Yes, Colombia! In the last few years, the country has experienced a renaissance; the rebels have retreated to remote corners of the country and tourism is once again making a comeback. Thanks in large part to having the world’s biggest birdlist, Colombia is rapidly returning to the mainstream birding circuit. We’ve purposely designed this trip to be an easy, yet endemic-filled introduction to a very safe part of Colombia. This may be a short tour, but it still offers the chance to see almost all of the Santa Marta endemics as well as numerous dry Caribbean specialties. You are likely to see many species not possible on any of our other tours. Arrangements for this tour are surprisingly simple, and there are even direct flights from Miami to Barranquilla, making connections easy for those coming from North America. So, what are you waiting for? Your only risk is wanting to come back.

Day 1: Barranquilla. After arrival, you’ll be transferred to an excellent hotel in the city for the night.

Day 2: Barranquilla to Riohacha. After a simple continental breakfast in the hotel at 5:00am, we’ll drive through the city to Salamanca Island, arriving at dawn, where we hope to find the extremely rare endemic Sapphire-bellied Hummingbird in the mangroves near the park HQ. It’s possible this species is only an age stage of Sapphire-throated Hummingbird, which also occurs here, but for the moment it is considered a good species. We’ll then bird a boardwalk where where hordes of wintering Prothonotary Warblers will accompany us as we search the mangroves for Bicolored Conebill, Northern Scrub-Flycatcher, Panama Flycatcher, Pied Water-Tyrant, Red-rumped Woodpecker, and more. A short stop later in the morning should get us the pretty Stripe-backed Wren, handsome Russet-throated Puffbird, and screeching Brown-throated Parakeets. Continuing along the coast, the main highway passes lagoons jam-packed with countless waterbirds, where time permitting we will make a few stops (birding is along a very busy highway and most of the species are quite common and widespread). We’ll drive through the heat of the day, stopping for lunch at a roadside restaurant, to the Guajira Peninsula. This arid corner of Colombia holds a number of birds shared only with neighboring Venezuela. In the cool late afternoon, we’ll bird some scrub for a first shot at the target birds (mentioned below). We’ll spend one night in Riohacha.

Day 3: The Guajira Peninsula. We’ll leave quite early (5:00am-5:30am) to take advantage of the cool morning hours, driving about an hour to Los Flamencos reserve, named after the large flocks of glowing American Flamingos that live there (though they are not always visible from the reserve) among the Roseate Spoonbills and wintering shorebirds (numbers of birds fluctuate from year to year based on water levels). The specialty birds occur in the nearby dry scrub, and we’ll look for Chestnut Piculet, White-whiskered Spinetail, Slender-billed Tyrannulet, Orinocan Saltator, Glaucous Tanager, Tocuyo Sparrow, Buffy Hummingbird, Red-billed Emerald, Vermilion Cardinal, Green-rumped Parrotlet, Black-crested Antshrike, White-fringed Antwren, and others. After a seafood feast on the beach, we’ll drive back down the coast for a few hours to our hotel, and time-permitting we will have a first visit to the nearby Tayrona NP.

Day 4: Tayrona NP to El Dorado. We won’t need an early start today, as the park is very close. The dry lowland forests of Tayrona NP have a number of different birds we won’t see elsewhere. The vibrant Lance-tailed Manakin should be a big highlight, especially if we are lucky enough to see them displaying, but we may also see White-bellied Antbird, Buff-breasted and Rufous-and-white Wrens, Cocoa Woodcreeper, Crimson-crested Woodpecker, and hopefully the cute Cotton-top Tamarin, an endemic monkey. Leaving Tayrona, we’ll drive about an hour to the town of Minca, stopping to look for Black-backed Antshrike en route. We’ll have lunch at a restaurant with good hummer feeders that attract White-vented Plumeleteer, Black-throated Mango, Steely-vented Hummingbird, and others. After lunch, we’ll use 4WD vehicles for the ride up to the San Lorenzo ridge in the Santa Marta Mountains. This forested area is the only easily accessible area of the mountain range, and is now protected by a bird reserve that hosts all but a few of the much-coveted Santa Marta endemics. We’ll spend three nights in the El Dorado lodge; located in the heart of the reserve, this enchanting spot has a jaw-dropping view looking down over the forested slopes and all the way to the distant Caribbean. Rooms are simple but spacious, with hot water, private bathrooms, and full time electricity. We’ll try to arrive early enough to check for Black-fronted Wood-Quails in the compost pile and the endemic Santa Marta Antpitta at a worm feeder. The newly-described Santa Marta Screech-Owl can often be seen near the lodge after dark. (Our 2013 tour will be one day longer and include a night in Minca in the foothills of the Santa Martas; a detailed itinerary will be sent to you on request)

Days 5-6: The Santa Marta Mountains. This mountain range is completely cut off from the Andes, yet has the tallest peaks in Colombia. Due to its isolation and height, it holds one of the highest densities of endemics of any spot in the entire world. Nineteen endemic bird species are currently recognized as well as more than seventy subspecies, some of which will likely be raised to species level in the near future. We’ll make the most of our time here, covering all the elevations accessible by road and having picnic lunches in the field. The higher elevations hold flocks of screeching Santa Marta Parakeets, cute Yellow-crowned Redstarts, chattering Santa Marta Warblers, the stolid Santa Marta Bush-Tyrant, and some skulkers like Brown-rumped Tapaculo, Rusty-headed Spinetail, and the “soon to be split” local race of Rufous Antpitta. Working our way down the mountain, we’ll get into range for White-tailed Starfrontlet, Streak-capped Spinetail,  and Black-cheeked Mountain-Tanager. Around the lodge clearing is the best spot for Santa Marta and Sierra Nevada Brush-Finches and lots of endemic subspecies including Cinnamon Flycatcher, Black-hooded Thrush, Blue-capped Tanager, and Emerald Toucanet. Below the lodge the forest is taller and a little drier, and has some different species like White-lored Warbler and more birds with Santa Marta in their names: including a Tapaculo, Woodstar, and Foliage-gleaner. Other feathered gems that put gleams of lust into the eyes of visiting birders include Blossomcrown, White-tipped Quetzal, Emerald Toucanet, Golden-breasted Fruiteater, and Rusty-breasted Antpitta. On our first day, we’ll need an early start (4:45am departure with a field breakfast) in order to get up the very rough road to higher elevations, but on the second we can have an “easy” 6:00am breakfast.

Day 7: El Dorado to Barranquilla. Our start time will depend on which birds we are still looking for. After another morning mopping up our remaining endemics, we’ll drive back down the mountains, stopping in the foothills for a few other localized species like Black-backed Antshrike if we missed it before, the gorgeous Golden-winged Sparrow, and Golden-fronted Greenlet. We’ll have lunch again in Minca, then in the afternoon, we’ll stop at a reliable stakeout for the endemic Chestnut-winged Chachalaca, before driving back to Barranquilla for our final night.

Day 8: Departure. The tour ends this morning at the Barranquilla airport.

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TRIP CONSIDERATIONS

CLIMATE: This tour is timed for the dry season. Rain is unlikely in the lower reaches, but there could be some showers in the mountains.

DIFFICULTY: Fairly easy. Nearly all the birding is from roads or flat, easy trails. A couple of days will involve fairly early starts. Birding the Santa Marta Mountains involves taking 4WD vehicles up a very rough road, but we will almost always bird our way down the road, not up (though chasing after calling birds can cause exceptions).

ACCOMMODATION: Good to excellent, with electricity and private facilities everywhere. One night is spent in a hotel that does not have hot water.