Author Archives: Tara

Guayaquil – Gateway To Southern Ecuador & The Galapagos

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Guayaquil is one of two main gateway/airport cities in Ecuador and is the best option if your trip includes the spectacular reserves in southern Ecuador and/or the Galapagos as all the Quito flights stop in Guayaquil so you might as well save the time.

GETTING TO GUAYAQUIL WITH AIRLINE MILES

Guayaquil has service with members of all three major alliances so it is pretty easy to get there with miles.

STAR ALLIANCE – Avianca & Copa

ONEWORLD – American & the LATAM Group, Iberia

SKYTEAM – Aerolineas Argentinas

NON-ALLIANCE – TAME (good for smaller airports and Galapagos)

WHERE TO STAY USING HOTEL POINTS

IHG REWARDS – Holiday Inn Guayaquil Airport is normally 20,000 points but often goes on Pointbreaks.  We stayed there our first night in Guayaquil, you can see my review.

STARWOOD – Sheraton Guayaquil Airport is a Cat 3 for 7000 points.

HILTON – Hilton Colon Guayaquil is 30,000 points & the Hampton Inn is 20,000 points.

WYNDHAM – Wyndham Guayaquil is 15,000 points.

If these options don’t suit you, you could try earning airline miles by booking with Rocketmiles or Pointshound.

WHAT TO DO IN GUAYAQUIL

We only spent a night here on arrival and an evening here upon returning from our southern Ecuador loop before flying to the Galapagos so I can’t really get into city sight-seeing.  Just don’t miss out on Bosque Cerro Blanco, it’s amazing!

Guayaquil was the jumping off point for a loop through southern Ecuador to visit 2 major birding hotspots (reviews to come) – Podocarpus and Buenaventura.  I had been checking the TAME website daily for specials and finally got one in January for around $35 per person plus tax to Loja airport which is actually about an hour out of Loja proper.  From there we took a taxi to Zamora for a visit to Podocarpus, then went by bus back to Loja, then to Pinas for Buenaventura and back to Guayaquil.  Finally we flew to San Cristobal in the Galapagos.

Guayaquil trip

 

Velocity Adds Whopping Surcharges To Etihad Redemptions

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On top of the most recent devaluation in which Virgin Velocity moved Etihad to the more expensive chart and jacked the prices up as of 1 June…………..now we have this shock-horror “enhancement”.

All Reward Seat bookings on Etihad Airways operated flights made from 18 June 2016 will incur an Etihad Airways Reward Seat Carrier Charge.

A charge of US$50 in Economy, US$205 in Business and US$300 in First Class will be applicable per flight sector for both adults and children. A reduced charge of US$5 in Economy, US$20.50 in Business and US$30 in First Class will be applicable per flight sector for infants not occupying a seat.

This charge will be payable when completing your Reward Seat booking.

I already spent my last Velocity points on an award from Australia to Abu Dhabi for next year.  We will be stopping over a couple days before the big “Godmother of all African Adventures” and I got business class since I knew the devaluations were coming anyway.  Looks like I dodged another bullet with these surcharges!  Yikes!

Lesson learned – don’t hoard miles, spend them as soon as you can because they will never be worth more than they are today.

White-tailed Jay (Cyanocorax mystacalis)

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The White-tailed Jay (Cyanocorax mystacalis) is a very attractive species of bird in the family Corvidae.

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They have a fair-sized range in Ecuador and northern Peru.  The easiest place to see them is Cerro Blanco since it is only a 20 minute drive from Guayaquil.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT WHITE-TAILED JAYS

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Neotropical Birds

VIDEO

A quick smooch and they’re off!

There’s a few clips at IBC but they don’t embed here.

 

 

 

Grey-cheeked Parakeet (Brotogeris pyrrhoptera)

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The delightful little Grey-cheeked Parakeet (Brotogeris pyrrhoptera) is almost endemic to Ecuador but can also be found in far northern Peru.  They vocalize quite loudly despite their size. The sound could be described as a quick, sharp screech, and vocalizations may involve many monotone screeches in succession.

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We were lucky enough to see them fairly close-up in Cerro Blanco which is just a short drive from Guayaquil (red dot).  This would be the easiest place to find them.  Most airlines will put Ecuador in northern South America (same as Peru) for their award charts and bargain can often be found from the USA to Ecuador on LATAM & Avianca.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT GREY-CHEEKED PARROTS

Wikipedia

World Parrot Trust

Birdlife

HBW

VIDEOS

Some one was brave enough to walk along the Malecon of Guayaquil with camera gear!  You can see them in the city but check with your hotel to see if it’s safe.

You can also see them further south in the Jorupe Reserve.

 

Birding In Bosque Cerro Blanco

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Bosque Cerro Blanco is only about 20 minutes outside of Guayaquil and it is very easy to organize a visit there.  You need to contact them in advance so they can arrange a guide and permission to enter the reserve by emailing bosqueprotector@yahoo.com.  Use Google translate to communicate in Spanish as they don’t speak English.

In our case, they also organized a taxi to pick us up at the Holiday Inn and take us out there, then to return later to take us back to the hotel.  This is the safest option as Guayaquil is not a city you want to take risks with potentially dodgy taxis.  Even though it is slightly more expensive, the difference isn’t great in terms of actual dollars.

There is some great information about the reserve and a map HERE.

Our guide, Paul Abad was waiting for us when we arrived around 6am and we were off to explore and hopefully get some good birds!

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Although the Guayaquil Macaw (Great Green Macaw) is the flagship species, they are rarely seen in the area of the reserve most birders can access.  DSCN0366

We walked along the trails with Paul pointing out all the species.  My complete eBird list is HERE.  Photography wasn’t the best as it was overcast and many species were far away though I did the best I could with my long lenses.

 

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Yellow-rumped CaciqueIMG_1836 IMG_1824 IMG_1821 IMG_1813 IMG_1800 IMG_1788

Since I was targeting parrot species, I was thrilled to see a small flock of Lilicine Amazon Parrots flying in the distance.IMG_1791 IMG_1793 IMG_1791a IMG_1794a IMG_1808a

Southern Yellow Grosbeak IMG_1813a

The White-tailed Jay was a stunning bird!IMG_1829a IMG_1834a IMG_1840a

This lookout proved to be a real hotspot especially for parrots!DSCN0395 DSCN0401

First a flock of Red-masked Parakeets flew by.IMG_1791 IMG_1793 IMG_1798 IMG_1800 IMG_1813

Smooth-billed AniIMG_1821 IMG_1824 IMG_1836 IMG_1839 IMG_1852 IMG_1856 IMG_1862

Pale-vented Pigeon

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Parrotlets are usually my downfall.  I have a good success rate on finding most parrots but these little guys are usually elusive.  So it was especially thrilling to have a small flock of Pacific Parrotlets land in the trees near the lookout……………….closely followed by some gorgeous and acrobatic Grey-cheeked Parakeets!IMG_1857 IMG_1883

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To top it off, a Red-masked Parakeet decided to come in closer for a better look!IMG_1958a IMG_1961a IMG_1948a

Yellow-tailed OrioleIMG_1901a IMG_1890a IMG_1952 IMG_1954

The reserve has some educational signs but in Spanish only.DSCN0405 DSCN0406 DSCN0407 DSCN0404 DSCN0408 DSCN0411

A Saffron FinchDSCN0410

Paul and Ina walking back to the office.DSCN0412

The office had been closed when we arrived so I paid the entry fee $5.00 each and the guide fee $60, then had a look at the hummingbird feeders where Amazilia Hummingbirds can be seen.DSCN0413 DSCN0416

Hotel Review: Holiday Inn Guayaquil Airport

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I know you aren’t supposed to take pictures in the immigration line but I couldn’t resist because of the Guayaquil Macaw on the poster!

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One of the best things about booking the Holiday Inn Guayaquil Airport is that it is literally 5 minutes from the airport.  See the green neon in the photo?  We could have walked but when we got outside, the shuttle was already there.  I had mentioned which flight we were on when I booked it using 20,000 points and they showed up without us having to call!  Great service!

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The room was nice and very typical Holiday Inn.  There isn’t much in the local area but there were some fast food places a couple blocks away so we grabbed some snacks and drinks for the birding trip the next day and crashed out.

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This hotel is currently on Pointbreaks for 5000 points a night until 31 July which is a steal!  Of course this Pointbreak list was published after we left South America!

The shuttle to and from the airport is free both directions.  Even though it’s not far, it was still nice to avoid the mid-day heat.

Transiting Santiago & Flight To Guayaquil

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After a fantastic business class surprise, we arrived in Santiago with just over an hour to make the connection.  If the flight had been on time it would have been almost 4 hours to connect.  By the time we got through the transit desk and security there wasn’t enough time to use Priority Pass to enter a lounge so we went straight to the gate.  I was just relieved that the delay didn’t cause us to miss the flight!

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If we had been entering Chile, we would have had to pay a “reciprocity fee”.DSCN0306 DSCN0307

This time we were both in our regular economy seats but at least we had an unoccupied middle seat!  The flight was uneventful and we were happy to finally land in Guayaquil so we could get some sleep!DSCN0308 DSCN0310 DSCN0311 DSCN0313 DSCN0314 DSCN0317 DSCN0318

 

“Would You Mind Changing Seats?”

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If you have a good seat booked especially on a long flight, this simple question can cause a huge amount of stress and inconvenience.  So there we were, safely ensconced in our middle section bulkhead seats on a 10 hour flight from Auckland to Santiago feeling relaxed and comfortable.  Shortly afterwards, a couple with 3 young kids (3-7ish) came in and took the 3 seats on one side and 1 seat next to us in the middle section.  The father approached us and asked if one of us would mind swapping seats with him so he could sit next to his family.

 

Wait for it………………………

 

As it turns out, his company had paid for him to fly in business class but he had paid for economy for his family.  He must have had some kind of elite status to get them the bulkhead seats as you can’t select them before departure without status.  He was willing to swap his business class seat with one of us so he could travel with his family!

HELL YEAH!!!!  I couldn’t say “Yes” fast enough!  There was no question who would get the business class seat.  I had done an all-nighter before departure as I was worried about not waking up in time to get to the airport.  My husband can sleep sitting up and I can’t.  And he is a gentleman!  I gleefully swapped boarding passes and after checking that the crew were cool with the swap, moved into my new seat.

LAN’S DREAMLINER 789 BUSINESS CLASS

This is a review I wasn’t expecting to write but really glad I got the chance.  Business class award seats between Australia/New Zealand and Santiago are rarer than hen’s teeth using AAdvantage miles!

The seats were very comfortable and of course went fully flat.  I slept like a baby (minus the crying) for most of the flight.  The purple glow in the overhead lights and windows was really nice.  The chair had all kinds of functions and positions.

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The food was pretty good but to be honest I was so exhausted I just wolfed it down so I could sleep sooner.

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Meanwhile, my husband was being a good sport back in economy.

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I woke up well refreshed and ready to tackle South America.  It was pretty cool to see one of our lodges – Sachatamia in Mindo, Ecuador being featured in a travel video!DSCN0296

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It’s really a shame it’s nearly impossible to book these seats with miles.  It didn’t used to be this bad.  Back in 2012, we got a return flight from Santiago to Sydney on Qantas in business class.  It really made a difference to be able to hit the ground running for the transit in Santiago and flight to Guayaquil.

 

 

 

An Inauspicious Beginning To The South America Trip

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You can’t say I wasn’t warned.  I knew Lan 800 had a reputation for being late even when I booked it 11 months ahead of time.  But I didn’t have any choice, it was the only flight available on the day I wanted that had award seats via AAdvantage available.  I thought we were pretty safe since there was almost 4 hours layover in Santiago before the connection to Guayaquil.

A couple weeks before our scheduled departure, I started stalking the flight to see how it had been running lately.  The news wasn’t great – 75% on time stats meant that 25% of the flights were late.  Some excessively so, even 8 hours late!

I was even more worried when a story came on the news about strikes by Border Protection staff.  They did postpone some of the strikes due to the terror attacks in Brussels but resumed them a week later.

MARCH 31

Sydney International Airport — 12 midnight to 12.15am

Melbourne International Airport — 4am to 12 midday and 4pm to 12 midnight

Adelaide Airport — 5am to 1pm and 4pm to 12 midnight

Brisbane International Airport — 5am to 1pm and 5pm to 12 midnight

We were lucky-they didn’t affect the Brisbane domestic terminal for the BNE-SYD flight and the Sydney strike would end at 12:15am, well before our departure.

We only had carry-on backpacks with well-stuffed Scottevests to avoid checking any bags and get around the 7kg limit (camera gear is heavy!) so we were prepared for tight connections.

There was also a hassle over our pre-booked seats.  To maximize sleep time, I had chosen the last two seats in the middle section of economy that had a lavatory wall directly behind them.  We aren’t the reclining types and I wanted to avoid potential seat kickers behind us.  When we checked in at BNE, we got boarding passes for completely different seats not even together!  I went straight to LAN customer service at Sydney and complained showing the print-out of our pre-booked seats.  Those seats were gone but she did give us the front row of economy – bulkhead which had been freed up probably by some elite getting upgraded.  I was thrilled – nobody reclining into us!  We actually had 2 different seats – 2nd row of economy for the SYD-AKL segment and 1st row for AKL-SCL, the long one.

As it turned out, the flight was late arriving from Auckland so our flight was delayed but at least only a couple hours so we wouldn’t miss the connection to Guayaquil but I was still biting my nails until the plane left Sydney.  They did give us food vouchers so we bought a sandwich and some biscuits to keep on hand in case we got hungry later.

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Transiting AKL is a pita.  Even though it is the exact same plane continuing onwards, you have to get off with all your carry-ons, schlep them all the way down the hall to security, put them through security and trudge back to where the plane was parked – of course the furthest gate from security!

After all that, we were relieved that the plane had no further delays and settled into our bulkhead seats.  Just then, a man approached us and asked if one of us wanted to change seats……………………………………!!!!!!

To be continued!