Above the Clouds Ecuador

05/06/2026

One of my favorite butterflies in Ecuador has beautiful, transparent wings. This one was hanging around my house all morning.

02/06/2026

My neighbor, Felipe, came over for a visit.

22/05/2026

Sipping my morning coffee on the porch, I watched a toucan call to her mate while perched on a tree branch 50 feet away and a flock of parrots landed in the guayaba fruit tree for a morning snack. The clouds rose up from the valley and surrounded the earth mound pyramid built by the Yumbo Indians 1,200 years ago. Pichincha volcano’s blue outline was visible in the distance. As I soaked in the silence, I thought to myself there is nowhere else I would rather be than right here. That is the same feeling I want all my guests to experience.

10/05/2026

Do you see the two birds in this photo? It's a mother potoo and her baby camouflaging themselves while they sleep. Apparently, it works really well because I have only spotted a potoo once on the farm. Nature is so cool.

Some forms of care are almost invisible.

A Great Potoo and its chick remain perfectly still, blending into the trees, protected through presence, patience, and closeness.

The quietest care is often the one holding everything together.



Ph 1: Esteban Barrera

06/05/2026

Shining in the morning sun, these droplets look like diamonds, but they’re far more valuable. A reminder that life begins with water. Just another moment of beauty waiting for you Above the Clouds.

30/04/2026

Nice views surrounding the cemetery in my little town; however, my plan is to be cremated, and my ashes spread on the farm so my spirit can continue to run around in the forest!

24/04/2026

My dogs are free range as are most dogs in the area. Freedom is great but can also cause problems especially when a female is in heat. Male dogs from miles around can smell those hormones in the air and they come check things out. I found this old photo of Cholo, one of my dogs who got into a fight over such a female. A scratch on his ear from the fight healed over but then got infected inside. A creative vet drained the infection and then sewed buttons on his ear to keep the area open and allow the infection to keep draining. My poor little man not only had to deal with the humility of the buttons, but also a bruised ego for not winning the girl.

(There are many more government sponsored spaying campaigns in the area now, so things are getting better.)

20/04/2026

On a scuba trip to Fiji years ago, I stayed at a small lodge that you could only reach by boat. We dove straight from the beach into the brightest coral I had ever seen.

One afternoon, a guide picked a flower just like this and tucked it behind his ear.

We were leaving the next day, going back to a cold Ohio winter, and I remember thinking, “I want to live somewhere where those grow all the time.”

It was just a quiet thought at that moment, but somehow, it stuck because now I am surrounded by those flowers here at Above the Clouds.

Travel has a way of opening doors you didn’t even know were there.

Come see what it might open for you.

10/04/2026

Harvesting bananas isn't an easy task. It takes about 18 months to produce one bunch and then the tree is ready to be cut. Each bunch weighs 30 to 40 pounds. I volunteered to carry them up to the bodega thinking it would be good exercise. Eleven trips up hill carrying two bunches at a time in a wheelbarrel was exhausting. Farmers really are super heroes.