Galapagos and Amazon -Feast for the senses (and stomach)

Knock at the door comes at 5 am - long before sunrise. Boat half hour to parrot clay licks. Whole lot of patient waiting. While others peer expectantly over the rail of the shelter / blind, I nap on a bench and look up occasionally at the bat clinging to the underside of the roof.

Two more stops for parrot watching then back for lunch.

The …

Who'd have thought we'd see nearly 50 different colorful singing birds by noon. The clouds and occasional sprinkles helped extend the birds morning activities while we peered down from the cable-tower walk above. I can see how some people would worry about their safety walking a hundred feet or more up across a simple cable bridge. I had to …

My mother got her chance to watch early morning birds after missing yesterday's cable walk due to food illness. Almost in a state of frenzy due to how quickly the birds entered and departed the tree top we climbed up via the second most rickety looking wooden stairway system I've ever walked.

I kept my eyes on the rotted wood connections while …

Canoe across lake, walk a mile, 2 hour power boat ride, pick-up taxi, flight to Quito, bus around town on tour, then late night flight and home. All within 24 hours.

The most exciting of day's events was the boat ride. Due to recent rain, the water was way up so the pilot brought us through some sketchy side streams that were much more …