We emerged out of the Ecuadorian jungle! Our next destination was Cotopaxi, one of Ecuador‘s crown jewels. Emerging from the jungle definitely made me feel better temperature wise and I began looking forward to our border crossing to Colombia, only 2 weeks away. I figured everything was going to go great. I didn’t anticipate any cloudy skies, bugs, landslides, or additional […]
Author: Alex
Baños and Beyond Fears of the Steaming Jungle
Our departure from the Galapagos were hard, you know when you’re in an amazing place and the likelihood that you will return is probably never. But, we forged on. In a way, we were very glad to be leaving low elevation coastlines because we are not hot climate people, although we thoroughly enjoy lazy beach […]
KIDS ONLY: Thinking About “Lonesome George” on Earth Day
“Don’t throw your garbage just anywhere! Take care of your environment, pick up after yourself! Trash ruins the environment and habitat of animals around us!” Our parents and teachers are always telling us to respect nature. But WHY??? What is all the fuss about, really? If I throw away just one candy wrapper or dirty tissue, is it really […]
Evolutionary Equatorial Magic: The Galapagos
Note to our Readers: We apologize for the massive delay in our posts. In an effort to try to bring you up to speed, we’re going to skip posting about our adventures in Peru and go straight ahead to Ecuador! We promise to write about our travels in Peru eventually. We spent two and a […]
Want to Wear Beautiful Woolen Skirts? Lago Titicaca & Tiwanaku Ruins Are The Place For It
Some places simply capture your heart and fill you with wonder. Lake Titicaca and Tiwanaku, only 50km away from one another, captivated me and were the cherry on top for our visit in Bolivia. Lago Titicaca, in the Aymara language Titi= Puma and Caca=Rock, truly took me by surprise and captured my heart and tapped into […]
Now, How do I Become a Flamingo? Southwest Bolivia’s Laguna Circuit
Getting to this remote and mother-nature-intense part of the world was a great accomplishment for us. Somehow (perhaps due to El Nino) the Andes of southern Bolivia and northern Chile received an unusually heavy snowfall in late May of 2017. It has happened in the past, one man told us that it had happened more […]
How We Stay Cool as Cucumbers: Insulated Van Curtains, Sun Shades, & Screens
This was a daunting project, but boy am I happy I did it. Because of these simple additions we stay cool in the hot sun and we get a lot of privacy too. These curtains, shades, and bug screens are something we use EVERY day. We don’t always boil a pot of water in the […]
Secret Bolivia Loves Part I: Silver Mines, Dinosaur Prints, and Chullpas
To many, Bolivia is a country of unknown places and people. People want to uncover and explore it. People dream of crossing into this unknown and secret land. With many of the world’s MOST _______ places (most driest, highest altitude lake, most remote, most unique cultures). But, for us, it was important to realize these […]
Stars, Desert, and Getting High (In Altitude)
Once we said goodbye to Todd’s AWESOME grad school friend Alfredo and his family, in early May 2017, it was time to head towards some major attractions, Chile’s San Pedro de Atacama and Bolivia’s Lagunas Route. These are both very high altitude locations so we began mentally preparing for the warm sunny days and cold […]
Lakes, Volcanoes, and Forts- Chile at its Fiercest
Strange Auracania trees, volcano danger zones, tranquil blue lakes, sunshine and first tastes of subtropical Chilean fruit. This was our reward for staying strong in the tempermental and rainy Patagonian Andes. Our improved moods may have had to do with the fact we were excited for our upcoming visitors- Todd’s parents! We knew this would […]