Faraaz Abdool designs itineraries to show off food, culture and natural vistas in his tours for birders.
Home-bound for a couple years, many people have fallen in love with their backyard birds and by extension the magic of birding. Now, with travel restrictions easing in most countries, people are eager to visit new places, see new sights, and experience new birds. Pre-pandemic birding tourism was already a significant sector of the burgeoning ecotourism market, and it is gradually regaining momentum as more and more people take flight.
Birding tours take eager people from all walks of life to incredible and remote places as varied as the birds themselves. As the destinations vary, the tours branch out to cater for the various cadres of birders – some who keep lists with magnitudes of thousands, some who are seeking that elusive winning photograph, others merely interested in the experience of being in nature. Most people who travel for birds fall in any combination of those categories. Some may place more importance on one or the other, but at the most fundamental level, all are people who enjoy the natural world and have a vested interest in its well-being. It is no stretch of the imagination, therefore, that the preservation of nature in all its forms is something that is directly beneficial to the birder.
[caption id="attachment_965688" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Mindful options at restaurants make them more attractive for the conscious visitor. Birders love Shore Things Cafe in Lambeau. - Joanne Husain[/caption]
Nothing exists in a vacuum, however. Booking – and embarking on – a birding tour has ripple effects across a considerable web of providers. Even what may seem at first glance to be a dedicated, single-minded, birds-or-nothing tour also involves a complex network extending from a hub of birding guides, drivers, and hoteliers.
Many birding days begin in the pre-dawn and end long after sundown. Thankfully in Trinidad and Tobago, there are no difficult journeys; getting from one island to another takes only a few hours. This ease of access forms a significant part of the allure of these two islands that are Caribbean but also distinctly South American. Further to this, the option of “lunch at a local restaurant” fits a long day out perfectly by maximising the birding time. What’s not to love about a conveniently located, welcoming table reserved and waiting for hungry birders ready for a break? This doesn’t have to be the largest or most famous restaurant – many visiting birders are keen to sample our local cuisine, and simple is often better.
Care and consideration must be exercised, as environmentally-sensible people hosted in a restaurant will notice poor or insensitive practices. Any participating establishment ideally should be one upholding the tenets of sustainability – “bake and shark” does not fall in this bracket given the dire status of sharks worldwide. A mindful shift to “bake and lionfish” can provide a glimmer of hope and would forge a key linkage with yet another communi
