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Colombia - The Magdalena Valley and Eastern Andes
Tour Code: COL04An 12-day tour exploring the exceptional birdlife of Colombia's Magdalena Valley and eastern Andes.
£4,495 (Inc flights)
£3,595
Highlights
Tour Itinerary and Reports
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Summary
Following in the footsteps of our successful Multicoloured Tanager and Santa Marta Endemics tours, this holiday explores the eastern Andes and Magdalena Valley, with its many showy and rare delights. We start the tour with some fantastic introductory birding close to Bucaramanga, with its idyllic climate, no doubt sampling our first regional specialities of the tour before heading to the super Cerulean Warbler Reserve (a major wintering ground for this northern rarity) where we'll bird migrant-rich coffee plantations and pristine cloud forest. From here we'll transfer to Rio Claro Nature Reserve, birding along the way in wetlands and dry forest habitats. Rio Claro itself protects threatened low-lying Magdalena Valley forest which holds a treasure trove of rare and endemic species. The tours ends with 2 nights in the spectacular Combeima Canyon (with it's suite of Tolima endemics), followed by 2 nights in and around Bogota, where we'll bird high Paramo and wetland habitats. Some of the key targets and specialities along the way include Bogota Rail, Turquoise Dacnis, White-mantled Barbet, Beautiful Woodpecker, Andean Blossomcrown, Blue-throated Starfrontlet, Niceforo’s Wren and Silvery-throated Spinetail. Indeed, dozens of rare and restricted species are likely to be seen!
We offer additional extensions to this group tour. The pre-tour option is a 2-night extension, which targets more rare endemics including Green-bearded Helmetcrest and Brown-breasted Parakeet, to mention only a few!
Post-tour we offer the opportunity to visit Mitu, a bird-rich Amazonian outpost which holds an incredible suite of birds including many 'White-sand forest' specialities!
- Go in search of spectacular Golden-bellied Starfrontlet in beautiful cloudforest after touching down
- Search the cloudforest near Ibague for several Magdalena Valley endemics
- Fabulous scenery, with spectacular gorges, rivers, volcanoes and luxuriant lowland forest
- Rio Claro Nature Reserve boasts rarities such as Beautiful Woodpecker, White-mantled Barbet and Sooty Ant-tanager
- Look for Recurve-billed Bushbird, “lost” for 40 years
- Cerulean Warbler Reserve good for endemics Turquoise Dacnis, Indigo-capped Hummingbird, Niceforo's Wren and others
- Stiff walk or ride on horseback for Black Inca hummer, Gorgeted Wood-quail
- Day in Chingaza National Park searching the paramo
- Excellent lodges and bilingual birding guides
After arriving in Bogota on a direct overnight flight from London, this new tour will pitch us straight into a frenzy of hummingbird activity as we visit a special site on the mountainous outskirts of the city, where the endemic Indigocapped Hummingbird is a frequent visitor, along with the stunning Ruby-topaz Hummingbird and a dozen or so others. This dazzling hummingbird spectacle and a cup of freshly-brewed Colombian coffee will be the perfect antidote to our trans-Atlantic flight!
We will then descend into the lower Magdalena Valley, near the town of Libano, where surviving pockets of Andean forest hold some sought-after endemics such as Crested Ant-tanager, Yellow-headed Brush-finch, Blossomcrown and Velvet-fronted Euphonia. Further north, we will spend some time exploring the humid tropical forest of the Rio Claro Nature Reserve on the eastern slope of the central cordillera. A geological feature of this reserve is a spectacular canyon through which the Rio Claro drains into the Magdalena. Here, too, endemic birds provide a focal point for our exploits and include White-mantled Barbet, Beautiful Woodpecker, Sooty Anttanager, Antioquia Bristle-tyrant and Colombian Chachalaca, while the reserve is also noteworthy for its five resident species of manakin. Although mammals are not the focus of this tour, we may nevertheless run into a troop of endemic Silvery-brown Bare-face Tamarins, or perhaps a shy Neotropical Otter.
Our journey northwards along the valley brings with it more exciting possibilities, including the rare Recurve-billed Bushbird, a critically endangered species with a global population of less than a thousand individuals. It favours patches of secondary growth and bamboo in Colombia and neighbouring Venezuela and was only recently rediscovered after a 40-year absence. While searching for this rarity we might also come across the inconspicuous White-bibbed Manakin – another regional speciality.
Our next destination is the Cerulean Warbler Reserve, a buffer to the much larger and generally inaccessible Yariguies National Park. Highlights close to our well-appointed lodge might include three Colombian endemics: Turquoise Dacnis, the skulking Niceforo’s Wren and perhaps the rare Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird, which has been known to visit the lodge feeders. Above the lodge, a steep 45-minute walk will bring us into some pristine Andean montane forest, reached on horseback if you'd prefer! Avian gems here include Gorgeted Wood-quail, Black Inca and Parker’s Antbird. As throughout the tour, we should find a fine selection of boreal migrants here, amongst them the Cerulean Warbler, after which the reserve is named, a vulnerable migrant which winters in the reserve in significant numbers.
After a short flight back to Bogota, we will spend a full day in high-altitude páramo habitat in the spectacular Chingaza National Park, where such spectacular species as Green-bearded Helmetcrest, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker and the eastern subspecies of Golden-fronted Whitestart occur. Our tour concludes as it started, in another magnificent hummingbird garden frequented by the mesmerising Sword-billed Hummingbird and glittering Blue-throated Starfrontlet amongst others – a paradise for photographers.
This holiday has been designed along the same lines that have made our Multicoloured Tanager and Santa Marta tours so popular, with top bilingual bird guides, the best accommodation available and comfortable four-wheel-drive vehicles for when the going gets bumpy. Do join us in the birding Mecca that is Colombia in 2020!
Outline Itinerary
What's Included?
- Flights
- Accommodation:
A mixture of lodges and small hotels. At the Cerulean Reserve (days 7 and 8) we are limited to 4 twins and 1 double, so singles may need to share here, depending on how the rooming list pans out.
- Food:
All meals are included (with the exception of dinners at the beach lodge on the post-tour extension), as well as bottled water.
Extensions
Green-bearded Helmetcrest extension
Mitu's White-sand Forest
Dates & Prices
2025
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[description] => Bargain Birdwatching Holidays
Our bargain birdwatching tours suit keen birders who want an active, fast-paced birding holiday with a dedicated focus on searching for birds rather than on looking at the area’s other wildlife or cultural highlights.
We offer a wide selection of long-haul holidays to many destinations in South America, Africa, Asia, Australia and elsewhere.
What can I expect?
- An expert English-speaking local ornithologist leader
- Outstanding value for money
- Dawn-to-dusk birding with limited time for rest, relaxation and outside interests
- Enviable bird lists
- Focused searches for endemics and regional specialities
Who are these tours best suited to?
- Keen & active birders – whether expert or making their first visit to a country or continent
- People looking for an action-packed bird-focused tour
Where can I go?
Naturetrek's selection of birdwatching holidays includes many South and Central American countries including Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and Panama.
In Africa our selection includes Malawi, Ethiopia and South Africa, while in India and Nepal we offer a choice of 17 bargain birdwatching tours! Here are a few more choices:
- Endemics of Western Australia
- Argentina's Mar Chiquita
- Birds of Brazils Atlantic rainforest
- Colombia – home to the world’s richest avifauna
- Sri Lanka’s endemic birds
Our specialist recommends...
Paul Stanbury - Operations Manager
All Bargain birdwatching Tours
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The majority of our wildlife tours focus primarily on birds, allowing us to offer a huge choice of bird holidays. On most of our birdwatching tours we aim to see a wide variety of species, while taking time to enjoy other wildlife as well as cultural highlights and architecture.
Naturetrek Birdwatching Tours
We have one of the largest selections of professionally organised, small group birdwatching holidays around the world and all of our birdwatching tours are accompanied by at least one professional ornithologist leader with detailed knowledge of the area.
The majority of our bird tours have a relaxed, flexible approach which allows more time for photography, detailed wildlife exploration, leisure time and the region’s people, culture, history and architecture, while allowing the group to see a wide range of bird species.
Here is a small selection of our many bird holidays:
- Southern Morocco – an exploration of the birdlife in Morocco’s southern deserts, oases and mountains
- The Camargue in Spring – a short break to enjoy the spring birds of the Rhône Delta and Camargue wetland
- Wallcreepers & Cranes in Northern Spain – a 2-centre holiday focusing on Lammergeier, Wallcreepers, raptors, Cranes, bustards, sandgrouse and more!
- Madeira & Desertas Islands – A Seabird Extravaganza! – a short break focusing on special breeding seabirds, including a night on the remote Destertas Islands
- Peru – Macaws & Machu Picchu – searches for boobies, macaws and Inca Terns
- Spain & Morocco: Birding on Two Continents! – watch the spectacular spring bird migration from both sides of the Straits of Gibraltar
Our Bargain Birdwatching Selection
Our Bargain Bird Tours are intensive birdwatching holidays suitable for the serious birder. They are led by expert English-speaking local guides (and not accompanied from the UK by a tour leader). You can expect a higher-paced tour and to spend long hours in the field.
Our specialist recommends...
Byron Palacios - Tour Leader
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Why Naturetrek?
At Naturetrek we craft expertly-guided group and tailor-made wildlife holidays and cruises to all seven continents. On one of our holidays, you can be assured that our passionate team will enable you to experience and enjoy the best of the world's wildlife and natural spectacles in as comfortable and rewarding a manner as possible, caring as best we can for the environment in the process. We are proud to provide:
- The widest choice of wildlife holidays worldwide
- Tours managed and led by naturalists, for naturalists
- Outstanding value and exceptional customer service
Furthermore, as a Naturetrek client, our office team are always to on hand to help you – so if you have any queries about your holiday, whether before or after you have booked, we will be delighted to answer them on the phone. Please just give our team a call!
