cheshirebirder
Well-known member
Four of us recently returned from a very successful 2 week tour of the east and west slopes of the Andes with local guide Renato Espinosa.Renato is a knowledgable and capable guide and good company. We saw over 450 species including condors,cock-of-the rock,umbrella bird,oilbird,torrent duck ,8 antpittas etc. Because Renato uses reserves/locations and accommodations run by local people , he is able to keep costs down and benefit Ecuadorians at the same time, which in turn encourages conservation. A number of the well-known ,but foreign owned, lodges were visited some days but without the cost of staying there. We paid approx. $2150 each (about £1500) which included everything apart from evening drinks plus our flights.We all had separate rooms throughout , mainly en-suite . This compares very well with the prices quoted by tour companies and ,of course, it's much better birding in a smaller group, escecially on trails. Renato can be contacted via his website at Pululahua Hostal at which we stayed some nights.( [email protected])
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