From the valley of Tandayapa and foothills of Sumaco to the mountain tops of the Andes, this trip will take you on a marvelous tour of wildlife and habitat diversity!

Throughout this photo adventure, we will explore a range of elevations that bring you in contact with wildlife species that fill exclusive niches within their unique habitats. Ecuador has 130 of the world’s 330 species of hummingbirds. Just imagine dozens of hummingbird species, different at each elevation, displaying unique colors, bill adaptations, and behaviors that enable them to thrive. Swordbills, Violet-tailed Sylphs, sunangels, Booted Racket-tails, thorntails and more! Steve Gettle has been using high-speed flash to capture these winged jewels in flight for over 25 years. For this trip we will bring our own 6 light high-speed flash system to use at two distinct locations. We will connect your camera to the system so you can capture the brilliance of these birds in flight.

In addition to hummingbirds, you will find yourself in the midst of hundreds of other exciting bird species! All within reach of your camera, we will photograph unique birds like the Golden-headed Quetzal, tanagers, toucans, barbets, woodcreepers, flowerpiercers, treehunters, redstarts, becards, and euphonias, just to name a few.

We will visit a location known for the Plate-billed Mountain Toucan, photograph at reflecting pools where a dazzling array of colorful tanagers and other species perch in beautiful settings, and enjoy morning photography blinds where antpittas, trogans, becards, woodcreepers and more come in for breakfast. One of our lodges even has resident Andean Cock-of-the-Rock which we may be lucky to photograph.

Beyond the birds, you will also want to bring along a macro lens to photograph the many butterflies, moths, reptiles and amphibians. Additionally, the jungle really comes alive after the sun goes down. So we will be out to experience the night life of the jungle, including owls, bats, insects and other nocturnal creatures.

This trip is not to be missed! We have selected lodges and lined up field trips designed to put you in the heart of the cloud forest and on the top of the mountains. We visit private reserves with a profusion of life so you can immerse yourself in the wonders of nature while capturing incredible images!

We are naturalists as well as photographers and keep our eyes and ears open for wild encounters everywhere we go to bring you the most memorable experiences and incredible photographs possible!