I have a special feeling for tropics, they are literally an open laboratory where you can discover the incredible ways creatures find to complete their cycles of life.This year, I chose Ecuador to explore and photograph its treasures hidden in the rainforest. I travelled alone and made arrangements to stay with local Ecuadorian families, in July 2019. Ecuador, the land of four worlds, is one of the countries with more natural variety per square kilometer. Its four worlds are: Amazon; Andes with its Chocó Forest and its moorlands; the Pacific coast; and the incredible Galápagos Islands. Ecuador is not only diverse in its nature with 8 % of animals and 10% of plant species of all the world but also in its culture with 13 indigenous nationalities. I experienced two of the four Ecuadorian worlds – the Chocó Forest and the high Amazon Rainforest.
Chocó forest.
Chocó is a neo-tropical biogeographic region located from the region east of Panama, through the Pacific coast of Colombia and the coast of Ecuador, to the northwestern corner of Peru. The high rainfall, the tropical condition and its isolation (separation of the Amazon by the Andes Mountains) have contributed to make the biogeographic region of Chocó one of the most diverse in the world since its diversity is very large: 9,000 species of vascular plants, 200 mammals, 600 birds, 100 reptiles and 120 amphibians. There is a high level of endemism – approximately 25% of plant and animal species.
My experience in the Chocó Forest.
The first place I visited in the Chocó Forest was Pachijal region (Western Piemontano forest natural region) and I stayed for ten days at Pachijal Town, a small and beautiful place in the middle of the jungle. The whole region of Pachijal River was designated as Protected Area, in 2012.
I had the fortune to stay at Nestor’s family house, and it was an incredible experience to share time with this beautiful, humble and generous people, learn about their culture and listen to their history; so different from mine, but with big values about life. Now they are my family. This zone is about 500 meters above sea level, wet, and exuberant rainforest. I explored the jungle at day and at night looking for fauna to photograph, sometimes with Nestor and sometimes with his sister and his brother, Jacqueline and Andrés. I fell in love with this place, this town, its nature, its landscapes and its people. Time runs in a different way, and I love that; I love the slow pace in their lives.
I am fascinated by arthropods and frogs and Pachijal turned out to be an amazing place to photograph them. One of my goals in Ecuador was to find and photograph the incredible biodiversity of tree hoppers, with those amazing and strange designs. I was able to find some of them, as Membracis sp, Alchisme grossa, Entylia corinata.
Among frogs, during my nocturnal hikes I was able to find and photograph, the beautiful Crystal frog like Esparadana prosoblepon, and others like Boana picturatus, some Pristimantis .
After ten days in the Chaco, I ascended to the Western Montane Forest at 1,500 meters above sea level near Nanegalito Town.
It is amazing to see how the ecosystems change with the height, the reason why Ecuador is so diverse; there are lots of different environmental conditions in a small surface. I stayed at Guaycapi Reserve for four days, photographing mainly birds, especially hummingbirds. Ecuador has more than 130 species of hummingbirds.
Then I arrived at the most popular town in the Choco Region, Mindo: a small town located in a valley at 1,200 meters above sea level, with its magnificent cloud forest. Famous for its high diversity of birds – about 500 species and more than 170 species of orchids – it’s also the zone with more plant endemism in the world. Nowadays, Mindo boasts a total of 101 amphibian and reptile species. One of the endemic species of Mindo is the Pinocchio lizard (Anolis proboscis), named that way for its long ‘nose’. This species was considered extinct, until new specimens were found in its natural habitat. Mindo was named in October 1997 as the first Area of Importance for the Conservation of Birds of Ecuador and South America. Mindo is part of the Biosphere Reserve of the Chocó Andino of Pichincha, declared by UNESCO as such on July 26, 2018.
At Mindo, I stayed in the Nelson´s family house, and again a beautiful experience with wonderful people, that are my family now!
I explored the zone near the town alone a guide but also, I visited some private reserves nearby, as Milpe Reserve, Séptimo Paraíso Reserve and Bella vista Reserve at 2,300 above sea level with its magnificent cloud forest!
Highlights of Chocó.
I was able to photograph a variety of species:
• Arthropods like strange membracidaes (tree hoppers), and katydids as Panancathus varius
• Basiliscus (Basiliscus galeritus)
• Some frogs (Esparadana prosoblepon and boana picturatus)
• Hummingbirds: Purple-throated Woodstar – (Calliphlox mitchellii), Andean Emerald (Amazilia franciae)
• Some lizards (Anolis gracilipes)
• Snakes such as: Andean Snail-Eater (Dipsas andiana)
• Other birds such as: Green honeycreeper – Male (Chlorophanes spiza), Toucan of chocó (Ramphastos brevis)
Situation of Conservation of Chocó Forest
The Chocó Forest is a megadiverse region, but it does not escape the sad reality of nature worldwide. Only 2% of Ecuadorian Chocó Forest survives today, and still receives pressures by the expansion of logging, the extension of the agricultural frontier and the conversion of natural forest to African palm plantations.
Ecuadorian Amazon.
The relief of the Amazon is made up of a series of hills that originate in the form of a mountain range in the Eastern Andes and descend to the plain of the Amazon. There are two geographical regions: The High Amazon and the Amazon Plain. My experience in the high Amazon. I visited the region of high Amazon, near Puyo town, at Tamandúa Ecolodge and Reserve at 1,000 meters above sea level. I shared eight days with a Kiwcha family. An unforgettable experience, knowing their culture, their knowledge about the rainforest, their ancestral knowledge about medicinal plants, and especially their different way to conceive life. The Amazon rainforest is majestic, to see its greatness and the power of nature from the top of the mountain was an outstanding feeling, fog and clouds cover the environment for most of the day, giving it the appearance of an enchanted forest.
Exploring the jungle from inside during day and at night with George, my Kiwcha guide, managed to fill my eyes with tears of emotion on more than one occasion. I love to explore the rainforest at night, a completely different world to during the day. At night you can always find nocturnal species with outstanding adaptations like stick bugs that resemble moss, katydids that resemble leaves, frogs that mimic vegetation patterns, and several living beings with majestic designs. It is probable that the night in the jungle can give you some of those unexpected moments in the wild, maybe you can witness an amazing and complex natural history event.
Highlights of the Amazon rainforest!
• Frogs (Boana almendorizae), Upper Amazon Tree Frog (Dendropsophus bifurcus)
• Snakes such as Cleia cleia
• Spiders such as: Orb weaving spider (Micrathena cyanospina)
• Stick bugs: like moss mimic stick bug
Situation of Conservation
The Amazon is considered the most important source of fresh water and biodiversity, due to its regulatory function of the planet’s climate and global greenhouse gases, but the expansion of agricultural and livestock activities, the increase in mining concessions and the growth of hydroelectric plants are some of the factors that affect the world’s largest forest. Also, the timber exploitation and the petrol industry.
Amazing Ecuador
Ecuador with its big biodiversity given by its tropical climate and its great diversity of niches in such a little surface; it’s a wonderful country to visit specially if you love nature and you like to know different cultures.
The National System of protected Areas of Ecuador covers four regions of the country and consists of 56 natural reserves that protect approximately 20% of the surface of the country.
There are currently 18,198 species of vascular plants and 4,801 species of vertebrate species in Ecuador in need of more protection.
My experience there was unforgettable. I managed to come back with 9,000 pictures of its magnificent biodiversity, with my soul filled of beautiful memories, my mind with lot of new knowledge and my heart filled with some wonderful people.
Every corner in the rainforest is an open book to learn about natural history, evolution and biology. I am just amazed by all the secrets that inhabit this place making it the most amazing place on earth.
I plan to return soon to Ecuador’s marvelous lands!
I want to take the opportunity to thank the special people that helped me a lot in this beautiful adventure and without them I could not have made this trip: Nestor Paladines, and all his family: Jacqueline, Andrés, Fanny and Aguinaldo. Also, to Nelson Apolo Jaramillo (@ ecuadornaturetours) and his wife Edith, to Fernando Cardenas Ruiz, and Jorge Luna and his mother (the owners of Guaycapi Restaurant and Reserve)
