#artist mindo

[mindoqr]

sketches with these dudes

Oooh I also made an animation with a location from Lacey's game (though it’s hard to call it animation, but ok) I've been doing animation for a long time, but I still haven't developed my skill☀️

👾📸

[xtruss]

The World's Best Destinations For Bird-Watching! Slow Down For Epic Spectacles of Nature in These World Wonders For Birding.

SOUTH GEORGIA 🇬🇪 ISLAND — Half a million king penguins, each standing three feet tall, pack shoulder to shoulder in mesmerizing colonies on this hundred-mile-long, glacier-studded island–reached by two days of sailing east of Chile’s Cape Horn. Millions of smaller seabirds nest on the island’s tussock-covered slopes, partly thanks to the largest-ever rat-eradication effort, completed on South Georgia in 2015. While drinking in the abundant birdlife, raise a glass to Ernest Shackleton at his final resting place. Photograph By Eric Chen, Getty Images

CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY, USA 🇺🇸— The narrow peninsula at Cape May acts as a bird funnel, bringing in songbirds during their spring and fall migrations. At dawn on a good day, legendary Higbee Beach offers front-row seats to a feathered fashion show: A steady procession flies by, each bird intent on finding a place to rest as it encounters the natural barrier of Delaware Bay. With a little luck, you can see 20 species of warblers, each in its own colorful costume. Photograph By Jay Cassario, Getty Images

PANTANAL, BRAZIL 🇧🇷 — Everyone gets spoiled by nature’s extravagance of Brazil's Pantanal, especially during the July-to-August dry season when three-foot hyacinth macaws and hulking jabiru storks seem to lurk around every corner. Cruise the famous Transpantaneira road or hop a boat downriver where, amid oodles of birds, you might glimpse a jaguar lounging on an exposed bank. Photograph By All Canada Photos/Alamy Stock Photo

BROOME, WESTERN AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺 — Roebuck Bay, on the coast of Australia’s enormous Kimberley wilderness, might be the shorebird capital of the world. More than 100,000 sandpipers, godwits, knots, tattlers, plovers, curlews, greenshanks, and turnstones gather here each year before embarking on a marathon journey northward: Many will not touch down until reaching China five days later. In early April, you can relax on the beach at sunset to watch flock after flock take to the skies. Photograph By Luc Hooganstein, Buiten-Beeld/Minden Pictures

NEW GUINEA 🇬🇳 HIGHLANDS — The jungly interior of New Guinea, largely unmapped until the 1930s, astonished early explorers with its birdlife—and the area remains a birdwatcher’s wonderland. Dazzling birds-of-paradise appear to have sprung from a modern artist’s wild imagination. A courting male Raggiana bird of paradise looks like a quivering, pastel-colored feather duster caught in an invisible pinball machine. Photograph By Tim Laman, National Geographic Image Collection

KAKUM NATIONAL PARK, GHANA 🇬🇭 — A series of hanging walkways, draped 130 feet above the ground, gives bird’s-eye views of Ghana's pristine West African rain forest for those brave enough to sway into the canopy. Seven treetops are connected by spans totaling 1,150 feet—almost a quarter mile of vertiginous crossings. It’s possible to find 300 species of birds in the park, including the little-known Fraser’s eagle-owl, the wide-ranging melancholy woodpecker, and nine different hornbills. Photograph By Wietse Michiels, Alamy Stock Photo

MINDO, ECUADOR 🇪🇨 — Embraced by cloud forest almost a mile above sea level, the enclave of Mindo in Ecuador is a honey trap for hummingbirds. Spend a morning at one of the valley’s many sugar-feeder stations to admire these turbocharged gems—with evocative names like shining sunbeam and glowing puffleg. While you’re at it, indulge your own sweet tooth with a bar of heavenly, shade-grown local chocolate. Photograph By Karine Aigner, National Geographic Image Collection

HULA VALLEY, FOREVER PALESTINE 🇵🇸 (ILLEGALLY OCCUPIED BY THE FASCIST WAR CRIMINAL ZIONIST 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗, ISRA-HELL) — At the geographic crossroads of Eurasia and Africa, upwards of a billion birds may pass through Israeli airspace each fall before crossing the Sahara Desert. Wetland restoration projects have been so successful that many birds now spend the winter, too, and “The Terrorist , Fascist, Apartheid Illegal Regime of the War Criminal Isra-helli 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗 Government” feeds corn and seeds to tens of thousands of common cranes in the Hula Valley to decrease crane damage to agricultural fields. A movable hide lets viewers sneak into the midst of this real-life spectacle. Photograph By Doron Horowitz, Redux

KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH AFRICA 🇿🇦— On safari, the birds are just as outrageous as other, furrier wildlife. Behold the secretarybird, a terrestrial eagle that uses its exceptionally long legs to stride across the African savanna and stamp on venomous snakes. Or the lesser jacana, equipped with such spindly toes that it can balance on floating lily pads. While others pursue the Big Five in South Africa, set your sights on the tiny Southern cordon-bleu—and, bonus, you’ll spot all the megafauna along the way. Photograph By Mdumbleton, Getty Images

NAGALAND, INDIA 🇮🇳— Several years ago, when conservationists visited the remote province of Nagaland on the border of India and Myanmar, they discovered more than a million Amur falcons gathering in dense roosts near Doyang Reservoir—apparently a launching point for the falcons’ nonstop, 13,000-mile migratory flight to Southern Africa. At its peak in October, this stopover may hold the world’s largest concentration of raptors. Photograph By Caisii Mao, Nutphoto/Getty Images

[nedsecondline]

Streetart – Eye cough @ Mindo, Ecuador

Eye cough @ Mindo, Ecuador Location: Mindo, Ecuador Artist: Alex Eickhoff aka Eye cough USEFUL LINKS: Eye cough in this blog | Website | Youtube | …Streetart – Eye cough @ Mindo, Ecuador

[f1-disaster-bi]

Master-post of Fics

Just a little master-post of fics to make it easier for people to access!

Series

Unexpected

TW for mentions of homophobia

Lance surprises everyone by going to McLaren for 2021 and becomes teammates with Lando, who Lance is sure hates him.

Of Max & Lando

Lando gets himself into a mess involving falling in love with his fwb, and asking Reddit for relationship advice

Räikkönen Entertainment

Someone once told Kimi that owning his own Entertainment company would be fun: they fucking lied

Little Bean au

A/B/0

Lando is an omega in love with the alpha couple that help him through his heats. He doesn't expect to get pregnant with Max and Daniel's child, and he doesn't know how to tell them about his Little Bean

Colourful You

TW for violence/injury

Lando is a tattoo artist based in a small English town when he meets F1 drivers Lance and Max who he ends up falling in love with. Problem? They're already a happy couple when he meets them

Ghost-boys

Callum, Mick and Marcus are ghost hunters who encounter a mischievous Victorian ghost called Charles during on of their hunts

Hangover Club

A group of drivers and ex-drivers get together for drinks and it ends in hungover shenanigan's

Sebastian is dying, Jenson confused. How did Daniel end up naked? Why is Kevin shoving bread in Hulk's mouth while he sleeps? Did Nico Rosberg kidnap Roscoe? Why does Mark have food? And oh god, did someone kidnap Lance?

No one knows. Everyone is confused, but at least they're having fun!

Uncle Mindo au

TW for homophobia

Lando and Michael fall in love with the help of Lando's very adorable niece, Clara, before starting a journey of their own to have a family

Chaptered/Oneshots

Lance/Lando

Put A Gun In My Hand

TW - violence, murder, torture

Lando had worked tirelessly to get promoted as a detective on Squad Nine, one of the best crime squads within the city. Every waking moment had been spent with this as his goal, and now he was finally here. Newly promoted, new partner, and a chance to prove himself.

Everything had been going to plan until one chance meeting

Chaptered: 21/21

When I Look At You (My Mind Goes Blank)

Lance, left-winger for the Montreal Canadien's, is invited to be a guest at the Canadian Grand Prix and wave the chequered flag when he bumps into someone who leaves him feeling butterflies in his stomach and makes his brain loose it's filter

Music Sounds Better With You

Lance and Lando meet at a concert and become gig buddies, what they didn't account for was the feelings developing between them.

Afraid of What We've Become (Undone)

Lance didn't know how things spiraled out of control so quickly. He had thought he was protecting him, but instead he had destroyed everything he had loved and he didn't know how to fix this.

Michael/Lando

I Need A Little Miracle -

A/B/O, NSFW

Lando was happy with Michael, but after their last shared rut and heat he starts to wonder if Michael wants more than Lando is able to give him

Kept on The Inside (Sometimes A Shadow Wins)

TW for crash/injuries

A red flag.

Lando's friends were deeming not telling your friends or family about someone you were seeing as a red flag, and the words hit too close to home.

Sebastian/Jenson

Soft, Sweet Delights

NSFW

Five Times Jenson buys Sebastian a bra plus the one time Sebastian buys one himself

If the Stars Allign...Will You Ever Be Mine?

Jenson had known what he was getting into the moment he had first kissed him, but that didn't mean he was prepared for falling in love with Sebastian, or how much it would hurt knowing he was just keeping Kimi's side of the bed warm until he decided he wanted Sebastian back?

Suited Up

NSFW

Sebastian expected a lazy Saturday until he sees pictures of Jenson in the Williams race suit.

A New Beginning

Jenson is just a smuggler. Sure he is the fastest in the galaxy, managed to pull off the Kessel run in 12 parsecs, and has the fastest ship, but he never expected to be hired by the rebel alliance to retrieve the captive Prince of Alderaan.

Or that the captive Prince would be so infuriately handsome and cheek

Chaptered: 1/3

Misc. Pairings

What is Love? (Balcony, Rain, Coffee, Thuderstorm)

Antonio/Marcus

It was a sleepy Monaco afternoon. Warm and overcast, rain pattering against the balcony where Antonio had left the door open slightly. Just enough for the gentle breeze to tickle his feet and to hear the sounds of the rain

Grid-Dad's Anonymous

Welcome to Grid-Dad's Anonymous, also known as Fernando, Sebastian and Checo taking over Kimi's driver's room, villa or hotel room for weekly meetings about how hard it is to be a Grid-Dad to a bunch of twenty-something year old toddlers with alcohol and baked goods.

Peace in The Rain

Lando/Esteban - A/B/O

The rain drizzled down around him as he made his way through the paddock to his motorhome, but all Esteban could think of was what was waiting for him when he got inside.

All That Glitters

Callum/Mick ft Pierre/Charles, Antonio/Marcus, Esteban/Lance, Seb/Lewis

Callum rocks the club as Ruby Glitters, his drag persona four nights a week. Playing up his sibling rivalry with Charles on stage, and enjoying his found family with the drag club run by Sebastian and Lewis. However a certain blond German from his mechanical engineering class keeps showing up at the club every night he works, eyes always on Ruby.

Chaptered: 3/3

Instincts

Pierre/Lando -A/B/O

Lando wanted to be the one Pierre ran to when he won another race, when he showed Red Bull that he was more than a seat warmer to be replaced whenever they wanted. He wanted to shower him in kisses and drown in Pierre’s scent, and it terrified him.

Prompts

Little Books of Us

Book One Book Two

Two collections of prompts for various Formula 1 pairings

Pack Prompts

A/B/O prompt collection

[elvisbayake]

MITAA RELEASES ANOTHER HIT DISING LUNGA CREW

MITAA RELEASES ANOTHER HIT DISING LUNGA CREW

Leave alone how adroit Mitaa Kisauni is, the artist carries bile in equal measure! This is depicted in his new single dubbed Mindo Nalunga. Thanks to his creative mind that keeps him adrift. Recently the artist in his ‘Risto Ya Ndombi‘  threw some shade to fellow Malindi based rapper Ndombi and now in Mindo Nalunga he keeps his promise he made to Lunga Crew who took it to social media on January…

[corvidopolis]

Available today! Preorder is available for the next 14 days or until 50 are gone! Get one while they last. These tees were illustrated by Oregon Artist Chris Adams after a recent trip to Mindo, Ecuador. If you love bears, mushrooms or cloud forests, you might just want one of these tees! (at Corvidopolis)

[onfourfeet-blog]

Plate Billed Toucan - Our first ever birdwatching tour.... was simply: INCREDIBLE. This beautiful guy was Spotted in mindo cloud forest, Ecuador. . . . #toucan #bird #birds #nature #tropical #art #jungle #krauskopfarassari #drawing #artist #illustration #twiceasnicephotography #poolephotographer #junglebook #monkey #cakesmashandsplash #bournemouth #animals #birdsofinstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz4Y5ZsAXfJ/?igshid=148zn92oijltx

[charllieeldridge]

Looking Back on 2019: A Year Of Highs and Lows

And just like that, 2019 is a wrap. It seems like every time I sit down to write these reflections posts, I can’t believe just how fast the year went. As I’m writing this article, I have my furry friend (Spare Dog) at my feet, my furry Nick next to me (he needs to shave!), and I’m looking out to the sea and mountains beyond. 

This past year was filled with adventurous travel to new and repeat countries, highs and lows on the business and personal front, love and laughter on the relationship side and lots of fun here in Grenada. So much has happened, that I had to consult my iPhone photostream to remember all of the amazing things we got up to!

Images of mountains, colonial towns, ancient sites, and tropical islands dominate the feed. It’s been a pretty great year. Every 12 months has a feeling, a vibe, or some sort of big event that stands out. For 2019, I’m dubbing it “A Year of Highs and Lows”. And you’ll see why after reading — the year was amazing, and then seemed to plummet at the end. 

Here’s a recap of the year, and what we have planned moving forward into 2020.

Travelling around the Galapagos was a highlight of our year!

I’ve been doing these roundup posts for quite a few years! Here are the ones from previous years if you’re interested:

2012: A Very Memorable Year

2013: A Year of Firsts

2014: Started and Ended With Mexico

2015: A Year of Spontaneity

2016: A Year of Big Decisions

2017: A Roller Coaster Year

2018: A Year of Achievements

Celebrating our 12 year anniversary!

Achieving Goals Set For 2019

At the end of each yearly roundup article, we set some goals that we want to achieve in the coming new year. This is what we wanted to achieve in 2019:

Being more active (going hiking more and joining yoga again).

Exploring more of Grenada

Continue to create and provide useful information on our website

Help out (volunteer work, donations, environmental causes)

I’m happy to report that we accomplished those goals!

Being More Active

This year, we got back into “hashing” here in Grenada, and while we didn’t join the hikes every weekend, we did do quite a few. I’ve also joined yoga and attend classes two times a week, most weeks. And, we now do much more walking then we used to, plus some at-home workouts as well.

Nick and I both did a couple of detoxes this year, one with natural pills, and one simply with smoothies and fasting. We actually just finished up a two-week booze detox and smoothie diet which is what we previously did when we were feeling a little heavy.

We thought it was a good idea to slim down and dry out before the holiday season! Nick lost 10 pounds, and I lost 8. In case you missed last year’s post: “We Got Fat – Dealing With Blogger Bod“.

When we’re living somewhere, we find it hard to be active. When we’re travelling, it’s much easier as we’re always out walking around new cities, hiking to new sites, or just wandering aimlessly. Since we’re not getting any younger, we’re putting health and wellness at the forefront of our goals.

Hiking is our favourite way to stay active

Exploring More of Grenada

Even though we’ve spent 5 years in Grenada (on and off), it always amazes me that there are still new places to discover. This year we explored a couple of new hikes and walking trails, offtrack beaches and some great new restaurants that have popped up.  

On top of just finding new places to walk and eat, we found ourselves attending numerous events — wine festival, Carnival, music festival, and chocolate festival. Plus, we explored the sea by sailboat on numerous occasions, did some deep-sea fishing, and Nick checked out the underwater world on scuba. 

We also celebrated 3 birthdays with staycations here on the island. One on a cacao farm, in a treehouse cabin, surrounded by nature. Our four-legged friend also joined in on that bday weekend! My 35th birthday was celebrated with live music, beach bar drinks, and lazy pool days at one of the hotels here, plus a private sunset sail. Nick’s 35th was recently spent enjoying a dinner party, followed by a night at a boutique seafront hotel in a cute bungalow. 

Yep, I’d say we did Grenada justice this year.

Sailing into 35!

Continuing to Provide Useful Content on Our Website

As with every year, we are always creating new articles, videos and posts on our social media channels to hopefully inspire and assist others when it comes to making money on the road, and travelling the world.

In 2019, we published 157 articles on Goats On The Road, filmed and edited 20 YouTube videos and posted on social media 237 times!

This year, we also kicked it up a notch and created a digital course to help bloggers progress from hobby bloggers to a profitable business. And by we, I mean Nick. 

Nick planned, filmed, and created the SEO Made Simple online course — spending hours to ensure it was detailed, professional and most importantly, actionable. Each of the 300 students who have purchased the course are also in Nick’s VIP Facebook group where he shares his wisdom and advanced methods for SEO. It’s been very rewarding for both of us to see the students’ progression!

Because Nick created that course, we were invited to be a part of the Paradise Pack in 2019. For the past 3 years, we have promoted the pack (because it’s filled with awesome products), but this year we were invited to have our course in the bundle of online resources.

We were ecstatic!

Chatting with Travis and Jason from the Paradise Pack was a lot of fun

We did an hour-long live chat online with the creators of the pack (Travis and Jason), with over 3,000 people watching at a time! We then did an hour+ podcast with Jason, where we spoke about our lives as digital nomads and travellers. Chatting with online colleagues is always a lot of fun, and we love this style of interview.

Special!

If you’re interested in learning some of our SEO secrets, but aren’t sure if you want to purchase the SEO Made Simple course, we’re offering a free 1-hour session, here.

Helping Out

Finally, our last goal for 2019 was to help out more. In 2018, we were able to do quite a few things in Grenada, but this year we wanted to do more, both at home and away — there’s always more that can be done.

As with last year, we sponsored an eight-year-old girl from the orphanage so that she could attend a four-week summer camp here on the island. Her weeks were filled with arts and crafts, history and culture, sports and activities, plus a couple of outings to the beach to learn about marine life and the environment. I hope that this summer camp continues for these children as it’s a great initiative.

We also assisted an artist in his “Beautify Grenada” project where he sources out blank walls around the island and looks to brighten up the community by painting unique images on them. “Our” wall that was painted is one that we drive by every day. It’s is in front of a preschool and is now home to colourful turtles, balloons, trees, children, and of course, goats! I hope this talented artist continues his pursuit of beautifying the island. 

Plastic is a problem worldwide. Our eco-blogging, travelling friends from The Dharma Trails put together a “Green Up Grenada” project to bring awareness to the plastic issues and to clean up the beaches (and underwater).

Nick heading out on a dive to cleanup the underwater world

We participated in the clean up of La Sagesse Beach (323 pounds of garbage was collected), and the scuba diving clean up at Grand Anse Beach where 150 pounds of garbage was pulled from the sea. This was a great campaign and hopefully it raised more awareness about the unnecessary use of plastic here on the island.  

Utilizing Our Home as a “Base”

A month after ringing in the New Year in Grenada, it was time for us to pack away the household items we had accumulated over the past year, load up our backpacks and hit the road. Every February, the owners of the house we rent return to spend 5 or so weeks here. This means we have to vacate — which is OK as we go travelling again!

We had been pretty much stagnant for most of 2018, and not really utilizing our home as a base, which was the whole point of settling here — we planned to stay, and then travel, and repeat. Instead, we felt a pull (is it actually called a “pull” if we don’t go anywhere?!) to stay put.

This year, we were ready to properly make use of our base. Live, travel, repeat. It was time to get back out into the world. And, we actually ended up doing quite a bit of travelling this year — 5 months to be exact. 

Eating bbq chicken in the sea with Spare Dog, after hiking – a great day!

Travelling for almost half of the year and staying still for the rest seems to be the perfect balance for us. It allows us to have exciting adventures, sample new foods, and learn about new cultures, but also gives us enough downtime to rest, work and catch up with friends. 

I don’t want to jinx it, but after travelling for 10 years, and blogging for 7 of those years, could it be possible that we’ve finally found a work-life balance that suits our lifestyle?! 

Having explored Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Colombia in 2017, we knew we loved the continent of South America. So, when considering where to go in February, we took a look at the map and decided on Ecuador and Peru for our next adventure…and what an adventure it was.

We were offline for this entire trip and had a great time backpacking around these two countries. You can read about our thoughts and highlights of this trip in our roundup article here.

The hiking around Otavalo was amazing!

Read Our Ecuador Articles Here:

12 Things To Do in Quito, Ecuador

Mindo: the Complete Travel Guide

Otavalo: The Ultimate Guide for Travellers

Hiking the Quilotoa Loop: A How-to Guide

Galapagos Islands Travel: A Guide To Travelling Independently

Press Trip Partnerships

Going on press trips/FAM trips isn’t our main blogging income model, but when we’re invited somewhere that resonates with our travel style and interests, we happily accept the offer.

This year, we were invited on 6 press trips and had an incredible time exploring new destinations — all of which were a great fit. Sure, we had been to these countries in the past, but the provinces, cities, and islands that we visited were new to us.

Nova Scotia

Even though we’re Canadian, we’ve seen very little of our home country. So when the Nova Scotia tourism board invited us to experience what the little province has to offer, we jumped at the opportunity to see the east!

Jagged coastline, hiking routes, fishing villages, fresh seafood and welcoming locals — this is Nova Scotia. We picked up our rental car and had an incredible time road tripping around the province for 3 weeks, while experiencing all the fun things to do in Halifax, and beyond.

With so many places to visit and adventures to have, we would definitely return and explore more of the culture, cuisine and nature. 

Read more about our experience in Nova Scotia on the blog, here.

Beautiful nature in Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island

Indonesia

This island nation is one of the countries we visited on our first backpacking trip in 2009. We then returned to live in Canggu, Bali for a couple of months, and Nick went on a scuba diving trip with the Indonesia Tourism Board.

This time around, we were invited by Lotus Hotels, to experience their dive resorts and share our findings with you. 

We travelled to 4 different destinations over the course of 15 days — Gangga Island in North Sulawesi, Birie Island in Raja Ampat, Candidasa on Bali Island and the island of Gili Trawangan. Even though we were on a trip that was planned for us, visiting these destinations (some of which are quite offtrack) was an incredible experience. 

Sunsets on Gangga Island were amazing

The majority of the trip was centred around the epic scuba diving and snorkelling that Indonesia is known for, which was perfect for Nick! The accommodations were lush, the natural beauty was out of this world (especially in Raja Ampat!), and we enjoyed visiting villages, dining on fabulous food and interacting with the welcoming residents of each island. 

The beauty above and below the sea, the friendly people, the tasty cuisine and the overall vibe are the reasons we find ourselves returning to Indonesia. There’s just something magical about this country, and we’re always happy to come back. 

Drone’s eye view of the FAM islands in Raja Ampat

In between Indonesia and Japan, we hopped over to the Philippines for our friend’s wedding. We enjoyed some downtime with friends, a lovely wedding ceremony, and some exploration of Siquijor Island by scooter!

Japan

Just a few days after being invited to Indonesia, we received an offer to travel to Japan and check out some of the more offtrack prefectures (which are similar to provinces/states). In 2017 we visited Tokyo, Takayama and Kyoto and enjoyed the culture shock, cuisine and people of Japan. 

This time around, we were going to experience more of the natural beauty, plus an offtrack city and learn about the culture of soaking in a sento (public bath).

Four different tourism boards and associations invited us to visit their destinations, which were all places we hadn’t been to yet — Akita and Aomori in the Tohoku Region, Okayama City, Nakatsugawa City and the Tokyo Sento Association.

Hiking the Nakasendo Trail in Nakatsugawa, Japan

We lined it up so we could visit all destinations during just one trip to Japan. There were a couple of free days during our 16-day trip, including some time in Tokyo to hang out with our friend Jason from the UK who we met while backpacking around Central Asia in 2013!

This time around, we felt as though we learned much more about the intricate culture, and were able to dig a little deeper into the history, customs and cuisine. There’s much more of Japan to see and we can’t wait to return. 

The Ups vs. The Downs

We arrived home on a high. We had just enjoyed an incredible couple of months travelling around Asia, we reconnected with some great friends on the road and our website was doing well in terms of partnerships, traffic to the site, and income.

We caught up with our friends (including Spare dog) when we got home, reflected on the trip and the year as a whole and were excited about the holiday season. More importantly, once we had finished our deliverables for the Indonesia and Japan campaigns, we had lots of plans for how we were going to improve our business — we were excited!

But, between the time we arrived back in Grenada from Asia (November 9th), to when this article was published (just over a month later) it feels like all of our amazing accomplishments, adventures and “ups” from the year have been snuffed out. 

A beautiful sunset from our house

Goats On The Road was one of many websites that took a huge hit during the November Google algorithm update. What does that mean exactly? Well, Google changed the way it shows content to those who are searching.

So let’s say for example you were searching for “things to do in Thailand”, rather than having us show up as #1 or #2 because we’re a well-respected travel blog with long, informative content, we have now dropped down and you are being shown more “authoritative” sites (ie: big companies).

Why did this happen? We don’t know. Which is incredibly frustrating.

Our traffic has dropped and we’re scrambling trying to figure it out. Traffic affects our income and partnerships, and how many people will see our message, which is why it’s such a big deal. One thing is for sure, we will continue to create useful and informative articles for you and hopefully, Google will be happy with us once again!

This update pretty much affected sites across the board in the recipe and travel industries and while we still have a lot of traffic, it’s difficult to see it go down overnight and knowing there’s nothing we can do to fix it.

However, business and money are trivial in comparison to what happened 4 days ago.

From the time I was basically finished writing this article, to the time it was published, our friend Spare Dog passed away. This has been incredibly hard on us as even though we were his petsitters, we thought of him as our own, and spent so much time together.

Spare Dog will be loved and missed

Spare was the reason we came to Grenada in the first place back in 2014 and was the reason we kept on returning. He was the first (and only) dog I ever loved — no others will compare. This year has ended with sadness for us, but we’re trying to focus on the fantastic life he led, and all the adventures he enjoyed — he explored more of Grenada than anyone we know!

This little furry character made an impact on everyone he met and thought of himself as human, rather than animal. From waterfalls and private islands to offtrack trails and brewpubs, Spare went everywhere and everyone knew him. 

Nick and I are grateful for the last 10 days we had together with Spare at our home, and that his parents returned from the UK in time to say goodbye to their sweet boy. We’ll miss Spare (Doodle) Dog dearly and Grenada won’t be the same without him.

haha, this photo is my favourite! Excited for an adventure, Spare?!

Moving Forward into 2020

I’ve been speaking with blogging colleagues and travel friends who all have their 2020 calendars filled with plans. Currently, for us, there are no plans — which I think is great! No work commitments planned, no flights booked, and nowhere we have to be. 

We’re thinking of 2020 as a blank slate. It’s a fresh, pure year waiting for us to colour in the time slots as, and when, we want. 

For me, 2020 means “vision” and “clarity”. And while everything looks a little bit blurry at the moment due to the stress of the past weeks, once we move into the new year I’m certain some definition will start to appear. 

I have a feeling there are some epic changes on the horizon and we’re excited to see where we go, and what we end up doing!

Wishing you an amazing year ahead! (photo taken during Nick’s birthday surprise)

Since this is a travel and lifestyle blog, we’ve always been honest and upfront with you, with the hopes that you’ll appreciate the real people behind the words. Rather than being just a generic travel website, we think personality and personability are an important part of sharing and connecting with our readers. 

As we head into 2020, Nick and I want to sincerely thank you for following our journey this past year, and we’re looking forward to sharing our upcoming adventures (whatever those may be!) with you in the new year.

We hope to inspire you to travel to some new destinations and maybe even find work doing what you love while on the road. We’d love to hear from you as well, so please comment down below, or send us a private email. 

Wishing you health, joy, and love in the coming year. 

Dariece & Nick (the Goats)

The post Looking Back on 2019: A Year Of Highs and Lows appeared first on Goats On The Road.

Looking Back on 2019: A Year Of Highs and Lows published first on https://travelaspire.weebly.com/

[mindoqr]

lazy, crooked, but cool 😼📸

[photographerguide-blog]

Audubon Society Announces 2018 Photography Winners And It's Every Bird Nerd's Dream

New Post has been published on https://photographyguideto.com/must-see/audubon-society-announces-2018-photography-winners-and-its-every-bird-nerds-dream/

Audubon Society Announces 2018 Photography Winners And It's Every Bird Nerd's Dream

The Audubon Society announced winners for its 2018 Photography Awards and if you’re not already a bird enthusiast, then prepare yourself to be convinced otherwise.

Three winners were picked from more than 8,000 entries submitted by photographers from all 50 US states and 10 Canadian provinces for the annual contest’s ninth year. Winners were chosen based on the image’s technical quality, originality, and artistic merit, with the grand prize winner receiving $5,000.

IFLScience spoke with the Audubon Society, who says this year’s contest is in celebration of the many bird species protected under the 100-year-old Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), which they say is “the most important bird conservation law” under attack by the current administration. 

“It’s important to remember that maintaining healthy populations of birds to photograph requires the thoughtful application of conservation policies like the [MBTA] and the Endangered Species Act,” said Sabine Meyer, contest judge and director of photography for society. “At the end of the day, we hope people look at these photos and leave with a renewed passion for birds and appreciation for the natural world.”

The treaty protects more than 1,000 migratory birds by making it illegal for anyone to possess, transport, or sell the bird, its nests, or eggs. It’s meant to help offset the tens of millions of birds who die each year from human-made infrastructure, oil spills, and pesticides, according to the New York Times. However, the Department of the Interior has moved a different translation of the act that lets companies not engage in preventative measures so long as they are not intentionally trying to kill species of migratory birds.

Audubon has designated 2018 as “Year of the Bird” to bring attention to the century-old act, which the society says protects many of the birds in this year’s winning photographs.

So, without further ado, here are the winners:

Grand Prize Winner: Great Gray Owl in Teton County, Wyoming

This photo of a Great Gray Owl in Teton County, Wyoming, took home the grand prize. Steve Mattheis

Professional Winner: Black-necked Stilts in California’s Merced National Wildlife Refuge

Black-necked Stilts in California’s Merced National Wildlife Refuge was awarded the Professional Winner. Gary R. Zahm

Amateur Winner: Long-tailed Tilt in Japan’s National Park

A Long-tailed Tit. Photo photographed in Japan’s Akan National Park won the amateur category. Diana Rebman

Youth Winner: Cobalt-winged Parakeets in Yasuni National Park, Ecuador

This photo of Cobalt-winged Parakeets in Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park was awarded the youth winner. Liron Gertsman

Professional Honorable Mention: Red-winged Blackbird in Merced National Wildlife Refuge, California

This photo of a Red-winged Blackbird from Merced National Wildlife Refuge in California received the Professionable Honorable Mention. Donald Quintana

 Amateur Honorable Mention: Wood Duck in Gwynns Falls, Maryland 

Amateur honorable mention goes to this photo of a Wood Duck in Gwynns Falls, Maryland. Scott Suriano

Youth Honorable Mention: Bald Eagle Talons in Boundary Bay, British Columbia

Bald Eagle talons pictured in Boundary Bay, British Columbia, was given honorary mention in the youth category. Liron Gertsman

Youth Honorable Mention: Fawn-breasted Brilliant in Mindo, Ecuador

Fawn-breasted Brilliant captured in Mindo, Ecuador took home the award for Youth Honorable Mention. Liron Gertsman

     Read more: http://www.iflscience.com

[noslink]

i feel like my regrets could eat me alive. i feel like my regrets could make me bleed to death.

i’ve been a disappointment...nothing else. there is no other word that could sum me up more succinctly. they believe in me and i fail them. that’s always, always how it’s been. the people i admire, the people i look up to, continue to encourage me and give me opportunities and push me to move forward and i never deliver. i no longer believe in myself.

my parents used to. my friends used to. dwight used to. robert used to. irwin used to. les used to. andre used to. kyle used to. alyssa used to. reem used to. mike used to. my brother used to. my sister used to. kalani used to. mindo used to. mark used to. my family used to. my classmates used to. my coworkers used to. my boss used to. my teachers used to. then they realized the truth about me. it feels more and more like the only truth about me is that i was put on the earth to hurt people. it feels like that’s all i do, hurt people, in one way or another. i disappoint them, i alienate them, i bother them. vincent the nuisance. vincent the bother. vincent the disappointment. i don’t deserve to hurt people anymore. and as i sit here, alone and cold and lonely, driving myself deeper into my own misery, the world and the people i love continue to lose faith in the person they thought i was and they just move on, they forget, they find better people, more reliable people, stronger people, and the best they can do is pity me for a moment and distance themselves as they can only hope i pick myself back up again. i won’t. i’ll disappear. the promising young artist that everyone said would go far. the big fish in a small pond. the kid who deserves a better school in a better place. the kid who’s “too smart” for his surroundings. all fucking lies. all cruel, evil, twisted lies. why would they say that to me? i know my worth. it’s nothing. all i feel is pain and regret and numbness. and i want people to understand that i’m not happy, that i’m painfully, viscously unhappy, that i’m achingly sad, that my heart feels like it’s sinking all the time, that i feel like i can’t fucking breathe when i start to think about you, about him, about myself, about my failures and my embarrassments and my whole life. my passion is gone. my happiness is gone. there is no light.

[brido]

Mike and Vicky Go to Ecuador (Day 6)

On the morning of our final day in Ecuador, we were supposed to go to Mindo to see cloud forests and butterfly gardens. I’m still not exactly sure what that means but it sounds magical. Unfortunately a mudslide blocked the highway that goes from Quito to Mindo so we had to come up with a Plan B.

That plan ended up being pretty good too. We ate breakfast at yet another good place and headed to Foundation Guayasamin and the Chapel of Man, the former estate and museum of 20th Century Ecuadorian artist, Oswaldo Guayasamin. We also got a pretty good look at Ecuadorian warplanes zooming past in some military exercise that made Ecuadorian Twitter blow up with rumors and jokes about an invasion by Peru. I was like, “Oh no.” But mostly, “Wait, Ecuador has an air force?” Because I don’t know things.   

I’d honestly never heard of Guayasamin before this trip either, but as we looked around the outside of his rap video mansion overlooking Quito I couldn’t help thinking, “This is where a fucking artist lived?” But honestly, isn’t that the secret goal of every artist - to die in a sprawling castle and then turn it into a museum to honor their lives? I dunno. Maybe not.

The first thing the tour guide had us do (after telling us no photos were allowed) was head to the living room to watch a video of Guayasamin explaining why he wanted to turn his home into a museum. It was essentially the ramblings of a self-important old man concerned about his own legacy. And his purported motive for the museum was to keep his ever-so-culturally-important masterpieces in his native Ecuador. I wasn’t buying it yet.

The first thing about the tour I found interesting was that Guayasamin had a pretty impressive private collection of pre-Columbian art. When we went to Olga Fisch Folklore a couple days before, the upstairs of the shop was also a private museum, which also included pre-Columbian art. And I believe both museums claimed that Fisch and Guayasamin collected the artifacts after just sorta finding them on the streets around Quito. That sounds bananas to me. But then again, just outside the Temple of Man, there was an accidental archaeological dig they supposedly uncovered in 1999 on the same day Guayasamin died. So maybe you could just walk around the streets of Quito in the 30’s scooping up 400-year-old statues. Weird. 

The bedroom of the mansion also had a glass display case of 50-or-so pre-Columbian ceramic statues (possibly Moche?) all in various sex positions. One was straight-up body contortion. I feel like if our tour guide was worth a shit he would have talked about them. Instead he smiled awkwardly like everyone had that same display in their house. Yes, my personal erotic pre-Incan collection strictly features “the sledgehammer”, “the wheelbarrow”, “butt stuff” and of course, “regular.”

Before we entered Guayasamin’s work studio, the guide showed a wall of photos with the artist and various political leaders. They included multiple with Fidel Castro and one with Mao Zedong. The tour guide pointed to Chairman Mao and asked if I knew who it was. I did. Then I asked, “So, Guayasamin was sympathetic to communists?” And the tour guide just goes, “Socialists” and kept walking. Like, he was fucking correcting me. I was really confused. One, because those guys are definitely communists. And two, because Rap Video Mansion.      

Everything changed when we watched another video. This time it was of Guayasamin painting a portrait of flamenco guitarist, Paco de Lucia. And it was fucking incredible. As the sounds of de Lucia’s furious guitar played in the background, Guayasamin seemingly matched that virtuoso intensity, slabbing paint onto his canvas and chain-smoking cigarettes until a stylized rendering of the master appeared on the canvas. I turned to Victoria and said, “Okay, that was awesome.” And it didn’t hurt that the actual painting was right behind us. I also started to worry that I might like flamenco guitar music now.      

The tour of the mansion concluded with a small gallery of Guayasamin’s work, as well as a gift shop. Apparently the tour guide told my sister he remembered her from the last time she was at the museum and that, this time, she could leave two tips. One for the tour we just had and the second for the last time she didn’t tip. Looks like he’ll be asking for three next time. 

“Socialists.”  

Next we walked a few yards from the socialist rapper mansion to Guayasamin’s Chapel of Man, which was a more extensive collection of his works. He’s pretty fantastic, to be honest. If I wanted to be a dick, I’d say that it looked like he saw a copy of Picasso’s Guernica once and spent the rest of his career trying unsuccessfully to copy it. But I guess I also felt the same way about Carlos Paez Vilaro when I also visited his quirky mansion/museum in Uruguay. Like, “Boy, he sure does like Picasso.”  

That’s not to say I didn’t like either artist. I think both are fantastic. So I don’t know if I begrudge both men for getting wealthy by being derivative or if, in this case, I just wanted to punch the tour guide and found the artist to be pretentious and hypocritical. I mean, the name of the building is the Chapel of Man. And there was supposed to be an eternal flame dedicated to those who died defending human rights. In front of his goddamn rap video mansion. Ah, forget it. People are complicated. And the dude’s paintings were badass. We all bought a bunch of shit in the gift shop.

“Socialists.”

On the way back home, we stopped to take some photos of some more pretentious art of the more self-aware variety. There is a group of vigilante graffiti artists in Quito known as “Accion Ortografica” who go around with red spray paint and fix the grammar and punctuation on other graffiti in town. It’s kind of genius and it’s even spawned copycat groups in other cities. Apparently, the crew consists of dudes who go by Dieresis, Tilde and Coma. Which is nerdily hilarious brilliance. Here’s a Guardian article about them from 2015.  

Oh, and my sister just told me that the underwear tagger’s name is Apitatan. And a quick Google search of him quickly informed me that I had vastly underrated him. His murals are amazeballs and I instantly followed him on Instagram. It’s even possible that the fact he has that much ability and still tags quickie drawings of men’s underwear around town makes me like him even more. However, since he doesn’t feature any of his undie pics on his website or anywhere else, I can’t really be 100% sure they’re the same person. But I do want to believe.   

The last thing we did before heading off to pack was a visit to the neighbor’s house for a home cooked lunch of seco de gallina, which was requested by my sister. It’s Ecuadorian comfort food - chicken stew, rice, avocados and plantains. My mouth was all, “Aww fuck yeah.” And the neighbor told us a probably-apocrvaphyl story about the origins of the dish’s name (since ‘seco’ means dry and the dish is a stew) involving English speaking foreigners asking for a second chicken. Or something. Whatever. The shit’s delicious.  

In the neighbor’s house, there were also tons of original artwork of Eduardo Kingman, another Ecuadorian great and a contemporary of Guayasamin. The neighbor told us Kingman was the better of the two. I asked how an artist could possibly afford to buy what would have been a $20 million mansion in Los Angeles. And the neighbor said that after Guayasamin gained notoriety in the art world, nobody could buy any of his artwork for less than $35,000. Plus, according to the tour, the dude was just cranking out paintings. The one I saw of de Lucia took under an hour.

So my next logical question was how Guayasamin could square away having all that wealth with his SOCIALIST leanings. “We used to say Guayasamin was a watermelon,” the neighbor laughed, “Red on the inside. Green on the outside.” And there it is.    

In summary, Ecuador is one of the most diverse and fascinating places I’ve ever visited in my life. As frozen in time as a Quechua-speaking tour guide, still angry at the conquistadors. As modern as a crossfit gym in Cumbaya. And that’s still with us just scraping the surface of the overall country. My sister and her family are the best people in the world for showing us as much as they could in a little under a week.  

We saw an overwhelming fuckload of roses, multitudes of llamas (and even one to eat), we haggled with indigenous weavers, I had the best meal of my entire life while braving the altitudes of an active volcano, tested my fear of heights in a neo-Gothic basilica, did DX crotch chops on the fake equator, got diarrhea from dead baby bread and got sunburnt at a volcanic spa. I still want to see the Galapagos. And I do think Guayasamin deserves to be a little pretentious.

As Alexander von Humboldt once said, “Ecuadorians are strange and unique beings. They sleep peacefully amid smoking volcanoes, they live in poverty amid incomparable wealth and they cheer up with sad music.” I’m glad I finally made it there. But at this point, it was time for my wife and me to go off to see our attention-starved puppy in the normal altitudes of World-Series-crazed Los Angeles where we could finally breathe. Thus concluded Day 6.    

[unlatinoverde]

Quito. 6:30 pm. July 21st, 2017. 

‘Is there anywhere to eat nearby? I asked the receptionist upon check-in.

‘Yes, in the square about 100m away, but you shouldn’t go out alone,’ he replied in a serious tone.

‘What? Why?’ I demanded in frustration. After a long day of travel, I felt hungry enough to eat my fingers.

‘It’s not safe to go out on your own,’ was the grim reply.

‘Perhaps I can eat here,’ I ventured. At this stage, I was starting to feel desperate.

‘The restaurant’s closed, but I can sell you some snacks.’

Minutes earlier, as my taxi pulled up in front of the hotel, I had noticed that the street was empty. Now, looking at the selection of snacks in the glass cabinet beside the reception desk, I had to accept a harsh reality. My food choices were some packets of nuts, a few bars of chocolate and mineral water. It was going to be a long and hungry night. My trip to Ecuador was clearly getting off to a flying start (NOT!).

Quito: The Official Travel Advice 

The following is the official advice of the US State Department website:

Crime is a widespread problem in Ecuador.

Pick-pocketing, robbery, and hotel room theft are the most common crimes.  Tourists have been robbed at gunpoint on beaches and along hiking trails.  Passengers arriving at the Quito and Guayaquil airports have also been targets of armed robberies.

The advice then goes on to mention a few more minor issues such as theft on public transport, express kidnappings at ATMs, carjackings, sexual assault, violent assault, and the use of ‘incapacitating drugs’.

If that isn’t off-putting enough, then take a look at the UK Foreign Office website which includes these choice words about Quito:

Muggings and pick pocketing are very common. In Quito, take particular care in ‘La Carolina’ and ‘El Ejido’ parks, the districts of ‘La Mariscal’, ‘La Floresta’ and ‘La Marin’, the bus terminals and the old town including the main square and ‘El Panecillo’ hill.

Just about everywhere you might want to go in the city…

The question is clear: Should you go to Quito?

Old City

With my few nibbles and a bottle of water, I climbed to the roof of the hotel. My initial feeling was: What the hell am I doing here?

However, on the roof and despite my hunger, this quickly softened. The rooftops of a Spanish colonial city were visible all around me. In the distance on a hill directly opposite, bathed in a bright white light, shone the Panecillo. It is a symbol of Quito.

The next day I discovered a city that was hard to hate. Its streets provided hours of exploration- steep climbs, religious art, and exquisite colonial architecture. Quito became the first UNESCO World Heritage Site on the planet in 1978 and it was easy to understand why. Plaza Grande must be one of South America’s most impressive central squares. The benches between the palm trees and pink cherry blossoms proved to be the perfect spot to admire the imposing whitewashed buildings that dominate the area.

One of the best preserved colonial centres in South America

However, with so much more to see, it was impossible to stay long in one place.

Historic Centre 

Quito’s attractions clearly deserve a standalone article. But, amidst the incredible cultural offerings, two places stand out. La Ronda, a vertical street of brightly painted colonial buildings, could be one of the continent’s most charming urban retreats. Meanwhile, Casa del Abalado is a veritable celebration of indigenous culture. And these are only two of the many places to visit in the centre. In truth, I visited so many more.

Casa del Abelado showcases indigenous art

A quiet morning in La Ronda, Quito

Days in Quito followed a similar pattern: sightseeing, museums, cafés, and lots of walking. During the hours of daylight, the city was heavily policed, particularly in busy areas. After dark, those same streets would empty, the police would disappear and I would dash off to quickly grab a bite to eat. Nights were spent in my hostel. Locked in. Literally.

The New City 

Following a trip to the north, I decided to make a detour to Mindo. From there, I expected to visit Otavalo. However, Quito was on my route and it called me back. This time I stayed in the Yellow House in Mariscal Foch. Again, I was not disappointed. The New City was vibrant and modern, a complete contrast to Old Quito. Also, La Capilla del Hombre, reflecting the artist Guayasamin’s focus on indigenous suffering, must be one of my favourite art museums in South America. Despite all these positives, the area also had an edge. The German owner of my hostel warned me not to venture too far on foot. Quito, it seemed, could never feel perfectly safe.

La Capilla del Hombre is dedicated to the work of Guayasamin

What to Do

Should you go? I don’t know. However, I can say that I’m glad I went. In fact, I even hope to return. That said, it’s not the safest destination in South America. As a solo traveller, I felt more vulnerable there than I did in many other cities on the continent. Ultimately, it’s a choice between experiencing a stunning city and the potential threat to your personal security. Remember that most visits are trouble free, but look after personal possessions, and safety must always comes first.

Practicalities

The Old City is a great place for sightseeing, but it’s not without its problems. Rincon Familiar is a good spot for travellers looking for good value accommodation. The Yellow House, mentioned above, is safe, secure and friendly. Light sleepers should avoid it at weekends.

Quito is accessible by bus from destinations throughout the country. The new airport is about 45 minutes from the city. Travellers travelling to and from Colombia should look at this article to get an insight into bus travel between the two countries.

Should You Go To Quito? Quito. 6:30 pm. July 21st, 2017.  ‘Is there anywhere to eat nearby? I asked the receptionist upon check-in.

[corvidopolis]

This Spectacled Bear Limited Edition Tee is still available in the shop for one more week! Oso y hongos is from a pen & ink illustration by Chris Adams, hand printed by the artist at the Corvidopolis studio. Inspired by a recent trip to Mindo, Ecuador. ⚡️🍄⚡️ American Apparel 100% Cotton Tee in Heather Grey. (at Corvidopolis)

[teaandjay]

Ecuadorable

It’s really quite convenient when the name of the country you’ve just visited can be tortured into a useful blog title pun. But we really have just spent a lovely couple of weeks in Ecuador and thought we’d share a little of what we saw.

Although timekeeping on a big trip isn’t always that essential unless you’ve got friends to meet, South America has proved more than a little tricky on that score as the countries are just so HUGE. For example, Peru, the stop before Ecuador, is the size of France and Spain combined, so it takes time to get around. By contrast, Ecuador is a little bigger than the UK, so a speedy fortnight allowed us to see plenty of pretty cool stuff:

Cuenca

Travelling around South America, it’s hard not to be just a little impressed by the impact that the Spanish had when they popped over the Atlantic to do some good old fashioned pillaging 500 years ago. There are church-heavy towns everywhere, so it’s hard to truly stand out, but colonial Cuenca managed it. When we were there, some sort of festival honouring what could only be the patron saint of diabetes was taking place, with more sweet stalls lining the main square than could really have been necessary. Also, turns out that Cuenca is a centre for making Panama hats – pub quiz fans will know they’re an Ecuadorian thing, and only got the name Panama hat because that’s where they were shipped from, and the chaps digging the Panama canal wore them to work.

Baños

A town that’s styled itself as an adventure sports capital, albeit with quite nicely sedate PG-rated activities, Baños proved an excellent stop for a couple of days. 

One was spent on slightly rickety hire bikes wobbling down the road out of town. Along the way were waterfalls, which can be viewed from above by taking a ride on a tarabita, a little cage suspended from a zipline and powered by a pick-up truck engine. 

Day two was spent hiking up the lower slopes of the nearby volcano to reach the town’s treehouse, which has a big swing you can use to get a rather unique view of the valley below.

The Quilotoa Loop

Another country, another multi-day hike. However, instead of sleeping under the dreaded canvas, the loop’s two nights are spent in cozy hostels. The first of which, Lulu Llamas, had a spa, which was just about the perfect way to wind down after the first day’s trek. 

Winding its way from village to village, the trek has a pretty relaxed feel when compared to dragging ourselves up the Andes, but the hike’s big finish is no less special. 

Lake Quilotoa is a rainwater-filled crater of an extinct volcano, and is right up there with the nicest lakes we’ve seen all trip, made all the better by the fact we hiked up there with some of the nicest folks we’ve met in South America too.  

Quito

Ecuador’s capital is the sort of place where neither of us had any idea whatsoever of what to expect. Turns out, it’s rather lovely. Sandwiched in a steep-sided valley Quito is 60km long but only 10km wide, so it either takes ages or no time at all to get where you want to go. Its old town is beautiful, and we feel like we’re properly clued in to its charms thanks to a 4.5-hour walking tour that left no place unexplored. Quito is also home to a fab central market, where we ate platefuls of llapingachos – fried potato and cheese mash patties, accompanied by avo, salad and tasty meat. 

It’s also where the gallery and self-designed former home of Oswaldo Guayasamin is located. He’s  a top indigenous Ecuadorian artist whose work was inspired by Picasso. Genuinely moving stuff, and well worth checking out.

Mindo

Heading further north, we hit the cloud forest of Mindo. Sounding like something out of Star Wars, it’s actually a tiny town set deep in the middle of nowhere really. While we didn’t see any Ewoks, the main draw for us was hummingbirds. 

Our hostel was set in the woods, and the garden was lined with feeders which at least three different species of hummingbirds buzzed around each evening. We even went on a proper birdwatching tour, as you do, and met some slightly odd Texans who spend their days travelling the world taking pictures of rare birds. Each to their own…

Otavalo

Last stop before heading for the border, Otavalo is famous for having South America’s biggest handicraft market. That means it’s lined with endless stalls of tat, from ponchos to pendants; rugs to weird, knitted face mask balaclava things and much more besides. However, I shall remember it for a pretty basic Mexican restaurant called Taco Bello – and run by a nice guy who used for work for the Taco Bell fast food chain. Best taco I’ve ever eaten, hands down (unsurprisingly no pics exist as I ate them all too fast). Mexico has some big shoes to fill in a couple of months time.

Ecuador’s manageable size means it’s easy to see lots of different places in a much shorter time than with some of its oversized neighbours. It perhaps doesn’t have the equivalent showstopping sights of Peru et al nearby, but what it does offer is just very pleasant, and a nice breather before we tackle Colombia up next.

Tom

[shannon-bowley]

“Good books are a priceless possession, they reveal the minds of creative men and enrich life with fine experience.”

The above is writing seen on the walls of the Suzallo-Allen Libraries at the University of Washington Campus in Seattle, a favorite place I’ve visited a few times over the years.

Monumental endeavors…

It never ceases to amaze me what we don’t know about the world that we live in, and perhaps what is even more incredible to me are the very real, huge efforts of mankind in attempting to unravel and document so many aspects of life on our amazing little ball of earth and water. I’ve been lucky, or maybe curious enough to try and surround myself with voracious and inquiring minds. Many of those people I’ve somehow managed to befriend via the internet in some fashion.

I have vivid memories of sending e-mails out to scientists of all kinds as soon as I had access to the internet and every so often I was delighted to find the occasional response sitting in my typically dormant inbox. Science, for me, was a moment spent in taking a closer look at my surroundings or a book in my backpack. Understanding the world at large was always on my horizon. I’m pleased to say my habits have not wilted as I’ve grown older…quite the opposite, in fact!

Many people don’t see the potential in Facebook beyond it being something of a distraction, mere entertainment, and the way it tends to drag one into zombifying hours of useless clicking… ultimately to the benefit of advertisers. I’ve done my best to counter that habit, to put Facebook to use for personal research projects, for educating the greater public about the topics and subjects I am extremely passionate about, and to seek out opportunities to collaborate with other people trying to do positive things in all aspects of nature, conservation, and art.

One of these remarkable people is Ted R. Kahn, a man who has devoted decades of his life to studying amphibians, particularly poison frogs. He’s the Executive Director of the Neotropical Conservation Foundation, (NCF – Facebook Page) which he founded in 2005. He is also one of the editors and the illustrator of the recently published book I’m reviewing here, which I’d ordered a few days ago and have since had time to look over with James, with whom I was eager to share the book. We are both excited about it! Nature is full of little mysteries and this wonderful addition to human knowledge, Aposematic Poison Frogs (Dendrobatidae) of the Andean Countries (covering Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela) is a guide that will most certainly reveal many remarkable things about one of its many creations.

I should mention that my personal experience with poison frogs is quite limited – I can count on my fingers the times I’ve encountered them in the wild. I’ve no idea how many captive species I’ve seen in zoos or at the few reptile expositions I’ve attended; so I have only ever known as much as what I’ve absorbed in bits and pieces through the imagery and articles of scientific or fellow nature photographer friends, or read about on a whim now and then. In Panama, I’ve seen maybe two very different types of poison frog and only one in Ecuador!

All for sale.

Above: A number of captive poison frogs I’d seen for sale at a reptile expo in Seattle several years ago. I don’t know if they were all captive bred or wild caught or a mix.

Above: A wild, teal morph Dendrobates auratus. Guide Macedonio and I found her while hiking in Panama in 2014. I’d seen another poison frog up in the local national park, but accidentally deleted the photos I had taken as I hiked! :'(

The only poison frog I’ve seen in Ecuador, Epipedobates darwinwallacei (Mindo Poison Frog) photographed in Mindo in 2014. I’d had no idea they were there until they were shown to us, even though we often hear them nearby.

For whatever reason (perhaps lack of encounters), I hadn’t yet thought to buy a book all about poison frogs, but once I learned Ted was working on the illustrations for one (he would frequently share some on Facebook, which was very inspiring to me!) I kept an eye out for the day it was to be published.

The book is delightful, almost unexpectedly comprehensive, and very nicely put together by a great group of people who knew what they would expect from a good field guide and seem to have used those experiences to create something exceptional. It’s much more than a guide – in parts it feels and looks very much like a miniature textbook, with extra little photos and diagrams about various aspects of the art or history surrounding poison frogs.

Lovely landscapes and illustrations.

The book starts off with systematics, then details conservation efforts and the problems these frogs face in relation to man, reproduction, and then the bioactive alkaloids. Proceeding, we get details on the different genera and species that make up this large family. In the back we have a glossary, related websites that may prove useful, the bibliography, index and some blank lined pages for your own field notes. The inside of the back cover even has a ruler along the edge and instructions on placing frogs on it (in a plastic bag, to prevent the spread of disease) for measuring them.

One of the things I most enjoy about this book, besides Ted’s brilliantly lifelike illustrations, is the ample number of habitat photos for many of the species accounts. If you find yourself at home and unable to travel for some time, this book has a remarkable way of transporting you right into the frogs’ world. The landscape photos serve as windows into that world. I think this feeling is probably strengthened by any real-life experience one has in similar habitats, but it should prove very inspiring and informative to anyone who wants to see them in person in the future.

Chapter 4 is an in-depth explanation of the bioactive alkaloids in Dendrobatid frogs, written by  Dr. John William Daly, who I was sad to learn had passed away in 2008, and to whom the book is very warmly dedicated. I was lamenting the fact that I have no formal education on chemistry about a week ago and how because of that I was doomed to miss out on the more interesting details of these frogs’ evolution and survival methods, so it was great to find out that this book covers that in a lot of detail, including the medicinal uses of the alkaloids in modern times and traditionally by indigenous peoples. I’ll have to do some studying to really get the most out of it, but I’m very grateful to have a solid write-up to guide me along that path.

  Interesting stuff on alkaloids!

  The little chemical honey-comb looking things are still hieroglyphs to me, but that will hopefully change soon!

The setup for pages on each genus is pleasing to the eye and very thoughtfully compiled. We get details on the taxonomy and silhouettes of the species size range within the genus, with measurements. An extra little detail I enjoy seeing throughout the whole book is the color coded bottom corners and the strip at the top of the page, which makes navigating the book in a pinch much easier. The artist in me is also a big fan of the little frog icon tucked into the corner, it’s different for each corresponding genus instead of being one generic poison frog symbol. It’s little touches like that which tickle my fancy for books!

The species accounts are very detailed. Throughout the entire book, the writing is appropriately rich and precise while still being totally accessible to someone who is maybe just learning about these frogs. For anything that may leave someone unfamiliar with the terminology scratching their head, the glossary is there to assist. Several paragraphs are often given to the different aspects of each frog. Of course, some accounts are more detailed than others; many of the frogs are fairly newly described but there is really a wealth of information for a huge majority of them.

Again it must be mentioned how beautifully rendered Ted’s frogs are. A tiny number of the actual photos of the frogs with a lot of black in them are a bit underexposed, little details are hard to make out (probably more so in the printing process than maybe can be seen on a computer screen or phone) which is really my only little complaint about the book, so the drawings really stand out. These drawings are all very consistent and are presented on a white background, which makes comparing species much easier. Color morphs of a particular species are often included as well – and not merely as duplicate versions, but as unique drawings.

Tidy, helpful colored maps.

The pages also feature large color-coded maps showing the range of the species. Many field guides or books on animals can be pretty skimpy on the maps, usually leaving them black and white. I really appreciate the choice of the physical map. That extra bit of context is what makes one’s understanding of the natural history of a species that much more interesting. The setup of the page leaves you wanting for nothing, at least as far as anything I can personally imagine needing.

Overall, the book is about 580 pages of poison froggy goodness! I’m convinced this is a real treasure that should definitely find its way onto your bookshelf, or into your bag when you’re traveling to the Andean countries these frogs inhabit. I can enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who is interested in poison frogs and for any natural history book/field guide collector.

Truthfully, I will have to order a second copy! One for the often wet and dirty field life and one that can sit pretty on the shelf for me to look at while cozy at home in civilization.

You can order a copy from Ted through PayPal. Contact him at tedr.kahn(at)gmail.com. Signed copies are $65.00 which includes shipping in the USA. Buyers from other countries will pay for international shipping.

I’ve also received a copy of the Libro Rojo de los Anfibios de Colombia, a Spanish language book which you can also order from Ted. I’ll write up a review on that book and others I’ve recently purchased elsewhere in the next few days and weeks.

  Aposematic Poison Frogs of the Andean Countries – New Book, Review + "Good books are a priceless possession, they reveal the minds of creative men and enrich life with fine experience."