• What I like best about Pancho is his knowledge, passion, and concern about the birds of his home country. He wants everyone to see these beautiful gems so that they will care about them as much as he does. He has a laid back personality and is easy to be around. He answers every question. I found him to be highly skilled at getting around the country and he knows the place like the native that he is. When he guided us he would always go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that we would see a particular species of birds. Pancho is very dedicated, sweet, and knowledgeable about Ecuador and its birdlife.

  Laura Stump, Colorado

  • Our birding trip to Ecuador was very successful. Our guide was Pancho Enrìquez. Ecuador is beautiful, birds are plentiful and quite varied and Pancho was an excellent guide. He knows the country, the birds and their calls and songs, and is a complete professional. We felt very comfortable with him from the very first day of our trip. We can recommend Pancho to anybody who wishes to go birding in Ecuador."

  Simon and Cecilia Calle
Highland Beach, Florida

  • Just wanted to thank you for the wonderful time we had birding with Pancho in Ecuador. Everything went smoothly and we were very impressed
    with Pancho's guiding. He was quick to respond to bird calls withimitations or with his ipod to coax the birds out and his use of the
    laser pointer was a big help in getting us on the birds. He is skilled, patient and fun to be with both in the field and at the dinner table.
    Our six days on the eastern slope netted 132 new lifers which was impressive given this was our third trip to South America. We lovedEcuador and can't wait to come back!

Laura Grenyo,

Soquel, CA

  • Anyone planning a trip to Ecuador with Pancho will not be disappointed.  As a novice birder, I went to Ecuador with very modest plans of adding a few birds to my life list.  What an understatement!  It is a country filled with friendly people and beautiful landscapes.  I traveled alone and was never the least bit nervous. And did I mention the birds.  Unbelievable.  Pancho could tell what everything flying, growing, running or singing was. Saw some very rare endemic birds. Won't bore you with a list.  I don't type that fast.  The days were filled with adventure.  Everything was very well organized and thoughtfully prepared.  Never a dull moment.  Am planning another trip as soon possible, can't wait.  I have stayed all over the world and never had a trip like this one.  What a wonderous place that is teaming with all things living."

  Lora Robinson, Texas

  • “Everything" was great. 241 lifers! Over 500 spp. seen, many of them very special endemics. …Manu was fantastic but not long enough. Very many thanks for the great organisation!...We can’t thank Pancho andenough for the really great trip [to Peru]! We were really happy with the trip and cannot praise Pancho too highly! We'll be back!” 21 April – 6 May 2006, S&TB, Queensland, Australia

  • “Met all our expectations and then soared way beyond them! Pancho was patient and marvelous with us S.A. rookies. Everything was new and exciting and when we trudged home in the evening we were greeted with care and great food. Thank you. “ 1 April 2006, NZ, South Africa.

  • I just wanted to thank you for arranging Terry's and my tour in Ecuador last month. All accommodations, meals and service were wonderful!...Also, Pancho was an excellent guide and good company. In fact, all the people we met were very pleasant and helpful. … The Mindo valley is a very special place and we would love to return some day.” 16-26 February 2006, KCS, Kansas City, MO, USA

  • Just a note to say thank you for organising our recent trip, the second leg went with clockwork precision down to La Selva and back. You might want to know we eventually saw 515 different species over the 3 weeks.This breaks down to 337 on the Mindo leg with Pancho, a further 160 down in La Selva where we had the excellent Jose guiding us…The balance we saw ourselves back in Quito/Pichincha…The highlight was the very last bird of the holiday…the Andean Condor. Other highlights were the Violet Bellied Hummingbird, whose alternate name is Julie's Hummingbird, she was pleased with that ! We got 3 Amazonian Umbrellabirds on Rio Napo and I was pleased at last to see Sunbittern on Rio Nambillo…, also Sungrebe at La Selva and the Limpkin at Rio Palenque. With 38 new hummingbirds and 48 new tanagers I was pleased to just top my life list out at 3002 birds on the trip. Thanks again to Pancho who was an excellent guide..” 8-27 October, B&JK, UK

  • We had a fine trip (read more than fine..:-) ). Everything was well organized and with Pancho and Jorge we got along really well. Only complaints were in some places that the rooms were so big that you could get lost in them... With birds this trip was a huge success. We managed to see and hear + 660 species... It was my fourth visit to Ecuador and I still managed to see about 25 lifers and extended my Ecuador list to 1060 +. We had a lot of good sightings...Gareno was a really nice place. We had fantastic views of Rufous Potoo (there was also Nocturnal Curassows howling - while we were at sleep) and the general birding was really nice for example stunning views of singing Dugand's antwren..." 21 July - 7 August, 2005, TS, Helsinki, Finland

  • “Pancho is super fantastic! He made sure that I saw the birds. He is a very dedicated and knowledgeable person. I had a wonderful time in Ecuador, and enjoyed visiting with you. I'll be back! A final tally shows that I saw 191 new species plus the San Isidro Owl... The total number of species have not been counted as of yet….Had a wonderful time. Thank you very much.” 10-27 April 2005, RD, Niceville, Florida USA.

  • If you're looking for a birding guide in Ecuador, Pancho is your man. Francisco "Pancho" Enriquez is a native Ecuadorian with more than 15 years as a professional birding guide and speaks English fluently. He possesses a deep knowledge of the birds of Ecuador, Colombia and Peru including their vocalizations, behaviors and distribution, which means you will see a lot of birds! For our nine-day trip, we experienced seven distinct micro climates on both sides of the Andes ranging from humid forest at 400 meters to Andean paramo at nearly 4,000 meters. He arranged for us to visit several private properties including a 7,000 hectare forest with a breathtaking waterfall. Best of all, he selected lodging that was convenient and served up delicious local meals. A skilled photographer himself, Pancho made sure to include many opportunities for our group to focus on photographing birds as well. Thanks to Pancho, we had the trip of a lifetime and I would strongly recommend him to any group, large or small.

Peter Burke

Boulder, Colorado

  • Myself and two close friends spent nine days with Francisco ‘Pancho’ Enriquez in February 2016 on a tour of the Western and Eastern Andes of Ecuador. Finding Pancho as our companion and guide was fortunate indeed, and ensured we had a fantastic trip (and saw a great many birds). Pancho’s hard work, excellent english, great sense of humor, and superb knowledge of the birdlife and where to find them is combined with a genuine desire to make sure we all had the best of experiences. I have no hesitation in strongly recommending Pancho to any individual or group large or small, to ensure you have a superb trip Birding or for Bird Photography anywhere in Ecuador. We are looking forward to our next trip with Pancho in the near future.
    Simon Lane
    Chatham, New Jersey

  • Hello Pancho!

    I wanted to thank you for all of your service during our very recent and incredibly enjoyable trip to Ecuador. My brother and I were introduced to Pancho by a birding buddy of my brother which started our communication process with Pancho starting in early April of this year. Pancho was extremely responsive to our long list of questions as we began to plan our birding and eco-tour trip to Ecuador. He gave us very precise input and suggested a variety of ideas as we continued to develop our goals and itinerary throughout this summer.

    Upon our arrival to Quito, we had decided to spend one day birding  and looking for a Spectacled Bear in the Antisana Ecological Reserve prior to our departure for Sani Lodge in the Amazon basin. Pancho promptly picked us up at our small hotel near Quito Airport and we had a fabulous day. Pancho organized the day extremely well and showed us he has a great ear for identifying the high Andean birds and knew exactly where to look for our target specialities. 

    We had previously decided to not use an outside guide for the Sani Lodge leg of our trip which I now regret. Although we had a great time at Sani Lodge and saw great birds and enjoyed the entire experience immensely we missed some of the possibilities at Sani because we just did not know what the options were and communications were somewhat challenging. Pancho could have managed our 5 days there more productively had we hired him for this  portion of our trip. 

    We spent a few days in the Mindo area on our own and then had booked Pancho to take us  to the eastern slope of the Andes. Pancho quite seamlessly arranged for all of our accommodations and food options at Guango Lodge and Cabanas de San Isidro. We birded four days with Pancho which were outstanding and we enjoyed Panchos very professional approach but his easy going style was appreciated and worked well with the varied birding experience within our small group. 

    At the end of our eastern Andean stay, Pancho took me on an amazingly adventurous 17 hour day down into the upper Amazonian basin which yielded a dozen or so deep rainforest birds and a immature Harpy Eagle. Pancho used his intimate knowledge and experience with some of the complex inner-workings of the access process to this unique environment. A truly memorable and enjoyable day which Panco worked extremely hard to facilitate.

    Overall, I would rate Pancho (Francisco Enriquez) very highly in all facets of his service. His planning, knowledge of the birding sites, logistical and operational experience allowed us to singularly focus on our birding and enjoyment of Ecuador's' stunning biodiversity.  His birding acumen and his obvious enjoyment of his profession were very much appreciated. Additionally he has good photographic skills which as a relative beginner photographer his advice was greatly appreciated. I would highly recommend Pancho's very professional services to any birder. 

  William Vanderpoel

Denver, Colorado -USA

303-885-6116