Paula: bird guide, illustrator, field storyteller
The guide behind the binoculars
My journey into birding began unexpectedly while working on an illustration project documenting the birds around my home in Jardín, Antioquia. What started as a drawing project became something I didn’t expect: the more I illustrated, the more I needed to observe. And the more I observed, the harder it was to stop.
For the past nine years, I’ve worked as a professional birding guide across Colombia, leading tours for renowned organizations and guiding observers from around the world: from the USA and UK to Switzerland, Germany, Canada, and Taiwan. But beyond the technical knowledge gained from years in the field, it was the hundreds of dawns spent observing, in silence, with patience, with wonder, that taught me what I truly love: witnessing the stories that birds tell with their existence and sharing those narratives with others who are curious enough to look closely.
Alboreo came from that: the ability to see detail slowly, trained through years of drawing, combined with nine years of learning Colombia’s birds and habitats from the inside. Every tour I design prioritizes the birds’ well-being first, because the most authentic stories emerge when species are undisturbed and observed with respect.
What does "Alboreo" mean?
From Spanish: The song of birds at dawn. The break of day. The beginning of something.
For me, it’s the moment when bird stories begin, when the first calls pierce the silence and Colombia’s incredible avian diversity comes alive. It’s why every tour starts before sunrise: because the best natural narratives unfold at alboreo, when the day is still being written and birds are at their most active.
It’s the moment worth waking up for.
How I guide
Every tour with Alboreo is designed thinking first about the birds: their schedules, behaviors, and needs, and then about how to facilitate meaningful encounters with them.
I believe in:
Patience over rushing
The best moments in birding reveal themselves when nobody is counting minutes. I build tours around the birds' rhythms, not around a schedule.
Ethics without compromise
Appropriate distances, minimal playback, no pressure to perform for a camera. Bird welfare is never negotiable, even when a client really wants a closer look.
Honest expectations
I don't promise sightings I can't reasonably deliver. What I do promise is the right conditions, the right timing, and a guide who knows exactly where to look.