Panama
Lowlands and Highlands
Canopy Tower, Canopy Lodge and Los Quetzales
March 4 to 17, 2012
Extension available March 16 to 23, 2012

| At a Glance | Itinerary | Extension | Costs | Sign-up | Other Details |

Panama together with Jim Danzenbaker's leadership equals a wonderful tropical experience. Jim is absolutely tops when it comes to uncovering Neotropical wildlife so he personally designed this two-week itinerary with plenty of time at three significant sites. Four days at Canopy Tower, four days at Canopy Lodge, and four days at Los Quetzales allows you in-depth field time and very little time traveling between the varied lowland and highland destinations. Jim will focus on many birds, amazing Neotropical mammals and beautiful, photogenic butterflies and amphibians. The food is delicious, the lodges extremely comfortable, and the people are as friendly as can be. Join Jim and our resident guides in this small gem of a country with incredible biodiversity, located beside Costa Rica. If you loved Costa Rica, you will love Panama.

Extensions: Broaden your Panama experience by adding the week extension on March 16 to 23, 2012 for a total of three weeks instead of two.

At a Glance

Cost: $4,420 per person, double occupancy, not including airfare. Week-long extension is $1,830. Review cost details.

Leaders: Jim Danzenbaker and resident guides.

Group Size: 10, not including leaders.

Number of Days: 14, including travel days. Number of days including extension is 20.

Conditions: A non-smoking safari for people who are very interested in all wildlife and spending the maximum time in the field.

Itinerary Updated: November 2011.

Synopsis:

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Detailed Itinerary

March 4 - 7, Sunday - Wednesday From home to Panama City to Canopy Tower for four nights
Fly to Panama City by March 4 to arrive by afternoon or evening (see flight schedule details) and meet a resident driver from the Canopy Tower for the short trip to the first amazing location on this wonderful itinerary, where you will meet Jim Danzenbaker. Within sight of the Panama Canal, the Canopy Tower is located on top of Semaphor Hill and has a commanding view of the surrounding lowland rainforest. From the Canopy Tower, the skyscrapers of Panama City can be seen below the clouds in the distance. Huge ocean liners and cruise ships can be seen passing through the canal. A cruise ship floating through the rain forest is a strange sight!

Canopy Tower ©Bill Page

Every morning we greet the dawn from the top of the tower, which provides unparalleled opportunities for wildlife action with growling howlers and calling tinamous, parrots, and toucans. Beautiful tanagers and trogons feed on fruits from the cecropia trees within 30 feet of the observation deck. Three-toed Sloths and Black Howler Monkeys can often be seen and photographed within 100 feet of the tower. All this will be enjoyed while relaxing in chairs and sipping fresh Panamanian coffee and fruit juice! While at the Canopy Tower, we'll frequent the hummingbird feeders that attract White-necked Jacobins, Garden Emeralds, and Violet-bellied Hummingbirds. Jim has made many trips to the Canopy Tower, so he knows the birds and mammals exceptionally well. Experienced resident guides are also available to answer questions about the wildlife and the diverse flora. They will lead a night ride down Semaphor Hill in Soberania National Park. Highlights may include two species of sloths, Olingo, and Vermiculated Screech Owl. In the evening, Pauraques are easily heard and there is always a chance for hearing and seeing other owls and nightjars.

March is the peak of the exciting hawk migration, so throughout the trip Jim will guide your eyes skyward to the migrating flocks of raptors, plus resident King Vultures. The Canopy Tower is a great location to watch the hawk migration. Columns of northward-bound raptors may funnel overhead - a spectacular sight! The Peregrine Fund, along with the Raptor Research group, has released several Harpy Eagles on Pipeline. The release site is miles beyond where we will get in one day, but the thought of seeing one of these birds in the wild will keep us looking in the canopy. Harpies can pluck feeding monkeys and sloths from the trees with their huge talons without skipping a beat.

On our first full day we'll take an unforgettable walk down Semaphore Hill looking for mixed species flocks, or "bird parties," foraging together. Troops of Geoffrey's Marmosets are regularly encountered as are agoutis, toucans, and elusive bird species such as antbirds, manakins and puffbirds. After lunch and a rest, visit Summit Ponds where Amazon and American Pygmy kingfishers, White-necked Puffbird, and Collared Aracaris are frequently seen. The ponds also hold breeding Boat-billed Herons.

Spotted Antbird ©Mike Danzenbaker

The next day we'll head for the famed Pipeline Road, which is only a 20-minute drive from the Canopy Tower. Traversing Soberania National Park, the forest in this area is the most accessible tropical forest in the world with over 380 species of birds recorded. A walk along this road can produce surprise encounters with Tamandua (Lesser Anteater), White-faced Capuchins, Spider Monkeys, and South American Agoutis. Surprises along the road also include roosting potoos, Spectacled Caiman in the rivers, and myriad varieties of butterflies, including incredibly dazzling morphos. On a recent visit, a Three-toed Sloth "walked" across the road and allowed observation from five feet away! Begin at Ammunition Ponds, a wetland area, before walking Pipeline Road. No cars are allowed on Pipeline Road, except for the Canopy Tower "rainforest mobile" and vehicles driven by Smithsonian biologists who have a field camp far down Pipeline Road. With any luck we will encounter an ant swarm that can yield Song Wren, Bicolored, Spotted, and Ocellated antbirds, Southern Bentbill, Rufous and Blue-crowned motmots and numerous woodcreepers. A highlight of Pipeline Road is a close encounter with a flock of antbirds attending an army ant swarm. These birds become so entranced with catching insects fleeing from the army ants that excellent photos can be taken. Birds will alight on branches just meters away. On previous visits we've watched army ant swarms that have attracted 20 species including motmots, puffbirds, song wrens, woodcreepers, and up to ten species of antbirds. In the late afternoon, we'll visit Plantation Road in search of a variety of spectacular birds and mammals. Pipeline Road certainly warrants a second visit as well on another morning when we will visit the observation tower at the Rainforest Discovery Center. We will concentrate on species not seen the previous day and will spend more time with the antswarms and the fascinating birds that accompany them.
Lodging: Canopy Tower

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Green Honeycreeper ©Bill Page

March 8 - 11, Thursday - Sunday: At the Canopy Lodge in central Panama cloud forest
We will have one last morning at the Canopy Tower before our transfer to Canopy Lodge, a two-hour drive, which will take us across the Canal, where we will make a stop, and into central Panama. We'll also stop at Summit Park en route to visit the Harpy Eagle. Although this individual Harpy is a captive, it is an incredible bird to see!

About 90 minutes to the west of Panama City, the Canopy Lodge offers comfort in the heart of the cloud forests of El Valle de Anton. We will arrive by mid-afternoon in time to walk the lodge grounds, covered with tropical flowers. Attracted hummingbirds include Violet-headed, Snowy-bellied, and the beautiful Rufous-crested Coquette. Tanager feeding stations can provide excellent photographic opportunities for Bay-headed, Silver-throated, Crimson-backed, Blue-Gray, and Dusky-faced tanagers, as well as striking Thick-billed Euphonias, Collared Aracaris, and Red-legged Honeycreepers. Five-foot-long iguanas can sometimes stroll across the entrance footbridge and basilisk lizards run from rock to rock in the nearby creek. Butterfly enthusiasts will be delighted at the variety of mariposas attracted to the stand of vervaine near the dining room. Meals are usually interrupted by soaring raptors near Gaitun Ridge or tanagers at the feeders. In the evening, gather around several of the hummingbird feeders to test your skills at bat photography. In the area, frogs can range in size from ten inches long to less than the length of your little fingernail!

We'll do an all-day trip to a rich cloud forest with bromeliad-draped trees and moss covered limbs, attracting hummingbirds, woodcreepers, butterflies, monkeys, and maybe a Black-crowned Antpitta. On another day a walk up a nearby trail can produce Sunbittern, Tody Motmots, roosting Mottled or Crested Owl, and foot-long lizards. Beautiful waterfalls, peaceful streams, and large epiphyte-covered trees blend to create a lush upper tropical forest. Trails near the lodge can lead to close views of Dull-mantled Antbird, White-tipped Sicklebill, Eye-ringed Flatbill, and the much sought after Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo.

Drive to upper elevation cloud forest in four-wheel drive vehicles. In this higher, cooler climate, we'll search for special birds of the cloud forest, including Snowcap, Black-and-yellow Tanager, and several others. This area also harbors a multitude of butterflies and orchids to keep our photographic eye in fine focus. A picnic lunch will keep us in the habitat all day. With further exploration of the birdlife of El Valle, we'll continue to find new species of parrots, tanagers, and perhaps Tody Motmot, Sunbittern, and Black-chested Jay. Also visit some dry tropical forest, where Tropical Screech Owl, Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Lance-tailed Manakin, Fasciated Antshrike, and Striped Cuckoo reside. We'll continue our search in the afternoon for Barred and White Hawks, Black-crowned Antpitta, and Dull-mantled Antbird. One afternoon we'll explore a different area of El Valle, where we can slowly wander the trails for antbirds, trogons, and tinamous.
Lodging: Canopy Lodge

Kinkajou ©Bill Page

March 12 - 15, Monday - Thursday: Fly to David for four nights at Los Quetzales Lodge
We depart from Canopy Lodge this morning and pass through the lowland areas near the Pacific coast to fly to David in the Western Chiriquí Highlands. A brief visit to Miraflores Locks will let us marvel at the engineering that has allowed the Panama Canal to be the highway to the world's seagoing transportation. We'll fly from the domestic airport (PAC) in the late afternoon on Air Panama flight number PM 970 at 4:20 pm, arriving at 4:55 pm, a 35-minute flight to David in the Western Highlands. Drive north uphill, so it takes longer than the return downhill, as we ascend into the Highlands to Los Quetzales Lodge for a wonderful three days and four nights. The Highlands in the Chiriquí Province of Western Panama are rich with a variety of birds and mammals not found in central or eastern Panama. The climate is ideal for all-day activities, including walking and staking out fruit-laden trees or focusing on hummingbird feeders. Los Quetzales Lodge is located on the edge of Volcán Barú National Park and boasts a bounty of hummingbird feeders, attracting seven species, including the vividly colored Violet Sabrewing. Many warblers and tanagers also are here, especially Golden-hooded and Flame-colored tanagers.

Resplendant Quetzal
©Bill Page

We'll begin exploring the rich Chiriquí Highlands of western Panama in cloud forest heaven. Right away on the wonderful grounds of Los Quetzales Lodge, Jim will be looking to show you Magnificent Hummingbird, Violet Sabrewing, Scintillant Hummingbird, Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher, and Torrent Tyrannulet. The high altitude specialties of this area are Silvery-fronted Tapaculo (often heard), Prong-billed Barbet, Barred Becard, Buff-fronted Quail-Dove, and Resplendent Quetzal. This is the realm of the Resplendant Quetzal, purported by some to be the most colorful species in the world. It's the national bird of Guatemala and revered by the Mayan Indians. With luck, we will find an active Resplendant Quetzal nest, which has happened on previous trips! We'll also search for Buffy Tuftedcheek, Slaty Finch and Golden-browed Chlorophonia; all have been seen on the lodge grounds and in the national park! Each day experience the beauty of Volcán Barú National Park and the surrounding countryside, as we encounter new species, such as Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Flame-throated Warbler, Spangled-cheeked Tanager, Large-footed Finch and Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch.

We'll visit Finca Hartmann, a shade grown coffee plantation near the Costa Rican border to enjoy birds and mammals that we won't encounter elsewhere such as nesting Fiery-billed Aracaris, Turquiose Cotinga, Pale-billed Woodpecker, and wintering Yellow-bellied Flycatchers. We'll also have the opportunity to tour the grounds to learn more about coffee growing. During our sojourn at Los Quetzales we may also visit La Amistad International Park, depending on the conditions of the trails. It is a large forested park that straddles the border between Panama and Costa Rica. Trails traversing the park give access to the under story of bamboo and ferns and we'll look for wildlife in this lush green habitat. Trees will be covered with lichens, mosses, and bromeliads, which are watered daily by the clouds.
Lodging: Los Quetzales Lodge

March 16 - 17, Friday - Saturday: Fly to Panama City for overnight and international flights
If you are not continuing on the extension, your flight today departs in the late afternoon, allowing a full morning at Los Quetzales and airport transfer after lunch. Air Panama #PM 971 departs at 5:15 pm, arriving back at PAC, the domestic airport in Panama City at 5:50 pm. Once in Panama City, transfer (cost included) from the domestic airport to the Riande Hotel, beside the international airport for an overnight. Dinner on your own. On Saturday morning, transfer to the international airport (PTY) using the Riande airport shuttle for your early morning flight homeward.
Lodging on March 16: Riande Hotel

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Extension Detailed Itinerary

March 16 - 17, Friday - Saturday: To Finca Lerida near Boquete for two nights
With a full morning at Los Quetzales, we'll depart from Los Quetzales after an early lunch for more adventures in the cloud forests ahead. We'll bird along the route to Boquete, possibly stopping at Rio Macho de Monte to search for White-crested Coquette, Riverside Wren, and other species found in the Pacific Lowlands. We'll stop at an overview to view the expanding city of Boquete. Boquete is a beautiful town in the mountains of western Panama, discovered by Americans about ten years ago. With a population of retired Americans now living there, the town is known for its charm, delicious coffee and very friendly people, but we'll find more wildlife by going to Finca Lerida for our overnights, located in the hills above Boquete. We'll hope to view euphonias, hummingbirds, possibly even Three-wattled Bellbirds on the grounds right near our rooms. Northbound raptors should be descending into the trees after an all-day flight from the south.

A full day will be spent at Finca Lerida, an active plantation, which has a cloud forest inhabited by the incredible Three-wattled Bellbird, a striking bird found only in Panama and Costa Rica. Guided by Jim and our resident guide, enter the trail at Finca Lerida to search especially for Three-wattled Bellbird ("Calandria" - Spanish for lark). The trail crosses through cloud forest where, before long, we should hear the "qwa" calls of Resplendant Quetzals and see several during our walk today. Even though we will have already seen this radiant bird very well at Los Quetzales, we will never pass up an opportunity to view again. Common Bush Tanagers are noisy members of bird flocks so finding them may yield many other species. Before reaching the mirador (overlook), we should hear the "bonking" calls of Three-wattled Bellbirds and have high hopes of seeing these birds, much more easily heard than spotted! Interspersed during our bellbird experience, we may have views of a singing Collared Trogon and a pair of Tufted Flycatchers building a nest, as seen on a previous trip, with a Mississippi Kite flying overhead. Once we locate a bellbird to observe it "singing", it's a highlight to watch it open its bill so wide that the lower mandible appears to touch its upper breast before the bonk resounds. It can be heard for quite a distance and the male bellbird flails his wattles hanging all around his bill. The wide trail eventually leads to a most memorable picnic spot in a clearing amid the grandeur of a cathedral of 300-year-old trees. We hope quetzals will be calling and Gray-breasted Wood-Wrens are singing. On the way back up, we'll look for bellbirds again and locate new birds not seen on the way in, perhaps watch flycatchers hawking insects and spinetail couples, such as Red-faced, going about their furtive behaviors. Kettles of Broad-winged Hawks will be rising, as the air warms with the noonday sun. We also have the opportunity to walk back to the lodge along a narrow trail that winds down through a lush primary forest inhabited by monkeys, Black Guans, and many colorful butterflies. This trail is one of the hidden gems of Finca Lerida and shouldn't be missed!

As a grand finale, enjoy hummingbirds at the main building feeders of Finca Lerida - Green Violet-ears, Scintillants, Scaly-breasted, and perhaps a few Rufous-tailed and Snowy-bellied hummingbirds. A Three-wattled Bellbird can even be a "yard bird" here, perched on an exposed dead limb high up in the canopy. We'll walk through the nearby cloud forest and search for species missed or amble along a plantation side trail with Rosy Thrush-Tanagers, Yellow-throated Brush-Finches, Three-wattled Bellbirds, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, and Elegant Euphonias. After dinner we'll go over all we saw today while we sit in the large common room in front of a comforting crackling fire.
Lodging: Finca Lerida

March 18 - 19, Sunday - Monday: Fly to Panama City and the Caribbean slope at Sierra Llorona
The flight from David departs at 10:30 am, so we will depart after breakfast to the David Airport for the short 35 minute flight to Panama City on PM 973 arriving at PAC at 11:05 pm. We'll take brown bag lunches today from Finca Lerida to have enroute to Sierra Llorona once back in the lowlands. Head for the Caribbean slope and two days staying at the very comfortable Sierra Llorona Panama Lodge, located in a wonderful private reserve of 200 hectares in excellent tropical rainforest.

The lodge is close to the Achiote Road, so join Jim there very early on Monday to look for birds and other wildlife on this famous road, considered one of the best birding locations in Panama. This area is on the west side of the Panama Canal along the Caribbean Slope and is very humid. The rich rainforest habitat is home to monkeys, sloths, and iguanas, plus a few species of birds not yet encountered in the lowlands. We may encounter Black-and-white Hawk Eagle, White-headed Wren, Jet Antbird, Sulphur-rumped Tanager, Black-breasted Puffbird, Spot-crowned Barbet, and Yellow-backed Oriole. We will stay two nights at Sierra Llorona Panama Lodge, which is not quite as comfortable as other lodges on this itinerary, but well worth the adventure.
Lodging: Sierra Llorona Panama Lodge

March 20 - 22, Tuesday - Thursday: Birding the Cerro Azul in cloudforest and Casa de Campo
Take one last walk at Sierra Llorona, then head for our final destination in Panama. On the drive from Sierra Llorona to Casa de Campo perhaps stop at Metropolitan Park in Panama City for ant-tanagers, Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher, Dusky Antbird, Golden-fronted Greenlet, and Yellow-Green Tyrannulet or Panama Viejo to enjoy the shorebird spectacle. With a late afternoon arrival at Hostal Casa de Campo, we'll view Plain and Buff-breasted wrens, Black-striped Sparrow, Garden Emerald, Rufous-capped Warbler, Swallow-tailed Kites and maybe even the endemic Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker. If it's already dark, we'll look for them in the morning. We're here for two great days in the cloud forest highlands to the east of Panama City, the home of a variety of tanagers that are not found in other parts of Panama. We'll visit Altos de Cerro Azul for our last higher-altitude experience. Dueting Tropical Screech Owls heard on the lodge grounds may be one of our lasting memories of the wildlife of Panama. Casa de Campo is a small, but comfortable bed and breakfast, which will allow us to enjoy a wonderful tranquility.

Our next two days in the field will be devoted to exploring the Cerro Azul/Jefe area. Although this area is not a reserve and is now dotted with a few homes, bird flocks and mammals can be encountered at any time. One trail descends down a sloping hill rich with motmots and a troop of White-faced Capuchins. This cloud forest harbors many amazing species of birds: Violet-capped Hummingbird, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Orange-bellied Trogon, Yellow-eared Toucanet, White-ruffed Manakin, Scaled Pigeon, Plain Xenops, and Tacarcuna Brush-Finch. Just the tanagers include Black-and-yellow, Olive, White-shouldered, Silver-throated, Speckled, Rufous-winged, Golden-hooded, and Bay-headed. We are likely to locate several species-rich flocks that may include woodcreepers, hummingbirds, and Blue-black Grosbeak. We will hope for cloudy skies and no wind, optimal conditions for this unique habitat. March is the best month for calm, windless conditions. Right around the hostal look for Violaceous Trogon, Long-billed Starthroat, Rufous Motmot, Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant, and Rufous-capped Warbler. During one afternoon, we'll search the area around the grounds and some of the smaller roads in the area in search of flowering trees that could harbor feeding hummingbirds, honeycreepers and tanagers. We may encounter northbound flocks of warblers that may include Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Green, Cerulean, Canada, and Bay-breasted!
Lodging: Casa de Campo

March 23, Friday: International flights and arrival home
Very early this morning drive to the Panama City Airport for AM flight departures homeward, the end of 19 wonderful days in this beautiful country.

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Costs

Payments and Cancellations: All reservations require a deposit due at the time of making the reservation. Upon receiving your deposit and reservation form, we will send trip materials with additional information to help you prepare for your safari. Until the final payment due date, deposits are refundable except for a cancellation fee of $150 per person. This fee may go toward another tour if reserved within six months of the cancelled trip's departure date. There are no refunds given after the final payment due date. We reserve the right to charge for cost increases that occur between now and the date of travel.

Included:

• All guiding, hotels and lodges from March 4 to March 16 or with the extension to March 22.
• Airport transfer on March 4. If not continuing on the extension, airport transfers between the Los Quetzales Lodge and the airport in David and from the domestic airport in Panama City to the Hotel Riande on March 16. If continuing on the extension, airport transfer on March 23.
• All meals beginning with dinner on March 4 and ending with lunch on March 16 if not continuing on the extension or dinner on March 22 if continuing on the extension.
• Gratuities to lodge personnel, drivers and local guides.
• All ground transportation in Panama as described.
• Entrance fees to parks and reserves.
• Bottled water available in the vehicles.

Not Included:

• All airfare and any departure or airport tax in Panama. Roundtrip international flight between USA and Panama City is approximately $1,000-$1,200, depending on departure point (subject to change). Round-trip domestic flight between Panama City and David is approximately $228 (quoted November 2011, subject to change) is booked by Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris and will be added to your final payment.
• Separate airport transfers.
• Travel insurance.
• Bottled beverages beyond those provided in the vehicle and items not on the regular menu (if you have special dietary needs, please indicate them on your reservation form).
• Personal expenses.
• Optional extension.

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Sign-up

To Make a Reservation: Please contact us (there are many methods of contacting us) to assure space availability and to let us answer your questions. Then, print our reservation form, fill out one form per person, and post it to us in the mail with your deposit. Or fill out our handy online information request and we will send you more information.

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Other Details

Jim Danzenbaker

Leader: Jim Danzenbaker has been guiding tours throughout Panama for over a decade. Jim grew up on the coast of New Jersey, where he started birding with his family at Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge and Cape May and has never stopped. After moving to California, he began leading pelagic trips in Monterey Bay. He has been the ornithologist on our Antarctica Expedition staff since 1998. People who travel with him appreciate his friendliness, enthusiasm for finding birds and mammals, and willingness to share information. Jim lives in Washington state and works for Kowa, who makes fantastic sporting optics. You will have wonderful "Kowa views" when you travel with Jim Danzenbaker!

Flights: Please let us know if you would like help arranging your international flights and we will put you in contact with our excellent ticketing agent. If you would like to extend your stay and/or arrive early, we would be happy to arrange extra hotel nights and can add the cost to your reservation. Direct flights to and from Panama City are available from Miami (MIA), Houston (IAH), or Atlanta (ATL).

Arrive in Panama City, Panama (PTY) by the afternoon or evening of March 4 at the latest.

Depart from Panama City (PTY) on March 17 preferably on a morning flight to avoid an overnight flight home. Or, if you opt for the extension, depart from Panama City on March 23 also preferably on an early morning flight. Jim prefers the 8 AM flight that allows him to arrive back to his home in Portland, Oregon, the same day.

Domestic Flights: The round-trip flight between Panama City and David will be booked by Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris and added to your final payment. Details of the domestic flights are in the detailed itinerary section of this itinerary.

Travel Insurance: Emergency Medical Insurance is optional, but encouraged, for this tour. Read about travel insurance and our recommendations and requirements.

Climate: Temperatures vary greatly. The Pacific coast is often hot, while the cloud forests can be surprisingly cool. Rain can be encountered during any season, even in March during the "dry" season.

Health Concerns: Malaria prophylactic has not been necessary for this itinerary in the past, nor have any vaccinations or inoculations, however, please check for updates with a travel health clinic. The water at some lodges is from springs and excellent to drink. Jim will let you know where the water is good to drink.

Non-smoking Policy: We have a strict non-smoking policy - smoking is not permitted at any time or any place during our tours.

Mailing List: If you would like to be on our mailing list or request information, please use our online information request form or contact us to give us your name, address, email address and phone number. Please note we will never share your personal information with anybody!

Responsibility: Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris, Saratoga, California, act only as agents and shall not be responsible or become liable for any delay incurred by any person in connection with any means of transportation, nor for the loss, damage, or injury to person or property by reason of any event beyond the control of the agency or default of such agency suppliers. We reserve the right to cancel the tour prior to departure in which case full refund will constitute full settlement to the passenger. No refund will be made for any unused portion of the tour unless arrangements are made at the time of booking. All rates are based on current tariffs, exchange rates and fuel prices and are subject to adjustment in the event of any change therein. By sending your initial deposit, you agree to accept our payment schedule as a contract. If payments are still outstanding two weeks after the due date, your space may be forfeited. Baggage is at the owner's risk.

Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris is registered as California Seller of Travel #2063050-40. Registration as a seller of travel does not constitute approval by the State of California. Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris is a participant in the Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation (TCRC). In event of a client canceling where a refund is applicable in accordance with the schedule above, or in the event that CES needs to cancel the trip, all payments for transportation or travel service not provided to the client shall be promptly refunded, unless the client instructs us otherwise in writing. All client payments are deposited into a trust account in accordance with California law. If for any reason a valid refund is not forthcoming, the client may request reimbursement from the TCRC within six months of the scheduled end of the tour. Please feel free to ask us for more information.

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All material © Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris.
All photos © Doug or Ted Cheeseman, unless otherwise credited.
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