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Detailed Itinerary 

 

Day 1 Hotel in Rio Negro

Arrive in Rio Negro (MDE)

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Day 2   Transfer – Cock-of-the-rock lek – Hotel in Jardin

After breakfast, we will make our way to Jardin. With normal traffic, it can take about 3 hours of driving. However, they have been working on fixing the roads and that can easily add a couple of more hours.

We will make it in time though, to witness the most amazing Andean-cock-of-the Rock lek. It is just a couple of minutes from downtown in Jardin and a short walk. The lek is basically in a private home’s backyard, so they have gotten very used to people which makes it easy to get close and good photos! Here we can also see Andean Motmot and some tanagers coming to the banana feeders. However, the star of the place will be the Cock of the Rock!

 

Day 3   Cock-of-the-rock Lek - La Bambusa- Hotel in Jardin

In the morning we will go back to the Cock-of-the-rock lek, the light and activity could be different in the morning. In the afternoon we will visit a private property, La Bambusa, this is a private home whose owners have some great banana feeders. Some of the possibilities here include Red-bellied Grackle (endemic), Blue-necked Tanager, Crimson-backed Tanager, Bay-headed Tanger, Green Jay, and Black-chested Jay, among other species.

 

Day 4   La Bambusa- Hotel in Manizales

We will go back to La Bambusa, to try our luck with the species we missed the day before. We will enjoy breakfast here and depart at around 10 am. On this day the drive is long, and again there might be some road construction along the way. We will make it to Manizales in the afternoon.

 

Day 5 El Color de mis Reves – Hotel in Manizales

On this day, we will visit El Color de Mis Reves. A beautiful place up the mountains with amazing species coming to the feeders! To make it there we will leave before 6 am and grab a cup of coffee on the way. We will go in our vehicle until a certain location where we will change to a Totoya Land Cruiser and our guide for the day will be our driver. It is quite an adventure to make it to the place, the drive takes about 40 minutes thru a bumpy road with beautiful scenery. Once we arrive we will have breakfast and the show will start.

Possible birds: Black-billed Mountain Toucan, Andean Guan, Hooded Mountain-Tanager, Lachrymose Mountain-Tanager, Slaty Brushfinch, Gray-browed Brushfinch, Bicolored Antpitta, Collared Inca, Shining Sunbeam, Long-tailed Sylph, Buff-tailed Coronet among many other species. At this place you can always get unexpended birds as well, so let’s bring our good vibes! We will spend the full day here, departing at around 4 pm.

 

Day 6   Hacienda El Bosque - Hotel near los Nevados del Ruiz (3500 mt)

This day will be spent on a beautiful dairy farm in the Central Andes. The owners have protected large swaths of forests and paramo ecosystems for decades and the bird activity is amazing! Our targets on this wonderful property are Crescent-Faced Antpitta, Equatorial Antpitta, Gray-Breasted Mountain Toucan, Hooded Mountain-Tanager, Collared Inca, Tourmaline Sunangel, Buff-Winged Starfrontlet, Mountain Velvetbreast, Masked Flowerpiercer, Sparkling Violetear, Sword-Billed Hummingbird and more! A local guide will be with us for the day.

We will have breakfast and lunch here and in the afternoon we will go to our beautiful hotel for dinner and overnight.

 

Day 7 Full-day Termales Del Ruiz and nearby areas – Termales del Ruiz Hotel         

We will spend the full day on our hotel grounds and nearby areas, the hotel has very productive feeders where Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager, Lachrymose Mountain-Tanager, Pale-napped Brushfinch, Great Sapphirewing, Shining Sunbeam, the elusive Rainbow-bearded Thornbill, and many other species are possible.

Depending on the bird activity at the hotel we may go to the Los Nevados National Park in search of the endemic Buffy Helmetcrest.

 

Day 8   Bosque Chec visit in the morning and drive to Cali – Hotel in Cali

We will have breakfast and start our way to Cali. On the way not very far from Termales del Ruiz we will make a stop at Bosque Chec feeders and spend a couple of hours there. Southern Emerald Toucanet, Sickle-winged Guan, Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager, Long-tailed Sylph, Bronzy Inca, and more are some of the species found here. We will have lunch on the way, and make different stops for coffee and stretch our legs as the drive will be long today. We will make it to our hotel in the evening.

 

Day 9   La Florida – Hotel in Cali  

Today we will spend the morning around the famous El 18, located on an 1800-meter (5,900-foot) pass 18 kilometers (11 miles) northwest of Cali along the road that connects Cali with the port city of Buenaventura. The photo opportunities are outstanding here: Chestnut Wood-Quail, the spectacular Multicolored Tanager (Endemic), Flame-rumped, Golden, Saffron-crowned, and Golden-naped tanagers as well as Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager visit the feeders at this place. Green Jay, Colombian Chachalaca, Acorn Woodpecker, and Crimson-rumped Toucanet are also possibilities on this day.

 

Day 10 San Felipe – Hotel in Cali

We will visit another great location in Km 18, San Felipe feeders, where we can also photograph Saffron-crowned, and Golden-naped tanagers as well as Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager, Andean Motmot, and Red-headed Barbet. Besides they have recently started feeding Scaled Antpitta and Little Tinamou. Hopefully, by the time we visit they are well used to it.

 

Day 11 Departure day from Cali - CLO

You will be able to enjoy breakfast at the hotel. We will organize your transfer to the airport.

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