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Bogotá: the city's name brings to mind stunning panoramic vistas from Mount Monserrate, the vibrant art, architecture, graffiti (or street art), and cafés of historic La Candelaria, and the world's largest assemblage of gold artifacts at the Museo del Oro--the Gold Museum. Colombia's vibrant capital is captivating, without doubt, and more foreign tourists are discovering its charms each year. The local people are erudite, thanks to an abundance of good schools, libraries, theatres, and museums, and the easy flight connections and eclectic culinary offerings are what one might expect in a world-class capital city. Okay, there is one downside to all of this: the traffic!
But, what about the birds? They're marvelous! In fact, Bogotá is the best place to go to see quite a few range-restricted endemics, some of which are endangered, many of which are both distinctive and drop-dead beautiful. The reason for the capital area's concentration of special birds is its location in the center of Colombia's Eastern Cordillera, the easternmost of the three Andean chains in this bird-rich country. Bogotá is a large, flat city set on a high plateau ringed by Andean peaks. To the west, the lower-elevation western slopes descend toward the Magdalena Valley. To the south, the world's largest páramo (South American alpine moorland) is protected as Sumapaz National Park. To the east, the peaks of Chingaza National Park hold tracts of cloudforest, elfin forest, and páramo. And farther to the southeast, the eastern slopes drop gradually toward the Orinoco Basin, with humid forests in the transitional upper subtropical zone home to scores of Amazonian birds mixed with Andean species that reach their lower elevational limits here.
In a week's birding, we'll cover all of these key compass points and habitats, based for three nights in the city and five nights out of town, in search of the area's specialty birds and many more widespread Andean and some Amazonian foothill and llanos species. Among the species we see only in this region are gems like Coppery-bellied Puffleg, Green-bearded Helmetcrest, Bronze-tailed Thornbill, Silvery-throated Spinetail, Apolinar's Wren, Bogota Rail, Rufous-browed Conebill, and those mesmerizing starfrontlets--Golden-bellied and Blue-throated. Add to these a host of other Andean and even Amazonian and llanos species, and this tour is really something special. And this is a rather packed and energetic week of birding! We'll have a local guide and drivers, to help us navigate (there is a bit of traffic to contend with in the capital), and we'll catch the occasional "cultural moment" as we can, like trying out the local aromática at a café. Although we won't shop for emeralds or take in the gold treasures at Museo del Oro together, we'll wager that the hummingbird shows at Laguna de Tabacal, Chicaque Natural Park, and especially the Observatorio de Colibries will outshine any display of gems or precious metals! The capital area has an active birding community, it's true, but the surrounding mountains still hold mysteries, like the enigmatic Bogota Sunangel--a gorgeous hummingbird species known only from one specimen--so we'll be on our toes in case fortune favors us with an El Dorado moment. Colombia has a way of surprising even veteran birders, we find.
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Combo Tours
If you would like a longer birding holiday, some departures of this tour may be combined with:
COLOMBIA'S SANTA MARTA MOUNTAINS & CARIBBEAN COAST
COLOMBIA'S MARVELOUS MAGDALENA VALLEY