From: India
Emblematic: 10 Days Photography Tour
July 2025
ING: @murali_nature_photography
"We did a trip with David and Retorno to Colombia in July of 2025 and our expectations were beyond exceeded. It was a trip to see the iconic birds in Colombia starting in Medellin and ending in Cali. We loved, savored and devoured every moment and morsel of this trip. David is an incredible host ensuring that we felt safe and welcome at every instant of the trip. He ensured that all our dietary preferences were met by himself researching recipes and sharing them with the reserves. The food we had was extremely tasty and would convert anyone to veganism, even though this is the first time most of these places were making vegan food. One of the resorts actually had homemade granola which is something we had never tasted before. David was with us the entire trip- from airport to airport and we never felt any misapprehensions or worried about any safety issues. The places David chose for us to stay will forever stay in our minds. These are beautiful small reserves set in the Andes mountains- simple yet sufficient and sometimes sumptuously luxurious. Imagine waking up in the morning and stepping into the balcony to see the clouds swirling above the peaks of the Andes mountains and listening to an orchestra of thousands of birds. We saw rare birds like motomots and cuckoos right from our balcony every morning- we felt privileged to be part of the reserve and it certainly felt like a slice of heaven. Most of the reserves that we stayed in had well separated rooms and you felt like you were the only people in the reserve, and sometimes we were. The places we stayed in Colombia were the best we have experienced amongst all our travel over the world.
We were pleased to see how clean and well maintained the entire country (at least the places we visited) were. The restrooms, even the ones on the highway used heavily, were always clean. We didn't see a single piece of trash anywhere in the entire country. The main and side roads were always in good shape and getting around took time because Colombia is a big country but was always comfortable.
David also has an amazing network of local guides and you get the best, special and rarest sightings- seeing birds that it may be impossible to see otherwise such as antpittas and toucans.
The people in Colombia are incredibly friendly and hospitable- everyone had a big smile and a warm hug and was incredibly welcoming. They were definitely the warmest set of people we had met- from the owners of the reserve who's passion for nature you could feel in their properties, to the random strangers who always asked us if we were enjoying our time.
Oh the birds- we knew Colombia was a bird dense country boasting 100s of species of hummingbirds but our mind was blown by the sheer color, number and diversity of birds we saw. We took over 10,000 GB worth of photos and will spend many months going through them. We saw species that we had never seen before like antpittas and saw species that we had dreamt of for years like the cock of the rock. We saw a tonne of hummingbirds and tanagers and were always in great positions to get wonderful photos of them. David, apart from being a great guide and a great human, is also a great photographer and ensured that we had the best lighting, bokeh and angles to get the best photos. We saw a tonne of endemics and some of the prettiest tanagers that we have seen. We saw some spectacular hummingbirds and hopefully have some print and frame worthy pictures of them in flight. We saw extremely rare species that we had never even heard of like oil birds and the elusive and hyperactive manakins. Colombia is bursting with birds and in some places it seemed like birds were just falling off the trees. All the reserves have feeders for tanagers and hummingbirds so you can guaranteed spectacular sightings and photo opportunities.
In some of the places, we felt like absolute royalty. We spent a day on the top of a mountain with David, a guide and a masterchef. We were pampered with the best food and coffee and the best opportunities for bird and mammal photography. That experience is pasted into my memory and is one of the best wildlife and nature experiences of my life. Our trip was full of such special experiences and i often wondered how Colombia is not overrun with tourists given how beautiful its reserves are, how friendly its people are, how tasty its food is, how pristine the nature is, how spectacular the birds are, how well organized and planned the reserves are and how every experiences is geared towards your satisfaction. Colombia is a hidden gem and tourism is still not heavy- go now, go fast and go with David and have one of the most memorable trips of your life.Our trip was even more spectacular than we even dared dream of and this will reside in our memory for a long time and we can't wait to return to another part of Colombia to begin the journey all over again."
