TESTIMONIALS
“We wanted to convey to you that we had a marvelous trip to Costa Rica!
Your guide was incredible as he led us to 436 species of magnificent birds, 301 of which were life birds for us. In addition, his comprehensive knowledge of the total ecology of each life zone, the history and culture of the country and his obvious love, dedication and passion for his work overwhelmed us. Thank you for all that you did to make this trip-of-a-lifetime possible.
Once again thank you,
Paul and Nancy
California
Kathleen,
This is to let you know that the Costa Rica birding trip met all our expectations. What a great bird guide he was a consummate leader with expert birding skills and perceptive people skills. The bus driver was great and such a fun guy.
The accommodations were fine and Edwin modified the itinerary as necessary – taking the birding opportunities and the participants’ needs into consideration. Thanks for your role in organizing and planning the trip.
Pura Vida
Susan and Maury
Kathleen:
” I am writing you to thank you for the wonderful trip planning for my recent trip to Costa Rica. I tagged along with my sister’s Audubon Club from California and had a once in a lifetime experience. Thank you for picking such a great guide!
I would also like to add that the driver for our tour was the best too! Enrique Gomez was so attentive to our needs and concerned for our safety and welfare.
Please add me to the ongoing communications about the Majestic Feathers trip upcoming trips to anywhere you go. I cannot imagine going with a better team. If I can’t work out going this year, I certainly would line it up for 2012. Please keep me posted. Again, I thank you for all the hard work and orchestrating all the details! I am looking forward to my next trip!”
Thank you,
Con mucho gusto,
Terri
Atlanta, GA
“I still have a little Costa Rica in me, and that’s a good thing. The tropical rainforest was kind of a sensory overload, but I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience. I feel so lucky to have had such a great guide; he must be the nicest guy in Costa Rica. The driver Enrique is a close second. Couldn’t have been better and worked really hard to get us the birds.
I learned something about myself: seventeen days of birding is too much for me! My next birding trip needs to be shorter. But I would not have traded the trip and meeting you all for anything. Thanks so much for putting the trip together. I will be happy to recommend Majestic Feathers to anyone.”
Pura vida!
Nancy
“I enjoyed a fantastic trip to Costa Rica in March-April, 2010 with Kathleen Cameron’s Majestic Feathers. I have birded extensively in Central and South America, but this was my first trip to Costa Rica. On the first day we flew from San Jose to the southwest coast, which provided a view of forest fragmentation, but also of extensive tracts of continuous forest. Costa Rica has many areas protected in National Parks, one of which extends from near sea level to over 9,000 feet. In fact, over 26% of the land is under protection, thus safeguarding more than five percent of the world’s biodiversity. This is the largest percentage of protected land for any country in the world. I was so happy to learn of this and see it because such extensive tracts of undisturbed forest will be absolutely required for the movement of flora and fauna with the expected global warming changes in the near future.
Our guide was a tremendous asset. He has great knowledge about the history of Costa Rica and its conservation needs, and he knows all the birds well. I was impressed that he never used tapes or an iPod to lure the birds in; rather he knew the calls and patiently waited for each species. His enthusiasm for sharing the birds is indeed contagious. We found 395 species in two weeks, of which 79 were lifers for me. Even though it is always a thrill to see new birds, I must admit that I was even more excited to see our nesting birds heading north. This brought me even more connectivity, and it felt good to see their tropical homes intact. Kathleen shared guide duties and on several evenings conducted hour-long photographic lessons, with take home work to practice with our cameras. She is an excellent photographer and my camera skills were greatly improved by her expertise. As if this weren’t enough, after the trip she sent everyone a CD with outstanding pictures of several birds as well as of the participants. I highly recommend this trip to anyone interested in birds and photography, and in seeing a beautiful tropical country.”
-Chuck Trost
PhD Professor Emeritus of Biology
Idaho State University
“The reasons for my emphatically positive impression of Majestic Feathers are twofold:
First is the company’s concern about the environment. Kathleen recognizes the interconnectedness of all nature. She understand the importance of thinking about the total picture of cause and effect by man on nature and has developed a tour team that walks the same path. They strive, following a classic grassroots concept of neighbors talking with neighbors, to explain how small changes can make the difference between species survival and extinction. It was eye-opening to have our guide tell us how he works to convince community residents to plant one row of trees on their fence-lines so that monkeys, birds and other animals have a highway to move between nature reserves. So simple! He explains that the quantity and quality of the harvests will not be altered but that the positive impact on the wild animals will be life-saving. It brings to mind John Muir’s remark: “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world”.
Second is the excellent tour organization and the knowledge that they share about birds, other animals, botany and ecology. Having had the opportunity to travel with internationally known and respected birdwatchers as guides, I know that this teams knowledge and ability to share it is comparable to anybody else’s with whom we’ve traveled. Accommodations are excellent and back-up plans have been considered which insured that the last few days of our tour were a success despite country-wide floods. I very much look forward to traveling with Majestic Feathers again.”
-Lynn Noel
Washington
In July of 2010, I went with Majestic Feathers to Costa Rica for a birding adventure. Though I had previously visited Costa Rica, I had not birded there; and having been disappointed in my quest for the Resplendent Quetzal in Panama, I put pressure on Kathleen to produce in CR. She assured me that if anyone could find it, it would be her guide, and indeed he did find the quetzal and many other spectacular birds. Comfortable hotels, great meals, fun conversation, challenging birding, and so much more.
-Gay Gilbert
