Can you see Andean bears in Guasca?
Sometimes. Guasca is the gateway to the Siecha sector, and bears use the forest edges around the valley. Sightings are rare without a guide.
· 8 min read · Updated October 2026
Where to See Andean Bears in Colombia: Chingaza National Park and the Páramo Above Bogotá
The Andean bear, South America's only bear, lives in the high forest and páramo of the Colombian Andes. It's shy and hard to see, and most visitors to Chingaza go home without one. Here's where, when and with whom your chances are best.
By Lior, wildlife photographer and guide from Guanacaste
The short answer
WHERE
Chingaza National Park, above Bogotá
Páramo and high Andean forest, roughly 2,800 to 3,700 m
WHEN
All year, drier December to March
Bears feed most from 6 to 10 am. Sleep in the park to be out at first light
HOW LIKELY?
Low
Most day visitors don't see one. Two or three days with a specialist guide give you a real chance.
ARE THEY ENDANGERED?
Vulnerable
Habitat loss, conflict over cattle and road deaths are the main threats.
The honest answer
Andean bears are hard to see. Here's what raises your chances.
They're shy and spread thin. A camera trap study around Chingaza counted about 3 bears per 100 km², so most walks turn up sign, not a bear. When you do see one it may be across a valley or close to the trail. Three things change the odds: how long you stay, where you look and who you go with.
A single day trip
A long shot
UnlikelyDay visitors enter from 7 am, after the best feeding hours, and leave by 4 pm. Many go home with tracks and torn plants, not a bear.
Compare day trips2 to 3 nights in the park
Best chanceFirst light, several mornings
PossibleStaying at Monterredondo puts you on the slopes at dawn, morning after morning. That's what gives you a real chance, never a guarantee.
Compare multi-day tripsA specialist guide
Makes the differenceKnows this week's slopes
Better oddsGuides who follow fresh feeding sign and carry a scope find far more bears than a walk on your own. That's what the Andean Bear Expert badge recognises.
Find an Andean Bear Expert
Want a photo? Bring a long lens: many bears are seen across a valley, a few much closer.
Photography guideANDEAN BEAR TOURS FROM LOCAL GUIDES AND OPERATORS
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How it worksANDEAN BEAR GUIDES
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We invite guides with years of work built around Andean bears and review each one before they're listed. The first Andean bear guides show here as they join.
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Species expert program
Meet the founding Andean Bear Experts
Lyferr is new, so we don't rank guides on trips booked here yet. We start by inviting guides with years of work built around Andean bears, and we review each one before the badge goes on their profile.
Years guiding Andean bears
Several years of tours focused on this species, not wildlife tours in general.
Work we can check
Traveller references and a public record of their work, such as eBird, iNaturalist or published photos, reviewed with Lyferr on a video call.
Earned species by species
A guide can hold several badges. Each one is reviewed on its own.
How a guide becomes a Founding Expert
- 01InvitedYears with this species
- 02ReviewedCall, references, portfolio
- 03Founding ExpertBadge shown from launch
- 04Built on LyferrTrips and reviews add up
At launch
Founding badges rest on each guide's years of work with this species, checked by Lyferr. As trips are booked and reviewed on Lyferr, that record shows on the guide's profile next to the badge.
No guide can promise a sighting. The badge shows years of focused work with this species, reviewed by Lyferr.
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WHERE AND WHEN
Where and when to see Andean bears
TOWN BY TOWN
Can you see Andean bears where you're staying?
BEARS: YES BEARS: YES Can you see Andean bears in La Calera?
Sometimes. It's the road to Chingaza's main entrance, Piedras Gordas. Go early with a guide and plan more than one morning.
BEARS: DAY TRIP Can you see Andean bears in Bogotá?
Not in the city. Chingaza is about 2 hours away. A day trip is a long shot; two or three nights in the park are better.
BEARS: NO Can you see Andean bears in Cartagena?
No, it's on the Caribbean coast. Fly to Bogotá, then Chingaza is about 2 hours away.
BEARS: NO Can you see Andean bears in Medellín?
Not near the city. Fly to Bogotá, about an hour, then drive to Chingaza.
BEARS: DAY TRIP Can you see Andean bears in Fómeque?
Sometimes. It's the gateway to the La Paila sector and Laguna de Chingaza, 26 km up a mountain road. Bears are seldom seen on this side.
BEARS: DAY TRIP Can you see Andean bears in Choachí?
Rarely. Bears use the forests above town, in Chingaza's buffer zone, but they're seldom seen.
BEARS: DAY TRIP Can you see Andean bears in Villa de Leyva?
Not in town. Chingaza is about 3 hours away by road, best as an overnight.
BEARS: DAY TRIP Can you see Andean bears in Salento?
Rarely, in Los Nevados above town, on a multi-day hike. Sightings there are even rarer than in Chingaza.
BEARS: NO Can you see Andean bears in Leticia?
No. The Amazon is too low for Andean bears. Bogotá is about a 2 hour flight away.
BEARS: NO Can you see Andean bears in San Andrés?
No, it's an island. Fly to Bogotá and give Chingaza two days.
BEARS: NO Can you see Andean bears in Cali?
Not in the city. Bears live in Farallones de Cali, but sightings are rare. Fly to Bogotá for Chingaza.
1 of 12
Active hours
When Andean bears are active, hour by hour
A camera trap study in Chingaza's buffer zone, near Guasca and Choachí, logged most bear visits between 6 and 10 am and almost none after 4 pm. Read across to see when to go.
- Feeding on open slopes
- Moving along the forest edge
- Resting in thick scrub
- Park open to day visitors
- Most active
- Active
- Sometimes
- Resting
Cloudy, calm mornings are best.
Day visitors enter from 7 am. Stay in the park to be out at first light.
Compare Andean bear tours
FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
Photographing Andean bears: the full field guide
- Bears on far slopes: scopes, long lenses and patience
- Fog and flat light: getting the exposure right
- The lens and light each spot needs
ANDEAN BEAR FIELD GUIDE
Everything else about Andean bears
Pick a topic. The first one is open.
Where to look
Read the sign, find the bear
Most days you'll find where a bear has been before you see the bear. Guides read fresh sign to know which trails, slopes and forest edges are in use this week. Learn these five and you'll know what your guide is looking for.
1. Torn achupallas
Bromeliads ripped open
- Fresh: pale, wet heart
Bears tear spiny achupallas apart to eat the soft white base. A pale, wet heart means hours ago; brown and dry means days.
2. Tracks in the mud
Trail edges, wet ground
- Five toes, wide pad
Prints show five toes and a broad pad, a bit like a wide human foot. After rain, sharp edges mean a bear passed this morning.
3. Scat
On trails and ridges
- Seeds and fibre
Full of plant fibre and fruit seeds, often dropped right on the trail. Guides read it for what the bear has been eating, and where.
4. Claw marks
Trunks at the forest edge
- Climbing and resting
Bears climb to feed and rest, and leave long scratches on the bark. Fresh marks show pale wood; old ones darken and heal over.
5. Bear trails
Through grass and chusque
- Watch, don't follow
Bears reuse the same paths between forest and páramo, pressing tunnels through grass and bamboo. Your guide watches them from a distance.
Bring a scope or binoculars
Many bears are seen across a valley, some much closer. A guide's scope turns a dark dot into a bear.
Go early
Bears feed most between 6 and 10 am, and less in strong sun.
Never approach a bear
A mother with cubs needs space. Stay back and stay with your guide.
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?
A bear, a mother with cubs, or a rock?
There is one bear in South America. In Chingaza you'll often see it far off, though some cross close by. Here's how to tell a bear from the dark shapes that fool everyone at first.
Andean bear
Tremarctos ornatus · also called the spectacled bear
- Local name
- Oso andino, oso de anteojos
- Look
- Black or dark brown, with cream markings around the eyes and chest that differ on every bear
- Endangered?
- Vulnerable. Protected inside Chingaza
- Where you'll see it
- Chingaza, mostly the La Calera and Guasca sides
- Best tour
- 2 to 3 days with a specialist guide
Mother with cubs
Same species · usually one or two cubs
- Local name
- Osa con oseznos
- Look
- An adult with one or two small dark shapes close by
- Endangered?
- Same as any adult. Give her extra space
- Where you'll see it
- Recorded in Chingaza and around Guasca
- Best tour
- 2 to 3 days with a specialist guide
Rocks and old frailejones
The most common false alarm
- Local name
- Piedras y frailejones
- Look
- Dark, round and bear-sized from a distance, but they never move
- Endangered?
- Not a concern, just a lesson in patience
- Where you'll see it
- Every páramo slope
- Best tour
- 2 to 3 days with a specialist guide
ANDEAN BEAR ETHICS
Wild first, photos second
Are Andean bears dangerous?
Rarely. They are shy, mostly plant-eating bears that avoid people. Keep your distance, never feed one, and never get between a mother and her cubs.
Drive slowly inside the park. Bears are hit on mountain roads, and the limit is 40 km/h.
- SHORT ANSWER: NO
Is it OK to fly a drone?
No. Drones are banned in Chingaza, and they disturb bears and condors. Use a long lens instead.
Never leave the trail to get closer. Páramo plants take decades to grow back.
FIELD TIP FROM LYFERR
Most mornings you will find fresh sign, not a bear. When one shows, it is usually across the valley, so bring binoculars and give it time.
ANDEAN BEAR FACTS PEOPLE ASK ABOUT
57 bears
told apart by their face markings in one Chingaza camera trap study
1
bear species lives in South America
90%
of their diet is plants
2
cubs in a typical litter
Ukumari
its name in Quechua, still used in the southern Andes
Species expert program
Meet the founding Andean Bear Experts
Lyferr is new, so we don't rank guides on trips booked here yet. We start by inviting guides with years of work built around Andean bears, and we review each one before the badge goes on their profile.
Years guiding Andean bears
Several years of tours focused on this species, not wildlife tours in general.
Work we can check
Traveller references and a public record of their work, such as eBird, iNaturalist or published photos, reviewed with Lyferr on a video call.
Earned species by species
A guide can hold several badges. Each one is reviewed on its own.
How a guide becomes a Founding Expert
- 01InvitedYears with this species
- 02ReviewedCall, references, portfolio
- 03Founding ExpertBadge shown from launch
- 04Built on LyferrTrips and reviews add up
At launch
Founding badges rest on each guide's years of work with this species, checked by Lyferr. As trips are booked and reviewed on Lyferr, that record shows on the guide's profile next to the badge.
No guide can promise a sighting. The badge shows years of focused work with this species, reviewed by Lyferr.
Apply as an Andean bear ExpertFAQ
Frequently asked questions
Chingaza National Park, about 2 hours from Bogotá, especially the Monterredondo and Piedras Gordas sectors on the La Calera side. Even there sightings are uncommon, so go with an authorised local guide and plan two or three days.
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Who wrote this
Lior, founder of Lyferr
Wildlife photographer and guide who grew up in Guanacaste, and a finalist in the Sony World Photography Awards and Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Lior has spent years finding and photographing Andean bears in Colombia. This guide is what he tells friends before they go.
- Sony World Photography Awards finalist
- Wildlife Photographer of the Year finalist
- Born in Guanacaste