Current Location:Banos, Ecuador Here are a few pictures of Banos and the surrounding valley. [View Full Entry]

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Current Location= Banos, Ecuador $3.5 US got me onto a comfortable, four hour bus ride from Quito to the Gateway to the Amazon, Banos. I was warned in Quito to not expect much from Banos these days, to expect that it would be an abandoned outpost, sitting directly in the path of near by Tungurahua Volcano. (very active these days/really only a matter of time before it blows) But despite the warnings I decided to make the trip, and found that Banos still bussels with activity. Whats makes it even better is that it is the cheapest place in Ecuador these [View Full Entry]

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Current Location: Quito, Ecuador Yesterday, I and several friends that I met here in Quito, made the hour trip to La Mitad del Mundo, the middle of the world. It´s been said that everyone who comes to Ecuador makes the trip to the equator, and I believe it. I haven´t seen so many gringos in one place since stepping onto the plance in Houston. It is a complete tourist trap, an entire town devoted completely to tourism. Outrageous prices galore! And on top of that, it isn´t even located on the real equator. Lonely Planet calls it one of Ecuadors biggest [View Full Entry]

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Current Location: Cuenca, Ecuador ¨Hey brendan, no longer in Montanita because of health problems with my dad. Headed to canada, back at the end of the month. Sorry about the change, open invitation when ever you´r bac in Mont.¨ This is the message I found on the bullitin board outside the Montazuma hostel in Montanitas where I was going to be working for the next month. Put there by Cole the English owner, and once again hardening my belief that the English are an unreliable, useless bunch of people. (Not my actual feelings, but I can´t pass up a shot to [View Full Entry]

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As hard as it was to leave Huanchaco, and believe me it was hard, I had to go. It was time. I was missing the traveling. For what ever reason I was even missing the long, cramped, hot, bus rides. My feet were itching for some new ground and my eyes were becoming bored of the daily sites of nothing but sand and surf. (Although, every now-and-again rejuvinated by a passing chica) Living on the beach was amazing/cheap/and fun, but I guess all good things must come to an end. Not to mention I still have a comittment to an English [View Full Entry]

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Current Location: Still in Huanchaco, Peru. And getting harder to leave every day. I´m now here until new years day, at which point I will be forced to make the dash for Ecuador. I´ve been doing a lot of reading the past few weeks. The selection is limited, but constantly changes as travelers bring in new books and take out the old. Mostly the books have been painfully-dull, forgettable mystery novels, seemingly favored by the majority of travelers in South America. (A strange phenomenon, echoed in every book exchange I have been to) That is until I read Marching Powder, by [View Full Entry]

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Current Location: Huanchaco Beach (15km outside Trujillo), Peru If there has been one city/town in Peru that I have really fallen in love with, it would have to be Huanchaco Beach. So far my travels have taken me to many places but as of yet, I have not come across a more enjoyable and friendly community. (And the weather is hard to beat) The past few days have been all sunshine. It is actually getting a little hard to remember just what rain feels like. (I´ll be reminded probably seconds after stepping back into Port Angeles) The town is divided basically [View Full Entry]

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Current Location: Trujillo, Peru The Colca Cross, in Colca Canyon is the best spot in Peru to view and photo the great Andean Condor. That is unless, you happened to arrive on the day that I was in the Canyon, and all of the condors seemed to be missing. Our group scanned the canyon for atleast two hours, to no avail. There was a little excitment when someone thought they saw a small spec miles away down the canyon. But as it got closer our guide informed us that it was just a common eagle. ¨Bummer guys, bad timing,¨ was all [View Full Entry]

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I know I have been a little slow on putting up pictures, it can be tough to find an adequate connection. Here are a few from Copacabana, La Paz, and Arequipa. A short update. President Evo Morales, of Bolivia, is working to redraft Bolivia´s constitution, so that it would allow for presidential candidates to be re-elected indefinitely. Protests and riots have been ongoing throughout the country for the past few months, and recently a student was killed in the city of Sucre. While I was in La Paz the city was under curfew, and I was told that it was much [View Full Entry]

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Ive made it. I´m in Bolivia. I crossed the boarder a few days ago into the town of Copacabana, which sits nestled on the shore of Lake Titicaca. Its white-washed walls, and bustling market are backdropped by one of the most amazing lakes I have ever seen. Lake Titicaca is VAST. It is the highest navigable lake in the world, and standing on its shore I could only just make out the distant mountains on the other side. The water, although filled with quite a lot of trash, is crystal clear, and provides the residence of Copacabana with most of their [View Full Entry]

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