HERITAGE
nature,” says guide Gustavo Valarezo. He points to a symbiotic tangle of trees, each host to around 30 other plant species. A bird-sized butterfly flashes blue-white over the canopy. Profits from the lodge’s hefty price tag go
into research projects taking place in on-site facilities, most of which are open to visitors. And some task it is: Mashpi is home to 1,700 species, of which 10 are endemic to the area. I’m handed a fact sheet about these species
and start treating it like a bingo card, ticking off as many as I can. It proves difficult; even the Mashpi magnolia — surely a static adversary — shows up only in spoon-shaped petals scattered over our path. We have more luck with the Mashpi frog, while examples of Mashpi’s two orchid species are displayed in the Life Centre, Mashpi’s main wildlife- viewing spot. It’s Estuardo Lima who takes us there.
Clockwise from top left: A waterfall at the Masphi reserve; a guide and guest enjoying the view; a bird- spotting sheet; Masphi guide Gustavo Valarezo
Like 85% of Mashpi staff, he comes from the area surrounding the lodge, his senses synchronised with the rhythms of the forest. On our way, he spots a spiny dwarf iguana — “he’s always here around this time” — and the nest of a slate-throated redstart, a mere two-inch-wide hole in a leaf-covered wall. “I’ve lived here my whole life,” he says, shrugging, when I ask how he found it. From here, it’s possible to see tanager birds, agouti (a guinea pig-like rodent) and toucans that hop from one branch to the next.
We duck into the main building to marvel
at those orchids and speak to Dario Medina, known here as Mashpi’s ‘butterfly father’. Formerly a farmer from the nearby village of Pachijal, he now gives talks on the life cycle of these insects. “We used to consider them pests,” says Dario, indicating a cabinet of caterpillars in varying stages of pupation. “But then I learned about their behaviour and beauty. I started sharing my knowledge, so that people won’t be afraid; instead of killing, they’ll protect.” We exit, pursued by butterflies, and
scramble up a steep incline to the observation tower — a 162-step climb up 100ft-high, vertigo-inducing scaffolding. Guide Jacqueline Paladines, who also comes from Pachijal, looks serenely over the edge. “It’s magical when the clouds move,” she says. As my stomach settles, I survey the scene: grey clouds, violet horizon, tendrilous trees lit by a red sliver of sun. I quip that a view like this needs a soundtrack, but there’s just the rasp of labiated rain frogs. And yet, how close it all was to being destroyed. This may be the hottest ticket in town — but it’s the backstage staff that really make the show.
HOW TO DO IT Doubles at Mashpi Lodge start from £1,131 per night. The rate includes meals, tours, non-alcoholic drinks and transfers from Quito.
mashpilodge.com
ECUADOR 2023 39
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
