Bearded mer-man on the river of souls....

We rose early this morning and found the local fruit market. Grabbing maracuyas, grenadillas, and avocados for lunch before arranging a ride to the edge of Podocarpus National Park. If you are wondering what in the world a podocarpus is, well they are trees. Tropical evergreens, tall and slow growing, often festooned in mosses and orchids that find an ideal hold to latch to on their rough bark. I have seen a few in the cloud forests where we work. This park is named in their honor, they are after all very rare now and the only native evergreen trees in Ecuador I can think of. Of course, the park is also home to a truly astounding number of other plants and animals stretching all the way from the paramos of the high mountains here to the edge of the Amazon basin. The tropical Andes, right here, is perhaps the most biologically diverse place on all of planet Earth. The art of creation in a kaleidiscope of guises and forms.


....needless to say, I'm am in rapture, I am in my element :) The few trails leading into Podocarpus are well kept and ringed in by a jungle of green. Bird calls echoing through the air, starbursts of pineapple like bromeliads over your head in the canopy, and bright red heliaconias dangling down from the trail vigilantly guarded by frantic hummingbirds. The Rio Bambuscara runs parallel to us. Following it you are alternately greeted by the cavernous silences of the forests and the near and distant sound of white water rushing below you plunging straight down from the mountains. It is a little like paradise. A real garden of Eden.

To describe the life here would be like describing every detail and brushstroke of a masterpiece painting. And so I will just say we wandered and lingered through this gallery fondly. In the afternoon the temptation of the river was undeniable and irresistable. Peeling off sweaty clothes and tiptoeing over the boulders is the best feeling. Touch intensified, your skin prickling in goosebumps. Massaging tired muscles and sitting still, holding the cold tight and letting the water evaporate off your skin.

Pure bliss. All worries washed clean in the river of souls.