Thank you JohnnyColombia for the fantastic and detailed information! Are you a birder by chance? Not many people who aren't birders would know about the Reserva Natural de las Aves Loro Orejiamarillo! I did email Pro Aves and they said I could go to the reserve and gave me the contact of a guide. There was another reserve I wanted to go to (Fuertes Parrots) that they said was closed but I think I have found an alternate location - the one near Santa Rosa de Cabal. Can you see Loro Orejiamarillo from the Valdivia Plaza location?
The location in PNN Nevado del Ruiz may actually be on the outskirts of the park because birders have been getting into it. It's in the Paramo area.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S22850304
For Rio Blanco, I think I just have to contact them in advance, Trip Advisor is full of reports from people who have been there. We don't mind paying for birding guides as that benefits eco-tourism, helps the birds and helps us as these guys have way better eyesight than we do! I'll probably hire a birding guide in Manizales for this location and the Paramo one. Are you familiar with that place on the map?
About the car, the whole reason I want one is because transport between Jardin and Manizales is difficult. Otherwise we would be happy with buses. It seems simple enough to get a taxi to Medellin terminale sud and get a bus to Jardin. Then it's also easy to get buses on the Manizales - Santa Rosa de Cabal - Pereira route and then finally to Bogota by either bus or plane, probably from Pereira.
If we used buses, we would hire taxis/4WD to get to the birding hotspots, the bird guide would probably arrange this.
If we
rent a car from Avis, it would be a Chevy Captiva SUV with automatic. 4 days comes to 1,337,200.000 COP or $436 USD. It probably is cheaper to use buses and then hire cars to the birding sites.
Do you know how to get from Jardin to Manizales by bus other than going all the way back to Medellin Terminal de Sur and swapping buses which would take about 8 hours?