The mainland of Ecuador has several zones; there is the Andes Mountains, which include Quito. If you cross the mountains on one side, you arrive in the Amazon. If you cross the Andes on the other side, you descend to the Pacific Coast, and right against the mountainside is a region at an altitude of 1,500 meters that we are visiting today: the cloud forest in Mindo.
After weeks of dry mountains, it is nice to see green mountains again, and during the bus ride, you see the vegetation slowly change. Much more moisture in the air immediately reveals different types of trees and plants. Our first stop is the cloud forest in Mindo, where we take a cable car across a small section of the valley and then hike to a waterfall. It is a nice trip, but the waterfall is not as spectacular as what we have already seen. It looks pleasant. From the cable car, we see the river into which the waterfall flows winding like a snake through the forest. Lower in the valley, you can see that various water activities have been developed for tourists, such as riding rubber tubes through the rocky water.
As a curious person, I find the lack of extra information at certain locations disappointing. Today we were unlucky with our guide, who didn’t tell us much. And at the next stop, the butterfly garden, all we were told was that they breed butterflies to release back into the wild. But how they do this, I have no idea. I would have liked to see, learn, and hear why they reintroduce butterflies. How they go about it. Because the greenhouse is warm, and it is much cooler outside. How long do certain butterfly species live, and how can you release them into the wild? The education provided at the projects is a missed opportunity, for both international and local visitors. In short, the butterflies are nice and beautiful to look at, but I mostly feel like a spectator taking photos.
We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant, and the conversations at the table between today’s tourists—Argentinians, Brazilians, Americans, Ecuadorians, and us—were great fun. Exchanging stories about where you’ve been or what you’re going to do next is nice to hear. But questions about each other’s countries are also great.
After lunch, we walked to Yumbos Chocolate and got an amazing tasting. It’s local chocolate with a limited edition, so it doesn’t have a large distribution area like Paccari. The Yumbos guide has a lot of knowledge about chocolate. Arjan and I were absolutely thrilled with it. Besides the nice explanation, the chocolate was also delicious, and we enjoyed the tasting. Unfortunately, we didn’t take any photos because we were too busy tasting and asking questions.
Our last stop is a garden with hummingbirds. Personally, I think these little birds are amazing, and during the walk to the plateau where we get to feed the hummingbirds, we get the typical cloud-forest rain, so poncho and raincoat on.
What an experience this is. There are so many little birds that we cannot count them. There are so many colors and species that we have no idea how many there are. Tiny ones, with little white downy feathers on their feet. A yellow neck, a pink neck, a bright green stripe across the head that continues from green, to blue, to purple in the tail. Tails with little tufts at the end, very long blue-green tails, very purple little birds. Hummingbirds that are barely distinguishable by color when sitting still on a branch, until they start flying, then you see all the beautiful colors. A little hummingbird with a white bib, but when it flies, green-blue-yellow shimmers through the feathers on its chest. Arjan and I could sit here for hours.
Not only are the colors beautiful, but the little wings all make a different sound too. And the chirping or whistling—I don’t know what you call it—is different for every species. The power of the little wings is enormous. And when they fly by, you feel it really well, even though hummingbirds are so small. And they are super fast!
If we are holding a small bottle cap with some sugar water in it, we just wait patiently for them to come and drink. I’m telling Arjan something and hop, there’s one already. And as soon as one comes, more follow. And soon enough, they are sitting on your fingers or hand with their tiny little feet. Some flap their wings briefly and drink greedily. Others hover in the air while they drink. They have a very long, narrow beak from which a very long, thin tongue emerges. It is really awesome to see this. Arjan and I are sold. If you ever have the opportunity to visit a hummingbird garden, there is only one answer: DO IT!
I only post photos on the website, but we made a lot of videos in the garden. Check Instagram and turn on the sound, and you’ll hear all sorts of things. You can watch the videos even if you don’t have an account.
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