Gorgeted Woodstar, Empress Brilliant, and Speckled Hummingbird

The smallest of the woodstars is the gorgeted woodstar. She has little white "boots" on her feet.

Hummers _ II

Sitting on an old couch under a canopy at the edge of the forest was a delightful way to spend the morning watching these hummers. This green-backed hillstar is just taking in the scenery.

Hummingbirds

Thus, we begin day 2 of our adventure. It turns out that we were the only ones to book this workshop. Thus, we are having a private tour and it is nice. Our guide, Javier, is very pleasant and quite knowledgeable. We had a lot of fun with him.

On our first full day under his guidance, we went down the mountain from Quito on the amazon river (east) side, near a small town called Baeza, to a small place (I don't know quite what to call it) named La Brisa. Here we sat under a roof 10-15 feet from the edge of the forest and a good variety of hummingbirds.

Hotel La Basilica Quito

After walking and riding through the rain, eating lunch at a nice little restaurant where we didn't really know what we were ordering, we headed back to the hotel to wait for our tour guide to fetch us.

Here you see the interior of our hotel. It is a converted house and this is the courtyard where, now, breakfast is served.

Basilica del Voto Nacional - III

Even though this place is quite modern in comparison with the other ones we saw, it is nicely appointed and, for a large stone church filled with unpadded seats, it is inviting.

Bacilica del Voto Nacional - II

 

I don't know it is technically a "vertical gothic" church, but it seems pretty vertical to me. Quite reminiscent of churches found in Europe.

Basílica del Voto Nacional - I

The last of the churches we visited is the Basilica del Voto Nacional, the Basilica of the National Vow. This seems to serve much the same function as the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

Two More Churches

Having been through full overload in the previous two churches, we found this much smaller one just down the street. It is the Church of the Tabernacle. It is indeed smaller but it is stil seriously ornate.

The Church of the Society of Jesus

Just when you thought the last church was over the top, you walk into the Church of the Society of Jesus. This place is clearly the work of a group of people with lots and lots of money.