1st - 7th Mar. 2026 - £4199
South America - Guided By Jane Palmer
Reserve with a deposit of £800
Join Jane for a wildlife photography holiday within the heart of the best of Ecuador birding areas, you will be staying at a renowned lodge in the Andean cloud-forest, offering a fantastic bird-watching & photography experience to capture images of the Hummingbirds of Ecuador.
The lodge, nestled in a private cloud-forest paradise, should provide an unparalleled wildlife photography experience. It offers comfortable rooms, a spacious dining area, & a viewing deck for bird-watching. Situated 90 minutes from Quito, it is a unique base for exploring nearby bird-watching & photography hotspots such as Mindo & Mashpi.
The lodge is famous for the variety of species of hummingbird found at its balcony feeders. Various species including Violet-tailed Sylph, Booted Racket-tail, & Purple-throated Woodstar gather at the feeders, making it a joy for wildlife photographers. Natural light & multiflash techniques will be used to capture the best flight photos of these hummingbirds.
Fruit feeders at the lodge attract a variety of tanagers, toucans, & motmots. The resident chef serves traditional Ecuadorian meals for breakfast, lunch, & dinner, accompanied by fresh tropical fruit juices.
Day 1: Zuro Loma & Our Base Lodge
After an early morning pick-up in Quito or from Quito Airport, we will be driven to Zuro Loma, a small private reserve with feeders outside Quito. There, we will photograph hummingbirds like Sword-billed Hummingbirds & Mountain Velvetbreast. Then, we will depart for our base lodge for lunch & start our photography sessions with the local hummingbirds & tanagers.
Day 2: Birdwatcher’s House & Surrounding Areas
We will visit Birdwatcher’s House & surrounding areas to photograph tanagers, toucans, & a variety of hummingbirds.
Days 3-5: Photography on the Grounds of Our Base Lodge
We will spend three days conducting photography at our base lodge, photographing hummingbirds & other bird species.
Day 6: Mashpi Amagusa
We will spend a day at Amagusa Reserve near the birding area of Mashpi to photograph unique bird species including tanagers, honeycreepers, & hummingbirds.
Day 7: Refugio Paz De Las Aves, Our Base Lodge, & on to Quito
We will visit the cloud forest reserve of Refugio Paz de las Aves before returning to our base lodge. A late lunch will be taken at the lodge before departure. We will depart around 4 pm & arrive in Quito at 6 pm.
The following is the proposed itinerary for this photography holiday, it should be considered provisional & subject to change.
We have taken care to refine the itinerary for this wildlife photography holiday; as such, we consider the following to be amongst the highlights of this tour.
Before booking the Hummingbirds of Ecuador photography holiday, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the inclusions & exclusions for the trip. Understanding these lists will give you a clear idea of what to expect during your wildlife photography adventure.
Accommodation as specified in the description, all photography sessions & appropriate permits, guidance & advice from our photography holiday guides, meals on a full-board basis & transportation between photographic locations
Activities not listed on the itinerary, all drinks, all flights, flights to start location, meals not listed on the itinerary, personal expenses of any type, required insurances, sundries, tips & gratuities, transportation to start location & visas
During this wildlife photography holiday, you can expect to capture images of a diverse range of species, the intended species include Andean cock-of-the-rock, andean emerald, booted racket-tail, brown inca, brown violetear, buff-tailed coronet, empress brilliant, fawn-breasted brilliant, green-crowned brillant, green-crowned woodnymph, lesser violetear, purple-bibbed whitetip, purple-throated woodstar, rufous-tailed hummingbird, sparkling violetear, speckled hummingbird, tawny-bellied hermit, velvet-purple coronet, violet-tailed sylph, western emerald, white-bellied woodstar & white-necked jacobin hummingbird.
Travel Insurance – it is a requirement when booking on any wildlife photography holiday scheduled by NaturesLens that you have adequate travel insurance, we suggest a policy from TrailFinders or Campbell Irvine.
Here is a list of items we recommend that you bring. While you must bring some of these items (i.e. passport if you are traveling from abroad), please note that many of the items listed below are only recommendations & are not a requirement.
Recommended Clothing – the following is a guide as to what clothing you may require throughout this photography holiday, the list is not exhaustive & you do not require absolutely everything on this list, should you have any questions, please contact us via email or phone.
Hat to protect from sun, layers of neutral coloured clothing suitable for a mixed climate, lightweight waterproof jacket, lightweight waterproof over-trousers, mosquito repellent, sturdy boots suitable for a mixed climate & sunglasses
Recommended Camera Equipment – the following is a guide as to what camera equipment you may require throughout this photography holiday, the list is not exhaustive & you do not require absolutely everything on this list, should you have any questions, please contact us via email or phone.
100-400mm, 150-500mm or 150-600mm, 17-40mm or 24-105mm, 600mm or 800mm, card reader, long prime lens in the range of 500mm, macro lens, medium zoom lens in the range of 70-200mm, mirrorless or DSLR camera body, notebook or laptop, portable hard-disk drive or SSD for storage of your images, spare mirrorless or DSLR camera body, tele-convertors or extenders, telephoto zoom lens in the range of 200-600mm, tripod (essential for many sessions) & wide angle lens in the range of 16-35mm
NaturesLens photography holidays do not include flights unless it is explicitly stated on the event page. When it is time to book your flights, we will send you the details in plenty of time to allow for bookings at the best available price.
The photography holiday itinerary is subject to change & is to be considered provisional.
NaturesLens photography holidays require a minimum number of participants in order to be viable. If this minimum number is not met, the photography holiday may not go ahead.
In the event that the minimum number for a photography holiday to go ahead is not reached, NaturesLens reserves the right to cancel any given photography holiday. In that event 100% of monies received will be returned. However, NaturesLens is not responsible for expenses incurred by its customers.
Not all mentioned wildlife can be observed & photographed at all times of the year, thus some activities may be considered seasonal & not available.
Please note the cuisine on many of the NaturesLens photography holidays is authentic & typical of the region in which you are travelling. International or western cuisine is often NOT available. If you have any concerns over the food arrangements or have any special dietary requirements, please contact us prior to making a booking.
All personal luggage are the responsibility of the owner & we request that photography holiday participants limit their luggage to the equivalent of one suitcase, one flight bag, one camera bag & tripod. We do not wish to appear dictatorial in this matter & the request is made to ensure space & comfort for everyone in our vehicles.
NaturesLens & its agents act only as agents for the passenger in all matters relating to travel arrangements, & as such, do not assume responsibility for injury, accident, damage, loss, delay or irregularity which may occur via defect of transportation or any other cause.
NaturesLens reserves the right to substitute hotels, & other previously outlined arrangements as necessary, to either improve or equal the travel experience.
NaturesLens reserves the right to pass on to photography holiday participants any additional & unplanned expenditure incurred during a photography holiday, via events beyond the control of NaturesLens. NaturesLens reserves the right to accept or decline any person as a member of any photography holiday.
Payment of a deposit by photography holiday participants or their representative constitutes their acceptance of all conditions contained herein.
All bookings are made subject to our terms & conditions.
Join David for the 14-night Costa Rican Wildlife photography holiday in Costa Rica, within Central America, to capture images of a wide variety of the phenomenal Costa Rican wildlife which is readily observed. Our schedule incorporates many opportunities to capture images of many of the iconic species of this amazing country, during December 2024
Capture stunning photographs of the iconic wildlife of Costa Rica during our photography holiday. Join us as we explore the diverse landscapes of this beautiful country & encounter quetzals & other fascinating creatures.
Join David for the 16-night Costa Rican Wildlife photography holiday in Costa Rica, within Central America, to capture images of a wide variety of the phenomenal Costa Rican wildlife which is readily observed. Our schedule incorporates many opportunities to capture images of many of the iconic species of this amazing country, during November 2025
Join David for the 16-night Costa Rican Wildlife photography holiday in Costa Rica, within Central America, to capture images of a wide variety of the phenomenal Costa Rican wildlife which is readily observed. Our schedule incorporates many opportunities to capture images of many of the iconic species of this amazing country, during November 2026
If you have an urgent query, please call us on +44 7517 970026 or +44 7878 400089 otherwise please fill out this form.
This form collects your entered details for the purposes of a photography holiday booking enquiry. Please view our privacy policy for full details on how we protect & manage your submitted data.
Here goes your success message … Select any part of your text to access the formatting toolbar.
