Galo and his family took us for a visit to Omar Tello's Botanical park/orchid garden in Puyo called, "Las Orquideas". Sadly much of Ecuador's rich rainforest has been cleared for agriculture, housing or oil and gas development. Omar Tello and his wife purchased 2.5 acres of cleared land and have spent the last 40 years replanting their section of rainforest.
Whenever they heard an area of forest was being cleared, they traveled there to rescue native plants before they were destroyed and replanted them here. It's really incredible to walk thru today and see how thick and lush this patch of rainforest is. The land has clearly responded to the love and hard work they pour into this land everyday.
Omar showed us many different beautiful orchids, but when he stopped at one particular tree, and held up a dime-sized magnifying glass, I was shocked by what I saw, the tiniest orchid I'd ever seen. (If you look super duper close, you might see the purple speck that is the flower- where the green parts form an X.)
But that wasn't the only teeny tiny one we saw. Four more times he stopped and used his tiny magnifying glass to show us different species of teeny tiny orchids. You can see another in the very first photo at the top.
Another tiny orchid above, larger ones below.
One of my favorite parts of our visit, was walking thru their museum. Photos line the inside of the room in order by year. The first set of years, feature only small insects and such, but a few years later, butterflies appeared, then lizards, then frogs, then snakes and monkeys and more all began appearing as the food chain filled in..
In the middle of the room sits a large collection of specimens are arranged in glass containers. The size of some of them are just shocking. Many I had the pleasure of seeing for myself while exploring our own backyard in Ecuador.
The variety of trees was amazing. This top one has bare stripes around it with long spikes. The one below it is absolutely covered in even longer spikes. There were cinnamon trees and trees to cure different ailments.
Omar and his family were featured in an award-winning documentary "7 Hectares Back" which you can watch HERE. It's only ten minutes long and totally worth it.
__________________________Bioparque Yana Cocha______________________
I was not fortunate enough to find a wild King Vulture, but I really enjoyed seeing this captive one up close. It's large size coupled with colorful markings give it quite a distinctive appearance.
Surprisingly crocs and caiman are not really in any kind of enclosure. I was lagging behind my family on the trails taking photos, when I realized they had just walked past one whose head was only inches off the narrow trail.
____________________A great hike right in the city of Puyo___________________
My friend Tina introduced me to the Malecon Boayaku, a trail that weaves along the Puyo River. I walked this trail a number of times. For a one-way walk, I suggest having a taxi drop you off at the malecon entrance by the Universidad Amazonica. From there it's maybe a 45 minute leisurely walk to the square where you'll find great dining options. El Jardin is very good and is visited by macaws in the early morning and evening. But while you're here, you must try the volquetero.
This guy was about 4 inches long!
No comments:
Post a Comment