As much as I love traveling, I mostly despise the transit part of any itinerary, especially as it relates to air-travel. So, of course, my wife and I found ourselves dealing not only with one delay, but two, which possibly marks the last time that either of us will fly on AIRLINE NAME REDACTED.

Needless to say, the original annoyance became …

After continuing down the stream for about 30 minutes, we came to a clearing where the tight jungle opens up on both sides, revealing a medium-sized blackwater lake. Here is where we got the first glimpse of La Selva Ecolodge, which both simultaneously blends in and rises out of the surrounding jungle.

Any coolness that we felt while on the …

There are few places on Earth that hold the mythology that the Amazon does, and this title is very rightfully held. Not only is this region amazingly vast covering almost the total size of the continental United States, but it is also the world’s largest rainforest housing at least 10% of the world’s known biodiversity. This may not …

As our guides were both from areas, a visit to a local community was arranged to get a sense of how they (and other communities in the area) live. The community that we visited was the Pilchi Community, located mere minutes from LaSelva EcoLodge. After docking, we walked along a path for about 30 minutes, the same trail that many students take to …

This will probably come as a surprise to few people, but Ecuador is a country that wears its equatorial location on its sleeve more than most. While Quito is technically not on this imaginary (and magical) line that intersects the world, it sure is not far away. Go just about 16 miles north of the city, and you will find not just one, but two …

The wake-up call from our Quito hotel came much earlier than I would have preferred, but it was hard to feel groggy or grouchy when you are about to be in a place like the Galapagos. Once again, security was a breeze and after a brief stop in Guayaquil (thankfully no transferring necessary) we were on the islands just 90 minutes later.

Our guide …

The flora and fauna are of course the main attractions of the natural world on these islands, but your guide will almost undoubtedly be the star of the “manmade” world on your Galapagos adventure. As I mentioned before, our guide on the Ocean Spray was Harry, who was also affectionately given the nickname “Loco” by the …

While these islands are chock-full of wildlife that you are often within an arm’s length of, it is certainly not a zoo, therefore there is no guarantee of any wildlife encounters. That said, you would have to have abysmally bad luck (I mean like lightning is about to strike you bad) to not see many of the iconic species. This means sea …