The Mid-Magdalena Valley of Colombia

Upon arrival in Bogota, our guide will pick you up at the airport and will drive you to the hotel. We will have a welcome dinner and will go through the most relevant information on the trip.

Night in Bogotá. 2600 m. 15°C

Today we rise early and head out towards the small town of la Calera. Ten kilometers from la Calera Elfin forest and Paramo habitat begins and so does the birding. Chingaza National Park is one of the two high-Andean national parks close to Bogotá and a great place for starting this trip. Here we will look for Páramo and elfin forest’s specialists and the in the middle afternoon we will head to the Hummingbird Observatory, a private residence in the mountains above the small town of La Calera, which years ago was transformed into one of the best places for hummingbird observation of Bogotá.

Night in Bogotá. 2660 m. 15°C

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La Florida Park, located within the city, is a wetland heavily impacted by development but with a conservation effort that allows visitors to get a nice experience watching aquatic and marsh birds. The small remaining natural area is a good spot to find the endemic Bogota Rail and other specialties. Here we will spend part of the morning and after this, we’ll head to the Enchanted Garden,

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Enchanted Garden

This is another private residence located in the small town of San Francisco which enjoys the warm temperature typical of the middle part of the western side of the eastern Cordillera. This is considered the first place in Colombia with hummingbird feeders and to date, it has more than 40 of them which attracts a wide diversity of these magical birds.

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After the hummingbird’s show, we will drive back to Bogotá.

Night in Bogotá. 2660 m. 15°C

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The Tabacal Lagoon is a small public reserve located 2 hours from Bogotá and on the way to the Blue-billed Curassow reserve. It’s located on the western slope of the Eastern Andes just below the elevation of the Enchanted Garden we previously visited (1300 m) which belongs to the big Magdalena basin. This reserve protects a very good patch of premontane forest in the transition to tropical dry forest. We will walk the inner and outer trails in search of the specialties and other common birds of this region.

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After a full morning at the Tabacal Lagoon, we will head to the Blue-billed Curassow reserve (5 hrs) with some stops on the way where we will be able to get the near-endemic Northern Screamer and other specialties.

Night in Blue-billed Curassow reserve lodge

This Proaves reserve is one of the most famous birding hotspots of the Mid-Magdalena valley of Colombia. The reserve protects more than a thousand hectares of the last fragments of humid tropical forests in the region. The main target here is undoubtedly the endemic and critically endangered Blue-billed Curassow which is quite easy to see around the lodge as the birds are habituated to the human presence. There are different trails in the reserve and most of them are easy to walk. Two watching towers and hummingbird feeders allow getting extra views of the forest and the birds flying over it.

Night in Blue-billed Curassow lodge. 286 m. 26°C

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This morning we’ll work on our remaining targets and after lunch, we’ll head to the Río Claro reserve located 4 hours away. On the way, we’ll make some stops for finding extra birds in marshes and forest fragments. 

Night in Río Claro reserve. 26°C. 800 m

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The Río Claro reserve is another famous hotspot in the Mid-Magdalena Valley. This private reserve is also a popular destination for nature-watching people who go there for the impressive geologic formations and the beautifulness of the crystal-clear Río Claro river. The reserve protects one of the most important fragments of karstic forests of Colombia which is a special type of limestone habitat with very particular flora and fauna.

Here we will look for our remaining regional endemics and other local specialties.

Night in Río Claro reserve. 26°C. 800 m

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Today will be our last day in this region. This morning, birding will be focused on missing targets and for that, we’ll use different locations within and outside the Río Claro reserve. The most significant is the old Cocorná road where we will try for the last Mid-Magdalena specialties and other new birds will be added to the list. This road is located on the highway to Medellín and includes a series of forest fragments and open areas with agricultural plots. After birding finishes, we will go to Medellín thus ending our trip.

For those in a trip extension, the tour continues to Jardín and the Central and Western Andes (see Andean essentials birding trip) or to the northern region of Colombia (see The Caribbean Coast & Santa Marta mountains of Colombia) Or a combination of both done upon request.

Drive to Airport in Medellín/Medellín city

Night in Medellín/Bogotá

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