PBH / Colombia / Forums (active) Travelguide Cheap hostels Pictures

Cerulean and Golden-winged Warbler Summit in Colombia

A bit of a specialist subject, but I though that readers might be interested that Colombia is hosting this interntaional summit. It is in Bogota and San Vicente de Chucurí, Santander. I believe it is the first time the town of San Vicente has hosted an international conference, and shows that Colombia is becomign not just a tourist destination, but also hosting more international conferences.
There is a lot of concern in North America and Colombia about the decline of these beautiful birds which winter in Colombia and breed in North America.
See http://www.ecotours.com.co/summit_eng.html

By getting better on Jul 17, 2008, 05:19 in Friendly Talkzone.

Bill Turley (Moderator) (Trustee board) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jul 17, 2008, 05:36:

This is great. I know if more Ecotourists learn the truth about Colombia, our economy will improve. I have more species of Hummingbirds on my finca than are in all of the USA

Mr. Bill Somondoco

0 funny, 0 helpful.

dwmte7 says on Jul 17, 2008, 05:40:

thanks for the post, g. better, i've discovered bird watching in my golden years jeje...and i was always amazed at the number of birds on our property...like bill mentions. hummingbirds as big, if not bigger than our typical blackbird.

patriarch

0 funny, 0 helpful.

dwmte7 says on Jul 17, 2008, 05:41:

how much do folks pay for one of these eco tours?

patriarch

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tejasmarcos says on Jul 17, 2008, 06:47:

very cool.

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

dwmte7 says on Jul 17, 2008, 07:15:

what, tejas? they pay 'very cool' ???

patriarch

0 funny, 0 helpful.

getting better says on Jul 17, 2008, 07:40:

I'll try and answer your question dwmte7. Most ordinary people don't want a specialist tour, they just visit soemwhere like El Dorado, and pay for example $85 per day for food and accomdation (less for nationals obviously), and bit for a guide from the local community to show them the trails and some wildlife. However if they are keen birdwatchers or butterfly specialists, and want a fully guided tour with expert guide and internal transport, this costs typically $200-250 per day for an inclusive tour.
The typical Spanish speaking poorbuthappy traveller probably won't want a specialist tour, just to visit a beautiful forest lodge, and can organise their own transport, which is what makes guided tours round several locations relatively expensive.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Atrevido (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jul 17, 2008, 08:00:

Colombia is supposed to have more bird species than any other country in the world at just under 1900. It is number two for amphibians. Here are two birding/ornithology organizations in Colombia

http://www.calidris.org.co/

http://www.proaves.org/rubrique.php?id_rubrique=170

https://sites.google.com/site/colombianaturesite/nature-images

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Bill Turley (Moderator) (Trustee board) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jul 17, 2008, 08:00:

I was involved in the ecotourist industry for several years BEFORE I moved to Colombia. The target market is generally upper income levels with a good amout of descresionary income. A real ecolodge can charge $200 or more per day USD per person. Look at Costa Rica before and after ecotourism.

Mr. Bill Somondoco

0 funny, 0 helpful.

webmanco says on Jul 17, 2008, 10:12:

Thanks for the information, one need to be an early bird to watch other birds.

No hay extremo cierto o verdadero, porque los extremos opacan, enruedan, (lavan cerebros) verdades. Yotas

0 funny, 0 helpful.

dwmte7 says on Jul 17, 2008, 12:36:

web...it's a bad day here....the mrs has her tangas all bunched up in her nalgas....she's a real toughie on those days.

patriarch

0 funny, 0 helpful.

getting better says on Nov 18, 2008, 12:32:

Just to report that this conference went very well, with loads of people from many countries, and the participants particularly enjoyed the part at San Vicente, Santander. All the arrangements went incredibly smoothly and this just shows that Colombians can organise things very efficiently when they want to ("awesome" was the description used by more than one US citizen to describe the conference).

0 funny, 0 helpful.