Country: Ecuador
Categories
Hacienda Buffer Day
Hummingbird photography on the hacienda trails, Chiche River Gorge lookouts and a visit to a pre-Inca underground tunnel, with preparations for the cruise.
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Ecuador Birding & Photography: Chocó to Amazon Circuit
An 18-day west-to-east transect of northern Ecuador, from the hummingbird gardens, hides and leks of the montane Chocó to the clay licks, canopy towers and blackwater channels of the Yasuní Amazon, via the condors of Antisana and the cloud forests of the eastern slope.
Read MoreFinal Afternoon Outing Chosen with Your Guide
After the return during the hottest hours, the final outing is chosen together with the guide, based on what the group most wants to spend more time with: late-day canopy observation from the tower, a terra firme trail, a varzea trail, or a paddle around the lagoon edges and blackwater channels.
Read MoreExploration of the Napo River Vegetation Islands
The morning visits one of the most specialized and interesting ecosystems of Amazonia: the vegetation islands of the great rivers — small, independent ecosystems that evolve completely on their own. Depending on their age, height and stage of vegetalization, the islands host very different, specialized species; the group explores several Napo islands of different ages, structures and vegetation cover in search of these specialists.
Read MoreTorchlight Night Paddle for Caimans and Nocturnal Wildlife
After dinner, a torchlight paddle-canoe outing searches the water for many nocturnal species and for black caimans, closing the day on the dark channels around the lodge.
Read MoreWhite-Water River Birding on the Napo
After lunch, a motorized-pirogue ride along the Napo looks for the river's "white-water" riverine species — the name coming from the light-brown colour of the great Amazonian rivers, which carry silt from the high Andes where they rise.
Read MoreAñangu Clay Licks: Open Riverbank and Forest Saladeros
On the banks of the Napo, the group visits two "saladeros" — mineral-covered clay walls that several parrot species ingest to aid digestion of an almost entirely acidic-fruit and plant diet. The first lick sits directly on an open bank of the Napo; the second, inside the forest, has more the shape of a cave and attracts very different species.
Read MoreYanayacu Scientific Station Visit and Macro-Photo Session
In the afternoon the group visits the Yanayacu scientific station, where researchers have developed projects on the reproductive biology of Ecuadorian birds and a study of the parasites of several particularly attractive caterpillar species. One of the station's scientists presents the projects in detail, and the caterpillars make an unexpected macro-photography subject.
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