Hummingbirds & Tanagers

Our private transport collects you directly from your hotel in the urban zone of Cali. We make an early departure, climbing out of the warm valley floor up into the crisp, mist-shrouded cloud forests of the Western Andes ridge at KM18.

We head straight to the famous mountain feeders right as dawn breaks. As the forest wakes up, you will enjoy a fresh field breakfast right next to specialized nectar and fruit stations, offering unparalleled, point-blank views of hyper-endemic tanagers and hummingbirds.

Once we have maximized our time at the feeders, we take a slow, focused walk along the quiet, forested KM18 tracks. This allows us to scan the canopy and bamboo understory for specialized deep-forest species that rarely visit the garden feeding stations.

We board our private vehicle and begin a dramatic, scenic drive down the western slope of the Andes along the old road to the Pacific. As we descend, the ecosystem transitions rapidly from temperate cloud forest to lush, hyper-diverse humid subtropical forest.

We arrive at Doña Dora’s famous roadside sanctuary in El Queremal. The species composition here changes entirely, offering a brand-new wave of colorful Chocó biogeographic specialties and dazzling hummingbirds buzz-bombing the nectar feeders.

We take a break from the field to sit down for a delicious, traditional Colombian lunch prepared fresh by Doña Dora herself, keeping our binoculars ready as birds continue to frequent the dining area balcony.

As the afternoon mist begins to roll through the cloud forest, we’ll pack up our gear and start the comfortable drive back to Cali.

After an incredibly intensive, double-hotspot day of field birding, we board our private transport for a comfortable drive back up over the pass and down into Cali, concluding the tour directly at your hotel with a finalized master trip checklist.