manglares churute ecological reserve

Our group recently took a day tour of the Manglares Charute Ecological Reserve with Blue Planet Expeditions (http://blueplanetexpeditions.net). The tour was fantastic! We were picked up at our hotel in Guayaquil in an air conditioned van, provided with an English speaking guide and water/drinks for the day. The tour was not just of the reserve, it include lunch at a local cacao farm and the chance to make chocolate from scratch. The reserve tour added a local guide who provided us with his knowledge of the flora/fauna of the reserve during the boat ride in the mangroves. We also hiked and saw the howler monkeys. Definitely bring your mosquito repellant! (we were well prepared thanks to the tour operator). The lunch at the farm was delightful - we got to see how chocolate is harvested and the beans are prepared and then helped make the best hot chocolate ever! The lunch was tasty and well prepared. I'd definitely use Blue Planet Expeditions again.

This was the first National Park we visited and it was beautiful. We went out into the Mangroves in a dug-out canoe and saw many local birds. We also took a hike in the forest. It was a first great experience in the beautiful and very diverse country of Ecuador