Birdwatching in Colombia

Duration: 14 days

Highlights: Bogota, Coffee Region, Santa Marta, Cartagena

Birdwatching in Colombia offers an unparalleled opportunity to immerse themselves in one of the world's most biodiverse countries, where every outing promises new and exciting avian discoveries amidst breathtaking natural landscapes.

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Itinerary

Day 1 - Arrive to Bogota

On arrival to El Dorado International Airport, you will be met by a representative and transferred to your hotel.
Welcome to Bogota! Colombia’s capital city is a bustling metropolis and one of the highest capital cities in the world. Despite its tropical location, the altitude here at 2600 meters above sea level ensures a year-round spring-like climate where flowers are always in bloom. Bogota has a great variety of barrios or neighborhoods to explore from Candelaria, the historic district to the beautiful parks and café culture of the Zona Rosa and the spectacular views from the peak at Monserrate. Historic buildings exist side by side modern skyscrapers and leafy parks interspersed by cycleways making for a surprisingly pleasant city to spend a few days, despite its size.

One of Bogota’s biggest attractions is its museums, especially the Gold Museum which houses one of the most impressive collections of Pre-Columbian art in the world with thousands of pieces of gold, precious stones, ceramics, and textiles. Also discover the emerald museum and the Fernando Botero Museum, a Colombian figurative artist of international renown. Stroll along the cobbled streets of Bogota’s historic Candelaria district only a short walk from the Gold Museum. In the evenings, the best place to be is the Zona Rosa which houses some lovely small hotels and has a vibrant pavement café culture. For a truly spectacular and romantic setting, head to the beautiful church on the peak of Monserrate Hill and dine in one of the beautiful historic buildings there overlooking the city.

Overnight: Four Seasons Casa Medina

Meal Plan:

Day 2 - Exploring the Botero Museum

Make a morning visit to the largest food market in Bogota. Paloquemao market offers a vast array of Colombian fruits and ingredients. The popular food stalls serve local delicacies, and the flower market provides an amazing array of smells and colors to enliven the senses.
Continue with a tour with a visit to La Candelaria, the oldest part of the city with many colonial buildings still present. Nearby is the main square of Bogotá, the Plaza de Bolivar, surrounded by the cathedral and many government buildings.

Continue to the Botero Museum, housed in a restored colonial mansion.

The collection includes many works by the Colombian artist Fernando Botero, together with pieces by other artists such as Picasso, Renoir and Monet. Continue to the celebrated Gold Museum. With over 34,000 pieces, this is the world’s largest collection of pre-Hispanic gold artefacts.

Finally, take a trip to Monserrate. Located in the hills to the east of the city, this 3,160-metre peak can be reached by funicular railway or cable car and affords views over the whole of Bogotá.
*The Gold Museum is closed on Monday and the Botero Museum is closed on Tuesday.

Overnight: Four Seasons Casa Medina

Meal Plan: B, L

Day 3 - Birdwatching in Chingaza National Park and Hummingbird Observatory

You will depart to Chingaza National Park (Rincon del Oso area). This incredible place is located only one hour and half away from Bogota. Then you will be birding here all the day exploring Paramo and moorland ecosystems at an altitude of approximately 2800-3400m. in searching for: Coppery-bellied Puffleg, Bronze-tailed Thornbill, Glowing Puffleg, Longuemare´s Sunangel, Blue throated Starfrontlet, Tyrian Metaltail, Sword-billed hummingbird, Mountain Velvetbreast, Great sapphirewing.
• Endemic Birds: Silvery-throated Spinetail.
• Near-Endemic Birds: Blue-throated Starfrontlet, Matorral Tapaculo, Golden-faced Whitestart, Coopery-bellied Puffleg and Black-billed Mountain-Toucan.
• Other target birds: Andean Siskin, Black-headed Hemispingus, Rufous Antpitta, Noble Snipe, Black Backed Grosbeak, Rufous Browed Conebill, Eastern Meadowlark, White-chinned Thistletail, Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager, Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant, Plumbeous Sierra Finch and many more birds!!!

Overnight: Four Seasons Casa Medina

Meal Plan: B, L

Day 4 - Welcome to the Coffee Region!

This morning you will be at your hotel and transferred to El Dorado airport.
*Flight Bogota to Armenia under own arrangements.

The Coffee Region, founded on August 30, 1863, Coffee Region is part of the territory in 2011 UNESCO declared World Heritage Site: the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia. Mountains planted with coffee and bananas; and valleys where bamboos and sugarcane crops receive travelers from around the world.

In this region, visitors can practice adventure sports, relax in hot springs and visit nature reserves and some others cultural spaces. Is a destination designed for those who want to get in contact with the coffee culture in typical haciendas, some of them show visitors the full coffee process, known worldwide for growing the best smooth Arabica type coffee. 
Botanical Garden.
Armenia’s excellent 15-hectare botanical garden has the best mariposario in the Zona Cafetera. The 680-sq-meter butterfly house is shaped like a giant butterfly and houses up to 2000 insects. There’s also a 22m-tall lookout tower, plus ferns, orchids, a guadua (bamboo) forest and an extensive collection of palms. This tour takes around 4 hours. Lunch will be taken at a local restaurant.

Overnight: Hacienda Bambusa

Meal Plan: B

Day 5 - The Enchanted Filandia

Birdwatching at Barbas Bremen National Park with visit to Filandia
The Barbas Bremen reserve is located between the municipalities of Filandia, Circasia, Salento (Quindío) and Pereira (Risaralda). Among the attractions of the reserve is the great biodiversity of birds, which favors sighting, you can also see herds of howler monkeys, whose howls can be heard miles away.
End up visiting Filandia, another of the few remnants and an example of architectural conservation of the coffee region, we will walk through the streets of the town, visit the viewpoint, and enjoy a local drink in the town square. This tour lasts for 8 hours.

Overnight: Hacienda Bambusa

Meal Plan: B

Day 6 - Explore the Cocora Valley and Salento

We will visit one of the most emblematic sites of the coffee region, the majestic Valle de Cocora. Upon arrival and after an environmental interpretation of the site and its ecological importance, we will begin a short two-hour walk. Later we move to the municipality of Salento, we will have time to walk through its colorful streets, visit the Cerro de la Cruz viewpoint and local handicraft. This tour lasts for 8 hours.

Overnight: Hacienda Bambusa

Meal Plan: B

Day 7 - The Río Blanco Nature Reserve

The Río Blanco Nature Reserve is ideal for birdwatching. In this reserve, travelers can explore nature trails in 12,187 acres of cloud forest situated between 1.3 and 2.3 meters above sea level. This land is essential for the provision of drinking water in Manizales. This tour takes around 9 hours.

Overnight: Hacienda Bambusa

Meal Plan: B

Day 8 - Welcome to Santa Marta!

Transfer to the airport, for your flight to Santa Marta.
On arrival at the Simon Bolivar International Airport, you will be met by a representative and transported to your hotel.

Welcome to Santa Marta! a city where diversity is present in its landscape, in its people, and in every cultural aspect that composes it; It is a destination that welcomes all its visitors and makes them feel at home. What makes it unique? Its main characteristic is its territory: unforgettable landscapes in which the green of its vegetation, its mountains, the blue of its seas, the yellow of the sun and the contrast of the beaches with the white of the Sierra Nevada, make this paradise a must.

Here, there are activities for everybody, from getting lost in the waves of a beach that meets the jungle, to observing the singing birds. You cannot leave out of your list the historical tour of the city and the visit to the heart of the Tayrona culture and its colonial treasures. In addition, there is the charm of its people that, with that spark so characteristic of the Caribbean, makes Santa Marta an experience difficult to forget.

Overnight: Villa Playa Tayrona

Meal Plan: B

Day 9 - Birdwatching in Minca Campano

Minca, Campano, and Bella Vista is a coffee region, and cloud forests that are the habitat of many species of birds. On this route, you will discover many of the endemic birds of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

Overnight: Villa Playa Tayrona

Meal Plan: B, L

Day 10 - Explore the Tayrona National Park

Enjoy one of the most beautiful areas of the Natural Park and of greater ecological importance, enjoy crystal clear waters, white sands and beautiful coral reefs. Upon entering the Natural Park you ascend by a scenic road between tropical forests that open in a capricious way to give you the most beautiful welcome to the Beach of the Seven Waves, from the natural viewpoint you can enjoy the beautiful landscape. Take a typical fishing boat to reach one of the most beautiful beaches of the Natural Park: Playa Cristal.

Overnight: Villa Playa Tayrona

Meal Plan: B, L

Day 11 - Birdwatching in La Guajira

La Guajira is located in the extreme north of Colombia right next to the border with Venezuela, in this area, the dry forest predominates, where we can find the endemic birds of the northern part of South America.

We will visit the Flamingos Flora and Fauna Sanctuary where there is a great variety of aquatic and terrestrial birds and the Indigenous reservation of the Wayuu community in the locality called Camarones. This tour lasts for 10 hours approximately.

Overnight: Villa Playa Tayrona

Meal Plan: B, L

Day 12 - Embrace the Colorful Cartagena

Transfer by Land from Villa Playa to Cartagena.
In the morning, you will be at your hotel and will be transported to Cartagena.
Please take into account that this land transfer will take between 4.5 and 5 hours. We can arrange a private flight if preferred.
Exuberant, colorful, tropical, and beautiful - all describe beautifully Colombia’s crowning destination. This vibrant port city overlooks the azure blue waters of the Caribbean from fortress walls once used to protect its inhabitants from marauding pirates and buccaneers. Now the walled city is a maze of cobbled streets with colorful colonial houses on all sides, many of which have been converted into stunning intimate boutique hotels set around shady courtyards. Its heady mix of sunshine, tropical surroundings and dazzling painted colonial architecture as well as a vibrant music and dance culture make this Colombia’s most precious jewel.

Stroll the town by day and explore the museums, galleries, and emerald factories. For some dramatic panoramas of the city and the coast, head to La Popa church and the Fortress of San Felipe. At night you can head to one of many live music venues or perhaps sip a sundowner at a bar overlooking the ocean. Take a boat trip out to the archipelago of islands known as the Rosarios Islands for superb snorkeling and diving. You can even stay in charming rustic hotels on one of the islands for a day or two for complete seclusion and tranquility.

Overnight: Casa San Agustin Hotel

Meal Plan: B

Day 13 - Sunset Sailing

Boquilla Mangroves
Visit Boquilla town, an artisanal fishing area near Cartagena, where you will have the opportunity to paddle through winding mangrove channels on a canoe along with your guide, stopping to admire the scenery and learn about wildlife along the way. As you go, you also learn about the traditional fishing villages and people who call La Boquilla home.  This tour lasts for 3 hours.

Sunset Sailing
An experience that anyone who visits Cartagena should have. This evening step on board your own private vessel and head out the harbor into the horizon and take in a different perspective of Cartagena.  This activity takes around 3 hours.

Overnight: Casa San Agustin Hotel

Meal Plan: B

Day 14 - Departure

Transfer from the hotel to Cartagena International Airport.

Overnight:

Meal Plan: B

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