There is, perhaps, no more beautiful bird on the continent, and certainly no place this dream bird can be found so easily. Some come on this trip, or say they come, only for the Harpy Eagles of Rio Grande. There is certainly a better chance of seeing one on this trip than almost any other, but we might not find one. If not, you certainly can expect a lot of other wonderful birds. This trip, remember, traverses a frontier region.
Roads are mostly pretty good but accommodations below average.
It is a comfortable but not luxurious trip that is, first and foremost, about birds and magnificent landscapes. We have operated this trip longer than any other in Venezuela, and we are the only operator to visit the magnificent Andean cloud forests of Guaramacal National Park, with a quiet winding road that climbs from 4,000 to more than 10,000 feet, much of the way through unbroken mountain forest. Here, among green mountains, swirling clouds, and breathtaking views at every corner, birders and naturalists can follow brightly colored tanagers in mixed species flocks, search for shy antpittas, and thrill to jewel-like colors of a dozen kinds of hummingbirds. This trip begins in Henry Pittier National Park, site of the famed Rancho Grande Biological Station, once a research site for William Beebe of the New York Zoological Society, and it ends with two and a half glorious days at the Cedral Ranch, home to one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on the continent. It is the longest Venezuelan trip we operate, but it moves at a leisurely pace with time to relax in the late afternoon and, in most areas, stays of two to three nights before moving.