Mitú - Introduction And Arrival

The town of Mitú is situated deep in the Colombian Amazon, not far from the Brazil border. This remote outpost is the capital of Vaupés department, a region consisting of vast rainforest populated with small villages along some of the major waterways. Though it is the capital of Vaupés, Mitú is not that large of a town with an estimated population of 30,000 people. Given its location deep in the jungle it is no surprise that the only way to visit Mitú is to take a flight from Bogotá or Villavicencio, routes that Satena flies a few times per week. 

Mitú is most well-known for the FARC attack in November of 1998 in which insurgents captured the city for several days. Hundreds of people died; civilians, soldiers and police officers in Mitú, as well as hundreds of FARC members who died when the city was re-taken by the military. Some of the captured police officers remained in captivity for years. A few escaped, some were released during the peace negotiations many years later, and others died while in captivity. Security in Mitú increased dramatically following the attack. It is said that Mitú is now the safest town in Colombia due to the hundreds of police officers and soldiers stationed here, ensuring that the events of November 1998 never happen again. 

Mitú is also famous among birders due to the high diversity of species that find home in the white sand forest and terra firme surrounding the town. It is only in the last decade that birding tourism has really taken off here. Now, several tour companies visit Mitú, typically for 4-5 days as part of a longer tour in Colombia. 

Chestnut-belted Gnateater - Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

Mitú has always been on my bucket list. My first visit to Colombia was in 2015, and some of the friends that I traveled with also visited Mitú during that trip. Alas, I had a full-time job at the time and could only devote so many weeks to the Colombia adventure and so I had to back out of the Mitú portion. I have returned to Colombia on two occasions in recent years but haven't had the time to squeeze in a Mitú expedition. I was not going to let Mitú slip through my grasp once again and so Laura and I made plans to spend a week here in early March, 2022 after finishing my tour of Colombia for Worldwide Quest. 

Mitú has some overlap with Inírida regarding habitats and species, but with enough differences that the two locations complement each other well. Inírida is situated near the Venezuela border and is technically located within the Orinoco basin. Mitú is several hundred kilometers southwest of Iníirda, near the Colombia/Brazil border and within the Amazon basin. Both sites are located within an Important Bird Area (IBA) known as the Orinoco Negro White Sand Forest, and many of the birds that are highly coveted in Mitú (and Inírida) are endemic to this region. They include the Gray-legged Tinamou, Orinoco Piculet, Spot-backed Antwren, Yellow-backed Antwren, Chestnut-crested Antbird, Gray-bellied Antbird, Azure-naped Jay and White-naped Seedeater (though the latter species is rarely recorded from Mitú these days). One difference between the two sites is that Inírida is surrounded by seasonally flooded igapó/varzea forest, while Mitú is located near high-quality terra firme. 

Orinoco Piculet - Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

Everything that I had read in past trip reports made it seem like organizing a Mitú expedition was a bit complicated. In truth, I found the opposite to be true. It was very easy to book lodging, food, reliable transportation, and a local guide (required for most of the trails). Local Colombian birders Luis Urueña and Diego Calderon helpfully gave me to the contact information for the hotel I stayed at (Hotel Brasilia), as well as the guide that I used (Miguel Portura). 

And now, a few logistics details for those planning a Mitú trip:

We booked our flights with Satena in early January but truthfully, we should have booked sooner. All of the dates in January and early February were sold out, meaning that we had to book the flights from February 28 to March 7 and extend our time in Colombia by a week or so. It is much better to give yourself two months in advance of your anticipated dates of travel. Also, note that Satena only flies to Mitú on a few days each week. 

Chestnut-crested Antbird - Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

We stayed at Hotel Brasilia, located on the east side of the airport and only a 10-minute drive to some of the main birding areas (Mitú Cachivera to the south, and Urania bridge to the north). Monica from Hotel Brasila can be reached on Whatsapp at +57 3187673142. The rooms were comfortable and contained an AC unit, and they cost 90,000 pesos a night (around 30 Canadian dollars). Monica and the other staff at the hotel were incredibly attentive and willing to make all of our meals for us, for the modest price of 15,000 pesos per person per meal. This included packed hot breakfasts every morning, even though our departure time from the hotel varied from 4:20 AM to 5:30 AM. The meals were delicious and we had no need to try any of the restaurants in town!

Laura and I typically refrain from hiring guides when traveling, simply because we like saving money and enjoy the thrill of self-discovery when on the trails. However, a local guide is necessary for many of the good birding sites in Mitú since the sites occur on indigenous territories, and they require a local guide to accompany any visitors. The exceptions include a few sites such as the Urania bridge and the Bocatoma (Pipeline) trail. All other sites required permission from the local indigenous community as well as the payment of a fee, which varied between communities. 

Birding with Miguel Portura

Miguel Portura is one of two local birding guides that live in Mitú. Miguel resides in Mitú Cachivera and he is a member of the Tucano indigenous community. In the past, most birders utilized the services of Nacho, a local guide familiar with all the trails but who knew nothing about any of the birds. Fortunately, Miguel has been guiding in Mitú for a number of years now and he is an excellent birder who knows most of the vocalizations and territories for a lot of the specialties. I figured if we needed to have a local guide with us to access all of the trails, we might as well have a guide who was familiar with the birds of the region. His fee is more expensive than Nacho’s, but at 180,000 pesos a day (around 60 Canadian dollars) it fit within our budget. We found Miguel to be a reliable and professional guide who was easy to get along with. He was a sharp birder and knew most of the vocalizations, though he made a few mistakes with some of them (I think this is because he does not have access to any of the bird vocalizations on his phone). He does not speak English, so one must have at least a basic grasp of Spanish. I would highly recommend Miguel’s services. 

Common Lancehead (Bothrops atrox) - Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

All of the trails can be reached by tuk-tuk (3-wheeled moto-taxi), so shelling out the extra cash to hire a 4x4 vehicle is not necessary. Miguel found a tuk-tuk and driver for us, the affable Felix. Other birders have mentioned in the past the problem with sourcing a reliable driver that is always on time. We did not have to worry at all with Felix – he was always early to pick us up. While Felix’s rates may have been a bit higher than some of the other tuk-tuk drivers, we were happy to pay a little more for the reliability, ensuring we made it to the forest by dawn each morning. 

There is one community (Santa Marta) that is located on the far side of the Río Vaupés. If one wishes to visit this area, they (or their local guide) will have to sort out a boat to take them across and then pick them up again. We inquired with Miguel about the possibility of visiting Santa Marta but he insisted that it wasn’t a good idea due to problems in the community and a poorly-maintained trail. I see via eBird that others birders have been there relatively recently so maybe it is not as complicated as Miguel made it out to be. But we had enough sites to visit that could be reached by tuk-tuk, so we did not bother trying to visit Santa Marta.  

February 28, 2022

Our flight from Bogotá to Mitú was delayed by 2-3 hours (this is standard!) and so the sun was low in the sky as we touched down on the runway in Mitú. Felix was waiting for us at the airport and he took us to the hotel, where Monica from Hotel Brasilia showed us our room. That evening, Laura and I went for a quick stroll around the neighbourhood at dusk. We didn't see anything too interesting but noted some migrating Fork-tailed Flycatchers, a pair of Green Ibis on the runway, some Red-bellied Macaws flying to their roost and several Moriche Orioles.