Guango Lodge

In 2000 Cabañas San Isidro opened Guango Lodge. Guango Lodge is a new, small tourist facility on another family property that is surrounded by temperate forest and very birdy flocks.

Guango Lodge, about 1 hour away from San Isidro, lies at a higher elevation (about 2,700 meters) on Ecuador's eastern slope, only 11 kms down the main Interoceanica Highway from the town of Papallacta. This area is centered in a zone classified as humid temperate forest, a habitat distinctly different from San Isidro and characterized  by its more stunted trees (and thicker canopy), cooler climate, and different bird and plant composition.

Guango Lodge offers many of the same services as San Isidro Lodge, including rooms with private bath and hot water and excellent food.

Four of the showcase hummingbirds at Guango's feeders

Mountain Avocetbill
Photo by Alvaro Jaramillo

Sword-billed Hummingbird
Photo by Kathy Kinnie

Tourmaline Sunangel, male
Photo by Kathy Kinnie

Glowing Puffleg, male

Forest at Guango right down to the roadside

Guango Lodge

Hooded Mountain-Tanager
Photo by Murray Cooper

Dining room at Guango

Some of the birds of particular interest that we have seen regularly at Guango Lodge include Andean Guan, Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan, Turquoise Jay, Scarlet-bellied, Lacrimose, Buff-breasted and Hooded Mountain-Tanagers, Gray-hooded Bush-Tanager, Black-headed, Black-capped and Black-eared Hemispingus and Slaty Bursh-Finch.

Guango Lodge's hummingbird feeders here attract some exciting hummers on a regular basis, some of the more noteworthy species being Mountain Velvetbreast, Sword-billed Hummingbird, Tourmaline Sunangel, Golden-breasted and Glowing Pufflegs, Mountain Avocetbill, and White-bellied and Gorgeted Woodstars! Additionally.

Guango Lodge is only a short drive from the tree-line forests and treeless paramo zones, where an almost entirely new set of birds awaits you. With the opening of Guango Lodge, San Isidro is hopeful that yet another large chunk of ecologically important land will be both productive and protected, allowing guests to appreciate Ecuador's natural beauty.

Shining Sunbeam

Golden-breasted Puffleg
Photo by Kathy Kinnie

Mountain Velvetbreast, female
Photo by Kathy Kinnie

Tyrian Metaltail, male
Photo by Kathy Kinnie