As we started to consider our options for our first trip of 2026, we sorted with a world of options. I am certain we would have been happy with a number of the choices we considered, but for many the draw back was getting there. Since we had a relatively limited period to time we did not want to spend a good portion of it traveling and returning from our destination. Consequently we limited our search to traveling in or near our current time zone. Also since we were still in early spring after what was for Kentucky a 'long' winter, we did not want to travel north. Still with two continents to choose from, I was looking for perhaps a different type of adventure. At this point I started to explore photography tours. For the past decades, my camera has been an essential element of my travel gear, but outside of our trip to Tanzania in 2024, the photography has been an off shoot of the journey. Often times it was me wandering away from the group because something caught my eye. A second lesson I took from our trip to Tanzania is how much we enjoyed photographing the birds. So with a hint of a direction I started to explore 'bird photography tours'. In this day and age, I am still shocked to find truly crappy commercial websites. Therefore when I find one the shines it gets my attention. Thus started my experience with Photo WildLife Tours. There a number of other sites that caught my attention but after a numbers of unanswered requests for information, I was so impressed when Photo Widlife Tours responded the next day. Daniel, one of the owners of the company and our guide for the first half of the trip, walked us through our options and we booked a private trip to Ecuador. While Daniel was certain the trip to Ecuador would not disappoint, he felt there itinerary in Columbia was a potentially better experience. After looking a the recommendations for travel on the US, Canadian and Australian State departments, this was just a little too much of an potential adventure. The decision was also bolstered by our prior visit to Ecuador in 2024. From our official day one this was a very different experience. I don't this I have been on 'vacation' were sleeping in late was 6am. And outside of being on safari in Africa have we spent at much time on dirt roads. But we were rewarded many fold seeing around 200 species of birds with some chance encounters with a mountain tapier, Andean fox and bears. Also between Lindsay and myself we took almost 18,000 photography. Much in the same vein as our experience in Africa, I felt around 40% of my shots were average or above quality. Still you can only have a limited number of shots of the same species of bird. So of the 11,000 shots I took I culled it down to just under 600 with my favorites numbering the top 2% of my pictures. Not surprisingly hummingbirds do take up a somewhat disproportionate number of those top spots but who can begrudge the amazing wonders of nature. We had such an incredible experience that we are hoping later this year to join Photo WildLife Tours on another adventure -- Thank you so much to Daniel and Juan Carlos for a truly memorable trip!!!