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2020 Santa Fe Opera and Birding Festival
Hello!

Are you a birder who also loves opera? We have a trip for you!

Every year the Santa Fe opera performs five separate operas and for one week every year in August, the Santa Fe Opera performs all five operas. On this upcoming August tour, there will be birding tours and visits to historic areas every day and opera every night. The birding locations are all located within a one-hour drive of Santa Fe.

If you are a birder and an opera lover, you will not want to miss this event.

  • Dates: August 16 - 22, 2020
  • Trip Length: 7 days
  • Group Size: 6 travelers plus guides
  • Rates per person = $3,950 (based on double occupancy) Single = $5,150
  • Rates include: Lodging, breakfast, lunch, dinner, Santa Fe opera tickets for five nights, daily birding tours and airport transfer for Albuquerque Airport.
  • Not included: Airfare to Albuquerque
  • Adventure level: Easy, please check the "Welcome" page for definition

Special note: If you are not an opera fan, it is possible to join the tour at a reduced price that does not include opera concerts or dinner: $2 ,950 per person (based on double occupancy)

Special offer:    Included with your trip (one per room) is a copy of the field guide “Sibley Birds West: Field Guide to Birds of Western North America” by David Allen Sibley.  

Opera and Birding Summary Schedule

To view the details, please see the Santa Fe web page .

2020 Itinerary

Day 1 Sunday August 16:  Fly to Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • Shuttle transfer from Albuquerque to Santa Fe
  • Arrival day: No scheduled activities
  • Dinner: TBD

Day 2 Monday August 17
  • 6:00am – 8:00am: Randall Davey Audubon Center
  • 8:00am – 9:00am: Breakfast
  • 9:00am – 12:00pm: Randall Davey Audubon Center
  • 12:00pm – 1:00pm: Picnic lunch
  • 1:00pm – 3:00pm: Tour Historic Santa Fe Plaza
  • 3:00pm – 5:00pm: Afternoon break
  • 5:00pm: Leave for opera
  • 5:30pm: Pre-view dinner buffet and opera talk
  • 8:00pm: The Magic Flute (1791) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Day 3 Tuesday August 18
  • 6:00am – 8:00am: La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs
  • 8:00am – 9:00am: Breakfast
  • 9:00am – 12:00pm: White Rock and Valles Caldera National Preserve 
  • 12:00pm – 1:00pm: Picnic lunch
  • 1:00pm – 3:00pm: Bandelier National Monument
  • 3:00pm – 5:00pm: Afternoon break
  • 5:00pm: Leave for opera
  • 5:30pm: Tailgate picnic dinner at the opera
  • 7:00pm: Opera talk
  • 8:00pm: Tristan and Isolde (1865) Richard Wagner

Day 4 Wednesday August 19
  • 8:00am – 10:00am: Leonora Curtin Wetland Preserve
  • 10:00am – 12:00pm: Echo Amphitheater, Abiquiu
  • 12:00pm – 1:00pm: Picnic lunch
  • 1:00pm – 3:00pm: Ghost Ranch and Rio Chama Valley
  • 3:00pm – 5:00pm: Afternoon break
  • 5:00pm: Leave for opera
  • 5:30pm: Pre-view dinner buffet and opera talk
  • 8:00pm: M. Butterfly (2020 world Premier) by David Henry Hwang

Day 5 Thursday August 20
  • 6:00am – 8:00am: Santa Fe Canyon Wetlands
  • 8:00am – 9:00am: Breakfast
  • 9:00am – 12:00pm: Galisteo Basin Preserve
  • 12:00pm – 1:00pm: Picnic lunch
  • 1:00pm – 3:00pm: Pecos National Historic Park
  • 3:00pm – 5:00pm: Afternoon break
  • 5:00pm: Leave for opera
  • 5:30pm: Tailgate picnic dinner at the opera
  • 7:00pm: Opera talk
  • 8:00pm: Rusalka (1901) Antonín Dvořák 

Day 6 Friday August 21
  • 6:00am – 8:00am: Randall Davey Audubon Center
  • 8:00am – 9:00am: Breakfast
  • 9:00am – 12:00pm: Hyde Park, Aspen Vista and Black Canyon
  • 12:00pm – 1:00pm: Picnic lunch
  • 1:00pm – 3:00pm:  Santa Fe Botanical Garden
  • 3:00pm – 5:00pm: Afternoon break
  • 5:00pm: Leave for opera
  • 5:30pm: Pre-view dinner buffet and opera talk
  • 8:00pm: The Barber of Seville (1816) Gioachino Rossini

Day 7 Saturday August 22
  • Departure day: You will be transferred from Santa Fe to the Albuquerque airport 



Daily Birding & Nature Tours
New Mexico has a lot of great birding locations and birds to see and our bird list is up to 138 different species. Click here to see the Bird List

Everyday there will be a morning and afternoon bird walk and trip to a culturally significant site. There will be free time for you to visit the great city of Santa Fe.

Click for Website Link

Beautiful Walks
There will be visits to the La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs, the Rio Charma Valley, Santa Fe National Forest, Valles Caldera National Preserve, Bandelier National Monument, Hyde Memorial State Park, Randall Davey Audubon Center, Georgia O'Keeffe’ s Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, Pecos National Historic Site and the Santa Fe Botanical Garden.
Audubon Center
At the edge of Santa Fe is the Randall Davey Audubon Center & Sanctuary. Birds to see: Steller's Jay, Spotted Towhee, Northern Mocking Bird, Sage Thrasher, Canyon Towhee, Vesper Sparrow, Northern Roughed-winged Swallows and Yellow-headed Blackbirds.

Lodging in Santa Fe
We will be staying for seven nights at Pueblo Bonita B&B, located just a 10 minute walk for the historic downtown of Santa Fe. Each room is a small suite with a small sitting area, kitchenette and decorated with beautiful southwest design in an historic adobe building.
Santa Fe Mountains
About 30 minutes outside of Santa Fe are the arid Ponderosa Pine mountains of the Southwest. This is the southern most area of the Southern Rockies. Home to many unique birds that love the arid west:
Juniper Titmouse, Pinyon Jay, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Clark' Nutcracker, Mountain Chickadee, Cassin's Finch, Western Tanager and Townsend's Solitaire.
Georgia O'Keeffe

The Ghost Ranch, just outside Santa Fe was the home, studio and inspiration for many of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings. The 21,000 acres ranch is and museum is open to the public. We will spend several hours here birding, walking and being inspired by this wonderful landscape. Favorite birds here: Woodhouse's Scrub Jay and the Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Preview Dinners

The Santa Fe Opera has wonderful pre-opera talks and dinners. For three nights, dinner will be at the opera restaurant and every night we will attend the opera pre-talk discussion.
Picnic Dinners

The Santa Fe Opera is famous for its "Tailgating" parties before the opera. There will be two nights that we will have a picnic dinner at the opera.
One unique and fun aspect of the Santa Fe opera is people show up early and "tailgate" for dinner. The opera house opens the parking lot 3-hours early to accommodate tailgaters. The opera house is located about 15 minutes north of Santa Fe surrounded by a beautiful arid southwest landscape of mesas, pinyon pines, chamisa and sagebrush. The weather in August is perfect; warm and dry during the day and cool, with occasional showers in the evening.
Check our New Website for dates, details and pricing
Call us at 970-556-6103
email: KaiyoteTours@gmail.com
International Travel Tours
We are expanding our tours in Asia, Africa and Europe
International Tours

  • Sarawak and Northern Borneo: Birding and wildlife viewing, including orangutans
  • Sri Lanka: The best and most relaxing bird tour you will ever experience
  • Nepal: Birding the fantastic Himalayas and a great cultural experience
  • Mongolia: Birding the high steppes and staying in traditional "Gers" for lodging
  • Korea: Winter birding to view cranes and migrants
  • India: Birding for vegetarians, great culture and great food
  • Iceland: Three great tours every year
  • Sweden: Christmas tour, Southwest Sweden and the Åland Islands for mid-summers'
  • Estonia: start the new in Tallinn
  • Nicaragua: Our all time favorite place for birding and traveling anytime of year
  • El Salvador: A short trip or a great add-on to the Nicaragua trip
  • Taiwan: A very special place for birding and one of our favorites
  • Colombia: Birding the Andes and having a lot of fun
  • Colombia: Leticia and the Amazon
  • Uganda: African wildlife and amazing birding

In the United States
  • Santa Fe Birding and Opera Festival
  • Chicago Lyric Opera and Urban Birding



Your Dedicated Guides
Kaiyote & Ed
Photo: Here we are atop the Empire State Building in New York City.

We look forward to showing you all the great birds and wildlife and adventures that can be found around the world, the United States and in Washington state.

Call us anytime! See you soon!
Kaiyote Tours www.KaiyoteTours.com +1 970-556-6103