Although most people fly in and out of Coca when they visit the Ecuadorian Amazon, I strongly urge you to plan at least one way by bus so you can visit some beautiful and birdy eco-lodges such as Wildsumaco.  Ask the bus driver to let you out at the road to Pacto Sumaco and make sure you have called the lodge to let them know which bus you are on so they can send someone to meet you.  There is a good map on their website so you can visualize it.  We didn’t have a local phone but a friendly bus passenger kindly phoned on our behalf.

The road is fine and you don’t need a 4×4 if you have a rental car.

We were given a nice room near the hummingbird feeders.

The verandah on the main building overlooks a valley so you have a good chance at fly-bys, with Military Macaws being the most desired species.

A view of the rooms from the verandah.

This is where you kick back and relax with a drink while waiting for birds or hiding from the rain.

It started raining pretty heavily around 4pm so we did a lot of hiding with our cameras!

Even during meals, you still have a great view!

The bar and a small gift shop.  Cash only, no credit cards accepted which put a damper on my shopping.  There are lots of cozy chairs to relax in after birding.

The food was excellent, just like home-made!  Meals are served with delicious fruit juices and very yummy desserts!

An enticing view of the hummingbird feeders…………more details in the next post!

We LOVED Wildsumaco and are happy to recommend it especially for birders.  Although we could only stay one night, we would have liked at least one more night.  The rates are around $340 for 2 people including 3 meals a day and use of all their trails.  The lodge is actually the birding destination.  You have the hummingbird feeders, verandah & outlook and more birding up and down the road which leads from the lodge to the main road.  This lodge doesn’t participate in online travel agencies but you can book direct via their website.  It’s a good idea to hire their guide for at least one morning as they know the best places to see the local birds.  I told them that my priority was parrots, especially Military Macaws and they took us to the best places and we did see a lot of parrots!