The First Annual Binoculars to Binomials Retreat: September in Santa Marta!

In March, I waded across a shallow river and hiked a short distance along a jungle path to arrive at one of the most remarkable places I've ever visited: Frana Lodge, in Santa Marta province, Colombia.

Frana Lodge, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, in Colombia

Built from local materials, and surrounded on all sides by jungle, the lodge is a wonder. My five day stay there became an eight day stay and I got to know the owners and the staff in a way that started to feel like family.

One morning on the terrace, as I watched a pair of bicolored wrens building a nest, I thought: This is the place. Every since I started teaching Binoculars to Binomials I've been pining to do a real-world extension of the course, where people could come together in person to converse & collaborate.

Bicolored Wren, image by Horacio Luna

Now, I'm doing it. And you're invited.

The 1st annual Binoculars to Binomials retreat will happen at Frana Lodge from Sept 11th to 16th, 2025. I've invited my friend Ryan Mandelbaum – naturalist and writer extraordinaire – to join as a co-facilitator, and we'll have a local bird guide on hand. Registration includes accommodation, most meals, and all retreat programming. Space is very limited, with a maximum of 12 participants - at the time of writing there are only spaces 6 left! We'll split our time over the five days roughly in half. Mornings will be spent immersing ourselves in the place. We'll go for guided walks, take time to examine all of the scales of biodiversity on hand, and we'll collect data. We'll do this using apps and sound recorders and camera traps, but also with pencils and notebooks. In the afternoons we'll work on collaborative data art projects. There'll be a central project inspired by The Map Room, and people will have the opportunity to author other work on their own or with other participants. If you've read my book or my essays, you know that I like to encourage people not to look at data as thing, but rather as a system, encompassing collection and computation and representation. This retreat will be similarly holistic, with the "work" of the week running from mindful observation to analogue creation. I should say here that this experience is intended to be a retreat and not a workshop; there will be a lot of time to relax, and the word "mandatory" won't ever come into play.

This is precisely the vibe we're going for.

I hope you'll take a minute to read more about the experience, and perhaps consider joining me in September. It's going to be special. In the meantime here are some answers to common questions people have been asking: Do I need to have taken the Binoculars to Binomials course to join the retreat? No. While this event is very much in the spirit of the BtB course, it's not dependent on it. You can check out the course to get a sense of the vibe of the community, but it's perfectly OK to come into this thing fresh.

Is this a birding trip? No. And yes. The BtB course and community revolves around birds & bird data, but this won't be traditional birding trip in any way. We will have a local bird guide on hand and birds will play a big role in the ways we set out to make our work, but we won't be chasing species or counting lifers.

How safe is this part of Colombia?

The area around the lodge is very safe, and Santa Marta Province in general is a very popular tourist destination. We'll prioritizing safe behaviour while we're out in the forest, and we'll always be in cell phone range. How physically fit do I need to be to join the retreat?

Getting to the lodge involves a moderate 20-30 minute hike with two short uphill sections. While walking will be a part of the daily itinerary, I very much want this event to be open to everyone, so if you have mobility concerns, please reach out and we can chat.

I want to check out flight prices. What airports should I look at? The closest airport is Simón Bolívar International Airport (SMR), from which transportation is included with registration. Another option is Barranquilla E Cortissoz (BAQ) which is about 2 hours away.