BIRDING TOUR 17D (B)

A person from our team will be waiting for you at your arrival time at Alfonso Bonilla Aragon Airport in Cali and will take you to the most comfortable birding lodge of the area located 1.5 hrs away. On the way, he will give you a briefing the whole experience with advices and recommendations for a pleasant trip. Subsequently, you will have the rest of the day free at leisure, having time to recover from the flight and enjoy the facilities of the ecolodge and its feeders.

On this day, you will be taken to La Florida Birding Reserve located 20 mins away, in the Key Biodiversity Area of the San Antonio cloud forest. This place is home 340 species of birds, including 39 varieties of hummingbirds and up to 30 species of tanagers, including the colorful multicolor tanager and other species such as the elusive chestnut wood quail, both endemic only in that area and easy to spot there. Later on, you will be taken back to the lodge.

On this day, we will take you at 5:00 AM in a 1-hr. transfer to Doña Dora reserve, which is a charming place run by locals that have been protecting the area for years and where visitors can see 28 to 60 species in a day, in an area no larger than 150 square meters. Here we can easily observe species like the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, the toucan barbet among other species of the 478 that have been reported here, before getting back to the lodge.

On this day, you will check out early and will have a 2-hrs transfer heading north and stopping in El Sonso Lagoon, which is the main wetland in the alluvial plain of the Cauca River and where we will have a birding activity in a place with 98 birds that are resident and 20 migratory. As for mammals, 16 species have been recorded in this special Tropical Dry Forest ecosystem. Later on, you will have a 3-hrs transfer to your next hotel in the coffee region.

On this day, you will be taken to Otun Quimbaya Fauna and Flora Sanctuary, located very close to the hotel, which is a protected area of 489 ha characterized by humid forest and sub-Andean jungle vegetation. This place, with 259 species of endemic flora recorded, is ideal for observing birds and butterflies. The crab-eating fox, the howler monkey and the moor tapir live there, among other animals. Later on, you will have a 2-hrs transfer to your next hotel.

On this day, we will take you early to Rio Blanco, which is a reserve of 4.932 hectares of cloud forest extension located between 2,150 and 3.700 m.a.s.l. where 372 different bird species have been identified, of which 13 are endemic, 30 migratory and 13 are threatened. It is home of more than 61 species of registered mammals, more than 180 diurnal butterflies, 40 different species of native orchids due to its well-preserved primary forest.

On this day, we will take you early to Hacienda El Bosque, which is a traditional family dairy farm located 30 mins away with an elevation gradient from 2,800 to 3,900 m.a.s.l. The natural forest fragments have been protected for over 40 years, allowing the conservation of more than 25 water sources. It has an inventory of 127 species of birds. Later on, you will have a 40-mins transfer to your next hotel located at 3.500 m.a.s.l.

On this day, we will get deep into the paramo ecosystem of the Los Nevados National Park. We will bird watch throughout the morning at key points along the way till 3.960 ma.s.l. that will be our highest point. With appropriate clothing for the low temperatures, we will hope to find great species such as the endemic Rufous-fronted Parakeet, the Black-backed Tanager, the Golden-crowned Tanager, the Buffy helmetcrest or even the towering Andean Condors.

On this day, after breakfast and some rest, you will have a 3-hours transfer to the Montezuma Rainforest Lodge, which is very famous place due to its level of endemism passing by marvelous landscapes in the transition from the central to the western mountain range of the Colombian Andes. Once there, you can enjoy the afternoon in the feeders of the place and can walk by the surroundings where you can see the first bird species of the area.

On this day, we will take you at 5:30 AM in a 2-hrs. transportation by the mountains of the Tatama National Park, where you will be taken to the highest birding spot of the area at 2.550 m.a.s.l. where the goal is to observe birds such in this destination that is home to more than 600 different bird species and more than 70 colombian endemic species. You can explore as much as you want the highest parts till the 1.900 m.a.s.l. before heading back to the lodge.

On this day, we will take you at 5:30 AM in a 1-hr. transportation by the same road taken the day before, but this time you will start to observe birds from the 1.900 m.a.s.l. heading down till the 1.300 m.a.s.l. of the lodge. You will have the whole day available to bird as much as you want with your expert guide, this time aiming to see different species due to the lower altitude. You will also see a denser vegetation and with some luck other type of wildlife.

Day 12 - FLIGHT TO SANTA MARTAOn this day, you will have a free morning to enjoy the last moments at Montezuma Lodge and later you will have a transfer to the airport of Pereira, in order to be 2 hours before your flight to Santa Marta. Once there, you will have a 1.5-hrs transfer from the airport to your ecolodge located at 1.100 m.a.s.l. in the rural area of the town of Minca. Your hotel has a great pool and view to the ocean and the mountains with a great warm temperature.

On this day, you will start a birding activity in the surroundings of the hotel and then will have a 1.5-hrs transfer to El Dorado Lodge, located at 1.695 m.a.s.l. in the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, which has the highest mountains next to the ocean in the world. You will have a guide the whole day in order to do wildlife observation along the way by this very special ecosystem between high mountains and the Caribbean Sea that offers great level of endemism.

On this day, we will wake up at 4:30 AM in order to take you to Cuchilla de San Lorenzo located at more than 2.100 m.a.s.l. with the chance to observe different bird species due to the elevation of the area. During the rest of the day, we will continue exploring the very well-preserved jungle with several butterflies, reptiles, birds, waterfalls and pristine nature in this special biodiversity spot between the snow-capped tropical mountains and the ocean.

On this day, you will have a second guided birdwatching activity in this reserve, which is one most famous nationwide for this activity, due to its geographical location and well-preserved ecosystems, having 420 species and 15 of them in critical danger of extinction. During the rest of the day, you can enjoy the great landscapes of the place and do some optional hikes, before having a 3-hrs. transfer to your hotel in Santa Marta.

On this day, you will be picked up at 6:00 AM and will have a 1-hr. transfer to Nueva Venecia, which is a stilt town declared world heritage by UNESCO located in Cienaga Grande de Santa Marta. There you can see how locals have lived for centuries with a very close relationship with the water and nature there. You can see some wildlife and also see how fishermen and the communities live in stilt houses before having a 3-hrs. transfer to Cartagena.

On this day, you will have breakfast at the hotel. You will have a transfer included to take you to the international airport of Cartagena in order to be 3 hours before your flight out the country or 2 hours before flight connections inside Colombia.