Central Andes of Colombia

Tour Cost: $4,800

Single Supplement: $700

Tour Capacity: 8 People

For this tour, we will be focusing on the Central Andes of Colombia. Our birding will primarily be concentrated outside of Manizales, the gateway to the high-elevation, coffee producing region of the country, where more than a quarter of Colombia’s endemic birds can be found. The Central Andean region is dominated by volcanoes that reach heights of over 5,000 m (16,500 ft), providing an altitudinal gradient that provides for amazing birding. The area is home to one of Colombia’s largest national parks, as well as several well-managed private reserves. We will be visiting both.

Birding will be done in the high-elevation cloud forests and Paramo ecosystem, consisting of tropical grasslands above treeline. The scenery in the Paramo is magical and surreal, with interesting species that have adapted to the harsh conditions at the high elevations, such as the Rainbow-bearded Thornbill. Our days will be spent exploring easy walking trails that bisect various high-elevation habitats and observing birds at feeding stations.

One of our target birding destinations will be the Rio Blanco Reserve, an Important Bird Area (IBA) that is home to more than 450 species and is considered to be one of the top five birding sites on the planet! We will see a staggering number of birds on this trip, most of which will be new for many tour participants.

For this tour, we will be staying at two different lodges located in the Central Andes. Both are situated in perfect locations to access several prime birding sites in the vicinity.

Every one of our birding destinations will be an hour or less from our lodges…so no long periods sitting in a vehicle!

After our flight into Pereira, Colombia, we will be picked up and transported to our first lodge outside of Manizales.

Late afternoon on our day of arrival will be spent observing birds at the feeding stations at our lodge and stretching our travel-worn legs with a walk around the property.

In the morning we will wake and head to Reserva Ecológica Ro Blanco, a property that boasts over 500 bird species. We will spend the morning at this site, birding the trails and open fields before returning to our lodge for lunch. The afternoon will be spent watching the tanagers and hummingbirds at our lodge.

We will plan to spend a second, full-day at Rio Blanco, as the site hosts so many species, many of which are endemic to the region. Without question, the more time we spend at this site, the more species we will observe!

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we will head to El Color de mis Rêves, another amazing site that offers “glamping” but also has an extensive trail network. We will bird along the trails and will be treated to observing antpittas at a dedicated feeding station. We will hope for Bicolored Antpitta, Chestnut-crowned Antpitta and Equatorial Antpitta. We will return to our lodge in the mid-afternoon.

Following our day at El Color de mis Rêves, we will depart early and head to our next lodge, where we will have breakfast before setting off to our birding site for the day, Termales del Ruiz. We will spend the day looking for species such as Viridian Metaltail, Shining Sunbeam, Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager, Andean Guan, Ocellated Tapaculo and Strong-billed Woodcreeper to name a few. Following a morning of birding and lunch, we will head back to our new lodge to bird the grounds.

For our penultimate day, we will spend the entire day at our lodge, Hacienda el Bosque. This lodge and the associated grounds is one of the best birding sites in the Central Andes, and offers opportunities to view difficult-to-find species, such as the White-capped Tanager, Purple-backed Thornbill and Barred Fruiteater. We will walk their extensive trails and open fields looking for species new species. This is also an excellent property for up-close views of Sword-billed Hummingbird and Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan.

For our final full-day of birding, we will visit Parque De Los Nevados, the highest peak in the region. While birding opportunities exist up to 15,000ft, we will spend the morning birding the roads leading to the higher elevations, staying below 11,000ft. This stunted paramo habitat is home to a number of endemics, including the sought-after Rainbow-bearded Thornbill. Additional target species at this higher elevation include Paramo Tapaculo, Buffy Helmetcrest, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle, Tawny Antpitta, Grass Wren, Paramo Seedeater and Plumbeous Sierra Finch.

This tour will expose you to an amazing region of Colombia, expansive and awe-inspiring views and unique and diverse birds.