Enclosed is the announcement of Ceiba Nature Tours personally planned and guided destinations for 2007. Last year I wrote about the CNT operating philosophy, and why we are uniquely able to provide you an outstanding travel experience. This year I'm writing about our trips!

2006 began with Belize – Reef, Ruins, and Rainforest. We couldn't have had a better beginning to the New Year. At Cheer's, a refreshment stop driving from the airport, we were greeted by a vermilion flycatcher, instant conversion to birding for some of our group! Chaa Creek, our rainforest lodge, manages to retain the charm I found on my first visit in 1990 while substantially increasing facilities and services. Our new-to-us lodge Turneffe Flats, graciously hosted by owner Craig, provided a true remote island atoll adventure. After snorkeling, diving, and fishing in Caribbean Belize, other sites never quite measure up.

Costa Rica – Coast to Cloudforest gave our group from the cold dreary winter belt a break of tropical paradise. Our first morning, waking up in the heart of old city San José, a flock of crimson-fronted parakeets descended upon the adjacent street trees delaying a courtyard breakfast buffet. This introduced the level of wildlife encounters for a small, but unbelievably nature-rich country. La Selva Biological Station was incredibly rich, we couldn't get out of the parking lot with all the new birds continually flying in, thankfully the sloths stay put. Wonderful guides with their home turf knowledge, (macaws flying to roost only meters below us through a steep ravine!) and in exchange learning the global perspective from Tom maximized our group experience and fond memories.

Africa Safari – Namibia and Botswana became Africa – Desert and Delta. What a truly amazing and awesome experience. Our group, all CNT alumni, weathered the direct JFK to JNB flight, arriving to a wine and cheese reception at our Johannesburg hotel. Thus our introduction to 'extreme' hospitality – cold cloths at the end of a dusty day, hot water bottles in your bed each night, sundowners appearing out of nowhere…now about the landscape and wildlife! The great Namibian desert is a profound experience – a stark, but an astoundingly alive environment. Beetles scurrying across dunes, giraffes appearing in swirling sand winds in the track ahead, elephants gathered for bathing in a scarce waterhole. A spectacular desert to delta flight in a small low flying plane and we are in the water world of the Okavango. Tom wanted to see a pygmy goose - we saw a hundred not to mention a Pel's fishing owl, elephants, lions, cheetahs, an array of antelopes… (See the Africa album on the website)

For all of our travels we had a great group of companions, CNT veterans and first-time travelers, all sharing the passion for new adventures. I hope you consider joining us in 2007. Two years ago we made our first trip to Machu Picchu, Peru including Manu National Park in the Amazon – locations featured in anyone's coffee table book on great places of the planet. We're returning, this time adding Colca Canyon for the Andean Condor. Our new destination is Argentina, continuing expansion throughout South American. This CNT inaugural tour visits the sub-tropical Iguazu Falls, Ibera Marshlands (think Pantanal), Patagonia Lake District, and Península Valdés. Costa Rica is a destination you can visit again and again, and we do - the perfect beginning to a New Year, and perfect introduction to the tropics. You will appreciate our comfortable accommodations as we pursue a full schedule of the Talamanca Mountains for cloud forest, Tortuguero National Park for lowland Atlantic rainforest, Ballena Marine Park for Pacific coastal and marine environments.

Linda Ingram