I have visited a number of big cities in South America including Bogotá and Cartagena in (Colombia), Lima and Cuzco (Peru) and Quito (Ecuador). While Cartagena, located on the Caribbean Coast of Colombia, was utterly charming and romantic, I would choose Quito as being the most beautiful city overall. Located at about 9,200 feet above sea level, Quito’s physical setting is absolutely magnificent - Ecuador’s capital city straddles a long narrow valley which is situated between two mountain ranges.

Old town Quito, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, reminded me a lot of me a lot of hometown of San Francisco, with its steep cobblestoned streets and old world charm. Walking through the old quarter, there are many streetside cafés and small shopping enclaves that feature a variety of very tasteful boutiques and art galleries. On the last night that I was in Quito, I hired a taxi to take me up to El Panecillo, the large hill topped by a statue of La Virgen de Quito. Located a couple miles outside the old city, the view from this vantage point after sunset is absolutely heavenly.

If you’d like to get a taste of Quito, I have put together a short slideshow video of about 3 minutes in duration. Quito es magnifico!

It’s been over a year since I returned from my epic 2½ week adventure to South America, where I visited both Peru and Ecuador. The memories will always be with me, as I have already produced two travel videos on PERU, and I have just completed a very artistic travel piece on ECUADOR. The new video features the older section of Quito - a UNESCO World Heritage site; Otavalo - two hours away from Quito and site of the most popular Indian artisan market in Ecuador (with the magnificent Mount Imbabura looming over the town), and Mindo- a popular mountain resort, and a longtime favorite with birdwatching enthusiasts. I am hoping to return to South America sometime next year (funds willing) – Brazil is next on my list.

Please note: The travel video on Ecuador is a wee bit long at 11 minutes but I suggest you watch it in its entirety. It is that good!

Have you ever totaled up the number of countries that you have visited in your lifetime? Furthermore, how many times have you traveled to each particular country? Breaking it down even further, what places/cities have you visited (with at least one overnight stay) in each destination/country? If you answer all these questions carefully, you’ll have put together your own TRAVELER’S RESUME.

Let’s start out with yours truly. My inaugural trip as a traveler happened in Dec. 1973 when I went to Mexico for 3 weeks. Over the ensuing 35 years, I have traveled to 25 different countries. If you look at my RESUME, you will see that I’m very partial to the tropics. Call me the tropical traveler if you may.

NORTH AMERICA:

• Mexico (18)

Puerto Vallarta (3), Mexico City (3), Guadalajara, Villahermosa, Merida,
Mexican Caribbean – Cancun (4), Playa del Carmen (2) and Tulum; Oaxaca (5),
Puerto Escondido (5), San Blas(2) Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo,
Baja California - Cabo San Lucas (4), La Paz and Loreto,
Costa Alegre - La Manzanilla (2) and Bahia de Navidad

CARIBBEAN:

• Jamaica (30+)

Kingston, Blue Mountains, Port Antonio, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Negril,
South Coast - Black River, Treasure Beach and Milk River Bath; Cockpit Country,
Mandeville and Christiana

• Barbados (6)
• St. Lucia (2)
• Antigua
• Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo and Sosua Beach

• Cuba

Havana and Varadero Beach

• St. Vincent
• Trinidad
• St. Maarten/St. Marten
• Bahamas

Nassau and Eleuthera

• Caribbean/Panama Canal Cruise

SOUTH AMERICA:

• Colombia

Bogota, Cartagena and San Andres Island

• Peru

Lima, Cusco, Sacred Valley including Machu Picchu, Amazon basin

• Ecuador

Quito, Otavalo and Mindo

CENTRAL AMERICA:

• Costa Rica (6)

San Jose (6), Heredia (2), Sarapiqui (2), Manuel Antonio (3), Dominical,
Pacific Lowlands – Carara ; Guanacaste – Canas and Palo Verdes NP (2), Tamarindo Beach (2), Ocotal and Los Innocentes; Jaco, Tortugero, Monteverde (2), Osa Peninsula, La Fortuna and Arenal (4),
Caribbean Coast- Cahuita (2) and Puerto Viejo; Wilson Botanical Gardens
(San Vito), San Gerardo de Dota and Nicoya Peninsula - Playa Samara

• Guatemala (2)

Guatemala City (2), Antigua (2) and Lake Atitlan

WEST AFRICA:

• Ghana

Accra, Gold Coast, Kumasi

• Togo

Lome

• Mali

Bamako and Mopti

• Ivory Coast

Abidjan

SOUTHEAST ASIA:

• Thailand (7)

Bangkok (7), Chiang Mai (5), Mae Sa Valley (2), Phuket (3), Koh Lanta, Koh Jum,
Koh Samui (2), Koh Chang (5), Pattaya (3), Khao Sok National Park, Chiang Rai Province – Doi Tung (2), Mae Salong (2) and Chiang Kong; Kanchanaburi (2),
Sangkhlaburi, Sakaeo, Sukhothai (2), Ayutthaya and Mae Hong Son Province-Pai (2), Soppong and Mae Hong Son (2)

• Laos

Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Mekong River Cruise

• Cambodia

Siem Reap(Angkor Wat)

EUROPE

• England

London Area

Please note: Number in Parentheses () indicates the number of visits

Feel free to submit your Travel Resume here!

The Owl (Caligo memnon) at 6 inches wide is the largest butterfly in Costa Rica. While not considered as glamorous as the blue morpho or some of the other brilliantly colored species in Costa Rica, I think the Owl holds his own in the butterfly beauty sweepstakes. The upperside of the wings (when the wings are open) are two shades of brown – a creamy mocha with dark chocolate fringes. The hindwing underside pattern (when the wings are folded) reveals a large eyespot in the middle of the wing which superficially resembles the eye or face of an Owl, hence the butterfly’s name. There are various theories on the function of the large eyespot. One of the most popular is that the eye pattern confuses or scares away potential predators - mostly small birds or small lizards. I have observed this butterfly in two locales – La Paz Waterfall Garden in Costa Rica and Mindo Butterfly Garden in Ecuador.

Located at 9,000 feet above sea level, Quito - the capital of Ecuador- is one of the most beautiful cities that I have visited. Straddling a long and narrow valley, the city lies at the foot of the still active Pichincha volcano. Old Quito, a UNESCO world heritage site, has a lot of ambiance with its outstanding colonial architecture and steep cobblestone streets. Illuminated by the many street lamps in the area, the buildings in the old quarter have a magical golden glow at night. For an excellent panoramic view of the city, I recommend that you go to El Panecillo, the large hill topped by a statue of La Virgen de Quito. Located a couple miles outside the old city, the view especially after sunset is magnificent

Old Quito throbs with activity during the daylight hours, however at night almost all businesses are closed and the area is literally deserted with the exception of the police who are stationed at almost every corner and the occasional pickpocket who is looking for an easy mark. What must come as a shock to some people, the official currency in Ecuador is the same as the United States – the US dollar; this has been the situation since 1999. Bills come in various denominations - 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100. Quito is also very affordable – a delicious fruit shake or smoothie costs only 50 cents and a strong cup of coffee about one dollar. I didn’t see any Starbuck cafes at all, a welcome relief!

Comparing to Quito to Cusco in Peru - I liked Quito a lot more as it wasn’t overrun with tourists, street vendors, curio and souvenir shops.

After arriving at Hotel San Francisco in old town Quito, I asked the young man at the hotel reception desk “Where can I get the best exchange for American travelers checks?” He directed me to the bank around the corner, about a 5-minute walk. Once inside the bank, I surveyed the scene and there must been at last 300 or more people waiting in line. I had never seen anything like this before in my life. Two minutes later, I bolted out of the bank and returned to my hotel. Shaking my head, I told myself that there was no way ‘in hell’ that I was going to wait in a line like this - it would take at least 2 hours to get serviced. Back at my hotel, I told Fernando, the young hotel clerk, about the mob scene at the bank and asked him if there wasn’t somewhere else I could exchange the monies.

Fernando directed me to a currency exchange bureau about one block from the bank. As it was getting close to closing time, I hurried over to the bureau. Presenting my travelers checks to the clerk, I asked him in my best Spanish - I would like to exchange some American Travelers checks? He asked me how many? I replied three hundred USD. He proceeded to cash my checks, giving me $294 in US dollars and explained to me in Spanish that there was a service fee of 6.00 ($2.00 per check). Shaking my head, I told him in broken Spanish that I did not want US dollars but the local currency. He shook his head, and insisted this was the proper exchange. I kept pleading that I wanted the local currency. In response, he said, “ Senor, I am giving you the local currency” shooting me a strange look. It was then that it dawned on me that the US dollar is the official currency in Ecuador. I was a little shocked to say the least. When I returned to the hotel, I did a little research on the Internet and discovered that the US dollar has been the official currency in Ecuador since 1999. Too bad, I didn’t do my research before I arrived in the country.

I live close to San Francisco, a city that has a reputation for excellent Italian restaurants. Over the years, I have been to a number of these restaurants to have a pasta dish and to be honest with you, I have been very disappointed. Either the sauce is nothing to write home about or the pasta tasted like it came from Safeway. Believe it or not, the most delicious pasta dishes that I’ve had in recent memory was in Quito, Ecuador, upcountry Thailand and in Barbados of all places. Who would have of thunk?!?! In Quito, the name of the restaurant was Spaghetti, an upscale eatery located in the Mariscal tourist district. I was pleasantly surprised - the vegetarian penne pasta had a very delicious herbal-based sauce, and mixed in with the pasta was spinach and cooked mushrooms. Muy sabroso…The cost ? About $7.00USD.

In Barbados, the restaurant was located close to the Casuarinas Beach Club in the upscale resort district known as St Lawrence Gap. The owners were a middle-aged couple from Sicily, and Mama Mia that lady cooked up a very delicious pasta dish for me…

Too bad that in San Francisco Bay Area, nothing can compare to these two wonderful culinary experiences….

Entering the Mariposas de Mindo (Mindo Butterfly Garden), I was greeted by the resident security guard, Nero, a beautiful charcoal gray 3 1/2 year old Neapolitan Mastiff who weighs 135 pounds. Despite Nero’s imposing presence, he’s a very lovable at heart and acts like a free spirited, playful puppy. In dog years, he’s a veritable teenager. I must say I really hit it off with Bruno as he posed for a number of photographs for me. Nero seems so gentle and harmless, but at the same time I would hate to get on his bad side. I can only imagine if some customer gave his owners a bad time, Nero would intervene and utilize his ample skills as security guard, with force if necessary. In my opinion, Nero is doing a very good job

Nero’s employer, Mrs. Rosie Gomez de la Torre, is the owner and founder of the Mariposas de Mindo. Born in Ecuador, Rosie was brought up in the United States only to return to her native country some 15 years ago. Settling down in Mindo, Rosie and her family started the Butterfly Gardens sometime in the late 1990’s - it became Mindo’s first eco-attraction. In this beautiful little garden, you’ll find over 20 species of butterflies in cultivation. The best time to observe the butterflies is early in the morning as they energize themselves by basking in the sun. If Nero, the resident security guard, is in a good mood, maybe he’ll pose for some pictures for you too!

Rosie and her family are ardent environmentalists in Mindo, a town where ecotourism finds itself clashing now with greedy developers. On the road to the gardens, you’ll see two road signs with environmental messages.

I was walking slowly along the hiking trail in Mindo, a small mountain resort in Ecuador at 4000 feet above sea level, following the lead of Julia, my veteran bird guide. Suddenly she stopped and pointed somewhere up into the densely forested hillside - “Look up in the fork of the tree, on the left down branch, you’ll see the Masked Titter?” I asked her “the masked what?” Showing me the picture of the bird in her book “Birds of Ecuador”, she replied “It is the Masked Tityra, one of the flycatcher species that resides in Mindo”. With a considerable effort because of a bad neck, I looked up into canopy trying to spot this masked bird. Now, I am familiar with flycatchers from my days as a birdwatcher when I was a Zoology major at UC Berkeley many years ago. I know that many flycatchers love to perch on the edge of a tree branch or on a telephone wire, hopping off from time to time to grab a flying insect which is the staple of their diet. After 5-10 minutes of searching for this bird (trying to follow Julia’s direction), I finally spotted the medium sized flycatcher in my binoculars. He was a whitish and gray bird with a black mask and reddish facial markings along with a black tail and hindwings. I wanted to watch the handsome masked one for a while, but Julia prodded me to continue up the trail so we could see more birds.

During the 4 hour hike, Julia diligently pointed out to me at least 25 different species of birds including four species of Tanagers, a very colorful group of fruit eating birds - the lemon rumped tanager, the blue gray tanager, the gold tanager and the gray headed tanager - all very common “garden variety birds” in the Mindo area (especially the lemon rumped and the blue gray species). There were several species of euphonias, wrens, nuthatches, some very melodious (and noisy) warblers and at least three species of tropical hummingbirds. In addition to the Masked Tityra, we also sighted three other species of flycatchers - the very common Social Flycatcher, the Black crowned Tityra and the Black Phoebe. I sort of stopped in my tracks after seeing the Black Phoebe, a bird that I used to see on a regular basis in Northern California. I didn’t know that this flycatcher species ranged as far as the tropics. At least seeing him made me feel at home. I also heard a bird song that I was vaguely familiar with - that of a Grosbeak. I studied the nesting behavior of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak during my senior year in college; the tropical Grosbeak’s song was very similar.

In addition, with Julia’s diligence and persistence, I was able to see the very exotic looking Squirrel Cuckoo and the very uniquely named Immaculate Antbird. I guess that this antbird gets his name for not leaving a mess after he devours his meal -which consists mostly of ants - or maybe he is excellent at grooming himself. Who knows? We also sighted two species of woodpeckers, including the medium sized Scarlet-backed woodpecker (a male and female pair) that Julia claimed was the only pair that she had seen in the area, to which I retorted there must be some other individuals of this species in the general vicinity. After hearing my comments, she shook her head at me in disdain. We also heard (but did not see) at least two different species of Toucans calling in the bush - the fiery-billed Aracari and the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan. As we were walking up the trail, we passed by many holes that pockmarked the barren hillside on the left side of the road. Julia explained to me, that these holes were the nests the Blue crowned Motmot and most them had been abandoned some time ago. Julia spotted a Blue crowned Motmot high up in the canopy, but I gave up trying to spot it because of my bad neck.

I must admit that unlike most of Julia’s customers, I was not an avid birdwatcher nor was I trying to add new birds to my life list. With my best birdwatching days behind me, I would call myself as somebody who has an interest in the broad spectrum of natural history. Needless, to say, I was very rusty at spotting birds in the wild with a pair of binoculars. Oh well, despite the language problems - Julia’s English wasn’t the greatest and my Spanish was even worse - I would say I truly enjoyed my birdwatching outing. Maybe I should do it more often….

The following story is true - nothing has been fabricated or adulterated despite
the incredible nature of what transpired.

After a night of carousing on a festive holiday weekend in honor of the town’s patron saint, Papa Mono was returning to his hotel on his last night in Mindo, a small mountain resort in Ecuador popular with birdwatchers and young adventure enthusiasts. On the way, he stopped to chat to one of the vendors located on the town square. In a happy go lucky mood, Papa Mono bought a small handmade coin purse - his only souvenir from his trip to Ecuador. As he scrutinized his new trinket, he noticed a mottled brown and white moth fluttering in the lights. The moth landed on his new coin purse, apparently attracted to either the fabric or the bright colors.

Navigating his way back to his hotel over 1/4 mile away, Papa Mono passed by throngs of late night revelers who were gathered around the town square. Amazingly throughout this journey ,“the little hitchhiker” remained firmly attached to the new coin purse. Arriving safely at his hotel room, Papa Mono insisted on taking a picture of the little creature in exchange for providing a free ride. After all nothing is free in life! Turning on the light, he placed the coin purse with the clinging little hitchhiker on one of the wooden beams and rushed to get his camera and tripod. Just as he was setting things up for the picture, the little hitchhiker flew away into the rafters. Damn ingrate creature…

After waking up early in the morning, Papa Mono noticed that the little moth had planted itself on the wall in the entryway to the room. After carefully placing the coin purse next to the moth, he grabbed his camera and viola, he was able to get these dramatic pictures of “the little hitchhiker”.