South America
My final days in Ecuador
This article was first published February 2015 and has been updated. The 'Day of the Dead' and Climbing a Volcano in Quito, Ecuador Arriving in Quito, Ecuador on ‘The Day of the Dead’ my friend Marcel and I managed to wangle our way into the crypt which is underneath...
Villa de Tacvnga, Latacunga & the Quilotoa Volcano Crater Lake
(Content has been updated since the post was first published in April 2014) My bus rolled south out of Quito. As usually happens in Ecuador the driver stopped at every cluster of cabanas so that vendors could climb on board, selling everything from newspapers to...
Escaleras Electricas: things to do in Medellin
...or the giant urban escalators of Medellin A system of outdoor escalators has been built in what was once one of the poorest parts of the city of Medellin. The escaleras electricas: fun things in Medellin are educational interesting and functional. In the barrio...
The ‘white coffee’ trade in Colombia
Trekking in the lush mountains ‘somewhere’ in Colombia and looking over the steep hillsides which were jam-packed with stubby glossy-green coffee bushes I asked my local friend about the money that the farmers here would earn from their beans. He told me that the...
Coffee and Tourism in Colombia
What do you know about the coffee industry in Colombia? Do you want to explore a region which is steeped in the little brown beans that so many of us crave each morning? An innovative project has been set up in a small mountainous region of Colombia which enables the...
Is Rio dangerous? (originally posted as Brazil – and leaving South America on a high)
A birthday to remember: with waterfalls, idylic beaches and jungle treks I am often asked - Is Rio dangerous? - so I thought that I would remind you of my time there. It was my birthday and at ten in the morning I was travelling in a car with a woman who I had only...
Otovalo – well worth another visit or two
I survived my pickpocketing at the border but one hundred dollars lighter and I jumped on a bus to Otovalo. I had been here before but I wanted to break my journey and this town warranted a better look around. In the end I stayed here for ten days in two different...
The ex-pat life
Living and working abroad and total immersion in the local culture. Differences in attitude and outlook. Travelling with attitude and a robbery. When I was working at the hostel at the beach at Santa Marianita in Ecuador I met some lovely guests while I was working...
Going South
Manizales - a city in the heart of Colombia's 'coffee region' After my time in the steamy heat of Cartagena I jumped on a night bus and I headed south to Medellin. I had a couple of reasons for calling back into Medellin. I had to collect my replacement bank card...
La Pura Vida; Cartagena the Caribbean Jewel
OK - let's backtrack in my story. After Emy, Lio and I finally ran out of time cavorting on the Caribbean coast of Colombia and I survived my attempted mugging unscathed, I returned to Cartagena. Originally I intended to just stay a couple of nights as I had...