Just south of the junction of highway 5 and the TPH (Transpeninsular Highway #1) one enters the Valley of the Cirios (church candles). The cirios, also known as boojums, are a plant endemic to only a small portion of the Baja peninsula.
After four extended winter vacations in Baja California starting in 2017, we’ve noticed how a place can be dramatically altered by several forces…development, local weather, and climate change. Because it’s a peninsula dividing the Atlantic from the Gulf of California by only a thin landmass, and threaded by only a few paved roads; it’s easy to spot the changes.
Paint Mines canyon wall in the afternoon light. I’ve lived in Colorado more years than I want to mention, and I hadn’t heard about the El Paso county owned Paint Mines Interpretive Park near Calhan, CO. A few years ago,...
Route from Vilcabamba to Quito along the Troncal Amazónia – the road from Loja to the Colombian border. I made reservations: the same mistake I’ve made before. What seems like a reasonable drive on the map turns into a long,...
The road over the pass to Cuenca, our next stop, is high and winding. From sea level in Guayaquil the road climbs to 11,155 feet before descending to Cuenca’s 8,200 feet. In 2017 excessive rains caused a huge mudslide, burying the highway. The road was completely closed for a few years and is now only partially open.
Leaving Baeza, the rainy season kicked into gear. Maybe early this year?
Back at the Quito airport we are reunited with our luggage! Then off for new adventures in Ecuador.
Clay lick in Ecuador’s Cuyabeno with Mealy parrot and many Orange-cheeked parrots. The reason we returned to Ecuador was to see parrots on a clay lick. In 2016 when we were nearby, the tours we found were too expensive. When...
Hoatzin group – exciting new birds for me. Pronounced “What seen” Note where the Cuyabeno area is in eastern Ecuador. We were on the eastern edge, near the Peruvian border. Most of the “Oriente” is covered by the Yasuni National...
Pick a week at the end of September, early October and you should find glorious colors in the Colorado mountains…just about anywhere.
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