I spent much of January in Ecuador, mostly on a pair of birding trips organized by Brooklyn naturalist, artist and general bon vivant Gabriel Willow, but with some time on my own as well. In Qiuto, I stayed in the neighborhood of La Floresta, drawn by the food – from street vendor tripe in Parque Navarro to the ultra-high end tasting menu at URKO – and also by the street art. As you can see by the mural above this post, the latter was pretty spectacular.

Some works were too big and ambitious for a non-photographer with an iPhone to capture adequately. This one, for example, took up the better part of a block.

I could do an entire series on planters in the district . . . here are just a few.

As always, I sought out birds.

This house was a local landmark – as in, “oh, it’s just around the corner from La Casa Abandonada.”

As much as I loved the eco-themed works . . .

. . . I think my favorites were the folkloric ones.

Thanks for bearing with me as I ease back into blogging. The next post, I promise – or threaten? – will have more words and fewer photos.