Fun photos

Flowers were spectacular.  I may not learn the names of these flowers, but I took their photos anyway.

Both of these were found at Yanacocha Reserve, a high-altitude cloud forest at 10,500 ft elevation on Pichincha Volcano west of Quito.  

I found this lovely cluster of tubular flowers at a stop in the Tandayapa Valley.

These yellow flowers may be orchids.  Photo taken at Guango Lodge in Provincia de Napo.

These flowers looked like red slippers.  taken at Poco de Choco Nature Reserve.

Another maybe an orchid. This one seen at Amagusa Preserve.  We saw wonderful hummingbirds and tanagers at this location.

a view from Yanacocha Reserve looking across the volcanic mountains. This is truly an incredible place.  We saw some amazing birds here,  Swordbill  (a hummingbird whose bill is longer than the bird),  Golden breasted Puffleg, Sapphire vented Puffleg, Tyrian Metaltail, and more. 

I snapped this photo at a quick bird stop along the road to Antisana and the Paramo. Horse is saddled and ready to go, with no rider in sight.

What to eat ?

Food we had in Ecuador was pretty good.  This was wonderful seafood dish with rice, salad, and a fried something (often plantains).

    The dish in the upper left of this photo has Fava beans (nicely seasoned) and Queso cheese, with an ear of corn (very large kernels).
     Upper right dish shows a  "platos tipicos"  which means  Typical plate of food.  It was usually rice, salad or vegetable, beef or chicken and often a bit of fried plantain or yucca.

This barbequed chicken on a skewer was quite tasty, served on a bed of french fries.  Notice the bit of sausage on the end.  The small food stall in Puembo had one choice on the menu.

This was a lovely lunch after a couple days of trail snacks and sandwiches.  Grilled Tilapa with vegetables and fried Yucca.  The restaurant is in a special place overlooking Rio Blanco.  Bird feeders and open bananas attract many birds to the patio for easy viewing.

View from a trail leading from the restaurant.



All photos on this posting taken by Susan Hochgraf.  I did not remember to take photos of the beautiful food we had.

Ecuadorian Amazon

The Amazon rainforest,  a place I have read about and never thought I would actually see.  We returned the rental car to the airport, and boarded a domestic flight to the east landing at Coca, a city along the Rio Napo.  We traveled by boat downstream for an hour to Yarina Eco-lodge on the banks of Rio Manduro. This was an adventure in itself.
     Photo above,  Rio Napo is the biggest river I have ever seen.  Rainstorms cause temporary changes in the water level.  Riverbanks are dense with trees and bushes down to the eroded edge of the land.

We traveled in the boat on the left side of the dock.  ✽

That day's journey ended at the Zona de Embarque,  the boat dock at Yarina.
We had meals on the dining patio and slept in thatched roof cabins with sleeping nets around each bed.
    Birds were spectacular, colorful, and sometimes hard to see among the large leaves of the tall trees.  I saw over 40 new species in this area.

We spent a morning at this lovely Laguna and saw many beautiful birds.

 Hoatzins look like a brightly colored Roadrunner.  One of my few good bird pictures from this area.

Yarina Lodge is along Rio Maduro, a smaller channel teaming with birds.




 This forest is amazing. Many trees with tangled branches grow together.  Larger tree trunks have a community of vines, ferns, mosses, and other plants growing on the bark.  ✽

A view from the 3-story observation tower.  So many birds flitted thru the forest, flew overhead, and called from a branch as we watched from the tower.   A few of the highlights were 2 White-throated Toucans calling across the valley at sunset,  a pair of Paradise Tanagers in a tree,  a Broad-billed Motmot called from a branch for many minutes, a Russet-backed Oropendula at its nest site.   too many birds to list here.

On our way to an afternoon adventure, hiking in the rainforest with our guide. ✽








All the  ✽ pictures are photo credits to Susan Hochgraf.