fer de lance

First time in South America. In Ecuador, we decided to visit the grand geographicals regions, (except the Galapagos, which is a trip of its own!!). We visited the highlands, the amazon region and the Coast. Half of the trip by bus and other half by rented car. Favorites: 1-amazon region. But I must say that contrarely to my all time favorites, Costa Rica, you need to go very deep in the amazon, and invest more in a remote lodge, to be able to get same wildlife viewing as Costa Rica. For that trip, no time to go too far, so we were in Misahualli region. The lodge we were, Suchipakari, is pretty pleasant, and prices are affordable. 2- Coast near Puerto Lopez: succession of cliffs and forests, (national park). Actual Puerto Lopez town, is dirty and ... read more

First time in Belize. To add to the adventure, (and save on the costs), took a plane to Cancun, and then a couple of buses to Belize. Regional buses in Mexico are big and comfortable. Buses in Belize, are more of the "chicken bus" type. I explored all regions of Belize, partly in bus, and partly in rented 4X4. We also took the boat to visit Caye Caulker. My wife and i, we don't like big hotels and resorts, so we stuck mainly to little places, eating real authentic cuisine. We tried iguana and armadillo in one restaurant. I have to admit, both were good, especially the armadillo that tastes like lean beef. Country is small, as the population's number, but it is cosmopolitan: english, americans, creoles, chineses, latinos and mennonites. Highlights: 1- Caye Caulker: small ... read more

Whale watching, what a cool experience! We went to the little town of "Les Escoumins", just a few kilometers after the very popular Tadoussac. As soon as we arrived, we could see whales from the shores. We saw 3 species: the fin whale, (2nd largest after the blue whale), the mink whale abd the white beluga. We went East on the coast, until the Islands of Mingan: a collection of islands with naturally sculptured lime monoliths, lots of birds. Also, there's a mix of mixed pictures at the end.... read more

Here are some recent shots of animal, small or not, that i have taken in my region. Some insects are alien like! Enjoy! I added some recent winter pictures.... read more

I was not supposed to go to Florida this year but a last minute opportunity came in, so i went for a 8 days quick trip. Temperature was much colder than usual: daytime temperatures were between 9 and 18 degrees Celsius, so not very good for swimming! But the cold brought some advantages: fishes died because of the cold when i visited the Florida keys, so i was able to pick some on the beach, just before they died and took pictures. Yes so good for me, but not for the fishes :-( Also, i visited the Big Cypress preserve, and most reptiles were sluggish, (16-18 degrees max), so it was alos good for pictures too. In a week, i go to Mexico, to visit Yucatan peninsula and Chiapas region. One spot in particular should be ... read more