Destination: Ecuador

Birth of a Birder

Birth of a Birder Photo by Eva Holland

Eva Holland never got too excited about birds. But then she found herself gazing up at the sky in the Galapagos.

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World Travel Watch: Protests in France Turn Violent, Entry Fee in Venice and More

Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news

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World Travel Watch: Second Bomb Threat at the Eiffel Tower, Rabies in Bali and More

Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news

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World Travel Watch: Striptease at Uluru, Ongoing Strikes in Greece and More

Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news

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World Travel Watch: Violence Returns to Medellin, G20 Restrictions in Toronto and More

Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news

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World Travel Watch: Volcanoes in Ecuador and Guatemala, Violence in Rome and More

Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news

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Photo You Must See: Ecuador’s Tungurahua Volcano

Photo You Must See: Ecuador’s Tungurahua Volcano REUTERS/Carlos Campana
REUTERS/Carlos Campana

Ash, gas and molten rock spew from the Tungurahua volcano south of Quito, Ecuador, yesterday.


World Travel Watch: Robberies in the Bahamas, Kidnapping in Ecuador and More

Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news

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Given the Dire Economy, Should I Travel Overseas This Year?

Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel and the world

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And the Eco-Vacation Oscar Goes to ...

And the Eco-Vacation Oscar Goes to ... Photo by dagpeak via Flickr (Creative Commons).

Host Hugh Jackman and the losers! As part of a sweet “Everybody Wins at the Oscars!” deal, tour operator Lindblad Expeditions will host Jackman, all the non-winning acting nominees and best director nominees on a 10-day trip to the Galapagos, National Geographic Adventure reports.

I’m dying of jealousy, and not because I want to hang with Brangelina and the rest of the glitterati—but with the ancient tortoises and Galapagos penguins! Hope, too, that this announcement doesn’t mean a crush of paparazzi and crazed fans trampling on these fragile enchanted islands.

How about if Lindblad just sends me and my little footprints instead?


Happy 200th Birthday, Charles Darwin

Happy 200th Birthday, Charles Darwin From "HMS Beagle at Tierra del Fuego" by Conrad Martens (via Wikipedia)
From “HMS Beagle at Tierra del Fuego” by Conrad Martens (via Wikipedia)

Charles Darwin, author of the classic travel memoir The Voyage of the Beagle (oh, and that other book, too), would have turned 200 years old yesterday. To celebrate, the BBC’s David Shukman visited the Galapagos Islands, armed with a small Darwin library, and filed a series of compelling dispatches on how Darwin’s observations are holding up today.

A quick sample: “A giant frigate bird circles in the dusk sky. A lurid depiction of Charles Darwin adorns an arch outside our hotel. Once again, there’s a sea lion snoozing beside our table. It’s no longer a surprise. I must be evolving too.”


Video: How to Use a Machete

Far flung travel sometimes requires a little bushwhacking. Rowan Doff explains.

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Video: How to Sleep in a Hammock

Daniel Beck explains the ins and outs of taking a snooze in a swinging bed

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The Quichua Cacao Farmers Behind Kallari Chocolate

The $5.95 bars of rich, smooth Kallari artisan chocolate sold at Whole Foods come from an island on the Napo River in Ecuador’s rain forest. The Quichua people have been farming cacao for generations and then selling it, but now they’ve cut out the middleman and are making and marketing the chocolate themselves. The New York Times reports that they may be the only cacao farmers in the world who make and market their own chocolate.


Threatened Galapagos Considers Limiting Visitors

Photo by putneymark via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

We noted last year that UNESCO added the Galapagos to a list of endangered places, citing a sharp rise in tourists, as well as migrants seeking work in tourism. Now, the Los Angeles Times reports that the Ecuadorian government has begun sending migrants back to the mainland, and it’s considering a management plan that could limit the number of visitors to the islands “with strategies such as raising the entrance fee for foreigners to $300 or more from $100.”

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