Birding in Colombia’s Coffee Region & Cali

Bienvenidos a Colombia - Welcome to Colombia! 

You will be picked up by your English-speaking guide at the Matecaña International Airport in Pereira and transferred (approximately 2 hours) to the Hotel Tinamú at Tinamú Birding Reserve. Here you will enjoy a delicious lunch and dinner (depending on arrival time).

If you have any questions regarding the itinerary, feel free to ask your guide during this time. 

Accommodation: Hotel Tinamú
Meals: Lunch and dinner

Today you will spend the day at the Tinamú reserve where you can find over 230 species of birds. At the feeders, you will have an excellent opportunity to spot (and photograph, if you'd like) the following birds: Steely-vented Hummingbird, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Brown Violetear, Long-billed Starthroat, Grey-headed Tanager, White-shouldered Tanager, Scrub Tanager (near-endemic), Guira and Bay-headed Tanagers, Green Honeycreeper, Red-crowned Woodpecker, stunning Andean or Blue-crowned Motmot, and the Thick-billed Euphonia among many others. 

Out on the trail, you will also have the chance to see the Golden-Crowned Warbler, Cocoa Woodcreeper, Grey-headed Ground-Dove, Little Tinamous (after which the reserve is named), Spectacled Owl, Scaled Antpitta (difficult), Speckle-breasted Wren, Moustached Puffbird, and many, many flycatchers.

Accommodation: Hotel Tinamú
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

You will have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of some of the birds you may have missed the day before, The Western Emerald at the feeders, Andean Emerald, Stripe-throated Hermit, Rufous-breasted Hermit, White-necked Jacobin, Grayish Piculet (endemic), Crimson-rumped Toucanet, Lineated Woodpecker, Blue-headed and Bronze-winged Parrots, Spectacled Parrotlet (near-endemic) and more.

If you want to take a break from birdwatching, there is opportunity to explore the Reserve grounds replete with coffee plants and plantain trees, butterflies, reptiles, and various other animals that inhabit this protected land.

Accommodation: Hotel Tinamú
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

After a very early breakfast, you begin a full day of bird-watching adventures in the Nevados National Park and the surrounding area of Termales del Ruiz Hotel. 

The morning will be spent looking for all of the high-Andean specialties and endemics that can be found at the hotel's feeders, located along the old Manizales road and at the entrance of the National Park. Targets include the Andean Condor, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle, Grey-breasted Mountain-Toucan, Rufous-fronted Parakeet, Buffy Helmetcrest, Tawny Antpitta, Golden-breasted Puffleg, Black-thighed Puffleg, Rainbow-bearded Thornbill, Crested Cotinga, Great Sapphirewing hummingbird, Shining Sunbeam, Buff-winged Starfontlet, and various mountain tanagers.

You will spend plenty of time at the feeders, stopping all along the road. You will also have some optional afternoon birding along the old Manizales – Los Nevados road and in the forests. Afterward, there is a 2.5-hour transfer to the Otún Quimbaya Reserve, to enjoy dinner at the lodge and possibly some night birding in hopes of spotting the tropical Screech-Owl and Common Pauraque.

Accommodation: Otún Quimbaya
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Once again an early start to your day, with a 5:30 am transfer (approx. 30 minutes) to El Cedral trailhead area, high up in the Otún River basin, one of Latin America's best-preserved regions. Be on the look-out for Andean forest specialties such as the Hooded Antpitta, Wattled Guan, Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, various tanagers such as Metallic-green, Beryl-spangled, Golden, Saffron-crowned, and Golden-naped and Bay-headed. Main targets include endemic Cauca Guan and Multicoloured Tanager, forest floor-dwelling Chestnut Wood-Quail, stunning Chestnut-breasted Wren, Black-winged Saltator, and the difficult Red-ruffed Fruitcrow. If you are fortunate, you may spot the Mountain Tapir which is also known to forage around the road at dawn.

Today's delicious lunch is enjoyed at the sanctuary Otún Quimbaya, then continuing your journey to Montezuma Ecolodge located in Tatamá National Park in the Andes/Choco Biogeographical region.

Accommodation: Montezuma Ecolodge
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

You travel up the highest part of Montezuma Road, overlooking the 4,000m (13,123 ft) peaks of Tatamá's super-humid cloud forest. You'll concentrate on the mid to high altitudes of 1,700 to 2,600 masl (5,570 to 8,530 ft). What makes this location so special is its geographical proximity to the Choco Rainforest and Pacific slope of the Western Andes, of which this area is technically part. This confluence of humid Pacific air and Andes forest creates a perfect mix of rainfall and food supply, allowing speciation to occur over many millennia, resulting in a treasure-trove of birds with isolated ranges. In order to enjoy this area to the fullest, you will have two and half days on a 12 km trail looking for The Black-and-gold Tanager (endemic), Gold-ringed Tanager (endemic), Munchique Wood-Wren (endemic), Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer (endemic), Alto-Pisones Tapaculo (endemic), Velvet-purple Coronet (near-endemic), Empress Brilliant (near-endemic), Western Emerald, White-tailed Hillstar, Barred Hawk, Toucan Barbet (near-endemic), White-faced Nunbird (hard to see), Lanceolated Monklet (hard to see), Golden-headed Quetzal, and many more. 

Lunch will be enjoyed pic-nic style in the field where you'll continue to look for the Beautiful Jay (near-endemic), Black Solitaire (near-endemic), Yellow-collared Chlorophonia (near-endemic), Buffy Tuftedcheek and even possibly get to feed a rather confident group of Olive Finch. The rare and enigmatic Greater Scythebill has been recorded here on a few occasions.

Accommodation: Montezuma Ecolodge
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Your morning is spent around the Clarita sector and above, concentrating between 1,700 and 1,300 masl (5,577 ft to 4,265 ft), or further up depending on how the previous day went. You'll be looking for the Fulvous-dotted Treerunner, Yellow-breasted Antpitta (near-endemic and hard to see), Ochre-breasted Antpitta (hard to see), Choco Tapaculo (near-endemic), Nariño Tapaculo (near-endemic), Tanager Finch (near-endemic), Barred fruiteater (uncommon), Scaled Fruiteater (uncommon), Orange-breasted Fruiteater (near-endemic), Yellow-vented Woodpecker, Tricoloured Brush-Finch, Olivaceous Flatbill, Olivaceous Piha, Bronze-olive Pygmy-Tyrant, Uniform Antshrike, Chestnut-breasted Chlorophonia, Yellow-throated Bush-Tanager, the rare and local Lemon-browed Flycatcher, the stunning Club-winged Manakin (nearer the lodge), and countless more specialties in this dense, lush forest. Lunch today will also be enjoyed picnic-style, with dinner at the lodge. 

Accommodation: Montezuma Ecolodge
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

At 5:30 am, you will drive to the Cajones area. You will have the whole morning to enjoy birdwatching and experience the truly lush, super-humid cloud forest of the Western Andes-Choco transition.

Then it is 3.5 hour drive to Laguna el Sonso, en route to Cali. On the road, you will enjoy a delicious lunch and in the afternoon, a bit of birding at Laguna de Sonso. This is an ancient oxbow lake of the Cauca River, one of the only remnant wetlands in the Cauca Valley. Here, species such as the Greyish Piculet, the spectacular Ruby-topaz hummingbird, Comb Duck, Masked Duck, Pinnated Bittern, and Horned Screamer can be found. 

Your day's final destination is Cali, the world's Salsa dancing capital (and of course, a birdwatcher's paradise). After check-in and a little downtime, you will have dinner at the hotel.

Accommodation: Hotel Hampton by Hilton
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

In the morning, you will take a 50-minute transfer to the San Antonio Reserve. Along this road, you can expect to see: the Golden-headed Quetzal, the difficult and uncommon Crested Quetzal, Golden-rumped Euphonia, Spotted Barbtail, Chestnut-breasted Wren, Golden-winged Manakin, Lineated Foliage-gleaner, Andean Solitaire, Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager, Chestnut Wood-Quail (endemic), Golden-faced Tyrannulet, Barred Becard, the uncommon Scaled Fruiteater, Masked, Rusty and White-sided Flower piercers, skulking Grey-breasted Wood-Wren, and the even more elusive Moustached Wren! And as if this were not enough, other sitings are possible as well. Upon arriving at Don Raul’s “Hummingbird Paradise”, a farm where feeders attract a massive amount of local hummers, it is possible to sight the Fawn-breasted Brilliant, Blue-headed Sapphire, Bronzy Inca, Andean Emerald, Buff-tailed Coronet, Purple-throated Woodstar (near-endemic), Long-tailed Sylph, Brown Violetear, and the Booted Racket-tail. The main attraction is the sheer abundance of tanagers, with the Multicolored Tanager (endemic) being the most prized. Flocks of Beryl-spangled, Golden-naped, Saffron-crowned, Golden, Metallic-green, and Bay-headed Tanagers regularly visit along with the Hollywood pair of female and male Red-headed Barbets, Colombian Chachalacas (endemic), and the occasional coati. There have been recent reports of an Ornate Hawk-Eagle nesting nearby with the juvenile perching in prominent places above the farm. 

After a delicious lunch, you will transfer1 hour to La Minga. This uber-diverse cloud forest reserve is located in the village of Chicoral, famous for the only tea plantations in Colombia. Within this well-preserved cloud forest lies La Minga, formerly the vacation home of some local Caleños (people from Cali). This bird reserve has become an essential stop for serious birders and bird watchers alike. Its pleasant gardens are home to abundant birdlife with many Western Andes / Choco transition specialties appearing at the feeders. The perches are excellent for nature photographers. Here you can expect to see an exciting variety of hummingbirds such as the Purple-throated Woodstar (near-endemic), Western and Andean Emeralds, Booted Racket-tail, Long-tailed Sylph, Speckled Hummingbird, Bronzy Inca, White-necked Jacobin, and Buff-tailed Coronet. You may be very lucky to sight rare prize of the Velvet-purple Coronet (near-endemic) which has also begun to visit. You can also expect to find the Western Andes' main target - the stunning, endemic Multicolored Tanager, and other tanagers such as the White-sided Flowerpiercer and the stunning Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager. Along the entrance road, there is approximately 1km of excellent habitat. Special care should be taken to watch out for the Crested Quetzal and difficult Scaled Fruiteater, both of which are local to this forest. Other cloud forest specialties include the Collared Trogon, Andean Solitaire, Chestnut-breasted Wren, Crimson-rumped Toucanet, Sickle-winged Guan, and more. Tonight, you will enjoy dinner at Araucana Lodge.

Accommodation: Hotel Hampton by Hilton
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

After a transfer of about 1.5 hours, you will arrive at El Queremal to visit the house of Doña Dora, a shining example of what hard work and a big heart can do in achieving what is now an ecotourism success story. The birdwatching today will start at a slightly higher altitude along the old road to Buenaventura. Be on the lookout for the Glistening-green Tanager (near-endemic), Purplish-mantled Tanager (near-endemic) and Crimson-rumped Toucanet before heading back to Doña Dora’s to look for the Barred Hawk, Olive Finch, Tricoloured Brush-Finch, Black-headed Brush-Finch (near-endemic), Silvery-throated Tanager, Purple Honeycreeper, uncommon Golden-collared Honeycreeper (near-endemic), Toucan Barbet (near-endemic), Black-chinned Mountain-Tanager (near-endemic), Red-faced Spinetail, uncommon and local Green Thorntail, White-whiskered Hermit, nesting Chestnut-headed Oropendola and many, many more. Descending further down into the valley, you may sight birds such as the Ornate Flycatcher, Bright-rumped Attila, Long-tailed Tyrant, Cinnamon Becard, uncommon Slaty-capped Shrike-Vireo, and others.

Enjoy lunch at Doña Dora’s before spending the afternoon at the feeders or heading further down the Anchicaya Road. Returning to Cali for the evening, you will enjoy your farewell dinner.

Accommodation: Hotel Hampton by Hilton
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Sadly, it is time to say goodbye to this beautiful country. Your guide will accompany you to Cali airport where you can connect to Bogota or continue your adventure in Colombia!