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Ecuador/Amazon Trip - Feb 2012


Atdahl

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One of the best trips we have ever taken was last year at Napo Wildlife Center. We spent 6 nights at NWC with bookend nights in Quito at the Sheraton. I would highly recommend NWC for anyone wanted to experience the Amazon. Getting there is half the fun they say. We hired a private guide for our stay and it was well worth the extra money.

 

Here is a link to our online trip report: http://focusedonnature.blogspot.com/2012/02/ecuador-day-1.html

 

This was the first trip where we took video. The results were mixed as we still have much to learn with that medium but being able to re-play the sounds of the jungle have been great whenever we want to reminisce. The videos are linked in the trip report and are also here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6CF17870CB0CEBA1&feature=mh_lolz

 

If anyone is planning a trip there, I am happy to answer any questions.

 

Alan

 

 

Napo Wildlife Center:

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Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth:

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Hoatzin (Such a fantastic looking bird)

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Parrot Clay Lick:

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Night Monkeys:

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Giant River Otters (a trip highlight)

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Pygmy Marmosets (Another highlight!)

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Thanks for sharing, a very interesting read - and wonderful pictures. (Getting these in the jungle can´t be easy!) Love the hoatzin and night monkeys especially. The clay licks must be absolutely stunning.

 

I always had the impression that one wouldn´t see too many animals in the Amazon. Not true at least here in Ecuador, as you have proven. Napo Wildlife Center really looks like a great place to go, and I think it could easily be combined with a Galapagos trip. (A place I´d like to see very much.) Their own homepage does not include rates, but here (http://www.surtrek.com/ecuador-travel-guide/ecuadorian-amazon-expeditions/napo-wildlife-center.html) they are about USD 1,015 for 5 days (plus daily park fees of USD 30,--) which is really not bad at all.

 

Less than 1,000 otters? I really hope not, Wikipedia gives them at least "typically below 5,000".

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Great trip report - brings back lots of good memories when we were there. We went in 2010 for 3 days after a trip to the Galapagos. We were actually very lucky to have a guide to ourselves for the 3 days (not booked), it does make such a difference.

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Thanks all.

 

@@michael-ibk - I agree that combining NWC and the Galapagos makes good sense. In fact, it looks like @@Zim Girl did just that. We paid ~$3500 USD for 6 nights plus a private guide plus the round trip flights from Coca (2 of us). Tips to both guides are on top of that but it is still quite reasonable and you do have the opportunity to see lots of wildlife. I see that the IUCN has the # of Giant Otters at 1000-5000 and declining based on their 2008 report. I guess the lower # stuck in my head but I too hope it's closer to the higher end of the range.

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@@Atdahl

Stunning photos in that trip report - including many of less obvious creatures

It is a great read!

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Thanks for sharing the link and videos. The tamarins are really adorable and such a ruckus at the the licks but what an experience. It was curious to see the long nosed bats hanging out on the pole in the open - was the picture taken during the day?

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@@Kitsafari. Yes, those bats were roosting on the posts during the day. There were there for more than one day as well so it must be a regular roosting spot for them.

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You had a lot of animal action in the jungle and some great shots of it. I've heard good things about Napo. The neck jiggling of the rufescent tiger heron mating dance was something I had never seen. That anaconda was very active. Lovely clay lick. Did you get the impression that what you saw was typical or that you were very lucky?

 

What dates did you go and was the private guide through Napo or elsewhere.

 

Any escorted night walks?

 

Really prolific for jungle habit! Thanks for posting!

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@@Atravelynn - I got the impression that our sightings were relatively normal with a couple exceptions. The anaconda was lucky since a gardner found it along the shore and I think having lots of birds at both clay licks was lucky since that doesn't happen all the time. I have followed NWC on Facebook and other folks have seen Tayra and Tapir. Not to mention my inlaws that stayed a few miles away at Sacha Lodge the week after us and saw a Giant Ant Eater which is super rare there. There was also a Jaguar sighting along the river at NWC this past summer which is also super rare.

 

We went in early Feb 2012. The guide was through NWC but he's a local guide that does other lodges in the area too. I have his contact information for anyone interested. He was incredible!

 

The only disappointment of the trip was the night action. There is only a short <1 mile trail at NWC since the whole place is surrounded by water. So, this is the only place for night hikes and we saw just about nothing every time we tried. They don't have night excursions. We did come back in the canoe after dark once and saw lots of caiman and some frogs but that's it. Of course, after getting up before 5AM on most days the early nights were nice, but we love night time in the jungle and did miss that at NWC.

 

I am still looking forward to reading about your recent pantanal trip, any way we can bribe you to post it <_<

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Sacha, heard good things about that one too. What made you choose NWC over Sacha?

 

Thanks for the other info. Night walks, like night drives, can be hit or miss. Most of the South/Central America night walks I've done have produced some nice insects and amphibians and lizards, maybe one kinkajou, and there was one armadillo that startled us. But they have not been action packed.

 

Please do give a contact for your guide. If he wouldn't mind, you can stick it right here in the report. Otherwise a PM.

 

No bribes needed for my report. I needed to catch up on all I had missed first. I was gone less than 2 weeks, but off of ST for a month or so. A lot goes on here in that amount of time. If people would just stay home, it would make my life so much easier. <_<

 

Where to next for you?

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@@Atravelynn - Our Napo guide was Delfin Gualinga (delfinsggz@yahoo.com). We choose Napo over Sacha just because my research showed better wildlife sightings at Napo. If I compared what we saw vs. what our in-laws saw at Sacha a week later, my choice was good (except of course for the Giant Anteater sighting they had). Next for us (besides some local trips) is hopefully the Pantanal...finally!

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Gracias Atdahl. There is plenty about the Pantanal on here, with one more report to be posted very soon.

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