Post #127 - Ecuador introduction: Preparation for your trip

I recently returned from two exciting weeks in Ecuador, and I am going to use the next few posts to share my experiences with you. This was my third trip to South America, the pervious two being to Colombia in 2016, so I had at least some experience with the continent and its birds before this trip. Those Colombia trips were organized by the Audubon Society, so I didn't have to worry about any of the logistics. In contrast, I organized every aspect of this most recent Ecuador adventure, a personal trip for my wife and me. I handled the flights, rental cars, route planning, lodging, and all birding and photography logistics. What initially seemed an overwhelming task wasn't actually that bad, and I am going in the next few post to lay out exactly what we did with the goal that readers could replicated some or all it should they desire.

Me and Sonia

Our trip was split into two discrete parts, 8 days around Quito/Tandayapa/Mindo in the northwestern highlands and 5 days in the Amazon Basin and Yasuni National Park in the lower, eastern reaches of the country. I'll discuss those areas in greater detail in subsequent posts, but for now I'll give you some general information that might help in planning an Ecuador trip. These will be, in no particular order:

Travel logistics and Health preparations/considerations
Rental Cars and Navigation
Geography
Lodging
Money/Finances
Safety
Communications
Field Guides
A note about eBird checklists

A few caveast: First, I'm sure that I've forgotten something important, so I'm sorry ahead of time for that. Second, this post is specific to my experience, and I cannot elaborate on that which I did not do (use the buses, e.g.) So, feel free to ask me any questions, but please realize there is a lot that I don't know. If you do have a question, please use the comment sections to ask it. That way everyone will benefit from my response - assuming I have anything useful to say.

Ecuador. Central Andean region in gray.
The general areas I visited are indicated.

Travel logistics and Health preparations/considerations

American travelers do not need a formal visa to travel to Ecuador though you will clearly need a passport. No vaccinations are required, but Hepatitis A and B, Yellow Fever, Rabies, Typhoid, and Influenza are recommended. If you're entering from a country that has Yellow Fever (not the US), you'll need proof of YF vaccination. Malaria is present but rare. Zika is probably present as well though hard data is lacking. Your best bet to avoid the already slim chances of Malaria/Zika is to wear long sleeves/pants and use insect repellent with at least 25% DEET. I didn't get any shots beyond what I already had (tetanus, MMR, etc). I hardly even used inset repellent; Mosquitos just don't seem to like me. 

I drank bottled or filtered water the entire time I was in the country. Most lodges, hotels, and the like provided filtered water. Those with particularly sensitive digestive systems might also want to avoid eating salad or uncooked veggies as those will have been washed in local water. Having intestinal issues on the first day of a 10-day trip would be no fun.

Also be aware that Quito sits at 9,300 feet of elevation, so the air is much thinner. Yanacocha sits at 11,500, and the true 'paramo' even higher. Please be advised of that if you have had issues at high elevation in the past, asthma included.

Geography and elevation

Looking at the topographic map above, it's easy to see that the Andes occupy the middle third of the country with lower elevations sloping away on each side. I highlight this as the distribution of the country's birds varies as much along elevational clines as it does across geographic regions. No only that, but there are also huge differences between the Eastern and Western Andean Slopes. For example, Golden Tanager is found between 900-2000 meters on both slopes while the superficially similar Silver-throated Tanager is found between 500-1400 meters on the western slope only. Golden Tanager's range is strictly elevation dependent, but Silver-throated's range is dependent on elevation AND slope. So, pay attention to location and elevation: It will make identifying birds much easier!

Golden Tanager - Tangara arthus

Canon 500mm f/4 IS + 1.4x III on EOS 7D Mark II

1/100 at f/7.1, ISO 1600.

Note: taken in Colombia

Rental Cars, roads, and navigation

We rented an SUV for the 8 days that we were in the highlands. It was expensive, ~$650 for that time, but worth every penny as it let us comfortably explore the more interesting, unpaved, back roads (Nono-Mindo, e.g.). Most of those back roads can be passed in a smaller, sedan-type car, albeit much more slowly and with much more bouncing around. With the SVU, we didn't think twice about road conditions; We just plowed ahead. I have unlimited foreign data on my phone, so we just used that for navigation. The well-known birding spots were all straightforward to find as almost all of them were off of just 1 or 2 main roads. Everything is so close together that getting around isn't that challenging (I'll show exact maps with locations in the next post specific to the highlands). Local drivers were fine, no more or less courteous/aggressive than anywhere else. 

Our Suzuki on the famous Nono-Mindo Road

Uber operates in Ecuador. We didn't use it, but it looked like a very cheap way to get around, particularly Quito. 

As for the Amazon Basin, if you go there your lodge will organize everything for you, including the necessary internal flight from Quito to Coca. From there you'll get into a powered boat, again at the direction and organization of your host lodge. There aren't any roads so you haven't any other choice!

Lodging

All the expected sorts of lodging are available in Ecuador. We stayed in hotels our 2 nights in Quito and lodges and Airbnbs for our 7 nights in the highlands. We were also in a lodge for our 5 days in the Amazon Basin. I will cover specific lodges in subsequent posts. As expected, lodging and food are inexpensive compared to the US. There looked to be many cheap, roadside hotel/motel-type places, but I can't speak to those since we didn't use them.

Money/Finances

Ecuador uses the US Dollar as currency. It is also worth noting that not everywhere - lodges included - is set up to take credit cards, so be aware of that. I actually had to wire money internationally ahead of time to confirm/hold my reservation at two of my lodges (Alambi, Tandayapa). I carried quite a bit of cash as I wasn't sure how easy it would be to withdraw it once I was there (my stash covered me so I never found out). 

Safety

Safety was a non-issue as far as I could tell. Everyone we encountered was incredibly friendly and willing to help us when we needed it (i.e. directions). I tried not to leave my camera gear in the car unattended for extended periods of time, but that's the same everywhere I go, domestic travel included. I had no reservations about walking around in remote areas with my expensive gear on display. That's not to say robberies don't happen, but I didn't feel threatened, targeted, or uneasy at any point.

Be careful - cows

often wander into the road!

Communication

Cell phone service was spotty outside of towns. Most lodges have WiFi though it is much slower than anything that we have here in the states. It is also here worth noting that communication generally happens slower in Ecuador than it does in the US. What I mean is that it often took 2 or 3 emails to lodges and other relevant entities before I was able to get firm answers and secure exact dates/times/services. Customer service simply does not happen in real time the way it does in the US. Please be aware of this and have the appropriate patience. Start planning your trip well in advance to allow for the slower pace of communication.

Field Guides

There are two books or field guides that you should consider buying before any Ecuador trip. The first of these is the industry standard and downright incredible "The Birds of Ecuador: Field Guide" by Robert Ridgely and Paul Greenfield. In full disclosure, that book is big and heavy; It is more than 2 inches thick and weighs more than 3 pounds. The plates are absolutely stunning, and the text and maps, located in their own sections, are very streamlined and easy to navigate. Some people buy this book, break it apart, and have it rebound into two separate entities, a field-friendly collection of plates and a larger, less portable bit that stays in the hotel room as a more detailed reference. NOTE: THIS BOOK DOES NOT INCLUDE THE GALAPAGOS!

The second book is a smaller option, the "Fieldbook of the Bird of Ecuador" by Miles McMullin and Lelis Navarette. This book is small enough to fit in one's pocket and serves as a nice field reference. Be aware, this book is very hard to find in the states but does make for a nice, local purchase in Ecuador. It is a bit information dense with so many species on each page, but that's the only way they were ever going to get all the birds into a single, portable volume. THIS BOOK DOES INCLUDE THE GALAPAGOS.

A note about eBird checklists

From a birding perspective, the most important thing that any visiting birder needs to know is that there are A LOT of species in Ecuador, about 1600 to be precise. More impressive still is that those species are packed into just 109,000 square miles, an area comparable to either Oregon (98K) or Colorado (104K). Though that species total might seem totally overwhelming, the trick is to get an unidentified species into a family and go from there. I found eBird's site-specific checklists to be invaluable as an identification aid as they greatly narrowed down the species that I could expect to find at each specific birding site; When those checklists were cross-referenced with field guides, I was able to identify 95% of the birds I saw. JUST REMEMBER TO DOWNLOAD THOSE CHECKLISTS WHEN YOU HAVE WIFI! Getting into the field without them is a pain in the ass. I will have a bit more to say about this in follow-up posts.

OK, that's it for now. Hopefully this helps you at least start planning your Ecuador adventure!

Next time - Birding Quito's Reserva Yanacocha - Please stay tuned!