From Santa Marta to Perija

Upon your arrival at Casa Dias International Airport, your driver and guide will greet you and give you a briefing about the upcoming trip. Depending on what time you arrive, a visit to the colonial quarter of the city is also possible. This will be an excellent opportunity to get to know your guide and learn more about the history of this rich and complex country.

Dinner and overnight stay in a colonial hotel located in the historic streets of Cartagena's old town.

After an early breakfast, we will depart to our first birding location: the Palermo Wetlands, which offers excellent opportunities to observe various waterbirds. By scanning with our scopes at different observation points, we should be able to add many species to our list. Our main target will be the near-endemic Northern Screamer, one of the site’s flagship species. In the afternoon, we'll return to Barranquilla to visit the Guillermo Pineres Botanical Garden and then to the University of the North campus, looking for our first coastal dry forest species.

Optional dinner and overnight stay at a comfortable hotel in Barranquilla.

After an early breakfast, we will head north, crossing the mouth of the Magdalena River. After a 40-minute drive, we will arrive at the entrance of Salamanca National Park. We will bird these wetland ecosystems, which consist of lakes, swamps, and mangroves, during the productive early hours. Our main target will be the Sapphire-bellied Hummingbird, a taxonomically-ambiguous endemic hummingbird (some authorities consider it a subspecies of the more widespread Sapphire-throated Hummingbird). Then, we will take the road toward the Guajira peninsula in the north. There is no shortage of aquatic ecosystems along the route, and we will stop to observe as many local species as possible. 

Dinner and overnight in Riohacha.

The arid landscapes of the northern Guajira are home to a wide variety of species also found in neighboring Venezuela. In the xerophytic vegetation south of the driest desert in Colombia, we will look for several regional endemics. The Los Flamencos National Park, particularly the Pericos and Camarones areas, will be our playground today. We will walk through Wayuu Indigenous territory amongst beaches, coastal lagoons, and scrub forests. We will then head back to Santa Marta and its semi-arid coastal ecosystems.

Dinner and overnight in Riohacha.

After an early breakfast, we will spend the day in Las Gaviotas for further bird watching. These coastal lowland forests contain many bird species we will not see anywhere else: Manakins, Tyrants, Flycatchers, Raptors, and more. We will keep birding in the afternoon and take a break on the white Caribbean beaches. At the end of the day, we will drive to Santa Marta and climb the western foothills of the Santa Marta massif. Several stops are planned along the way. Arrival in the village of Minca, where we will enjoy a well-deserved rest.

Dinner and overnight stay in a charming hotel in Minca.

Early in the morning, we will cross the small village of Minca on our way to Pozo Azul. Along the dirt road up to the legendary Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, we will have the opportunity to observe our first endemic species of the area. In the vicinity of our hotel, we will also take the time to explore several trails on the hillside for more birding. A photographic session on the balcony of our hotel is also planned: toucans, thrushes, tanagers, hummingbirds - there will be plenty to do. The warm and humid temperatures of the area will be an excellent opportunity for a swim at the end of the afternoon. For the more intrepid, we will have the chance to search for nocturnal species near the lodge.

Dinner and overnight in a rustic hotel in Minca.

This morning, we will swap our bus for 4WD vehicles, which is essential to climb the secondary road and reach El Dorado Lodge, where we will stay for the next few nights. Depending on the weather and the state of the roads, it will take us about 3 hours to drive only 30 km. Due to its isolation, climate, and altitude, the Santa Marta mountain range offers one of the highest densities of endemic species in the world. More than nineteen species of birds restricted to this massif can be observed there. We will try to observe the majority of them during the next few days.

This area of subtropical perennial forest (high and low) is the only easily accessible one in the Santa Marta Mountains. The two large altitudinal fringes are now protected, thus ensuring the stability of the populations of species endemic to Santa Marta. The El Dorado Lodge, located in the heart of this reserve, offers a breathtaking view of the snowcapped peaks of the Sierra Nevada, the highest mountains in Colombia. After settling into our cabins, if it is early enough, we can observe the rare Black-fronted Wood-Quail and the endemic Santa Marta Brushfinch at feeders around the lodge.

Dinner and overnight at El Dorado Lodge.

We’ll leave early for the San Lorenzo Ridge, one of the highest points of the reserve, where we will continue to check for new endemic and isolated species. We will look for the Santa Marta Parakeet in particular. We return to the lodge for lunch and continue birding the lower part, covering all the elevations accessible by road. We will also spend a lot of time exploring the area around the Lodge, where many endemic species are present. Before dinner, we will look for the Santa Marta Screech-Owl and other nocturnal species.

Dinner and overnight at El Dorado Lodge.

This morning, we will go slightly higher up in the reserve to accompany one of the park rangers to the feeding area of one of the region’s most challenging and rare species: the Santa Marta Antpitta; endemic, of course! Depending on the time of year, these shy undergrowth birds can be easily observed and photographed at the feeder. We will spend the rest of the day exploring the area around the lodge, looking for species missing from our list. There will be opportunities to walk the various forest trails, the main dirt road or to improve your photos at the feeders, which attract hummingbirds, guans, organ grouse, tanagers, brushfinches, thrushes, and many more.

Dinner and overnight at El Dorado Lodge.

Today, we will take advantage of this last morning to complete the observations in the El Dorado area or Minca, depending on the species we’re missing. After lunch, we transfer to Santa Marta to continue our route towards the southern foothills of the Santa Marta mountain range near Valledupar. Despite the remoteness of this site and the long drive, several stops will be incorporated into the route to break up the journey. We’ll arrive in the late afternoon in the capital of Vallenato, one of Colombia’s most representative music styles. If time permits, we will do some birding in the hotel garden.

Optional dinner and overnight stay in a country hotel on the outskirts of the city.

After an early departure from our accommodation, we will head to the semi-dry vegetation areas of El Besote for our final lowland species. Although some of the species present here are similar to the northern areas of Santa Marta, they are more easily observed and photographed due to the isolation and low number of visitors these sites receive. We’ll have lunch along the river at Las Dantas before climbing towards the Perija mountain range. This mountain range recently opened to scientific exploration and tourism and is a treasure trove of endemism. A few stops along the way to our new lodge (2620m) will allow us to increase our list of endemics.

Dinner and overnight stay in the heart of the Perija mountain range.

Long considered an inaccessible area, the heights of this isolated geographical massif are full of ornithological surprises. We’ll leave early to explore the high areas of the Perijá mountain range, particularly the paramo and high-Andean forests. The steepness of this part of the Andes (the northernmost) gives it a table-top-like character. Straddling Colombia and Venezuela, this massif, which reaches a height of 3,650 meters, is a significant orographic relief, especially in the eastern foothills. This humid climate and the equally abrupt succession of vegetation generate a large number of habitats, which have allowed a rather particular but marked adaptation of the species. Many birds, common elsewhere, have unique plumages here, and endemic subspecies will likely be split.

Dinner and overnight at the same accommodation.

This morning, we can rest around our lodge and take advantage of the feeding areas for some photography. We will also be able to return to the high areas of the Cordillera for any species we’re missing. And it’s not just the birdlife that is diverse here: spectacled bears, capuchin monkeys, agouti, howler monkeys, amphibians, and reptiles are all possible. The flora, an essential element of the ecology of these isolated biotopes, is just as endemic as its avifauna.

Dinner and overnight at the same accommodation.

This morning, we will descend to the lower areas of Perija. Along the way, we will stop regularly to bird in different ecosystems and coffee and cocoa plantations in the Manaure area (depending on flight schedules). We will then transfer to Barranquilla airport to finalize our list with some species we might have missed. Arrive late afternoon in Barranquilla for your international flight.