Enjoy Ecuadorian Endemics and Tumbesian Birds

After arriving in Guayaquil, you will be picked up at the airport and transferred to your hotel.

Night: Gran Hotel, Guayaquil

After an early breakfast we will drive to Cerro Blanco, where we will visit Manglares Churute at Lake El Canclon, an area surrounded by marshes and dry forest. Our target bird here is the prehistoric-looking Horned Screamer (as this is the only place in Ecuador where the bird breeds), but while there we will also look for Least Bittern, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Least Grebe, Masked and Comb Ducks, Snail Kite, Savannah Hawk, Wattled Jacana, White-throated Crake, Masked Water-Tyrant, Peruvian Meadowlark, and Pacific Pygmy-Owl. After lunch we will embark on the four-hour drive to Santa Ysabel.

Night: Hotel Agua y Sol, Santa Isabel

This morning we will search for one of Ecuador’s (and the world’s) most threatened species, the Pale-headed Brush-Finch, rediscovered here by Niels Krabbe. This is the only known population of this Ecuadorian endemic. We will also have a chance at locating Purple-collared and Little Woodstars. After lunch we will travel to the Umbrella Bird Lodge, where we will search for the lodge’s namesake, the Long-wattled Umbrellabird.

Night: Umbrella Bird Lodge

We will have a full day at Umbrella Bird Lodge, where we will walk the trails in search of El Oro Parakeet and El Oro Tapaculo, two more Ecuadorian endemics. We will also have plenty of time to enjoy the lodge’s hummingbird feeders; who knows what may show up!

Night: Umbrella Bird Lodge

After an early breakfast we will spend the morning combing the trails for any species that we may have missed the previous day. After lunch we will travel to Macara, where we will spend the next two nights at the Jorupe Reserve. On the way we will make a special stop to look for Tumbes Swift, White-headed Brush-Finch, and Tumbes Swallow.

Night at Jorupe Reserve.

After breakfast we will explore the reserve’s trails in search of Tumbesian specialties such as Watkin’s Antpitta. Henna-hooded and Rufous-necked Foliage-Gleaners, and Gray-breasted Flycatcher. After lunch we will drive up to the Utuana Reserve, where at this higher elevation we hope to find Rainbow Starfrontlet, Purple-throated Sunangel, Piura Hemispingus, Black-crested Tit-Tyrant, Chapman’s Antshrike, and Gray-headed Antbird.

Night: Jorupe Reserve

After an early breakfast, we will return to the Utuana Reserve to clean up any species we may have missed yesterday. Then we will travel to Loja, stopping en route at Catamayo (also known as “Finch Heaven”) to look for Tumbes Sparrow, Drab Seedeater.

Night: Hotel El Libertador

After breakfast we will visit the Cajanuma area of Podocarpus National Park, looking for Black-headed Hemispingus, Blue-backed Conebill, Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan, Plushcap, Golden-crowned Tanager, Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager, and the hard-to-find Masked Mountain-Tanager. After a tasty lunch in the town of Vilcabamba (also known as the “Valley of Longevity”), we will begin the 2.5 hour drive to the Tapichalaca Reserve, where we will spend the next two nights. Upon arrival we will be free to relax and enjoy the hummingbird feeders!

Night: Casa Simpsom.

This morning we will hike the Quebrada Honda Trail to a very special feeder area where “Panchito” the Jocotoco Antpitta comes in for his breakfast! Other tough-to-see targets we will search for include Ocellated, Ash-colored, and Chusquea Tapaculos. After lunch we will road-bird on the way to the town of Valladolid, where we will search for Maranon Thrush. As darkness approaches, we will try for Andean Potoo and Rufous-bellied Nighthawk.

Night: Casa Simpsom

After an early breakfast we will spend the morning birding the lodge grounds in search of anything we may have missed. After lunch we will drive to Bomboscaro and the Copa Linga Lodge, where we will spend the next two nights. We will have time this afternoon to search the lodge grounds for Wire-crested Thorntail, Spangled Coquette, and Violet-fronted and Black-throated Brilliants.

Night: Copa Linga Lodge

We will spend the day birding the Bomboscaro area, where we hope to find such target species as Amazonian Umbrellabird, Coppery-chested Jacamar, Highland Motmot, Andean Cock-of-the-rock (the orange eastern race), and Olive Finch. In addition, there’s always the possibility of a tanager flock that will include such gems as Paradise, Green-and-gold, Yellow-bellied, Spotted, Magpie, and Fulvous-crested Tanagers.

Night: Copa Linga Lodge

After a morning of clean-up birding along the trails at Copa Linga, we will head for the beautiful city of Cuenca, which was declared a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1999.

Night: Inca Real Hotel.

After breakfast we will start the hour-long drive to El Cajas National Park, where we will search for Tit-like Dacnis, Violet-throated Metaltail, Red-rumped Bush-Tyrant, Bar-winged and Stout-billed Cinclodes, and Giant Conebill. At Toreadora Lake (12,000 ft) we will have a chance to see Andean Ruddy Duck, Andean Coot, and Andean Teal, and if the day is sunny, Andean Condor as well. We head back to Guayaquil in the afternoon.

Night:Gran Hotel Guayquil.

Transfer out

Ask for the ORANGE THROATED TANAGER 3 Days / 2 Nights

PD: If you have more time you can choose an extension to The Amazon Base; Machalilla National Park or Galapagos Islands tours.