The Cloud Forest of Km 18

Km18 Cloud Forest, the Km 18 is a famous spot for birdwatching in Colombia, we will have the chance to visit this forest and some well recognized photography and Birding feeder places the targets are the endemic Multicolored Tanager and Chestnut Wood-quail, Scrub Tanager, Saffron-crowned Tanager, Golden-naped Tanager, Black-capped Tanager, Chestnut-capped Brush-finch, Crimson-rumped Toucanet, Little Tinamou, Rusty-winged Barbtail, Green-and-black Fruiteater and White-throated Quail-Dove, Booted Racket-tail, Blue-headed Sapphire, Bronzy Inca, Tawny-bellied Hermit, Long-tailed Sylph, White-throated Daggerbill, by the end of the day we can enjoy Araucana Lodge gardens and feeders where we can see birds as Dull-colored Grassquit, Yellow-backed Oriole, Lineated Woodpecker, Parker’s Antbird, Green Jay, hummingbirds such as Long-billed Starthroat, Black-throated Mango, Andean Emerald, Purple-throated Woodstar and Western Emerald.

Queremal and Dona Dora

Queremal and Doña Dora at Km55, this is a short stop by the old Buenaventura Road doing the Upper part, we will do stops on the road looking for birds such as Crested Ant-tanager, Uniform Treehunter, Bar-crested Antshrike, Black-billed Peppershrike, Glistening-green Tanager, Brown-billed Scythebill, Lyre-tailed Nightjar; to end up at Km 55 Doña Dora’s place a famous birding spot where we can enjoy great views of Toucan Barbets, Black-headed Brushfinch, Rufous-throated Tanager, Silver-throated Tanager, White-lined Tanager, Gray-and-gold Tanager, White-whiskered Hermit, Rufous-gaped Hillstar, Purple-bibbed White-tipped and Green Thorntail.

San Cipriano and Drive to Buga

Early start to get to San Cipriano a remote village to the Choco Lowlands, Getting to there will required a ride in a weird and picturesque type of transportation which is known as the ¨Brujita¨ this is basically a wooden cart with iron wheels that goes on the old train track push by a motorcycle, San Cipriano is an afro-Colombian community that lives by the reserve that at the time is a forest that protects Buenaventura watershed, the is the nearest city that at the time is the main port of Colombia and the only one to the Pacific Ocean the targets for San Cipriano are Choco Toucan, White-tailed Trogon, Stub-tailed Antbird, Chestnut-backed Antbird, Bicolored Antbird, Dot-winged Antwren, White-whiskered Puffbird, Black-breasted Puffbird, Spot-crowned Barbet, Five-colored Barbet, Blue-whiskered Tanager, Tawny-crested Tanager, and many others from the Choco lowlands. After lots of good birds in San Cipriano, we leave the town and move to our following destination Buga, a town in the mid Cauca valley close to Sonso Lagoon reserve our next birding destination.

Sonso Lagoon and drive to Montezuma

Early breakfast to the Hotel Guadalajara that is a charming site where we can also see birds as Blue-headed Parrot, Saffron Finch, Yellow-crowned Parrots and other by the gardens and trees, after breakfast toons of birds await for us to the dry forest, Cauca river and some of the wetland of the Sonso Lagoon Reserve this is one of the few wetlands that reminds in the whole Cauca Valley region, to this place we can look for endemic s such as Grayish Piculet, Apical Flycatcher and lots of tropical dry forest species such as Yellow Oriole, Oriole Blackbird, Little Cuckoo, Dwarf Cuckoo, Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher, Yellow-olive Flycatcher, Cocoa Woodcreeper, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, Jet Antbird, Great Antshrike, Cinereus Becard, Blackish Rail, Purple Gallinule, Black-bellied, Fulvous and White-faced Whistling-ducks, Pale-breasted Spinetail, and more; this is the only place west to the Andes to look for Horned Screamer a species usually in to the Amazon region that can be seen in open areas or top on the trees by the marsh or the dry forest. The afternoon is going to be spent getting to Montezuma our next destination in Western Andes.

Montezuma Upper Portion

Montezuma Upper Portion, from the lodge at 5000 feet we drive early morning to head to almost 9000 feet this in only seven miles of distance an absolutely great range where lots of endemics are possible, there to the top we’ll look for Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer, Gold-ringed Tanager and Munchique Wood-wren, those are pretty restricted to the Highlands in Western Andes, other targets include Smoky Bush-tyrant, Tanager Finch, Beautiful Jay, Barred Fruiteater, Rufous Spinetail, Fulvous-dotted Treerunner, Purplish-mantled Tanager, Chestnut-breasted Chlorophonia, Velvet-purple Coronet, Violet-tailed Sylph, Black Solitaire and more.