Night Shots of Quito

Can't believe I'm still finding photos from our time in Ecuador!  These are among my favorites and the best is the one of the Basilica which Sam took.

  This is the Basilica photo that Sam shot, hand-held at about 1/4 of a second.

The lightest area in the center of the city is the old town, I think.

Quito's Old Town

 Looking up the street (I believe that Jose said the monastery at the right is 500 years old)...

 

 ...and looking down the same street.

 Same street looking down.

 San Francisco cathedral built during the colonial period.

Other Flowers from our time in Ecuador

 These first 3 flowers are from Germania's garden.  The first is a Bougainvillea, the second a Hydrangea, and the third a Geranium.

This Hibiscus was growing in the wild outside of Mindo near the Butterfly Pavilion.  It is one of my favorite pictures of the trip.

 This flower and the following flowers were at the Municipal Park in Quito.  This one was growing wild.  The others were in gardens.

This is the flower of the Passion Fruit.

Butterflies in Mindo, Ecuador

 This guys wings were transparent!

 This guy landed on Sam's hat and stayed there for at least 15 minutes. 

 And then he finally opened!

Hummingbirds in Mindo, Ecuador

On my birthday, Jose and Isabel took Sam and me to Mindo in the rainforest to see butterflies and hummingbirds.  We saw several types of both.  The butterflies were in a pavilion and the hummingbirds were outdoors, mostly near feeders.  It was beautiful!

 This is not a good photo but this is the only shot I have of this guy.  His coloring was so cool.

 I think the hummingbird at the top of this photo is feeding the one below.

Contest Orchids

Apparently there had been some sort of Orchid growers contest because after visiting the greenhouses, we came upon an area in the garden that had more orchids, some with ribbons on them.

 This was the first place winner.  I'm not sure which won 2nd or 3rd.