June 21, 2008

2008 Itinerary

After a four hour bumpy, winding bus ride into Mindo, we arrived at BellaVista Lodge at 12:30 am. Morning arrived quickly. We awoke to a cacophony of bird calls. Out our windows, a Turquoise Jay greeted many of us. Turquoise blue with a black mask, approximately the size of a crow, the bird was bold and noisy. During an early morning bird walk, a Plate-billed Mountain Toucan was spotted by several of our group. Perched high in the cloud forest canopy, its blue-grey breast and large black bill made the bird spectacular and tropical in appearance.

We met for breakfast in a stilted, thatched-roof, bamboo geodesic dome that had a tree house feel. The menu consisted of melon, papaya, granola, yogurt, bread, jam and eggs. We met in circle groups to discuss the previous day’s events, plan our day and learn hummingbird identification skills. Each team was given two or three hummingbirds to try to locate and describe. As we stood by the hummingbird feeders, the tiny aerial acrobats buzzed around our heads. We felt like air traffic controllers at a very busy, lush, green airport. Some hummingbirds are very territorial, don’t like sharing their food and don’t play well with others. We learned to identify some of the hummingbirds by their behaviors in addition to their coloring and size. For example, the Buff-tailed Coronet always lifts its wings upon landing. A spectacular hummingbird easily identified by sight was the Booted Racket-tail. The male is three inches long with long tail streamers ending in peculiar spatula-shaped feathers. Another stunning male, the Purple-throated Woodstar, appeared to have a white collar with a bright red throat; females have a buff-colored throat. Ecuador is home to more species of birds than anywhere else on the planet. Hummingbirds are only found in the Western Hemisphere. There are approximately 330 species, of which 200 call Ecuador home.

During our morning time, people chose activities depending upon their interests: horseback riding, nature hikes, artistic reflection or bird watching.

The clouds rolled in around noon during a delightful lunch of lentil-potato soup, salmon, rice, salad and frozen mango pie. The clouds brought rain which allowed some of us to hike, paint, nap, bird watch and catch up on our journals. It has been an action-packed adventure so far, so it was nice to catch our breath in our huts high in the clouds and enjoy the beauty surrounding us in this Jurassic Park-like setting .

Q & A for June 21

<< Previous | Journal Home | Next >>