This was a fantastic trip. Josh had designed a superb itinerary, covering a variety of habitats and a wide range of species. His skills are outstanding: hearing, seeing, and getting participants on the birds. His knowledge of the taxonomy and distribution of the species is impressive. Accommodations were mostly excellent, sometimes just adequate (there were no alternatives), but I never had a complaint. The group was congenial and cohesive. I'm so glad to have been part of this trip!

Hi George et al. - This feedback is for the recent back-to-back Choco and High Times tours with Mollee and Yesennia, as well as the "bonus" guides Josh and Manuela. I have nothing but positive things to say. The logistics, day-to-day communications, adaptive management, and birding expertise were all great. This is despite our train and miner strike adventures on our day to/from San Cipriano, which I would visit again in a heartbeat. I hope that stays on the tour. It was great to meet, bird, and hang out with Mollee (the podcast creates an illusion that we know folks), but it's nothing like time together in the field. Yesennia was incredible on the birding, organization, and hard work fronts. Both she and Mollee have such great temperaments and can put up/take care of demanding customers (like me) with grace and ease. They worked great together. I first met Josh on the Santa Marta tour in Feb 2024 and it was great to bird with him a year later. While he was great then, he seemed more comfortable as a guide and expert. Manuela also seemed great, but I did not get as much direct time with her. The lodging was all great the logistics seamless and I will recommend Hillstar without hesitation. You have a great team and hopefully you can maintain the "culture". All the best and safe travels to all! Gene Revelas

This was my third trip to Colombia with Hillstar Nature, and I enjoyed just as much as the first two trips. I had the opportunity to visit the Tatamá National Park and stay at the Montezuma Rainforest Ecolodge. The Tapasco family extended their extensive knowledge of the area as well as their hospitality. We were fortunate to have Yesennia Tapasco, along with Mollee Brown as our guides. From there we traveled to our three night stay at the Araucana Lodge. From there we visited Laguna el Sonso to bird the wetlands, lake, and forests where we saw a wide variety of birds including Horned Screamer, Lesser and Common Nighthawks, and Common Potoo with her baby. Our next visit was to see the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock at the Finca Doña Dora.In addition to seeing many of the Finca’s birds, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and lunch. We were also treated to an overview of how Doña Dora and her family started their Finca. They work very hard to maintain their business and extend their hospitality. Later that day we visited La Florida- Bosque de Las Aves and were able to see our target birds, Little Tinamou, and Chestnut Wood-Quail along with many other birds and hummingbirds of the area. Our last visit was to the town of San Cipriano where we were able to see Trogons, Motmots, Chocó Screech Owl, Tiny Hawk and many others. Our guides Yesennia, and Mollee as well as a great group of people made this a great trip and birding experience.