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Published: November 30th -0001
We have just returned from an overnight stay in the Bellavista Cloud Forest - and very damp and cloudy it was, too. We left glorious sunshine in Quito, crossed over the divide, and after an hour and half started up the 12 Km dirt road to the lodge - set high up on the mountainside on a very steep slope deep in the forest.
The cloud came down almost straight away - as it does every afternoon, and it became quite cool and wet. The lodge was fairly unique in design - very rustic. We went for a shortish walk in the forest - which was longer than we expected, then after lunch had our own guided walk, which was very interesting, but thought it would finish Bill off, as the return part was a near vertical ascent of 250 metres up a very narrow slippery track. We were all gasping at the top.
The best feature of the lodge, though, are the bird feeding stations, which attract a constant stream of beautiful humming birds, plus a few other species. They were so beautiful ; glowing iridescent jewel colours - and really noisy. We spent ages trying to
photograph them, but they move really quickly.
This morning we went for an early bird walk - heard lots, but didn't see much except a huge toucan - then did our own walk before lunch, returning this afternoon to Quito via a real memorial on the Equator - as we crossed it at a different place.
Off to the Galapagos tomorrow, so probably no more communication for a week or so.
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