Birding Ecuador Tour
From a birdwatching Ecuador day trip to 3 days 2 nights (or longer), these packages offer a naturalist’s birder’s experience of the 700 hectares (2000 acres) of magnificent cloud forest that is protected by Bellavista Lodge. Birds, rare mammals, huge trees festooned with orchids and other epiphytes.
Alternative Tour Name: Bellavista Discovery Packages
6.15 / 6:30h: Departure from your hotel. Arrival at Bellavista and breakfast. 9.30 h: Our first Bellavista explorations start around the Lodge, and then along some of our trails. The hummingbird feeders will be the first attraction – Buff-Tailed Coronet, Violet-tailed Sylph, Gorgeted Sunangel, Booted Racket-tail and more. Then we will be looking for brightly – coloured birds like Toucan Barbet and Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan, and learning about the fascinating adaptations to life in a cloud forest ecosystem. Tall trees tower over us, festooned with mosses and an abundance of epiphytes, including delightful orchids and huge bromeliads. 13.00h: Lunch 15.00h: Further explorations will include discovering the differences between secondary and primary forests. From viewpoints that truly give a bird´s eye view of the well-preserved forests of the Tandayapa Valley, we may see soaring raptors. 19.00h: Tonight, expect to see really close up the delightful Olinguito, the first new species of mammal to be discovered in the Americas in the past 35 years, as of 2103! Guides have sometimes located the night perch of the strange Common Potoo… Overnight: Bellavista Cloud Forest Lodge. Meals: B, L, D
6.15: Early morning birding. Chances for Strong-billed Woodcreeper, White-tailed Tyrannulet, Turquoise Jay, Chestnut-crowned Antpitta, White-sided and Masked Flowerpiercer, Masked Trogon, and more, all around the lodge. You hardly need to walk any distance at all to see a great variety of birds! Some mornings the elusive Tayra (giant weasel) comes in to a feeding station right at the Lodge! 8:00h. Breakfast 9.30h. Two hikes are offered to cater for different interests, or for whether you desire to walk shorter or longer distances. One option is an adventurous hike to a waterfall hidden in the forest, a deep-forest experience where one option sees you climbing up the stream itself to get to the waterfall! A bird-oriented hike is always offered, and again some people choose to walk our Self-guided Trail (with or without a guide.. lots to learn and the forest is quite safe!) 13.00h. Lunch 15.00h. Hiking options include birding explorations along the ridge road, for Rusty-winged Barbtail, Streaked Tuftedcheek, Pearled Treerunner, Black- capped Hemispingus, tanager flocks and more. 19.00h. Dinner
6:15 h. Early morning bird hike. Option to go up the road to look for the range-restricted Tanager-Finch. And around the Lodge, there are always birds you did not see yesterday! Crimson- mantled Woodpecker, Grey-breasted Woodwren…. 8:00h: Breakfast 9.30h. Further hikes for discovery of the exuberant forests around the lodge – birding or naturalist focus. Also an option (extra cost) to take a half day trip to the nearby town of Mindo to experience a butterfly farm, and an artesan chocolate factory or for those with an adventurous spirit, Tubing in the Mindo river or Canopy Zipline! 13.00h. Lunch 14.30 / 15.00h. Departure for Quito 17.00h / 17.30h. Arrive at your Quito hotel
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