Reserva Buenaventura and Umbrellabird Lodge (1 Viewer)

[gdhunter]

We're gearing up for our first visit south of northern Ecuador. A friend (former VENT guide) highly recommends Umbrellabird Lodge in Reserva Buenaventura, and it looks like a good choice. However, when we visit an unfamiliar tropical birding destination we often retain a local guide for the first full day or so to help us get our ornithological bearings, before finishing up the stay with mostly self-guided birding. The staff guides at Wildsumaco are a great example. Unfortunately (and somewhat surprisingly, to me at least), my contact at Umbrellabird Lodge tells me there are no staff guides and no knowledgeable birding guides living nearby. She mentions the staff forest rangers as one alternative but implies that their birding expertise is limited.

Can anyone recommend a guide who might be available for a full-day birding tour conducted at and around Umbrellabird Lodge. I know the for El Oro Parakeet we'll have to arrange travel to a more distant part of the reserve, but I want to concentrate on this one matter first.

 

[njlarsen]

A few years ago, I went on a trip centered about the four southern Jocotoco lodges and had a great time including at Umbrellabird. I also did not have a guide there but there were enough birders in the area that a little help could be had. One couple was traveling with a guide they had all the way from Quito. My visit was during the low season and except for excessive rain occasionally, this was a good place.
Niels