Trogon Photo Tours



ECUADOR

  October 19-29, 2021 East Slope

November 2-12, 2021 West Slope

Amazon Extension

October 29-November 3, 2021

About Ecuador - Ecuador is one of the richest countries in the world for birds and bird photography.  Over 1,550 species of birds have been recorded in Ecuador, the fourth highest total of any country in the world.  It has many excellent lodges, good roads, a stable government and is reachable from most of North America in 8 hours travel or less.
   
What to expect:  Many of the birds will be close up.  For example with the hummingbird photography I usually use my 300mm lens rather than my 500mm and intermediate to long zoom lenses are ideal for this type of photography (think 70-200 with 1.4 teleconverter, 70-300, 100-400 etc).  At the other locations and for the other birds a minimum of 300mm is recommended, although the longer lens you have the more good opportunities you will have.  Everyone will get at least 10 sessions which last more than at least an hour each with the multi-flash, this is much more than most photography tours offer. The weather can vary from sunny to rainy but with the multi-flash hummingbird photography we are shooting from covered porches as well as some of the other locations where we are photographing fruit feeding birds coming in to feeders. 

Maximum Participants: 10 total, including a maximum of 6 photographers.  

Tour Leaders: Javier Zurita and Ken Archer.  Javier is from Quito, Ecuador, he is an excellent photographer.  For his thesis, he studied building blinds for bird photography and he is the person who has constructed the blinds at Sachatamia and several other locations in Ecuador.  He also enjoys working with snakes and frogs.  Ken is an award winning photographer who has co-led some of our Ecuador tours in the past. 

Cost: Photographer: Both the east and west slope photo workshops cost $4,595 with a $400 single supplement, the cost for a nonphotographer companion/spouse is $4,000.  This includes all lodging, meals, transportation within Ecuador, guiding, instruction.  It does not include airfare to and from Quito, Ecuador which is the beginning and ending point of the tour.  It also does not include personal expenses such as tips or drinks. To reserve your spot a deposit of $1,200 is required. The balance is due 90 days prior to the tour. The cost of the Amazon extension is $2,595, nonphotographer spouse is $2,295 and single supplement is $300.

East Slope October 19-29, 2021: This photo tour includes arrival and departure at Zaysant Lodge and trip to Antisana as well as 2 nights each at Wild Sumaco, Guango and Rio Quijose lodges.  All 3 of those lodges are very good for hummingbird multi-flash photography.  Wild Sumaco is much lower on the eastern slope and the birds are very different there. Black-mantled Tamarins visit the feeders here as well as the birds.  Guango is the best lodge for photographing Sword-billed Hummingbird and is excellent in general for hummingbird photography.  Walks along the river can produce Torrent Duck.  Rio Quijose is the best location to photograph Sunbittern in Ecuador and is very good for the golden booted Eastern version of Booted Rackettail.  Both San Isidro, where we spend one night and Wild Sumaco use lights to attract moths which attract a variety of insect eating birds in the morning.  Both of those lodges also feed antpittas. During the trip to the Antisana Volcano two of our main targets are Andean Condor and Ecuadorian Hillstar.

West Slope November 2-12, 2021: This photo tour visits the best spots on the Western slope of the Andes for bird photography.  We spend 4 nights at Sachatamia Lodge which has photo blinds, fruit feeders and great multi-flash hummingbird photography.  The photo blinds attract great birds like Masked Trogons and Red-breasted Antthrush as well as a variety of woodcreepers.  The multi-flash area at Sachatamia attracts large numbers of Violet-tailed Sylph and Booted Racketail along with around a dozen more hummingbird species.  While we are at Sachatamia Lodge we will visit a nearby lodge which has feeding stations at reflecting pools which are the best place to photograph the stunning Plate-billed Mountain Toucan and many tanagers.  We spend two nights near Mashpi Amaguso.  The feeders at Amaguso attract difficult birds such as Glistening-green Tanager, Golden-collared Honeycreeper and Moss-backed Tanager.  We do some multi-flash hummingbird photography here as well.  At Zuroloma we will photograph several species of antpitta, then do some multi-flash hummingbird photography with highland species such as Sword-billed Hummingbird and Shining Sunbeam.  We start and end the tour at Zaysant Ecolodge near the Quito airport and during this time we visit Antisana Volcano where two of our main targets are Andean Condor and Ecuadorian Hillstar.

Amazon extension: October 29th-November 3rd. We fly from Quito, Ecuador to Coca, then have a 4 hour boat ride down the Napo River, one of the Amazon's large tributaries to Sani Lodge.  We spend 4 nights at this fabulous lodge which is run by the local indigenous community.  Boat trips on the oxbow lakes provide excellent photos of the amazing Hoatzin, several kingfishers and many other birds.  They have a hide in the forest for the fantastic Wire-tailed Manakin and feeders which attract Scarlet-crowned Barbet and Crimson-collared Tanager and Masked Crimson Tanager.  Trips to the canopy tower in a massive Kapok tree add lots of other species including often the Golden-collared Toucanet and Aracaris.  We visit the clay licks at Yasuni National Park which attract Scarlet Macaws, Orange-cheeked Parrots and large numbers of parakeets. The local guides are excellent at spotting roosting owls and it's a great location for macro photography, there are optional night walks and boat trips.  The experience of being in the Amazon itself is enchanting! ON It includes flight to and from Coca, 4 nights lodging at Sani Lodge across the river from Yasuni National Park, this is one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet.  It's situated very close to a tower which is excellent for bird photography.  We also visit parrot clay licks and go for boat trips to photograph Hoatzin and many other species.  It's an enchanting location! On the 2nd we return by boat to Coca and by plane to Quito and head back to Zaysant Ecolodge. 

Contact - Email us at nchappell@trogontours.net if you are interested in this tour or call Nate at
281-778-1486