• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Self driving southern Ecuador? (1 Viewer)

njlarsen

Gallery Moderator
Opus Editor
Supporter
Barbados
Hello all,
an idea have come up that I am trying to find out how possible it is. We could fly into Guayaquil reasonably cheaply. From there I could envision doing a trip inland towards the southern Andes, but definitely also with stops in the lower areas. Problem is I have no info on locations to go to in that area. Is there any overview either on the web or in a book that I could start with?

Timing would likely be in august of this year, so I need to get started on what to do.
 
It is easy to self-drive in southern Ecuador. Your only decision is 2WD vs 4WD. I think 4WD is worth it, especially if going for remote birds, eg Neblina Metailtail, Orange-throated Tanager

I'm not sure about bird finding guides these days, but you won't go far wrong if you put together a trip based on the southern Jocotoco Foundation reserves and add Popocarpus (Bombuscaro, stay at Copalinga Lodge) and perhaps Yankuam (OT Tanager)

cheers, alan
 
Thank you both. My wife has started asking about the security situation in that area, any info? Guayaquil itself seems a little iffy in some ways?

Niels
 
Thank you both. My wife has started asking about the security situation in that area, any info? Guayaquil itself seems a little iffy in some ways?

Niels

I never spend any time in cities, but I'm sure Guayaquil is no worse than, and probably safer than many South American cities. I would fly in, pick up your hire car and drive straight to (for example) the wonderful Umbrellabird Lodge. If you spend substantial amounts of time wandering around cities, photographing cathedrals and going to street markets, you're probably more likely to be the victim of crimes such as pick-pocketing. I've spent about 4.5 months in Ecuador and never had any problems at all.

cheers, alan
 
We just got back from there, having rented a car for a week and driving to Copalinga, Las Cajas, etc. The driving is tiring in the Andes, as there is no such thing as a straight road, and you have hazards like abrupt pavement breaks, drivers passing on blind curves, chickens and their ilk, mudslides, rain, fog, unmarked speedbumps, etc. You have to focus all the time. We drove back from Copalinga to Cuenca on Monday, perhaps 150km as the Umbrellabird flies, but it took 9 hours due to roads being closed (no idea why), about double what we'd expected. Leave yourself extra time if possible. All that being said, I loved driving there, as long as I didn't have to go more that 4 hours at a stretch: there's a freedom in having no rules, and nobody gets pissed off. We had a woefully underpowered 2wd sedan, but it had no issues other than bottoming out a couple of times. It also was very cheap: $200 for a week including overage in KM - we logged about 800km.

BTW, Catherine no longer owns Copalinga, having turned it over to Jocotoco Foundation, the terms of which I know nothing about. It's still a good place, and we saw male Spangled Coquette and Little Woodstar every day, though the Jocotoco folks are still getting their feet under them.
 
Thanks All,
unfortunately I do not have the logistics to visit there at the moment. We will return to Ecuador at some undetermined time in the future.

Niels
 
Warning! This thread is more than 7 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top