Churute lies some 40 km south of Guayaquil. The entrance is right on the main highway leading to Machala.

This hilly region has some of last dry tropical forests left on the Pacific coast. It is a refuge for many endangered animals and boasts still of bands of howler monkeys.

  Wasp and termite nests are to be frequently seen on the hikes through the forest. Both insects with many other ones play an important part of the forest's ecology. 

Flowers can be admired more in the rainy season but a few bloom in the dry one.

Grasshoppers are other insects being part of the natural environment.

In the flatlands at the foot of the forested hills, small lagoons and marshes are important animal refuges.

Horned screamer, a rare bird (photo in the middle) gave one of the lagoons its Spanish name Canclon. Jacana (to the left)  and meadowlarks are other birds frequenting the marshes.

Another ecosystem protected by the reserve are mangroves.

Mangroves are an important buffer zone between the open ocean and the land. It prevents erosion of the land by the power of the waves and gives shelter to a multitude of animals.

Birds like egrets, herons and ibises have their habitat there and often seen sitting in the tree tops.

Mangrove trees are salt tolerant and give off the excess salt through their leaves by special transpiration.

A view from the waters to the hills of Churute.