Eco-Lite: Loro Parque, Tenerife, Spain

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Tara

OVERVIEW

Loro Parque sets the standard for zoos, especially zoos that feature walk-in aviaries! The exhibits reflect the bird/animal’s native habitat and there are detailed explanations about where they come from and if they are endangered and why. Loro Parque will appeal to all members of the family whether they are bird-crazy or not! In addition to the most diverse genetic reserve of parrots in the world (more than 4,000 specimens of 350 different species and subspecies), there are also shows featuring Orcas, Dolphins, Sea Lions & Penguins. If you bring your family with you to the International Parrot Conference, this is a great way to keep them entertained! I am not usually a fan of trained animal shows but Loro Parque does treat their birds and animals right. You will see this in the photos below.

You can’t go past the top zoo in Europe and 3rd best zoo in the world!

HOW DO YOU GET THERE?

Use your OneWorld alliance miles (Avios work well here) for an Iberia flight to Tenerife Norte from Madrid. This cost 7500 Avios in 2014 each way. It’s pretty easy to get to Madrid from anywhere in the world. I wasn’t a fan of MAD, its a huge airport and information/maps are hard to find. Make sure you fly to the northern airport TFN rather than TFS, it’s much closer to Puerto de la Cruz, the home of Loro Parque. The bus was 6 Euros from TFN to Puerto de la Cruz and stops outside several major hotels including Hotel Botanico. If you haven’t rented a car, use Loro Parque’s free train from the main plaza in town to get to the park.

HOW MUCH IS IT?

They have several ticket options depending on if you want transfers and admission to Siam Park as well on their website.

HOW LONG SHOULD YOU SPEND THERE AND WHAT SHOULD YOU SEE?

I could spend all day just hanging around Katandra Treetops and walking around where the parrots are. For normal people (not bird-crazy) you can still spend a full day here if you take in all the shows. You’ve come all the way to Tenerife so best to do this park justice and not rush through it!

If your time is limited and you want to concentrate on the parrots, I have shown the best routes to follow in red on the map below. The short walk towards the gorillas is where the Lear’s Macaws are. The other paths are where you can see rare parrots in beautifully appointed aviaries, grouped by geographical region.

Location of Parrots

VALUE TO CONSERVATION

In addition to educating the public via the signs in front of each exhibit, the Loro Parque Foundation also supports conservation projects all over the world including the Katala Foundation which I visited in 2010 (and will blog about later) and the Grey-breasted Parakeet. I have plans to visit another of their projects – the Blue-throated Macaws in Bolivia in 2016. Click on the image below to see this map on their website, then click on any white dot to learn more about that project.

WHERE TO STAY NEARBY ON POINTS

There aren’t any points hotels nearby. There is a Sheraton in the southern part of the island for 10,000 SPG points but it’s over an hour’s drive each way. Your best bet here is to pay for a hotel and EARN miles using Rocketmiles or Pointshound.

PHOTOS

Here you can see the landscaping and some of the amazing parrots at Loro Parque! Be kind, I had to focus the camera through cage wire in most cases.

Hotel Review: Hotel Botanico & The Oriental Spa Garden – Tenerife

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Tara

Hotel Botánico, one of the Leading Hotels of the World is where the welcome cocktail and the gala dinner of the Convention takes place. There is a huge advantage to staying here because they offer a welcome desk for convention attendees and free transportation to the venue of the Convention. Even without the convention, the grounds are stunning, wild feral parrots such as Quakers, Amazons and Indian Ringnecks can be seen in the trees and the views from the rooms are amazing. They offered unbeatable value for accommodation to the participants of the 2014 Convention and there was no way I was passing this up. Fortunately, since we used miles to get to Tenerife, we could splurge here. I also wanted to make sure my husband could enjoy his holiday while I was attending the convention and the pool/spa area is amazing! The breakfast buffet has a huge variety and we never needed a full lunch while we were here, just a snack around mid-day. We also stayed here for the 2010 conference and expect to be back in 2018!

DOUBLE ROOM: 128,00€* per night (3 to 6 nights)

118,00€* per night (starting from 7 nights)

DOUBLE ROOM (SINGLE USE): 98,00€* per night (3 to 6 nights)

88,00€* per night (starting from 7 nights)

This special offer includes an excellent breakfast buffet, exclusive access to “The Oriental Spa Garden” (minimum age 16) and free Wi-Fi.

*excl. 7% of taxes. These prices are only valid for the participants of the VIII International Parrot Convention and their companions.

The hotel has a free shuttle to a shopping centre downtown where you can walk 2 blocks to where the Loro Parque train picks you up. Even without the shuttle, just about anyplace in town can be reached for under 5 Euros by taxi. It was fantastic to be able to relax in the hot spa pools after the conference every day! I felt so spoiled!

HOTEL ENTRANCE – Watch the trees for wild parrots!

OUR ROOM – Love the artwork!

AMAZING VIEWS FROM THE ROOM

SHUTTLE TO SHOPPING CENTRE

SUNSET FROM THE BALCONY

SPA & POOL AREA

FLAMENCO SHOW IN THE LOBBY BAR – Wonderful dancers, don’t miss it!

VIII International Parrot Convention – La Vera Breeding Centre & Social Program

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Tara

Continuing from yesterday’s post, I will share some of the extra events that were part of the VIII International Parrot Convention.

VISIT TO LA VERA BREEDING CENTRE

This is something extra you can add on to your conference package. For an extra 90 €, you get a one year membership in Loro Parque Fundación, 1 year of free visits to Loro Parque and a visit to the La Vera Breeding Centre. It’s well worth joining just to see the stunning parrots they have and support their conservation programs! Their breeding aviaries are spacious, well-planted and offer 5 star accommodation to the birds. If only everyone who breeds parrots could follow this example! These are just a few pics as I took way too many! For some reason, I am partial to Golden Conures!

EVENING SOCIAL EVENTS

Unfortunately I didn’t get photos of this event. I did manage to catch up with a few old and new friends. There were so many people there it was hard to find people in the crowd! There was plenty of champagne though!

TUESDAY

I met some nice people from the States and we hung out together at this BBQ. I am not used to eating so late at night and I was pretty tired so left early. The food was excellent! I really wish this had been a lunch event. It would have given us more time to chat and get to know each other without worrying about getting enough sleep. The weather was perfect and it would have been nice to have an afternoon beach party! (Hint hint for 2018)!

WEDNESDAY

Somehow this one went wrong. We were bussed to the venue after walking to the shopping centre next door making me regret that I wore high heels. The venue is stunning and most of us were mesmerized by the sunset. We waited patiently (somewhat) for the dinner while enjoying some lovely wine and a few hors d’oeuvres which were brought around on trays. Remembering the lavish buffet of the day before, I only nibbled a few hors d’oeuvres because I wanted to save room for the main course. I was not the only one! We soon realized that the hors d’oeuvres were all we were getting! Many people went home hungry that evening. I got one of the first buses back so I could get some sleep.

THURSDAY

The closing Gala Dinner was spectacular and very classy with most people dressed in formal or semi-formal clothes. The food was delicious and the entertainment was interesting, sort of a multi-coloured Blue Man show!

My husband Ina & I with our friend Aviva

Sometimes it pays to have a husband who doesn’t drink as I got his champagne as well as my own, LOL! The dessert was divine!

The next day we flew off to Venice to take a Mediterranean cruise. Some people stayed on a few days to participate in the workshops and attend the grand opening of Animal Embassy at Loro Parque.

Tomorrow I will review the hotel we stayed at – the spectacular Hotel Botanico!

Photos From The VIII International Parrot Convention At Loro Parque

Posted on October 26, 2014 by Tara

Held once every 4 years, the VIII International Parrot Convention sponsored by Fundacion Loro Parque was an overwhelming success this year! Around 840 parrot enthusiasts from all over the world were in attendance. We met people in person from Facebook, saw old friends from the last conference we attended in 2010 and enjoyed 3 days of amazing lectures from top parrot conservationists around the world.

ENTRANCE AND GROUNDS OF THE CONVENTION CENTRE

Every day we were welcomed to the conference by the friendly Loro Parque staff and the Scarlet Macaw mascot. Everyone was given a headset so they could hear the lecture in their own language as some speakers spoke English, some spoke Spanish, French or German. Between presentations, snacks were served on tables scattered around the lawn.

VENDOR BOOTHS AND ARTWORK INSIDE

As you come into the building, there are several vendor stalls of people who specialize in parrot orientated products.

Aviva and David Vishnia from Israel with their Inca Incubators

Loro Parque T-shirts and other merchandise

PRESENTATION TOPICS

Here I will only post some title slides to protect the copyright of the speaker’s material. I didn’t get all of them as my SD card filled up unexpectedly. Most of them were conservation orientated which is why I love this conference so much. Topics which catered to breeders were of a more scientific nature so even if you are not a breeder (like me) you still learn something! A full list of speakers and topics can be found here.

The whole conference was amazing and everyone learned something new about parrots! Even the breeders who previously weren’t familiar with conservation efforts learned a lot. The one thing that I found a bit sad is that attendance dropped off on the third day. I think some people were so exhausted from the late nights of the social program they just couldn’t get up for the early starts of the actual conference.

I personally would have preferred a much earlier social program (luncheons or BBQs?) on the 1st & 2nd day of the conference. The 3rd day doesn’t matter as you leave the next day unless you stayed on in Tenerife for tourism or some of the Loro Parque workshops. I ended up leaving the evening events as soon as possible to try to get some sleep as I didn’t want to miss any of the lectures.

In tomorrow’s post, I will show a few shots from the evening social programs and the visit to the La Vera Breeding Facility.

New Population Of Critically Endangered Parakeets Found In Brazil

Posted on October 25, 2014 by Tara

I just love hearing fantastic news like this! I met some of the people involved with this Grey-breasted Parakeet project at Loro Parque. If only I had met them before my trip to Brazil in 2012! I hope these gorgeous little birds keep multiplying and expanding their territory, hopefully I will be back. At least I got to buy that cute little parrot replica attached to the poster, would you believe it’s made out of a plastic bottle!

Hopefully the next time I go to Brazil, I will see them!

Recently Returned From Tenerife & The VIII International Parrot Convention

Posted on October 18, 2014 by Tara

You probably didn’t notice because I had pre-written posts scheduled to appear daily on this blog, but I was away for over a month. The main focus of the trip was to attend the world’s top parrot conservation conference in Loro Parque, Tenerife – VIII International Parrot Convention. This amazing conference is held every 4 years and I had been to the 2010 one and loved it! For readers coming from the miles & points community think of it as FTU on steroids with people coming from all over the world!

Since we were traveling all the way from Australia to Europe in business class, I wanted to maximize the time we were over there so I had a pretty convoluted flight schedule booked. I wanted to visit Israel since I hadn’t been there since the mid-80’s and my husband had never been there. Since most of our trips are birding/eco-tourism type trips, I wanted to do something different so we took a Mediterranean cruise after the conference. Since the cruise didn’t stop in Monaco, I used miles to slot in a 2 day stop-over in Nice before the conference. None of this would have been possible without the extensive use of miles and hotel points!

I will be elaborating in further detail on how I booked everything and how I maximized my miles and points after my Tasmania series is finished but for now, here is a synopsis of the trip. Since the Israel, Europe & cruise parts are off-topic for this blog, I won’t be elaborating on what we did and saw there but just covering the parts that pertain to miles and points as it shows how you can take a business trip and maximize it.

BNE-BKK-IST-TLV business class – outbound leg of US Airways award before they left Star Alliance for OneWorld.

2 nights Crowne Plaza Jerusalem – IHG points

2 nights Park Plaza Orchid, Tel Aviv – Club Carlson points with 2nd night free

TLV-IST-NCE economy class – one way award using United Mileage Plus

2 nights Radisson Blu Nice – Club Carlson points with 2nd night free

NCE-MAD-TFN economy class – one way award booked with Iberia Avios

5 nights at Hotel Botanico, Tenerife as part of conference package, paid cash (actually Chase Ink)

TFN-MAD-VCE economy class – one way award booked with Iberia Avios

1 night Comfort Inn Diana – Choice Rewards points

12 Day Grand Mediterranean NCL cruise – booked with United Cruises to earn points, also some minor manufactured spending is possible on cruise ships.

BCN-ZRH-FCO-PEK-SIN-BNE business class – return leg of afore-mentioned US Airways award) This one got pretty convoluted as it was hard to find space in business class and I was trying to get a 12 hour layover in Beijing on the return for a quick trip to the Great Wall.

As one might expect with any trip booked so far in advance (I was pretty much right on top of it at the 330 days mark), there were dramas, schedule changes and world events that threatened to wreak havoc on my carefully planned trip. Did all go as planned? Tune in after a month or so when I start blogging this trip in detail!

Vueling Fares To Tenerife Increasing Around Conference Dates

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Tara

If anyone if planning to attend the World Parrot Conference at Tenerife, I wouldn’t delay booking your flights. I’m already seeing availability in low fare classes disappearing for flights arriving in Tenerife on 21 or 22 Sept and departing 26 or 27 Sept. Also consider that you must book by 1 June for the early bird rates for the conference itself!

Here’s a look at Vueling’s current fares.

Use Your Miles To Get To Tenerife For The Loro Parque Parrot Conference

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Tara

The VIII International Parrot Convention, organized by Loro Parque and Loro Parque Fundación, will take place in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, from 22nd to 25th September 2014.

This conference takes place every 4 years and is one of the best conferences that is geared for conservationists and eco-tourism. Several of the speakers represent parrot research projects from all over the world. See the full program.

The cheapest way to get to Tenerife is by using miles from a OneWorld airline member such as American Airlines or British Airways on Iberia. The Tenerife Norte airport (TFN) is closer to the conference location of Puerto del la Cruz although the southern airport (TFS) can also be used with a longer commute by bus or taxi.

Iberia flights to Tenerife Norte

Availability is limited so you want to get in quick! You should arrive well before 19:00 on Monday when the conference has the inauguration speech. Here is availability for Monday, 22 Sept.

To use American miles or British Airways Avios, you need the Iberia site to show availability in Blue class. These flights can be added on to any other OneWorld redemption, for example LAX-DFW-MAD on American or Iberia, then connection to Tenerife. I’d be shooting for the morning flight as the one that gets in at 17:35 on a Monday is cutting it too close. Actually, we are flying in the day before and have had our tickets booked for months!

If you want to play it safe and arrive the day before, here is availability for Sunday, 21 Sept.

As you can see, only the first flight has availability in Blue class. If you miss out, you can book using Iberia Avios (transferred in from British Airways or SPG) at a higher level.

To get back to Madrid and subsequently your homeward flight, start with one of these flights on the 26th (after the conference) which show availability in Blue class.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Using the example of Dallas as a nice central AA hub, we see good availability on British Airways on the 20th which can be used with one of the Iberia flights above. Beware that using British Airways can come with a hefty fuel surcharge of $312! Since the AA website doesn’t show Iberia’s availability, you could experiment with the Iberia site to try to make a good connection or simply call American Airlines to find the space. If you travel on the 19th instead of the 20th on American Airlines, the taxes are only $5. The savings of $307 would more than pay for a night at a hotel in Madrid or Tenerife! You will need 60,000 miles for the round-trip in economy all the way from the USA to Tenerife which could be easily obtained by getting a Citibank credit card or two!

From Australia you are looking at 90,000 round trip in economy and the fuel surcharges/taxes could go as high as $500-ish if you can’t avoid British Airways.

If you are new to the world of miles and points, the above may be a bit confusing so please feel free to ask questions in the comments if you need further clarification.

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