BirdPhotographers.Net - It Ain't Just Birds

Text and Photography by Jim Caldwell

The ocelot peered at me from the underbrush, unblinking. Lying on my belly, I carefully focused on the eyes and fired off a number of frames. The ocelot continued to stare and never moved or blinked. Satisfied that I got my image, I slowly crawled back, stood up and withdrew. The adrenaline was still coursing through me as I doubled checked my histogram. Perfect! Just moments before the ocelot I had stared eye to eye with a jaguar and three pumas. Next I was going face to face with several amazon spectacled bears!

Image copyright: Jim Caldwell

Image copyright: Jim Caldwell

This was just one morning session at the 2007 Photo workshop in Baños, Ecuador. If you have never heard of Baños, you aren't alone - it isn't very well known outside of Ecuador, even though the International BioDiversity Ecocongress is held here each year. Most photographers who travel to Ecuador fly in to Quito, then straight on to the Galapagos Islands.

Baños is a small town that sits on the side of an active volcano, Tungurahua (which means "tongue of fire" in the Quechuan language). Fortunately, the volcano erupts on the side facing away from Baños; fortunate for Baños, that is! Tungurahua does erupt regularly and during my workshop last year, it quietly erupted several times blowing dust and ash high into the atmosphere which I managed to photograph. Baños means "baths" in Spanish and thanks to the volcano, there are a number of nice public spas and hot springs located around the area, including a naturally heated outdoor swimming pool.

Image copyright: Jim Caldwell

The landscape around Baños is also unique as the town sits on a mesa which was carved out of the volcanic mountain by the Rio Pistaza. Surrounding the mesa are dozens and dozens of waterfalls that fall from the top of the mesa into the river sometimes hundreds of feet below. The mists from the falling waters are often caught up by up draughts to swirl into the atmosphere and create the most magnificent rainbows that I have ever seen. The rainbows are so big and bold that they don't seem to be real. This year I'm going to bring a circular polarizer with me to see if I can capture this wonderful phenomenon.

Image copyright: Jim Caldwell

The workshops are held at the San Martin Zoological Park located just on the outskirts of Baños about a mile out of town. The mountains and mesas here form a series of natural valleys in which many endangered and seldom seen animals and birds are kept. San Martin's mission is to conserve and rehabilitate animals, and when possible to release them back into the wild. For the past thirteen years, it has provided care to sick wildlife; shelter for endangered species rescued from the international pet trade, and rehabilitated hurt animals brought by local people. Current efforts are underway to move it toward becoming a Biodiversity Center for central Ecuador; the building of a conference center (hostel and meeting rooms now complete); the building of a biodiversity library (under construction); and the building of an animal clinic that will service the community. The workshops help fund the projects and are arranged through NOVA University out of Miami.

Image copyright: Jim Caldwell

San Martin currently has three pumas, two ocelots, a jaguar, two andean condors, a couple amazon coyotes, several amazon spectacled bears and dozens of other animals as well as many species of tropical birds and macaws. In addition, there are wild squirrel monkeys, two tapirs, and a couple llamas that frequently wander around the grounds, as well as many other animals often found in and around the amazon basin in central Ecuador. Most of the animals are free to wander in large enclosures formed by natural mountain walls which are ideal for photography. In many cases, workshop photographers are permitted to enter the areas in order to photograph the wildlife. In other cases, such as the jaguar and puma, there are special safe areas from which to photograph available for workshop members.

Image copyright: Jim Caldwell

Although Baños is located at an altitude of 6000 feet, a couple hour drive down the mountain lies the town of Puyo which is one of the gateways into the Amazon basin. During the workshop, we spend a day at Puyo hiking through trails surrounded by rare orchids, native trees and bromeliads at a private botanical park. The family who created the park has spent the last twenty years removing all non-native vegetation to restore the mountainside back to its original state. This turned out to be a great place for macro photography to capture images of unusual insects and rare orchids that are unique to this area.

Image copyright: Jim Caldwell

I will be returning to Baños later this year in the first week of September as a trip leader. If you would like to join me in this unique opportunity, drop me an email for more details! The workshop lasts a week and if you want to remain longer, it is easy to plan side trips to the Galapagos Islands, a native Amazon village, or just remain in Baños for horseback riding, zip lines, rock climbing, or bungee jumping!