Amazon / Yasuni birding (1 Viewer)

[Antpitta'd]

Hi all, had excellent advice from various users wrt Colombia & Peru, which I've built into my trip plan - just a few questions when it comes to Ecuador.

I'll be on the Eastern slopes probably November / December, and was wondering if anyone has any recommendation for tours / guides etc. when it comes to Limoncocha, Yasuni, and further east. I'm keen to avoid the very expensive lodges (Sani etc.) but my concern is that the cheaper tours may not be be particularly bird focused. Ideally theres options cheaper than the most expensive lodges but with decent focus on birding.

Related question - has anyone stayed at Gareno (heard mixed reviews) or Rio Bigal? Both a little out of the way so curious if people think they're worth a stop.

Thanks in advance all!

 

[Dortmundbirder]

We did a budget Amazon entry and unguided in the Puerto Misahuallí area.
Of course you are not getting as many Amazon specialities as in the more remote areas but you pay around 1/10 of what you pay in the top lodges and it is easy accessible by car or public transport without having to rely on an organized tour.

I wrote a trip report about our trip, you find it here in the trip report section.

 

[Antpitta'd]

We did a budget Amazon entry and unguided in the Puerto Misahuallí area.
Of course you are not getting as many Amazon specialities as in the more remote areas but you pay around 1/10 of what you pay in the top lodges and it is easy accessible by car or public transport without having to rely on an organized tour.

I wrote a trip report about our trip, you find it here in the trip report section.

Thanks very much @Dortmundbirder I'll peruse your report, very nice Agami heron sighting!

 

[pbjosh]

Rio Bigal is amazing, some of the best birding in S America IMHO. It's a hike in and probably worth having gum boots, but once there it's tremendous. I believe they will prefer you to be in a group or overlap with another group for logistical reasons - not sure if they'd be keen on a solo visitor as I believe they basically only open when they have visitors. Definitely would get in touch with them. It's a great place to go if you want to go for hard species. Thierry and his crew are great. It is probably not the best site to just go casually dip your toes into Amazonian birding given the logistics of getting there.

Gareno is nearly defunct AFAIK. Certainly you can't stay there any more - 10 years ago the cabins had falling in floors and missing doors and were in an inexcusable state but were still being offered as lodging. Last I heard people were staying elsewhere and just day visiting with Sandro. Still some good birds there for sure though if you can access the land.

Around Limoncocha there are various smaller options. Pablo Hualingo and some of his relatives are independent guides there and have at times had cabins and properties where you see some birds easily (ie, Thrushlike and White-lored Antpitta, Black-banded Crake) but it seems that the various properties / businesses come and go. Last I heard was something called Cabañas Antpitta. Can look for that or Pablo on FB.

There is an independent lodge near Sani that has good birding and access to the Sani property and other sites around, Sinchi Wayra. They pick up / drop off in Coca like the others. Should be easy to find them online or I can give you contacts.

Shiripuno is not too terribly priced (or at least didn't used to be) and has fantastic birds and birding but similarly to Rio Bigal you'd need to get a group or overlap w/ a group for it to work.

 

[pbjosh]

Also worth adding - for several of these options you would need to speak Spanish. At Rio Bigal and for Shiripuno english should be fine. For a lot of the smaller places you'll be better off either with some Spanish or being good with google translate and the like

 

[Antpitta'd]

Rio Bigal is amazing, some of the best birding in S America IMHO. It's a hike in and probably worth having gum boots, but once there it's tremendous. I believe they will prefer you to be in a group or overlap with another group for logistical reasons - not sure if they'd be keen on a solo visitor as I believe they basically only open when they have visitors. Definitely would get in touch with them. It's a great place to go if you want to go for hard species. Thierry and his crew are great. It is probably not the best site to just go casually dip your toes into Amazonian birding given the logistics of getting there.

Gareno is nearly defunct AFAIK. Certainly you can't stay there any more - 10 years ago the cabins had falling in floors and missing doors and were in an inexcusable state but were still being offered as lodging. Last I heard people were staying elsewhere and just day visiting with Sandro. Still some good birds there for sure though if you can access the land.

Around Limoncocha there are various smaller options. Pablo Hualingo and some of his relatives are independent guides there and have at times had cabins and properties where you see some birds easily (ie, Thrushlike and White-lored Antpitta, Black-banded Crake) but it seems that the various properties / businesses come and go. Last I heard was something called Cabañas Antpitta. Can look for that or Pablo on FB.

There is an independent lodge near Sani that has good birding and access to the Sani property and other sites around, Sinchi Wayra. They pick up / drop off in Coca like the others. Should be easy to find them online or I can give you contacts.

Shiripuno is not too terribly priced (or at least didn't used to be) and has fantastic birds and birding but similarly to Rio Bigal you'd need to get a group or overlap w/ a group for it to work.

Thanks so much Josh, incredibly useful as usual - I'll make some enquiries and drop Thierry a message. Out of curiosity do you know how Sandro is as a guide, I've got a quote from him and curious if others have birded with him before.

with regards to Spanish, I speak decent functional Spanish so should be fine, although need to brush up on birding lingo. Thanks again - may drop in with more questions pending my various enquiries

 

[pbjosh]

Sandro was ok as a guide. Not amazing but knew the birds and critically the territories for key birds. But that was 10 years ago now.

I believe Rufous Potoo is no longer staked out at Gareno, unless it has changed again.

 

[Antpitta'd]

Rio Bigal is amazing, some of the best birding in S America IMHO. It's a hike in and probably worth having gum boots, but once there it's tremendous. I believe they will prefer you to be in a group or overlap with another group for logistical reasons - not sure if they'd be keen on a solo visitor as I believe they basically only open when they have visitors. Definitely would get in touch with them. It's a great place to go if you want to go for hard species. Thierry and his crew are great. It is probably not the best site to just go casually dip your toes into Amazonian birding given the logistics of getting there.

Gareno is nearly defunct AFAIK. Certainly you can't stay there any more - 10 years ago the cabins had falling in floors and missing doors and were in an inexcusable state but were still being offered as lodging. Last I heard people were staying elsewhere and just day visiting with Sandro. Still some good birds there for sure though if you can access the land.

Around Limoncocha there are various smaller options. Pablo Hualingo and some of his relatives are independent guides there and have at times had cabins and properties where you see some birds easily (ie, Thrushlike and White-lored Antpitta, Black-banded Crake) but it seems that the various properties / businesses come and go. Last I heard was something called Cabañas Antpitta. Can look for that or Pablo on FB.

There is an independent lodge near Sani that has good birding and access to the Sani property and other sites around, Sinchi Wayra. They pick up / drop off in Coca like the others. Should be easy to find them online or I can give you contacts.

Shiripuno is not too terribly priced (or at least didn't used to be) and has fantastic birds and birding but similarly to Rio Bigal you'd need to get a group or overlap w/ a group for it to work.

This is a dead thread but just in case anyone else has similar questions in future, we’ve just come back from a week at Rio Bigal (an absolute highlight of 8+ months travelling, one of my favourite ever places I’ve been to) - thanks so much for the recommendation Josh

We also did 5 days with Limoncocha expeditions run by Carlos Landazurri. Got almost all targets including the yellow breasted crake at Limoncocha, good accommodation and very well run tour all round, also cheap. Would recommend

 

[Hamhed]

This is a dead thread but just in case anyone else has similar questions in future, we’ve just come back from a week at Rio Bigal (an absolute highlight of 8+ months travelling, one of my favourite ever places I’ve been to) - thanks so much for the recommendation Josh

We also did 5 days with Limoncocha expeditions run by Carlos Landazurri. Got almost all targets including the yellow breasted crake at Limoncocha, good accommodation and very well run tour all round, also cheap. Would recommend

Not a “dead thread” at all. It’s good to see followup on birder’s intentions. My wife and I are scheduled to go to Sani Lodge in February. Cheapest of the major lodges but well above our normal price range. Harpy Eagle reported there yesterday among other Amazon specialties so we’re hoping we made the right choice for our retirement dollars.
Were your target birds similar to what could be found further down river, deeper into the Amazon? I’m not familiar with the habitat there.

Steve

 

[Antpitta'd]

Not a “dead thread” at all. It’s good to see followup on birder’s intentions. My wife and I are scheduled to go to Sani Lodge in February. Cheapest of the major lodges but well above our normal price range. Harpy Eagle reported there yesterday among other Amazon specialties so we’re hoping we made the right choice for our retirement dollars.
Were your target birds similar to what could be found further down river, deeper into the Amazon? I’m not familiar with the habitat there.

Steve

That’s amazing, I’m sure you’ll love it. We got nocturnal curassow and Sapphire quail dove at Bigal so our main targets were Salvins curassow, zigzag heron, plushcrown, reddish winged bare eye, cocoa antshrike, cotingas and more I’m probably forgetting. The only real misses were black necked red cotinga, reddish winged bare eye and purple throated cotinga.

We unexpectedly got Yellow shouldered grosbeak too which was a treat.

EBird trip report here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/314821?welcome=true

Worth noting we were both pretty unwell so days were much less intense than we’d normally do!

 

[Hamhed]

That’s amazing, I’m sure you’ll love it. We got nocturnal curassow and Sapphire quail dove at Bigal so our main targets were Salvins curassow, zigzag heron, plushcrown, reddish winged bare eye, cocoa antshrike, cotingas and more I’m probably forgetting. The only real misses were black necked red cotinga, reddish winged bare eye and purple throated cotinga.

We unexpectedly got Yellow shouldered grosbeak too which was a treat.

EBird trip report here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/314821?welcome=true

Worth noting we were both pretty unwell so days were much less intense than we’d normally do!

I’m unsure of where Bigal is located. Google Maps shows it west of Coca. Your report is mainly east of that town. Is there another Bigal close to Limoncocha?
Almost none of your target species are on the Sani Lodge list. Surely, much different habitat?

 

[Antpitta'd]

I’m unsure of where Bigal is located. Google Maps shows it west of Coca. Your report is mainly east of that town. Is there another Bigal close to Limoncocha?
Almost none of your target species are on the Sani Lodge list. Surely, much different habitat?

that trip report is purely Yasuní & Limoncocha , Bigal is further west and most of the trails are ~700-900m so will have largely different stuff. I’ve done some Amazon birding before so those targets will be more uncommon birds I missed elsewhere

I’d think Spangled & Plum throated cotinga should definitely be on the observation tower at Sani but the rest may be trickier! Sani is geographically very close to our checklists though so I don’t think it’d be drastically different.

 

[Hamhed]

Being our first trip to the Amazon, we are sure to see some good stuff whether that be birds, monkeys, frogs or reptiles.

Steve

 

[njlarsen]

Being our first trip to the Amazon, we are sure to see some good stuff whether that be birds, monkeys, frogs or reptiles.

Steve

Good luck Steve!
Niels

 

[Hamhed]

Good luck Steve!
Niels

Thanks, Niels! Can’t get enough of the neotropics. I’m sure it will be memorable.