Ecuador: Eastern Andes to Amazon Lowlands
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Feb 10-24, 2026
Jon Feenstra
Tour Price to be Determined
Tour Price to be Determined
This tour is an epic journey that bridges the extremes of Ecuador from the frigid glaciated heights of the high Andes to the steamy lowland rainforest of Amazonia. The epic begins in the mountains with Andean Condors taking off of their cliff roosts and circling over the alpine tundra. Over the course of the first week, we descend though mossy cloud forest with dazzling tanagers and hummingbirds into transitional foothill rainforest. We will stay at some of Ecuador’s best and most famous eco-lodges, each situated in their own pristine forest reserves. Each has hummingbird feeders right off the porch, as well as trails and little-travels roads for easy access to the forest. Each of our three Andean lodges is at a different elevation, and with that, a different set of birds. We might find the outrageous Sword-billed Hummingbird or a Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan at our higher forest lodge, perhaps Saffron-crowned Tanager, Long-tailed Sylph, and Rufous-crowned Tody-Flycatcher at our middle lodge, and Yellow-throated Toucan, Napo Sabrewing, and Coppery-chested Jacamar at our lowest foothill lodge. The possibilities along the way are seemingly endless.
After all that, our second week begins when we leave the mountains and our van to get on a boat to spend the remainder of the tour at a remote jungle lodge in the lowland Amazon for which the birding superlatives are well-known. Sani Lodge is three hours by boat down the Napo River from the end of the road at the town of Coca and is owned, managed, and operated by the indigenous Kichwa community. It is a comfortable base with wonderful meals, private bungalows, and excellent service. Nearly 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. From the lodge it is possible to see classic Amazonian species like White-throated Toucan, Red-bellied Macaw, Masked Crimson Tanager, and Black-fronted Nunbird, all common, and with oqwWnly a short canoe ride the rare and local become possible, including species like Zigzag Heron, Black-banded Owl, White-lored Antpitta, Orange-eyed Flycatcher, Orange-crowned Manakin, and the extremely local Cocha Antshrike. A sturdy steel 150-foot high canopy tower, easily accessible by stairs, supplies a brilliant dimension to Amazonian birdwatching: the ability to observe many rarely seen canopy species, such as Purplish Jacamar, and a wide array of canopy tanagers and flycatchers. Our week at this single location will permit a thorough exploration of the area’s extraordinary diversity.
This tour can be taken in conjunction with the Ecuador: Mindo & the NW Andes tour.
Day 1: The tour begins at 6:30 pm with a dinner meeting at our hotel in Puembo, a suburb of Quito near the airport. Night in Puembo.
Day 2: We’ll leave early this morning for the high mountain meadows of Antisana National Park, at the foot of the Antisana volcano. If the sky is clear, there are spectacular views of the mountaintop and glacier. The national park is most famous for its relative easy viewing of Andean Condor. These immense birds can be seen flying around over the treeless expanse. The condors are just one species, though, and the park is home to many other montane specialties such as Carunculated Caracara, Andean Ibis, Ecuadorian Hillstar, Tawny Antpitta, Chestnut-winged and Stout-billed Cinclodes, Plumbeous Sierra-Finch, and Many-streaked Canastero. We’ll visit the alpine reservoir at the end of the road where there is usually a flock of Silvery Grebes, and Andean Lapwings stalk the edges. Lunch will be at a restaurant on the edge of gorge across from where the condors often come to roost, and sometimes Giant Hummingbird visits the feeders just outside. After lunch we’ll make the drive over the pass, descending down the Amazonian slope to the forested grounds of Guango Lodge. The show here is put on at an array of hummingbird feeders off the front porch. Such fabulous hummers as the impossibly proportioned Sword-billed Hummingbird visit occasionally. Others, such as Tourmaline Sunangel, Chestnut-breasted Coronet, Long-tailed Sylph, and Glowing Puffleg, are all possible as well. We may walk around a little or check the river for Torrent Duck and White-capped Dipper before dinner. Night at Guango Lodge.
Day 3: Possibly after some sifting through mixed flocks, we’ll leave Guango for the national park above the Papallacta hot springs. In this upper temperate woodland, we have a chance for Masked Mountain-Tanager, Black-backed Bush-Tanager, and other specialties of this elevation. New hummingbird species here could included Viridian Metaltail, Great Sapphirewing, and Rainbow-bearded Thornbill. We’ll have a picnic lunch on the quiet roadside, keeping an eye up for the possible pass of Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle. After lunch, weather permitting, we may return to the high pass at near 15000 feet elevation to try for Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe before we continue our descent with stops for roadside attractions like Red-breasted Meadowlark, Vermillion Flycatcher, and Yellow-browed Sparrow. We’ll arrive at Cabañas San Isidro in the late afternoon with time to settle in before we’re treated to quite possibly the best cooking in Ecuador. Night at Cabañas San Isidro.
Day 4: We’ll have an entire day to explore the full birding potential of the grounds of San Isidro. We’ll walk on relatively level, little-traveled roads and occasionally on trails through the beautiful cloud forest. We’ll begin at first light, watching birds lured to the buffet at the lodge’s lamps, where insects have been collecting all night. It’s a great way to get those first good looks at such species as White-bellied Antpitta, Montane Woodcreeper, Black-billed Peppershrike, and the wonderfully named Marble-faced Bristle-Tyrant. Striking off on foot to bird the access road of the lodge is excellent for fancy birds such as both Golden-headed and Crested Quetzals, Speckle-faced Parrot, Pale-eyed and Glossy-black Thrushes, and the diminutive Rufous-crowned Tody-Flycatcher. Mixed-species flocks of tanagers, including representatives of the genus Tangara such as the spectacular (and spectacularly named!) Saffron-crowned, Black-capped, Beryl-spangled, Flame-faced, and Golden-naped, are possible on the road or anywhere around the lodge.
The trails at San Isidro provide access to the interior of the forest, where we may find Andean Cock-of-the-rock, as well as bamboo thicket specialties such as Rufous Spinetail, Streak-headed Antbird, and Plain-tailed Wren. We’ll bird all day, have both lunch and dinner at the lodge, and may very well not even get into the van once. After dinner, while walking back to our cabins, we’ll shine our lights into the trees and with luck locate the Black-banded “San Isidro” Owl, a rare species otherwise occurring only in the deep Amazon lowlands. Night at Cabañas San Isidro.
Day 5: This morning we’ll leave San Isidro to begin our birding day about 20 minutes down the main road at the Guacamayos Pass. First thing in the morning is the time to watch the swifts screaming over the pass. White-collared and Chestnut-collared make up the majority, but there is a chance for flocks of the little-known and infrequently observed White-chinned, White-chested, and Spot-fronted Swifts as well. This spot is also an excellent vantage point for the valley below and a good place to observe mixed flocks that might contain such incredible tanagers as the gaudy Grass-green, the noisy and gregarious White-capped, or the local Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager. A Black-billed Mountain-Toucan can occasionally be found on one of the treetops. The trail along the Guacamayos Ridge beginning from the parking lot can be equally exciting. We’ll walk over the cobblestones of this ancient Inca message relay route while looking for Powerful Woodpecker, Rufous-headed Pygmy-Tyrant, Dusky Piha, Barred Fruiteater, and Ocellated Tapaculo, among others.
From here, we’ll head downhill and east along the Loreto Road with a couple of quick stops to look for Cliff Flycatcher and Green-backed Hillstar near one of the waterfalls. We’ll arrive at Wildsumaco Lodge in the afternoon and settle in. Night at Wildsumaco.
Day 6: We’ll spend the day birding within walking distance of the lodge. Situated in the lower foothills at about 4,500 feet of elevation, the grounds have a mix of montane, foothill, and lowland species. Wildsumaco lies at the perfect elevation to find a number of normally difficult-to-find species. Today’s birding will be done from a seldom-traveled dirt road and along a system of forest trails. Coppery-chested Jacamar, Ecuadorian Piedtail, Ecuadorian Tyrannulet, and Gray-tailed Piha are resident species. Such rare and local foothill birds as Red-billed Tyrranulet, Ornate Stipplethroat, and Chestnut-crowned Gnateater are known from the trails, and we’ll keep a special eye out for them. The hummingbird feeders here are top-notch, and if the forest gets quiet in the afternoon or we get some rain, we’ll spend a little time on the back porch of the lodge to watch for Black-throated Brilliant, Napo Sabrewing, Wire-crested Thorntail, Gould’s Jewelfront, and Violet-headed Hummingbird. Antpitta feeding occurs here, and with a little luck, we could see both Plain-backed and the tiny Ochre-breasted Antpittas being attracted to worms. After dark, Tropical Screech-Owl and Band-bellied Owl are possible. Night at Wildsumaco.
Day 7: Wildsumaco is a vast and diverse place and we’ll have a second full day to explore it. Our morning might be along the lower part of the access road to search for species such as Green-backed Trogon, Golden-collared Toucanet, or perhaps even a Wing-barred Piprites. Or, we may venture into the forest for a trail to look for interior forest species like Black-streaked Puffbird, Peruvian Warbling-Antbird, or White-backed Fire-eye. The possibilities are numerous and we can make up our minds as we go. Night at Wildsumaco.
Day 8: Depending on our reservation arranged with the Sani people we may have a little time to bird around lodge first thing in the morning, then we have to make the 2-3 hour drive from Wildsumaco Lodge to the Napo River dock in the lowland oil city of Coca for the transition from Andean birding to Amazonian birding. In Coca we will board our motor boat for the three hour ride down the Napo River to Sani Lodge. As the lodge itself is located on an oxbow lake, not the main river, we’ll walk for about 15 minutes on a boardwalk trail to the lake then transfer to small dugout canoes for the tranquil 15-minute paddle to our accommodations for the next seven nights. After a welcome drink, we may make our first of many excursions out onto Challuacocha, the lake that is not only our “highway” to various parts of the nearby jungle, but also a prime birding spot of its own.
After the windy mountain roads of the Andes, one of the most appealing aspects of our stay at Sani will be the complete lack of cars and, instead, the leisurely canoe rides around the serene lake and through the flooded forest. We’ll be watched by the prehistoric-looking Hoatzins as we’re paddled around 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. One of our main goals will be to snatch a glimpse of the local and elusive Zigzag Heron, a rare nocturnal denizen of thick vegetation along Amazonian lakeshores. The boardwalk between the Napo River and Challuacocha traverses excellent semi-flooded forest, and we’ll look for the shockingly yellow Cream-colored Woodpecker, as well as Plumbeous and White-shouldered Antbirds and Cocha Antshrike, a species that until 1990 was known to science only from a single female specimen. Night at Sani Lodge.
Days 9-13: Five full days at Sani will give us ample time to explore and re-explore the many different habitats accessible from the lodge. A highlight of any trip to Sani is a visit to two 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. The trail system of Sani Lodge will enable us to explore superb primary varzea rainforest. The list of species found in this vanishing habitat is seemingly endless, and we’ll spend time walking through the forest in a quest for mixed-species flocks of woodcreepers, antbirds, ovenbirds, flycatchers and tanagers. Among the more beautiful birds that we’ll search for in this forest are Long-billed Woodcreeper, Many-banded and Lettered Aracaris, Rusty-belted Tapaculo, Chestnut-capped Puffbird, Scale-breasted, Ringed and Rufous-headed Woodpeckers, Fulvous Antshrike, Spot-backed 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 our regular birding destinations during our stay will be the canopy tower. With a sturdy metal staircase and a large metal platform that wraps around a gargantuan kapok tree, the tower will permit us access to one of the least-known habitats in the tropical rainforest, the canopy. Some of the many possibilities from the tower are Blue-throated Piping-Guan, Great Potoo, Blue-and-yellow Macaws, Spangled and Plum-throated Cotingas, White-browed Purpletuft, and Paradise, Green-and-gold, Turquoise, Opal-rumped, and Yellow-bellied Tanagers…perhaps even a Harpy or Crested Eagle. Each visit to the tower brings something unexpected.
Yasuni National Park on the south bank of the Rio Napo will be another of our destinations, and it is such rich birding that we will likely spend at least one full day exploring the trails that wind into the upland terra firma forest. This drier hilly forest supports a different assortment of species and can also be productive for finding ant swarms. A swarm of army ants with birds feeding around them is one of the great rainforest birding spectacles, and some of the specialties here include Ochre-striped Antpitta, Lunulated, Hairy-crested, White-plumed and Banded Antbirds, Ringed Antpipit, and Blue-backed Manakin.
A morning or afternoon will be devoted to visiting islands in the Napo River, where a yet another different set 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 will hopefully see Collared Plover, Pied Lapwing, Large-billed and Yellow-billed Terns and possibly roosting Ladder-tailed Nightjars that frequent the sandbars. Nights at Sani Lodge.
Day 14: We may have a little time to bird around in the morning before we depart the lodge for our boat ride back to Coca and our flight back to Quito, arriving at our hotel before dinner. Night in Puembo.
Day 15: The tour concludes this morning in Puembo.
Note: The information presented below has been extracted from our formal General Information for this tour. It covers topics that potential registrants may wish to consider before booking space. The complete General Information for this tour will be sent to all tour registrants and of course, supplemental information, if needed, is available from the WINGS office.
ENTERING AND LEAVING ECUADOR: Ecuadorian authorities require a passport that is valid for at least six months after the date of your arrival in Ecuador. Visas are currently not required for U.S. and Canadian citizens. Tourist cards are prepared by your arriving airline. There is a $40.80 departure tax in Ecuador, which is typically included in the price of your airline ticket, but have cash on hand if it changes.
Proof of health insurance may be required when entering Ecuador. As of this writing, it hasn’t yet gone into effect, and the exact requirements are unclear. It’s probably best to have your insurance card or travel insurance confirmation with you on arrival. If for some reason your coverage doesn’t meet the requirement, we have been told that medical insurance can be purchased at the airport and that there are 2 or 3 companies stationed just outside of the baggage area. The basic insurance plans offered at the airport run about $35 for 30 days of coverage. The more comprehensive plans run somewhere around $95 for the same length of time.
Proof of a current Yellow Fever vaccination is required only if one enters Ecuador directly from a country where the disease is endemic. Tourists entering Ecuador via transfer in Bogota or Panama have not been asked it is best to be prepared in the event that changes.
COUNTRY INFORMATION: You can review the U.S. Department of State Country Specific Travel Information here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel.html and the CIA World Factbook here: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/. Review foreign travel advice from the UK government here: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice and travel advice and advisories from the Government of Canada here: https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/advisories.
PACE OF THE TOUR: This can be a moderately strenuous tour with long days and a lot of slow walking with periods of standing and sitting. Daylight on the equator lasts only 12 hours and birds are most active in the early morning. Early starts are the rule, although these may be counteracted on some days by a post-lunch siesta or a couple of hours of free time before dinner. In the Amazon lowlands, we will likely take several hours off during the hottest part of the day (when the birds are taking off, too). The majority of the mountain birding will be done on dirt roads and along trails. When not birding on foot from our hotel, our vehicle and driver will be nearby in the event that you need to leave anything in the vehicle during the days out. Bathroom facilities and running water are available at some of the reserves visited, but the presence of modern facilities should not be counted on during our birding days.
During the lowland Amazon portion of the trip, birding is mostly done from a small canoe paddled by lodge staff or on foot along forest trails. The conditions of the trails around Sani lodge vary widely. Most are relatively flat, but across the river in Yasuni National Park, the trails are typically hilly and some have carved earthen steps. When they’re dry, the trails are not difficult, though rain is always a possibility and mud in the trails is to be expected. Some trails may also have small stream crossings, swampy areas, and shallow water depending on weather. After rain, when the trails are wet, they can be slippery and difficult, and some of the boardwalks can become slick and a little hazardous. A collapsible walking stick can be useful. Walking up to 5 trail miles in a day, at birding speed, is likely on a few days. February is generally a drier period here (but still wet), and we hope for a visit with minimal rain.
Long periods of standing while watching a flock or trying to get a look at a skulky forest bird are to be expected. Some participants pack a small folding stool and carry it with them on our road walks. Rubber “wellie” boots are available for use at Wildsumaco, Guango, and Sani.
On some days, we’ll bird away from the lodge packing a box lunch, and returning in the late afternoon for dinner. There will be at least one optional after-dinner owling excursion.
HEALTH: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all travelers be up to date on routine vaccinations. These include measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine, varicella (chickenpox) vaccine, polio vaccine, and your yearly flu shot.
They further recommend that most travelers have protection against Hepatitis A and Typhoid.
Yellow Fever: The CDC recommends Yellow Fever protection for visitors traveling in rural Ecuador.
Malaria: Malaria is present in the Amazon basin of Eastern Ecuador, so a malaria prophylaxis is important. Please check with your physician to determine which is best for you. Please remember that many anti‑malarial drugs must be started one or more weeks before the period of exposure, and continued for several weeks after it concludes.
The most current information about travelers’ health recommendations can be found on the CDC’s Travel Health website here: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list
Elevation: Day 2 of the tour we will spend most of the day at and above treeline at 12-13,000 ft elevation, and on the drive over the Andes from Quito on Day 3, we will likely do some birding in the high-elevation paramo at close to 15,000 feet. Although most people are not affected by such short exposure to high elevation, anyone with a history of altitude, heart, or breathing problems should discuss it with their physician. Puembo Birding Gardens is at 2400m (7900 ft), Wildsumaco is at 1480 m (4900 ft), Cabanas San Isidro at 2050 m (6800 ft), and Guango Lodge is at 2700 m (9000 ft) elevation. Sani Lodge in the Amazon lowlands is at about 200m (700 ft) elevation.
Smoking: Smoking is prohibited in vehicles or when the group is gathered for meals, checklists, etc. If you are sharing a room with a nonsmoker, please do not smoke in the room.
Miscellaneous: One can never completely escape the risk of parasites or fungal infections. We avoid tap water and purified water is readily available. Finally, you may wish to bring a broad spectrum antibiotic in case of stubborn bacterial infections and an anti-diarrhea medication such as Imodium.
Biting insects are occasionally a problem, with some areas worse than others (i.e. the interior lowland forests). We recommend using insect repellents with a high concentration of DEET. However, care must be taken to avoid getting the DEET repellent on optical equipment as DEET dissolves rubber and plastic and can damage coated lenses. Camping supply stores and outfitters carry some reasonably effective alternatives, which contain natural products and aren’t corrosive. One example is a product containing permethrin 0.5%, which must be applied directly to clothing in advance of wearing and allowed to dry. This non-staining, odorless chemical is non-toxic to humans and protective on clothing through several launderings.
CLIMATE: Quito has been called the city of eternal spring. There and in nearby Puembo where the tour begins, the climate is crisp and cool with chilly nights and pleasantly warm days. Rain is always possible, but sunburn is more likely. Guango Lodge, where we will be spending one night, is also at high elevation (nearly 9000 feet) and the nights can be chilly. For the most part, temperatures will be warm during the day (75 F, 24 C), and pleasantly cool at night (60-65 F, 15-18 C). Periods of rain and/or fog are likely, especially later in the afternoon. The lower elevations will likely be hotter. At Sani Lodge in the Amazonian lowlands, we can expect occasional rain and warm, muggy days with marginally cooler nights.
ACCOMMODATION: Guango, San Isidro, and Wildsumaco are comfortable lodges catering to foreign tourists and birding groups. At all of the lodges each room has a private bathroom and hot water. Each lodge is also situated within its own forest reserve allowing immediate access to hummingbird feeders and excellent birding. All of the lodges have wireless internet access in their dining areas, though speeds are often slow and outages are common.
Sani is a clean and comfortable jungle lodge. The cabins are constructed of wood and have screened windows. Each has one king or two double beds with good mattresses, mosquito netting. Some rooms have a fan. Each has its own bathroom with sink, flush toilet, and shower. Electricity for the lodge and cabins is supplied by solar panels supported by a main generator and is typically available 24 hours a day. Hot water is supplied by solar heaters, and it is also typically available 24 hours. Outages, particularly on cloudy or rainy days, are not uncommon. The cabins are separate but are connected by common walkways to the bar and dining room. We should note that occasionally spiders, crickets, mice, geckos, or tree frogs find their way into the bathrooms. If something really neat shows up in your cabin, please take photos and alert your leader!! A surprisingly good WIFI network is broadcast through the main lodge area.
FOOD: Meals throughout are very good, with lots of vegetables, great soups, fruit juices, and various salads to accompany the fresh meat, chicken, and fish. Vegetarians can be accommodated, but please let us know in advance. Food is prepared by places that cater to foreign tourists, using products washed in clean water.
Bottled Water: Bottled water is available at all our lodges and will be available on our tour vehicles.
Food Allergies / Requirements: We cannot guarantee that all food allergies can be accommodated at every destination. Participants with significant food allergies or special dietary requirements should bring appropriate foods with them for those times when their needs cannot be met. Announced meal times are always approximate depending on how the day unfolds. Participants who need to eat according to a fixed schedule should bring supplemental food. Please contact the WINGS office if you have any questions.
WINGS tours are all-inclusive and no refunds can be issued for any missed tour meals.
TRANSPORTATION: Transportation between birding destinations and throughout the moutain leg of the tour will be in a van or small bus depending on the group size. We will travel on a variety of roads ranging from bumpy dirt roads off the beaten track to multi-lane highways around Quito. All driving will be done by a local Ecuadorian driver.
Transportation back to Quito from Sani at the end of the tour will be on a modern aircraft from the city of Coca. There is a three-hour ride on a motorized canoe (with padded seats and a canopy to protect us from the sun or the rain) between Coca and Sani. Our daily birding around Sani lodge will nearly always include shorter rides on a small canoe paddled by lodge staff.
Single occupancy may not be available at Guango Lodge or at Wildsumaco
Maximum group size seven with one leader.
