Our Ecuador trip wasn’t just to the Galapagos Islands. We also spent three nights in the cloud forest on the mainland. Basically, the cloud forest is where the Amazon rises up to meet the Andes. Clouds bump into the sides of the mountain and have nowhere to go so they just sit there. Everything is always wet, and therefore, very green and lush with vegetation. I was in search of all the exotic wildlife that lives in this region — pumas, ocelots, spectacled bears, etc. I knew that I was in for trouble when the first thing our guide asked was if I liked bugs. For the most part, that’s what we saw, bugs, until a surprise visitor on our last day (but that’s a story for a future post). For now, I present one of the great bugs of the cloud forest. This is a giant green leaf insect. It was about six inches long, oddly handsome, and a dead ringer for one of the stars of the animated movie “A Bug’s Life.” Unfortunately, this was the last photo ever taken of this poor guy. About ten seconds after snapping the shutter (while I was changing lenses) a hawk swooped down and ended it all. R.I.P. my little green friend.