Just returned from my third, solo, independent trip to Ecuador. Turned out to be quite eventful. The first Tuesday Volcan Reventador blew 3 times. I was there that day. The following Sunday a 7.5 earthquake struck Peru. The tremors shook the Magic Roundabout where I was staying. Also that night road builders used a little too much dynamite, bringing down the mountain, closing the road beyond nearby Cosanga to traffic but not me.
I also found some time to see some birds and bugs. I think I'm finally getting the hang of forest birding in Ecuador, both cloud forest and lowland tropical forest which really is extremely difficult. Even the local birders say that at Jatun Sacha. 2000 hectares of terra firme forest with about 540 bird species. An easily accessible, cheap, option for poor birders like me.
For those of you in a similar fiscal situation I can really recommend the Magic Roundabout ($10/night) in the Cosanga valley. Just a few minutes by bus from San Isidro which is $91/night. Many similar birds including the rare antpittas.
Bye for now
Adrian
Sounds like a pretty "interesting" trip. Hope you saw lots of good birds!
The "Exploder" blew before our trip a few years ago. Shut down the airport in Quito just 10 days before we arrived. Saw heat-killed forest on the sides of ravines that hot mud flows traveled---as we skirted by the volcano on the cooling mud with a road 10 meters burried below. Reventador rises from the jungle. I'm impressed it's not more well known. We're saving our pennies to get back to that wonderful country.