As we bumped along kilometer after kilometer of cobblestone road heading from Quito into the more remote highlands near Cotopaxi National Park, I think Jen and I both started wondering, “where in the world….?” But upon arrival at Tierra de Volcan, or “Hacienda el Porvenir”, it was immediately obvious this was worth …

In one of my many previous careers, I was a program director at an outdoor education center. In that role, I have built high ropes courses, inspected high ropes courses, and trained high ropes course facilitators. I have put thousands of 5th thru 8th graders through these courses, with specific goals in mind. So, as you might imagine, I have a …

Jen and I spend just enough time outside to be able to know our norths and souths, easts and wests by the location of the sun, even at midday. And we have just enough experience to tell what time of day it is, based on the sun. At least in most places….

Hanging out directly at the Equator makes that more difficult. The north side of the …

When you fly into the dry side of Santa Cruz, in the Galapagos dry season, everything looks browner than you expect a biodiversity hotspot to be. So we were itching to see some wildlife when we boarded the San Jose in Baltra. Little did we know that the wildlife show was about to begin, like a well-choreographed musical.

As soon as our ship set …

Each evening, our guide Carlos would gather the “San Jose Family” together in the ship’s lounge to discuss the plans for the next day. He would have a map and a whiteboard and would walk us through the ship’s travels and our proposed excursions.

Each ship in the Galapagos has a very strict schedule to keep. The National …

One always hears about the Galapagos as such a richly biodiverse location. And it is true. But in my mind, biodiverse automatically meant green and lush. Visiting in August, this just wasn’t the case. Cold currents and southern breezes bring drier air at this time of year, and the land - at lower elevations at least - can seem downright …

During a sunset hike above Darwin Lake, looking out across the channel towards Fernandina on the fourth day of our cruise, one of our group spotted the distant spray from a passing whale. The kind of small distant “pffft” that makes you look sideways and ask, did I see that?

The next day we passed directly through this channel on our …

One of the best things about traveling is seeing those completely new things, and having those completely new experiences. But sometimes, its just as nice to experience completely familiar things, in completely unfamiliar places. This trip to Ecuador was filled with such experiences…

* Seeing our “favorite star” – the …

The Galapagos is by definition an equatorial destination. The equator cuts across the north end of Isabela and darts in between Santiago and Genovesa. So there is no “seasonal” variation in the traditional sense. But there are distinct seasons, for certain. These seasons, and their effects on the potential traveler, can be directly …