Touchdown YVR

Dee clutched my hand tightly as we made a rough landing on a wet night at Vancouver's International Airport.  I made light of it thinking back to the close calls on our bicycles, buses, and hikes we've had.

Bogota By Bike

Dee doing battle with Bogota traffic

It would be fair to say we were a little apprehensive about the final stop of our South American tour in Colombia’s capital, given its infamous history. A 90-minute flight brought us from the steamy Caribbean coast to bustling Bogota with its nine million souls.  Jammed against the Andes range at 8000ft we arrived in the early evening to rain and cool temperatures, quickly donning our pants, sweaters, and rain jackets. 

Everything, and the Kitchen Sink

No  me gusta?  Don't worry there's plenty more.

Question:  Huaraz, Peru is dirty little blue collar city with an incredible back drop of the Cordillera Blanca, the world's highest mountains outside of the Himalayas.  90000 residents and plus a few tourists.  How many cabs would you think the city would need?

Feeling the heat

Parque National Tayrona

As we sit back and enjoy yet another spectacular (thud!) sunset on the Caribbean coast - on a May 24th no less - we toast our good fortune on so many levels.

Best of Cartagena

Finally - High Speed Internet - Enjoy some pictures from this amazing city.

Best Of Cartagena

Colorful Cartagena

Ceiling Fan 6 - Garth 0.  As in a quick trip to the doctor to get six stitches to close two nasty gashes in my forearm after a run-in with an angry and low ceiling fan.  After nearly seven months throughout SA with only a few blisters we've finished with this memorable altercation.

Galapagos in a word - GO!

We've expounded paragraphs of text trying to express the virtues of Galapagos but today we'll sum up our  day at the beach.

Update from Galapagos

If we had to sum our eight days in Galapagos so far it would be - Get here! - Unbelievable wildlife, scenery, and experiences.  Its too bad we couldn´t have so many superlatives for the communication services...  Will post some pictures when we have a chance.  For now read on!

Galapagos Files

“Ray!  Ray!” Gino shouted as our zodiacs closed along the bay.  Snorkel gear on, we rolled into the warm, azure water with a splash, quickly swimming towards Gino, frantically waving as he bobbed around.  Poking our heads below the surface revealed a 3.5 m Manta Ray gracefully gliding below as those with cameras took aim.  He was an imposing figure making a short flick of his wings with the meter long tail waving effortlessly behind.  It seemed that day four in Galapagos was going to be another great day.

Majestic 31/2m Manta Ray

Escaping Banos

After another interesting directo bus on Easter Sunday – 340km, 9 hours, 4 sightings of no less than pigs on road spits, and one horrendous accident on the Pan-American highway as we approached the Ecuadorian Andes ‘Avenue of the Volcanoes’ – bought us to the tiny town of Banos in Central Ecuador.  So named after the endless thermal baths that dot the valley, it is considered the adventure city of Ecuador littered with adventure shops touting bungee jumps, volcano climbs, and dune buggy rentals (!) on literally every corner.  Our goal was to have a little RnR – we know what have we doing for the last year! – while I actually prepped for a job interview.  

Election time Peru style

Our entire month in Peru coincided with run up to the National Elections their.  We took more than a passing interest given the passion the Peruvian’s had for their civic duty and the parallel to May’s federal election in Canada.  

Directo? Siii, Directo!

The cab swerved to dodged in an ‘S’ turn to simultaneously avoid the scooter and the three pedestrians, themselves darting for the curb to avoid being a hood ornament.  Driving head on to the border control, our cabbie enthusiastically pointed to the CIFA bus we had spent the afternoon chasing for 200km across the northern tip of Peru.

Life’s a Beach

Five weeks of travel above 10000 feet can leave a couple of travelers a little breathless and even a little more chilled.  We relished the opportunity to explore Peru’s northern coast for some waves, sand, and warm weather.

Welcome to Quito - Your valuables please

We just got off yet another ´direct´ bus in Quito.  Seemed fairly routine til we found out the other Gringos on the bus got their bags slashed and valuables stolen.  I guess we´ve been warned...

Cycling In the Cordillera Blanca and Negra!

Nothing like testing your skills on the mountain bike, after a 9 year lay-off, at 4000m. I never thought I would hear myself say this but "the climbing sucks". For the first time in my life I preferred the technical, downhill single track to the climb.

Magnificent Machupicchu

"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, it is measured by the moments that take your breath away."

Peering down upon the Lost City of the Incas yesterday as the sun shone and the clouds cleared was one of those magic moments in our lives.  It was an incredible finish to our four day trek of the Inca Trail to the city at the centre of their empire.

"You signed up for a trek and that's what we're gonna do" - Inca Trail

We elected to travel by foot to Machupicchu via the famous Inca Trail - a four day hike in and around the mountains, passing numerous ruins along the way to the big prize.  We are still unsure of the distance as we consulted at least eight maps with eight different distances.  At least the trail was well marked!

Hey amigo, massage, massage!

We finally gave in today after two weeks of being accosted by the endless stream of young girls offering massages throughout our ten days in Cuzco.  They litter the cobble-stoned streets offering massage any way you like it - Thai, Stone, Swedish - and Dee finally ran out of excuses to give them.  It was a relaxing hour on the table as they worked out the kinks of a four day bike ride followed by our hike to Machupicchu the previous four days.

Breakfast with a view - Huaraz, Peru

Mt. Huascaran (6768m) Peru's Highest Peak

Breakfast should always be so idyllic.  The view above from our fourth floor balcony at Olaza's B&B in Huaraz, Peru is peace, grandeur, and relaxation personified.  We've been on the run since arriving in Peru almost a month ago.  Cuzco, the Sacred Valley, the Inca Trail to Machupicchu, and capped off with an epic four day trek among the snow capped peaks of the Cordillera Blanca.  More on all that in the coming days, I promise!

Greasing the wheels of commerce

There’s no way around it, we getting screwed.  We’ve arrived at the bus terminal at 7:50am, just 10 minutes ahead of our proposed bus to Cuzco.  Our hotel manager has passed off to another short, very serious man who is explaining to Dee that there is no room on the bus until the evening; that is unless we want to take another – presumably inferior – bus.