefers gullies. Some gullies are off of the trails however. Other pittas reside and breeding visitor (June-August) in the park as well. The blue-winged pitta, hooded pitta, banded pitta and giant pitta can all be seen here. In addition to pittas, the area is great for malkohas, woodpeckers, broadbills, sunbirds, flowerpeckers, babblers, kingfishers (even the rare rufous-collared kingfisher), barbets and plenty more.

The mangrove area in Krabi town is a site for the rare masked finfoot (a winter vagrant) and other appealing species as such ruddy kingfishers and stork billed kingfishers.

Krung Ching, Khao Luang National Park

Krung Ching is a rich highland forest in the mountain range of Khao Luang National Park about 800 km south of Bangkok, Thailand. It represents an important site for montane and sub-montane rainforest species in the Peninsula. Krung Ching is a home to more than 200 out of 978 bird species found in Thailand. These include the magnificent great argus pheasant, crested wood-partridge, diard's Trogon, scarlet-rumped Trogon, raffles malkoha, red-billed malkoha, chestnut-breasted malkoha, asian paradise flycatcher, grey-rumped treeswift, red-bearded beeeater, dark-throated oriole, white-crowned hornbill, brown wood owl, javan frogmouth, green broadbill, banded pitta amongst others.

Butterfly-lovers should not miss banded peacock, a national protected wildlife species. Cream-colored giant squirrel is one of the most sought-after squirrels among mammal lovers. For those who are fond of plants; stag-horn ferns, orchids, colorful fungi are worth looking through binoculars. Non venomous reptiles and amphibians are also worth photographing at night.

Krung Ching waterfall is a beautiful and important waterfall of Khao Luang National Park. Located in Tambon Krung Ching, the waterfall derives it's name from Ton Ching which is a kind of palm found in the area. The waterfall has many levels and the most breathtaking level is Nan Fon Saen Ha where water drops off a sheer cliff 100 meters high, splashing down creating a mist covering the area like rain unlike other falls. This waterfall level is depicted on the back of Thailand’s 1,000 Baht currency note. The waterfall is under the responsibility of the Khao Luang National Park Protection Unit and can be reached by a 4km road to Nan Fon Saen Ha.

Guided Instructional Photo Safaris by Choo Tse Chien

DAY 4

(Breakfast, lunch & dinner included)

Krung Ching - entire day for birding & photography in the park area.

The rainforest here is home to about 250 species of birds and with more variety bird than other venues in Southern Thailand. This forest is the home to the following birds - green broadbills, javan frogmouths, banded pittas, banded kingfishers, buff-vented bulbuls, wallace’s hawk-eagles, cinnamon rumped trogons, scarlet rumped trogons, orange breasted trogons, malaysian rail babblers, purple naped sunbirds, ashy tailorbirds.

Along the stream in side the nature trail it is possible to see birds such as blue-banded kingfishers, white-crowned forktails, chestnut naped forktails and rufous collared kingfishers.

Above the tree you can see green broadbills, red-bearded beeeaters, asian paradise flycathers. Skulking species found deep inside scrubs are scaly-crowned babblers, rufous-crowned babblers, grey-headed babblers, spot-necked babblers, chestnut-winged babblers and also the sought after banded pitta.

Around the bungalow there are already many species of bird present all day such as black & yellow broadbills, banded broadbills, lesser fish-eagles, greater green leafbirds, scaly-breasted bulbul,s grey-cheeked bulbuls, hairy-backed bulbuls, buff-vented bulbusl, chestnut bellied malkohas, yellow vented flowerpeckers, fiery minivets, violet cuckoos, wallace’s hawk-eagles, yellow eared barbets, white-crowned hornbills (especially if there is a fruiting tree) and brown barbets.

Buffy fish owls and brown wood owls are usually present around the bungalow at night.

Overnight accommodation in a bungalow inside the National Park area. Standard room, no air-conditioning, with attached shower & toilet.

DAY 5

(Only breakfast & lunch is included)

Kruch Ching for Krabi Airport

There is still a half day left for birding and photography in Krung Ching. Early afternoon departure from Krung Ching for a 3 hour drive back Krabi airport (or alternatively 1 hour's drive to Nakorn Sri Thamarat airport). Late afternoon arrival in Krabi.

(please advice if you require a post night's stay in Krabi so that we can try to arrange a booking for you OR your departure flight times so that we can time your arrival at Krabi airport departures appropriately)

Inclusions : the following are included :

- Pick up and drop off anywhere in Krabi or Krabi Airport.