Highlights from Colombia

As Colombia continues to grow and dazzle as a wildlife destination, its network of lodges, national parks and tourism infrastructure develops further, enabling more of its record-breaking biodiversity to be discovered.

With a remarkable range of ecosystems and geography, in addition to acting as the gateway between Central and South America, Colombia is a mecca for wildlife enthusiasts.

Being famous across the world for its birdlife with more than 1,900 species, all of our Colombia tours sample some of the exquisite avian species on offer.

Our dedicated Colombia Bird Photography tour is one of our most popular, with time spent at some of the finest lodges and reserves in the country, enabling you to build a plethora of images of charismatic, colourful and sought-after species in stunning and photogenic settings.

Last year our group captured the improbable looking cock-of-the-rock performing at its lek, grey-breasted mountain toucan perching metres away, and the normally skulking antpitta in secret forest clearings.

Perhaps most astonishing are the hummingbirds, beating their wings 70–80 times per second and famously unpredictable, and our group was able to enjoy capturing a wide variety of images of this iconic bird family at numerous locations.

Our group were even treated to an extra special sighting of an oncilla, one of the world’s least-observed species of cat, at a remote forest lodge.

While so many of the tanagers, barbets, woodpeckers and toucans are eye-wateringly colourful, there’s one bird that will get the heart racing, more so than any other; the harpy eagle. Last year we pioneered our Colombia's Harpy Eagle Adventure, a group tour in search of these massive avian top predators in seldom-visited community managed forests - our groups enjoyed some excellent views.

While some birds can be showy, neotropical mammals are famously secretive. Our ever popular Wild Colombia’s Mammals and Birds tour, however, combines both on a scenic journey through many of Colombia’s most varied habitats.

Last year these groups explored a myriad of habitats, where some of the ritziest birds in the neotropics such as toucan, scarlet macaw, scarlet ibis, quetzal, antpitta and brightly-coloured tanager were enjoyed alongside a fantastic range of mammals.

On the grasslands of Villavicencio, giant anteaters were seen sucking up termites, while the excellent list of primates was headlined by the rock star cotton-top tamarins of Tayrona National Park.

Colombia not only holds the record for the greatest number of bird species, but also holds the highest number of terrestrial mammals too. Earlier last year, some of our group extended their time to go in search of the spectacled bear, one of the targets of our new Colombia’s Rare Mammals tour.

Leaving behind the towering trees of the cloud forest below, our group spent time in the open and uniquely Andean paramo habitats of Chingaza National Park. Here they were treated to an unforgettable encounter with a mother bear and her young cubs, right next to the lodge. On our Rare Mammals tour we also visit the world’s best location to see mountain tapir, and seek a carnivore only described to science in 2013, the olinguito.

Images by Bret Charman, Rob Smith, Nick Garbutt & John Belchamber.

If you feel inspired to visit this wildlife haven, be sure to check out our Colombia trips today, or contact our team for expert advice and guidance on your next wildlife adventure.