May 19, 2021: Mashpi Lodge in the Cloud Forest (Author: J)
After just 1 night at beautiful Casa Gangotena, it was time to head to our final destination of the trip, Mashpi Lodge. After so many early wakeups in the Amazon, our 8 a.m. pickup for Mashpi seemed downright late. Indeed, I was up before the alarm, which gave me the chance to take part in one of my favorite vacation activities: coffee on the balcony. It was a sunny morning in Quito and I enjoyed listening to the sounds of the city waking up — including the barking of lots and lots of dogs.
After coffee, we got ready for the day and packed. Our packing cubes really came in handy here. Using the cubes meant we had not really had not unpack to find what we needed, so repacking was a snap. We were soon headed downstairs for breakfast. I was a little nervous about timing because Casa Gangotena suspended their breakfast buffet during Covid. But I need not have worried. The food we ordered came out quickly and we had just enough time to eat before we had to run to meet our driver.
After breakfast, we quickly checked out and met our driver outside the hotel. Transfers to Mashpi are usually shared, but not during the pandemic. It was just us and our driver for the approximately 4-hour drive to the lodge. We started out passing familiar scenery along the outskirts of Quito, but soon we were travelling through small towns in the mountains. About halfway to Mashpi, we made a restroom stop at a gas station. (Our driver even had TP for us). The gas station had the Ecuador equivalent of a 7/11 or Speedway with all sorts of interesting snacks. I purchased a piece of cake and a Powerade for P, who was predictably hungry after eating little of his breakfast back in Quito.
Eventually, the paved portion of our route ended and we bumped along the final approach to Mashpi. Mashpi is a boutique eco-lodge in the cloud forest outside Quito. It protects one of the last tracts of intact forest in the region — no small thing considering that the cloud forest has suffered over 90% deforestation. It seemed to me that Mashpi wants to position itself as a more easily accessible alternative to the Amazon, but I do not think that branding does the place justice. The cloud forest provides a very different experience than the Amazon; the wildlife, landscape and recreation opportunities are all quite different from what the Amazon region offers. If you come expecting the Amazon, I think you will be disappointed. But if you come with an open mind, you are bound to be impressed by what the lodge offers. (And, given the price, you have every right to expect to be wowed).
At the entrance to the lodge, we were greeted by staff and then decontaminated in a now familiar routine. Our bags went to our room, while we reported for our next meal. Since the weather was still beautiful, we chose to sit outside overlooking the forest.
Like Casa Gangotena, Mashpi has suspended buffet meals during the pandemic. For us, that was a negative. With a picky child, being able to see and select foods is generally a better option than ordering off a menu. Still, the Mashpi staff was as accommodating as they could be, bringing P the fruit and cheese that we had requested for him. D and I ordered off the menu. This particular meal was a miss for me; I had a bean dish that was lacking in the flavor department, followed by fruit compote. I ordered the compote instead of the chocolate cake I really wanted so that P and I could share both options. When the compote came out and I saw it was the same fruit I had not enjoyed at our tea the day before, I regretted my sacrifice. (P did give me a spoonful of cake, but he ate the lion’s share, while I poked at the compote).
After lunch, we relaxed in our room for a bit before meeting our guide, Gabriel, for our welcome tour. Gabriel was our private guide for the length of our stay — another pandemic change. My understanding is that in pre-Covid times, tours were not private.
Gabriel was a good guide choice for our family. He seemed to genuinely like children and he has a special interest in amphibians, one of P’s favorite animals. He promised to help us find some frogs later in our stay. But the first order of business was trying to find some monkeys. The only species of monkeys regularly seen at Mashpi are howlers and sightings are not guaranteed. We got lucky, though, and Gabriel quickly tracked down a family (complete with baby) after hearing and identifying some monkey howls. With all the excitement of tracking down monkeys, we wound up hiking a bit farther than planned. I was proud of how well P handled the difficult trail back up to the lodge.
After our hike, we planned out our schedule for the next few days. I explained to Gabriel that we were afraid of heights, but willing to try the Dragonfly sky ride based upon our successful treetop birding experience in the Amazon. My faux bravado would come back to haunt me the next day. That evening, though, we ended the day with a short night hike, a late dinner (but sadly no drinks because of Covid restrictions), and a deep happy sleep. It had been an amazing first day at Mashpi.
Travel Monkeys 