IN THE CLOUD FORESTS

The cloud forests of Ecuador are not awash with colour. Instead, they pick a single one and run with it.

Green isn’t just green here, it’s gob smacking, gut punching, grandstanding green, a green that explodes with greedy, reckless abandon.

A green that brings lesser sights to life, like the web of a spider or the jagged skeleton of a leaf that catches raindrops between yesterday’s green.

Rain, too. There’s plenty of rain here, or at least that’s the first impression. It’s also the second, since rain does fall most of the time. The forest’s secret, however, lies in the fact that rain manages to fall from the leaves without falling from the sky. Clouds condense on the greenery itself, gathering, trembling, amassing and then rolling with a drip and a flourish from the tip of a leaf to the next.

Cloud Forests of Ecuador

The leaves resemble umbrellas drawn straight from Thumbelina’s tales. The tree trunks stretch into the grey bulbous mist like scaffolding for skyscrapers, while the wildlife itself… is shy.

Pumas prowl at night, so I’m told. And raccoons by day, as I’ve seen only moments ago.

Butterflies use fake snake eyes to scare predators away while hummingbirds flit and fuzz and buzz around so close you can feel the flutter of their wings.

In short, I’m learning that beneath the green lurks a less flash wildlife. One that requires patience, a degree of silence, and a curious and inquisitive eye.

Orangutans do not blaze in orange in this part of the world. You won’t hear the heavy footfall of elephants nor the orchestral weight of the whale.

But the beauty is no less bewildering. It just requires patience and comes cloaked in both grey and iridescent green.

Disclosure and handy other info

I visited this cloudforest in Ecuador by staying at Mashpi Lodge at the suggestion and organisation of Metropolitan Touring. I flew from Cardiff to Quito via Amsterdam with KLM . More on all of that later, when I get home and can fill in the details. For now, I’m still here in Ecuador, just happily capturing my thoughts on wildlife and greenery. And as ever, as always, they are my thoughts, my observations, my…everything. See you again when I get back from the cloudforests of Ecuador…

PS – for more images from the cloud forest and elsewhere in Ecuador, check out @insidetravellab on instagram