A New Sister Cities Exchange
“The Sister Cities exchange was by far one of the best trips I’ve taken in my lifetime. Birds exist everywhere in the world, and by simply being wonderful and beautiful creatures that many of us adore, they’ve unwittingly brought strangers together from across the globe and made lifelong friends of them. I will forever be grateful for the cultural, personal, and natural experiences I gained by participating in this program.” Bonnie Shappell is one of the five participants from the Roaring Fork Valley who traveled to Bariloche, Argentina this past November for the first ever Birding Exchange between these two sister cities.
The mission of this exchange is to strengthen the bond between the communities of Aspen and Bariloche, by building connections among people with a common interest in birdwatching and environmental conservation. The group’s birding leader was local guide Rebecca Weiss: “The Aspen Bariloche Sister Cities birding exchange connected us with passionate birders, naturalists, and conservationists in Argentina, where we learned about their native avifauna, as well as local educational programs that bring children and adults together around the appreciation of birds and nature. For me personally, the exchange experience has fostered exciting new friendships, professional connections, and ideas that are already developing into actions. I look forward to sharing our birds, our birding program, and more inspiration with the Bariloche birders when they come to Aspen in 2026″.
Bariloche birding guide and photographer Mariano Diez Peña was in charge of organizing the program in Bariloche, with the support of his team: Axel de Torres Curth, Lorenzo Sympson, Cristina Villafañe and Helga Sisa.
“Our hosts in Bariloche were welcoming and knowledgeable about the local birding. They took us to special places only the locals go and treated us to over 180 species in 5 days. Wonderful hospitality and spectacular birding.“ Pamela Mackey, Aspen participant.
Sharing cultures and traditions is the essence of every exchange. “This Sister Cities trip was a lifetime experience for me with Aspen birders and now lifetime Bariloche host/guide friends! We were greeted warmly by our hosts with welcome and farewell dinners providing local traditional grilled beef meals and then empanadas, best chocolates and an instrumental music concert! Our three local FABULOUS guides energetically took us over 150 kms per day to a variety of habitats, ecosystems, and locations we never would have found birds on our own… Our Ebird lists expanded daily with exotics for us – Andean Condors, Lesser Rheas, Many Colored Rush Tyrant and too many to count hard birds to find. There were so many highlights – beautiful Argentina landscapes, people, sharing mates, jokes, non stop laughing and eating well – medialunas and alfajores! I hope to travel here again and look forward to hosting in May 2026!” Lisa Ayres, Aspen participant.
Local artist Missy Prudden, who co-founded the Artist Exchange Program between these two cities ten years ago, joined this time as a long-time birder: “Thanks to our Sister Cities Birding Exchange, I arrived with our group in Bariloche’s spring. I saw so many new species of birds, had wonderful guides, and was hosted by Helga who provided a bed, meals, and friendship. Her local Tero (Black-Faced Ibis) greeted us each morning just as our Magpies do here. We had four spectacular days on our birding safaris.“
We thank everyone who made this a reality and a success! Stay tuned for the next chapter. And enjoy these amazing photos by Mariano Diez Peña and Axel de Torres Curth.
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