Before visiting Karajía, we thought we had a pretty good sense of what we were going to see. Like most people, we’d seen the photographs: a small group of towering figures perched high on a cliff, their painted faces staring out over the valley. It wasn’t until we...
We’re long past calling ourselves beginner birdwatchers, though we still hesitate to say we’re professionals. Yet when I count how many years we've been doing this seriously, I was surprised. Birding became more than a passing interest when we lived in Quito, Ecuador,...
We respectfully acknowledge that the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuges sits on the ancestral lands of the Nisenan, Southern Maidu, Valley and Plains Miwok/Me-Wuk, and Patwin Wintun peoples. These communities have cared for and sustained this region for countless...
Anyone interested in the rich, cultural history of the Chachapoyas region will likely find themselves in Leymebamba, Peru. Though most will stop for only a couple of hours to visit the local museum and maybe catch a bite to eat. We want to encourage visitors to stop...
While on our big trip from Bogotá to Lima, we heard about lots of potential problems crossing the border from Colombia into Ecuador. It was just after some of the worst waves of Venezuelans attempting to cross the very same border and there were rumors of long lines...
The Fiestas de Quito always felt a little hard to enjoy when we lived in Ecuador’s capital. It was a deeply local celebration — the kind where every neighborhood threw its own party, and no one was promoting it to outsiders, let alone tourists. Still, one year stands...
