What fellow birders say about CCT:
We spent eleven days in Cuba surveying the 28 Cuban endemic birds. With our amazing guides, we were able to see 26 of some of the rarest birds in the world. We spent two days in Havana the rest of the time we were privileged to be in the countryside. A wonderful, wonderful experience.
I have remarked to friends that the trip was one of the best I have been on. Excellent mix of participants, good guides and organization. Plus Cuba is unlike any of the other countries I have visited. Can’t even compare it to other Caribbean islands.
Best,
Gary, I think of you and CCT often… you make a quality difference in people’s lives… both in the experience you offer nature travelers, and in the lives you support in those developing countries to which you bring visitors… Blessings & Joy in this holy season of peace… MDC”
— Michael Carmody, President, Legacy Tours
Just a quick note to say how much we enjoyed our Cuban adventure and were so glad you were with us on the trip! You did such a great job of making sure every detail of the trip was addressed, and what a great team you have in Cuba to assist you in making a great trip happen! We were also very fortunate that we had a good group on the bus. We were so amazed at the nice hotels and the wonderful food we had. All the little touches – mojitos to welcome us to Havana, riding in a convertible our last night, two drinks for every meal, and “mechanical” endemic birds that appeared everywhere – when we least expected actually seeing one of the endemics! We felt spoiled – and loved every minute of the trip.
Thanks again for our great adventure! We look forward to visiting eastern Cuba during our next adventure with you!
Happy Holidays!
We loved the Cuba experience, especially meeting your tremendous staff and guides. They were wonderful and are excellent ambassadors for Cuba!
Terry C
private group, April 2016
Once again, thank you for your efforts to arrange a wonderful and memorable trip to Cuba for our OOS bird survey group in late February. CCT’s expertise and experience in choosing birding destinations and dining / hotel locations made for a pleasurable experience in a challenging environment. Great job!!
I will fill out the evaluation form after taking some time to process the amazing experiences on this trip. Although it was good to be home and to sleep last night again in my own bed, it was emotional to leave Cuba behind as we took off and watched the land go out of sight – and it was especially sad to say good-bye to the wonderful staff you have put together. We had some wonderful learning experiences, all of us. Thank you for everything! I feel privileged to have visited Cuba.
Take good care,
Not for a second should I have doubted you about passing up the electronic passport verification in Miami … we breezed through immigration/customs without that document (just as you predicted), and so did Margi & Don, who were just ahead of us.
When we found our luggage we couldn’t find you, and we had to dash to make our tight plane connection. The plane ultimately turned out to be delayed anyway, so we could have had time to thank you and say goodbye.
So I do that now, hoping you know how deeply we appreciate all your guidance, hard work, and good will. And I’m sure we didn’t see the half of it. You’re the best! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the experience of a lifetime.
Best regards,
I can’t say enough good about our ten days together and will encourage anyone who will listen to make Cuba a must-visit whether with you or another group. Your selection of guides, with an introduction (and in our case recap) from Orlando Garrido, was truly inspired. What great good fortune they are part of your team.
Thank you again for your attention to detail and your care and concern for our welfare. I’m glad we had time with you in Havana. It was a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you again.”
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and best of whatever holidays you may celebrate.
We are still marveling over how wonderful our experience was in Cuba. It was a great trip and we would recommend it to anyone. Our accommodations were wonderful and the food terrific (if a bit too much at times). And our guides were just exceptional. Neither of us can think of anything we can complain about or were unhappy about.
Despite not being a birder, we’re also certain that Jane had a good time and is even considering a purchase of binoculars. We think she was really pleased to see rural areas of Cuba, something she wouldn’t otherwise get to see.
It was a very pleasant group of people we were with and unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to exchange contact information with anyone. We’d very much like to connect with the other trip participants and exchange photos. Can you please share our email address with the group?
Thanks for a great trip.
We appreciated all the effort that Michael put into making sure everyone got to see the various birds, to conduct a survey throughout the tour, and to report back to us what the findings were on a regular basis. He even managed to upload to eBird where internet access was available. He clearly did not have any down-time, but he managed all those duties well and still made time to check in and make sure everyone had what they needed (including a wheelchair for one of the group in Havana). That is a lot to juggle, but he managed it all while maintaining the quality of the trip. He worked well with the Cuban staff as well. His enthusiasm for other creatures was great given our interests include species beyond birds.
Gary Markowski, founder and director of the CCT, is the expert on birding trips to Cuba and goes out of his way to provide the most helpful information to prepare his travelers. Gary is also a sharp birder and thus finds the top guides to accompany his group. We were in good hands, there were plenty of scopes to go around and the photographers in the group had time to take pictures. We were gratified to see our prime target bird, the Bee Hummingbird, the world’s smallest bird, plus all our other targeted endemics. Cuba is special and we recommend joining a Caribbean Conservation Trust trip.”
Thank you again for all the preparation you provided, which made the whole process easy and comfortable. All the preparation made for a memorable trip. We have told several of our friends about your services in setting up the trip, and would not hesitate to recommend Caribbean Conservation Trust for travel to Cuba.”
Hello Gary,
Thanks to you and the team, we had a wonderful time on our first adventure to Cuba. Having Lissandra and Nils lead us was like a two for one deal with culture and birds. Lissandra really does a great job organizing everything and is a treasure trove of local knowledge. Nils of course was an excellent bird guide and just a joy to be around.
It was a pleasure meeting you and we will be sure to recommend the CCT to our birding friends. One suggestion: in future write ups, you should warn participants about how much good food they’ll be eating!
Beat regards,
Tom Pericak
Bonnie Simmons
Dec, 2018
The trip was fantastic. The attention to detail by you and your staff was greatly appreciated. Your professionalism and courtesy were truly amazing. Thanks again for a great trip.
Gary and David – Thank you for organizing and leading such an incredible trip. As I reflect on the two weeks, every aspect of this tour was outstanding:
- Locations and choice of available lodging … service at the house in Havana was far above my expectations for this trip.
- Birding opportunities and the quality of our guides – Giraldo and Dayana kept us informed, relaxed and quickly became our new friends.
- Restaurants and service – the quality of the food was a pleasant surprise, and most of our group will need to cut back on drinks and desserts now that we’re back home!
- Transportation – our group was quite comfortable on “the short bus” and Manuel was a true professional behind the wheel.
- A truly amazing Cuban experience, enhanced by great weather, engaging hosts, entertaining Jazz Fest shows with accessible musicians –(5 day extension option).
Overall – an outstanding trip. Thanks again – I really enjoyed our time together!
Carolyn L
Washington, DC February 2015
My wife Ann Nora and I really enjoyed our Cuban trip – due mostly to your efforts – Thanks!
We loved the Cuba experience, especially meeting your very professional guides. They were wonderful and are excellent ambassadors for Cuba!
You certainly have given me a treasure trove of memories that will last a long time. The trip could not have been better. Many, many thanks!”
We had an amazing experience on this tour and with this group. We decided it was our best trip!
We will be happy to write comments on Facebook and will be interested in the Eastern Cuba trip.
Thank you for everything,
Gary Markowski, founder and director of the CCT, is the expert on birding trips to Cuba and goes out of his way to provide the most helpful information to prepare his travelers. Gary is also a sharp birder and thus finds the top guides to accompany his group. We were in good hands, there were plenty of scopes to go around and the photographers in the group had time to take pictures. We were gratified to see our prime target bird, the Bee Hummingbird, the world’s smallest bird, plus all our other targeted endemics. Cuba is special and we recommend joining a Caribbean Conservation Trust trip.”
Tom and Margot Southerland
Founders and former Directors (retired) of Princeton Nature Tours, Princeton, NJ, November 201
The organization and preparation for this trip was very efficient, we were prepared to the detail, knew what would happen -and it did- and everything worked smoothly and the support staff, driver, guides were perfect choices, worked very hard to make us comfortable and our experience as pleasurable as possible. Hotel and restaurant choices were good to excellent with many wonderful places to sleep, eat and drink and enjoy sometimes superb dishes – and your special add-ons, the roaring drive to the hotel in vintage limousines, the welcome bottles of wine – nice touch.
I had a wonderful, enjoyable learning experience, thank you all,
Thanks again for your careful planning. I can only imagine the complexity of setting up a trip like this. Your efforts are GREATLY appreciated…
Contact Us @
Caribbean Conservation Trust
353 West Todd Street
Hamden, CT 06518
203-733-1162
cubirds@aol.com