Peru vs. Ecuador? (1 Viewer)

[kilianwasmer]

We want to visit South America for the first time. We are not sure, yet, what would be the better choice: Peru or Ecuador.

Background:

• We want to get an impression of an Andean transect.
• We want to travel independently, that is without a driver/guide if not necessary.
• We would hire a car or use public transport (if safe when travelling with camera equipment etc.)
• "Easy" travelling (hassle free, friendly people) would be fine.
• Accomodation should be okay but not too expensive.
• We don't speak Spanish, yet, but we will take a crash course before the trip.

So our questions are:

• Which destination would you recommend for a first trip to South America and which places should we visit?
• What's the best time to go there?
• Do you have to book anything in advance (accomodation, certain trips)?
• In which places would you highly recommend taking a guide?

PS: Equal thread in the Ecuador forum.

 

[njlarsen]

I have never been to exactly those two countries (both on my wish list) so no direct answers except for this: have you been to Central America before? if not, then one to two days early in the trip I would get a guide to help get the feel for the bird groups you have never seen before, such as what is a tyrant vs a furnarid vs an antbird, etc. Secondly, if your travels (as I expect they would) take you to heavily forested areas, that is where a good guide gives you the most bang for the buck. The longer you stay, the less necessary a guide will be.

Another issue: take the reports on altitude sickness seriously, make an itinerary that can allow you to change elevation upwards in a slow pace.

Niels

 

[OsageArcher]

For what it's worth, I've lived in Ecuador, visited Colombia a few times (my wife's family is located there in several cities), never been to Peru. I speak fluent Spanish.

I would not consider going to Ecuador or Peru without a guide, without speaking good Spanish, and carrying expensive optical equipment. You'd probably maybe be OK but no one can guarantee that. With a competent guide/driver you'd be a lot safer.

I'd also consider Colombia unless your hearts are set on Ecuador/Peru. There are competent guides, lots and lots of birds and spectacular views, and a bit better infrastructure at least connecting the larger cities and areas around them.

But I'd also consider Quito and areas around it, where I lived! No matter where you choose you will find most people friendly especially if you try to speak the language, but you also must always be aware of your surroundings. Crime is higher than in Deutschland!

 

[temmie]

No real favourite here.
I have been to Southern Peru, Northern Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. All are fine.

Some personal opinions:
Ecuador has the best species richness. However, it does not have a lot endemic birds as e.g. Northern Peru or Colombia. So sometimes, you don't know what to look for in particular, i.e. you will always see a lot of birds, but you have to know which ones are the good ones. Otherwise you end up with a list of 500+ in 3 weeks, but once you are in Colombia or Peru, it turns out that your 'fantastic' observations are much more common over there. Logistically, the relation birding time vs. transport time is the best for the Northern Ecuador transect, 2nd will be Colombia, 3rd Northern Peru. It is also quite easy because you only have two slopes: eastern and western Andes. This rules out a lot of similar looking species which only occur at one side of the Andes.
So Ecuador is the 'easiest' and probably most relaxed. If you do miss some birds, you have to come back, but then again, even if you are totally prepared, you cannot see all the birds in one trip to Ecuador. There are just too many. Most birding can be done on trails related to well-known lodges. You do not have to stay in those lodges but then you will be charged around 5$ for birding on the trails. The quality of trails and bird lists/site info is very good.

Next is Northern Peru. The good thing is, that you have specific defined targets for each site. So you have new birds in every site, but not an overload, unless you include the lowlands. The negative is the travelling distances and, lately, some reports of robbery and theft around Abra Patricia. Northern Peru is probably the cheapest of all considered options. You get to every birding location with public transport, and food/accomodation is quite cheap and reasonable in most places. About half of the birding is roadside, so expect to eat some dust and traffic exhaust fumes. But the birding is oh so rewarding with many unique and endemic species. check: http://users.ugent.be/~hmatheve/hm/PERU10.html for an excellent report.

Third and already mentioned by a previous poster is Colombia. This one is not as difficult as some people seem to think. It requires a little more logistical preparation and some reservations for Proaves lodges if you want to see all the endemics, but the travel distances are reasonable, people are very friendly, food is very nice, birds are fantastic etc. My draft report here: http://www.freewebs.com/lievendetemmerman/trip report colombia 2011.pdf

I must say I speak Spanish and it especially helps to prepare (emails) and once you want to get something done on the spot. But e.g. the people from the N-Peru report hardly spoke any Spanish and they managed very well...

To conclude: the safe shot is definitely Ecuador. If you are in travelling mood and have more time, I would recommend N-Peru. If you are willing to sort some things out beforehand, Colombia is very rewarding.

 

[COLOMBIA Birding]

[*]We don't speak Spanish, yet, but we will take a crash course before the trip.

Being honest, traveling in Colombia without speaking Spanish could be quite fun and complicated ... Lieven great post above recommends Colombia but he talks Spanish ;-)

 

[kilianwasmer]

Seems as if Ecuador was a good place to start...

 

[iraqbabbler]

I have not been to Ecuador so I cannot comment about it.

I have been to Peru twice and I would highly recommend it. I would also highly recommend that you use (at least partially) the services of Steve Sanchez. I say this especially in light of the fact that you're interested in "Andean Transect". Steve is the grand maestro of that and he is so good that the next time I go to Peru I'd hire him without thinking twice about it.

He is a man of the Andes (ethnic Quechua) and he will take you up and down the Andean slopes and cloud forests stopping at various altitudes to pick up the most wonderful birds. He knows where they are !!.

His fees are also very reasonable. You could use him for part/all of your trip.

Another idea: go to both Peru and Ecuador, you can get a taste of the birds of both countries in that case.

However, remember that both Peru and Ecuador have extremely rich avifaunas, so be prepared for the shock and don't expect to see everything in one trip.

There's a lot of wisdom in Niels's post above and I also highly agree with OsageArcher's post that a Spanish speaking guide is highly recommended.

As for the matter of safety; I found Peru to be very safe (but I was in the company of a Peruvian guide of course) and I found the Peruvian people to be very friendly, easy going (almost demure) and highly welcoming and polite.

If you need Steve's contact details, look him up on this forum (illapa) or PM me.