Itinerary
Day 1
Arrive in Barranquilla
We will pick you up at the Airport in Barranquilla and take you to a nearby hotel.
Night in Barranquilla.
Day 2
Salamanca Wetlands and Rio hacha area
We will have an early start to go to look for the endemic Chestnut-winged Chachalaca near the local University. Afterwards, we will take a short drive to the Salamanca Wetlands where we will look for the colorful Russet-throated Puffbird, White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, Pearl Kite, Northern Screamer, and Bicolored and Stripe-backed Wrens. There will also be an assortment of herons, egrets, kingfishers, gallinules, and other wetlands birds. After a good morning of birding, we will drive to Rio hacha. On the way, we will have a delicious lunch at a roadside café. The Colombian cuisine is very tasty!
We will stop along the way to our hotel to look for the White-bellied Antbird, Lance-tailed Manakin, and the rare Gray-capped Cuckoo! We will spend the night in Riohacha.
Night : Rio. Hacha
Day 3
Sanctuario de Los Flamencos
We will begin this day at this flora and fauna sanctuary where we will look for dry forest specialties such as the White-whiskered Spinetail, Chestnut Piculet, Bared-eyed Pigeon, Northern Scrub-Flycatcher, Buffy Hummingbird, Orinoco Saltator, Pale-tipped and Slender Billed Tyrannulets (or Inezias for those subscribing to the International Ornithological Union bird list). We will stop at the lagoon to check for the Scarlet Ibis, many tern species, American Flamingos, and more. We will enjoy our picnic lunch along the shore watching the Caribbean! Later, we will explore the Cari-Cari Road looking for the hard-to-find Tocuyo Sparrow.
Night In Riohacha.
Day 4
Riohacha and Minca area
We will begin this day at this flora and fauna sanctuary where we will look for dry forest specialties such as the White-whiskered Spinetail, Chestnut Piculet, Bared-eyed Pigeon, Northern Scrub-Flycatcher, Buffy Hummingbird, Orinoco Saltator, Pale-tipped and Slender Billed Tyrannulets (or Inezias for those subscribing to the International Ornithological Union bird list). We will stop at the lagoon to check for the Scarlet Ibis, many tern species, American Flamingos, and more. We will enjoy our picnic lunch along the shore watching the Caribbean! Later, we will explore the Cari-Cari Road looking for the hard-to-find Tocuyo Sparrow.
Night In Riohacha.
Day 5 and 6
Minca area
We will start our day looking for the Santa Marta Mountains endemics. Many new bird species have been discovered in the Santa Marta Mountains in the last 25 years and we will spend lots of time trying to find these “new” species! We will board our 4-wheel drive vehicles to look for such specialties as the Golden-winged Sparrow, Scaled Piculet, Black-chested Jay, and others. We will try to find nearby Black-and-White Owls roosting.
Later, we will climb to Mountain House, , looking for such higher mountain species as the Santa Marta Foliage-Gleaner, Santa Marta Blossomcrown (a hard-to-find hummingbird), Santa Marta Woodstar, and more. We will enjoy our lunch at the Lodge and relaxing afternooon around the Lodge where we look at the feeders Black-headed and Bay headed Tanager, Lazuline Sabrewing, Crowned Woodnyph and more.
We will enjoy the beautiful sunrise in the Carribean sea.
Night at Mountain House.
Day 7 and 8
On days 7 and 8, we will be moving up and down in elevation along the Palo alto Road in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to look for elevation-specific birds. This mountain range has the tallest peaks in Colombia and hosts nineteen endemic bird species that are currently recognized as well as more th
5an seventy subspecies, some of which will likely be raised to species level in the near future. We’ll make the most of our time here, covering all the elevations accessible by this road, and having picnic lunches in the field. The higher elevations hold flocks of screeching Santa Marta Parakeets, Yellow-crowned Redstarts, Santa Marta Warblers, Black-cheeked Mountain-Tanager , the stolid Santa Marta Bush-Tyrant, Brown-rumped Tapaculo, Rusty-headed Spinetail, and the “soon to be split” local race of the Rufous Antpitta. At the feeders at various elevations, we will see the beautiful White-tailed Starfrontlet, Streak-capped Spinetail, Santa Marta Mountain-Tanager, and Santa Marta Antpitta. Around the lodge clearing is the best spot for seeing the Santa Marta Brushfinch and lots of endemic subspecies such as the Cinnamon Flycatcher, Black-hooded Thrush, Blue-capped Tanager, and Southern Emerald-Toucanet. We will also hope to see Santa Marta Tapaculo, Santa Marta Woodstar, and Santa Marta Foliage-Gleaner. Other feathered gems for visiting birders include Santa Marta Blossomcrown, White-tipped Quetzal, Golden-breasted Fruiteater, and Rusty-breasted Antpitta , the Lined Quail-Dove, Santa Marta Brushfinch, Black-cheeked Mountain-Toucan, Groove-billed Toucanet, and many other hard to find species.
Both nights at Proaves El Dorado Lodge.
Day 9
El Dorado Lodge and Barranquilla area
Today is a “clean up” day where we will try to see some species that we had missed before we leave this area. Later, we will drive from EL Dorado Lodge to Barranquilla. We will visit Salamanca in the afternoon to get Bicolored Conebill, Sapphire-bellied Hummingbird , plus others.
Night in Barranquilla.
Day 10
Transfer Out.
