RESOURCES

While “Valentina”, our 1978 VW Bus, is the symbol for our company, she is not the vehicle we use for our tours. We utilize modern tour vans and other means of transport for our group birding trips. The VW Bus is our personal vehicle, and you may see us on the roads of North America somewhere, birding by bus!

We take special care to ensure that while on tour, you eat balanced, satisfying, and wholesome meals no matter what your dietary preference. We routinely cater to vegetarians, vegans, pescatarians, gluten-free, dairy-free, and various other dietary preferences. Eliana herself (co-owner of the company) is vegan and understands the importance of eating balanced meals on tour that meet your needs. We will make our best effort to make sure everyone eats well while on tour, while avoiding those foods that you can’t consume.

Most of our main tours have a maximum of either 8 or 10 guests, depending on the tour. Some of our trips may have fewer guests than that, but generally not more. We also lead day trips in South Florida that may have as few as 1-2 persons. We have also arranged custom private tours in the past — tell us what you’re looking for, and we’ll see if we can accommodate it! For trip leaders, we utilize a local expert guide for our international tours, and in addition you’ll have Eliana and/or Marc on board as guides and tour hosts. Our trip leaders are at the heart of what makes Birding by Bus so special!

Absolutely, YES! Our tours are designed for both beginner and advanced birders alike. All we ask is that you have an interest in nature, the outdoors, traveling, and birds! We always do our very best to make sure everyone “gets on” the birds, and understands what we are looking at. Our expert guides are more than willing to work with those guests that are newcomers to birding.

Colombia is colorful, vivacious, and packed with birds and nature. And YES, Colombia is absolutely safe to visit. Colombia is the new darling of South American travel. The country has been ‘rediscovered’ despite a past reputation of being unsafe to visit. Since a 2016 accord ended the decades-long civil war between Colombia’s government and the paramilitary group FARC, Colombia has enjoyed an unprecedented period of peace. As a traveler, this means you’ll find yourself in the midst of a cultural renaissance.

Colombia has one of the fastest growing tourist markets globally and is outpacing tourism in other Latin American countries. It’s hard to argue with the millions of tourists who visit here and leave totally unaffected by any issues in Colombia. Today, Colombia is statistically safe to visit.

Sticking to the main routes or going on organized tours is an excellent way to avoid encountering any trouble. Common sense safety rules apply here: Don't wear flashy jewelry, keep your phones and cameras out of sight while in the bigger cities, and only carry enough money for the day. Taking binoculars, cameras, and other birding equipment while on our tours is perfectly safe. While in major cities, avoid showing excessive signs of wealth.

The amount of walking we do on our tours is variable depending on the destination. But in general, our birding tours do not require excessive hiking, strenuous walking, or rigorous exercise. We take our time to relish and enjoy the birds, walk at a slow pace, and generally cover short distances that are known birding hotspots. Our transport vehicle is usually never far away.

Travel insurance is highly recommended on tour and we suggest that you take out suitable coverage. We have personally used Travel Guard and other guests have used Seven Corners. If you are bringing expensive optical equipment or other valuable items, please make sure they are also adequately insured on your homeowner’s or photographer’s insurance policy, as most travel insurance policies do not cover very expensive individual items. We personally use Chubb’s “Photographer’s Insurance” through NANPA (North American Nature Photographers Association) to insure our own personal optics and electronics.

Please also ensure that your travel insurance policy covers you in the event of a medical emergency, cancellation of a trip or severe delays. Medical costs abroad can often be expensive. Please note that Birding By Bus or the local tour operator we partner with are not liable for any medical or repatriation costs resulting from injury or illness during a tour or for covering any costs resulting from a flight delay such as extra hotel accommodation.

Despite the obstacles posed to operating birding tours in the time of Covid-19, we have responded to those challenges in both a responsible and cautious manner. A resume to our normal tour operations steadily continues, and we safely and successfully operated 6 international trips in 2021 and 7 trips in 2022. Core to our pledge of safety, all customers and tour leaders on our trips must be fully vaccinated.

Local Covid-19 requirements may vary from country to country, but rest assured we have taken appropriate steps to minimize everyone’s risks. Tour guests are asked to provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination.

We strive to be a welcoming travel host to birders and nature lovers of all demographics, identities and ethnicities. We welcome your specific questions about how we can help you make your birding travel dreams a reality. We want our guests to join together to create bonds of birding friendship. To support and celebrate each other as we are.