Humming Birds in Ecuador - John Kaye. Date of travel: Nov 2005
I have just returned from an amazing trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. I wanted to share one highlight - observing tens of humming birds feeding in a woodland grove. Here is my diary entry: We spent a day amid the cloud forest of Mindo; a moist, cool, lush forest of trees, epiphytes, mosses, lichens and ferns where shrouds of mist drift slowly across the steep slopes hiding and revealing peaks and saddles in the mountains. We settled onto benches in a woodland grove and spent an hour watching hundreds of humming birds feeding at man-made feeders. When we arrived we were aware of thrumming noises in the air around us and the occasional streak of vivid colour but as we settled down with our binos trained on the feeders, the most extraordinary sight unfolded. The air thrums and where there had been empty space there appears a hummingbird. Its body is held perfectly still next to the feeder while its wings beat so fast as to be a blur about its back. Its eye is a tiny pinhead of dark intensity as its tongue flicks back and forth into the hole in the feeder, glistening with false nectar. They move in a blink from one space to the next, never still for more than a couple of seconds and one replacing another like a conjuring trick. An ever changing array of tens of tiny birds dance in the binocular's optic and all the while our guide sat beside us whispering wonderfully exotic names; “there’s an Andean Emerald, that’s a Violet Tailed Sylph, that one’s a Fawn Breasted Brilliant, oh look there – a White Whiskered Hermit!� And so the iridescent dance continued with mesmerising intensity until we were forced to break the spell, stand up and walk away. It was am amazing trip arranged by a UK company called Rolling Earth Travel Ltd - you can find the details here -http://www.rollingearthtravel.com/ Tour Operator: Rolling Earth Travel Ltd

Cesare Francorsi. Date of travel: Jul 2005
Amazing... So much to do... I was there for a month and a half and didn't do half the things I wanted to do... The picture I'm posting here is from my trip to Banos. My brother and I rented dirt bikes for a day and went all around the mountains. We went so high up that at a certain point our bikes barely ran due to the lack of oxygen. It was amazing riding through cows, llamas, little old Indian ladies carrying huge loads on their backs, and little excited Indian kids who would chase us. There is plenty more to be said about Ecuador, which was probably my favorite trip ever, but I dont know where to start or stop... too much. Tour Operator: me

Robyn Duke. Date of travel: Nov 2003
When in Ecuador I would really recommend going to the markets, particularly the ones at Otovalo and Saquisili. They are the most interesting of places and superb for watching the local people and the culture of the country. Otovala sees more tourists and has lots of exquisite handicrafts to sell along with the local stuff, while Saquisili is very local. People come from all around the region to sell and buy - the animal markets are not for serious animal lovers, but are also extremely interesting and usually take place first thing in the morning - I could have bought a llama for about £22! It is also quite sad to see how poor and desperate some people are - little old ladies sitting in the square with a small handful of peppercorns to sell and struggling to count out the change. Definitely go and spend time taking it all in.