Down to Ecuador's Eastern Cloudforest

Leaving Papallacta (altitude 3300m) we continued
on a leisurely descent, admiring birds, plants and
scenery as we went.

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.......
and one whopping great river system
(the Amazon) from little dribbles
(how many millions?) such as this
also does grow!

We made a particular point of stopping at
Guango Lodge (at altitude 2700m) to watch
at its hummingbird feeders for local specialities
http://www.sanisidrolodge.com/pages/guango_lodge.htm

and admire its wild orchids.

Beyond Guango lodge's garden we explored nearby
pastureland, where I was impressed by this
growth of lichen....

Then, reaching a bridge across the river gushing
down the valley.....


we spent a while watching out for torrent ducks
whose skills at living permenently in areas like this
whitewater canoists will appreciate while I can
only imagine.

The glory of spotting this sought after duck species
fell to me!!! (Hurrah! Important birds found on
the first and last days. It almost made up for
the ignomany of many other occasions when I was
about the last to see something)

Moving further on downhill we reached areas
of cloudforest once again....

with stands of "tree bamboos" (my own term for them!)


Finally we arrived at San Isidro lodge
(altitude 2100m) for our
overnight stop. http://www.sanisidrolodge.com/
Walking back from an unsuccesful owl hunt
we came across this splendid rhinoceros beetle

and later enjoyed a very pleasant meal, whilst the
day ended with a bang; a spectacular electrical
storm.


And on that note I would have ended my account of
my holiday with Naturetrek (5th-20th November
2005). Except that, in fact, after a morning's birding
at San Isidro, a long haul up into the mountains
spotting a number of birds (including a very impressive
black-and-chestnut eagle high above us) and revisiting
the paramo to see pin prick views of ducks and a silvery
grebe (not a moment of great excitement for me,
I must admit) we arrived on time at the Mariscal Sucre
Airport in Quito to discover that our flight was delayed
for 18 hours. So I got another bonus night in Ecuador, with
views of Cotopaxi next morning both from the Hotel Quito
where we were accomodated,

and from the air.

Goodbye Ecuador.......your scenery and wild places
are fabulous! Long may they remain so!