Antisana Condor Observatory

We arrived in the late evening last night and stay at Hacienda Jimenita. We start the morning early at 5:30 am to head up in the Andes mountains to the Antisana Condor Observatory.

Breakfast at 6 am, leave at 6:30 with guide Daniel for the Andean Condors up in the mountains. Driving down into a small valley to the observatory was a little muddy, but our guide had a four-wheel drive. Another couple there were in a two-wheel drive vehicle and they needed us to get out and help push to get back up the hill in one spot.

As we were waiting for Daniel to bring the vehicle around, we saw a Harris’s Hawk on the hotel grounds.

There are a number of mountains around Quito. We were able to see a few before the clouds came in. Cotopaxi Volcano is an active volcano.

We started at 11,400 ft altitude and worked our way up the road over the morning. There was nice waterfall at the observation point.

We didn’t see the condors when we arrived, but they showed up later as the sun got higher and the thermals started forming for them to soar.

We moved up the road a bit up to 12,700 ft and saw

Up on the high plains marshlands at 13,100 ft we looked for the Black-faced Ibis, but didn’t see it. It was windy and when the rain started it was easy to get cold. We did see

Originally we were scheduled for a boxed lunch today, but we ate at the Antisana Reserve and Hummingbirds and took a few photos in the light rain.

The rain let up as we got further down the mountain and I stopped to take a picture of the fields in one of the valleys.

Our guide, Daniel worked as a mountain guide until 28, then went to university and became an architect. Sold his company a few years ago and works as a bird guide 2-4 days a week.

We got back to the hotel in the mid-afternoon and had some time to walk around the extensive grounds and look for birds there.

The hotel lost power an hour before and during dinner, it was raining and there was lightening in the area. We ate supper by candlelight. A guest came in as we were finishing up and asked when power would be restored. The lights came on just as he finished asking.

Donna ate a bit of chocolate syrup with mint flavoring in it on the ice cream at lunch which is one of her food allergies, but felt fine going down for dinner. Then there was shrimp on the menu at dinner. We warned our server about our food allergies and cross contamination. She felt well going to bed.

I worked on bird photos in the evening. Mainly going through and deleting the junk photos.