Colombia: Bogota, the Magdalena Valley and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta: Jun 13—28, 2009

Pioneering trip with simple accommodations, some long drives, and variable trail conditions; likely to be more physically demanding than most VENT trips; tourism infrastructure still developing; rewards include the world's richest avifauna, opportunity to search for many exciting endemics, and a glimpse of a fascinating country almost unknown to birders.

Colombia is back after more than a 20-year absence. Is it safe, you ask? Our answer is an unequivocal "Yes!" Most of the country is now back to normal and as safe as almost anywhere one can travel in Latin America. Several birding groups, in fact, have preceded us during the last three years and have used a route similar to ours, as well as other routes in the Central and Western Andes of the country, all without incident. Almost throughout, we stay in well-established reserves where new facilities have been built to accommodate visitors. These reserves have never experienced any security problems, and the facilities, generally, are quite nice, although still relatively small by eco-lodge standards in other Latin American countries. You can be assured that Colombians are very excited to receive foreign visitors, and every bit as excited to show their country and its avian riches to us, as we are to offer this trip.

Simply put, more species of birds have been recorded in Colombia than in any other country in the world—now some 1,865 species. For decades birders and naturalists have looked longingly at Colombia's ever-growing list of birds and the enticing number of endemics—over 60—found only within its borders, as well as many others—near-endemics—in the west that barely extend beyond its border into Panama or Ecuador.

A number of reserves have now been established to protect some of Colombia's endemics and we plan to take maximum advantage of these sites. We begin near Bogotá, then descend into the Magdalena River Valley to visit a reserve set aside for the rare Blue-billed Curassow, White-mantled Barbet, Sooty Ant-Tanager, and other threatened or endemic species. Next we visit two small reserves in the Eastern Andes where another parade of endemics includes Gorgeted Wood-Quail, Parker's Antbird, Black Inca, Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird, Colombian Mountain-Grackle, Nicéforo's Wren, and the rare Recurve-billed Bushbird, the latter barely extending north to Venezuela.

Our last major site, and perhaps the crown jewel of them all, is a new reserve nestled high in the Santa Marta Mountains. Here, within sight of snowy peaks above and the balmy Caribbean below, there are more than 20 endemic birds—all packed into a region that, for its size, may contain the highest concentration of endemic birds anywhere on earth. Many carry the name Santa Marta, so there's a Santa Marta Parakeet, a screech-owl, an antpitta, a tapaculo, a bush-tyrant, a wren, a mountain-tanager, a brush-finch, a warbler, and so on, and we are confident that we'll be able to find a good many of them. Our trip concludes with a morning in the Santa Marta foothills and some time in the picturesque desert-scrub around Santa Marta.