Tumbesian endemics and southern Andes

Arrival in Guayaquil. Transfer from the airport to our hotel. Briefing on the upcoming trip. Dinner and overnight stay in a comfortable hotel.

We will take the road south to the Manglar de Churute reserve from Guayaquil. This reserve mainly consists of dry woods and scrubland, with many mangroves where local fishermen hunt crabs. After walking the reserve trails, we will also have the opportunity to take a boat ride through the labyrinthine mangrove forests in search of aquatic species that thrive in this peaceful ecosystem. We will then continue our descent towards the south through rice fields and banana and cocoa plantations. Arrival in the late afternoon at the private reserve of Buenaventura, where we will spend the night.

Dinner and overnight in a charming lodge.

This reserve belongs to the Jocotoco Foundation. It hosts many threatened species between the subtropical and foothill forest altitudinal levels. The area is located in the contact zone between the southern end of the Chocó bio-region and the northern end of the Tumbesian bio-region. Therefore, it contains species from both regions, and the considerable bird checklist of the reserve reflects this. We will first explore the upper part of the reserve, which is more humid, in search of Chocó species and two highly localized megas (endemic to the Province of El Oro). Afterward, we will walk through the drier, lower part of the reserve for the Tumbesian species.

Dinner and overnight in a charming lodge.

This morning, we will spend time exploring new trails in the reserve before spending some time photographing hummingbirds around the feeders. Buenaventura Reserve is also home to a large number of endangered and endemic orchid species, such as Dracula cordobae and the spectacular Cattleya maxima, and mammals like coatis and agoutis can also be found. We will hopefully be able to observe many of these other natural wonders during our stay. We should also be able to head out on the trails at night in search of owls and nightjars.

Dinner and overnight in a charming lodge.

We will leave Buenaventura early in the morning and head southeast to the Peruvian border near Macara. The few stops along the way will allow us to look for some species typical of the semi-desert ecosystems of the Tumbesian region. Arrival in the late afternoon in the Jorupe reserve.

Dinner and overnight in a charming lodge.

The Jorupe Reserve also belongs to the Jocotoco Foundation. It protects several hectares of typical Tumbesian forest made up of tall, intractable scrub and low deciduous forest dominated by Kapok trees (or Ceibos) with gigantic trunks. These dry forests have largely been destroyed to make way for agriculture. This ecosystem is home to many endemics and specialized species. We will search for all these specialties throughout the day from the access track and the paths winding through this dense forest.

Dinner and overnight at a charming lodge.

Today, we will drive to Utuana Reserve, a new reserve owned by the Jocotoco Foundation. Our first stop will be in the village of Sozoranga, where we will look for a colony of Red-banded Swallows. We will then spend most of the day exploring the reserve’s trails. The reserve is home to dwarf highland forest mixed with scrub and dense patches of Chusquea bamboo. Many of the species found here are endemic to Ecuador.

We return to our lodge to spend the last night.

Today, we will begin climbing the Andes. We will slowly climb the foothills of the western range, passing through the semi-desert valleys of Catamayo, where new vegetation of savannahs and scrub awaits us. In the middle of the day, we will pass through the peaceful village of Vilcabamba and then continue our journey to the Tapichalaca lodge.

Dinner and night in a charming lodge.

This legendary reserve is home to the only known population of Jocotoco Antpitta. The story of the discovery of this antpitta represents one of the historic achievements of neo-tropical ornithology in the last twenty years. The reserve is also home to a large area of temperate forest on the edge of the Podocarpus National Park, threatened by the rapid increase in agriculture and livestock farming. Several rare and hard-to-see species are common here. During our three-day stay, we will explore the different trails in the reserve, allowing us to access different high-altitude ecosystems. We will also take half a day to descend into the upper valley of the Rio Marañon, home to several endemic species with a limited distribution.

Dinner and night in a charming lodge.

We will take some time on this last morning to descend into the upper valley of the Rio Marañon and explore this unique area, home to several endemic species with a restricted distribution. We will then continue eastwards into the Jivaro territories of the upper Nangaritza Valley to the Yankuam Lodge. This small reserve and rustic lodge are located at the foot of the mysterious Cordillera del Condor, at the gateway to Shuar Indigenous territory. Many surprises await us here, but the star bird is undoubtedly the wonderful Orange-throated Tanager.

Dinner and night in a rustic lodge.

This reserve is home to many ornithological surprises. We will walk along the road from our lodge to the small Shuar village of Shaime in search of local birdlife. Birding the road and the short trails in this lower section should yield good numbers of tanagers, jacamars, flycatchers, and woodcreepers, and we will hopefully come across several big mixed flocks. We will also go out at night in search of some local rarities.

Dinner and overnight in a rustic lodge.

Today, we will leave early to explore the impressive tropical vegetation of the Nuevo Paraiso Reserve. This reserve is located opposite the Cordillera del Condor and is protected by the Shuar people from the advancing mining industry. These isolated patches of forest are home to a wide variety of rare species.

Dinner and overnight in a rustic lodge.

Early departure from our lodge to go along the Cordillera del Condor one last time, for our last observations of this low altitude birdlife. Returning to Zamora will allow us to split our ascent to the north, explore the Copalinga Reserve, and take a well-earned rest. Upon arrival at Copalinga Lodge, we will spend the rest of the day at the hummingbird and fruit feeders in front of the lodge, where we can take photos and add new species to our list.

Dinner and overnight in a charming lodge.

Copalinga is located in the foothills of the eastern cordillera near Zamora and on the eastern edge of the Podocarpus National Park. Many species are restricted to this altitudinal range. We will first walk the trails of the Copalinga Lodge for low-altitude species. Then, we will go to the Bombuscaro entrance of the Podocarpus National Park for species limited to higher altitudes, spending some time birding the park trails.

Dinner and overnight at the same lodge.

A long day of driving awaits us today. We will leave the warm tropical atmosphere of the far east and head north. On the way, we will take time to explore the tropical vegetation of the old road from Loja to Zamora, famous for its large mixed flocks of tanagers. Depending on how much time we have left, we can stop in the town of Loja to try and see the rare Kopecks Screech Owl. Along the cordillera, we will bird the high-Andean vegetation to observe high-altitude birds like Rainbow Thornbill, Red-bellied Tanager, Green Thornbill, Mountain Caracara, Pale-naped Tohi, Blue-capped Conirostre. Arrival at the indigenous villa of Saraguro in the late afternoon.

Free dinner and nights in a hostel.

Traveling along the E35 highway allows us to visit some remote Andean areas. Near our base in Saraguro, the forests of Cerro Acanama will enable us to explore a little-known ecosystem rich in birdlife. We will take our time searching for Crescent-faced Antpitta and …. In the dense bamboo, before heading higher up to look for ….. Finally, we will attempt to locate the rare …. Cotinga, a tricky species with a highly localized range. Then, we will visit the Huashapamba Community Conservation Area, which protects one of the last remaining high-Andean forests in the region, a refuge for the Salvin's Caicos, which feeds on Miconia and Viburnum berries.

Free dinner and nights in a hostel.

The grasslands and shrubbery of the Cerro de Arcos highlands, a remote, hostile, windswept rock formation, was the scene in 2017 of one of the most surprising ornithological discoveries of recent decades. No one expected to find a population of a strange and unknown hummingbird here. At an altitude of 3700 meters, between the provinces of El Oro and Loja, the Chilla mountain range is home to only a few islands of native vegetation, mainly composed of terrestrial bromeliads and especially chuquiragua, whose orange flowers, typical of Ecuadorian páramos, are the primary source of food for the Blue-throated Hillstar. Once we’ve seen this spectacular hummingbird, we will return to the Santa Isabel Valley along the Giron road until we reach Yunguilla Reserve.

Dinner and overnight in a standard hotel.

Early lunch and transfer to the Yunguilla reserve to observe the only population of the endemic Grey Bushfinch and some other range-restricted species of this small area of foothill forest: Striped Bushfinch, Red-headed Grasshopper, Tawny-crested Tyrannulet, Ecuadorian Blackbird, Yellow-headed Cardinal. We will arrive in Cuenca in the evening. Dinner at leisure and overnight in a colonial hotel where we will enjoy a peaceful return to civilization. If you arrive early enough in Cuenca, take the time, even at night, to visit the city center, which is considered one of the most beautiful and pleasant in the country.

Dinner at leisure and overnight in a colonial hotel.

Today, we will visit the Cajas National Park, or the “Park of a Thousand Lakes.” In the heart of sumptuous and grandiose landscapes, we will explore different high-altitude ecosystems: temperate forest, Polylepis forest, páramos, and high-altitude lagoons. In these high-altitude areas, we will look for specialized species.

After lunch, at an altitude of more than 4000 meters, we will drive through the tropical heat of the banana, oil palm, and cocoa plantations to the largest city in Ecuador. We will arrive in Guayaquil in the afternoon for our international flight, where our magical sojourn through southern Ecuador comes to an end.