Colombia part 1 - Up and away

We are at Schiphol airport, waiting to board our plane. As usual, it is quite busy, but to our horror no-one is wearing a face mask. Well, with the exception of a group of Chinese tourists, but they have been wearing them for decades. We do not understand what is happening here, until we realise it is November 2019. No pandemic yet, no social distancing, everybody around us is hugging everybody else and so are we. We skip the Chinese tourists for the moment, though. Relieved, we look at each other. We can just just fly away without a care in the world. Even so, we are a little worried, as this trip is going to be our first group tour. We have never done that before. We were always dissuaded by spectres of collective photo moments (five minutes, then we’re off again), merry sing-alongs on our way to the airport (everybody happy…?) and whining fellow-travellers (there’s only one hook for our towels). But we do want to make a trip to Colombia to admire the tropical birdlife and group travel is an affordable option.

Also, let’s not exaggerate. Our group consists of nine travellers and one tour guide. That is only three more people than on our latest family outing. And we could have used a tour leader then. As it turns out it is a pleasant little group. All with a positive attitude, having booked this trip with the same thing in mind. Not to mention our tour leader. Of course we don’t have much reference material, but we feel he’s a winner.

We are looking forward to this more and more. Colombia is home to almost 1900 bird species, more than any other country in the world. It also exports about 700.000 kilograms of cocaine and that makes the country a world leader in that respect, too. Colombia is a must-see for us Europeans.


After a long flight we arrive in Bogota, where a bus awaits us, as is fitting for a group trip. Not too bad for transport either. A comfortable 14-seater with only 10 of them taken. A two-hour drive takes us to Guasca, our first location.


The next morning we get up very early. This will be our usual schedule for the duration of the trip. On one or two occasions we have a lie-in till six, but those are rare and treasured moments. After a quick head count we appear to be one short. Anton. All at once this feels like a group tour again. None of us knows which room Anton has been given and my proposal to just knock on every door till the right person wakes up, does not get a majority, unfortunately.




In the end we manage to locate him and off we are to the Chingaza National Park. We alight at an altitude of 3400 metres to go and find our first Colombia birds. The scenery is utterly  breathtaking. Of course it is ice-cold up here. When I point my camera at a scarlet-bellied mountain tanager, I am struggling to get it in focus. I am known as a pretty stable person to friend and foe alike, but here I am reeling and staggering as if I am already drunk. Which I am not, I assure you. Seriously. It is the altitude. The in-camera stabilisation turns out to be a lot better than the photographer's, fortunately. 


Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager


Glossy Flowerpiercer


We descend to more manageable temperatures and pay a visit to the ‘observatorio de colibries’. On a private estate some passionate Colombians have put up a large number of feeders, filled with sugared water. 


White-bellied Woodstar


This attracts countless hummingbirds. They never turn down a free meal. And those hummingbirds , in turn, attract many European birders who usually spend their winters gazing at greylag geese. A lot of greylag geese, I’ll give you that. Here birdlife is all colour. At every feeder you can see buzzing little birds, some of them a mere 5 centimetres tall and all hyperactive. A heart rate of 1200, wingbeat of 70 beats per second, whizzing forward or backwards, they seem to be the perfect target group for an ambitious Ritalin producer. The most bizarre hummer must be the sword-billed hummingbird with a bill that is longer than its body. Apparently the bill is even used to settle territorial disputes. Real show-offs, most of the hummingbirds.


Sword-billed Hummingbird

White-bellied Woodstar (male)


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