I have always wanted to see December Solstice in the southern hemisphere. Growing up in North America, December 21 was always so short and this year I decided to experience as long of a day as possible on December 21. In Punta Arenas the sun rose at 5:12am and set at 10:10pm. Of course, being so far south it got light long before 5am and was light out until well after 11pm. It was exactly what I was hoping for! I had planned three tours with https://turismoselknam.cl from Punta Arenas: Magdalena Island, Tierra del Fuego and whale watching. The day before the whale watching it was cancelled due to predicted high winds, which I gather is quite common that close to Antarctica. Fortunately, I was able to replace it with a day in the Torres del ... read more

Manú National Park, or Manú Biosphere Reserve, is a giant area of Peru’s Amazonian jungle. Only a small fraction of it is available to tourists, with the vast majority reserved for wildlife, native tribes and researchers who have managed to get a permit. Since UNESCO officially recognized it as a World Heritage site in 1977, the Peruvian government has been buying large areas of land that border the park. These buffer zones are open to tourists, but closed to logging and most development. The reserve itself has never been logged or developed, although the native tribes who inhabit the area still follow their traditional way of life. In the information I was given before the trip, I was surprised to see we were instructed that if we saw any of the native people, we were to ... read more

Trip goals: Speak Spanish all day, every day √ Swim with whale sharks √ Solo road trip across the desert with the music turned all the way up, singing in Spanish at the top of my lungs √ Unplanned bonus: Swim with sea lions √ Discover what a great town La Paz is √ For a short trip with simple goals, I got way more than I had even hoped for. When a cheap flight direct from Seattle to San José del Cabo popped up, I bought it, knowing only that Baja California has much better weather than Seattle in February. The briefest of research about Baja California Sur made me decide to drive from Cabo up to La Paz to swim with whale sharks. With only three full days in Mexico, not counting my travel ... read more

We started our trip up in the mountains, in the cloud forest at Monteverde. I had heard I could see nine species of hummingbirds in the cloud forest, and that was enough for me. Mom has never objected to a birding trip. There are a couple different roads up to Monteverde, which I didn’t bother to research. I grew up driving old logging roads in Washington and Idaho. However, I will say that parts of the road from Rancho Grande, labeled 606 on the map, are pretty rough and have some steep drop offs. I wouldn’t recommend it for people not used to unpaved mountain roads. On the way back down, we took 605 through Sarmiento and it was lovely. Mostly paved and with fewer drop offs, it has beautiful views of the Gulf of Nicoya ... read more

When I told people in Cartagena that I was headed to Bogota for New Year's they all shuddered, telling me that it was too cold in Bogota. I wasn't too worried since I knew they were comparing it to the 90F weather in Cartagena. Compared to Seattle I was sure it would still be warm. It's so close to the equator, how cold can it get? While it's true that in the sun, during the day, it is nice and warm, the nights are cold. When I arrived the air felt thinner, drier, than on the coast. So, I looked up the elevation: 8,675 feet, although where I'm staying I have such a great view out over the city that I'm sure it must be at least 8,700 up here. The apartment I rented off Airbnb ... read more