birdsandwildlife
Member
I have returned from my first trip to Northwest Ecuador. I would say I only spent 8 days or so actually doing ecotourism in the area. I wanted to share my initial impressions in case it helps anyone else plan their first trip and to share my excitement.
General trip information: Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have spent anytime in Quito at all. It's an OK place, but I personally found it no more interesting than any other large city. I also witnessed some crime while I was there. I found most of the tourist attractions to be a little underwhelming.
Antisana Volcano: The snow capped Volcano is interesting but most of the landscape's beauty is something you just have to see in person. It's a sense of place experience. The rolling hills and streams are very scenic. I went with pululahua hostal which beat out all the Quito companies prices and he's an excellent bird guide as a value added bonus. I was able to watch condors both perched and flying. Close views of Ibises and Caracara were also had. An ecuadorian hillstar nest was location. I also saw the Antiptti. I would gladly do this trip again. There is also a lizard there which is easily seen. I spent the night at the lodge which is a fantastic location with great scenery and borrowing owls nearby. Renato is a very good guide and I wish I had could have spent more time at his lodge but we had to go the very next day. He showed me the owls at no charge and offered to take me on some trails but unfortunately I was feeling badly at the time (perhaps I should not have eaten as much street food as I had!)
Mindo: This town was a ton of fun with very good food. I found the sunbittern and herons were easily located by following the road along the river keeping an eye out for openings. I did this on foot since it's not a very long walk back from Mindo Gardens to town. Mindo gardens itself is good too. I was able to see a dipper there along with many basilisks. Sachatamia had the booted rockettails at their feeders which was very nice to see. The yellow house lodge was my favorite place to stay as the ladies were so helpful in organizing all other day trips (often saving me money in the process). I found their trails very good for agouti, cock of the rock, toucans, and I also saw the hook billed kite there. I found the easiest way to watch the motmots and cuckoos was to just sit somewhere for a while and wait. The cuckoo came to the lightpost of nearby every morning. The motmots were sometimes by the lightpost, at the banana feeder, or behind the river house.
23 de Junio: This place made for an awesome day trip. The people were great, the food was good, and the mountains were more scenic that I had imagined. Birds found of importance to me were the toucan barbet, mountain toucan, quetzal, and the umbrellabird. I wish I had spent another day in this area, I would have liked to went to see the monkeys and spent another 1/2 day in the highlands. At 20$, breakfast included, I thought this tour was a bargain.
Paz De la Aves: I know some feel this place is expensive, but I thought 30$ was not too much to ask for more than a half day of the man's time and breakfast. He was able to call in the cock of the rock and have it perch perfectly for close up photos. The nighthawks were interesting to see, and the antpittas were adorable. Another bird meandered into the feeding area of the Antpittas which was quite interesting, as well. I assume it's the quail.
Milpe: The entrance fee was a tad high at 11$, but it did include both sides of the road. I was happy to pay to help conserve the land and in reality a movie costs as much these days. There were a lot of birds here ( I either heard or saw them flying past so I feel safe in saying the numbers seemed high) unfortunately I failed to find many of them! After a somewhat late start due to rain, I spent a good deal of time watching the Manakins. I did see a motmot at the feeder, but I didn't spend enough time on the trails to develop a fair impression of the place.
General trip information: Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have spent anytime in Quito at all. It's an OK place, but I personally found it no more interesting than any other large city. I also witnessed some crime while I was there. I found most of the tourist attractions to be a little underwhelming.
Antisana Volcano: The snow capped Volcano is interesting but most of the landscape's beauty is something you just have to see in person. It's a sense of place experience. The rolling hills and streams are very scenic. I went with pululahua hostal which beat out all the Quito companies prices and he's an excellent bird guide as a value added bonus. I was able to watch condors both perched and flying. Close views of Ibises and Caracara were also had. An ecuadorian hillstar nest was location. I also saw the Antiptti. I would gladly do this trip again. There is also a lizard there which is easily seen. I spent the night at the lodge which is a fantastic location with great scenery and borrowing owls nearby. Renato is a very good guide and I wish I had could have spent more time at his lodge but we had to go the very next day. He showed me the owls at no charge and offered to take me on some trails but unfortunately I was feeling badly at the time (perhaps I should not have eaten as much street food as I had!)
Mindo: This town was a ton of fun with very good food. I found the sunbittern and herons were easily located by following the road along the river keeping an eye out for openings. I did this on foot since it's not a very long walk back from Mindo Gardens to town. Mindo gardens itself is good too. I was able to see a dipper there along with many basilisks. Sachatamia had the booted rockettails at their feeders which was very nice to see. The yellow house lodge was my favorite place to stay as the ladies were so helpful in organizing all other day trips (often saving me money in the process). I found their trails very good for agouti, cock of the rock, toucans, and I also saw the hook billed kite there. I found the easiest way to watch the motmots and cuckoos was to just sit somewhere for a while and wait. The cuckoo came to the lightpost of nearby every morning. The motmots were sometimes by the lightpost, at the banana feeder, or behind the river house.
23 de Junio: This place made for an awesome day trip. The people were great, the food was good, and the mountains were more scenic that I had imagined. Birds found of importance to me were the toucan barbet, mountain toucan, quetzal, and the umbrellabird. I wish I had spent another day in this area, I would have liked to went to see the monkeys and spent another 1/2 day in the highlands. At 20$, breakfast included, I thought this tour was a bargain.
Paz De la Aves: I know some feel this place is expensive, but I thought 30$ was not too much to ask for more than a half day of the man's time and breakfast. He was able to call in the cock of the rock and have it perch perfectly for close up photos. The nighthawks were interesting to see, and the antpittas were adorable. Another bird meandered into the feeding area of the Antpittas which was quite interesting, as well. I assume it's the quail.
Milpe: The entrance fee was a tad high at 11$, but it did include both sides of the road. I was happy to pay to help conserve the land and in reality a movie costs as much these days. There were a lot of birds here ( I either heard or saw them flying past so I feel safe in saying the numbers seemed high) unfortunately I failed to find many of them! After a somewhat late start due to rain, I spent a good deal of time watching the Manakins. I did see a motmot at the feeder, but I didn't spend enough time on the trails to develop a fair impression of the place.
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