The Englishman (Irish) abroad

Only the Englishman abroad could possible be seen wearing a power blue suit at 3,000 ft in the cloud forests of Ecuador.  And that is exactly how I was spotted on a recent trip to Ecuador when I visited the Bella Vista Cloud Forest reserve.

Suited and booted in the Ecuadorian Cloud forests, this is the track which visitors to the Bella Vista Cloud Forest reserve have to travel for 8 klms up or down from the main road. It is within its self an adventure.

Bella Vista Lodge, owned and operated by an Englishman who fell in love with Ecuador. The lodge has extensive programmes of re-cycling, eco-tourism and birding, which is what its noted for.

 Bella Vista Lodge and Cloud Forests .                

Views from the Lodge across the mountains on clear days are superb. Cloud laden hills framed by lush verdant forests full of exotic and colourful plants and flowers play host to an extensive array of species of birds. Bird watchers, twitchers, are the main visitors and tourists to these parts. Feeders for the humming birds are placed around the seating and viewing platforms for visitors to partake in photographic voyeurism.

 

The Bella Vista Cloud Forest ReserveOnce you have driven up the 8 klms of dirt and gravel road, you arrive at the entrance to the Lodge, this experience will vary dependant on the time of year and weather confitions. What may be a slippy and precarious drive to some with fleeting glances of deep gorges and ravines to others will be a glorious sunny excursion into lush and colourful undergrowth with the occasion splash of red and other spectacular flowers in bloom. Birds and butterflies are abundent, magnificent views, and the hope of espying something special around the next corner on this twisting and twinning steep path.Mist over the mountains, hill tops during a break during a rain storm.

 

Rooms above the lounge at bella Vista lodge

The main lounge and restaurant area

 

Humming birds at feeders, note the English/European bees recently introduced into the forest for honey production by a local farmer without consideration or research into the long term influence of these insects within this protected environment