08 JUL 2019: It’s always summer in Ecuador, the country named for the fact that the sun’s always nearly straight overhead. If you can’t get tropical flowers to grow here, you’re not trying; but the farmers here have become close to fanatical about perfection.

Towering exotic blooms in pinks and golds look like flocks of really exotic birds. Roses grow on stems that are two feet long. It’s all surrounded by greenery so vivid it almost doesn’t seem real. And thanks to modern transportation, you can find these blooms at your local florist the day after they’re picked.

On a port stop in Guayaquil, on our South American cruise on Seven Seas Explorer. We get to experience what makes valleys on this east coast of Ecuador the closest thing to the Garden of Eden.

Read it in The Cruisington Times: