Name: Colombia: High Times in the Cordillera Central (final payment)
Start: 2023-07-22T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2023-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia

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This short, sweet tour based in the scenic mountains around Manizales offers comfortable lodging, a relaxed pace, a cool crisp climate, fantastic photo opportunities, thermal hot springs, options for trail hikes, with short drives between birding sites and accommodations.

Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia

Colombia: High Times in the Cordillera Central (final payment)

Hillstar Nature

All accommodations

Access permits and entrance fees to birding areas included.

All guiding services

Tips for drivers and staff at hotels and restaurants.

Tips

We can advise, but Hillstar does not book international flights.

International flights

Alcoholic beverages

Laundry services, charges for phone calls, additional expenses associated with travel such as insurance, visa fees, airport taxes, airline baggage fees, COVID tests, vaccinations, etc.

Personal expenses 

Hillstar Nature offers authentic wildlife experiences, from half-day trips to week+ tours to Earth’s most spectacular wildlife destinations. Arranging custom/private trips and scheduled departures, Hillstar Nature specializes in delivering trips that celebrate biogeography, especially where it overlaps with community. 

Shared room (price per person)

Single room (price per person)

<p>This short, sweet tour based in the scenic mountains around Manizales offers comfortable lodging, a relaxed pace, a cool crisp climate, fantastic photo opportunities, thermal hot springs, options for trail hikes, with short drives between birding sites and accommodations.</p>

About this trip

I have taken many birding trips and this was the best.  I saw a lot of new species and met some great people and local bird guides.  I would recommend George Armisted and Hillstar as the way to go.  Everything except air travel and alcohol is included; saves the hassle of having to carry "tip" money

Colombia: The Chocó & the Western Andes

Great trip with fantastic photo opportunities.  Terrific guides and very comfortable accommodations.

I had a wonderful time.  The bird guides were knowledgable and passionate about their subjects and made it a fascinating trip.  I appeciated that they led us through areas with low traffic since Acadia NP is a popular destination and they made sure they gave individual attention to all participants. My only suggestion is that the food could use some improvement.

Acadia’s Iconic Birds, Whales, and Scenic Views (July 21-25, 2023)

Thanks to our knowledgeable,friendly guides Molly, and Seth, this trip was truly memorable. The area of Maine is beautiful and I was able to see many life birds. 
   It was my second trip to Maine and I plan to return.

We had a great time. Holly and Seth were wonderful. They had to deal with fog and rain with cancelled boat trips. Weather!

Acadia’s Iconic Birds, Whales, and Scenic Views

Great tour! Saw lots of birds and animals. Fantastic scenery. The guide Josh was terrific. Most hotels were superb.

Montana: Glacier to Grasslands

This would be a great trip for dedicated birders.  ME is a beautiful state and Acadia is a super National Park.  The guides Holly and Seth are humble experts in their field and patiently impart their knowledge with compassion.  Wholly out of the control of the guides or Hillstar,  the July 2023 weather in coastal ME was horrendous with dense and almost continuous fog essentially preventing any meaningful bird or landscape viewing for almost all of our five days.  Holly and Seth worked so diligently to still provide field bird viewing and substitute touring locations, but there is only so much they could do with five days of fog.  They had back up plans and worked so diligently to reschedule each cancelled boat trip for puffins and whales.  Thankfully we finally did see the famous puffin birds.
The Schoodic Institute is a refreshing base camp in a pristine world of its own isolated from the touristy buzz of Mad Desert Island.  The housing and cafeteria are dated and only adequate so be prepared for no frills summer camp for adults.  Most meals are modest classic grab and go breakfast and lunch with a limited option sit down evening meal in the cafeteria.  To their credit there was always a vegan option and a consistent salad and juice option.  The minimal number of tourist at the Institute do not support more than a barely adequate experience.  I was surprised that despite being in fresh seafood heaven there was not even once seafood prepared by the cafeteria.  This trip is focused on birds and nature and not on food or site-seeing.  We found the facilities to be very clean and spacious but did not have shampoo, extra towels or a hairdryer in our apartment.  The food staff provided yogurt with an expired date.  Our trip guides worked diligently and immediately remedied all of these shortcomings.  The one fancy meal was a superb experience at a classic dockside lobster pound restaurant with lobster boats moored outside verifying the fresh quality of the multitude of seafood options.  Our guides, Seth and Holly went well above and beyond their job description to make up for the weather and shortcomings of the guest facility services.  You should jump at any trip led by them.

Terrific trip and kudos to Joshua Covill for his thorough knowledge of all things Montana.  His natural history skills are excellent, especially anything bird-related, although it would be difficult to rank one particular area over another.  In addition, his personal skills are first rate: patient, well-spoken, organized, flexible, a good teacher - he has it all.  

Thanks, and looking forward to another Montana itinerary.



This trip exceeded my expectations (and they were high!).  The scenery was outstanding, the birds were great, and Josh as a leader is excellent.  Montana is not a culinary destination, but we still ate very well.  The accommodations were quite good, with one sub-par one-nighter, and we really can't complain about that one given the lack of other options.  I particularly liked the Stage Stop Inn in Choteau.  Back to Josh:  this is the guy to use for any and all Montana trips.  He knows the state and its birds, loves it, and is inspirational in his enthusiasm for sharing his knowledge and love of the area.  Good move, George Armistead, for hiring this one!



This was an amazing trip. Our guide Joshua was very knowledgeable, not just about birds, but he shared info on geology, mammals and even a little local history. He made sure everyone found the bird we were looking at in the moment, had yummy snacks and provided details on the day's itinerary. I plan to take another trip with Hillstar!

Had a great trip.  Seeing all the birds in breeding plumage was a real treat.  The leaders were excellent at finding the target birds and making sure everyone got a good look.  Nice scenery, especially in Montana.  I would definitely consider another Hillstar trip in the future.

Prairies (June 2-9, 2023) Final Payment

Wonderful Colombians every where you go, informative and educational trip and very good food....

Life List in Colombia: The Coffee Triangle & The Colombia Birdfair

This was an exciting trip with hundreds of birds species seen, beautiful vistas, yummy food and a fun and knowledgeable small group of people. Our local guides were top notch, experts in bird guiding and super friendly and fun to boot. Accommodations ranged from average to fantastic as did the food. We had quite a bit of local food which was really good. The tour of the coffee farm was thorough and super interesting, covering everything from growing to harvesting and processing. I'd highly recommend this trip ... no matter where you are in your birding journey.

Great guides, good equipment, excellent results. I took my first pelagic trip on an outing organized by Hillstar out of Ocean City, MD. Zach, Mikey and Matt did a great job of telling us what to expect and putting us on the birds we encountered. Captain Monte navigated through some choppy water to get us out among the birds and dolphins. I recommend this operation and plan to do it again.

Maryland Pelagic: February 18

It's hard to imagine how this trip could have gone better!  George and Mollee we great, fun and knowledgeable and our Colombian guides were even more fun and knowledgeable!!  The accommodations were great as was the food.  The van we did most of our touring with was large and had plenty of room for legs and bags and our driver was great.  And of course, the bird sightings were fantastic.  I saw 315 species and I think the group total was somewhere around 375!

I can't recommend this tour and this group highly enough!


Wonderful trip. Experienced, knowledgeable and friendly guides. Eager to help novice and experienced birders.  Would recommend for anyone interested in birding. 

Delaware Pelagic: January 22

Great trip and Naturalists were exemplary! Thank you. 

I enjoyed my trip.  The guides were very friendly and helpful.  They helped me see new birds and explained some tips on how to recognize them.  I felt safe and I would recommend this trip for anyone new to birding as well as for anyone who just enjoys birding.  

This was a near shore pelagic trip perfect for first timers to get a feel for this type of activity.  The guides, Holly, Mikey and Zach were personable, knowledgeable and worked hard to find birds, whales and dolphins for all to see.  If you're on the fence about joining a pelagic trip, sign up for a near shore.  

The Gambler is a sturdy, beautiful, and well-captained and crewed ship, I felt safe and admired its capacity. Just right for the number of people and the trip.  We sailed a triangle across the inner shelf.  The leaders knew the best places to check for birds.  On the deck above, Tom and Scott and others scanned the area continually, and usually relayed the news to all.  They had the best views.  The cabin was warm and there was free food, and some to buy.  The weather was good.
I was disappointed that the birds were so distant and I had hoped for better views.  From the shore I rarely get a close view and was hoping somehow to get more satisfaction.   Perhaps I expected too much.  

New Jersey Pelagic: January 14

Very well run. Great spotters (Tom Johnson & George Armistead are world-class!). Friendly, knowledgeable, skilled crew. Really outstanding boat!  Fun fellow birders, including several friends. 
Really excellent overall experience. Highly recommended! 

We had a great trip. The staff was very accommodating and we did cover the areas that we were supposed to. We did get some great birds including an Icelandic gull. This was due to staff constantly chumming during the whole trip. Would definitely go again.

I enjoyed the trip and even picked up a lifer (the Black-headed Gull). But there needs to be much better communication on board. I was surprised to look at the e-bird lists and realize how many birds I missed because I was unaware they’d been spotted. Perhaps better use of the ship PA system would help.

Fun, local (to me) trip despite less than ideal weather. Leaders worked hard to get everyone on birds

Wonderful trip led by excellent guides!  The weather was also nearly perfect, which made our experience on the boat pleasurable.  Thank you for a great trip!

Maryland Pelagic: December 30

Great day out on the ocean.  Zach and Jonathon were knowledgeable and friendly spotters and the boat was comfortable.  Great alcids, gulls and shearwaters…perfect pelagic trip!

This was an amazing trip! I saw so many new bird species with the help of all of the kind, skillful spotters on deck. The crew were very nice and immediately helped me out when they noticed I had sea sickness. I will definitely book another trip with them again in the future. 

This was a great day.  We were lucky with smooth seas and decent weather.  I was especially happy with the leaders, Zach and Jonathan, both in spotting birds and in calling out directions.  Zach was particularly attentive to each of us personally to make sure we were getting on our target birds.  Also, the communication before the trip was excellent.  Plenty of notice that a reschedule might be necessary.  More please!



The trip went well, though sometimes communications were lacking.  A consistent weakness of pelagics out of Ocean City and Lewes is the failure to use the boat's PA system.  This can be heard throughout the boat.  Shouted sightings from the bow often do not reach the stern.  Use of the PA corrects that.  Some arrangements needs to be made with the Captain.  That said, if the Morning Star is used again, the Captain should not be the announcer, as he was largely unintelligible. 

Colombia: High Times in the Cordillera Central (final payment)

Colombia: High Times in the Cordillera Central (final payment)

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