|
To lessen distances, fuel and cost of traveling between birding sites and to give tour members an opportunity to experience more of Ecuador, we will stay in two different birding lodges while in the Mindo area. The first four days will be spent at Las Cabañas Armonía. From this base we will bird most of the valley. Following that we will spend three days at the Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve in order to “catch” the higher elevation species and get some spectacular views of the valley. Internet (for about $1 an hour) will be available in the town of Mindo, a short walk from the Cabañas Armonía.
Las Cabañas Armonía features private cabins and a restaurant on the premises, only feet from excellent feeders which attract a diversity of tanagers and hummingbirds. This is also the home of Ugolino Oñate, our guide, the hotel’s owner and an orchid enthusiast and grower. The hotel has over 200 of the 600 orchid species native to the valley growing in profusion throughout the grounds. To give tour members an opportunity to explore the town and its restaurants, lunch and dinner at Las Cabañas Armonía are not included in the tour price -- Currently, meal prices in Mindo and at the Hotel range from $2.00 to $7.00.
After our stay in the lower part of the Mindo valley area, we will travel up the mountain on the old Nono- Mindo road to the aptly named Bellavista (beautiful view) Cloud Forest Reserve where we will spend three nights and two full birding days. We expect to see many of the same birds that we will have seen already, as well as many new ones including: Rufescent Screech-Owl, Common Potoo, White-faced Nunbird, Cloud Forest Pygmy-Owl, Giant Antpitta, Swallow-tailed Nightjar, Ocellated Tapaculo, Green-fronted Lancebill, Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, Crested Quetzal, Plushcap, Golden-headed Quetzal, Tanager Finch, Common-Potoo, Lyre-tailed Nightjar, Black-and-White Owl, and the (truly) Beautiful Jay . We will also visit Tony Nunnery and Barbara Bola a German-American couple that have dedicated their lives to self-sufficiency, restoring a large area of the valley to cloud forest, and birdwatching, of course! We hope to see up to twenty of the forty hummingbirds that have been seen at their 28 feeders (a world record). All meals at Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve are included in the tour price.
From Bellavista Lodge we will return to Quito by van. Then we fly to Coca. From Coca we will travel 60 miles by boat to La Selva Jungle Lodge where we will spend the remainder of our trip.
The Amazon Basin is a vast, exceedingly complex, poorly understood, system of rivers, hillocks, creeks, bogs, and rainforest. Our destination, La Selva Lodge, lies on the very edge of the basin, on the shore of lake Garzacocha, just a mile or so away from the banks of the Río Napo, a major tributary of the Amazon River. The area around the lodge is home to at least 530 species of birds, not to mention, crocodiles, anacondas, pumas, panthers, leopards, ocelots, many species of monkeys, river otters, pink dolphins, coatis, piranhas, tarantulas, poison-dart frogs, and the Arapaima, the largest fresh water fish in the world. To get to this protected habitat, we will travel sixty miles by boat, down stream (north), to the La Selva dock. After being greeted by hotel staff, we will hike about a mile through phenomenal birding country, on a bamboo boardwalk, to reach long carved canoes which we will take (others do the rowing) through mangroves, past Boat-billed Herons, Sun Bitterns and Sun Grebes, across the lake to the lodge. Despite how trite they may seem, truly, the only words that come to mind when one sees the La Selva Lodge and the surrounding wilderness are: “Tropical Paradise.” We think you’ll have a great time.
The days at la Selva Lodge will be long and exhausting and very, very productive. But the tour member need not fear as he or she will be served three square meals a day, no matter where he or she may be. At the day’s end, tour members may relax in the lounge area, complete with a fully stocked bar and many fellow birdwatchers and travelers from around the world. Everything is included in the cost of the tour except for bar services and drinks. There is no internet available at La Selva Jungle Lodge –it is in the middle of the jungle… Below is a list of some of our target birds.
Some birds of the area include the Hoatzin, Zigzag Heron, Agamí Heron, Azure Gallinule, Nun Birds, and Harpy Eagle. There are also five species of owl. Some local psittacids include Scarlet Macaw, Dusky-billed and Scarlet-shouldered Parrotlets and Orange-cheeked Parrot, Cobalt-winged and White-eyed Parakeets, Blue-chinned and Rufous-throated Sapphires as well as White-throated, Golden-green, Ringed and Rufous-headed Woodpeckers are also seen. In the understory you may see Río Suno and Dugand’s Antwrens, Chestnut-shouldered Antwren, Yellow-browed, Black-and-white and White-plumed Antbirds, Black-spotted and Reddish-winged Bare-eyes, Dot-backed and Banded Antbirds and Ochre-striped Antpitta. Tyrants are also frequently seen as well as the Purple-throated Cotinga, Plum-throated Cotinga and Spangled Cotinga which are common. Also seen are the Amazonian Umbrellabird, Wire-tailed and Striped Manakins, Lawrence’s and Hauxwell’s Thrushes, Paradise Tanager, Yellow-bellied Dacnis and Short-billed Honeycreeper and the Russet-backed, Crested and Green Oropendolas. |
