About the Herping Tour
A little explored universe; however, one of the most amazingly diverse is that of macro photography. Today, amphibian and reptile photography, thanks to its high impact on details and new techniques, has increased its popularity in nature photography.
Let’s design your Choco herping tour together to take a microcosm in images!
Date
10 -21 Marzo 2020
Activity level
Moderado
Available spaces
Moderado
About the route
Daniel Mideros
Born in Ecuador. Professional photographer graduated in Advertising Communication and Marketing at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito. From an early age he showed a fascination with nature, photography and outdoor activities.
In his professional life he has dedicated himself mainly to the field of ecotourism, linked to visual communication and sustainability. This has led him to tour majestic places and feel unique experiences; all this emotional, experiential energy prompted him to undertake his own project with the desire to share these places and adventures with more people.
Jaime Culebras
Born in Spain. Bachelor of Biology, MSc. in Environmental Education and MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation of Tropical Areas. He has been living in Ecuador for more than 7 years, where he works as a reptile and amphibian researcher, and nature photographer, receiving numerous photography and conservation awards such as Big Picture Photo Competition, Montphoto, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year, among others. Conservation Award “Montphoto Grant – WWF 2017”, among others.
His greatest interest is to spread the existence and importance of threatened species, to promote love towards reptiles and amphibians, as well as the fight against illegal trafficking of species and the snake-human conflict.
From Quito, we will travel west, towards the megadiverse forest of Chocó.
After a trip of about 5 hours, we will arrive at the lodge, where we will accommodate and enjoy the delicious food of the place.
At sunset, we will get prepared for our first night out.
In the following days, our focus will be the macro photography. The Chocó forest is one of the most biodiverse places in the world, so we will have plenty of opportunities to see and photograph animals.
Among the species we could see, we have the Devil Poison frog (Oophaga sylvatica), Imbabura Treefrog (Hypsiboas picturatus), Atrato Glass Frog (Hyalinobatrachium aureoguttatum), Limon giant Glass Frog (Sachatamia ilex), Eyelash Viper (Bothriechis schlegeli) , Western basilisk (Basiliscus galeritus), Blomberg’s Tree Boa (Corallus blombergi), Northern eyelash boa (Trachyboa boulengeri), Red-eyed woodlizard (Enyalioides oshaughnessyi), among others.
After having breakfast and spending time on taking some last photos, we will prepare our bags to start our return to the Ecuadorian capital, Quito.
The climate of the Choco forest is warm and humid, due to its location in the Pacific coast of Ecuador. We recommend bringing long pants, shirts or T-shirts of a light material which can help with transpiration; we also recommend using long sleeves to avoid mosquitoes.
For a better experience, it is important to know a couple of factors which will facilitate your stay in Ecuador:
If you’d like to take home a couple of souvenirs, we recommend bringing a little extra cash in order to acquire these at the different locations we will be staying at (Ecuador’s currency is the US dollar). Most places only take cash. We recommend bringing small bills or coins, as most places do not accepts bills larger than $20.
The tropical regions have a lot of mosquitos, so bringing mosquito repellent is very important.
Sunblock.
Hats.
Flashlight (a headlamp is preferable).
Bags to store wet clothes.
Water bottle.
As photographers, we know how difficult it is to decide how much equipment to take on trips, as we always want to take all of our equipment with us so that we can take advantage of our experiences. Here is a list of equipment we recommend bringing:
- Macro lens
- Wide angle lens
- Equipment protector for the rain
- Tripod
- Flash
- Difusors
- Trigger
- Batteries
- Battery chargers
- Cleaning equipment
- Plug adaptor
Accommodation.
All tour meals.
Expert photographer guide.
Private transfer.
Reserves fees.
International, national air tickets and airport taxes.
Additional nights.
Quito Hotel.
Alcoholic beverages, snacks and drinks that are not part of the meals.
Laundry service.
Personal expenses.
Tips.
Any other service not specified in the document.
Featured sightings
Amphibians
