Colombia
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The price is per person, and is fully inclusive of accommodation as detailed above, all meals in Colombia, return flight London - Bogota*, internal flights, airport taxes, surface transport as described, incidental tips, admissions and the services of the leaders.
The price excludes holiday insurance, drinks, optional tips to the local guides, and other personal expenses. *For an ex-international flight cost (Bogota/Bogota), please deduct £ 645 from the tour cost. **Singles at Tanganga/Santa Marta have no supplement, but will only be allocated if group size permits. Leaders : Keith Grant & Carl Downing with local guides |
Colombia has more bird species than any other country in the world, and may well have the biodiversity record as well. With travel now much safer, and a good tourist infrastructure rapidly developing, we decided it was time for a recce, and now our first trip - join us! |
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Colombia is a treasure chest of unparalleled diversity of fauna and flora, such as orchids, amphibians and butterflies, and with almost 1,900 bird species, the country hosts more bird species than any other in the world. This is due to its strategic location at the gateway to South America and a unique topography where the Andean chain coming up from Ecuador to the south splits into three separate mountain ranges. This, combined with over 600 miles of Pacific & Caribbean coastlines, creates an unrivalled complex of ecosystems. Covering over 700,000 square miles, Colombia has spectacular landscapes from the glaciers of the mountains to vast tropical forests surrounding the tributaries of the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers. Also adding to the diversity of bird species are the man-made habitats, such as livestock farming, shade-grown coffee, artificial lakes and parkland.
Although the country has had a decidedly 'dodgy' reputation in the past, it has now very much cleaned up its act, and is now statistically as safe as anywhere in Latin America. The result is that tourists are returning, and a good tourist infrastructure is developing as a result. Keith went out there to 'recce' in early 2009, and this tour is the result. We can only cover a small part of Colombia in a two week tour, but we think we have picked some superb locations, which combine easy walking with their own special, often endemic, bird species. The tour co-leader is Carl Downing, who has been birdwatching since the age of seven and took his first foreign bird watching trip to the Alps in Austria at the age of 14. Since then he has travelled throughout the USA, Europe and parts of South-east Asia, and has spent the last 19 years birdwatching in Colombia, leading tours there since 1995. He was Chairman of the Neotropical Bird Club between 2003 and 2009 and speaks fluent Spanish. Itinerary Day 1 We take a morning flight from London, via Madrid, arriving in Bogota during the evening for a three night stay. Overnight Bogota Days 2 - 3 Surrounding the city of Bogota are some large areas of cloud forest and some excellent lakes and marshes. We will also spend time exploring into the shade-grown coffee country. Over these two days, we will search for such specialities as Turquoise Dacnis-tanager, Short-tailed Emerald, Bar-crested Antshirke, Colombian Wren, Velvet-fronted Euphonia, Black Inca, Rufous-browed Conebill, Silvery-throated Spinetail, Bogota Rail, Mattoral Tapaculo and Coppery-bellied and Glowing Pufflegs. Of course, whilst searching for these, we will come across several other hummingbirds and what can be a bewildering variety of tanagers, often in mixed flocks including woodpeckers, foliage-gleaners, spinetails, vireos and warblers. We stay in a comfortable three star hotel near to the American Embassy Two nights Bogota Day 4 We drive north to Doradal for a three night stay. En route, we'll stop at La Vega and other places of interest where we may find Grey-throated Warbler, Stripe-breasted Spinetail and Rosy Thrush-Tanager. Overnight Doradal Days 5 - 6 During the next two days, we will be exploring the excellent Rio Clara area. Here we hope to find Grey-cheeked Nunlet, Beautiful Woodpecker, Rufous and Broad-billed Motmots, Wing-barred Piprities, Citron-throated Toucan and the bizarre-looking Southern Bentbill. Here in one of the best tracts of humid tropical forest in this part of the Magdalena Valley, we hope to find three further endemics, the White-mantled Barbet, Sooty Ant-Tanager and Antioquia Bristle-Tyrant. We will also visit an impressive cave where that most charismatic of birds, the Oilbird, is found. Two nights Doradal Day 7 We drive to Medellin for a morning flight to Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast, and then drive directly to the El Dorado Reserve where we stay for the next three nights. This is the flagship reserve of Fundaci—n ProAves and sits on the humid NW slope of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, a unique massif isolated from the Andes and rising precipitously from the Caribbean beaches to 5,800 metres. Between these two extremes, less than 50 km apart, the mountain slopes are covered in lush forest and, surrounded to the south by a wide lowland gap, exhibit a high degree of isolation with no less than 16 endemic bird species and a large number of distinctive subspecies. With luck we may also see the newly described Santa Marta Screech-owl which can be heard calling at night outside the reserve accommodation. Overnight El Dorado Days 8 - 9 During our time at El Dorado, we will hope to find most of the Santa Marta specialities. Santa Marta has given its name to a parakeet, two hummingbirds, a bush-tyrant, tapaculo, antpitta, wren, warbler, foliage-gleaner, brush-finch and mountain-tanager. Other possibilities will include the exquisite Blossomcrown, Black-fronted Wood-Quail, Band-tailed Guan, White-tipped Quetzel, Golden-winged Sparrow, Black-backed Antshrike, Rusty-breasted Antpitta and many others. We hope to explore most of the elevations from the interesting mix of pastures, shade-grown coffee plantations and small woods of the lower elevations, to the tall forest higher up. The impressive Lined Quail-Dove is possible, as is the Sooty-capped Hermit, the local form of Tyrian Metaltail, Keel-billed Toucan and both Yellow-billed and Santa Marta Toucanets, the latter being split by some authorities from Emerald Toucanet. Two nights El Dorado Day 10 After a final morning birding around the lodge, we descend back to the coast and will stay for the next three nights in Taganga or Santa Marta. Overnight Tanganga/Santa Marta Day 11 We have an early start today, needing to be at SFF Los Flamencos soon after dawn. This Sanctuario de Fauna y Flora is one of 51 areas protected within the Sistema de Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia. It includes a complex ecosystem of lagoons, mangroves and dry forest. We should see the stunningly beautiful Caribbean Flamingo, Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork,and both Scarlet and White Ibis, as well as a selection of other shorebirds. Other specialities may include the diminutive Chestnut Piculet, Buffy Hummingbird, Grey Pileated Finch, Caribbean Hornero, Orinoco Saltator, Russet-throated Puffbird, White-whiskered Spinetail and, considered by some emblem of the Guajira Desert, the outstanding Vermilion Cardinal. Having utilised the relatively cool morning and with temperatures rising, we aim to be heading back to the hotel soon after lunch. Overnight Tanganga/Santa Marta Day 12 Close to Taganga is another National Park, Parque Tayrona, which we visit today. Special birds here include Cocoa Woodcreeper, White-bellied and Jet Antbirds, Orange-crowned Oriole, Long-billed Gnatwren, and Military Macaw. Other wildlife should include Red Howler Monkeys and Dusky Titi Monkeys. Overnight Tanganga/Santa Marta Day 13 We head for an early morning's birding at Isla Salamanca, another location within Colombia's PNN system, where we hope to find Chestnut-winged Chachalaca and maybe Bronze-brown Cowbird. The mangroves here should hold Bicolored Conebill and Prothonotary Warbler, and we should come across Red-rumped Woodpecker, Common Black Hawk and Yellow-chinned Spinetail. We then head directly to Barranquilla for our flight to Bogota, connecting with the overnight flight home, arriving at Heathrow on Day 14. Accommodation Comfortable hotels and lodges with all rooms en suite. Walking Relatively short walks along trails, with frequent stops for birds and other wildlife. Some trails may be muddy and occasionally steep. Leaders: Keith Grant & Carl Downing with local guides Numbers: Max. 14 clients |
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