relaxation in the clouds

i was surprised to see an email show up in my inbox from the santa lucia cloud forest in ecuador.  it has been well over three years since my girlfriend and i trekked up a mountain side to this remote location above the clouds in the rain forests of ecuador.  the email was a newsletter that they have started to keep in touch, and it was great to see how far they had come since our visit.  santa lucia, while it is a splendid eco-retreat, it is primarily a research station.  the tiny wood cabin that we stayed in also housed the interns and researchers, as we were the only visitors.  while we hiked, meandered through the gardens, read in the hammock, and played around on the rope swing - these people were collecting samples, building more cabins, securing the trails, etc.  we'd all gather at the end of the day and eat a communal dinner and i'd honestly feel a little guilty being exhausted after seeing what they did all day.  but the place was amazing, and the scenery was breathtaking.  it was beyond relaxing to sway in the hammock and watch the clouds roll in and out, looking out over the mountains and just listen to the birds chirp.  the outdoor shower was incredible, taking deep breaths of crisp air, fully exposed and surrounded by lush greenery - i felt pretty clean and fresh.  being so immersed in nature, it was like a zoo at your fingertips.  orchids grew naturally, worms were enormous, the bugs (while gigantic) were so incredibly beautiful, and luckily we didn't encounter any of the mammals.  it was the perfect place to unwind, to be removed from the rest of the world.