One Day Bird Tour in Ecuador (1 Viewer)

MariettaBirder · Aug 30, 2009

If you have only one day in Quito like we did before flying to the Galapagos (8 August 2009), and can handle the altitude (first stop on this tour was at 11,500 feet), I highly recommend Robert Jonsson of Avestravel (http://www.avestravel.com/; [email protected]). I arranged my tour through the fine folks at the Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve (http://www.bellavistacloudforest.com/; [email protected]).

Robert picked me up at the hotel in Quito at 5:30AM for an all day trip, including a boxed breakfast and lunch at the Bellavista eco-resort, returning me to the hotel by 6:00PM. My cost was $260 U.S. (the per person cost is less if more people go) – not inexpensive, but well worth it as I saw or heard nearly 70 species of birds including 19 species of hummingbirds, many colorful tanagers, and a toucan. All but one of these was a lifer for me, because this was my first visit to Ecuador.

Marko007 · Sep 1, 2009

Hi Marietta,

I have heared from the bella vista cloudforest lodge, but i have not been there.
Would you recommend to stay there a week ??
Did you see any Antpittas ??
chears
Marko

MariettaBirder · Sep 2, 2009

Marko007 said:
Hi Marietta,

I have heared from the bella vista cloudforest lodge, but i have not been there.
Would you recommend to stay there a week ??
Did you see any Antpittas ??
chears
Marko

Marko,

A week might be a bit long unless you are planning on taking side trips to some of the other reserves in the area. My guide took me to Yanacocha in the morning. It's an hour or more's drive from Bellavista over a very poor road. It is also at 3550 meters (11,500ft), so you need to be sure you can deal with the altitude, or get some Diamox before you go. Bellavista is lower at 2300 meters, but still might be a problem for someone sensitive to altitudes.

I strongly recommend having a guide on any side trips unless you are already familiar with getting around in the Ecuadorian back country. I don't know if Bellavista offers side trips. You'd have to contact them.

Also Bellavista is a bit rustic, though it was quite clean and appeared to be well run. The descriptions and photos on their web site are fairly close to reality.

I didn't see any Antpitttas, but we heard one or two Tawnies at Yanacocha. Robert was able to identify its call for me--another reason to hire an experienced birding guide like Robert. Several of the birds of my total were only heard.

jc122463 · Sep 2, 2009

Marko007 said:
Hi Marietta,

I have heared from the bella vista cloudforest lodge, but i have not been there.
Would you recommend to stay there a week ??
Did you see any Antpittas ??
chears
Marko

Hi Marko,
Bella Vista is a great area to spend a week if you plan some side trips. Angel Paz is very nearby (where they have Antpitta's coming in to eat worms). Last time I was at Bella Vista there were actually a couple Antpitta species coming into the compost heap there as well. I've heard that Milpe road isn't quite what it once was but I think the guides down there have other good areas as well. Mile marker 101.4 is also great as well as Pedro Vicente Maldanado.
Yanacocha, Papallacta, and Antisana are all great areas right around Quito. All of the places I've mentioned are easily accessible from Bella Vista. If you don't hear from them, another two lodges right in the same area are run by Tropical Birding and Mindo Bird Tours. All of these places have fairly similar species, though the Mindo Bird Tours lodge has a wider range of elevations. (Both Tropical Birding and Mindo Bird Tours should be able to provide local guides/transportation to other areas as well.)
There are quite a few other places around as well, but these are the three I've had the best luck with.
Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me with any other questions.

Cheers,
Benji

Birdingcraft · Sep 2, 2009

jc122463 said:
Hi Marko,
Bella Vista is a great area to spend a week if you plan some side trips. Angel Paz is very nearby (where they have Antpitta's coming in to eat worms). Last time I was at Bella Vista there were actually a couple Antpitta species coming into the compost heap there as well. I've heard that Milpe road isn't quite what it once was but I think the guides down there have other good areas as well. Mile marker 101.4 is also great as well as Pedro Vicente Maldanado.
Yanacocha, Papallacta, and Antisana are all great areas right around Quito. All of the places I've mentioned are easily accessible from Bella Vista. If you don't hear from them, another two lodges right in the same area are run by Tropical Birding and Mindo Bird Tours. All of these places have fairly similar species, though the Mindo Bird Tours lodge has a wider range of elevations. (Both Tropical Birding and Mindo Bird Tours should be able to provide local guides/transportation to other areas as well.)
There are quite a few other places around as well, but these are the three I've had the best luck with.
Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me with any other questions.

Cheers,
Benji

Ditto what Benjo says. A few Antpitta species occur at Bellavista although they are most easily seen with Angel.

UTCbirder · Sep 2, 2009

our group hung our hats at tandayapa bird lodge, just downslope from bellavista, and the feeders there were incredible! comfortable, with other good birds seen from the deck and surrounding trails. three or four days would be fine- we stayed four but traveled to other nearby hotspots. i do recall the trek from the parking lot up to the rooms complex and back twice a day (or more if we returned for lunch) up the side of a hill had me huffing a bit, but on the positive side i think i lost 15 lbs!

when i was on the east side in july, our Trop Birding guide mentioned that "the antpittas are no longer coming in to Angel's place". Wonder if there is anyone who can verify this?
we had 4 species there in '06, and of course it's a good spot otherwise sans pittas.

we had great views and photos of chestnut-crowned (or is it "headed"?) at the guango lodge parking lot, coming in for a a wriggly handout...

regards,
UTC

One Day Bird Tour in Ecuador (1 Viewer)

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