Throughout most of the night there had been noise making it difficult to sleep. So when it came to getting up at 06:00 it felt like we had not slept at all. Andrew during the night had called out a Doctor to look at his swollen knee to make sure it was not infected and would be okay.

It was a bit of a rush to get ready but we made it down to the bus more or less on time. After a long drive and then 7km of winding road we made it to Bellavista for 08:20. Immediately on arriving we saw several species if hummingbird due to a feeder being located near “the dome”. Our first job was to drop off luggage and then go down for breakfast. It wasn’t exactly the big breakfast we’d been promised – 3 small slices of bread, and an egg if you like it. Afterwards we had to sort out some wellingtons as they don’t think walking boots are good enough.

For the first walk we also had two of the couples who’d been with us for the Galapagos Islands. Our guide for this decided to take us on a scenic trail – we didn’t really see much in the way of bird-life on this trail. To start with we were asked to try eating these flowers off a plant that tasted like apple – I wasn’t convinced it did though as it tasted more like eating a leaf.

The guide was pretty good and stopped regularly for people to catch their breath (this was at altitude after all). Whenever we asked a question she answered it without trailing off into an explanation of everything or an anecdote. There were some good views but the only insects were elusive butterflies and a solitary millipede. We did see a massive tarantula web but unfortunately if the spider was there it was too well hidden.

After the first walk we had a few minutes spare to go back to our rooms to drop cameras off before lunch. Whilst sitting around I managed to photograph a blue Jay and a Rufus-collared sparrow. Lunch was a bit dire – salty mash potato that may well have been “smash” and some very gristly beef.

Whilst waiting for the next walk I sat by the bird feeder and tried to get more photos of hummingbirds; though I also managed to spot a small blue bird. Just before we started the walk we said goodbye to the two couples who had been with us for most of the holiday.

The walk itself was quite short but we did get to see some toucans. Sadly they were too far away to photograph and had to be viewed through binoculars.

We spent the next half hour walking around by ourselves but didn’t really see much so headed back to get a shower before dinner. Dinner was much better than lunch in some ways though the dessert was better. The dessert was a local fruit that looks like a yellow melon but tastes like a sweet apple. At 20:45 the power cut out, but returned about 10 minutes later.