Cartagena - Colombia

This will be one of the more boring posts from my trip to Colombia. The first week was a family Christmas vacation (instead of buying gifts for each other that nobody needs or wants). We stayed at an all-inclusive resort since my younger brother and mom wanted some beach time and are not birders. And when I looked at flights, these week long package deals were often the same price or cheaper than just buying a return flight outright. 

Cartagena is one of the oldest (the oldest?) cities in South America and the old walled city is a Unesco World Heritage Site. I can't believe I didn't get pictures of the wall! It's a very beautiful and safe part of Cartagena.

My older brother Matt and I birded around the resort and it was actually quite productive since we were outside of the city. Surrounded by scrub we were able to get our first endemic - Chestnut-winged Chachalaca! Apart from some other scrub specialties, it was easy to tick off lots of shorebirds and herons along the coast and small wetlands nearby. A touristy boat ride to some nearby islands yielded a gorgeous dark phase Pomarine Jaeger, probably the most unexpected bird from this first week in Colombia. 

I didn't take my camera around much as I probably could have when we went birding so I didn't get many bird photos from this part of the trip. A bit regrettable, but better safe than sorry in touristy areas.

 Blue-winged Teal spending the winter in Colombia too.

 Green Kingfisher

 Little Blue Heron

 Pied Water-Tyrant

 Tricolored Heron

 Tropical Kingbird - one of the most common birds anywhere in the tropics

Wattled Jacana

My first injury on the trip also occurred at the resort via a spontaneously exploding glass shower door. It didn't slide easily when I was getting out of the shower and when I yanked it open it exploded and a shard of glass sliced open my thigh. Luckily it missed my important bits!