Colombia

The Colombian Andes split into three cordilleras, providing an incredibly varied topography, with western and eastern slopes and inter-andean valleys. Thus the very structure of Colombia is the engine behind the amazing biodiversity that fills the countries’ superb habitats – Colombia has the richest avifauna in the world but only ranks fifth on the world’s list of country mammal faunas – which is to say it is still exceptional! The diversity of primates is extraordinary. Colombia has around forty species with upwards of a quarter of them endemic, in particular there are many special and often strikingly-pelaged Tamarins.

We’ll start in Otun Quimbaya National Natural Park which protects pristine Andean cloud forest, where our main target is the Mountain Tapir. Red Howler Monkey calls resound through the ethereal landscapes and we’ve a good chance of seeing these along with Lemurine Night Monkey. Otun Quimbaya is also home to many marsupials, including Andean White-eared Opossum and Water Opossum, and also Xenarthrans such as Nine-banded Armadillo and Hoffman’s Two-toed Sloth. We’ll always be on the lookout for harder to see species and here seeing ether Olinguito or the enigmatic Crab-eating Fox would be a bonus.

For an altogether different mammalian fauna we’ll head high above Bogota into the spectacular landscapes of Chingaza National Natural Park in search of the Spectacled (also known as Andean) Bear, the only bear species in South America. Brazilian Guinea Pig and North Andean Red Brocket Deer are possible too.

Heading south we’ll visit Putumayo staying at the rather special Portal del Sol. Here, we will explore a private reserve at a low-elevation area with patches of fragmented tropical rainforest where the transition of Andean and Amazonian ecosystems takes place, and where the diversity of primates is particularly high. Among the species we’ll see are Tufted (or Black-capped) Capuchin, Ecuadorian Squirrel Monkeys, Lesson’s Saddle-back Tamarins, Spix’s Night Monkey and the endemic Colombian Black-handed Titi. There’s also Miller’s Saki, Yellow-handed (Lucifer) Titis, and the improbably cute Western Pygmy Marmoset, one of the very smallest primates in the World. We’ll also look for South-American Coati, Crab-eating Raccoon and will certainly come across a Linnaeus’s Two-toed Sloth or two.

We’ll explore the Eastern Andean foothills in the Restrepo area. Despite being a populated area, it is of great importance since it encompasses the transition of the east foothills of the Andes and the savannah of the eastern Llanos. Here amongst patches of gallery forest and extensive grasslands our main targets will be Giant Anteater, Brumback’s Night Monkey and the well-named Ornate Titi Monkey.

Deep in the savannahs of the Eastern Llanos we’ll visit Yopal, a private reserve well known for having stable Jaguar populations and also well-known for providing sightings of this majestic cat. Typical lowland Neotropic mammals that are easily seen here include Giant Otter, Tayra and Capybara, the latter truly abundant! Southern Tamanduas can be seen clambering through the tangled vines whilst on the ground we will come across Black Agouti and both White-tailed deer Northwestern Red Brocket Deer.