3-4 days · A taste of everything
Chiapas Highlights
A short trip that touches every side of Chiapas birding: the highland endemics around San Cristóbal, the cloud forest and border lakes of Montebello, and the dry-forest specialities of Sumidero Canyon, with an optional fourth day for the lowland forest of El Ocote and the Pacific slope at La Sepultura. The best introduction to the state for anyone short on time.
This is a sample itinerary showing the kind of route we run. Exact days, sites and pace are tailored to your trip.
On this trip
A selection of birds from this route. Tap to enlarge.
Day by day
- Day 1
San Cristóbal → Tziscao
Highlight speciesPink-headed WarblerGarnet-throated HummingbirdRufous-browed WrenGolden-cheeked WarblerA morning in the pine-oak forest close to your accommodation in San Cristóbal, with chances at the Northern Central American highland endemics. Then east to Tziscao, a small town on the Guatemalan border (3hr).
Overnight · Tziscao
- Day 2
Lagunas de Montebello
Highlight speciesResplendent QuetzalAzure-hooded JayBlack-throated JayYellow-throated Nightingale-ThrushBarred ParakeetA full morning in the cloud forest at Montebello, birding between the crystalline lakes that sit along the Guatemalan border. Lunch is traditional local food overlooking the water, then back to San Cristóbal (3hr).
Overnight · San Cristóbal
- Day 3
Sumidero Canyon
Highlight speciesSlender SheartailBelted FlycatcherBar-winged OrioleBlue SeedeaterRed-breasted ChatSumidero Canyon Park, an hour from San Cristóbal. We bird the entrance first for a handful of West Mexican endemics, then move up to the canyon viewpoints a thousand metres above the Grijalva river.
Overnight · Ocozocoautla, or trip ends · San Cristóbal
- Day 4
El Ocote & La Sepultura
Highlight speciesNava's WrenRose-bellied BuntingOrange-breasted BuntingCinnamon-tailed SparrowCitreoline TrogonLong-tailed ManakinGreat Swallow-tailed SwiftKeel-billed ToucanAn endemics-heavy day, starting in lowland jungle for Nava's Wren, a micro-endemic that lives on limestone outcrops alongside toucans and tanagers.
Then on to La Sepultura for more micro-endemics, Rose-bellied Bunting and Cinnamon-tailed Sparrow among them, before heading back to Tuxtla or San Cristóbal.
Trip ends · Tuxtla or San Cristóbal