💭🌄Imagine spending 9 days this winter in a biodiverse Ecuadorian cloud forest surrounded by rare birds, plants, and other natural wonders.

🛏️Your accommodations are in a luxurious lodge surrounded by acres of tropical nature with jungle vibes but mild temperatures.

👥You will be part of a team of like-minded individuals that create a sense of camaraderie and a vibrant learning community.

🌸🎨🪲🦜Daily art, birding, botany, and entomology activate your mind while fresh food, rare fruit, and quality cacao stimulate your senses. All you have to do is bring your curiosity and your nature journaling supplies!

Speckling the Andean mountains from about 4,000ft to 8,000ft above sea level, every reserve, location, and ecolodge is different! Travel just a couple hundred feet up or down the mountains and you’ll find completely different species of butterflies, hummingbirds, and frogs just waiting to greet you.

Everything you want to see from visiting a rainforest but none of the hassle! It's not too hot, it's not too cold, and it's just a couple hour drive from the capital city Quito.

Amenities/Rest and Relaxation: In addition to the scheduled lessons and natural wonders there is time for you to do your own thing. Indulge in the jacuzzi and heated pool with a view, cozy areas for studying and drawing, and covered areas for watching birds. Delight your senses with delicious highland coffee, fresh fruit juice, local cuisine, rare tropical fruit, and lots of chocolate. Read by the fireplace or stroll the private trails looking for your own nature discoveries with a jungle vibe but mild climate.

General Overview:

November 28-December 6. 2026

• Day 0 || 🛩️ Arrival into Quito / Dry Forest Addon

• Day 1-8 || ✒️🎨Journaling in the Clouds

• Day 9 || 🌆Return to Quito

Our days are usually divided into the following time blocks. Each activity will take up between 1 and 2 time blocks.

Early Morning ✫ Mid Morning ✫ Early Afternoon ✫ Late Afternoon ✫ Night

Many of the activities and the days are designed to be optional. If you want some time just for yourself and your independent study, just let us know. If you decide to pass on the optional activities, you'll be able to take advantage of all of Septimo Paraiso's amenities!

Learn watercolor techniques, quick bird sketching tricks, and how to make no-fuss botanical illustrations. Marley has been practicing nature journaling and sketching extensively in the neotropics for the last ten years. In addition to sit-down classes he can also offer one-on-one help and advice meeting you where you are at with your skills.

Learn about insect ecology, evolution, identification, fun facts, and photography tips with our very own entomologist, co-leader, and Ecuador expert, Nancy. She'll fill you up with the incredible world of invertebrate behavior, evolution of flight, and maybe even her famous bug sex presentation.

Where there's bugs and birds, there's also plants! Nature hikes and classes include basic taxonomy, fun facts, weird adaptations and more with Marley. Learn about origins of biodiversity, the role of the Andes mountains, and the evolutionary arms race of plant defense chemicals in sit-down presentations and during walks.

Grab your coffee and head out to see the rainbow of life that emerges at dawn.

In addition to being at a world class birding location, we'll have expert help with bird ID, avian ecology, bird drawing, and use of birding apps, from Marley, Nancy and local birding guides.

After dinner, Nancy is always happy to bring you around the grounds to see some amazing insects.
This is when the forest really comes alive. There will be fun facts and even some photography tips (including for your phone!) to really see all the little details of these small, yet charismatic, creatures.

If you are the kind of person that needs alone time don’t worry. The days are designed to allow for participants to have personal time to observe nature alone, develop their creative work, or just relax watching colorful birds dart through the trees.

You'll be picked up from the airport and brought to our partner hotel in Quito. This first night and transport is included in the pricing.

This area of Tandayapa is on the way to Mindo. We'll drive down the mountain roads to get a glimpse of stunning landscapes and some higher altitude species that may be hard for us to get a glimpse of at the lower elevation of Mindo.

Chill out, get acquainted with the hummingbird neighbors, the heated pool, and explore the trails.

Technically just below the cloud forest, this little reserve and ecolodge conserves some of the last piece of forest in this area. The owner is one of the longest run butterfly breeders in Ecuador and is always happy to give you a private tour of his butterfly breeding grounds and privately conserved 100 hectares of transitional cloud forest.

Here you'll have the chance to tour the grounds and learn all about the butterflies that call Ecuador their home!

Take a cable car over a ravine where you’ll have your choice of two waterfall routes. To the right – a giant waterfall and to the left a series of little waterfalls sure to captivate your imagination.

Just outside of Mindo, this reserve protects 120 hectares of cloud forest. They're very lucky as the Long Wattled Umbrella Bird sometimes comes to visit! If he doesn't make an appearance, you'll have the chance to see agoutis, sparkling tanagers, and toucans visiting the feeders.

Eric, a Canadian, moved to Mindo and bought a chunk of land outside Mindo for conservation. He's a herpetologist (reptile & amphibian specialist) and you'll walk his property at night looking for snakes, frogs, and anything else that turns up! Sometimes the cheeky kinkajous come to steal bananas.

Chocolate is grown on Ecuador’s coast but is processed in this little factory in Mindo. Boasting of some of the best chocolate in the world, you’ll watch a lowly bean transform into a delicious chocolate bar. Of course, there’s tasting at the end!

This small farm has a bit of forest conserved for birds aiding in the mosaic of conservation projects that scatter the landscape. Here you'll find a birdfeeder that hummingbirds, tanagers, woodpeckers, and pigeons visit for a rest.

This is a really great spot to see the behaviors of the birds - especially the hummingbirds!

On our way back to Quito, weather permitting, we'll make a stop to see these iconic birds.

This emblematic bird of the Andean mountains has inspired legends and captivated visitors for centuries. Males, in the mornings and afternoons, join together in a beauty pageant to woo the females ruffling their feathers and calling into the forest.

We’ll have to say goodbye knowing that new adventures await us.

Please get a late night flight out of Quito. If you book an earlier flight, Nancy can help you arrange transportation at your own cost back to the airport earlier.

Marley has nature journaled in the Amazon rainforest, the Serengeti, the Galápagos, the length of the Grand Canyon by raft, and the jungles of Ecuador, Panama, Colombia, and Costa Rica among other places. He is a passionate teacher with over 10 years experience teaching nature journaling online and in person. Marley is committed to developing nature journaling as an applied tool to help save nature and humans on this planet. In addition to leading hundreds of nature journaling trips in person in English and Spanish he has also created over 500 videos about nature journaling on his YouTube Channel.

Nancy Miorelli is a passionate, self-proclaimed, PR representative for insects. While earning her Master's degree at the University of Georgia in Entomology, it became crystal clear that most people did not see insects the way she did.

In attempts to combat this "kill it with fire" mentality, Nancy started several science communication projects including a YouTube channel, and a tarot project called Metamorphosis Tarot where she seeks to match insect biology to the traditional symbolism of the tarot cards.

Following her Master's, Nancy flew to the heart of the Ecuadorian cloud forest where she worked in an ecolodge showing tourists the beautiful and hidden world of the smaller majority; leading environmental education programs, guiding tours, and giving natural history presentations featuring insects.

After two years, Nancy traded her leafy green jungle for the concrete jungle of Quito where she designs her own tours under the brand SciBugs which focuses on the interconnectedness of ecology (especially insects), geology, conservation, local culture, and ecotourism. She is licensed in Ecuador and has been working in Ecuadorian Tourism for over a decade.

CLOUD FOREST BIODIVERSITY PHOTO GALLERY

FUNSIES HAD ALL AROUND

THE ALTITUDE

Quito sits right about 9,000 ft (2,800 m). It's not uncommon for you to feel more tired than usual and you might find a flight of stairs takes your breath away. This is normal - so don't worry! Just take it easy and drink a lot of water!

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Other Normal Symptoms

• Waking up in the middle of the night

• Getting dehydrated quickly

• Tingly fingers / lips.

• Headaches

• Nausea

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**Please note that alcohol may affect you differently than normal at altitude.

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Always communicate how you're feeling with your guide. If you need to take a breather just say so!

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Talk to your travel doctor about taking iron supplements or altitude medication (diamox) before and during your trip. Vegans and vegetarians may find that they have trouble at altitude.

THE WEATHER

While Ecuador is on the equator - only certain parts are warm! Dressing in layers is key. Always bring a jacket with you no matter how sunny it is outside! Weather can change here in an instant.

The Highlands:

In the highlands, like Quito and Papallacta, nightly temperatures can drop below 45°F (7°C). During the day, average temperatures are around 70°F (23°C) but the sun is strong! Wear sunscreen even if you normally don't. (take it from someone who's been burned a few too many times). Some mountains like Cotopaxi have snow! If you're planning on going up even some of the smaller volcanoes like Pichincha or through the Papallacta Pass it's best to bring gloves, scarf, and a hat.

The Cloud Forest:

Halfway between here and there - the cloud forest is temperate but muggy. At night it can still get cool and the humidity makes it feel colder than it is. During the day it gets up to around 80°F (27°C) and at night can drop down to 50°F (4°C). Expect prolong periods of rain. It is a rainforest afterall.

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The Amazon:

When we're in the boats in the amazon you'll want sandals, shorts, and a t-shirt. When walking around in the jungle you'll want long pants as a preventative against insect bites. We'll be provided rain ponchos for our inevitable showers in the rainforest. Temperatures are a bit warmer in the Amazon ranging from about 70°F (23°C) at night and 90°F (32°C) during the day.

Most hotels do not have heating or air-conditioning in Ecuador!

INSECT & TROPICAL DISEASES

The Amazon: Outbreaks of chikungunya and dengue fever have been reported however it is not a common occurrence.

Malaria: In the area of the Amazon in which we are visiting - cases of Malaria have not been reported in the past ten years.

Yellow Fever: You can be vaccinated against yellow fever. If you are visiting other countries (ex. Costa Rica) after Ecuador you may be required to show proof of your vaccination against Yellow Fever. This vaccination is not required to enter Ecuador.

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Zika: Only a handful of cases have been reported in Ecuador and only on the coast.

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Chiggers: The larval stage of mites. They do not carry any diseases, but having had them myself, are definitely no fun and EASILY preventable. When you get back from the field, take your clothes off and take a shower BEFORE lying in your bed. We'll give you a "chigger prevention chat" at the lodge.

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It's always recommended to be cautious!

Visit your doctor to see the latest CDC recommendations. Be up to date on all of your vaccines. Wear protective clothing (long sleeves / long pants) and insect repellent