So the big trip of the year has finally arrived! I’m sitting in our hotel room at Heathrow Airport from which, far too early tomorrow morning, we will start our journey to Ecuador.

We will first fly to Madrid and then an 11 hour flight to Ecuador’s capital, Quito. We will have two nights close to the capital before heading out into the Ecuadorean wilderness.

We have a few days in the Andes followed by time in the cloud forest before journeying into the Amazon, all of which will amount to 14 nights in country.

This is a mammal-focused trip but I’m also hoping to add quite a few new birds to my life list. This is the first time I’ve been to mainland South America, so every mammal and nearly every bird will be new to me.

I might be able to add a blog post or two while I’m there but I’m looking forward to writing some longer posts when I return home.

Now, down to the bar for a drink and meal before an early night – the 3:30am alarm will arrive far too soon!