Cerro Blanco

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Cerro Blanco is located only some 20 km outside of Guayaquil, Ecuador. It is a tropical dry forest with a rich flora and fauna. During the rainy season (January to May) it is all very green, but the rest of the year the forst is dry and a number of the trees loose their leaves in order to survive the intense sun.

The forest is home to many animals, including the blue morfo butterfly. Also there are 54 species of mammals, including ozelot, howler monkey, guanta and saino.

Cerro Blanco is known for its diversity in birds, with 213 species, including birds of prey like hawks and the Papagayo de Guayaquil who only lives in Cerro Blanco and in Esmeraldas in the north of Ecuador. This parrot only builds his nest in one type of tree, and as this tree is being cut the bird is threatened by extinction.

There are a coupl of hikes in the par which are normally only done with a hike. Howevr, since all guides were busy, they let me do one hike by myself.

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