Hi Gary,

My wife and I met you once at the West 90. I've been to Ecuador twice; the
first time my wife and I went to the Galapagos and had time before and after
the voyage to hang out here and there. We explored Quito with a guide and
spent a few days near Mindo, sleeping in a tree house and birding with a
guide the lodge owner contacted. We flew over the Andes to Sacha Lodge,
spending three nights there, birding and exploring the rain forest. We
still think of that as a peak experience in our travels.

I went to Ecuador almost a year ago to work on a conservation project
monitoring Andean Spectacled Bears. I birded whenever I could, but didn't
accumulate much of a list. This was northwest of Quito about 4 hours by
bus. To reward myself for my volunteerism, I booked three nights at Bella
Vista nature lodge, near Mindo. It is a good base for birding and very
close to Tony Nunnery,s house. Tony is a guide for VENT, leading trips to
Panama, where we met him, and Ecuador.

Tony and Barbara have about 20+ hummingbird feeders and you can pick up over
twenty species in an afternoon just by sitting on their deck. They charge
$5 for the privilege and will even serve tea. They are lovely people. Tony
will recommend local people as guides, and if you catch him at the right
moment, he might even guide you himself.

Bella Vista is a cool place, in more ways than one, very scenic and the food
is good. You can go out on nature walks with the lodge employees but you
might not see many birds. There was a free-lance guide staying there who
was really good. His name is Graham and he hails from Oregon. I would hire
him in a minute. The resident guides were not very helpful. Besides the
hummingbirds, the best experience to be had is the trip to Angel Paz's farm.
He has a lek where Andian Cock of the Rocks put on a show. He has also
developed relationships with antpittas and calls them in to feed on worms
sprinkled on a stump.

I hope to take my wife to Ecuador again in a few years, and this is what we
will do; 1. Fly to Quito and stay in a decent hotel for a day to get used to
the time change and altitude. 2. Rent a good car or preferably a
4-wheel-drive and explore as much as we have time for, staying in hotels.
3. Visit an eco-lodge in the Amazon basin. 4. Go to Mindo and explore that
area with a good guide. 5. I don't think we would go to the Galapagos
again, but it is a must-see ecosystem, though expensive.

A little knowledge of Spanish is very helpful. The people are kind and
thoughtful, for the most part. When you get away from Quito restaurants and
hotels are very inexpensive. Drink bottled water. Stay out of dangerous
areas. The main highways are fine, but the other roads are rough. The
market at Otavalo is well worth the time to visit. The airport in Quito has
English-speaking employees that will help with taxis or hotels or whatever
you need.

Good luck to you and contact me if you have any questions. Alan Roedell,
Seattle roedell at speakeasy.net

-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Gary
Bletsch
Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2008 10:27 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] Ecuador RFI

Dear Tweeters,

A friend and I are going birding in Ecuador in late
June.

We are fishing for recommendations as to itinerary,
guides, and so forth. Each of us has birded in Central
America and Mexico, but not much in South America. Our
greedy, hubris-soaked goal is to see huge numbers of
lifers.

Please reply off-list.

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

PS--I believe I hold an all-time world record: what
other birder has spent over seven months in South
America, and has a life list of just 76 species???




Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

near Lyman (Skagit County), Washington

garybletsch at yahoo.com



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