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Ecuador

Birding in the Ecuadorian Andes

Program No. 21607RJ
Go off the beaten path to explore the pristine environments of the Ecuadorian Andes, where you’ll join experts to spot a wealth of rare birds, including the stunning Cock-of-the-Rock!
Participant Reviews
4.89
Based on 32 Reviews
SHOWING
This participant did not give a star rating.
Andrea – Class of 2023 | Davis, CA
Absolutely magnificent trip. Our guide Freddy, was very knowledgeable and kind. He took extra time to make sure everyone was able to see all the birds.
— Review left April 20, 2025
Linda – Class of 2024 | Rushville, NY
This Ecuadorian bird tour was the best ever. Our birding expert , Freddy Perez was the greatest. He was an expert is knowing bird calls & areas best for locating certain birds. He has a genuine concern for the Ecuadorian ecosystem. Marco, our driver kept us safe winding thru the mountains. I saw 301 species of birds with 210 Lifers. Mammals seen: Tyra, agouti, coati, tamarind monkeys, spectacled bear. Experiencing Ecuadorian food was so delicious. Potato soup was my favorite. Lodging in the rainforest was relaxing. In March we experienced rain part of the day every day... so bring rain gear. I am hoping RS will create a southern EC birding trip.
— Review left March 21, 2025
Kimberly – Class of 2022 | Gainesville, FL
For people who like to bird and are adventurous, I can't recommend Birding in the Ecuadorian Andes enough. The lodgings are excellent, the cuisine is superb,the Group Leader is outstanding and the diversity of bird species is a wonder to see.
— Review left March 20, 2025
Karen – Class of 2019 | Montezuma, NM
We saw about 300 new species of birds in 9 days!
— Review left March 19, 2025
Patty – Class of 2004 | Plainsboro, NJ
Excellent but strenuous program for the serious birder. Prepare for many hours of birding, resulting in the viewing of about 300 different species of birds as well as some unique mammals. Traveling to birding spots may take 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hour but the time is well worth the results. The tour guide, lecturer and drive are very qualified and talented. The accommodations and meals are very good to excellent.
— Review left March 19, 2025
Susan – Class of 2021 | North Conway, NH
5 star review! If you are a serious birder with a love of hiking this is an amazing birding tour! I loved being out in the mountains and forests of Ecuador. The animals and birds were spectacular with each type of landscape and forests explored. Freddy Perez was an incredible tour guide! He showed us almost 300 species of birds and many mammals as well. Freddy has a love of nature and birding that is absolutely infectious and I would go on any birding trip that he led! Freddy made sure to discuss altitude sickness, signs and symptoms, and the need to go back to a lower altitude if any problems arose. He made sure that we all got off safely to get home and showed extra care to get us what we needed during the entire trip. I was thrilled to meet Mr. Carron and see his home and studios. His paintings and art work were beautiful and showed off his love of ornithology! The Accomadations were wonderful with the Sachatamia Lodge and San Isidro Lodge both had hummingbird feeders, fruit feeders, and various other feeders that allowed you to bird at these lodges! The food was amazing! The people were warm and cared about our comfort. Laundry service was offered at both lodges and was done welland returned the next morning.
— Review left March 19, 2025
Kerry – Class of 2025 | Leon, IA
Absolutely fabulous trip! I'm afraid this trip may have set the bar too high for any future Road Scholar programs I attend. Exceeded my expectations!
— Review left February 5, 2025
Cathy – Class of 2025 | Suwanee, GA
Great birding trip! Antonio Jaramillo was our excellent guide. We saw over 300 species including over 40 different hummingbirds. Nice lodging and good food. Lots off high-altitude walking. Ecuador is beautiful.
— Review left January 25, 2025
Norine – Class of 2011 | Wayne, ME
This program exceeded my expectations. I only wish it had been longer. Road scholar. Is very fortunate to have the highly accomplished Antonio - who combines birding, photography and management skills,- as a guide leader and.Raul as a driver who does so much more than keep us safe, putting his own Birding and photography skills to work. While we were immersed in the world of birds i learned so much about the ecology and uniqueness of Ecuador.
— Review left November 23, 2024
This participant did not give a star rating.
Carol – Class of 2019 | Loveland, CO
This was my first birding trip with Road Scholar (actually, my first birding trip ever!), and what an amazing time I had. Our small group of 8 was led by Antonio Jaramillo and we were constantly astounded by his ability to spot birds at a distance. We averaged 25 new species a day, and were able to see the Andean Condor, Cock of the Rock, gray-breasted mountain toucan, many rarer species, all the antpittas we could handle, hummingbirds galore and so much more. Antonio was always at the ready to help the photographers in the group and, for us non-photographers, shot some excellent close-ups using his spotting scope and our iPhones. So many great pics! We also saw an endangered mountain tapir, which made nighttime visits to a mineral lick at the San Isidro reserve. What a privilege to see this shy mammal in the wild. Our accommodations were excellent, food incredible, and we were a very companionable group. The only problem I had was my pants were getting a bit tight toward the end of the trip with all the great meals! As a sidenote, I almost cancelled this trip because of a number of concerns (power outages, personal security, etc.) that were popping up in various news stories. I'm so glad I didn't. We were unaffected by power outages, I felt completely safe everywhere we went, and just loved the hospitality of the Ecuadorian people who always had a cup of coffee at the ready. If you are thinking about this trip, sign up already! (Special shout-out to our driver Raoul who tackled mountain and dirt roads with ease, making us all feel very safe!)
— Review left November 13, 2024
Brenda – Class of 2024 | Durango, CO
Excellent trip. Lovely to be immersed in the beauty of the world for 11 days. Excellent birding guide. Beautiful accommodations.
— Review left November 13, 2024
Linda – Class of 2024 | Noblesville, IN
great birding trip with tons of new species. excellent guide and driver. would recommend this trip!!!
— Review left October 27, 2024
Michael – Class of 2019 | Mars Hill, NC
Great birding. Lots of fun and great food.
— Review left October 18, 2024
Briana – Class of 2023 | Linden, MI
This trip was AMAZING. Freddy Perez, and our driver, Kevin Montolvo, are an amazing team and Road Scholar should hire them to do all of these tours because they work so well together. The lodging was excellent. San Isidro Lodge was unbelievable. I didn't want to leave. The food was amazing. We felt completely safe in Ecuador and I'd go back in a heartbeat. We saw 378 species, adding about 350 to our life list. We went in February and the temperature was mild (around 60) the entire time. I brought some cold weather clothing and really didn't need it except up in the mountain one day. Bringing waterproof hiking shoes. It rained a lot so bring rain gear. Most places do not take credit so bring a lot of cash, no bills larger than $20 as it would be hard for them to break it. I highly recommend getting the book, "Fieldbook of the Birds of Ecuador including the Galapagos Islands and common Mammals" by Miles McMullan and Lelis Navarrete. San Isidro lodge carries it but we were already a week into the trip and wished we had seen this book earlier. If you are on the fence about this trip, I'm telling you, book it. It was AMAZING!!!!
— Review left March 26, 2024
Katrina – Class of 2023 | Howell, MI
This was a fantastic trip, our leader, Freddy Perez and driver Kevin Montalvo did an excellent job! The trip was well organized, the food was great and the birds were out of this world! I personally saw about 350 new species. I was very happy with my trip. Lodgings were excellent and the birding locations gave us great opportunities for photography and enjoyment.
— Review left March 7, 2024
This participant did not give a star rating.
Richard – Class of 2024 | Flushing, MI
The trip was great, Had a great time with Freedy and Kevin bird guide & driver. The lodging and food was perfect.
— Review left February 26, 2024
Lisa – Class of 2017 | Norfolk, VA
Do not hesitate to go birding in Ecuador. The country is beautiful, the people are lovely, and the birds are spectacular. You will not be disappointed.
— Review left January 28, 2024
Cheryl – Class of 2023 | Eugene, OR
A fabulous experience that far exceeded all expectations - hundreds of birds, an exceptional guide who shared his vast knowledge & good humor, a driver who safely transported us to extraordinary places and fun, curious fellow participants!
— Review left December 4, 2023
Jere – Class of 2023 | New Bern, NC
Outstanding birding experience in an outstanding birding country!
— Review left November 11, 2023
Carolyn – Class of 2017 | Greensboro, NC
This is an excellent program for anyone who is in love with birds and birding! Ecuador is beautiful and birding in the Andes was a spectacular experience.
— Review left October 6, 2023
Kristine – Class of 2017 | Sparta, WI
This program was well planned and covered a variety of birding habitats in scenic locations. Our guide was very knowledgeable, and introduced us to a great diversity of birds, from the soaring Andean Condor, to over 50 species of hummingbirds. A great experience overall.
— Review left October 6, 2023
This participant did not give a star rating.
Mary – Class of 2023 | Silver Spring, MD
This was good trip overall- the group was great and I made some new friends who I will stay in touch with. Accommodations and meals were also good in general. I would have preferred more walking/hiking/birding rather than feeder-watches. Guide was very good at finding and identifying birds, but it would have been nice to take some time to discuss birds- behavior, habitat..., and make sure everyone (including the beginners) found the birds, rather than only trying to find more "target" birds. Getting home from Quito was the main problem- 6 AM AA flight (for which we had to be there at 3 AM) was delayed until around noon (or later). THere was lots of standing in lines for rebooking connecting flights, getting breakfast voucher, and another to check bags...Once in Miami, again had to rebook flight. That flight was delayed until the following AM and had to find accommodations locally (and no AA agent to be found to help out or explain what was going on, where the bags were....). It took about 36 hours to get home from time of airport arrival in Quito. It took others longer.
— Review left March 17, 2023
Michael – Class of 2004 | Saint Cloud, MN
It was good.
— Review left March 16, 2023
Raymond – Class of 2022 | Thompson Falls, MT
Any birder would enjoy this great experience. We saw lots of birds, had great meals and accommodations. Highly recommended.
— Review left March 15, 2023
Patricia – Class of 2015 | Sierra Vista, AZ
This trip was a wonderful birding experience! Be prepared for birding from before sunrise until after sundown. We saw hundreds of endemic birds. Enjoyed the amazing scenery of Ecuador. Stayed in delightful eco-lodges and enjoyed tasty Ecuadorian foods.
— Review left January 27, 2023
Jonathon – Class of 2019 | Sierra Vista, AZ
Andreas, our tour leader, and Kevin, our bus driver, were excellent. Andreas was patient and knowledgeable. He not only was an expert in his field but also tried to help us become better identifiers of the birds we saw. If he was not able to identify a bird because the conditions would not allow it, he admitted to it. Kevin, our bus driver was not only an excellent driver with safe driving habits, but he also was an excellent bird spotter and identifier. Both of these men were friendly, approachable, competent, and professional. The program more than met my expectations and Andreas and Kevin were the primary reasons for this.
— Review left January 26, 2023
Susan – Class of 2017 | Bend, OR
Ecuador has the second-most number of bird species in the world. This program made it possible to see over 300 of them. It was a really great birding experience.
— Review left January 23, 2023
This participant did not give a star rating.
Deb – Class of 2017 | McMinnville, OR
This trip did not disappoint for this very amateur birder. We saw 260 different birds including 43 hummingbirds - my favorites. Andreas was an expert spotter. We traveled to a wide variety of habitats. I appreciated staying 3 nights in most lodging. San Isidro was especially lovely. Be prepared for cold nights as Sachatamia and San Isidro lodges did not have heat in the rooms. A wonderful opportunity to see the incredible lush diversity of Ecuadorian Andes area.
— Review left March 14, 2020
Robert – Class of 2020 | Shippensburg, PA
If you're a birder, you would enjoy the dazzling birds of Ecuador with leader Edwin Perez, who knows the history, culture and birds of Ecuador like no one else. I went as a single and made many new friends in this very cohesive group.
— Review left February 1, 2020
Vera – Class of 1991 | Apache Junction, AZ
The leader, Edwin, was extremely knowledgable about the birds and knew where to find them. This is not a trip for experienced birders, as 14 is too many participants and because of the group size, many birds were ignored because it would be too difficult to get that many people, expecially the inexperienced birders, on some birds.
— Review left January 26, 2020
Daniel – Class of 2024 | Sacramento, CA
This is a great introduction to northern Ecuadorian birds in the Andes region east and west of Quito. The guide, Edwin Perez, is very competent, engaging, and adept at spotting the birds. With the exception of a half-day sightseeing in Quito, it is all about the birds, more intensely than some other Road Scholar birding trips I have taken. Most of the walks were short, none were really arduous. The lodgings and meals were good. Internet access varied. Here is the url of a Flickr album of good and passable photographs of many of the birds we saw: https://www.flickr.com/photos/123247913@N05/albums/72157690431943993.
— Review left March 21, 2019
Shirley | Chapel Hill, NC
Incredible birds in Ecuador and a superb leader.
— Review left January 30, 2019





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