| Tour leaders Laura Fellows |
Limited to 8 participants
Minimum 4 participants |
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| Begins in Quito Saturday evening |
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$4050 |
November 15-30, 2008 (16 days, 15 nights)
Single Supplement = $300
Andes Mountains & Napo River lowlands of the Ecuadorian Amazon. |
Our bird and nature photo tour to the Andes Mountains and Amazon headwaters in Ecuador is specially designed for those wanting to make photographs of the very different bird species on the western and eastern slopes of the Andes and also the lowland rainforests of the Amazon headwaters. During this tour we'll traverse Papallacta Pass east of Quito, spend 4 nights on the east slope of the Andes, 4 nights on the west slope of the Andes, and 3 nights at Napo Wildlife Center in the Amazon basin of eastern Ecuador
In Papallacta Pass we'll seek out and photograph a variety of special birds such as possibly Andean Condor, Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe, Giant Hummingbird, and a variety of colorful mountain tanagers in addition to the amazingly photogenic tundra landscape in the highlands above the pass.
In the eastern Andes we'll spend 2 nights at lovely Guango Lodge near the village of Papallacta and 2 nights farther downslope at the excellent Cabanas San Isidro. Guango Lodge offers superb opportunities to photograph hummingbirds, tanagers, and flowerpiercers near the numerous feeders and in the surrounding gardens. Some of the hummingirds we can expect to photograph are Chestnut-breasted Coronet, Tourmaline Sunangel, Sword-billed Hummingbird, and Collared Inca. Cabanas San Isidro offers opportunities for photographing antpittas that are conditioned to come into the open for food as well as a stunning variety of hummingbirds at feeders and brightly colored trogons, woodpeckers, tanagers, and other birds on the lodge grounds and in the surrounding forest.
After returning to Quito for a night, we'll continue on to the west slope of the Andes where we'll stay at beautiful Bellavista Lodge above the Tandayapa Valley for 2 nights and then comfortable Septimo Paraiso Lodge near Mindo for 2 additional nights. At Bellavista we'll be photographing a variety of hummingbirds at feeders as well as some special highland birds such as Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan, Toucan Barbet, and Turquoise Jay. At Mindo we'll have an opportunity to photograph the beautiful Andean Cock-of-the-Rock in full display plus up to 4 species of antpittas in a privately owned rainforest where the owner has learned how to call these rare and normally very secretive birds out of the forest. We'll also photograph many spectacular hummingbirds found in the western Andes as well as a variety of tanagers and other tropical birds.
After spending another night back in Quito, we'll take a short flight to Coca, gateway to the Ecuadorian Amazon. We then take an exotic boat trip down the Napo River and a tributary blackwater river to comfortable Napo Wildlife Center, an upscale lodge wholly owned and operated by indigenous people from the nearby village. With the help of our expert guides, we'll have numerous opportunities to photograph incredible Amazonian birds such as the bizarre Hoatzin, the boisterous Black-capped Donacobius, several species of parrots at two famous clay licks, and a variety of other tropical birds and other animals.
For additional description of this tour, please click on the DESCRIPTION tab above. For information on the places we stay, click on the ACCOMMODATIONS tab above.
Feel free to call us any time at 877-247-3371 (inside US) or 303-325-5188 (outside US) about this tour.
