Biodiversity is the extraordinary variety of life in this planet. In order to be fully appreciated, biodiversity needs to be experienced firsthand, or "experientially." Thus, the standard classroom lecture format is not the ideal situation for teaching biodiversity and evolutionary concepts, in that student interest and understanding are not optimal. In this article, the authors share how they gave their students the opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge of the biodiversity of selected world biomes through the experience of a travel course to the Ecuadorian rainforest and the Galapagos Islands. They assert that actual field exploration encourages student collaboration, stimulates inquiry-based learning, and promotes environmental consciousness. Through innovative pre-trip and post-trip Web-based instruction and actual fieldwork, the students delved into key issues of biodiversity, ecosystem dynamics, and biocomplexity. Here, the authors share information on the objectives, processes, and pitfalls of planning and implementing a travel-based course. (Contains 1 figure and 11 online resources.)