I had long wanted to visit immense Podocarpus National Park, renowned as a park of megadiversity, even within a megadiverse country. It is truly a jewel of Ecuador’s park system.
Just how great is this diversity? Imagine a single hectare that contains 90 species of trees. Imagine a region of 3,000 to 4,000 species of plants, of which 20% are endemic. Imagine a single park with 560 species of birds and 68 species of mammals. Imagine a park with more than 1200 species of geometrid moths (the most known for any locale in the world; all of North America has something over 1400 geometrids).
And why such diversity? Podocarpus National Park lies at the juncture of several major ecological zones, much as we find at home in southeast Arizona. But in Ecuador those zones are the Northern Andes, the Southern Andes, the Amazon basin, and the Tumbesian Pacific region. Habitats here include the (subtropical) lower montane rainforest; cloud forest; elfin forest; and páramo.
Major international conservation groups (The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International) have aided in Podocarpus’s establishment, study, and development. It’s an ongoing work, as these groups join forces with Fundación Arcoiris and the Jocotoco Foundation of Ecuador to design and establish wildlife corridors that incorporate Podocarpus National Park. The flagship species for the corridor work is the Spectacled Bear, but protection of the bears’ habitat will also benefit myriad other species, and safeguard the watersheds for human use.
We first approach Podocarpus at its eastern entrance near Zamora, in what is called the Bombuscaro Sector, named for its major river. Copalinga Lodge serves as a wonderful base for exploring this side of the park. (Entry to the park is now free, as it is at all of Ecuador’s national parks.)
After waiting out a morning of rain, our first afternoon venture along the entrance trail is a humdinger––we see so much that we don’t get very far! Andean Cocks-of-the-rock are chasing each other about.
After hiking in the park, we find that the verbena and feeders back at Copalinga Lodge are always buzzing with hummingbirds. Here we enjoy Violet-headed Hummingbirds, two Wire-crested Thorntails, Little Woodstars (and one White-bellied Woodstar), Sparkling Violet-ears, and many Violet-fronted Brilliants.
Our next destination is Cabañas Yankuam in the remote Cordillera del Condor. They hadn’t responded to emails, and Gary Rosenberg had advised me that they are very hard to reach, even for locals. But Catherine at Copalinga kindly calls them for us, and arranges accommodations before we make the long drive in.