by Lynn & John Salmon <>{
Continuing our Middle of the World adventure in Ecuador we left Quito at 5:30am and travelled a little over an hour northwest to the Cloud Forest on the slopes of the Andes. We drove along the Old Nono-Mindo Ecoroute and made our first stop at Yanacocha Reserve, elevation 3200m (10,500ft). Yanacocha is a wonderful place to see high-elevation hummingbirds. We also saw colorful tanagers and got good looks at a curved-bill tinamou during our walk.
We descended 1000 meters in elevation, checked into our rooms, and lunched at Bellavista Lodge before heading out for a late afternoon visit to the Andean cock-of-the-rock lek where we were treated to mating displays by at least 8 males. After dinner we saw the Olinguito that shows up nightly for bananas outside the dining room.
On day 2 in the Cloud Forest we saw even more hummingbirds along with the endemic Plate-billed
Mountain Toucan at the bird blinds set up at the Santa Rosa Birdwatchers House.
We returned to Quito for the night, leaving early the next morning for the airport and
our flight to Baltra. Next stop -- the enchanted islands of
the Galapagos.
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Return to our Middle of the World: Galapagos and Rainforests of Ecuador adventure.
Lynn & John Salmon <>{