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HOLIDAY AT SAN ISIDRO, ECUADOR
A bird-rich holiday escape, based primarily at the very comfortable San Isidro Lodge.
$2425 (2008 fee). 10 days
From Quito. Limit 8
Good accommodations, easy to moderate terrain, cool climate, moderate to high elevation. Our staff travel agents can book your air travel for this tour. Contact us at (800) 728-4953 for more information.
See our triplist for Christmas 2007 or Thanksgiving 2006 or Christmas 2005.
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Among the cabins at San Isidro
by guide Jan Pierson
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Based at San Isidro Lodge, an old Ecuadorian hacienda situated in the cloudforest at about 6800 feet, our tour will spend seven and a half days birding Ecuador’s rich eastern Andes while enjoying the delicious home-cooked meals and hospitality for which the lodge is known. San Isidro’s still-growing 2640-acre private reserve is sandwiched between critical and pristine national park lands that make it all the more rich and beautiful. To the west, temperate forest leads undisturbed right up to distant jagged paramo cliffs, while to the south and east are the forest-cloaked knife-edge ridges of the Cordillera de Huacamayos. And the birdlist at San Isidro features such glamorous species as Black-billed Mountain-Toucan, Black-chested Fruiteater, Bicolored Antvireo (only recently rediscovered), and Red-hooded Tanager.
To survey the temperate-zone species in a more complete fashion, we will stop for one night at Guango Lodge, right in the heart of beautiful temperate forest. Classic Andean species that frequent the “backyard” here include (the rare and local) Mountain Avocetbill, Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan, Tyrannine Woodcreeper, Hooded Mountain-Tanager, and Slaty Brush-Finch.
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This owl, discovered by guide Mitch Lysinger, is perhaps a new species. It is found at San Isidro and has been affectionately named "San Isidro Owl."
Photo by Larry Master |
At San Isidro itself we’ll have ample time to explore the numerous forest trails and wooded roadsides near the lodge. A Barred Antthrush may beckon us from the dense understory of mossy bamboo forest while a White-bellied Antpitta whistles from a fallen log out of sight. A late-afternoon hike down one of the trails leads to an Andean Cock-of-the-rock lek, and the hummingbird feeders just beyond the main dining room attract a menagerie colorful enough to dazzle anyone: Bronzy and Collared incas, Long-tailed Sylph, Speckled Hummingbird, and Fawn-breasted Brilliant are all regulars. And this is just the beginning. Some of the other possibilities here include White-rumped Hawk, Sickle-winged Guan, Speckle-faced Parrot, Golden-headed and Crested quetzals, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Tyrannine Woodcreeper, and Saffron-crowned, Flame-faced, Golden-naped, Beryl-spangled, and Black-capped tanagers.
To complete our survey of the eastern slope’s riches, we’ll spend some time in the lower foothills in search of Scarlet-breasted Fruiteater, Deep-blue Flowerpiercer, Bronze-green Euphonia, and Orange-eared, Golden, Paradise, and Golden-eared tanagers, as well as some truly spectacular hummers the likes of Wire-crested Thorntail, Many-spotted Hummingbird, Golden-tailed Sapphire, and the rare and local Napo Sabrewing. There is much to see and do, and our San Isidro getaway promises a delightfully exciting and distracting holiday break.
Contact our office by e-mail in Austin, Texas at fieldguides@fieldguides.com.
- 1+ 800-728-4953
- 1+ 512-263-7295
- 1+ 512-263-0117 (fax)
Field Guides Incorporated, 9433 Bee Cave Road, Building 1, Suite 150, Austin, TX 78733
Copyright © 2007 Field Guides Incorporated
Field Guides is a registered trademark of Field Guides Incorporated.
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