To the equator, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands

South America here we come! Fred and I have always been wildlife buffs and addicted to the Discovery and Animal Planet channels. Whenever we get the chance we try to find time to explore the great outdoors and find wildlife for ourselves. Since we have a year between the college tuition bills of our two sons, we thought that this would be the perfect 30th anniversary gift to each other. We've never been to South America and are excited to immerse ourselves in the culture of the Ecuadorian people. Fred will get a chance to practice his Spanish and I'll practice drinking some of that good Chilean wine. First we will explore the Cloud Forest of the Andes, searching for exotic birds, bugs, and other things that slither and crawl. Then it's on to the Cotopaxi volcano, the worlds highest active volcano, where we hope to ascend to just 14,000 feet of its near 20,000 foot summit. Next we are very excited about exploring Darwin's theory of "Natural Selection" on the Galapagos Islands.  On the top of my watch list is the blue-footed booby and Fred is in search of the white-tipped shark. We hope you enjoy traveling with us...maybe we'll spark the interest in you to travel to this part of the world.