Nebaj

Last visited 11th April 2006

Although Nebaj is technically part of the Cuchumatanes, which are covered in a separate section, I have included it separately because it is at a very different altitude, it is separated by a fair distance and has a different habitat. I only stayed two nights in the pleasant Mayan town of Nebaj and had one full day of birding along the Cocop trail. However, there are many other trails in the area that I am told are equally good and the area is probably well worth exploring more thoroughly. The best birds were Black-capped Siskin (in the village of Cocoles), Blue-and-white Mockingbird, Rufous-collared Thrush and Bushy-crested Jay. There is probably a lot more to be discovered here.

The Cocop trail heads from Rio Azul (N15º25.90' W091º06.93' Alt 1921m) and follows a pleasant valley with broadleaved trees up to Cocop (at 2225m). It then goes up and over a ridge and through pine forest which then leads down to the town of Nebaj. the whole trail is about 5 hours long and is a decent days walk without being too strenuous. I tried playing some tapes of Bearded Screech-Owls and Unspotted Saw-whet owls in the area, but without success. The main problem was that there were few areas with older trees near to the town.

Access
The town of Nebaj is in a fairly remote area in the Cuchumatanes, near to Sacapulas. the best way to start the Cocoles trail is to catch a bus (sometimes pick-ups or small vans) to Rio Azul. This costs 2Q per person. In Cocop it is possible to get lunch for about 10Q. There are a number of cheap but decent hotels in Nebaj.

Nebaj Apr 06

Nebaj Apr 06 (1)

Nebaj Apr 06 (2)

Species List (11 Apr 06)

.: C=Common ; F=Fairly Common ; U=Uncommon ; R=Rare :.