Reviews & Feedbacks from our visitors and guests:

Birding & Wildlife Tours at Kondor EcoLodge HUNGARY

You can find several reviews of this tour at http://www.kondorecolodge.hu/review &  https://www.blueskywildlife.com/tour/hungary-birding-wildlife/

Birding Hungary Kondor EcoLodge & Bükk Hills

You can find several reviews of this tour at http://www.kondorecolodge.hu/review &  https://www.blueskywildlife.com/tour/birding-hungary/

Pantanal, BRAZIL Jaguars, Jabirus & other Jewels - tour for Honeyguide, Chris Durdin

Swallow Birding - Birding and wildlife tour at Kondor Ecolodge-Kiskunsag

Spring

Hi Gabor & Andrea

Sorry about the delay in thanking you both for an excellent tour!  We had a
fantastic time and everyone loved it!

We are so pleased with everything we saw and thought the area was superb
with beautiful flowers and birds etc.

The Ecolodge is superb and you both did so well looking after us and
keeping everyone happy with extra toast and especially beer!!!

We hope to join you again as we are interested in a tour to Romania.

Meanwhile we attach a trip report for Hungary and look forward to dropping
in to say hello to you both at the birdfair.

Very best wishes

Annette & Steve (the leaders of Swallow Biding)

Independent Travellers at our Kondor EcoLodge

Spring

Hello Andrea,

we arrived in Germany without bigger problems. We liked very much Hungary. The landscape is beautiful and we were very happy to see all these birds and other animals.......

Ingo and Gosia

Crane Spectacular, Autumn Tour at Kiskunsag, Hortobagy, Bukk, HUNGARY, October

Dear Gabor and Andrea,

I wanted to thank you for the fantastic trip, even better than I had hoped it could be. You looked after us so well and your skill at ID - wow!

We went on having a really good time in the hills. The weather was superb and the trees beautiful and I loved the hotel, which I have reviewed on TripAdvisor.

Looking forward to coming with you again. I certainly want to see the same areas with summer birds - Rollers and Red-footed Falcons especially. My photos are up on http://www.flickr.com/photos/everard1/collections/

All the best for Mexico. Loved Kondor.

Keep in touch and keep tempting me....!

Warmest, Everard

Bird & Nature Photography Tour at our Kondor EcoLodge, June

Dear Gabor and Andrea,

Firstly I would like to thank you both for making our short stay in your country so enjoyable, We were looked after so well and the photography opportunities were excellent, so much so we will no doubt arrange to return next year perhaps in May for amongst other birds the illusive Black Woodpecker! Your guiding and advice was excellent and I have put the pics on our websites:

http://chrissuemt.zenfolio.com/p839678210 & http://www.flickr.com/photos/massie-taylor/sets/72157630211403928/

Chris&Sue Massie-Taylor

Belarus Birds & Mammal tours for Bird Holidays

"It was great meeting Gabor and Andrea - really good holiday! Plenty of excellent birds, mammals, butterflies, dragonflies, moth to remember!"

Robin Griffiths-Bird Holidays Traveller

Private Tour to see Ural Owl & Azure Tit - May

"I would like to thank you for arranging the very successful tour to Belarus and Hungary. You made me feel very welcome and I saw both my targetsbirds."

Eric J. Alblas

Independent Travellers at our Kondor EcoLodge

Dear Gabor and Andrea

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you both so much for the wonderful time spent with you at Kondor Tanya. We can well understand why you fell in love with your home and decided to develop your business from such a lovely place.

Despite not having a key member of your staff who became ill you managed to keep everything ticking along well and gave us as much of your time as we needed supplying us with lovely home cooked Hungarian dishes as well as organising the nature and birdwatching tours which we thoroughly enjoyed.

We will keep in touch and hope one day to either return to Hungary or we may well see you in Mexico.

with our best wishes to you both.

David and Claire

Birds and bears tour, Romania

Just a word of appreciation for your wonderful company and guidance on the recent trip to Romania. I loved your optimistic enthusiasm and positive attitude - to say nothing of your deep knowledge. You seemed to always be able to find something interesting to observe! I also appreciated the detail with which the trip was organised and the readiness to be flexible and change things when circumstances permitted.

As for your DVD - it is wonderful to have been able to print off your beautiful photographs and to savour them at my leisure. They have added hugely to the experience.

Many, many thanks. I hope we'll meet again one day.

Elizabeth Garsten

Central European Butterfly and Hungary Moth tour

First, many thanks again to you for a fantastic trip - indeed, two fantastic trips. We've seen such a lot and learned so much over the two trips. Not just about the butterflies and other wildlife, but also about the countries we've visited and their culture and history. Some things I learned when I studied parts of European history came back to me, and there was a lot more which was new. Now when I hear Kodaly's Dances from Galanta it will bring so many more associations, and remind me of how complex is our common European heritage.

Autumn Cranes & Migration Special, Hungary

We thought we'd send you a short note just to say how much we enjoyed the holiday last week.

Although we booked it with long-eared owl in mind, we enjoyed all of it -from great bustard, your "commando" style dotterel approach, crane spectaculars, wallcreeper and woodpecker views, to the excellent coffee and biscuit stops!!

Thanks for your excellent organisation of bird sites visited and your use of others such as Gabor, and the two guys in the Bukk, which all gave us the maximum birds throughout.

Your sense of humour and enthusiasm made it a brilliant holiday. Thanks again.

Graham and Sheila Rodgers

Hungary Cranes tour

I thought of writing a 'balanced' account of your Hungary trip – but have given up because there is nothing to criticise. What a fabulous (will go down in legend) 8 days. Perfect weather, relaxing hospitality, good fun, characterful group members, spectacular views of stunning birds – thanks to clued up leaders.

ER (Accrington)

Richard Lewington, Sunbird Birds and Butterfly tour

From the Hortobagy Reserve situated in the Great Hungarian Plain, to the pituresque mountains and hills of Aggtelek and Bukk National Parks in the north, Hungary offers the naturalist a vast diversity of wildlife. The sheer numbers of butterflies in the unspoilt flowery grasslands are a delight and a challenge, as many fritillaries, blues and hairstreakes jostle for nectar on flowerheads, or swarm around muddy puddles to feed. 64 species of dragonflies, including White-tailed Skimmer and Lesser Emperor are frequent in the Hortobagy fish ponds, and of the six species of emerald damselflies, or spreadwings found here, the Dark Spreadwing has its stronghold in Hungary. A great place to visit for butterflies, moths, dragonflies, and of course birds.

Dominic Couzens, BBC Wildlife journalist

This is just a quick e-mail to say many, many thanks for my fantastic trip to Hungary. So many dragonflies, butterflies, moths and birds - I enjoyed them all. There were too many highlights to mention, although the Imperial Eagle, Poplar Admiral and the Tisza boat trip come to mind.

I felt that your friendliness and hospitality were also special so, thank you.

Canoe tour, Hungary

We had a great weekend, your recommendation of "Szigetkoz" was the right

one, a beautiful landscape and wonderful to canoe in the different "rivers"

of the Danube. Christian was a good guide and we enjoyed it very much.

And no moskitos!!! Thank you again that you were able to organize everything

on short notice and we will definitely recommend your organisation!

Martin and Annette

Steppes and forests in Autumn, Hungary

Wonderful trip - would recommend it to all my friends, would most certainly consider booking with you again.

4 days birdwatching trip, Hungary

Many thanks - I've learnt a lot about birds, butterflies and Hungarian culture and had great fun too! Thanks for the disc of photos with great moments of a brilliant trip.

Dr. Ian Duncan, Chairman of West Midlands Branch of Butterfly Conservation, Hungary

If I say we saw 105 species of butterfly, 259 species of moth (including 8 species of Burnet, 8 species of Hawk Moth and 7 species of Red Underwing) and 119 species of bird (Saker, Imperial Eagle, Roller, Bee-eater, Great Bustard), you can get an idea of how rich and diverse the wildlife still is in this part of Eastern Europe. Many thanks again for organizing such a succesful and enjoyable tour of Hungary.

Judy Dawes and David Whaley, Cyprus Breeding Bird Atlas

Our visit to Hungary was on the occasion of the 15th International Conference of the European Bird Census Council at Nyiregyhaza from 26th - 31st March 2001.

The conference arranged pre- and post-conference tours organised by Ecotours, that we felt we could not miss. The quoted prices included all transport, accommodation, food and guiding and were very reasonable, especially as we later realised that we were to be accompanied by two leaders and sometimes by a national park guide in addition.

From our experience of other birding tours we were a little apprehensive that the emphasis would be on 'ticking' and we had made it clear that our main interest was to watch birds and behaviour rather than to see as many species - or 'firsts' - as possible in a short time. We need not have worried. Our small group was like minded and our guides were able to tailor their tour to the group's pace and needs.

We left our home in Cyprus soon after midnight on Saturday 24th and with a full days birding ahead of us we were somewhat apprehensive of our condition by the evening. After a delayed flight we were met at Budapest airport by Gabor Orban, co-founder of Ecotours, and left our bags at our tourist apartment in central Budapest. Within minutes we were on the road for our first destination, Ocsa Landscape Protection Reserve some 30km to the south.

In addition to the for three day pre and four day post Conference tours we stayed on for another three days to visit the Balaton area. Accommodation was usually in small places of character and the local menus provided interesting food. In some areas Judy, as a non-meat eater, had problems in finding suitable alternatives when fish was not available. The driver was excellent!

Tommy Knutsson, WWF Sweden

As I worked extremely hard for a long time I suddenly felt an urgent need for a break. I decided to accomplish my old dream: a visit to Hungary to see the famous Puszta and its birds, first of all the Great Bustards. I browsed through the web and found the informative site of Ecotours Hungary Ltd., sent them a message and got an instant reply with an attractive autumn trip-offer to Kiskunsag National Park and Ocsa Reserve.

Within a short period of time we saw very diverse habitats with good number of species such as Great Grey Shrike, Hen Harrier, Penduline and Bearded Tit, just to mention a few. But the highlight of the trip was unquestionably the search of the Great Bustards which resulted in one of my best birding experiences forever. It is just unforgettable to see approximately 70 of these enormous birds flying and landing close enough to take some digital pictures. Then we witnessed how the males maintain the pecking order by a kind of off-seasonal displaying, the sun shining through their feathers. Without the perfect guiding to the best sites I wouldn't have the chance to have the same experience, so thank you again!

I definitely will come back next year to stay for a longer period!

Cromwell Schubart Jr., Journalist, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

We were on a year-long around-the-globe tour when we stopped in Hungary just for a few days. But the marvellous capital city, Budapest, the beautiful countryside and the friendly local people encouraged us to stay for weeks. As I am a keen birder I was delighted that Gabor Orban helped us to spend some remarkable days at the majestic Danube Band Region, the Kiskunsag National Park, Ocsa Landscape Protection Area and some other nature reserves as well. His friendly manner and deep knowledge of the sites we visited was a huge advantage during the tour.

Karen Ulmer Dorsch, Educator, Sanbornton, New Hampshire, USA

I am writing to say thank you Mr. Orbán for the excellent tour through Northeast Hungary that you directed and which I was fortunate to take. I can honestly say that it was one of the most delightful tours that I have been on in recent years. I am not a native of Hungary, but I now feel as if I know well some of the best natural areas in your attractive country and some of your cultural traditions most intimately because of the many wonderful experiences I had with local people while on your tour." ... "I am convinced that your sensitive and courteous manner literally opened many doors for us that would otherwise have remained closed when we arrived in small villages to view unique buildings, sites or age-old Hungarian traditions."

"Equally memorable are the many natural sites we visited and which remain sharp in my memory because of your excellent knowledge of their protected species. I look forward to visiting again the Kiskunsag National Park, the famous Hortobagy, the Zemplen and Bukk Mts. or Ocsa Landscape Protection Reserve."..."No wonder that based on my experiences I chose your company to travel to other Eastern-European areas such as Slovakian High Tatras or Krakow and different National Parks in Poland."

"Again, I wish to express my deep appreciation to you for making this experience so memorable. I will eagerly recommend you to my friends in the U.S. and throughout Europe who seek interesting travel tours.