Long-tailed sylph, Green Crowned Brilliant, Speckled Hummingbird, Peruvian Racket-tail

This iridescent tail belongs to the long-tailed sylph, a most impressive bird. I love the little tuft of white feathers at his butt!

Peruvian Racket-tail, Green Crowned Brilliant, Speckled Hummingbird

I know that I keep posting the same birds repeatedly, but this racket tail is one I especially like. It is so different from the sorts of hummers I'm used to seeing in the US.

Bronzy Inca, Peruvian Racket-tail

The bronzy inca is another frequent visitor to our lure.

Green-Backed Hillstar, Gorgeted Woodstar, Bronzy Inca

The green-crowned brilliant is a frequent visitor to this flower.

Bronzy Inca, Violet-fronted Brilliant, Green-Backed Hillstar, Peruvian Racket-tail

These bronzy inca hummingbirds are not brilliantly colored like some of the others are, but they are elegant performers.

Green-Crowned Brilliant, Violet-fronted Brilliant, Bananaquit, Bronzy Inca

I know that I'm repeating the same bird often from one blog entry to the next (just wait until I get to the Galapagos Islands...), but these really are amazing birds. The colors of this violet-fronted brilliant are just stunning.

Bronzy Inca, Green-Crowned Brilliant, Peruvian Racket-tail, Violet-fronted Brilliant

Compared to most of his relatives flying about the flower, this bronzy inca is rather drab looking. But he is still an aerial acrobat extraordinaire.

Gorgeted Woodstar, Empress Brilliant, Racket-tail, and Swallow-tailed Hummingbirds

This flower is one that the gorgeted woodstar really liked. he kept coming back for more.

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.

A Bit More of the Church

This view of the organ loft really shows that almost no surface in this place is left unadorned.

San Francisco Catholic Church, Quito, Ecuador

Today we begin the blogging of the journey that E and I just returned from: following in the footsteps of Charles Darwin and visiting the Galapagos Islands. As you will see, many wonders were found (and photographed). Our adventure began with a long day getting to Quito, Ecuador by way of Houston. Counting the 4 hour layover in Houston, it took about 12 hours.

Police Museum

On our last day in Vancouver, we took an uber to the Police Museum and found a place filled with interesting artifacts and photos. The really interesting stuff we were not allowed to photograph: the old autopsy room filled with photos and specimens from autopsies. It was really amazing.

One of the cool bits was this old traffic light, one of the first installed in the city in 1928. That's the year that my mother was born. How's that for a coincidence, eh?