Greetings from Key West, Florida, the center of the Conch Republic!
As our latest adventure is one bird and a few Piña Coladas short of wrapping up, I thought I might dip into The Mailbag to answer a few reader questions. This question is from Mallory, age 8, of Madison, Wisconsin:
Hey, Mr. Expert Bird Travel Planner,
I know I'm only 8, but someday I'll want to be a big-time bird finder like you. Can you tell me the best way to plan these trips you go on?
Besties,
Mallory
Great question, Mallory!
Instead of telling you how to successfully plan a trip, let me tell you how a pro like me does it:
Step 1: Figure out where you want to go, as this makes planning travel much easier. Let's say you want to go to the Dry Tortugas National Park, near Key West, FL.
Step 2: Reserve your plane tickets well in advance, at least 4 weeks to save as much $$$ as possible. (And Mallory, you may not know it yet, but you will soon learn to love $$$)
Step 3: A few days in advance, book all your hotels and ferry trip. Be sure to make the hotel reservation non-refundable, also to save $$$.
Step 4: A day ahead of your flight, check the weather. There's a good chance that the weather is going to be terrible for the day of your ferry trip. So, now you reschedule everything! But remember, it's non-refundable!
Step 5: Call the hotel for the first night, politely ask that they move your non-refundable reservation to later in the week. Get told that the night clerk doesn't have the authority, so you must call back in the morning. Unfortunately, the manager doesn't arrive until after you have to leave for the airport.
Step 6: At the airport, call the manager. If he's nice, he'll tell you OK, but he may take one of the two days you paid as a penalty. Of course he will. But at least you get half back.
Step 7: Now you can reschedule your ferry, which you must do before you board the plane, else the window to change without fee will pass. Of course, you will get connected to a brand-new operator, so the call will take much longer than you expect.
Step 8: Upon arriving at your destination, you may reschedule everything else. Meanwhile, the Weather Gods dump buckets of rain on your heads for the next couple days, and you pat yourself on the back for remembering to check the forecast! (although maybe we'll check it a little earlier next time...)
And that, Mallory, is how to have a smooth and stress-free trip to the Dry Tortugas.
Isn't it worth it for a couple (thousand) of these beauties?
And when you manage to find a rare Black Noddy in the group of maybe a few thousand Brown Noddies, then it's especially worth it!
Now, to the Coladas! Bottom's up!
Me
Instead of telling you how to successfully plan a trip, let me tell you how a pro like me does it:
Step 1: Figure out where you want to go, as this makes planning travel much easier. Let's say you want to go to the Dry Tortugas National Park, near Key West, FL.
Step 2: Reserve your plane tickets well in advance, at least 4 weeks to save as much $$$ as possible. (And Mallory, you may not know it yet, but you will soon learn to love $$$)
Step 3: A few days in advance, book all your hotels and ferry trip. Be sure to make the hotel reservation non-refundable, also to save $$$.
Step 4: A day ahead of your flight, check the weather. There's a good chance that the weather is going to be terrible for the day of your ferry trip. So, now you reschedule everything! But remember, it's non-refundable!
Step 5: Call the hotel for the first night, politely ask that they move your non-refundable reservation to later in the week. Get told that the night clerk doesn't have the authority, so you must call back in the morning. Unfortunately, the manager doesn't arrive until after you have to leave for the airport.
Step 6: At the airport, call the manager. If he's nice, he'll tell you OK, but he may take one of the two days you paid as a penalty. Of course he will. But at least you get half back.
Step 7: Now you can reschedule your ferry, which you must do before you board the plane, else the window to change without fee will pass. Of course, you will get connected to a brand-new operator, so the call will take much longer than you expect.
Step 8: Upon arriving at your destination, you may reschedule everything else. Meanwhile, the Weather Gods dump buckets of rain on your heads for the next couple days, and you pat yourself on the back for remembering to check the forecast! (although maybe we'll check it a little earlier next time...)
And that, Mallory, is how to have a smooth and stress-free trip to the Dry Tortugas.
Isn't it worth it for a couple (thousand) of these beauties?
 |
| The Brown Noddy is yet another bird that goes a little heavy on the eye liner (may need to click the pic to see this), see also Oystercatcher. |
And when you manage to find a rare Black Noddy in the group of maybe a few thousand Brown Noddies, then it's especially worth it!
 |
| The Black Noddy has the bright white head and is perched just to the right of center. If you click the photo to open it, you can see the very blurred birds in the sky. Either the blurring is due to heat waves, or the birds are Ghost Noddies. You decide. |
Me
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