The highway from Quito became a road, then be a dirt path, then, only tire tracks. We moved back in time from the urban, to the small village, to the occasional hut into nature.

Three hours from the capital of Ecuador we were inside a rainforest, to a cloud forest, to Mashpi Lodge.

It is now a luxury retreat, built not as either a luxury lodge or a retreat, but as a botanical research center.

There it allowed naturalists, botanists, entomologists, and arborists to move into the clouds to study rainforest species, evolving species, and new species discovered only here. Eventually, it was thought that non-scientists should enjoy this green quiet also.

Thus, here we were.

The Mashpi forest is home to a profusion of newly discovered plant species, one is the Mashpi Magnolia, and home to close to 500 species of birds --including 36 endemic species -- found only here.

In these forests, 32 hummingbird species have been identified also.

Also, a small, new, semi-transparent frog – the Glass Frog—was discovered here a few years ago.

Located close to the lodge, there are unique, sense-driven experiences that allow Mashpi guests to become part of the forest, becoming one with it.

Telling the dancer from the dance

"How can you tell the dancer from the dance?" the Irish poet Yeats asked.

A good question, especially at Mashpi, where we experienced the DragonFly Cable Gondola and the Sky Bike, both allowing guests to observe the forest, drone-like, from far above, on steel cables.

We became an active part of the forest, envisioning the green dance all around us.

The Sky Bike and Dragonfly

The Sky Bike is a steel-enclosed contraption where one person bicycles and the other one looks out onto the forest from above.

The Dragonfly is a cable enclosure that moves from beginning of the cloud forest to the end, and back.

In both, we saw the expanse of this forest from above, saw the waterfalls where the Glass Frog was discovered.

Then, on the Gondola we experienced truly exceptional: from the deep green of the trees, flew a cerulean blue butterfly, flying quickly from tree to tree.

"Look!" said our guide, "A Morpho butterfly!" It was an experience of a lifetime, lasting only a few seconds.

Soon, after hearing the Glass Frog, and seeing the Morpho, we drove back three hours, from dirt trail to road to highway, from wildness to hyper-urban.

And yet, the Mashpi experience of wildness stayed with us, and for a time, we were unable to tell the dancer from the dance.

They were both equally alive in us, providing intuitive insight from one to the other.

https://www.mashpilodge.com/

https://www.metropolitan-touring.com/

Ecuador

Ecuador is a country straddling the equator on South America's west coast. Its diverse landscape encompasses Amazon jungle, Andean highlands and the wildlife-rich Galápagos Islands.

Quito, the capital, which is located in the Andean foothills, is known for its largely intact Spanish colonial center.

Memoryscapes

This is one in the Memoryscapes series of travel features by Susan Kime.

The others in the series :

• Boen Gaard, Norway : https://www.allwaystraveller.com/continents/europe/boen-gaard-tveit-norway
• Casas do Marialva, Portugal : https://www.allwaystraveller.com/continents/europe/casas-do-coro-marialva-portugal

Useful links

​ https://ecuador.travel/en/