6 Ways to Experience Ecuador

Cabin in the Clouds

About 80 miles from Quito, this eco lodge in the sky is owned by 12 campesino families, who are regenerating 1800 acres of now-protected forest. Santa Lucia Cloud Forest Reserve offers lodge accommodations as well as beautiful wood-and-glass...

Tree of Life

In just 10 years, the cloud forest surrounding Santa Lucia Lodge (near Nanegal, Ecuador) is coming back to life. Before the area came under protection in 1988, logging, hunting, and farming were widespread.

Now, second-growth trees mix seamlessly...

Inter-Species Playtime

There are not many places in the world where you can capture three distinct species in a single frame. In the Galapagos you can, from just a few yards away.

I especially liked watching (and photographing) the way very distant relatives interacted....

Baby Boobies

While it appears that this blue-footed boobie mother is regurgitating fish for her chick, she's actually just pretending, probably trying to get my group to take pictures and move on. Just because you can get within feet of animals in the...

Galapagos Sunset

The sun looks even better when it's dropping behind a volcanic island in the Galapagos Archipelago. I took this photo aboard the M/Y Eric, operated by the sustainably-minded cruise operator, Ecoventura (http://www.ecoventura.com/home.aspx).

Volcano View

Who knew this view of Pululahua Volcano exists from a hotel bed just 30 minutes outside Quito. Not many people, which I discovered on a recent visit: http://www.afar.com/afar/staying-on-the-edge-quitos-volcano-hotel.