I’ve never been to South America before and that made today and the start of our vacation all the more exciting, giving me the adrenaline needed for the getting up at 4 am for the first leg of the journey. Now that we’re here, looking forward to the next two weeks sends shivers up my spine.

The first two flights were perfect, on …

Alex, our guide for our tour of Old City Quito picked us up at 8 am. We hadn’t stepped three steps out of the hotel when a older man with the most sincere smile stopped us with a friendly greeting in a combination of Spanish and English, took a small wrapped package out of his shoulder pack, and began to describe the scene from Ecuador …

This morning our tour guides picked us up for our trip to Sacha Lodge, dropped us at the airport after connecting us with the Sacha Lodge representative, who got us organized, told us the airport and Coca were closed so we would be flying to Lago Agrio and taking a bus to Coca, pointed us in the right direction for our flight and off we went. The …

This morning our wake up time was 5:30. Our wake up call is a knock on the door and a pleasant “Good Morning.”. Julio told us we needed to rise early and hope for no rain or sun so we could see the birds in action on the Canopy Walk. It sprinkled intermittently, but from two of the towers we were able to see a variety of birds in the …

I slept like a log and got right up for the morning knock at 5 am, surprising, since I am not a morning person. We took another magical canoe ride back across the lake with lots of birds out in the early morning and set out on the hike to the Napo River. Ten minutes in, there is a large commotion in the trees. First, we see a squirrel monkey …

This morning we woke up to a steady downpour in the rain forest. I found myself thinking that this was great, it should rain in the rain forest. Yesterday was so sunny it was hard to imagine that it was a jungle – so much for another one of my preconceived notions. Over breakfast the rain slowed to a sprinkle, and by the time we reached the …

Yes, I did count the speed bumps.

We had a racecar wannabe bus driver on our way to Lago Agrio. His strategy was to drive like mad until you reach a speed bump, slow quickly, bounce over the speed bump, and then floor it again. Always use both lanes to drive around corners and pass into traffic because they will slow down. By the time we …

This morning we opened the curtains and found peacocks looking back at us. We decided to walk around the grounds again in the daylight and found we wished we had come earlier yesterday. If gave us a sense of tranquility.

Our gracious hosts/hostesses directed us to another dining room for breakfast. In it was a giant fireplace taller and …

In the morning, we deliver two dozen roses to the front desk clerk at the Hotel Eugenia, bringing a smile to her face. When Valerie picks us up, we give her the other two dozen. She delivers us to the airport, and gets our forms ready and stands with us as we check in for our flight to the Galápagos. When we saw other people in line that …