Back-to-back 3000 mile trips, hypermiling & not

[all_about_the_glide]

It will be a big adventure...my Brother's place in Ibarra, north of Quito, to start, then a trip to Mindo (northwest of Quito) to check on the old growth Cloudforest reserves his foundation manages and work in the reforestation areas my company is helping to finance through the purchase of carbon offset bonds. It's there, near the little town of Tandayapa, at one of his partner's micro-hotel that standing on the patio over 25 species of hummers have been listed...maybe that's the day record if there are over 120 species total . I will find out soon enough. From there we head to the coast and the poor man's Galapagos (trips to the Darwin Islands mucho $$$$).

This will be my fourth trip, but my first as a neophyte birder.

btw...it was a hypermiler's nightmare...massive subsidized-petrol induced conjestion (dirty diesel is still well under $2/gallon) and pedal to the metal whenever there is an open road ...last time I was there.

[SentraSE-R]

I visited Ecuador in 1995, seems like a long time ago. We started in Quito, but our main focus was indeed the Galapagos Islands. We found a tour company that took us to the westernmost islands - Isabella and Fernandina, to see the Flightless Cormorants. Highlight of the trip was snorkeling with Green Sea Turtles and Galapagos Penguins.

I remember seeing a hummer with 8" tail in a park in Quito. It was called the Black-tailed Trainbearer. It had a green relative with a 5" tail that I saw in a nearby village.

Have a good trip/