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Ecuador February (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter halftwo
- Start date
peedee
Well-known member
hey halftwo,
what's the itinerary. I went in 05, (10 weeks), loved it, easiest place I have ever travelled in, you will love it.
Paul D
peedee
Well-known member
H
how was it, i'm great, if not a little tick-starved after no foreign trips for 2 years.
Paul
halftwo
Wird Batcher
Hi Neils,
Refugio Paz de las Aves on the west slope was the place for Antpittas and Cock-of-the-Rock (amongst others) where Angel calls the Antpittas in to worms.
But San Isidro on the east is superb too (saw the San Isidro Owls well and they call in the White-bellied Antpitta) both are about equidistant from the airport.
If the weather is good as you pass over Papallacta the crossing East West makes for another area on the way.
I could have done with more time to get more stuff - I guess I'll just have to return.
Let me know if you would like more specifics.
H
Refugio Paz de las Aves on the west slope was the place for Antpittas and Cock-of-the-Rock (amongst others) where Angel calls the Antpittas in to worms.
But San Isidro on the east is superb too (saw the San Isidro Owls well and they call in the White-bellied Antpitta) both are about equidistant from the airport.
If the weather is good as you pass over Papallacta the crossing East West makes for another area on the way.
I could have done with more time to get more stuff - I guess I'll just have to return.
Let me know if you would like more specifics.
H
H,
yes I am aware of the website. I will also have something like 9-10 days in Ecuador proper (linking up with a Galapagos tour). Where did you stay, rental car vs guide vs relying on a lodge, etc?
Currently I am debating Tandayapa (probably either at the lodge or at Bellavista) + something in Mindo against the east slope with San Isidro and Guango (and possibly Wild Sumaco). I think I would like to limit to one side for now, to avoid too much time spent with transportation.
Niels
yes I am aware of the website. I will also have something like 9-10 days in Ecuador proper (linking up with a Galapagos tour). Where did you stay, rental car vs guide vs relying on a lodge, etc?
Currently I am debating Tandayapa (probably either at the lodge or at Bellavista) + something in Mindo against the east slope with San Isidro and Guango (and possibly Wild Sumaco). I think I would like to limit to one side for now, to avoid too much time spent with transportation.
Niels
halftwo
Wird Batcher
Okay : from the Airport you can get to Guango in 90 minutes. San Isidro is less than an hour from there. Wild Sumaco another two hours.
I stayed at all three.
Wild Sumaco was excellent.
I hired a car & didn't have a guide. I probably would have had more stuff pointed out if I had - but I prefer id ing my own stuff.
If you do Tandayapa I'd say Bellavista rather than Tandayapa lodge. The birding is v good around there, the location nicer. (I stayed at Sachatamia lodge which had excellent hummer feeders and forest trails - both Quetzals amongst a host of other stuff - & managed to see both Short-tailed nightjar at dawn and Black & chestnut Eagle from the tanager feeder viewpoint - & had Quetzal perched up there too, & CB toucans. Mindo is only five miles away from the lodge too.)
I didn't do Mindo as there was a festival on, the entire place is undergoing rebuild - roads & pavements - & I still had plenty to go at in Tandayapa.
I used the cheapest hire car (still $100 /day! ) & it managed the dirt/rock roads ok - just! The Tandayapa valley is only dirt roads as is the last few miles to Wild Sumaco.
Despite the directions from the website some of the places were not easy to find - many of the dirt roads' entrances from main roads not obvious and signs old / dirty.
I had to do more travelling than necessary due to availability of lodges - but both slopes are very doable if you get it right.
The weather was mixed with rain every day except one and only on my last was Papallacta possible to bird - so I only did a bit of that. The other times I was up there I couldn't even see due to dense cloud.
I did the Oilbird cave - the drive again mainly on v bad dirt roads averaging 10 km/hr. & distances somewhat inaccurate from the website! If ever I wished I had a 4x4 it was getting there! At one point we had to wait for the road to be levelled by a steamroller before we could use it!
If you don't get lost in Quito like I did then Airport to Tandayapa takes only 2 hours - unless a fatal accident blocks the road like it did for me!
I saw others using sat navs which showed the most minor roads - so that might be a good option.
I stayed at all three.
Wild Sumaco was excellent.
I hired a car & didn't have a guide. I probably would have had more stuff pointed out if I had - but I prefer id ing my own stuff.
If you do Tandayapa I'd say Bellavista rather than Tandayapa lodge. The birding is v good around there, the location nicer. (I stayed at Sachatamia lodge which had excellent hummer feeders and forest trails - both Quetzals amongst a host of other stuff - & managed to see both Short-tailed nightjar at dawn and Black & chestnut Eagle from the tanager feeder viewpoint - & had Quetzal perched up there too, & CB toucans. Mindo is only five miles away from the lodge too.)
I didn't do Mindo as there was a festival on, the entire place is undergoing rebuild - roads & pavements - & I still had plenty to go at in Tandayapa.
I used the cheapest hire car (still $100 /day! ) & it managed the dirt/rock roads ok - just! The Tandayapa valley is only dirt roads as is the last few miles to Wild Sumaco.
Despite the directions from the website some of the places were not easy to find - many of the dirt roads' entrances from main roads not obvious and signs old / dirty.
I had to do more travelling than necessary due to availability of lodges - but both slopes are very doable if you get it right.
The weather was mixed with rain every day except one and only on my last was Papallacta possible to bird - so I only did a bit of that. The other times I was up there I couldn't even see due to dense cloud.
I did the Oilbird cave - the drive again mainly on v bad dirt roads averaging 10 km/hr. & distances somewhat inaccurate from the website! If ever I wished I had a 4x4 it was getting there! At one point we had to wait for the road to be levelled by a steamroller before we could use it!
If you don't get lost in Quito like I did then Airport to Tandayapa takes only 2 hours - unless a fatal accident blocks the road like it did for me!
I saw others using sat navs which showed the most minor roads - so that might be a good option.
Thanks. I would probably not do the oilbird cave, because we have seen them more than once in Trinidad.
I have a downloaded map on the ipad that has been very detailed in other places and which plays nicely with my GPS. Does not give verbal alerts, but probably enough.
I think the reason I have trouble right now is that there are so many places that sounds great and not enough time to do them all ...
Niels
I have a downloaded map on the ipad that has been very detailed in other places and which plays nicely with my GPS. Does not give verbal alerts, but probably enough.
I think the reason I have trouble right now is that there are so many places that sounds great and not enough time to do them all ...
Niels
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