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Cabañas Ecológicas COPALINGA
Bombuscaro – Zamora – ECUADOR
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Lanceolated Monklet |
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Mobile Phone: 09/3477.013 |
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White-breasted Parakeets |
A paradise for birders and nature lovers
located 3 kms from Podocarpus National Park (Bombuscaro entrance)
Our cabins
We have 6 individual first class cabins for a maximum of 12 persons; 4 cabins with twin beds and 2 with a double bed.
All cabins have a bedroom, a private bathroom with hot showers, and a balcony. They are within 50 m of the parking area and restaurant.
COPALINGA lodge is located at an altitude of 950 m.a.s.l. (approx. 3000 feet) The area is free of tropical diseases, such as malaria. The rooms are provided with screens, although there are very few mosquitoes at night.
We also have 2 more "rustic" cabins, with bunk beds and shared bathroom facilities, for a maximum of 8 people.
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Services and activities
The restaurant and bar are available only for guests who stay overnight. Breakfast can be served at a birder's convenience i.e. around 6 a.m. while a lunch package can be provided upon request. We serve meals at international standards. If you have any special diet requirements, please notify us at reservation time.
Trails exist around the cabins. Along the trails, thatched benches, located at excellent bird viewing spots, provide shelter and allow for convenient bird watching even when it is raining. Hummingbird feeders are present in front of the restaurant. The entire area provides great opportunities for bird photography (also from the balcony of the cabins – see pictures below).
Living here for nine years we have gathered substantial knowledge of the birdlife at COPALINGA and we will be glad to share it with you, in English, French, Dutch and/or Spanish.
The trail loop system, which spans an altitudinal range of 500 m (1500 feet), allows you to get into the interior of the tropical submontane humid forest, a precious world full of orchids, bromeliads and ferns (easy to see) and of forest birds (unfortunately, not always so easy to see).
Electricity is provided by means of a hydro power plant (turbine) 24h/day.
The COPALINGA lodge can be reached by mobile phone (CLARO: 09/3477.013).
Tarifs
The cost for an overnight stay including a buffet breakfast and all taxes varies between $23.50 (rustic) and $55.00 (first class, single) per person in the low season. In our high season, which is from the end of December until the end of March, the cost varies between $23.50 and $75.00 per person.
Dinner costs $14.00, lunch $10.50, and a packed lunch $6.50.
Please make your reservation at least 3 days in advance, especially if you would like to have lunch and dinner at COPALINGA
Some photos taken at COPALINGA
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Lineated Woodpecker |
Bay-headed tanager |
Swallow-tanager |
Wire-crested thorntail |
Pictures taken by Nick Athanas, Mimi Wolf and Mr. Leupold
How to get to COPALINGA ?
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By Airplane to Loja |
There are daily flights to Loja from Quito (TAME) and Guayaquil (TAME operated by SAEREO). You can make reservations and buy tickets on-line. As they are subject to frequent changes, we refer to the TAME website www.tame.com.ec for more details.
A note on e-tickets for TAME: you do not need to present a printout of the ticket at the check-in counter at the airport; showing your passport or Ecuadorian I.D. card (for Ecuadorians or foreigners living in Ecuador) is all that is needed to be able to board the plane.
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From Loja Airport to COPALINGA
Loja airport is located in Catamayo, also called "La Toma", which is a 35 minute drive from Loja. From the airport, you can take a shared taxi or "taxi compartido" to Loja. The cost is $5 per person. You can also rent the entire taxi, which costs about $20 to Loja, $45 to Zamora (Terminal Terrestre), and $50 or more to COPALINGA. Only some taxi drivers at the airport know our place. We can also send a taxi from Zamora upon request, which is a bit cheaper ($ 45 to COPALINGA). The entire drive takes about 2 hours.
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By Bus / Taxi |
From Zamora
At the bus station or "Terminal Terrestre" in Zamora, you can take a taxi ("yellow cab" or "white pick-up truck") to COPALINGA. Our place is located halfway (3 kms) on the road to the Podocarpus National Park. The place is locally also known as "El Oso". Most taxi drivers know the place, if not under the previous names, then as "donde viven los extranjeros, en la carretera al Parque". The cost of the passage is $ 3.
From Loja
From the bus station (Terminal Terrestre) in Loja, you can take a bus to Zamora. We recommend the companies "Cooperativa Loja International" and "Nambija". Other bus companies are "Yanzatza", "Cariamanga" and "Viajeros". Travel time is around one hour and thirty minutes; the cost of passage is $2.40 per person. If you take a taxi from Loja to Zamora, the cost is about $30.
From Quito, Guayaquil or Cuenca
Direct : The bus company "Cooperativa Internacional Loja" offers a direct service from the cities of Quito and Guayaquil to Zamora; the "Viajeros" bus company offers a direct service from the city of Cuenca. There are only one or 2 direct busses per day to Zamora from these cities.
Via Loja : The alternative is to change busses in Loja. There are more bus companies servicing between Quito, Guayaquil or Cuenca and Loja, and the service is much more frequent, on average one bus every hour from Cuenca for example. The "Cooperativa Loja Internacional" also offers an "executive" service, which is faster than the regular service, very safe and only $2 more expensive.
The travel time to Loja from Quito is about twelve hours, from Guayaquil six to seven hours and from Cuenca four and a half hours.
The cost of transportation (15/01/12) for whichever of the companies is: Quito - Loja $ 17.00 - Quito - Zamora $ 19.40 Guayaquil - Loja $ 10.00 - Guayaquil - Zamora $ 12.40 Cuenca - Loja $ 7.00 - Cuenca -Zamora $ 9.40
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By Car |
Coming from Loja, continue until the roundabout of the bus station (Terminal Terrestre). At this roundabout, take a right turn, following the direction "Parque Podocarpus" mentioned on the signboard. Follow the paved road for about 50m, and turn right again, uphill, following the direction "Podocarpus". (Do not take the direction "Bombuscaro"). Follow this road first through a more or less urban neighborhood, and then continue through a rural area. After about 3kms from the roundabout, you will see a house and wooden tower on the left-hand side of the road, and a little bit further down on the right-hand side of the road, an iron gate with the COPALINGA logo. This gate is the entrance to the parking area of the cabins of the COPALINGA lodge.
It is possible to rent a car in Loja, with and without a driver. The most reliable one is Bombuscaro Rent-a-car. They can be contacted through the Bombuscaro hotel: e-mail bombus@bombuscaro.com.ec, or by phone at (593) (07) 2589.293 or 257.7021/2.
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COPALINGA is member of the NBC (Neotropical Bird Club) birding lodges network, and received the "Rainforest Alliance Verified" certificate for sustainable tourism.
For more information, contact us at:
Catherine VITS and Boudewijn DE ROOVER
Mobile Phone: (593) (09) 3477.013
LAST UPDATE = January 2011