Ecuadorian Adventure

At the continental divide of the Andes, at around 13,000 feet

Fish is steamed while wrapped in banana leaves.

Cocoa beans are roasted over a fire. Cocoa is one of the chief exports of Ecuador and has been graded by regulatory agents in the industry as the best chocolate in the world.

Cocoa beans are not allowed to be exported from Ecuador in order to protect the exclusivity of their quality.

The Cotacachi volcano is one of the only places in Ecuador with snow year-round.

Corn is an important food source in Ecuador. A tradition of the country is to top ceviche with popcorn.

Luis is an artisan weaver who no longer takes his wares to market, as his designs are often imitated, at lower quality, by competitors. It takes about an hour for him to make a blanket on his family’s 200-year-old loom.

This traditional hat-maker makes about 5 wool hats per week. Each ethnic group of Ecuador wears a unique style of hat.

A toucanet

The Owl’s Eye Butterfly. The tip of its wings when hanging upside down look like the head of a poisonous snake, which wards off predators.

A tayra looks for food. Tayras are mostly arboreal relatives of otters and weasels.

A toucan guards its banana collection.

Mashpi Lodge, 3 hours northwest of Quito in the cloud forest, was built by Roque Sevilla, an environmentalist and former mayor of Quito who created the nature reserve on which it sits.

Looking out on the cloud forest

Mashpi Lodge allows for gazing on the rainy weather of the cloud forest from the comfort of the lodge.

There are over 20 different kinds of hummingbirds in Ecuador, several of them endemic.

An animal's lifespan is often related to the speed of its heartbeat. Hummingbirds, however, despite their jackhammer hearts, live up to 15 years old.

The sky bike at Mashpi Lodge allows guests to hang up to 400 feet above the forest floor.

The new Dragon Fly at Mashpi Lodge is a 3 hour experience that takes guests between 6 different towers and up to 600 feet above the forest floor.

Quito sits at the base of the Pichincha Volcano, which erupted in 1999. Luckily, the ash was blown south, away from the city.

Quito was the first to be named a UNESCO World Heritage City in the 1970s.

The courtyard of the presidential palace. Gabriel Garcia Moreno, a president of Ecuador, was killed by his wife’s lover close to this location.

The rainy season in Quito brings intense afternoon downpours at almost the same time every day.

The Plaza de la Independencia is bordered by the mayor’s office, the presidential palace, and the bishop’s mansion.

The Virgin of the Apocalypse is the symbol of Quito, appearing with wings while standing over the body of a dragon with the body of a snake.

A toucan

Birding is an extremely popular activity at Mashpi Lodge.

Seven generations of this family have made wool hats.