Back on the road we needed a lunch stop. Passing through the town of Pereira, Nick suggested a place he had been at in the past known for its frijoles, aptly named "Don Frijoles". Turned out to be one of a small locals chains and certainly one of the more "colorful" places we've eaten. Most of us settled for a traditional Bogotá meal consisting of chicken soup along with several garnishes.
Our next stop was in the small town of Pueblo Rico where we transferred luggage and ourselves into yet more 4WD vehicles for the drive to the Montezuma Rainforest Ecolodge, gateway to sections of the Tatamá National Park where we spent the remaining three days of our tour. So many 4WD vehicles on the same day!
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| Tabasco family - Michelle in center, Yesinna, blue shirt/black vest |
The lodge is operated by the Tapasco family, headed by Michelle Tapasco. Her daughter Yesinna was our local guide. A delightful knowledgeable bright young woman, clearly dedicated to preserving the family’s 400 hectare property and who knew every twist and curve of the main road.
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| digiscoping Red-headed Barbet |
The central kitchen and dining area was surrounded by flowering plants and feeders attracting a wide variety of birds. A delight to be seated with a beverage watching birds coming and going. Hummingbirds, tanagers, euphonias, etc. Toucan Barbets and Red-headed Barbets were crowd pleasers. There were a number of cabins within easy walking distance offering comfortable accommodations.
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| Tanager Finch Photo: Nick Athanas |
Our first morning necessitated another early start as we headed higher up the Montezuma Road. On our way we heard then found a singing Tanager Finch followed by a noisy flock of Beautiful Jays, and a rare Bicolored Antvireo.
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| feeding station platform |
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| heavily guarded commo towers behind Nick |
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| Yesennia with two of the drivers |
The road ended at a small feeding station platform based at the foot of a heavily guarded array of communication towers. Our target bird, Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer, was already making repeated appearances at the feeders. Boxed meals in the field can be, shall we say, a bit thin on amount and flavor. Not so with the boxed breakfasts and lunches prepared by the staff and handed out by the drivers. Way more than enough food as we watched the Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer frequent the feeders.
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| Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer |
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| Munchique Wood-Wren Photo: Nick Athanas |
Walking back down a section of the road produced a colorful Purplish-mantled Tanager and a more than cooperative Munchique Wood-Wren.
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| meals on wheels |
During our time at Montezuma Ecolodge the weather managed to remain pleasant although there were periods of rain. The lodge continued to supply us with tasty and filling boxed lunches (at one point delivered by motorcycle). Meals in the field allowed us to maximize our daylight birding time.
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| Chestnut-bellied Chlorophonia |
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| Golden-ringed Tanager |
Exploring sections of the forested road on foot netted us Tatama Tapaculo, Glistening-green Tanager, Fulvous-dotted Treerunner, Crested Ant-Tanager, Gold-ringed Tanager, Parker’s Antbird (heard-only), Sooty-headed Wren, Black Solitaire, Black-chinned Mountain-Tanager, Tyrannine Woodcreeper, Rufous-rumped Antwren, Streaknecked Flycatcher, Spotted Barbtail, Ochre-breasted Antpitta, Chestnut-bellied Chlorophonia, and Black-and-gold Tanager to name a few.
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| Rufous-gaped Hillstar Photo: Nick Athanas |
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| Velvet-purple Coronet |
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| Ornate Flycatcher |
In spite of Carol’s impaired right hand, she soldiered on very well. It helped that the driver we mainly rode with, “Billie”, was most attentive, assisting Carol in and out of the vehicle whenever we stopped. Our last morning at the lodge with just a few hours left for birding, we were still missing two obvious target birds: Multicolored Tanager and Crested Ant-Tanager. No worries. Yessina knew precisely where to go and with luck on our side, the threatening rain held off long enough to add both birds. Walking back in the rain we also managed to add Club-winged Manakin, Uniform Treehunter, White-winged Tanager and Lemon-browed Flycatcher. A nice end to our stay at Montezuma Ecolodge.
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| Our main driver at Monteverde - Billie |
We bid our farewells to the staff, loaded into the 4WDs and were driven to a roadside stop on the outskirts of Pueblo Rico where we transferred to our van. From there we drove to the Pereira Airport. Arriving at the airport we bid farewell to our incredible driver Hermes then checked in for our on-time hop to Bogotá.
In Bogotá we transferred to our hotel where two things would occur. First, our required Covid test prior to reentering the United States and our farewell meal. The former proved to be more challenging. Rather than all of us going to a local clinic, a clinician came to the hotel and tested everyone while they were in their rooms. The downside was this proved to be far more time consuming.
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| last evening drinks were more fun that Covid test |
Getting results in a format that the airlines would accept was also challenging. Everyone thought their results would be emailed to them individually but it turned out that all results were emailed to Nick’s phone. He then had everyone double-check for accuracy. Unfortunately several reports had either a misspelled name or the wrong passport number which Nick had to correct and submit to the testing lab to fix and resend. All this took place during our final dinner. Typically a relaxing point in a trip but poor Nick didn’t get to enjoy his meal or enter into conversations with the group as he worked his phone.
Eventually, all was sorted and everyone had a negative Covid test on their phones to present to the airlines. All too soon we departed to the airport for flights home.
Most everyone’s flights were on time but in keeping with tradition, our flight out of Colombia was delayed (as it had been after our 2016 tour) resulting in a very overdue arrival back in AZ.
On the same delayed flight with the Upstills, we needed to coordinate alternate flight arrangements. Unfortunately, we didn’t connect with them before we made our changes and they their's. Connie and Russ changed their flight to standby status which at the time seemed risky for us. We opted for a later flight with confirmed seats.
It turned out that Connie and Russ made the earlier flight and would arrive back in Phoenix in the morning not long after our original arrival time. Our flight wouldn’t arrive back in Phoenix until late afternoon. Since we had all ridden to the airport in the Upstill's it was better they arrived back in AZ sooner.
Russ collected us at the airport and on the way back picked up a pizza. Simply too pooped to party after a very long travel day we wound up spending the night at Upstill's before driving back to Sierra Vista the next morning.
Of seven possible life hummingbirds we might encounter, we tallied four. Of the 396 birds tallied on the tour, 38 were heard-only while 45 were life birds including five Antpitta species. Owing to overlap with our 2016 Colombia tour and four trips to Ecuador, it accounted for a lower life bird count. But we added 21 endemics. Our total country list for Colombia stands at 665 species.
Next up? Brazil in October.
Odds and ends trip photos:
