New Trip Report – Ecuador
Hola!
Here’s a report of my recent trip to Ecuador. The highlights of my 9 days there were Spectacled Bear and Mountain Tapir plus 9 species of primates in the Napo Valley.
Jon
14 Comments
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Jon Hall
Thanks. Yes all the Tapirs, and all but one of the bears (still got Sun Bear to go). I’ve seen Tapirs in the dry scrub of the Paraguayan Chaco too so they are quite diverse in their habitats. And I was really so focussed on the monkeys that I didn’t spend any time looking for Sloths or Tayras or much else, so its maybe not so surprising I guess – I spent most of the Amazon time covering as much ground as I could while listening for calls and movement, neither of which you’d get from a Sloth!
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Alan
Great report Jon. Glad that you made it to the Napo River area. It’s amazing how different the wildlife you saw at Sacha Lodge was compared to the wildlife we saw at NWC. I would agree that NWC is a great place for mammal watching but I would love to see some of the species that you saw at Sacha. So, the solution might be to visit both! I would kill to see 1 species of Tapir and you’ve seen all 4. I am quite jealous.
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Jon Hall
Thanks Alan. Yes its strange. 6 years ago I’d not seen one Tapir and now I have seen them all. As I am sure you know, the Bairds are a gimme in Corcovado in Costa Rica, and Brazilian are quite easy to see at some rainforest lodges (eg Rio Cristalino), and almost a certainty in the Pantanal. You spend too much time distracted by birds Alan – that is the real problem 😉 (I just saw your focus on wildlife post and now wish I’d made a bit of time for the parrot licks!)
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Alan
That’s funny. Birds do distract me once in a while but I usually don’t let that get in the way of finding mammals or herps. Although I do have the itch to photograph a Quetzal…so who knows. I will try not to turn into a “birder”…
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Jon Hall
Sorry Alan – I was under the impression that you were indeed a birder above all else. Sorry! Someone spotted a Harpy Eagle the days I was in Sacha… that’s one bird I would like to see.
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John Fox
Congrats on the Bear and Tapir, Jon.
Did you try to make a day trip to NWC? It seems the local lodges are pretty cooperative, especially for hard core birders and mammalers. Might be an issue with having to hire the NWC guys to paddle since they don’t use motors (a very nice feature!).
There’s a resident Bushy-tailed Possum at the top of the tower there, I thought I wrote a trip report but it’s not on your site.
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Jon Hall
I didn’t John, but on reflection I could maybe have done that if I’d contacted them before hand. They didn’t seem all that cooperative when I was there – I heard of an area where the WB spider monkeys are but then my guide said we were not allowed to visit because it belonged to the Napo WC. I don’t remember a trip report from you – when did you go? Could you send it (again)?
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Jan Kelchtermans
Smashing and very atmospheric report with a great ‘looking up bear’ shot! Marvelous! Bit crazy you drove up straight to Papallacta; a body needs 2 days to get used to that altitude. Anyway, many people will follow this trace for both species including myself! In full swing these days for the Spectacled Bear on Peruvian ground (not Chaparri) related with a trip next year.Other targets like Sechura fox (Pseudalopex sechurae) Andean night monkey (Aotus miconax), San Martin titi monkey (Callicebus oenanthe) and especially Peruvian yellow-tailed woolly monkey.
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Jon Hall
Thanks Jan. When are you going to Peru? I am intending to visit next year and want to see all of those species, so I’d like some more information on your plans.
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Jan Kelchtermans
Hi Jon, I am working on a update of my site related with the NEWS chapter. All Peru info in one of the several items that will be added. Web hoster into being a father soon … once a bit of free time he will upload the NEWS items. Related primates mentioned above, all occure in the North of Peru, so an essential domestic fligth Leh-Cajamarca is necessary to start this trip.
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Jan Kelchtermans
It’s of course Lima and not Leh! Seems I am with my head already on my epic India Felidae-tour later this autumn…excuses for that error. Jan
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tomeslice
Good trip and good pictures!! Some nice primates also! I need a picture-worthy look at some pgymy marmosets myself.. My encounter was kind of brief and they wouldn’t pose for a picture.
So, you’ve see all 4 tapirs now. Have you seen all the bears as well? It’s very strange to see the tapir in the grass field like that, in my mind I always imagine them in a rain forest. I thought even the mountain tapir hangs out in the cloud forest rather than the paramo, but cool stuff! Interesting lack of other typical amazonian species iike tayra/sloth etc..