Western Tanager
Active member
My wife and I are considering a trip to Colombia in February or March of 2020 for general scouting (we may retire there in about 12 years) as well as some birding. We have not been to Colombia before but overall we hear good things about it as a potential destination for retiring abroad as well as an excellent birding destination. My dad and step mom retired several years ago and moved from Washington State in the US to Ecuador. I have visited them twice in Ecuador and they really like it there but my dad encourages me to also check out Colombia.
We have obviously not rented a car in Colombia. Do any of you know if one can rent a car at the Medellin airport and return it at the Bogota airport or vice versa?
We will probably either fly into Medellin or Bogota. If we fly into Medellin my initial thought is to rent a car at the Medellin airport and over the next 12 or so days work our way to these towns/citites:
Retiro (about a 30 minute drive from the airport) and La Ceja.
Near Retiro is this place: San Sebastián de la Castellana Ecological Reserve and we thought we would do some bird watching there. Have any of you been here? If so is there decent birding here?
Also in the Retiro area is Los Salados Ecological Park. Have any of you been here?
After checking out this area we would probably drive to Jardin, Antioquia and spend 2 nights. We hope to do some birding at the Pro Aves Yellow-eared Parrot Reserve but so far I have not heard back from Pro Aves about doing that. Has anyone been to this reserve? If so do they provide a guide? What does it cost to enter and for a guide?
Can anyone recommend a guide based in Jardin or other places to go birding in the Jardin area?
From Jardin we plan to drive to Manizales and hopefully go birding at the Rio Blanco Nature Reserve. We might see about staying there 2 nights but my wife and I both use CPAP machines to help us breathe well at night and avoid snoring and I wonder if their rooms have electricity all night for the machines. I have not contacted them yet but if anyone has details they would like to share about Rio Blanco that would be great.
After Manizales we would probably drive to see these towns: Salento, the Corcora Valley, Circasia and Armenia. While in this area we might try to do a morning of birding at the Otun Quimbaya Wildlife Sanctuary.
Then we would head for Villa de Leyva. It is a long drive so we would probably stay a night in Bogota.
Does anyone know of any good birding in the Villa de Leyva area?
We would ideally like to fly into Medellin and out of Bogota. If we do it that way then from Villa de Leyva we would head back to Bogota for the flight back to the USA.
I would appreciate any tips or recommendations from those of you who have been in this area of Colombia. Thanks!
We have obviously not rented a car in Colombia. Do any of you know if one can rent a car at the Medellin airport and return it at the Bogota airport or vice versa?
We will probably either fly into Medellin or Bogota. If we fly into Medellin my initial thought is to rent a car at the Medellin airport and over the next 12 or so days work our way to these towns/citites:
Retiro (about a 30 minute drive from the airport) and La Ceja.
Near Retiro is this place: San Sebastián de la Castellana Ecological Reserve and we thought we would do some bird watching there. Have any of you been here? If so is there decent birding here?
Also in the Retiro area is Los Salados Ecological Park. Have any of you been here?
After checking out this area we would probably drive to Jardin, Antioquia and spend 2 nights. We hope to do some birding at the Pro Aves Yellow-eared Parrot Reserve but so far I have not heard back from Pro Aves about doing that. Has anyone been to this reserve? If so do they provide a guide? What does it cost to enter and for a guide?
Can anyone recommend a guide based in Jardin or other places to go birding in the Jardin area?
From Jardin we plan to drive to Manizales and hopefully go birding at the Rio Blanco Nature Reserve. We might see about staying there 2 nights but my wife and I both use CPAP machines to help us breathe well at night and avoid snoring and I wonder if their rooms have electricity all night for the machines. I have not contacted them yet but if anyone has details they would like to share about Rio Blanco that would be great.
After Manizales we would probably drive to see these towns: Salento, the Corcora Valley, Circasia and Armenia. While in this area we might try to do a morning of birding at the Otun Quimbaya Wildlife Sanctuary.
Then we would head for Villa de Leyva. It is a long drive so we would probably stay a night in Bogota.
Does anyone know of any good birding in the Villa de Leyva area?
We would ideally like to fly into Medellin and out of Bogota. If we do it that way then from Villa de Leyva we would head back to Bogota for the flight back to the USA.
I would appreciate any tips or recommendations from those of you who have been in this area of Colombia. Thanks!