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Vacational Trip Reports
Ten weeks in Ecuador, 2010
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<blockquote data-quote="ovenbird43" data-source="post: 2007706" data-attributes="member: 64478"><p><strong>6-8 Jan: Tapichalaca Reserve</strong></p><p></p><p>This was our last stop in our honeymoon tour of the Andes. We traveled by bus from Zamora back to Loja, and from there caught a bus headed for Zumba in southern Ecuador. The reserve entrance is right on the main road, so we planned to hop of when it came into view. It was a rather exciting bus ride- the pavement of this "major highway" ended somewhere south of Vilcabamba, and the road began to climb up into the mountains. As we entered the boundary of Podocarpus National Park, we left the degraded cow pastures and entered cloud forest shrouded in mist, and the road conditions began to deteriorate. Large boulders partially blocked the road in places, forcing the bus to squeeze between a rock and... well, a sheer drop-off. Yikes! Add to this the muddy conditions that sometimes caused the bus to slide around alarmingly. I kept telling myself- "this driver knows what he's doing, he does this everyday" but Tom and I were both very relieved when we arrived safely to the lodge (Casa Simpson) at Tapichalaca. We were even more pleased to be greeted with mulled wine brought to our room- nice!</p><p></p><p>The porch at the lodge had the obligatory hummingbird feeders, visited by a combination of now-familiar species and new species: <strong>Speckled Hummingbird</strong>, <strong>White-bellied Woodstar</strong>, <strong>Fawn-breasted Brilliant</strong>, <strong>Long-tailed Sylph</strong>, <strong>Chestnut-breasted Coronet</strong>, <strong>Collared Inca</strong>, and <strong>Flame-throated </strong>and <strong>Amethyst-throated Sunangels</strong>. A quick check of the gardens and forest trail produced <strong>Unicolored</strong> and <strong>Chusquea Tapaculos</strong>, <strong>Gray-breasted Wood-Wren</strong>,<strong> Masked Flowerpiercer</strong>,<strong> Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager</strong>, <strong>Gray-hooded Bush-Tanager</strong>, and <strong>Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch</strong>.</p><p></p><p>Again we had the place to ourselves, although a group of young guys who had been traveling through Peru stopped by on our full day at the lodge for the Jocotoco Antpitta. On the morning of the 7th, we were all led by one of the lodge guides to an area where a family of antpittas have been habituated to people and come readily to mealworms. It was a gray, chilly morning that threatened with rain, but the antpittas were waiting for us. What an amazing experience! We all watched transfixed as an adult and a juvenile <strong>Jocotoco Antpitta</strong> bounded around practically at our feet, the juvenile a little more bold than the adult which would bound off into the forest after grabbing a few mealworms. We could hear a few more antpittas nearby, and that funny laughing call of theirs especially delighted Tom. In the dark conditions my photos came out crap, although I got a couple decent videos which I will post soon. We watched for maybe 45 minutes or so, when it began to rain and we worked our way back to the lodge.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ovenbird43, post: 2007706, member: 64478"] [B]6-8 Jan: Tapichalaca Reserve[/B] This was our last stop in our honeymoon tour of the Andes. We traveled by bus from Zamora back to Loja, and from there caught a bus headed for Zumba in southern Ecuador. The reserve entrance is right on the main road, so we planned to hop of when it came into view. It was a rather exciting bus ride- the pavement of this "major highway" ended somewhere south of Vilcabamba, and the road began to climb up into the mountains. As we entered the boundary of Podocarpus National Park, we left the degraded cow pastures and entered cloud forest shrouded in mist, and the road conditions began to deteriorate. Large boulders partially blocked the road in places, forcing the bus to squeeze between a rock and... well, a sheer drop-off. Yikes! Add to this the muddy conditions that sometimes caused the bus to slide around alarmingly. I kept telling myself- "this driver knows what he's doing, he does this everyday" but Tom and I were both very relieved when we arrived safely to the lodge (Casa Simpson) at Tapichalaca. We were even more pleased to be greeted with mulled wine brought to our room- nice! The porch at the lodge had the obligatory hummingbird feeders, visited by a combination of now-familiar species and new species: [B]Speckled Hummingbird[/B], [B]White-bellied Woodstar[/B], [B]Fawn-breasted Brilliant[/B], [B]Long-tailed Sylph[/B], [B]Chestnut-breasted Coronet[/B], [B]Collared Inca[/B], and [B]Flame-throated [/B]and [B]Amethyst-throated Sunangels[/B]. A quick check of the gardens and forest trail produced [B]Unicolored[/B] and [B]Chusquea Tapaculos[/B], [B]Gray-breasted Wood-Wren[/B],[B] Masked Flowerpiercer[/B],[B] Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager[/B], [B]Gray-hooded Bush-Tanager[/B], and [B]Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch[/B]. Again we had the place to ourselves, although a group of young guys who had been traveling through Peru stopped by on our full day at the lodge for the Jocotoco Antpitta. On the morning of the 7th, we were all led by one of the lodge guides to an area where a family of antpittas have been habituated to people and come readily to mealworms. It was a gray, chilly morning that threatened with rain, but the antpittas were waiting for us. What an amazing experience! We all watched transfixed as an adult and a juvenile [B]Jocotoco Antpitta[/B] bounded around practically at our feet, the juvenile a little more bold than the adult which would bound off into the forest after grabbing a few mealworms. We could hear a few more antpittas nearby, and that funny laughing call of theirs especially delighted Tom. In the dark conditions my photos came out crap, although I got a couple decent videos which I will post soon. We watched for maybe 45 minutes or so, when it began to rain and we worked our way back to the lodge. [/QUOTE]
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Ten weeks in Ecuador, 2010
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