Bellavista Cloudforest

We finished the Spanish School on Monday afternoon and weren't due to be picked up until Wednesday morning so we were in the hotel for two nights. During this time we did some downloading (including Match of the Day!!!) and chilled out while getting errands done. Last time we were in room 705 which had free internet but that room was taken so we were across the hall in 706 - we had to leave the laptop right by the door and it was quite patchy and dropped alot. We watched some films in English, did some shopping and before we knew it it was Wednesday morning. A minibus collected us at 8.30 and picked up one more couple (an American couple from Seattle on their honeymoon) before making the two hour drive north out of Quito and into the rainforest. The final 12kms of the drive was on a dirt road and by the time we arrived we were all happy that the bumping and bouncing was over. We got out of the minibus and the first thing that we noticed was the incredible views of the valleys all around.

Our room wasn't ready when we arrived so we had to leave our bags in the office. We filled in some forms and were recommended an easy trail before lunch. As we were getting ready outside the office we noticed all the hummingbirds bombing around outside feeding from the various nectar pots dotted around the yard. We watched and took pictures of these for a bit before heading off on the short trail which was a bit steep but quite nice. Having never gone bird watching before we weren't exactly looking out for birds but it was a nice walk to get a feel for the cloud forest. About an hour or so later we were back at the reserve but unfortunately the people in our room still hadn't left so we couldn't have a shower before lunch. We went in and sat with our new American friends, James and Rebecca, for lunch.

After lunch we sat outside the office waiting for our room to be ready. Two British sisters were ambling around and settling their bill and doing anything but packing and it turned out later that it was them preventing us having a place to relax. We had our suspicions but it wasn't confirmed until after they left so we couldn't say something to them even though both of us really wanted to. We watched the hummingbirds for a while until they finally got their stuff out and let us unpack a bit and chill out for a while before going on the afternoon hike. This one was guide led and it was only the 3 of us who went on it (the other 1 being Rebecca as James had gone for a siesta). It was good because our gide had great knowledge of the various plants in the forest and was able to tell the various medicinal uses for them. One looked like clover and was a natural aspirin - eating 15-20 was the same as taking a tablet. They were quite citrusey to taste and were actually nice. We also got to do some birdwatching as she had binoculars which she shared with so we got to see some birds whose names I can't remember.

We got back and had showers before dinner. It was getting quite chilly as the clouds had come in so we left the heater on while we went in for dinner. It was a packed dining room in the dome for lunch but nearly everyone had left so there were only two tables set for dinner. Again we sat with James and Rebecca (as we did for the whole time we were there) and had a really nice dinner and chatted a good bit. They play Ultimate Frisbee in Seattle and know quite alot of the Seattle Sockeye players who lost in the final of the World Championships to Canada last year. After dinner and a good long chat we headed off to bed in preperation for the early start in the morning.

Alot of people come to Bellavista to go bird watching so we decided to dive in and go for it. The alarm had us up at 6am and we joined the other lunatics out in the yard. The lights that are left on all night attract loads and loads of moths and the birds of the area know this so they hang around and have their breakfast. We strolled around with the guide and saw a good few birds feeding which was enjoyable. As we were walking around the dome (which is where we eat and has a lot of glass) a hummingbird flew into the glass and knocked itself out. As I was taking a photo of it it woke up and flew away. This happened at hummingbird pace and gave me quite a fright. As I mentioned we saw a good few birds but I don't know the names of them so have a look at them here, here and here.

After the walk we had breakfast with our new friends and got ready for the morning hike. There were an awful lot of daytrippers down from Quito so there were two seperate hikes, both of them to waterfalls. One was an easier walk to a smaller waterfall and the second was a tougher hike to a waterfall further away which involved walking through a river and climbing and scrambling over rocks using ropes and ladders. The older people in the group ran straight for the easier hike but both of us were happy to do the tougher hike to the better waterfall. We set off with the day trippers in tow and almost immediately we were climbing quite a steep hill through a bamboo forest. After a while we finished with the uphill and the trail started downhill slightly. We came out of the bammboo section of forest and joined the local dirt road for a short distance until we reached the trail that would bring us all the way down to the river. This trail descended through dense secondary forest all the way to the river but we stopped a few times - once to look at some parrots in the trees and a few times to learn about the medicinal uses of various plants and trees in the forest.

When we reached the river the fun really began and the wellies we were wearing instead of hiking boots made perfect sense. It was more like a stream as the water wasn't very deep but if it was any higher in some sections it definitely would have gotten into our boots. I ended up at the back as I stopped to take photos and as I did I fell further behind as I was waiting for people to get out of shot. Everyone was waiting for me at the first of the rope sections by a waterfall about 4 or 5 metres high. To the right of the waterfall was a ladder and then a rope at the top which we used to climb up the rock and then scramble across before continuing up river. We met some more small fast water flows and had another rope section to climb a rock face before reaching the end of the hike - the waterfall. It really was a hidden waterfall and was quite beautiful. It was about 10 metres high and fell into it's own little pool before flowing off. We hiked in our swimming gear so we got out of our boots and climbed under which nobody else did. The water was really cold and it was quite difficult to breathe when you were under it but it was incredibly refreshing and felt great afterwards - especially after the long hike. We took some photos and then dried off slightly before hiking back for lunch. We continued on our trail which turned steeply uphill right by the waterfall through the secondary forest. By the time we reached the local dirt road it was close to lunchtime so we continued along the road instead of taking a trail back which I think everyone was happy about.

Back at lunch we chatted with our American friends and told them about the waterfall which they got quite interested about. We showed them the route and told them to go for it as it was well worth it - they decided to go for a nap after the really early start this morning and missed out on the hike so did it themselves after lunch. Our early start and long morning hike caught up with us after lunch so we decided to relax for the afternoon - Emer napped and I did some computer and photo stuff until it turned dark and it was time for dinner. All the day trippers had gone back to Quito so we had another peaceful dinner before having a game of cards and heading off to bed after a long day.

We skipped the early morning hike to save energy for our final activity before leaving the cloudforest - ziplining. We were collected about an hour after breakfast so we packed before that and left all our stuff in the office before getting our lift to Mindo, the town where the ziplining takes place. Our lift was in an old Chevy Pickup with over 300,000 on the clock. Our driver had absolutely no English but our class combined with a few hand signals and poor grammer on our part meant we could hold some short conversations which was great. The drive took over 45 minutes, the majority of which was on dirt roads. We even stopped along the way to collect a family and bring them into Mindo on our way - they sat in the back of the pickup the whole way. The last section to Mindo was on tarmacadam but once in Mindo we rejoined a dirt road and continued uphill, over some dodgy looking bridges to the centre.

When we arrived there was a family of 4 and a Korean girl being fitted with harnesses. We got ours and then they gave us helmets - it took a few attempts to get one to fit my massive head but once they went in to get the special massive one we were good to go. We went up the wooden stairs right beside us, went through some safety stuff and then got ready to go. The 2 young kids of the family could not get over how tall myself and Emer are which was quite a novelty - they all had to be lifted or needed to jump to get attached to the wire but I could do it standing and EMer on her tippy toes. The ziplining itself was incredible - the wire spanned across the valley and back and were always above the canopy of the cloudforest so when you were pushed out you had an incredible view all around and below of the valleys and the top of the trees. Some of the lines were a few hundred metres long and were sometimes over 100 metres or more above the top of the canopy. The last one in particular was incredibly high and gave a stunning view of te town below and the surrounding mountains. Pretty much each line required an uphill walk to reach the beginning of the next line as you finished exactly where you started so we were quite warm by the end of it. Our driver was ready for us when we were finished and brought us back for lunch after an incredibly fun morning.

Back at the lodge we had our final meal and chilled out a bit before getting our minibus back to Quito with the American honeymooners. We got back into Quito around 5 in the evening and had showers and a quick bite to eat before heading to the hostel for our pre-departure meeting for the final leg of this wonderful adventure - the 56 day local transport tour south to Santiago in Chile.