Nanegal Travel Guide

Well, this is the only place to eat up here, but I'm not complaining!!! Every day the local chef cooks 3 meals for you, extremely tasty and very large portions! The locals eat nearly half a chicken and a plate of rice for breakfast! But they are hard grafters! Always with a smile on their faces!

Favorite Dish: Home made Pizza! Domino's and Pizza Hut need some lessons!

Obviously stuck on top of a mountain in the cloud forest with out electricity there are no night clubs to pop out to!

Generally people go to bed early as they get up early the next day! Night time can be fun with everyone playing card games, locals, tourists and volunteers all together! The local guys also play a mean guitar!

Dress Code: Casual

From La Marin in Quito I took the Metrobus ($0.25) to Ofelia. Ofelia is the end station of the Metrobus in north Quito and to go there took 35-40 minutes. At Ofelia I bought a ticket for the bus to Nanegal and it was $1.60 (August 2011). I had to wait a while for the bus, and then the bus journey took 2 hours. In Nanegal a car was waiting for me to take me to the starting point of the trail to Santa Lucia Eco Lodge. About half an hour later I was dropped there and paid the driver $10 which was the price I had been given when I arranged for my stay at Santa Lucia.

The starting point of the trail is at 1300 metres and Santa Lucia Eco Lodge is at 1920 metres, so it is a quite steep trail uphill. Some people arrange for guides to meet them with mules but as I had left some of my luggage in Quito, and I was well acclimatised to high altitude and as it is an easy trail to follow, that was not necessary for me. So than it was only I on the path, surrounded by the green lush forest and the sounds of cicadas, birds and falling leaves and twigs. It was a very nice walk and it took just over an hour to walk up to the lodge.

The day I was going back to Quito I left Santa Lucia Eco Lodge after breakfast and going down the trail took just over half an hour. The car was already waiting as it had just arrived with two new visitors. The bus from Nanegal was leaving at 9.30, but the driver said I could go with him to Nanegalito as he needed to go there and more buses left for Quito from there, but first he had a few things to do and I could wait for him in Santa Lucia’s office-building, then we went to pick somebody up who was also going to Nanegalito. Just before 10 we arrived to Nanegalito and then I waited almost half an hour for a bus. The bus left Nanegalito at 10.30 and it turned out that this bus was not going to Ofelia, but to Terminal Carcelen. So when we entered Quito I went off at a roundabout, by a shopping centre, from where I could take a local bus to Ofelia. It was not far to Ofelia and from Ofelia to La Marin the Metrobus took 45 minutes.

Luggage and bags: Normal luggage and a small back pack to carry your things during forest hikes.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Rubber boots are provided by the lodge - you will need these if you hike anywhere! Too muddy for walking shoes, but you will need to take these to get up to the lodge in the first place.
Take several thin dark/camoflagued T shirts with you, same for trousers. As soon as you start hiking you find yourself soaking wet from perspiration. So you need to change into dry clothes at the end of the day.
Loads of socks as they get wet too.
You could take a rain coat, but I found it too hot for this!

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Plasdters for blisters etc. General travel first aid kit is a good precaution whereever you go..

Photo Equipment: I found it difficult to photo anything animal wise here due to the extreme foliage! But even so I had my trust 300mm lens with me at all times just incase I saw a Spectecled Bear!! You can see the photos I took on the other tips area.

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: You need a flashlight as there is no electricity at the lodge!
Take some matches or a lighter with you for candles etc. - these are provided, but helpful to have your own light just in case.

Miscellaneous: Mosquito repellent - the locals say it is too high for lots of mosquitos! - but as usual I still got bitten... take repellent!

Favorite thing: Generally from my experience the weather is hot and sunny in the morning with clear skies. Then after mid day the cloud starts to engulf the lodge and the forest.... it remains hot/warm, but visibility goes down. It may also rain in the afternoon/night, but this is usually a short down pour!

When the lodge is engulfed in cloud you feel you are on top of the world!

The Cloud Forest generates it's 'own' rain as the cloud condenses on the trees leaves forming water that drips down from the canopy.