World Trip Reports
Birding NW Ecuador, March 2007
Well I finally got around to typing up a journal from my birding in Ecuador way back in March! I had a bit of free time over Christmas break and decided if I didn't type it soon, it would really be way too late (9 months isn't too long is it??? 
)
We visited legendary places such as Tandayapa, Milpe, Yanacocha, and Rio Silanche, birding with Scott Olmstead (Tropical Birding guide).
So I've attached my very long report for anyone who's interested in a little taste of birding in Ecuador. My dad and I only had four days to bird solid, and then we joined a mission group from my school and built a church near Quito for most of the rest of the 2 1/2 week trip. We tallied around 280 species which wasn't too bad considering the time we actually spent birding. It was my introduction to the neotropics, and I can't wait to get back, especially after just reliving the whole trip while typing it up.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!
Great stuff, Michael. It really is a great birding country and the Tandayapa region is fantastic. I met Scott Olmstead a couple of times while I was there.
Ok, the mission part: I met quite a few Americans while I was in Ecuador who were involved with building churches, etc. Now, please don't mistake me, I am not trying to be funny or rude, but I wonder why, in a Roman Catholic country that has no shortage of churches do people feel they need to go there and build more? Seriously, I am curious about it.
You're right, there do seem to be plenty of churches in the area. However, they aren't all of the denomination that people want. Sure, they're all Christian, but each denomination with a few of its own unique beliefs wants their own place to worship. In our case, there was a large group of Seventh-day Adventists that had been waiting ten years for the money, materials, and help to build their own church in San Pedro de Taboada. There is an organization, Maranatha, that continually builds churches around the world in areas such as this, so we became part of that project.
At the same time that we built the church, we also played soccer with the locals and put on Vacation Bible Schools for a few hundred kids that eagerly showed up for singing, games, and fun. So in addition to just building them a church, we also made friendships and connected with the people. And for every one of the kids in our mission group, it was an incredible learning experience to be there and see how other people around the world live, and we came back with a different outlook on life.
So I guess there's more to it than just adding another church to the huge city of Quito. I know it was a great experience for me.