The Touristy Part of the Trip

After the farm my next destination was The Black Sheep Inn in Chugchilan    The view was spectacular but in order to get to my room I had to walk uphill 220 steps at 11,000 feet altitude — about 4 times each day.  

So I earned this view—just saying!

The Inn is a beautiful little place with delicious vegetarian fare, composting toilets, wood burning stoves and an eye to preserve the natural beauty of the area  About a half hour drive away we hiked a little near Lake Quilotoa, a spectacular lake in a crater

The other guests at the Inn were fun to talk to as well. A couple of young folks who were hiking the Quilotoa Trail and a British fellow who was drawing and painting his way through Ecuador.  We very much enjoyed his work!

After a few days there I headed to Baños de Agua Santa where I lived in 1995-1997.  It’s changed in many ways but some things remain the same.  The church is still a very powerful center of the spirituality of this area.  A few of the restaurants are the same.  Sunday is still market day at The Plaza 5 de Junio.  It’s still a great place to relax and recharge

I head out tomorrow and will hopefully be home Tuesday.  It’s been a great, blissful trip but I’m also ready to be home 

Tropical Bird Bingo

I have seen 25 new birds (for me) on this trip!   I think I should make bingo cards and make sets for all my bird nerd friends.  If only I were that crafty

Today my friend took me to the Amagusa Preserve about a 30 minute drive from the farm.  It was amazing!!  I have learned that this region called The Choco includes the Andean forests from the Pacific coast up to 2200 meters elevation— cloud forests.  It is a hotspot of biodiversity for plants, birds, amphibians and more. Here is a link to read more about this preserve and the Choco region.

https://mashpi-amagusa-reserve.com/

In addition to the birds I saw there, we saw a coati who decided to visit the bird feeders and help himself to a banana!

On the drive home we encountered a non-native species:

We are wise women so we gave them the right-of-way!

Birds today at Amagusa:

Glistening green tanager, rose breasted parrot, red barbet, flame faced tanager, golden collared honeycreeper, golden tanager, black chinned mountain tanager, golden naped tanager, and moss backed tanager…BINGO!!

Farm Dogs

 My friend’s farm is co-owned by 6 different people or families.  Each person has their own land, objectives for their land, and their own farm dogs!

This is Buster my friend’s dog.  Sweet and loyal boy.  He likes to play fight with another farm dog (Manchas— which means Spots).  

My friend has dedicated her land to planting flowers, shrubs, and trees to attract native birds (see list of new birds for me at the end of the post.).  Another woman has coffee and cacao on her land.  Another couple are using their property for education purposes—having classes and seminars in an outdoor classroom they built.  There are tilapia ponds and sugar cane and donkeys and chickens and a few pigs.

I’m sleeping through the rooster noises now— helped by the gentle sounds of rain almost every night. The mornings bring fog, bird song, and coffee from the farm.

Sweet Sacha the great-grandma of the canine crew

Buster and Mateo.  Mateo is small but mighty.  And Buster just likes to be in every photo!!

New birds for me in the last few days:  tropical kingbird, scissor tail kites, swallow tanager,  bananaquit, crowned woodnymph, 

La Finca

Day one in Quito we did some food shopping for our week at the farm, then had lunch out at Los Cebiches de Rumiñahui.  I had fish and shrimp ceviche which was excellent!  After that we packed up the truck and headed to the farm (la finca.)

On the way we drove through fog and rain. Once here the clouds settled in and made for a quiet, peaceful scene

I did not sleep well thanks to some over-achieving roosters in the area   They started at 2 am and well…12 hours later they are still making their presence known   I’m sure they will be “background noise” for me in a day or 2  

There was a light rain this morning so we hung out on the porch after a delicious breakfast and watched birds!   So many birds!  I will not bore my non-bird-watching friends but I’ll list what I saw at the end of the post for my fellow bird-nerds

Once the rain let up my friend and I headed out with machete, trimmers, and a small saw to clear a trail that was overgrown in the lush cloud forest where the farm is located   It was fun, hot, sweaty, muddy work   Tomorrow we will finish cleaning up the bottom half of the trail

Birds today:  lemon-rumped (aka flame-rumped) tanager, blue-grey tanager, white-shouldered tanager, Ecuadorian thrush, flycatcher (too far away to definitely ID), variable seedeater, rufous collared sparrow and turkey vultures

Flying South

It’s good luck to travel during a full moon   Lucky me!   I’m flying Monday to Atlanta then on to Quito Ecuador where I plan to spend 2 weeks with friends who live there  Monday is the first full moon of 2025–the Wolf Moon 

My luck won’t extend to the weather (rain almost every day) though for Ecuadorians who have suffered through a serious drought the rain is much needed.  Since electricity there is primarily from hydroelectric sources it’s very good indeed!

I would normally expect to be hiking, bird-watching, and helping out on my friend’s farm while there   I brought rain gear and mud boots for the outdoor activities this time   And I packed my binoculars just in case it clears up for a day or two

The birds in Ecuador don’t migrate as a rule   There are exceptions of course, but with warm weather and 12 hours of daylight year round there isn’t really a compelling reason for them to head north or south    That means lots of different kinds of birds than I’m used to seeing around home   Last time I visited my friend’s farm I saw yellow-rumped tanagers, blue tanagers, parrots, various kinds of hummingbirds and even a toucan   

Since those birds don’t migrate, I’m flying south to them!

Gigi hits the Road Again

                                                                                

 After we were back home from our trip out east about 3 weeks, I got the urge to go camping again.  We looked at our calendars and there were no good weekends available.  Then the lightbulb came on and I said "We're retired.  We can go camping during the week!"  

As it turns out, weekdays are much more pleasant for camping.  Fewer folks in the campground and on the trails.  It's easier to get a good campsite.  And this time around we got better weather.

We decided on a 3–4-day trip, someplace not far away.  We looked at some state parks in Illinois that we'd not been to, but none really appealed to me.  I suppose I might be spoiled after our last trip.  Then I started looking at parks in Indiana. It turns out my buddy had never been to Turkey Run, so we booked a site and off we went.

Turkey Run is close, only about a two hour drive.  I had not been there for years and for the most part I used to go there to canoe in the spring or summer.  But the hiking is also nice, and with the fall colors just past peak, we had lovely scenery to enjoy.  The weather was warm (in the 80s two of the days) and windy.  The winds did die down enough for a campfire every night. 

We had a strange encounter with a woman at the campground who assumed that we should have a bigger camper.  Of course she wanted to sell us one.  We told her no thank you, our little Gigi is just fine.  We took along a new 10x10 awning that has the option to add sides to make a little more dry space in case of rain, and we added sides to the new 6x6 awning to replace the one that Hurricane Helene ate for breakfast back in September.  

Home Sweet Home on the road

Gigi Meets Helene

After leaving Massachusetts we drove 2 1/2 days to get to Lexington Kentucky for The Bourbon Burn.  The Burn is a 3 day biking event with bourbon distilleries along the bike routes.  While I don’t ride, I do volunteer.  The evenings are for dinner, bourbon tastings, and live music.  Usually, that is.

We arrived Wednesday afternoon and set up camp under a beautiful big oak tree. Thursday there were concerns about weather for Friday as Hurricane Helene moved north.  Fridays ride was canceled and the evening events were moved to a more sheltered location.

Friday morning it had rained all night and we decided to head to a Waffle House for breakfast and coffee instead of trying to cook under a 4x6 awning

When we returned we saw huge branches from the beautiful big oak tree on our neighbors truck and camper   Then we saw our campsite

By a miracle only the awning was damaged   One branch was less than an inch from the bikes   Gigi the camper was undamaged, and of course we had the truck with us when it happened  

Staff from the Kentucky Horse Park and our camping neighbor Rodney came to help us move our stuff out of our campsite. 

This is Heather, a rock star at keeping us safe and helping out   Thanks so much Heather!!

 We packed up all our wet gear (except for the awning frame) and headed to a hotel   Even driving 5 miles in the winds was a white knuckle experience 

So we are warm and dry and tomorrow we head home a few days early  We had a fabulous trip and we are grateful for the many experiences and stories we have.  

Thanks for joining us on the road with Got Bliss?.