La Selva Lodge is in a splendid location. Photo: Gary Rosenberg
The Amazonian lowlands of eastern Ecuador harbor one of the most diverse avian assemblages in the world, comparable to parts of eastern and southeastern Peru in both richness and beauty. La Selva Lodge, two and a half hours by boat down the Napo River from the Amazonian town of Coca, is situated on an oxbow lake in the heart of the Amazon rainforest and offers us excellent access to the region’s extraordinary diversity. More than 600 species of birds are known from this single locality, including five species of macaw, 10 puffbirds, seven toucans and more than 40 species of antbirds. Within walking distance from the lodge it is possible to see some of the rarest and least-known Amazonian species, such as Zigzag Heron, Black-banded Owl, White-browed Purpletuft, Banded Antbird, Orange-crowned Manakin, and the recently rediscovered Cocha Antshrike. The addition of a 100-foot high canopy tower, easily accessible by stairs, has brought a new dimension to Amazonian birdwatching: the ability to observe many of the rarely seen canopy species, such as Lanceolated Monklet, and a wide array of canopy tanagers and flycatchers.
La Selva Lodge has undergone a complete upgrade in the last year and now offers a degree of comfort seldom seen among Amazonian lodges: wonderful meals, excellent service, and private bungalows, each with a private bathroom complete with hot water. Although most trips to La Selva are for three to four days, our longer stay at the lodge will allow us to experience more fully the area’s extraordinary diversity.
Day 1: The tour begins at 6:00 p.m. in Quito. Night in Quito.
Day 2: Because winter weather in the US often delays travelers (or luggage), and even Quito Airport can close due to fog, we have intentionally scheduled our first day of birding around Quito. Once we leave for La Selva, it’s difficult and expensive to catch up! We’ll spend the entire day exploring the upland Polylepis forest of Yanacocha Preserve and the road to Tandayapa and Mindo. This road exits Quito to the northwest and descends through lush temperate and subtropical Andean forest. The variety of hummingbirds, flycatchers, warblers and tanagers here is remarkable, and we’ll search for such special birds as Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan, Sword-billed Hummingbird, Great Sapphirewing, Golden-headed Quetzal, Toucan Barbet, White-capped Dipper and a variety of tanagers including the very gaudy Grass-green. A highlight of the day will be a visit to a set of feeders near Tandayapa, where we’ve seen as many as 23 species of hummingbirds in a single hour. We’ll travel the Tandayapa Road as far as time permits seeking out mixed flocks before returning to Quito. Night in Quito.
The La Selva tour with my daughter Carla was the most enjoyable and rewarding birding venture of my life! The jungle trails were physically challenging and spotting birds was equally challenging, which made the whole endeavor tremendously fun and satisfying. Gavin Beiber was an ideal trip leader, and Jose was the penultimate bird finder. Food and lodging were top notch, and the setting around Lake Garzacocha made the whole venture an ecological dream. Not a bad experience for an 81-year-old codger!
Bob Hamre, Jan. 2012
Day 3: We’ll fly this morning over the Andes to the Amazonian town of Coca and board our boat for the two-and-a-half hour ride down the Napo River to La Selva Lodge. As the lodge itself is located on an oxbow lake, not the main river, we’ll walk on a developed trail to the lake and then transfer to small dugout canoes for the tranquil 15-minute paddle to our accommodations for the next seven nights. After a welcome drink and a lunch, we’ll make our first of many excursions to the newly constructed 100-foot tower, a 15-minute walk from the lodge. The tower, reached by a sturdy staircase that wraps around a gargantuan tree, allows us access to one of the least-known habitats in the tropical rainforest, the canopy. Some of the many possibilities we may see from the tower are Blue-throated Piping-Guan, Great Potoo, Chestnut-fronted and Blue-and-yellow Macaws, Spangled, Plum-throated and Purple-throated Cotingas, White-browed Purpletuft, and Paradise, Green-and-gold, Turquoise and Yellow-bellied Tanagers. Each visit to the tower brings something unexpected. Night at La Selva.
Days 4-9: Six full days at La Selva will give us ample time to explore and re-explore the many different habitats accessible from the lodge. A highlight of any trip to La Selva is a visit to several easily reached parrot clay licks. Literally hundreds of parrots come early in the morning to replenish their mineral supply by licking and pecking at exposed rocky areas. If we are fortunate, we may see as many as four or five species using the lick at the same time, including hundreds of Mealy and Blue-headed Parrots and the sublime Orange-cheeked Parrot. La Selva Lodge’s excellent trail system will enable us to explore superb primary varzea and terra firma rainforest on both sides of the Napo River. The list of species found in this vanishing habitat is seemingly endless, and we’ll concentrate on observing mixed-species flocks of woodcreepers, antbirds, ovenbirds, flycatchers and tanagers. Among the more beautiful birds that we’ll search for in the upland forest are Purplish Jacamar, Many-banded and Lettered Aracaris, Golden-collared Toucanet, Collared Puffbird, Scale-breasted, Ringed and Rufous-headed Woodpeckers, Undulated Antshrike, White-plumed Antbird, Wire-tailed, Striped, Blue-crowned and Golden-headed Manakins, and Fulvous Shrike-Tanager. At night, we’ll look for Black-banded, Crested and Spectacled Owls and Tawny-bellied and Tropical Screech-Owls, as well as Great, Common and Long-tailed Potoos and Short-tailed Nighthawk.
One of the most appealing aspects of our stay at La Selva will be the leisurely canoe rides around Garzacocha, the serene lake on which our lodge is located. We’ll be watched by the prehistoric-looking Hoatzins as we paddle around the edge in search of species found only in flooded forest and along the lake edges, including specialties such as White-chinned Jacamar, Dot-backed and Silvered Antbirds, Cinnamon Attila, Black-capped Donacobious, Buff-breasted Wren and the striking Masked Crimson Tanager. Our main goal, however, will be to snatch a glimpse of the rare and elusive Zigzag Heron, a species that has proven to be a regular around the lake at La Selva. The boardwalk between the Napo River and Garzacocha traverses excellent semi-flooded forest, and we’ll look for the entirely yellow Cream-colored Woodpecker, as well as Plumbeous and White-shouldered Antbirds and the extremely rare Orange-crested Manakin.
One afternoon we’ll canoe a small stream in search of the recently rediscovered Cocha Antshrike, a species that until the fall of 1990 was known to science from a single female specimen. Another morning will be devoted to visiting islands in the Napo River, where a completely different assortment of species can be found, some of which are so specialized in their unique habitats that they have never been recorded on the mainland. We’ll look particularly for White-bellied Spinetail, Castelnau’s Antshrike, Black-and-white Antbird, Lesser Wagtail-Tyrant, River Tyrannulet, Mottle-backed Elaenia and Orange-headed Tanager. Along the river itself we can expect to see Collared Plover, Pied Lapwing, Large-billed and Yellow-billed Terns and possibly roosting Ladder-tailed Nightjars that frequent the sandbars. Nights at La Selva.
We will likely spend another full day on the south bank of the Rio Napo, exploring trails through Yasuni National Park that wind up into terra firma forest. This drier forest supports yet another mix of species and can also be very productive for ant swarms. Some of the specialties here include Lunulated, Hairy-crested, White-plumed and Banded Antbirds, Ringed Antpipit, Thrush-like Antpitta and an array of manakins including Golden-headed, Striped, Blue-crowned, White-crowned and Green.
Day 10: We’ll depart the lodge in the predawn hours for our boat ride back to Coca and our morning flight back to Quito, arriving at our hotel by early afternoon. Night in Quito.
Day 11: The tour concludes this morning in Quito.
Updated: 23 May 2012
Prices
- 2013 tour price not yet available : *
- (2012 price was $3,250) :
Notes
Maximum group size eight with one leader.
* Tour invoices paid by check carry a modest discount. Details here.