Day 1

We depart from Quito at 06:00 am and head to Bellavista Reserve, after a 90 minute drive on paved road and then on the very scenic eco-ruta we will arrive at the reserve.

We will spend a full day in beautiful Bellavista, all meals included, where we will have the chance to enjoy the amazing trail network with amazing flora including an amazing array of heliconias and giant ferns, some include waterfalls and rivers, and of course an amazing rainforest away from any sign of city “development”, being immersed in this rainforest surrounded by sounds of creeks, rivers and toucans is something you won't easily forget. Of course hummingbird feeders are great too and offer the chance to watch the Gorgeted Sunangel and Violet-tailed Hummingbird specialties, around 19:30 pm with sound of the rainforest at night we will look for night mammals specially the famous Olinguito, the last mammal species discovered in 35 years.

Overnight in Bellavista Reserve.

Day 2

Early morning birding in Bellavista where Masked Trogons, Toucan Barbets, Strong-billed Woodcreeper, the endemic specialty Plate-billed Mountain Toucans and White-faced nunbird puffbird, among other species are part of the show and then we will enjoy breakfast. Around 09:00 am we will head to Milpe Bird Sanctuary, along the way we will make a short stop at San Tadeo Garden which is a local community project with some very interesting and endemic to this area species of hummingbird and tanagers. After around 30 minutes we will arrive in Milpe, an amazing place specially for up to 4 species of Toucans, a surprising amount of Tanagers, Club-winged Manakins, Long-wattled Umbrellabird (uncommon), Red-headed Barbet, Green Honeycreeper and more. We will spend the rest of the day at this sanctuary but at night the show does not stop with 3 owl species to look for.

The most common species at the feeders are Red-headed Barbet, Green Honeycreeper, Rufous Motmot, Orange-crowned and Thick-billed Euphonias, Rufous-throated, Lemon-rumped, Palm, White-shouldered, White-lined, Flame-faced, Golden-capped, Blue-gray Tanagers, Choco and Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Pale-mandibled Aracari Toucan.

After dinner we will go looking for those impressive owls, it is common to go to our room and head to bed with the sounds of those happy owls.

Overnight in Milpe Jardin del Quinde

Day 3

Around 06:00 am we will head to Mashpi for a 1 hour and 45 minute drive. Mashpi Amagusa is a local community start-up where we will be able to enjoy an outstanding number of Tanagers, including 2 specialties: the Moss-backed and Glistening Green Tanagers. Also Crimson-rumped Toucanets will be very close and in a surprisingly large number, as well as Tyras, Nightjars, Toucan Barbets, Orange-breasted Fruiteater, you will truly be amazed by the work of this couple who take great care of the birds and mammals in their reserve. Around 14:00 pm and after lunch we will head to Alambi, an incredible Hummingbird garden that receives over 30 hummingbird species as well as other birds such as Woodpeckers, Tanagers and more. Apart from having excellent light for hummingbirds in flight photography, we will find a lot of hummingbird specialties including 2 hermits Tawny-bellied and White-whiskered Hermits, Violet-tailed, Racket-tailed, Empress Brilliant, Brown Inca, and more.

Around 17:30 pm we will start our way back to Quito, driving for about an hour.

DAY 1

We depart from Quito at 05:00 am towards Zuroloma to watch the antpita display where with some luck we will be able to watch all 3 antpita species includind the specialty chestnut napped ,around 8 30 am after looking for some special birds such as barred fruiteater and burrowing owls, we will make our way to near by Yanacocha Reserve with breathtaking views of the Andes Mountains and valleys along the way, as well as opportunities to sight Kestrels and Falcons flying close by. This reserve does offer some unique mountain scenery on clear days, at the reserve we will see a lot of high altitude species most of them you will see them nowhere else again so pay attention to those wonderful Giant Hummingbirds which are the biggest hummingbird in the world, or the Sword-billed Hummingbird, the only bird with a beak longer than its body.

We will also sight the second biggest hummingbird in the world, the Great Sapphirewing and those huge Black-chested Mountain Tanagers just to name a few. This place really offers an array of unique species which are sure to impress you.

One of the main reasons Yanacocha Reserve was created in the first place was to protect the Black-breasted Puffleg Hummingbird habitat which is greatly endangered. Yanacocha is absolutely the best place to take a glimpse at this endangered and seasonal creature. After indulging ourselves with some wonderful andes scenery, around 1:30 pm and after lunch we will head to Bellavista Reserve.

After about a 90 minute drive on a secondary road eco-ruta and some beautiful rainforest and andes mountains scenery along the way we will arrive in Bellavista just in time for some nice rainforest trail walks. This amazing trails offer opportunities to enjoy both flora and fauna as well as pristine water private rivers and waterfalls.

Right after dinner we will look for some night mammals around the lodge including the famous Olinguito. Overnight at Bellavista Reserve

DAY 2

We will have an early birding walk at Bellavista before breakfast is ready, many bird species are common and come near the lodge on regular basis such as Masked Trogons, Turquoise Jays, Strong-billed Woodcreeper, Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, Toucan Barbet, the endemic and special Plate Billed Toucan and puffbird White-faced nunbird and more.

Strolling along Bellavista’s trails and birding is a great pleasure and it's amazing to enjoy its very well kept rainforest, watching the sun rays coming in the rainforest through the forest leaves and reflecting on spider webs while listening to birds singing, it’s a moment you will cherish for a long time.

After lunch and around 4 pm we will travel around 45 minutes to Milpe Jardin del Quinde, Overnight in Milpe Jardin del Quinde

DAY 3

We will drive about 30 minutes to reach Refuge Paz and enjoy the famous 06:00 am Cock-of-the-rock mating ritual at the lek, where males put up a show filled with wing flapping, and all kind of macho dancing and singing since the best performer will get the girl. Around 07:30 am we will watch Ángel, the reserve’s owner, whistle the antpittas out of the forest. He has developed an amazing connection with these wild birds and you will witness it all. There are 5 antpitta species in this reserve. Ochre Breasted, Giant, Moustached, Yellow Breasted and Chestnut Crowned.

After having a delicious breakfast in Refuge Paz and a few more sightings, we will make a short stop at San Tadeo Garden, a beautiful community start-up with some interesting and endemic to this area species such as Beryl-spangled and Black-capped Tanagers, then we will continue and planning to arrive around 14:30 pm at Milpe bird sanctuary where we will spend the rest of the afternoon , this magical place is part of a foundation deeply involved in reforesting the rainforest of this region, here is the absolute best place for toucan species , you will be able to watch up close up to 4 species: the Pale-mandibled Aracari, Chestnut-mandibled, Choco Toucan, and sometimes the Crimson Rumped Toucanet. Up to 3 Manakin species can be found here: Club-winged, and Golden Manakin are some of the highlights. At the feeders we can easily see up close some beautiful species such as Red-headed Barbet, Green Honeycreeper, Rufous Motmot, Orange-crowned and Thick-billed Euphonias, Rufous-throated, Lemon-rumped, Palm, White-shouldered, White-lined, Flame-faced, Golden-capped, Blue-gray Tanagers.

There are so many species we can also find in the forest among those are Crested, Black and White Owls, around 20 Tanager species in total and so many more.

About 400 meter from Milpe bird sanctuary we have one of our favorite places,El Jardin del Quinde this place was developed in a devastated land formerly used for cattle and now after many years of hard work and investment offers a unique place for bird observation and photography ,i has some tree species which during seasonal blooming atract birds by very large numbers offering super special photo opportunities of birds feeding from seeds and flowers,also the new fountain is a great addition for bird photos and enjoyment,the panoramic observation lookout offers a beautiful place to observe and phograph the scenery and the species of this beautiful forest,take a look at our el Jardin del Quinde you tuve video

Even though this place is basically adjacent to the bird sanctuary, it offers some different species which not or less often visit the other place such as the flame-faced tanager , violet honeycreeper,bay wren just to mention a few

But more importantly with a different enviroment , it is amazing to watch here rose-faced and broze-winged parrot,Guayaquil and lineated woodpeckers

Overnight in Milpe Jardin del Quinde

DAY 4

From Milpe we have an optional 45 minute drive to “Recinto 23 de Junio”, which is a local community project and the best place to watch the famous Long-wattled Umbrellabird as well as Club-winged Manakin up close. We will be returning to Milpe around 11:00 am to spend the rest of the day also enjoying its beautifully well kept trail network.

Overnight in Jardin del Quinde or Milpe Bird Sanctuary

DAY 5

We will have a delicious breakfast in Milpe in the company of Toucans and leave around 06:30 am to reach the 08:00 am Tanager experienceat Mashpi Amagusa, we will watch an amazing number of Tanagers get ready at tree branches and await for Sergio to place bananas at feeders and come down all at once, he has also developed some very interesting connection with his birds over the years and you will witness it. At and around the feeding area you can easily see in a large number Flame-faced , Golden-capped, Golden, Lemon-rumped, Glistening Green, Moss-backed, Rufous-throated, Black-chinned Mountain, Palm Tanagers, also Golden-collared Honeycreeper, Orange-breasted Fruiteater, Orange-bellied Euphonia, Black-winged Saltator, Crimson-rumped Toucanet, Spotted-woodcreeper, Toucan Barbet, White-throated Quail-dove, Lyre-tailed Nightjar. The not so common but we can also hopefully expect to see them in the reserve: Smoky-brown Woodpecker, Brown-billed Scythebill, Wedge-billed Woodcreeper, Slaty Spinetail, Red-faced Spinetail, Spotted Barbtail, Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner, Pacific-tuftedcheek, Uniform Treehunter, Rufous-rumped Antwren, Slaty Antwren, Immaculate Antbird, Rufous-breasted Antthrush, Plain-backed Antpitta, Common Tody-flycatcher, Whiskered Flycatcher, Fulvous-breasted Flatbill, Smoke-colored Pewee, Olivaceous Piha, Tropical Kingbird, Social Flycatcher, Barred Becard, One-colored Becard, Cinnamon Becard, Black and White Becard, Slate-colored Grosbeak, Rose-faced Parrot, Bronze-winged Parrot. In terms of hummingbirds there is one big specialty that we can get to see feeding at the heliconia flowers: the White-tipped Sicklebill, here is probably the only place in the whole Northwest that we can get to see it extremely likely.

This local community project is really something special and we want you to hear it directly from Sergio and Doris especially about their home rescue work where they receive injured wildlife help them recover and set them free, they have some amazing stories to share. Sergio moved to this area with his family when he was 5 years old.

Around 14:00 pm we will start our return trip to Quito stopping along the way at Alambi a beautiful hummingbird garden visited by over 30 hummingbird species and the best place to photograph them since there is perfect light for this purpose.

Some of the hummingbird specialties at Alambi are the 2 Tawny-bellied and White-whiskered Hermit Hummingbirds, Western Emerald, Violet-tailed Sylph, Violet-chested Hummingbird, just to name a few. It's impossible not to be overwhelmed by the amazing number of hummingbirds visiting this incredible place.

DAY 1

We depart from Quito at 05:00 am towards Zuroloma to watch the antpita display where with some luck we will be able to watch all 3 antpita species includind the specialty chestnut napped ,around 8 30 am after looking for some special birds such as barred fruiteater and burrowing owls, we will make our way to near by Yanacocha Reserve with breathtaking views of the Andes Mountains and valleys along the way, as well as opportunities to sight Kestrels and Falcons flying close by. This reserve does offer some unique mountain scenery on clear days, at the reserve we will see a lot of high altitude species most of them you will see them nowhere else again so pay attention to those wonderful Giant Hummingbirds which are the biggest hummingbird in the world, or the Sword-billed Hummingbird, the only bird with a beak longer than its body. We will also sight the second biggest hummingbird in the world, the Great Sapphirewing and those huge Black-chested Mountain Tanagers just to name a few.

This place really offers an array of unique species which are sure to impress you.

One of the main reasons Yanacocha Reserve was created in the first place was to protect the Black-breasted Puffleg Hummingbird habitat which is greatly endangered. Yanacocha is absolutely the best place to take a glimpse at this endangered and seasonal creature. After indulging ourselves with some wonderful andes scenery, around 1:30 pm and after lunch we will head to Bellavista Reserve.

After about a 90 minute drive on a secondary road eco-ruta and some beautiful rainforest and andes mountains scenery along the way we will arrive in Bellavista just in time for some nice rainforest trail walks. This amazing trails offer opportunities to enjoy both flora and fauna as well as pristine water private rivers and waterfalls.

Right after dinner we will look for some night mammals around the lodge including the famous Olinguito. Overnight at Bellavista Reserve.

DAY 2

We will have an early birding walk at Bellavista before breakfast is ready, many bird species are common and come near the lodge on regular basis such as Masked Trogons, Turquoise Jays, Strong-billed Woodcreeper, Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, Toucan Barbet, the endemic and special Plate Billed Toucan and puffbird White-faced nunbird and more.

Strolling along Bellavista’s trails and birding is a great pleasure and it's amazing to enjoy its very well kept rainforest, watching the sun rays coming in the rainforest through the forest leaves and reflecting on spider webs while listening to birds singing, it’s a moment you will cherish for a long time.

After lunch and around 4 pm we will travel around 45 minutes to Milpe Jardin del Quinde, Overnight in Milpe Jardin del Quinde

DAY 3

We will drive about 30 minutes to reach Refuge Paz and enjoy the famous 06:00 am Cock-of-the-rock mating ritual at the lek, where males put up a show filled with wing flapping, and all kind of macho dancing and singing since the best performer will get the girl. Around 07:30 am we will watch Ángel, the reserve’s owner, whistle the antpittas out of the forest. He has developed an amazing connection with these wild birds and you will witness it all. There are 5 antpitta species in this reserve. Ochre Breasted, Giant, Moustached, Yellow Breasted and Chestnut Crowned.

After having a delicious breakfast in Refuge Paz and a few more sightings, we will make a short stop at San Tadeo Garden, a beautiful community start-up with some interesting and endemic to this area species such as Beryl-spangled and Black-capped Tanagers, then we will continue and planning to arrive around 14:30 pm at Milpe bird sanctuary where we will spend the rest of the afternoon , this magical place is part of a foundation deeply involved in reforesting the rainforest of this region, here is the absolute best place for toucan species , you will be able to watch up close up to 4 species: the Pale-mandibled Aracari, Chestnut-mandibled, Choco Toucan, and sometimes the Crimson Rumped Toucanet. Up to 3 Manakin species can be found here: Club-winged, and Golden Manakin are some of the highlights. At the feeders we can easily see up close some beautiful species such as Red-headed Barbet, Green Honeycreeper, Rufous Motmot, Orange-crowned and Thick-billed Euphonias, Rufous-throated, Lemon-rumped, Palm, White-shouldered, White-lined, Flame-faced, Golden-capped, Blue-gray Tanagers.

There are so many species we can also find in the forest among those are Crested, Black and White Owls, around 20 Tanager species in total and so many more.

About 400 meter from Milpe bird sanctuary we have one of our favorite places,El Jardin del Quinde this place was developed in a devastated land formerly used for cattle and now after many years of hard work and investment offers a unique place for bird observation and photography ,i has some tree species which during seasonal blooming atract birds by very large numbers offering super special photo opportunities of birds feeding from seeds and flowers,also the new fountain is a great addition for bird photos and enjoyment,the panoramic observation lookout offers a beautiful place to observe and phograph the scenery and the species of this beautiful forest,take a look at our el Jardin del Quinde you tuve video

Even though this place is basically adjacent to the bird sanctuary, it offers some different species which not or less often visit the other place such as the flame-faced tanager , violet honeycreeper,bay wren just to mention a few

But more importantly with a different enviroment , it is amazing to watch here rose-faced and broze-winged parrot,Guayaquil and lineated woodpeckers

Overnight in Milpe Jardin del Quinde

DAY 4

From Milpe we have an optional 45 minute drive to “Recinto 23 de Junio”, which is a local community project and the best place to watch the famous Long-wattled Umbrellabird as well as Club-winged Manakin up close. We will be returning to Milpe around 11:00 am to spend the rest of the day also enjoying its beautifully well kept trail network.

Overnight in Jardin del Quinde or Milpe Bird Sanctuary

Day 5

From Milpe we will travel to Río Silanche, another property owned by Mindo Cloud Forest Foundation, where there is an observation tower that allows us to have a very special perspective of the area, here we will have lower altitude species. From Río Silanche we will move on to nearby Soamox Garden and trails, this is a very interesting place where we will find a whole new world of lower altitude species that you had not seen yet.

Before Rafael's work this reserve used to be all farm land, all forest had been destroyed. After 15 years of hard work Rafael has managed to recover a very large portion which now serves as a home for many species.

We will find endemic tanager species such as Bay Headed, Guira, Summer, Dusky Faced, Hooded Siskin and so many more as well as other birds such as: Black Winged Saltator, Variable Seed Eaters, Large-billed Seed Finch, White-winged Brush Finch, Orange-billed Sparrow, Scales-rumped Cacique, just to mention a few unique species.

Overnight in Milpe Jardin del Quinde

DAY 6

We will have a delicious breakfast in Milpe in the company of Toucans and leave around 06:30 am to reach the 08:00 am Tanager experienceat Mashpi Amagusa, we will watch an amazing number of Tanagers get ready at tree branches and await for Sergio to place bananas at feeders and come down all at once, he has also developed some very interesting connection with his birds over the years and you will witness it. At and around the feeding area you can easily see in a large number Flame-faced , Golden-capped, Golden, Lemon-rumped, Glistening Green, Moss-backed, Rufous-throated, Black-chinned Mountain, Palm Tanagers, also Golden-collared Honeycreeper, Orange-breasted Fruiteater, Orange-bellied Euphonia, Black-winged Saltator, Crimson-rumped Toucanet, Spotted-woodcreeper, Toucan Barbet, White-throated Quail-dove, Lyre-tailed Nightjar. The not so common but we can also hopefully expect to see them in the reserve: Smoky-brown Woodpecker, Brown-billed Scythebill, Wedge-billed Woodcreeper, Slaty Spinetail, Red-faced Spinetail, Spotted Barbtail, Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner, Pacific-tuftedcheek, Uniform Treehunter, Rufous-rumped Antwren, Slaty Antwren, Immaculate Antbird, Rufous-breasted Antthrush, Plain-backed Antpitta, Common Tody-flycatcher, Whiskered Flycatcher, Fulvous-breasted Flatbill, Smoke-colored Pewee, Olivaceous Piha, Tropical Kingbird, Social Flycatcher, Barred Becard, One-colored Becard, Cinnamon Becard, Black and White Becard, Slate-colored Grosbeak, Rose-faced Parrot, Bronze-winged Parrot. In terms of hummingbirds there is one big specialty that we can get to see feeding at the heliconia flowers: the White-tipped Sicklebill, here is probably the only place in the whole Northwest that we can get to see it extremely likely.

This local community project is really something special and we want you to hear it directly from Sergio and Doris especially about their home rescue work where they receive injured wildlife help them recover and set them free, they have some amazing stories to share. Sergio moved to this area with his family when he was 5 years old.

Around 14:00 pm we will start our return trip to Quito stopping along the way at Alambi a beautiful hummingbird garden visited by over 30 hummingbird species and the best place to photograph them since there is perfect light for this purpose.

Some of the hummingbird specialties at Alambi are the 2 Tawny-bellied and White-whiskered Hermit Hummingbirds, Western Emerald, Violet-tailed Sylph, Violet-chested Hummingbird, just to name a few. It's impossible not to be overwhelmed by the amazing number of hummingbirds visiting this incredible place.