ARAUCANA LODGE AND CENTRAL ANDEAN SPECIALTIES

ARAUCANA LODGE AND CENTRAL ANDEAN SPECIALTIES

This tour starts at a prolific wetland area in the Cauca Valley in search of an assortment of dry forest species as well as shorebirds and aquatic birds. The Sonso Lagoon is one of Colombia’s largest wetland reserves and home to Little and Dwarf Cuckoos, Jet Antbird, Blackish Rail and even the elusive Horned Screamer. With luck one may encounter endemics such as Bar-crested Antshrike, and the endemics Apical Flycatcher and Grayish Piculet.
At the world-renown Rio Blanco Reserve near Manizales, there are excellent chances for some of the antpittas, plus many other cloud forest and montane birds. After more ascending, one can soak in hot springs overlooking the scenic Central Andes, and look for species adapted to high elevations in Los Nevados National Park with the beautiful Nevado del Ruiz as a backdrop. The route then descends to the Otun-Quimbaya Sanctuary in search of the endemic Cauca Guan and for the best views in the world of Red-ruffed Fruitcrow.
We then return to Cali to enjoy the KM 18 and San Antonio Cloud Forest, which provide an excellent introduction to birding in the Colombian Andes. More than 100 years ago, Frank Chapman, of the American Museum of Natural History, spent some time researching the bird diversity of this forest, which concluded in the first detailed bird survey for Colombia. The birding in the area is amazing, with mixed-species flocks of Multicolored, Purplish-mantled, Scrub and Golden-naped Tanagers foraging alongside Scaled Fruiteater, Chestnut-breasted Chlorophonias and Golden-headed and Crested Quetzal.
Apart from a visit to an active Andean Cock-of-the-rock lek, this tour dips into the humid forests of the Pacific lowlands in the San Cipriano Reserve, where the habitat and the species differ dramatically from those in the Andean Cloud forests.
Another destination is the Upper Anchicaya Valley, in one of the most biodiverse national parks in the planet: Farallones NP. Found along The Old Buenaventura Road, which descends from the western Andes to the Pacific Ocean, the area is one of Colombia’s newest destinations to open up to birding, and is AMAZING.
The road provides a mind-boggling diversity of birds and is such that it inspired Steve Hilty to start work on his Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia. This was the first ornithological field guide for South America and inspired a myriad of ornithologists in the continent.