Inspirietry / Recuperiety
One of the benefits of traveling is that one learns geography and in planning our South America jaunt, Scott was thrilled to realize how closely Aruba and Ecuador are positioned on the globe. While Scott is always on the lookout for trekking opportunities, his true love is the sport of windsurfing and a very dry four years has left his beloved local windsurfing spot looking like...
Read More
Adventuriety
I feel like a real blogger now. I am in the middle of nowhere…literally. I am sitting in the main area of our “lodge” using the wifi, borrowing a power outlet, drinking a local beer. I have taken many planes and a high speed drug boat (I am fairly certain) to get here. Scott and I have been watching La Reina del Sur, a...
Read More
Adventuriety
Today had nothing on our schedule and so we slept in a bit. We did however have plenty of work to catch up on. I thought we could break the day up by having lunch in the historic district. We hired a cab which took us there after a 15 minute ride that cost only $3.80. Two nice traveler points about Ecuador are that most...
Read More
Adventuriety
Excursion number two out of three began at 7:00 am this morning. Our adventure consisted of a rain-forest hike, zip lining, a nice lunch and some kind of weird tubing-raft hybrid down a river and hanging with some butterflies. We drove north out of Quito toward the town of Mindo. After a couple hours in the car we stopped for our first activity...
Read More
Adventuriety / Domesticiety
There were three main reasons for visiting Quito on our South American trip. First, Daisy had a desire to see the Galapagos Islands which are Ecuadorian territory and accessible through the Quito airport. Second, my father thought it wouldn’t be a bad place to spend some time. He enjoyed Quito in the 80’s and used the surrounding mountains and volcanoes like Cotopaxi to train...
Read More
Adventuriety
By the time we arrived in Aguas Calientes we had been learning and soaking up Andean history and culture for eleven days and we had seen a lot of Inca ruins, five of the ten “Top 10 Inca Ruins to See (that aren’t Machu Picchu)” according to National Geographic to be exact (we didn’t plan that), and a few others not included on the list....
Read More
Adventuriety
It started raining in the middle of the night and we woke early to soggy everything. At least we could enjoy the hot springs again for a few hours before heading out. Ashley, knowing this, was up before the sun and ready to swim. She impatiently waited for 7:00. Scott got a text, we must be in range of a signal…Get on the Bus, one...
Read More
Adventuriety
Day three would be all down hill and a much warmer hike, but the treat at the end would be an evening of swimming and soaking in hot springs which we were all looking forward to. The day would end with our last night of sleeping in a tent, which I was looking forward to. We spent another cold night, waking occasionally to the sounds...
Read More
Adventuriety
Despite the woolen layers, gloves, hats, sleeping bags, etc. we froze our asses off and were relieved to peek out of the tent and observe the lightening sky on the second morning of our trek. After a warm breakfast of pancakes and hot coffee we were ready for Day 2 and the Salkantay Pass. We got an early and cold start for the toughest day...
Read More
Adventuriety
Every time and I mean every time Scott and I start trip planning he happens upon a remote location in the country we are visiting that involves trekking, you know long hikes and tents. My usual response is positive, “Okay, I’ll do it. It sounds like an experience.” All the while I have my fingers crossed behind my back, my body is already aching at the...
Read More