Chingaza National Park is located just outside of Bogotá (1.5 hours land trip), it includes vast areas of high Andean forest, subparamo and paramo ecosystems and provides access to some key specialties such as the uncommon (E) Brown-Breasted Parakeet, (E) Green-bearded Helmetcrest, and (E) Silvery-throated Spinetail. 

Hummingbirds Observatory is located at 40 mins from Chingaza, at an altitude of 9,800 fasl in high andean forest. The weather can vary magically from sunny to rainy many times a day and is not surprise to see the fog coming down the mountain as well. A total of 118 species have been reported including some 18 hummingbird' species. Specialties include (NE) Blue-throated Starfrontlet, (NE) Coppery-bellied Puffleg,  Shining Sunbeam, Green and Sparkling Violetear, Speckled and Sword-billed Hummingbird, Long-tailed Sylph, Black-tailed Trainbearer and Purple-backed Thornbill.

Night at hotel in Bogota

Enchanted Garden is a private residence located about an hour and a half west of Bogota at an altitude of 4,990 feet.a.s.l. Some 300 hummingbirds can be seen at any moment coming to the 40 plus feeders present in the garden. 27 hummingbird species have been recorded here including the unique and highly regarded (E) Indigo-capped Hummingbird and (NE) Red-billed and Short-tailed Emeralds

Tabacal Lagoon is a really nice wetland located just 40 mins away from the Enchanted Garden. It is located at an altitude of 4,100 fasl. Birds of interest right at the parking lot include Black-bellied Wren, Ruddy Foliage-gleaner and Red-billed Scythebill. The main entrance is also a good site for the tricky Rosy Thrush-Tanager. Beyond the gate, we may be able to find Endemic Velvet-fronted Euphonia, White-throated Crake and Black Hawk-Eagle, White-bellied Antbird, Rusty-breasted Antpitta, Gray-throated Warbler and a lek of White-bearded Manakin. Birding Tabacal is a really great introduction to the spectacular humid lowland forests the Magdalena Valley.

We will drive for 2.5 hours to a nice hotel in the Honda municipality

La Victoria municipality is conveniently located only 40 mins away from our hotel in Honda. This hotspot, in the Magdalena Valley that divides the  Eastern and the Central Andes Cordillera is a great birding destination with over 200 species recorded. Some specialties on Victoria include Black-faced Dacnis, (E) and NT Sooty Ant-Tanager, and (E) White-mantled Barbet and the spectacular (E) White-bibbed Manakin.

In the afternoon, we will transfer for 2 hours to the beautiful hotel Termales del Ruiz and its stunning views of the valleys and mountains of the paramo. The thermal pool for which the hotel is named is a steaming, hot, sulfurous delight, set behind the main hotel building, ideal for a truly relaxing experience after a day of birding 

Night at Hotel Termales del Ruiz

Termales del Ruiz has a set of gardens that normally attract 10 species of hummingbirds including the highly regarded (NE) Black-thighed Puffleg, (NE) Golden-breasted Puffleg, Buff-winged Starfrontlet, Tourmaline Sunangel, Viridian Metaltail, Shining Sunbeam, Great Sapphirewing, Rainbow-bearded Thornbill, and Purple-backed Thornbill.

Páramo del Ruiz is at the highest altitude of our tour, looming at 14,000 fasl. This is the place in Colombia to go in search for the dazzling and very localized (E) Buffy Helmetcrest a plump little hummingbird and the marvelous (E) Rufous-fronted Parakeet. Other birds of interest include Buff-breasted Mountain-Tanager, Tawny Antpitta, White-chinned Thistletail, Stout-billed Cinclodes, Black-chested Buzzard-eagle, Andean Condor, Many-striped Canastero, Paramo Seedeater, Noble Snipe, Black flowerpiercer, and Plain-capped Ground-tyrant.

Drive for 1.5 hours to a hotel in Manizales

The South American BirdFest happens to take place this year for the first time ever in this part of Colombia. As part of the celebrations, Field Trips to different hotspots at different altitudes will happen every morning from Nov 3-5. Joining the daily trips will give you a really good introduction to the birding culture in South America and will be a fun way of meeting birders from all over the world. However, a dedicated bird guide will be with you to translate, and also to go to other places in case the day trip becomes too crowded. A list of the hotspots to visit as part of the fair is here 

In late afternoon and nights there will be opportunities to explore the Expo, attend presentations  by speakers including Tim Appleton cofounder at UK Birdfair and Michael Lu, president of the Asian BirdFair.  A full list of birding experts attending is here

Complete BirdFair itinerary is here

We will stay at a beautiful hotel in the also beautiful city of Manizales

On day 8, November 5, we will leave in the afternoon to Pereira airport to take the 3:30 pm flight to the Caribbean Coast city of Barranquilla, the starting point of our Santa Marta Endemics leg of the tour.

Night in a hotel near Barranquilla

Early in the morning we will drive for about an hour to visit the Salamanca Island Nature Reserve where birding is very popular, specially as a place to look for the critically endangered, range-restricted and endemic Sapphire-bellied Hummingbird​. This group of small islands includes almost 140,000 acres of mangrove forests and freshwater ecosystem vegetation. The other main specialities here are (E) Turquoise-winged Parrotlet and ​(E) Chestnut-winged Chachalaca and Lesser Nighthawk

We will continue birding and driving along the coast all the way to the Taironaka Ecolodge, located on the banks of the Don Diego river, very close to the sea and the majestic Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Taironaka​ offers you a unique experience of immersion in the abundant flora and fauna of the region. Several trails are available where it is possible to observe numerous species of birds and archaeological remains. Birding from a canoe in the river is also very popular

Night at Taironaka Ecolodge

Los Flamencos Sanctuary is an important coastal wetland and dry forest reserve created to protect a large population of the American Flamingo. This 17,000+ acre reserve of marshes, lagoons, and dry forest is also habitat to 185 other bird

species (80% are migrants). Retreating to the forest, the xerophytic scrub vegetation of the area is very productive for all of the Guajira specialties restricted to NE Colombia and NW Venezuela, including Rufous-vented Chachalaca, Bare-eyed Pigeon, Buffy Hummingbird, Red-crown Woodpecker​, Russet-throated Puffbird, (NE) Chestnut Piculet, (NE) White-whiskered Spinetail, (NE) Slender-billed Inezia, (NE) Orinocan Saltator, Pileated Finch, (NE) Red-billed Emerald, (NE) Tocuyo Sparrow (rare) and the splendid Vermilion Cardinal​.

In the afternoon we will come back to Taironaka for further exploration of this marvelous site

Night at Taironaka ecolodge

Living Taironaka in the morning, we will start driving towards the very picturesque town of Minca in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The Minca trails are very rewarding birding ecosystems hosting about 162 of the 300 species found in the Sierra Nevada, undoubtedly a year-round mecca for birders and those in love

with nature. Birds of particular interest in Minca include Military Macaw, Gray-Headed Kite, Short-tailed Hawk, Zone-tailed Hawk, Blue ground-dove, Pale-bellied Hermit, Sooty-capped Hermit, Long-billed Starthroat, Whooping Motmot, Keel-billed Toucan​, Black-backed Antshrike, White-fringed Antwren (northern race), Pale-eyed Pygmy-tyrant, White-bearded Manakin and Lance-tailed Manakin.

We will stay at a very nice ecolodge in the mountain