I have a love affair with the Tandayapa Valley. It was the first place we visited after moving to Quito, Ecuador. It was a magical experience, leaving the big city, driving through the dry and dusty valley of Mitad del Mundo, and then winding through mountains thickly covered with cloud forest. The high mountain slopes are a stunning dark green with an occasional bright spot of purple flowers growing on a vine or the flashing silver of the leaves on a cecropia tree.
We have stayed in two locations in the Tandayapa Valley and both have their benefits. The Bellavista Cloud Forest Lodge is high up on the slopes and has a series of trails that explore the different terrain on their reserve. A stay at their lodge includes morning and afternoon hikes with a naturalist guide and tasty meals in their restaurant. They have private rooms, a dormitory style loft, and a research station.
The San Jorge Ecolodge of Tandayapa lies lower on the mountain slope. It means they receive a different variety of birds. One of the joys of birding in the Andes is that a change of only a few hundred feet in altitude can mean spotting very different species. The San Jorge Lodge has an outdoor dining room that makes it easy to enjoy the birds, even while eating breakfast, and to spot an olinguito coming to sneak plantains from the bird feeders while you are eating your dinner.
A big plus at both lodges is that they have viewing areas that are protected from the rainy afternoons, which are more common than not in the cloud forest. And the birds, especially the hummingbirds, flock to the feeders even during heavy downpours. And every once in a while, a bird might join you under the protected roof to escape the rain.
The third must visit location is a small home that lies along the river near the small town of Nanegalito. It is called Alambi. For a $5 entrance fee, you can walk their trails and enjoy their hummingbird garden. The garden alone is worth the entrance fee as they have many species of birds that visit the feeders.
I hope these photos will encourage you to explore the Tandayapa Province, especially around Tandayapa Valley. These photos barely scratch the surface.
Click on any photo to open a slideshow with further descriptions of each photo.
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- Along the road that runs past the Bellavista Research Station, the view opens up and it is possible to see range after mountain range.
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- A male Masked Trogon (Trogan personatus) perches near the parking lot of the Bellavista Cloud Forest Lodge.
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- The White-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora) Hummingbird loves to perch in the sunlight.
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- The Buff-tailed Coronet (Boissonneaua flavescens) Hummingbird is one of the most common at the San Jorge of Tandayapa Ecolodge.
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- A Blue-winged Mountain Tanager on the plantain feeder at the San Jorge Ecolodge in Tandayapa.
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- The White-bellied Woodstar Hummingbird (Chaetocercus) prefers flowers to feeders.
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- It is usually the male of this species that has his photo shared but the female is worth photographing as well.
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- The Pale-mandabiled Aracari is a regular visitor to the Tandayapa Valley for most of the year.
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- The Violet-tailed Sylph (Aglaicercus coelestis) is a seasonal visitor to the feeders at lodges in the Tandayapa Valley.
More Articles About the Pichincha Province, Tandayapa Valley
If you would like to read more about the Pichincha Province, Tandayapa Valley, check out these articles:
- San Jorge, Tandayapa
- Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve: More Than A Research Station
- The Trails at Bellavista
- Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve
- Violet-tailed Sylph
- Alambi – A Hummingbird Paradise
Ecuador Por Mis Ojos
Recently, the Instituto Geografico Militar of Ecuador and I released a book of photography, Ecuador Por Mis Ojos. This post shares photos from that book.
If you would like to see other photos from the book, please check out:
