There is something for everyone here in the jungle
Some days here in the Ecuadorian Cloud Forest are as magical as it can get. We will wake up to the sound of hummingbirds whizzing by our bedroom window waiting for the feeders to be put out. We will get up and the sun will be shining gloriously upon the river, highlighting the Neotropic cormorant sitting mightily upon his rock basking in the warmth. We will have breakfast and watch dozens of tanagers come by for their morning plantain snacks, and an agouti come by to pick up the leftovers. We might get the chance to go birding and see someone new, such as catching our first sighting of the rufous breasted antthrush, or tanagers up in the canopy who do not come to our feeders. We might go on a hike planning to clear some trails, only find that the overnight rain did not down any trees at all, and the trails are all as clear as can be. We might have just gotten back from town, so we have lots of fresh fruit and veg to make an awesome lunch and dinner for ourselves, and any guests who happen by that day. And with a day like this, of course we must end it with a night walk, getting the chance to observe lots of neat amphibians and new arachnids or other bugs! A day like this is so incredibly hard to beat, it feels like nothing is against you, and the jungle welcomes and accepts you with a warm embrace.
A yummy breakfast of fresh mango and pitaya amarilla, banana bread made with bananas from the backyard, and some yogurt.
Neotropic cormorant on their favorite rock along the river.
Rufous Breasted Antthrush peeking out from a tree on the Bosque trail
Some neat guy found on a nightwalk, not sure on an identification though.
Other days here in the Ecuadorian Cloud Forest can feel like quite the opposite. It won’t get very cool at night, so we will have a restless night of sleep and then have to wake up super early for a cock of the rock tour where the birds are all mainly obscured by the fog (still incredibly worth it though, seeing the blur of bright red when they fly to a different tee against the bright white fog is a spectacle to behold!). On the walk back to the cabaña you might almost step on an incredibly venomous viper wiggling his tail and holding his head high in a defensive position. When you get back the water isn’t full pressure so you know you will have to go up to the water source to see what is clogging it. On the walk to the water source a stick smacks you directly in the eye, and then you fall through a root ball, nearly losing your boot among the humus. The rain will start to aggressively downpour on you, and then you realize you forgot to pack your rain jacket in your pack for this walk. A day like this can feel like everything is against you and the jungle just wants you out.
Lancehead viper just off the side of a trail.
Stuck in the muck!
But in the end, no day is perfectly perfect, and no day is horribly horrible. You always end up missing the perfect camera shot of the new cool birds that you see, so you doubt yourself in the identification of who you saw. There is always the opportunity to make a cup of hot tea and watch the hummingbirds get all excited when you bring their feeders out to do the daily count. Even when seeing a viper in a defensive position is a little scary in the moment, afterwards you realize that you were lucky enough to be one of the people in the world who got to see a crazy cool viper in a Cloud Forest in Ecuador! There are ups and downs of every day, and we have most definitely learned how to take the good with the bad here in the jungle.
Even the “worst” days here, in the end are so much fun. Some days might be type II fun, but we are having a blast, no matter what the jungle throws at us. And I am convinced that anyone who comes to visit this amazing reserve will find some part that they will wish they could come back to day after day. As long as you are willing to make the trek out to the cabaña, there is something for everyone out here. Be it the hummingbirds, the swimming holes, the neat herps, the cool bugs, or just the trails themselves, it truly is a haven.
