Birding Lodge in Ecuador
Ecuador birding lodge is offered by Bellavista Cloud Forest Lodge and Reserve is a birding and wildlife tourism project built on sound ecotourism foundations. Always looking with a view to the long-term conservation of the forest, we strive to have a low impact on natural resources, and a strong impact on people’s awareness of the value of such a cloud forest. Bellavista protects rare species, acts as a source of clean water for lower-lying areas, and importantly also is a place in nature to enjoy, to the bird, to relax, and to discover comfort and good food.
Naturalist/birding guide service is key to what Bellavista offers and this service is included in all the transport-inclusive packages. Guides will lead you on hikes of discovery along with the extensive trail system into the primary and secondary forest, discovering birds, orchids, bromeliads, and the ecosystem of the cloud forest. Exclusive bird guides are always available to enhance your birding Ecuador experience. And again, if you want to explore alone, this is perfectly safe (no wildlife dangers!) on the well-marked trails.
Ecuador Eco Lodge
The birding Eco Lodge Ecuador offers 17 rooms, which includes 4 superior rooms with vast views towards Pichincha Volcano and 13 “standard” rooms, which are in reality anything but standard, since we have a Bamboo house, a half-timbered Trailhead / German house, the Tandayapa Suite, Pichincha “Suite” and rooms in our original and emblematic Geodesic Dome. All ecolodge rooms offer great views! Rooms include en suites and have tea/coffee making facilities. The shared bath is also offered in the Dome for the budget-minded and camping is an option too. Student study groups will enjoy the Research Station/Hosteling on offer.
Guests can regard the birding Lodge as a home base from which to plan and organize their own birding and wildlife excursions, both within its private reserve and beyond in the surrounding region of northwestern Ecuador. (Activities and excursions can be pre-arranged, or arranged on the spot).
Our Guides
Juan Carlos is an Ecuadorian/Mexican biologist and nature/birding tour guide, grown in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. He is a passionate naturalist with a lifelong interest in wildlife, which evolved at the age of 20 into an absolute fascination with birds and conservation. In its beginnings, in birdwatching, his favourite place for birding was a forest in his hometown called Cerro Blanco Protected Forest. In which after a few years he decided to train to work as an environmental interpreter. This was a decisive step in his life, as this led him to discover his vocation to share his passion for the birds and their conservation.
During the last seven busy years, he has devoted himself entirely to working as a guide, travelling, and birding to new areas and has collaborated in bird conservation projects in Ecuador. He has travelled extensively to all 24 provinces of Ecuador, leading tours to different parts of the country especially the west, north and south of it. At the age of 29, he is one of the most experienced birders of Guayaquil and Ecuador, having seen over 1,100 species. Juan Carlos seeks to achieve its dream of encouraging bird conservation in Ecuador and guiding groups of birdwatchers worldwide.
Freddy Perez grew up in Quito, part of a family that loves nature and wildlife. He has been leading birding and naturalist tours since 2015 with various agencies in Ecuador. He loves sharing nature and particularly birds with his clients, and is also learning to play the guitar. He has been with Bellavista for recent years, and his enthusiasm and infectious passion for birds makes Freddy a very popular guide – right from dawn, he is out discovering the wilds!! Licensed from Ministry of Tourism guide
Jorge Luna is a local person born in Quito, but who grew up in Nanegalito. He has been leading birding tours since 2008 and has led groups all over Ecuador for various birding agencies. As an artist, he illustrates birds and creates nice identification booklets – ask him to describe his favourite bird to Paint – Sword-billed Hummingbird, Toucan Barbet? Licensed from Ministry of Tourism guide
Conservation is Bellavista´s driving force. Bellavista is a pioneer of cloud forest preservation and conservation in the Tandayapa Valley, and among the first to conserve such forest in the northwest of Ecuador´s Pichincha province. As the Eco Lodge grew (and grows), so too the number of hectares preserved from deforestation, or recuperated from cattle grazing (to date, over 400 hectares of our own, a further nearly 300 hectares protected through associated conservationist owners. so close to 2000 acres, protected). As of July 2019, Bellavista reserve (347 contiguous hectares) is the first private reserve to gain protected status under Ecuador´s National System of Protected Areas.
Hand in hand with purchasing forest to secure its long-term conservation, and protection of wildlife habitat, are the efforts to offer guided visits with a broad philosophy of interactive education. And people resident in the region have, through Bellavista´s efforts, learnt new ways of living with the forest. Bellavista´s influence has convinced many individuals to change from a forest-resource-extractive way of life, to efforts and jobs that on the contrary allow the forest to survive, creation of reserves, wildlife observation activities, etc.
All scientific studies conducted at a reserve like Bellavista give further importance to its conservation ideals. Bellavista has a small research station and welcomes research scientists and student groups to discover more about the little-known cloud forest ecosystem, and its little –studied wildlife and plants. New species are being discovered (70 new species of Noctuidae moths in 2015!)
Student groups of a variety of ages are welcome to stay and receive study programmes, with the help of Bellavista, but usually run by the guest institution.
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