{"id":19352,"date":"2015-06-02T11:03:17","date_gmt":"2015-06-02T16:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?p=19352"},"modified":"2016-03-18T06:47:32","modified_gmt":"2016-03-18T11:47:32","slug":"san-lorenzo-ridge-sierra-nevada-colombia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2015\/06\/san-lorenzo-ridge-sierra-nevada-colombia\/","title":{"rendered":"San Lorenzo Ridge: Solitude in the Sierra Nevada"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve said it before on this blog, and I&#8217;ll say it again:<strong> I am a birdwatcher.<\/strong> As a 27 year old man, many people are surprised that I am so passionate about something so often associated with older people; however, <strong>living in a country like Colombia, with it&#8217;s world record numbers of birds and remarkably diverse ecology<\/strong>, I couldn&#8217;t be happier that I chose to love birds when I was just 6 years old. And that is partly down to places like <strong>the San Lorenzo ridge, a remarkably diverse mountain ridge high up in the coastal mountain range of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_19356\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19356\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2015\/06\/san-lorenzo-ridge-sierra-nevada-colombia\/122fb\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19356\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19356\" src=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/122fb.jpg\" alt=\"Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Colombia\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/122fb.jpg 800w, https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/122fb-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-19356\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The view from the ridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The San Lorenzo ridge is a bit of a Mecca for bird-lovers<\/strong>: it&#8217;s probably one of the best places in the world to see endemic bird species, with at least 10 seen regularly, and many more possible.<strong> The real highlight is the extremely rare and endemic Santa Marta Parakeet<\/strong>, with it&#8217;s delightful orange epaulets and electric blue wings: I was lucky enough to enjoy a leisurely view of a group of six feeding in a small fruit tree, and I would defy even the most anti-bird person (is that a thing?!) not to have been impressed by the sight. If that doesn&#8217;t do it for you, <strong>how about the pair of giant Andean Condors<\/strong> we watched playing on the thermals at the ridge&#8217;s peak, with nothing but vast blue skies for company?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_19357\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19357\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2015\/06\/san-lorenzo-ridge-sierra-nevada-colombia\/174crop\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19357\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19357\" src=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/174crop.jpg\" alt=\"Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Colombia\" width=\"800\" height=\"402\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/174crop.jpg 800w, https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/174crop-300x151.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-19357\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An Andean Condor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>But it&#8217;s not just about the birds here:<\/strong> the real beauty of the place is how undeveloped and peaceful it is. I spend Christmas Day last year hiking the ridge (which is when the photos in this article come from), and <strong>I have rarely experienced a more profound sense of solitude and relaxation<\/strong> that in the 6-odd hours I spent ambling through the woods of the Sierra Nevada, spotting Andean Condors and mountain tanagers, breathing in the fresh mountain air, and <strong>marveling at the almost uninterrupted views of the snow-capped peaks of Picos Colon and Bolivar<\/strong>, Colombia&#8217;s highest mountains. These peaks are considered sacred by the local indigenous groups of the Sierra Nevada, and, <strong>when viewed from this privileged vantage point, it&#8217;s hard not to see why&#8230;<\/strong>Along much of the hike, a 360 degree panorama offers remarkable views of both the highest mountains in the country, covered in snow and glaciers, and the Caribbean sea, glinting blue in the distance. <strong>There are few places on earth that offer such a view.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_19358\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19358\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2015\/06\/san-lorenzo-ridge-sierra-nevada-colombia\/180fb\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19358\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19358\" src=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/180fb.jpg\" alt=\"Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Colombia\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/180fb.jpg 800w, https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/180fb-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-19358\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Come on!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This is what is so great about having an interest in birds (although I&#8217;m sure that any niche wildlife interest like flowers or butterflies would work just as well): <strong>searching for them brings you to some truly special, wild places, where not too many travelers and tourists routinely head.<\/strong> I have been to some truly off-the-beaten-track spots in Colombia in search of ticks for my list, but the San Lorenzo ridge is by far the best of them:<strong> it offers the perfect combination of unique and special wildlife and spectacular natural scenery.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_19359\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19359\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2015\/06\/san-lorenzo-ridge-sierra-nevada-colombia\/110fb\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19359\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19359\" src=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/110fb.jpg\" alt=\"Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Colombia\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/110fb.jpg 800w, https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/110fb-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-19359\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The lovely woods along the ridge with the Caribbean visible in the distance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s possible to<strong> visit the ridge on a day-trip from Minca, especially from the Casa Elemento hostel,<\/strong> which is 45 minutes further up the mountain, making it easier to arrive at dawn, which is preferable for spotting the best birds.<strong> Ask for Marcos Torres at the hostel<\/strong>: he was an excellent guide; relaxed and friendly, but informative and passionate. I&#8217;m sure he would happily lead a group just to enjoy the hiking and the views, not just for the birds! <strong>He charged around 100.000COP for a full-day visit<\/strong>, including transport and guiding. Otherwise, the San Lorenzo ridge is mostly visited by birders staying at the nearby El Dorado ProAves bird lodge: <strong>well-worth a visit for any hardened birders out there.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Chris<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; I&#8217;ve said it before on this blog, and I&#8217;ll say it again: I am a birdwatcher. As a 27 year old man, many people are surprised that I am so passionate about something so often associated with older people; however, living in a country like Colombia, with it&#8217;s world record numbers of birds and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":19355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[3,116,128,4,2313,2635,57,1],"tags":[2890,223,2777,2922,2865],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v18.4 (Yoast SEO v18.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>San Lorenzo Ridge: Solitude in the Sierra Nevada - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2015\/06\/san-lorenzo-ridge-sierra-nevada-colombia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"San Lorenzo Ridge: Solitude in the Sierra Nevada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; I&#8217;ve said it before on this blog, and I&#8217;ll say it again: I am a birdwatcher. 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