A few months back I was fortunate enough to get that “once in a lifetime experience” sailing around the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. For many tourists that’s the whole focus and Quito gets a day in the itinerary—if they don’t just fly from Guayaquil to the islands instead.

That’s a shame really, because Ecuador’s capital really is worth some extra time. When I go back to Ecuador someday, I want to spend at least a week in that region, with a few nights at the lovely estate hotels like Hacienda Cusin and Hacienda Zuleta.

We just posted a story on the time I did get to spend there, with a couple days in the city and an excursion out to the nearby Andean market towns: Quito and the High Valley of Ecuador. It’s a story of food and flowers, of masses and markets, from the historic center to a town of leather crafters. If a trip to Ecuador is in your future at some point, I hope this convinces you to not pass Quito by. Not all Latin American cities are pleasant places for tourists, but this is one that’s definitely worth the lingering. If you get in touch with Metropolitan Touring, you’ll be in good hands.

Brew a strong cup of joe and then check out our newest travel feature: Exploring the Coffee Triangle of Colombia.

This is a region of Colombia that doesn’t get many foreign tourists—yet. That means prices are about half what they are in Cartagena for comparable hotels and restaurants. Plus it’s a beautiful mountainous region and you don’t have to look very hard to find a good cup of coffee.

For more visuals check out the photo/video slideshow I posted earlier or see this professionally edited Colombia video from writer Lisa Loverro, who was on the same trip with me.

Last week I posted our latest feature to the Luxury Latin America Tours section of the site: Cruising the Galapagos Islands with Angermeyer. Many of our feature stories are done by writers who work with us, but on this one I had the pleasure of taking the trip myself, spending a few days in Quito and the surroundings and about 10 days in the Galapagos.

As anyone who has been there will tell you, it’s an amazing experience. I’m used to wildlife trips where I am looking at birds through binoculars or seeing hippos and lions from the safety of a Land Rover vehicle. On the Galapagos Islands it’s a different story though. You can get up close and personal with these critters and they don’t attack or fear attacks from us.

The most difficult task in writing a story like this is picking out which photos to use. The ones that are up are only a fraction of the good ones available. If you want to see the whole array of highlights, including Blue-footed Boobies, sea lions, penguins, and more, see the slideshow below.

I just got the story posted from my family adventure excursion in Belize this past summer. We avoided the cruise ship crowds and Ambergris vacationers to explore the wilder side of Belize.

After perusing a bunch of itineraries from upscale tour companies, I decided to use three of the best adventure lodges in the country as a base, in three different regions, and take excursions from there. We stayed at these fine hotels, all featured in Luxury Latin America: Blancaneaux Lodge, Turtle Inn, and Machaca Hill.

The weather wasn’t as cooperative as I would have liked in Placencia (that’s what happens when you go to Central America in the summer—their rainy season), but overall it went well.

See the full story here: Family-Friendly Adventure Excursions in Belize.

I’ll get back to my current trip soon, but meanwhile we’ve posted a feature story from a destination that we have not covered otherwise: El Salvador.

Even the most savvy travelers know almost nothing about this country and apart from business travelers and a few curious Europeans, it doesn’t get much traffic from foreigners. Of course that’s just what makes it appealing for some—the chance to visit a place that hardly anyone else has spent any time in.

There’s not much of a luxury travel infrastructure in El Salvador, but there is some. In a sense this is a one-phone-call set-up: get in touch with Pascal Lebailly, who runs Los Almendros de San Lorenzo in the mountain town of Suchitoto. He’ll take care of the rest.

Read the whole story here: Luxury travel in El Salvador.