Five months after returning from Ecuador, I have finally managed to edit all my wildlife photos from the trip and upload some of them onto this site. The week-long photography blitz yielded 158 new birds for me, plus various exotic insects, mammals and reptiles, all made possible by my expert guide: Marcelo Arias. His expertise and reliability all lived up to Trip Adviser reviews.
Marcelo picked me up from the Quito airport and from that moment on, he spent almost every daylight hour with me, driving at breakneck speeds from place to place then trudging through rainforest...
Marcello Arias driving. Don't let the cracked windscreen put you off, Marcelo is a great driver (by Ecuador's standards that is. Hold on to your camera gear!)
Marcelo spots an interesting bird so stops the car. No parking? No problem!
Sorted.
A typical day's work for Marcelo, leading me deep into virgin rainforest, scope at the ready.
View of a Quetzal through Marcelo's scope. Spotting the slightest movement through dense cover, the guy has x-ray vision!
If we couldn't find a particular bird, Marcelo would imitate their calls, whistling them in. Failing this, he would imitate a Cloud-forest Pygmy Owl: everything nearby would try to mob the non-existent predator.
There are plenty of bird feeding stations in Ecuador's national parks and nature reserves. Here, Marcelo stocks a typical wooden feeder with bananas.
Everything stops for tea? Nope! Mealtimes needn't be unproductive, this restaurant overlooks a bird feeding station.
Hotel El Descanso in Mindo village has its own birding balcony. An amazing place, I came here most evenings.
From the balcony you can photograph humming birds and have a cold beer or two : paradise.
Booted Rackettail, Andean Emerald and Rufous Tailed Hummingbird all together on one of the many feeders at Hotel El Descanso.
Collared Aracari. Expect to see these at El Descanso, plus many other bird species at very close quarters.
Bellavista: Perhaps my favourite nature reserve in the area, not far from our base in Mindo.
They don't call it Bella Vista for nothing. The views here are stunning when the clouds lift.
Masked Flowerpiercer on the feeders at Bell Vista.
Norma, Andreas and Isaac in the dining area at Rubby Hostel, Mindo. This was my base for the week and I couldn't fault it. Norma will cook you anything you like, even a full English breakfast. For just $15 a night, you get an en-suite room with a balcony overlooking rainforest, and that includes breakfast!
Marcelo with his son Isaac at Rubby Hostal in Mindo. It was hard to say goodbye, but Marcelo promises me even more bird species next time, on the eastern slopes of the Andes. I might just take him up on that...
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