The Ecuador tour was a fabulous trip. We enjoyed the bird diversity and abundance, and the many habitats and elevation zone changes. Eric was superb, excellent in auditory and visual identification of birds and he was extremely patient with everyone. He is the Gold standard for birding guides. Edison was an excellent guide with great birding skills and he told us a lot about his country. The trip was well organized and the coordination with local guides to provide access to the birding sites was well done. I particularly like the presence of both a Sabrewing guide and a local guide who Sabrewing Tours trusts. The assistance of Janice Travis greatly added to the quality of the tour. The hotels, restaurants, meals were great and we loved our day touring Quito. This cultural and historical aspect of the trip was greatly enjoyed.

Just an awesome trip! Guides Eric, Edison, and Janice did an outstanding job of finding our group’s target birds as well as an amazing variety. As usual, food, accommodations and travel were first class as has been the case on the other Saberwing tours I’ve taken. I’ve already booked another trip for later this year!

If you want to see birds, this is the trip for you. If you want rest, maybe not. This was a full-on, see all the birds, trip that delivered. The scenery is amazing, and the mountain top is out of this world gorgeous, all with non-stop lifers! The accommodations were very nice and the company was exceptional. The guide, Eric, is superb. He knows birds more than seems humanly possible and exhibits endless patience. Highly recommend, you won’t be disappointed.

My third trip with Sabrewing, and my first international trip with them. There aren’t enough stars for this review! The trip was exceptional in every respect: accommodations, food, transportation, guides, and of course, birds! Our two hotels were wonderful and clean, with comfortable rooms and gracious staff members. One was in the city and the other in a remote cloud forest. The food was traditional, fresh, and healthful. Every effort was made to accommodate special dietary needs, which isn’t always easy in another country and in rural areas. But the chefs knocked themselves out to meet everyone’s needs. I loved the traditional foods. Have you ever had passion fruit mousse? You haven’t lived until you’ve tried it! We had the best driver on the planet, Omar, who navigated windy, rutty, muddy roads with expertise and calm. In Ecuador, once you leave the main roads, you are on mud and gravel, for the most part. Nothing fazed him! Transpiration to and from the airport is included in the trip. When I arrived a taxi was waiting for me in the wee hours; the ride back to the airport was on a hotel shuttle. Our guides were phenomenal! Eric Ripma, our Sabrewing guide, is kind, patient, and extremely knowledgeable! Our local guide, Edison, was passionate about finding every possible bird. And our guide in training, Janice, provided awesome scope videos of some of the rarities. What a lovely addition she will be to the Sabrewing team! And the birds! 360 species, including some rarities! We had to wake up early to find a lot of them, but it was so worth the sleep deprivation! Many could be observed and photographed at close range, which was a real treat. Don’t be put off by fear of rain. It rains in Ecuador. A lot. But it never interfered with our birding. Often it rained at night or while we were on the bus. I only had to put on my rain poncho twice, and only briefly. I highly recommend this trip without reservation! Go!!!