A Slice of Misty Memory- Life Inside Ecuador’s Cloud Forest

Tropical Cloud forests of Ecuador: courtesy of tma.earth.org

---

Dispatch: Biodiversity Conservation, cloud forest, rare biomes, nature, biophilia, biophobia. ecotherapy

---

I once lived in Ecuador for seven years, and for two of those, I was lucky enough to call the coastal cloud forest home. In Ecuador’s Chocó region and along the Manabí coast, these forests thrive at specific elevations, where moist ocean air collides with mountain slopes. Their preservation is vital. These tiny emerald fragments are rare, magical ecosystems, cloaked in dewy haze and alive with biodiversity. A living veil of misty tree covered mountains with the clouds, wrapping everything in mystery. Here, humidity clings to your skin, a baptism of nature’s own kind.

The world's orchids find their sanctuary in cloud forests, with Ecuador alone harbouring over 4,000 species, 1,300 found nowhere else but in the mist-shrouded Andean slopes. These ethereal ecosystems cradle not just flowers but a symphony of life; more than 300 bird species dart through the canopy, while translucent glass frogs, their internal organs visible through delicate skin, cling to leaves above hidden streams.

These forests crown the coastal mountains of our equatorial tropics, where the ocean exhales and the peaks catch that breath, transforming it into the impossible green that surrounds you. Though they cover less than 1% of Earth's forests, they support life with extraordinary generosity.

Orchids burst from every surface. Today, their beauty feels like a form of rebellion—beckoning us to reconnect with the wild. Mosses and ferns carpet the ground like soft emerald velvet. Bromeliads cup water in their hearts, creating sky-bound ponds where coloured amphibians breed and tiny universes thrive.

A male quetzal flies through a rainforest. Courtesy of Mallardg500 / Getty Images

The resplendent quetzal flashes through this realm like living emerald, while the yellow-tailed woolly monkey, so close to vanishing forever, still swings between worlds. These forests are the planet's water temples, gathering clouds and blessing the lands below with rivers born of air.

Yellow tailed Woolly Monkey: Courtesy of Serious Monkey Business

To me, this was one of the most magical places to live. I was rich in adventures, otherwise I had very little, yet the Chocó gave more than it took. My decision to settle in the Manabí region of the coastal cloud forest was spontaneous, born of a single morning’s forest and coastal walk.