Every detail of this trip was very thoughtfully curated, from pick up at airport to departure, and everything in between. Great food and accommodations, kind and warm people involved in our journey, particularly the drivers and additional guides. Johnnier was an expert, who made every effort to ensure we all got on the skulking birds before moving on, providing moments for bird photo opps, and that we were comfortable throughout the entire trip. Also worthy of note for birders: the target list advertised for the trip was real!!! (Genuine marketing matters☺️) This was an unforgettable birding and cultural experience through the diverse landscape of the Caribbean coast and mountains with over 240 species observed. I will definitely be a repeat customer and highly recommend the Andean Birder to anyone interested in birding Colombia.

Johnnier Arango was a superb birding guide, tour organizer, and 24 day companion to my husband and me as he introduced us to the birds of Columbia as well as the country itself. His knowledge of the birds and their habitats is vast. It was a pleasure exploring the terrain with him as his enthusiasm and enjoyment was embracing. I can not recommend him highly enough.

Birding with a non-birding companion is challenging, with finding an optimal blend of guide and trip itinerary being primary reasons. Fortunately for us, The Andean Birder found the ideal solution. Our guide-driver was Juan Julio Lopez, an entertaining fountain of knowledge about all things Colombia, encompassing its economy, culture, history, geography, and ecological environments, not to mention where to look for the key bird species. My non-birding partner felt especially safe with Juan's driving skills, no small feat given some of Colombia's twisting mountainous roads. In addition to a route that spanned the diversity found from tropical lowlands to high-altitude paramo, we also made an occasional pause for other tourist attractions. Here, Juan was just as knowledgeable, and he assisted greatly in our finding some non-avian treasures of Colombia. A special mention, too, should be made for the outstanding contributions from the several local birding guides who made our trip so much richer: Angelo Benitez, Never Morillo, and Jonathan Badoya. Deep and long experience with the top Western and Central Andes birding sites makes the Andean Birder your go-to choice, whether your trip is with or without a non-birding companion.

This was my third trip with Johnnier. The trip route was well thoughtout. The logistics were smooth. The accomodations were excellent and convienently located for our birding stops. The meals were sensational. Most important, Johnnier and the local guides provided great experiences seeing the target birds and enjoying the habitat. Looking forward to my next trip to Columbia.

Our trip with The Andean Birders centred on the Cauca valley north of Cali and visited a range of different habitats from lowland tropical forests to the Andean paramo at over 4000 metres elevation. Johnnier was an outstanding guide with an incredible knowledge of the region’s avifauna and its natural history. Lodges and hotels were all superbly chosen and the organisation and communication throughout was faultless. This was a wonderful trip with just shy of 450 bird species recorded in just two weeks; I would not hesitate to recommend The Andean Birders to anyone considering a birding tour in Colombia.