JIM'S BIG ADVENTURE

After I went back to Santa Rosa on January 1st, Jim set out on an adventure to the Cloud Forest to see birds and flowers. He had learned about a nature preserve called Bella Vista from Carol at the bookstore. This preserve is north and slightly west of Quito. To get there, Jim took the bus, which is normally a 10 hour ride. He broke this up by staying at a half way point, in RioBamba. One day as he was reading his book he happened to look up and see this vision of a snow capped volcano with a huge caldera. What an eruption that must have been! A few moments later this vision was lost in the clouds again.

On the bus again from RioBamaba to Quito, the terrain was very high with few trees. Jim was sitting next to a very small nun who took newspaper from a plastic bag and wrapped it around her legs to get warm. Jim got his nice wool poncho down (see blog on Textiles) and spread it over his legs and hers. Later she shared some of her food with him.

Once in Quito, Jim stayed at the Hotel San Francisco in old town. He loved this place as it was in the old style with a central courtyard. The next morning the Bella Vista folks picked him up at the hotel in a van which made a few more stops then headed for the preserve. They crossed the equator 4 times! Upon arrival Jim noticed HUMMING BIRDS EVERYWHERE.
These guys with the white leggings are called Booted Racket-tails.

Bella Vista, a reserve of 700 hectares, supplies guests with rubber boots, rain ponchos and walking sticks. Guests stay in cabins and have great meals together in the dining room. Here is Jim with one of the guides and several of the guests.

Not only were there birds everywhere but the variety of plants and flowers was astounding, including some very alien looking fuchsias.

I have dubbed these the pink fuzzy fuchsia.

Jim took daily walks through the clouds (and it rained every afternoon) often hearing bird calls but not often seeing the birds doing the calling. It rained so much that there were lots of earthworms on the paths. One day Jim saw one that was 4' long, but his camera's memory card was full. Here's a "little" one.


One day at lunch Jim saw this masked trogon 20 feet from the dining hall, eating a huge moth.

Here's his back, What a dude!

The plant life in the cloud forest is as stunning as all the colorful birds.


Another type of fuchsia.

Jim discovered that there were bromeliads in every tree,


mosses and ferns in abundance, and the usual insect chewed leaves.

Jim found that the hummingbirds tended to land on the same branch everytime making it a little easier to get their picture.


Still, the feeders were the best place to be sure of getting photos of this very flighty Violet-tailed Sylph.

What a lovely place this is.


I can't wait to go, but it may have to wait until our next trip to Ecuador. So much to do and so little time.

For further information on Bella Vista go to www.bellavistacloudforest.com.