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vagabonds3 "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness." Mark Twain

Trip: The World (Part 3)

There are [372] stories from my trip: The World (Part 3)


Umbrellabird Lodge

ECUADOR | Saturday, 23 Mar 2019 | Views [442]

IT RAINED FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, STOPPING JUST in time for yesterday’s 5AM breakfast.  We needed an early start for the six hour drive to Buenaventura with birding stops in Zapotillo and Almora.       Crimson-breasted ... Read more >


Urraca Lodge and Bosque de Hanne

ECUADOR | Thursday, 21 Mar 2019 | Views [292]

IF CASA SIMPSON IS A SKI CHALET, URRACA LODGE IS summer camp.  The simple, yet comfortable cabins are spaced along a forest trail — ours is 150 meters from the open-air dining area.  This habitat is called “tumbes,” a new ... Read more >


Casa Simpson and the Jocotoco Antpitta

ECUADOR | Tuesday, 19 Mar 2019 | Views [358]

THE FIRST OF THE JOCOTOCO LODGES, CASA SIMPSON is back up at 8000 feet in the Andean foothills Reserva Tapichalaca.  It is a simple and cozy chalet with both wi-fi and a much needed laundry service.  It owes its existence to the Jocotoco Antpitta ... Read more >


Podocarpus National Park

ECUADOR | Thursday, 14 Mar 2019 | Views [267]

THE JOCOTOCO RUN LODGE AT COPALINGA is a gem.  Secluded on a forested hillside, you can easily forget you are only minutes from town.  The cabins are clean, well-lighted and have plenty of hot water.  Maria and her staff make wonderful ... Read more >


Bird Talk

ECUADOR | Tuesday, 12 Mar 2019 | Views [245]

BIRDERS HAVE THEIR OWN LINGO.  THEY toss around words like gorgets, lores and superciliaries like salt on french fries.  Today’s word was mega or mega bird — one you never expected to see.  AKA a “Super Lifer.”... Read more >


The Rarest Bird

ECUADOR | Monday, 11 Mar 2019 | Views [298]

THE BLUE-THROATED HILLSTAR MAY BE THE RAREST BIRD on the planet.  It is certainly the rarest hummingbird with only an estimated 200 individuals.  It lives at 12,000 feet elevation and feeds exclusively on the chuguirrigua plant which is being ... Read more >


Saraguro and Reserva Yunguilla

ECUADOR | Sunday, 10 Mar 2019 | Views [204]

IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE THAT A SMALL, NON-DESCRIPT BIRD could cause a conservation movement.  But that’s just what the Pale-headed Brush Finch has done.  Once believed extinct due to habitat destruction and predation by shiny cowbirds, ... Read more >


Cajas National Park

ECUADOR | Saturday, 9 Mar 2019 | Views [172]

WE MET UP WITH OUR FELLOW TRAVELERS AT DINNER last night.  Kathy is a California native, Stan is from Long Island with an accent to prove it and Laurie — ♂️ — hails from Australia, mate.  Dusan — the ‘h’ is ... Read more >


Guayaquil

ECUADOR | Friday, 8 Mar 2019 | Views [228]

GUAYAQUIL, ON THE WEST COAST OF ECUADOR, lies on the Pacific Ocean.  Fort Lauderdale is on Florida’s Atlantic coast.  So in what direction should JetBlue fly from Fort Lauderdale to Guayaquil?  Wrong!  Actually, Guayaquil is ... Read more >


Photos: Ecuador

ECUADOR | Friday, 8 Mar 2019 | Photo Gallery

Birding and more
See all 79 photos >>
 


Old Friends in Florida

USA | Friday, 1 Mar 2019 | Views [231]

ROD AND LOIS ARE OLD FRIENDS WHO HAVE appeared in these musings before.  They split the year between their beach house in NJ and their place in Rockledge FL.  We missed them on the Atlantic coast of Florida in November but had a chance to ... Read more >


Happy Birthday to My Fair Lady

USA | Tuesday, 19 Feb 2019 | Views [250]

MY FAIR LADY, THE MOVIE, IS 55 YEARS OLD THIS YEAR.  For Connie’s — my own fair lady — birthday today (and, no, I wouldn't dare tell which one) we went to see Audrey and Rex on the big screen, one of those Turner Classics shown ... Read more >


Cruise Recap

USA | Saturday, 16 Feb 2019 | Views [231]

WE’VE BEEN BACK STATESIDE FOR A WHILE now and easily slipped into our old routine.  Despite the tasty and plentiful food on the cruise, neither of us gained a pound.  Besides our birding hikes and forays around ports-of-call, Connie ... Read more >


Fort-de-France, Martinique

MARTINIQUE | Wednesday, 6 Feb 2019 | Views [180]

JUST LIKE REUNION ISLAND, MARTINIQUE IS "un petit peu de" France complete with EU license plates and €uros.  There is only one bird on the island that Connie needs, a rarely seen oriole, so based on our recent success rate we gave birding ... Read more >


St. Vincent: More Disappointment

SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES | Monday, 4 Feb 2019 | Views [204]

DESPITE CONNIE’S RESEARCH AND IAN’S E-bird beta, birding on St. Vincent was even more disappointing than Granada.  Samuel charged us the going rate for a round-trip from the harbor to the Parrot Sanctuary — $120 including 3 hours ... Read more >


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John and Connie, Sheikh Zayad Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

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