Ecuador/Galapagos birding, any advice welcome (1 Viewer)

[fishingruddy]

Hello there, im thinking about going on one of these birding holidays that are always advetised to the Galapagos isles with a few days in Ecuador. Has anyone had any good or bad experiances, and if so what company you used.
Fishingruddy

 

[Bushop]

Hello there, im thinking about going on one of these birding holidays that are always advetised to the Galapagos isles with a few days in Ecuador. Has anyone had any good or bad experiances, and if so what company you used.
Fishingruddy

I went in 1988 .... when it was still fairly quiet.

- hiked to some altitude, well worth it
- did not travel to see the flightless cormerants
- brought the Galapagos Field guide
- small boat with few people
- brought a gift for the captain
- snorkled everyday, swam with the penguins

Amazing trip ... I think about it almost everyday.

 

[tapaculo]

The Galapagos are fabulous, even if there are not a lot of species. A good contrast is to do at least a little birding in mainland Ecuador first (you can now easily get to great places near Quito or Guayaquil), to experience the difficulty of seeing birds in forest, and then go to the Galapagos, where your biggest concern is that you wil step on one! Snorkeling was one thing that people don't expect, but be prepared to do it: you get to swim with sea lions, maybe penguins and cormorants, sea turtles, as well as colorful fish. (In the cold-water season, a short wet suit will be welcome.)

All boats take along trained guides, who will know all but the most obscure birds. You will have to convince them (and your fellow passengers) that you really want to go after all the finches, etc.

Visiting the islands need a week, based on a boat; there are a lot of agents who all book the same boats. We were quite happy on a 40-passenger ship, the Isabella II; I gather the 12-passenger ones, though appealing, are less comfortable. (Sails look romantic, but they all use their motors most of the time, to get between islands at night.)

"A Guide to the Birds of the Galapagos Islands" by Castro & Phillips is mediocre as a field guide; I've seen a book of photos of all animals (and plants?) that would be better.

There are advanatges to each season. But what would be tough would be going in a strong El Niño year (like maybe this year): the fish disappear without the cold water, and I've heard e.g. most of the newborn sea lions die of starvation. Could be fascinating, but not pleasant...

 

[tony.saw]

Excellent advice to spend a little time on the mainland before heading out to the Galapagos. We spent some time at Tandayapa Lodge which was excellent for hummers etc and is not to far out of Quito. In Quito itself there are many firms advertising trips to the Galapagos in a wide variety of boats, but there would be no guarantee that the boat would allow you to bird effectually. It would also be very difficult to see all the endemics in a week (especially the Mangrove finch and the San Cristobel Mockingbird). We found that a small boat enabled you to land a lot quicker and easier, there are also not a lot of people tripping over the birds. The ability of the guides, especially regarding the finches, also varies considerably. We ended up arranging the boat etc through Christina at Tropical Birding, who was very helpful.
It would also be worth being prepared for some diving (or at least snorkelling) as swimming with the penguins is amazing. Although a wet suit would probably not go amiss. They are available for hire on the islands.
Tony

 

[Rasmus Boegh]

not really what you're requesting, but perhaps useful anyway:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=67073

 

[ticotours]

Galapagos Islands

Hello there, im thinking about going on one of these birding holidays that are always advetised to the Galapagos isles with a few days in Ecuador. Has anyone had any good or bad experiances, and if so what company you used.
Fishingruddy

Hi,

Tico Tours, LLC http://tico-tours.net is offering such a tour Feb 10-21 Feb 21-Mar 2, 2007. Please see http://ticotours.home.att.net/EcuHummer.htm for details.

Cheers,

Mike

Michael R. Boatwright
Tico Tours
http://tico-tours.net
[email protected]

 

[iolar]

i went with Exodus, they had a special wildlife trip. Exodus were one of the very view companies allowed camp on the islands and really explore them, most trips are cruises and you don't get to see the wildlife. And we got to go on some isolated islands. One of my favourite parts was photographing the young albatrosses on Floreana(i think thats what it was called)

Highly recommend the Exodus wildlife trip

 

[jackied]

Hi Fishingruddy
My advice would be to go on a small ship, not one of the cruise ships that work the islands. We were aboard the "Beluga" which only holds 16 passengers, but we saw one of the cruise ships dropping off on one island and the people just kept coming, there seemed to be an endless stream of them. I don't think you would get much chance to see much wildlife with hoards of people around. Having said that, the birds are so tame that you can easily step on the ground nesting species if you don't look where your going.
Jackie

 

[Inga4023]

Hi there

We went to Ecuador and Galapagos with Voyages Jules Verne 3 years ago. The guide we had in Ecuador was a keen birder and used to take people birding at the end of the day, he was very knowledgeable.
You can't fail to see the birds in the Galapagos, they just don't fly away! We were on a large ship with about 100 people and were taken ashore 12 at a time by dinghy. The guides know everything there is to know about all the animals, birds, plants, geology etc.
It was a trip of a lifetime.