Reserva Las Tangaras

Rainy March tends to be slow for the Reserve. However, we were quite busy with tours! Joshua has started guiding “general” birding tours and it has been very successful! We enjoy sharing our excitement and experience of all things RLT with visitors from around the world.

We have been monitoring 3 Andean Solitaire nests that are built into the muddy earth about 4 ½ feet above the ground. We know that these are Andean Solitaire nests as the bird quickly flies out of the nest each time we walk by. Of the 3 nests, two were somewhat covered by dangling leaves and the other was completely visible with a little vegetation. 1 nest never had any eggs, another nest lost its’ 2 eggs and appears to be abandoned, but the final nest currently contains 2 hatchlings just starting to get their feathers. Interestingly, the nest that was completely visible is the nest that contains the hatchlings.

While monitoring the Andean Solitaire nests, we also found 2 hummingbird nests. 1 Western Emerald nest that took about 3 days until an egg appeared and 1 nest that is a bit too high for us to see inside but we will be keeping an eye on it. The Western Emerald nest (pictured below) is about 3 ft from the ground on a leafy vine that is suspended in the air by a series of downed branches. The other nest we are still working to identify the hummingbird but we believe she is a Crowned Woodnymph. She’s so fast it’s hard to get a peek!

We have finally settled into the “groove” of things here as we close out the month of March. We have started to slow down and appreciate the small wonders throughout Reserva Las Tangaras. This has certainly contributed to our findings…Hummingbird nests are SO SMALL!

WHAT’S NEW?

We have been working on updates to the Cabañas interior by treating the wood against rot and wear in the kitchen and guest sleeping quarters.

The bridge is now free of slippery moss and covered with fresh bottle caps. Though there is nothing we can do to make it appear safer with the raging Rio Nambillo beneath your feet especially during rainy season! But trust us, it’s very safe!

Our plantain feeders have gotten a face lift including a more natural look with moss and bromeliads, perching branches and now includes nails made of wood to secure the plantains. This will ensure a safer snack, free of metal contaminants for our bird visitors.

CHEF’S CORNER

Danielle here! I thought it would be fun to share some tricks we use here in the RLT kitchen to provide a delicious variety of dishes packed with flavor. We do not have electricity for refrigeration here, so we mostly stick to a vegetarian diet. Fortunately for us, I was a vegetarian for 11 years. Vegetarianism sparked my curiosity and passion for the culinary arts and the flavors/techniques used in cuisines around the world. I kept this fact close-to-the-vest while I was in culinary school and still tried all meat and seafood because I wanted to be a well-rounded Chef first and foremost. Even did an apprenticeship at a whole-animal butcher shop while maintaining a vegetarian diet. For me, what I preferred to eat at home never got in the way of my desire to learn.

A week ago, I wanted to make Pineapple Fried Rice as I had some leftover pineapple and an ají chile that needed to be used.

THE DISH: Pineapple Fried Rice THE CHALLENGE: We haven’t purchased any soy sauce as, I feel, it is too expensive for the quantity you get and, until now, it hasn’t been necessary. Additionally, I didn’t have any ginger, scallions or sesame oil. THE INGREDIENTS: 1 Red Onion, 1 ½ cups Fresh Pineapple, 1 Sm. Green Bell Pepper, 1 Large Carrot, ½ Ají Pepper (Use a full one if you like it spicy!), 5 Garlic Cloves (I was running low and only used 3), 3 TBS Panela (a sort of “brown sugar” commonly used here in Ecuador that is not as sweet), Salt, 1-1½ cup water, Veggie Oil, 3 cups of cooked rice and 3 eggs

THE PROCESS: Dice your first 4 ingredients and chop the ají pepper and garlic cloves. Add 2 TBS veggie oil to a skillet and heat until the oil is shimmering then add ½ the onion, all of the ají pepper and all of your pineapple. Saute until the onion is a pale-pink then add the panela to the pan. Stir just until you see that the sugar has dissolved. Allow the pineapple mixture to simmer for at least 3 minutes. Add 1 tsp of salt to the pan and stir the mixture until the pineapple is coated well. If your sauce is getting too thick, add a small bit of water. We are imparting a sort of spicy, salty caramel flavor into the pineapple and don’t want it to be too runny. This sauce is your soy sauce substitute. Once your sauce coats the pineapple, remove from the heat and taste. Add more salt if it is too sweet. If your pineapple is very ripe, you can add a couple dashes of vinegar to add more flavor. Allow the mixture to cool then transfer to a bowl.

Replace your skillet onto the heat and add your water (DON’T WASH THE PAN FIRST!). As the water heats, stir and scrape the pan diluting all the gooey bits with the water. This is your make-shift soy sauce. Once your pan is clean, add to a separate cup or bowl so it can be slowly added while cooking the rice as a “seasoning”. Add 3 TBS of veggie oil to your skillet (it is fried rice after all) and heat until shimmering. Add your remaining onion, carrot and bell pepper cooking until the vegetables have softened. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.

TIP: Leftover rice is best but fresh is okay too! You want your rice to be on the drier side (being dry helps it to absorb more sauce/more flavor). It’s super humid here so I laid the rice out in a thin layer and stirred/turned it over a few times to let the water out as best I could.

Add 1 TBS of oil to the sauteed vegetables, half of your cooked rice and 3 good spoonfuls of your sauce. Stir the mixture to combine and allow the mixture to sit on medium-high heat undisturbed for a minute or two. As your sauce is absorbed by the rice, stir and add more sauce by the spoonful. After about 5 minutes, add the rest of your rice and additional spoonfuls of your sauce. Allow the rice to cook until heated through and flavorful then add your pineapple mixture. Mix well and allow to cook for 2-5 minutes to heat the pineapple. Taste and add more sauce and salt to your liking. Push the rice to the outer edges of your pan, creating a well scraping up any stuck rice or veggies. Add a small amount of oil just to coat the pan then add your 3 eggs, scrambling them and moving them around the well until cooked mostly through. Begin slowly stirring and incorporating your scrambled egg into the rice and remove from heat.

BUEN PROVECHO

We are your new managers: Danielle, Joshua and Parker!

Danielle is our hospitality guru while we are here. She has over 10 years of experience running commercial kitchens, 2+ years in Operations, 7 years working for non-profits in Utah, USA and a year as a Chef/General Manger where she learned her Marketing skills. She enjoys waking up to the sound of the birds in the morning and ensures the birds (and humans) are well-fed. She will be covering our social media a few times per week, keep an eye out for updates!

Joshua is our scientist and adventurer. With a degree in Zoology with Minors in Botany and Spanish, he is prepared for the ins and outs of everything Reserva Las Tangaras. Joshua has been to all 7 continents and visited dozens of countries during his time in the U.S. Navy. He has his work cut out for him getting his two city-folk companions into wilderness-living! Joshua is excited about all of the exploring and research opportunities our time at RLT will provide. He hopes to find a position doing field-research in the near future.

Parker is our 11 year-old adventure guide! He is becoming increasingly curious about everything at the Reserve down to the smallest insect. He is in the 5th grade, conducting homeschool from the Reserve for a few hours each day. He has grown up in Salt Lake City and is quickly adjusting to our new life at the Reserve. He is very excited to meet other kids and show them around the grounds!

We had a rough beginning with some car troubles heading to Mindo from Quito, found a large tree blocking the road to the Reserve and some replacements were needed with our water source to prevent future problems. They say things like these come in threes and We-Three were ready to hit the ground running!

Things were a bit behind on trail maintenance so we immediately started working on them. Now guests can enjoy clear paths for their exploration of the grounds.

We hosted several overnight guests this month who enjoyed vegetarian faire while we work out ways to introduce more meat, chicken and fish dishes for guests.

Our first event of 2025 will be 14 & 15 Feb. We can’t wait!

Disclaimer* Do not attempt without first consulting your Guide

Fuente Falls

Hybrid Forest/Aquatic

The trail to the reserve’s dry season water source is not for the faint of heart, but if you’re willing to push yourself a few turns up the river further, the reward is always worth the work. There are two routes one can take to the famed waterfall we’ve dubbed fuente falls, after the river that it calls home. 

The first option is to take the tres tazas trail to the fuente river, and climb up for some time from there. The second involves a bit of a shortcut on the trail we use for the water line, which drops you off at the fuente a little higher up. From there, you take the well worn route of past managers climbing over rocks, up waterfalls, and rope-climbing up cliffs until you reach the beautiful waterfall that our water source sits atop. At this point, you are usually soaked to at least your chest if you didn’t bite the bullet and dunk under in your clothes and boots as soon as you got to the fuente. 

From there, its more of the same past two more really nice falls. Extra points if you shimmy up the fallen tree to get up the last one. The wind coming off the falls hits you first. It would be a disservice to try to describe it with words, so a low-quality gopro photo will have to do. 

Bubble Baths

Aquatic

Bubble baths is a river adventure into untouched areas of the Nambillo. Water shoes recommended. 

You start at the gorge, a breathtaking hallway of flowing water off the end of Momotos. From there you’ll swim/trudge your way up towards the confluence, a big waterfall at the end of Sanctuario. 

 
You push forward, fighting the current for a few more turns of beautiful river and cool geology. This is where you find bubble baths, a uniquely oriented set of falls that come together to churn the water into a wonderfully disorienting sea of white foamy bubbles. Who needs a jacuzzi. 

For the extremely brave, again, do not attempt sans-guide, you can climb your way up the gut of one of these falls to the calm, expansive pool directly above bubble baths. Squarely in the middle of this pool, in the deepest section, is a huge boulder perfect for practicing your cannonball. 

The real treat about bubble baths is that you can float most of the way back (at least when the river is low). Just make sure to keep those feet pointed downstream. 

Buena Vista

Forest

Buena Vista is a Forest adventure best undertaken before first light. Bring snacks, water, and binoculars. 

This excursion begins before sunrise with a trek up to the Andean Cock of the Rock lek. As the sun rises, you get to sit here and enjoy the welcome respite from the uphill hiking while watching some of the most interesting birds the Reserve has to offer. 

As the lekking dies down, you saddle back up for a trek into the deepest and highest parts of the reserve. Keep an eye out for the Ecuadorian Capuchin, which likes to hang out up here. You notice the subtle change of the flora and fauna as you feel the air getting more crisp on your neck. Not long after passing the “giant’s throne” tree, you’ll find yourself at the sign telling you “Ruta no matienen mas alla de aqui”. 

Do not despair, my friend, we’re just getting started. You’ll let your machete guide you up to the top of the ridge, which is always just one section of near-vertical woody shrubs further. When you decide to turn around, take 3 steps forward and you’ll find yourself looking at one of the best views in the Choco-Andean. 

Sanctuario XTreme

Hybrid Forest/Aquatic

If you’re looking for the waterpark, look no further. We’ve got the best slide in the rainforest. 

The Hike to Sanctuario is great any way you slice it on its own. You’ve got beautiful jungle trails culminating in an oasis so pretty you’d think it was cliché if you saw it in a movie. 

For the curious adventurer, however, it gets even better. Swim through the pool and climb the waterfall to find a world of smooth stone harboring luges of clear water. Keep going to find friendly cascades that are great for practicing your climbing skills without consequence. 

After a few twists and turns, you’ll catch a glimpse of the biggest cascade yet, with a well placed rope waiting for you to scale the side. After checking the depth and finding it to your liking, you will climb said rope, feeling like quite the adventurer, position yourself above this waterfall, and push yourself down the slide that ends in a 6 foot dropoff. Repeat as needed. 

There is no alarm clock quite like the loud “OJO!” of a 74 year old Ecuadorian man at 6:30 in the morning, knowing he was up over an hour ago and he’d walked all the way from town. 

Once Guillermo “Vaca” hits you with a “buenas tardes”, realizing you’d just woken up, he’ll ask what’s for breakfast. 

By the third day of this, he’s in the kitchen making sure breakfast is up to his liking, because he can’t trust the gringos to put enough salt in anything. Rice with peanut butter-onion sauce and bananas became the winning breakfast in the end, and its actually really really good. 

After some smack talk and coffee over breakfast, it’s time to get down to business. We spent the day building a new camp shelter, hauling wood and hammering nails. If we start getting on Guillermo’s nerves with our endless questions and adjustments, he starts asking for almuerzo. It’s gotta have meat, it can’t have mayo, and the rice can’t be too “duro”. 

At this point you can usually distract him with a banana or a handful of raisins in order to hold him over until lunch. If he catches you walking towards the house in this time frame, you are likely to hear a “Mas Chorizo” yelled over the saw. 

We met Guillermo in town, sitting in an insanely beautiful restaurant/house made entirely of wood. Our friend said that his dad built it, and pointed to the man chopping wood outside. We were looking for a carpenter and so we talked to him.

Turns out Guillermo is 74 and is still doing construction and trail building weekly. He says work is “Buen por salud.” We also learned that he built all of the trails at the reserve over 20 years ago. He is a wealth of knowledge of everything at the reserve; some things are just meant to be.

He told us that he’d be at the reserve at 8:30 the next day, and that he had no phone. We heard our first OJO at 7:00 the next morning, and the rest is history.

We spent the back half of August working with Guillermo to build the camp shelter. Our days went like this: OJO, Breakfast, work, lunch, more work.

When we weren’t grabbing hot sauce, salt, or sugar, we were grabbing nails and other tools, and never hammering in exactly the place he wanted. The afternoons were a chorus of “Clave! Empujar!” and lots of other words that we don’t know the real meaning of, but we know what part of wood to hit when he says it. If you messed up, you’d get the glare. After a few days, though, we learned that you could counter the glare with a “Mal ayudante!”

It was a really great experience for three reasons. One, the floor we built looks really awesome, like artsy airbnb level awesome. Two, we learned a ton about carpentry and woodworking from an absolute expert. We were even saying that we would have paid for the experience we were gaining. Third, we’ve gained a great friend in Guillermo. We would spend the whole day working but also laughing and joking in Spanish, learning a lot of words and phrases that will not be included in this blogpost. 

Now, when we go into town we stop in at Guillermo’s and spend some time with him and his family. We have sweet bread and a fresh cup of a tea-oatmeal thing that isn’t quite either, but it’s delicious.

We like to hit the ground running every morning at the reserve, yet some mornings are admittedly slower than others, sipping hot tea on the porch with a beanie and sweatshirt on while monitoring hummingbirds for an hour. This day in particular, was not a tea sipping morning for us. It started with the weekly Andean Cock of the Rock Lek monitoring. This is a magnificent bird, and one of the coolest ones we have on the reserve, in our opinion. Their display in search of a mate is a daily grind for them, which we have the honor of monitoring and collecting data. Believe me when I say it these birds are for lust, and not love. When a male asserts dominance, he will mate with as many females as they can.

Andean Cock of the Rock

A monitoring day entails waking up at 5am and hiking up the bosque trail with our headlamps to arrive by 5:45. I’ll spare you the long description as you have heard it in past manager’s blogposts, but it is a harrowing experience not knowing if the stick you are stepping on is a snake just hiding in the shadows of the early morning. Once we got to the Lek, we monitored these birds putting on their daily display. We also get cell service at the Lek, of course we have to text our parents/ girlfriends we haven’t talked to in a week.

We continued hiking up the bosque trail machetes in hand, backpacks stocked with hammocks, peanut butter, our fresh reserve grown bananas and last night’s rice stir fry. What can we say? We get hungry up there and we know how to relax, sue us. Food aside, we were clearing the upper part of bosque trail, which had been reclaimed by the jungle. Bosque is our favorite trail since it takes you as deep and as high as possible into the cloud forest at the reserve. Noticing new flora and fauna appear as we hike is also one of the best aspects of the trail. We continued hiking on for about 25 minutes past the lek and encountered our first tree fall. We hacked away with our machetes clearing the small branches and vines first to reach the main log. After, one of us would hack away at the log, until they got tired and would tag in the other to start unleashing whatever anger they had pent up over the last 10 years. Macheting really is great therapy.

On the Bosque trail

We continued for another few hours, losing the trail and finding it again, and taking in the old growth trees and the out of this world bugs that comprise the beautiful Andean cloud forest. Bit by bit we continued clearing away more and more trail. Until we heard a distinct and strangely cute sound in the trees above us. We began to scan canopy above us with our binoculars searching for the perpetrator of the sound. Arthur then proclaimed he saw a monkey! It took Matt a second to decipher the small fuzzy creature about 75 ft above them perched in a tree. We walked the trail keeping our eyes on the creature to find a good viewpoint. As we walked, we saw 2, 3 and eventually 8 monkeys running and jumping across trees! We began watching them in awe, groom and communicate with each other.

Capuchin Monkeys (via phone through binoculars)

We realized these are Ecuadorian capuchin monkeys. They are critically endangered due to habitat loss and hunting. Over 90% of their habitat has been destroyed and places like Reserva las Tangaras are the last frontiers for these magnificent creatures. They are also known to be one of the smartest species of monkey, employing tools like leaves as cups to drink water. However, their behaviors are not very well studied, since they are rare and usually very elusive. We hungout with the monkeys for a while and took a bunch of pictures, as one does when they see an endangered monkey deep in the Ecuadorian cloud forest.

Hammock Break

The next part of the day was not quite as Tranquil. After moving on from watching the monkeys, we came to a sign in the trail that let us know “Ruta no matienen mas alla de aqui” Not until now it isn’t.  It was a bad day to be a treefall blocking what we thought could maybe at some point have been a trail to the top of the ridge.

End of Trail Sign

We spent hours walking, climbing, and crawling up the ridge with our machetes leading the way. Often, we would look down and realize we were standing on fallen branches and logs which were 8 feet in the air and not on the ground. At a certain point anything that remotely resembled a trail was completely gone, and we’d catch ourselves yelling “found it” and start hacking away if we could see the ground at all. Now this was proper bush whacking. It was awesome.

I’d never really considered the accuracy of the term bushwhacking until right now. Because that’s almost exactly what it felt like we spent the rest of that morning doing. Whacking bushes and trees in an upward push to the top of a ridge that seemed to be getting further and further away. Once you were finally birthed out of the bramble at what you originally thought was the top, you’d see that there was a higher point just a bit off, and we wouldn’t settle for second best after coming this far. Maybe that area was a bramble free oasis ringed with Verbena flowers we thought.

When we finally did reach the top, that wasn’t the case, but the view made up for it tenfold. Describing it won’t do it justice, so we’ll just drop a picture of it below. This view combined with last night’s stir fry, well earned, was a match made in heaven.

The top of Bosque

Hola a todos! We’re Arthur and Matt, the new managers here at Reserva Las Tangaras. We’d like to open our first blog post by thanking Jason and Tasia for being such wonderful hosts, teachers, and friends.

Their hard work has set us up for success. The Reserve is in great shape, and we’re planning on continuing to improve off of the great foundation they’ve laid. We learned more than we thought possible in a three day period, shared lots of laughs, and surprisingly had one of the best cheeseburgers of our lives in the middle of the Andean Cloud Forest. Jason and Tasia, you rock.

Moving on to a quick introduction. We are lifelong friends who grew up as neighbors on the Jersey Shore. We have a shared love of nature, problem solving and adventure, and have lots of experience traveling and working together.

Arthur has a background in biology, as well as wilderness guiding and first aid. His favorite food is banana cream pie. Matt has experience in engineering, construction management and renewable energies. His favorite food is mac and cheese, with a lot of parmesan. 

We’re beyond excited to have the opportunity to protect and maintain this beautiful forest. Everything’s so green! We love being greeted in the morning by familiar hummingbirds, and spending the day surrounded by thriving biodiversity. Reserva Las Tangaras is a true gem for birdwatching and nature lovers alike. 

The dry season is starting to show its buds, with more sunny days as the weeks go on. We are prioritizing clearing out the trails to and around swimming holes on the property for guests to enjoy and soak up the incoming sunshine. We of course make sure to test each swimming hole and cascade for swimmability after clearing the trails.

Every day so far has been an adventure. Finding new beautiful corners of the reserve, spotting new birds, plants or insects and identifying them using the lodge’s library, or coming up with creative ways to solve problems unique to remote cloud forest living. 

We officially feel like experts on gravity-fed water systems, after an arduous battle setting up and maintaining the dry season water source. The time spent hiking and climbing soaking wet was worth it though. Poland Spring couldn’t hold a candle to what we’ve got going over here.

Also: Birding is awesome! We came into this with an appreciation for nature and wildlife, but not specifically birding. We’re hooked. We find ourselves getting into arguments about bird identification, gluing ourselves to the hummingbird feeders and freaking out if we see a new bird. We have already learned to identify all of the hummingbirds that visit the feeders, thanks to the handy guidebook at the lodge, and it is great share the excitement of discovering rare or new birds that come to feed with a good friend! We’re excited to be in the perfect place to continue to cultivate this new passion and share it with guests and researchers alike. 

All for now! We’ll check back in after another month of green, birds, and most likely wrestling with the water line. Hasta Pronto!