Orchids and Fog

Today was an excursion to the El Pahuma Orchid Reserve and Pululahua Reserve – an extinct volcano crater which is inhabited and farmed. We got there just before the daily curtain of fog rolled in and filled the crater, obscuring the view.

At the orchid reserve, my guide showed took me through all the different species of orchids that grow in the temperate cloud forest, as well as a lot of the other amazing plants (see the photo of the elephant’s ears!) These cloud forests fit in between the highlands and the Amazon jungle and have wholly separate ecosystems and plants from the other areas, making the for a dizzying array of species in this small country.

Tomorrow I am off to the Galapagos Islands, 600 miles to the west of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. I will be without my computer, and possibly without internet at all, until Saturday night, so no updates until then.
Have a great week!