Among the world’s finest destinations for mammals, Colombia is home to a mouth-watering array of rarities, including spectacled bear, mountain tapir and an extensive array of primates, all alongside some world-class birds and scenery.
Our pioneering trip visits three exceptional wildlife areas, the paramo habitat of Chingaza National Park and the subtropical cloud forest of Santa Rosa and Otun Quimbaya, a small community-run reserve. Our two principal target species, spectacled bear and mountain tapir, are among South America’s most charismatic and elusive mammals, but on this itinerary, we have excellent chances to see both. In Chingaza National Park, our quest is to find the remarkable spectacled bear among a beautiful montane landscape of paramo, while in both Santa Rosa and Otun Quimbaya we've found an excellent location to observe the normally very shy and thick-furred mountain tapir.
Whilst spectacled bear and mountain tapir are our principal targets, there's an excellent diversity of other sought-after and little-known mammals we hope to find, including the only recently described to science, olinguito, and the endemic stump-tailed porcupine at a new cloud forest reserve. Other highlights include lemurine night monkey, kinkajou, Central American woolly opossum, mountain paca, common opossum, crab-eating fox and nine-banded armadillo.
In addition to the mammals, Colombia is famous for having the greatest diversity of bird species of any country, and when mammal activity is quiet, we will invariably turn our attention to the huge variety of bird species on show. Highlights on this itinerary include the dazzling multicoloured tanager, sword-billed hummingbird and red-ruffed fruitcrow. Extensions before and after the tour give you the chance of seeing even more endemic primates, including the fabulous cotton-top tamarin. Contact us for more details.
Typical Itinerary
-
Day 1:
Depart UK
Depart the UK on an overnight flight to Bogotá.
-
Day 2:
Arrive Colombia, explore habitats around Bogotá
On arrival in Bogotá, we travel the short distance to La Florida Park for our first Colombian birding. After lunch, we have some relaxed time at the hotel, giving us time to rest after the overnight flight and to acclimatise. An optional guided city tour of Bogotá is available
Accommodation: Cité Hotel Bogotá, 2-nights
-
Day 3:
Day to enjoy the birdlife around Bogotá
Early this morning we transfer to a lush garden on the outskirts of the city such as the Reserva Fute for our first taste of Colombian birdlife. One of the numerous special hummingbirds to frequent this spot is the golden-bellied starfrontlet, one of the most iridescent and colourful species. Later we visit the La Florida Regional Park on the edge of the city which is an important wetland offering an excellent selection of different birdlife including the local endemic Bogota rail.
-
Day 4:
Travel to Chingaza National Park
This morning, we leave the city before first light and travel up into the spectacular Chingaza National Park, where we begin our quest to find the elusive spectacled bear. We begin searching for spectacled bear in the páramo habitat of Chingaza National as soon as we arrive in the park.
Accommodation: Simple guesthouse in Chingaza National Park, 3-nights
-
Days 5-6
:
Explore Chingaza National Park for spectacled bear
We devote two full days and two half days searching for spectacled bear in the páramo habitat of Chingaza National Park. This involves long hours in the field and at times there may be few other mammals visible, but we're also likely to see white-tailed deer, little red brocket deer and possibly western mountain coati. Our bear search is aided by the use of thermal imaging technology, which significantly improves the chances of us locating our quarry. Indeed, the possibility of finding bears is excellent, and we’ll have the highest quality Swarovski telescope from which to soak up and enjoy any potential sightings! Chingaza is perhaps the best location in South America to look for Andean (or spectacled) bears, and to date all our groups have been successful with sightings.
-
Day 7:
Chingaza & hummingbird garden in Bogotá
Today we have a final morning to search for the bears in the park before descending and making our way to a superb hummingbird garden en route to Bogotá, home to several jaw-dropping species. These include the coppery-bellied puffleg, blue-throated starfrontlet and the spectacular sword-billed hummingbird. We then return to Bogotá for a night in a comfortable hotel.
Accommodation: Hilton Garden Inn, 1-night
-
Day 8:
Transfer to Santa Rosa de Cabal
This morning, we transfer to Bogotá airport for a short flight to Pereira and, on arrival, continue to our accommodation near the Santa Rosa Reserve. After settling in, we can enjoy some birding in the nearby forest and take time to relax in the volcanic thermal hot spring pools.
Following an early dinner, we head out on foot along the hotel’s private entrance road, which is bordered by lush cloud forest. Here we focus on several special arboreal mammals that favour the abundant cecropia trees, including olinguito and stump-tailed porcupine. Other possibilities include mountain paca and the highly elusive pacarana.
Accommodation: Termales de Santa Rosa, 3-nights
-
Days 9-10
:
Exploring the Termales de Santa Rosa forests
We devote the next two full days to search for the little-known mountain tapir, focusing our efforts in the early mornings and at night, moving gently on foot (with no steep slopes) and using jeeps. Several tapirs frequent this area and often venture into forest clearings and more open habitats to browse after dark. Our search is again supported by thermal imaging technology, and we hope for close views of this remarkable, thick-furred species.
There's also a superb range of other mammal highlights we may encounter here, including kinkajou, the recently described olinguito, various opossums, stump-tailed porcupine, nine-banded armadillo, crab-eating fox, the rare pacarana, Olalla rat, and during the day, both Andean squirrels and Colombian red howler monkeys. This habitat is equally rewarding for birdlife, with opportunities to see mixed species flocks of colourful tanagers, motmots, trogons, woodpeckers, and an abundance of hummingbirds.
-
Day 11:
Transfer to Otún Quimbaya Reserve
We have a final early morning to relax today and also enjoy a little birding and time spent looking for red howler monkeys, before making our way to our next lodge. From Santa Rosa de Cabal we transfer around two hours to our next destination of Otún Quimbaya Reserve, where we enjoy a relaxed afternoon in preparation for a spotlighting session. This evening, we begin our search for the park’s mountain tapirs, and other special species on a dusk drive into the forest.
Accommodation: Hotel Mandalay 1941, 2-nights
-
Day 12:
Explore Otún Quimbaya Reserve for mountain tapir
Today's dedicated to further searches for the nocturnal mammals of the reserve, particularly any species we may not yet have encountered. Most of our efforts take place after dark, moving quietly on foot and also using the open-top jeeps. The reserve is home to a range of secretive and rare mammals, including mountain tapir, kinkajou, lemurine (grey-legged) night monkey, brown-eared woolly and common opossums, crab-eating fox, and Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth. We can also enjoy some birding in the local forest, home to many endemic birds including crested ant-tanager, multicoloured tanager, chestnut wood-quail, and Cauca guan. The reserve is widely considered to be one of the finest place to see the rare red-ruffed fruitcrow, which we also look for.
-
Day 13:
Final morning at Otún Quimbaya Reserve & Depart Colombia
We have a full morning to relax and enjoy the hotel or perhaps enjoy some further birding to perhaps enjoy some of the reserve’s superb birdlife. After a delicious lunch, we make our way to Pereira airport, where we take a short flight to Bogotá for onward international connections.
-
Day 14:
Arrive UK
