Explorations of an Ecologist: A Quick Trip to Ecuador: Part 6 (Travel to Sani Lodge, first night-hike)

Part 1: Intoduction, Mindo Valley (March 24, 2019)
Part 2: Rio Silanche Bird Sanctuary (March 25, 2019)
Part 3: Mindo Waterfall Trail, Papallacta Pass (March 26, 2019)
Part 4: Guango Lodge (March 27, 2019)
Part 5: Papallacta Pass (March 27, 2019)
Part 6: Travel to Sani Lodge, first night hike (March 28, 2019)
Part 7: First full day at Sani Lodge (March 29, 2019)
Part 8: Second full day at Sani Lodge (March 30, 2019)
Part 9: Amazonian river islands (March 31, 2019)
Part 10: Last nighthike, final morning at Sani Lodge (March 31 - April 1, 2019)

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March 28, 2019

When planning the itinerary for this trip, one priority for both of us was to visit an Amazonian lodge. Laura and I had never been to the Amazon proper, unless the forest in southern Guyana counts, and it had been a goal for some time to explore some of these forests and waterways. In northeastern Ecuador there are a number of lodges that cater to ecotourists hoping to get their Amazon experience. Most of these lodges are situated either right along the mighty Napo River, or a short distance from the river on an oxbow lake. These lodges are somewhat comparable and they each offer packages that include an internal flight from Quito to Coca, transport down the Rio Napo to the lodge via boat, and all meals and guiding services.

We ended up booking a four-night package to stay at Sani Lodge. Sani has an impressive canopy tower, accessible territories of Cocha Antshrike (an extremely range-restricted species) as well as good quality varzea and terra firme forest, and Sani provides a camping option that was less than half the price of staying in the lodge. The camping was a little fancier than I was used to, with raised platforms and walkways, and even mattresses to sleep on. Even better, we were upgraded to the main lodge for three out of the four nights! Laura and I were also able to save a little bit of money by booking our own internal flight. The lodge will do it for you but they charge an extra fee.

March 28th was mostly spent traveling to the lodge. We had a late morning flight from Quito to Coca upon which we were met by a Sani Lodge representative in the airport. We took a cab over to the river where we found our "taxi", essentially a 30 foot long covered canoe with a powerful outboard engine. We shared the ride with a young family from Colorado and enjoyed the conversation while watching the scenery fly by.

Rio Napo, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

After several hours on the river we embarked at Sani's docks and made the short walk through the forest to a creek which was near the lodge. We walked on raised platforms since the forest here is inundated with floodwaters each year. Seasonally flooded forests are called varzea, while the more upland forests that do not flood are called terra firme. Sani Lodge is surrounded by varzea on the north side of the Rio Napo, though there is accessible terra firme nearby, especially south of the Rio Napo.

Sani Lodge area, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

We loaded our gear and ourselves into a couple of smaller canoes and quietly paddled under the lush vines and trees that flanked the creek.

Sani Lodge area, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Some rustling in the trees drew our attention to a group of primates! They were Common Squirrel Monkeys, along with a few White-fronted Capuchins. We watched their interactions as we drifted past.

Common Squirrel Monkey - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

White-fronted Capuchin - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Birds were scarce along the channel which was not too big of a surprise given that it was the warmest part of the day. Several Ringed Kingfishers hunted while we also noted Greater Anis, Russet-backed and Crested Oropendolas and a Rufescent Tiger-Heron. A distant voice in the forest was identified as a Plain-winged Antshrike, my first life bird of this part of the trip. I was glad that I had studied the antbird, antwren and antshrike vocalizations beforehand since it helped immensely throughout our time here.

An antbird of some sort briefly showed itself in the dark tangles beside the creek but then vanished before it could be identified. Birding in the Amazon was going to be a challenge, no doubt.

Ringed Kingfisher - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

The creek eventually opened up into a large oxbow lake, upon which the lodge was situated.

Arriving at Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

As we left the dark environs of the forest behind the bird activity picked up and we were immediately surrounded by Hoatzins, a strange pheasant-like bird that is the only living member of the order Opisthocomidae. Its taxonomic position is a little uncertain but it is believed to be a sister taxa to a clade containing the cranes/rails (Gruiformes) and shorebirds/gulls (Charadriiformes).

Hoatzins - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

A Giant River Otter curiously checked out the boat before continuing on, providing incredible views. The Giant River Otter is found in widely scattered populations throughout Amazonia, though most of these are small and separated from each other. The species is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List as it is threatened by degradation of its rivering habitats caused by mining, pesticides and loss of riparian habitat, among other factors.

Giant River Otter - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Upon arrival, welcome drinks and snacks were provided while we watched several tanagers checking out a nearby feeder. What luxury!

Welcome drinks and snacks - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Masked Crimson Tanagers - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Blue-gray Tanager - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Silver-beaked Tanager - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

We were also informed that since there was space at the main lodge, we would be staying there for the first night instead of camping. Awesome!

Our cabin - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

South American Spotted Skink (Copeoglossum nigropunctatum) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

We relaxed around the lodge until dinner, upon which we would meet our guide who would be with us for the duration of our stay. As afternoon turned to evening, I set up my spotting scope on the dock which proved to be an excellent decision. Russet-backed and Crested Oropendolas flew past in huge numbers, the Giant River Otters reappeared, and several life birds were spotted - Capped Herons, some Violaceous Jays, a Slender-billed Kite and even an Azure Gallinule that flew into a reed bed near the dock and promptly disappeared.

Oropendolas - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

That evening we met our guide who would be with us for the next two days, Gustavo. He was from the nearby community, was around our age and seemed like a nice guy. He was relatively new to guiding and admitted that he didn't know all of birds but was keen to learn. Laura and I went over what we were hoping to get out of our Sani experience, especially with what activities we wanted to do. It seemed that he was trying to shoehorn us into a typical tourist experience at Sani, complete with a visit to a local village one day. We expressed that we wanted to do a ton of birding, herping and especially night-hiking, and if it was ok we would like to skip out on visiting the village. After all we only had three full days here and we wanted to maximize every minute. I have to admit I was a little frustrated after our initial discussion. Sani is well-known for having several top bird guides and I was hoping that we would be assigned with one of them given that there was only one other group staying at the lodge and they were not naturalists.

At the same time I tried to reign in any frustrations. After all, at least we had a guide of some sort, even if he did not know the wildlife very well. Most of my past trips were done without any guides at all. As long as he could get us to decent habitat, I figured that I could find some of my target birds.

Common Pauraque - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Following dinner we headed out on foot for our first night walk, joined by Gustavo as well as another guide, Sergio. Excitement was high as we left the lodge environs for a trail through the forest.

Unidentified mantid - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Right away we began noticing various frogs. Some, like this Painted Antnest Frog, were noticed in the leaf litter, while a nice variety of tree frogs were also noted on leafs and branches within a few meters of the forest floor.

Painted Antnest Frog (Lithodytes lineatus) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Map Treefrog (Boana geographica) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Yasuni Spiny-backed Frog (Osteocephalus yasuni) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

We were only fifteen minutes into the walk when this strange frog was spotted. At the time we did not know what to think - surely there is not a species of "blind" tree frog?

Rough-skinned Green Treefrog (Boana cinerascens) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

We took a few photos and moved on. There were just too many other things to look at! Later on once I returned to Canada I did a little bit of research. The best that I can come up with is that is is the species Boana cinerascens, the Rough-skinned Green Treefrog, that has been infected by some sort of bacteria that has attacked its skin and eaten away at its eyes.

Rough-skinned Green Treefrog (Boana cinerascens) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Below is a "normal" Rough-skinned Green Treefrog from a few nights later.

Rough-skinned Green Treefrog (Boana cinerascens) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

As is usually the case when I am night-hiking, I primarily focused on trying to find snakes. Of course there was a ton of by-catch, so to speak, especially with invertebrates. Below are a few that I photographed during our first night-hike.

Pseudophasma bispinosum - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Unidentified katydid - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Unidentified Orbweaver - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Diurnal butterflies could occasionally be found sleeping on trailside vegetation.

Nessaea sp. - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Northern Antirrhea (Antirrhea philoctetes) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

The next species of clearwing was a real stunner - it lit up with pinks and violets when hit with one of our flashlights.

Cithaerias aurora - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

This next creature is not a moth like I thought upon first glance. A closer inspection revealed that it was a species of Derbid Planthopper (family Derbidae).

Derbid Planthopper sp. - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Leaf Katydid sp. - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

The Bullet Ant is certainly the most famous hymenopteran from the Amazon, well known for its extremely potent and painful sting.

Bullet Ant (Paraponera clavata) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

This next spider appeared to be having a very successful evening. The cicada, not so much.

Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Occasionally one of us would spot a sleeping anole. Most were Anolis fuscoauratus, the Brown-eared Anole, which is a common inhabitant of Amazonian forests.

Brown-eared Anole (Anolis fuscoauratus) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

One of my favourite genera of amphibians is Bolitoglossa, which includes a number of climbing salamanders in the Neotropics. We were fortunate to find several examples of Bolitoglossa altamazonica, the Amazonian Climbing Salamander. As its name implies, this salamander species is capable of scaling slippery leaves and branches, where they hunt for their preferred prey (small invertebrates) after dark.

Amazonian Climbing Salamander (Bolitoglossa altamazonica) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

An excited shout from up the trail grabbed my attention. Sergio had spotted a snake!

Tropical Flat Snake (Siphlophis compressus) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

This incredible snake is known as the Tropical Flat Snake (Siphlophis compressus). It is a little known, arboreal species that preys mostly on lizards, like many arboreal snakes.

Tropical Flat Snake (Siphlophis compressus) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

We were on the board with the first snake of the trip! It felt great to get the first one out of the way. I had a renewed sense of focus and searched hard for snakes. An hour later I was rewarded, when the distinctive banded pattern of an Imantodes cenchoa appeared on some vegetation just off the trail.

Blunt-headed Tree Snake (Imantodes cenchoa) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

We still had a little bit of time left as we completed the loop through some of the trails in the forest. More frogs, lizards and invertebrates were inspected and photographed.

Unidentified Fleshbelly Frog (Craugastidae) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Map Treefrog (Boana geographica) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Unidentified katydid - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

I'm not sure what was going on here!

Brown-eared Anole (Anolis fuscoauratus) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Huntsman Spider sp. - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Some scurrying in a nearby sapling gave away the position of this Bicolored Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys bicolor).

Bicolored Arboreal Rice Rat (Oecomys bicolor) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Gladiator Frog (Boana sp.) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Map Treefrog (Boana geographica) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

Pale-striped Poison Frog (Ameerega hahneli) - Sani Lodge, Sucumbíos Province, Ecuador

A light mist had started following as the four of us slowly made our way back to the lodge. But Sergio pulled through once again with an epic find. His flashlight beam had picked up the distinctive white belly of an arboreal snake - I was elated to see that it was a Rainbow Boa!