
Startup Cuba in the Ecuador Cloud Forest
Before the pandemic we went to Ecuador to film a story on the rainforest with some friends at the Mashpi Lodge in the Ecuadorian Chacó. It’s a cloud forest about three hours outside of Quito, Ecuador’s capital. Although technically it’s still “in” Quito but that’s for another story.
At the time, we thought we were filming a piece about deforestation and its impact on climate change. We wanted to share a first-person point of view of what a rainforest actually looks like. I just don’t think that the majority of us (myself included) truly understand the power of these environments up close. Nor do most of us have experience in the devastation that cutting them down is wreaking on our planet. I don’t want to speak for everyone but to most of us, the rainforests of the world “aren’t our problem.” They’re just something we hear about on TV.
In reality, they’re most definitely our problem and we need to start paying attention. When our story comes out we’ll show you why.
What we didn’t know at the time of our shoot was that the additional lessons we gleaned about the role that balance plays in the rainforest eco-system —in South America and the world in general— would have such relevance a few months later when we would all be introduced to COVID-19.
More importantly, though, is that we’ll bring you up close to a region that is a canary in the coal mine of climate change.

Our stories about our journey in Ecuador and the cloud forest, the contrast we experienced between a strong bio-diversity and weaker one, and our experience at the Mashpi Lodge, one of National Geographic’s Unique Lodges of the World and noted as South America’s Leading Eco-Lodge from the World Travel Awards in 2018 and 2019, will be posted here soon. We’re super excited to share them with you. Visually, as you can imagine, they’re stunning. And, in our typical fashion, we had a fun time. More importantly, though, is that we’ll bring you up close to a region that is a canary in the coal mine of climate change.
Related Post: Defending Ecuador’s Traditional Foods
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