Cloudforests of the Western Slopes (10 days from £1,315)

Overview

Experience some of the best and easiest birding in the Americas on this 10 day trip to the cloudforests of Ecuador’s western Andes where you will be treated to an array of humming birds and mixed feeding flocks along with lekking Andean Cock-of-the Rocks, birds such as Tanagers, Toucans, Motmots, Cotingas and Potoos, and previously almost mythological bird families such as Ant-pittas and Wood-creepers...

• Average number of birds expected to be seen & heard: 300 - 350 species.
• Climatic zones visited: 4 out of six
• Altitude Range: 700 to 4000 meters (2100 to 12,000 feet)
• Vegetation types: 5 Lower and upper montane rainforest ( cloud forest ), North Ecuadorian Grassland & quebrada vegetation, Grass Paramos, shrub and cushion paramos.

Details

• Regular departures – leaving every month ask us for exact dates
• 10-day trip begins and ends in Quito
• 2 nights Quito, 2 nights Maquipucuna, 2 nights Bellavista, 3 nights Sachatamia
• Tour Cost from £1,315 per person, based on two people sharing a double room, excluding international flights. Includes all accommodation, guide services, meals, transport.

Outline Itinerary
Day 1 – Arrive in Quito
Day 2 – Non-Mindo Road – Yanacocha – Maquipucuna
Day 3-4 – Maquipucuna
Day 5-6 – Bellavista
Day 7-9 – Sachatamia
Day 10 – Flight home

NOTE:

Land cost includes:

• All accommodation, guide services, transport
• All meals, except lunch and dinner in Quito
• The price is based on 2 people sharing a double room.
• Entrances to any reserves or national parks.

Land Cost Does Not Include:

• International airfare
• Departure Tax from Ecuador ($43 per person)
• Alcoholic beverages or bottled drinks.
• Gratuities

Single Supplement:

If you a single traveller, but are happy to share with a fellow traveller of the same sex, we will try and organise for you to pair up. However if this isn’t possible, or you would prefer your own room, there is a single supplement cost of £190 per person.

 

If you would like any more information or to chat over the details of the trip we would be delighted to help. Telephone 01482 872 716 for more information or email us today.

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Itinerary

Day 1 – Arrival – transfer to your hotel in Quito The rest of the day to relax and recover from your flight (a city tour of Quito, a UNESCO world heritage site thanks to its beautiful colonial architecture can be organised on request).

Day 2 – Nono-Mindo road – Yanacocha – Bellavista An early start to bird the famous Nono-Mindo Road as you drive west from Quito. This road passes through the Alambi River valley with beautiful tracts of temperate and subtropical forest. An ‘Ecoruta’ the road is also known as el Paseo del Quinde, named as a result of the large number of hummingbirds found in this section of the northwestern slope, most famously the rare and endemic Black-Breasted Puffleg one of the rarest hummingbirds in the world, along with other Choco endemics. From here onto Jocotoco Foundations Yanachocha Reserve, just 30 minutes drive from Quito, a wet temperate forest reserve, set up mainly to protect the endemic Black-breasted Puffleg as well as the Golden-breasted Pufflegs, Sapphire-vented Pufflegs, Great Sapphirewing and Buff-winged Starfrontlet are some of the other hummingbirds that can be spotted here. Arriving at Maquipucuna late afternoon for some birding around the lodge.

Day 3 – Maquipucuna Located within the Choco-Andean corridor, one of the top five ‘biodiversity hotspots’ on earth, Maquipucuna is surrounded by 35,000 hectares of primary and secondary forests and is a great place for birding Choco Endemics and birds of the western Andes. Home to over 350 species of birds including the Golden-headed Quetzal, Crimson-rumped Toucanet, Violet-tailed Sylph, Broad-billed Motmot and Andean Cock-of-the-Rock. A pioneering conservation project in Ecuador which has been working for over 20 years, the lodge itself is located in a 6,000 hectare private reserve which covers a range of altitudes from 1,000 to 2,800 meters above sea level. 80 percent of Maquipucuna consists of steelply-sloped, undisturbed cloud forest.

Day 4 – Macquipucuna – Bellavista Early morning birding around the lodge, before we depart for Bellavista birding all the way. At an elevation of 1,650 to 2,350 meters, with plunging valleys and tall trees festooned with orchids and bromeliads, the forest around Bellavista is a perfect place to find restricted range birds such as the Plate-billed Mountain Toucan, the Toucan Barbet, and the rare Tanager-Finch as well as a host of hummingbirds. Around the lodge are an excellent network of more than 10 km of trails through the lodges700 hectare reserve.

Day 5 – Bellavista Full days birding in the trails around the lodge.

Day 6 – Bellavista – Sachatamia Early morning birding around Bellavista before heading to Sachatamia. Sachatamia at an altitude of 1700meters, offers spectacular hummingbird viewing, settled in a private forest of around 300 hectares with close to 200 bird species seen in the area and reserve. Other attractions include a nearby cock of the rock lek and one of the two ‘LEK’ registered in Ecuador as pertaining to the Umbrellabird Longuipendulo.

Day 7 – Sachatamia – Angel Paz Birding at Sachatmia, and a visit to Angel Paz, this small private reserve has become the latest birding sensation in the northwest and is sometimes affectionately referred to as "the antpitta farm". Here Angel Paz, a local farmer has gained the trust of some normally rare and shy forest species by offering them juicy worms. Yellow-breasted, Moustached, and Giant Antpittas are now regularly seen here (Yellow-breasted being the most reliable), and the local covey of Dark-backed Wood-Quail is seen on perhaps one out of three visits. Other forest birds regularly encountered are Golden-headed Quetzal, Toucan Barbet, Crimson-rumped Toucanet, and Scaled Fruiteater. Crested Quetzal can occasionally be found at fruiting trees.

Day 8 – Sachatamia – Milpe – Rio Silanche Today visiting two reserves run by the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation, Milpe and Rio Silanche. Milpe Bird Sanctuary, located in the Birdlife International defined Important Bird Area (IBA) Los Bancos—Milpe. A 62 hectare (155 acre) sanctuary covers an altitudinal range from 1020-1150m (3350-3770 ft) and includes two small rivers that converge in a steep, forested valley. Bird guides consider this one of the finest sites in all of Ecuador. Many of the most spectacular Chocó Endemics occur here: Plumbeous Forest-Falcon, Glistening-green Tanager, Chocó Trogon, Club-winged Manakin and Long-wattled Umbrellabird. This site is known for being the easiest place in the world to find the rare Moss-backed Tanager!

Choco Lowland Rio Silanche Bird Santuary is a 80 hectare (200 acre) reserve with a 15 meter (50 feet) canopy observation tower. This important site, one of the last remaining accessible forest remnants found in this key area, is situated in low foothills between 300-350m. The main feature at Silanche is the incredible birding: mixed flocks bombard the visitor all day without a break. Furthermore these flocks include many important Chocó endemics you won’t otherwise find without arranging a trip to Esmeraldas or Colombia: Purple-chested Hummingbird, Chocó Trogon, Double-banded Graytail, Griscom’s Antwren, Stub-tailed Antbird, Black-tipped Cotinga, Slate-throated Gnatcatcher, Scarlet-breasted Dacnis, Scarlet-and-white Tanager, Blue-whiskered Tanager.

Day 9 – Sachatamia – Quito After a last morning birding around the lodge, you drive back to Quito....still birding all the way! Overnight Quito.

Day 10 – Quito Transfer to the airport for flight home.

Please note: Itineraries are unlikely to change significantly but are subject to change. Weather, wildlife breeding, instructions from the Galapagos National Park, specific abilities and interests of passengers as well as operational matters may cause your guide or captain to change the times or nature of your visits. Your guide will always endeavour to have the best itinerary for you within these constraints.

 

If you would like any more information or to chat over the details of the trip we would be delighted to help. Telephone 01482 872 716 for more information or email us today.

Accommodation

 

If you would like any more information or to chat over the details of the trip we would be delighted to help. Telephone 01482 872 716 for more information or email us today.