Gypsy Blood Wanderer

After an exciting but very busy time in Peru Isabelle and decided to return to the Ecuadorian coast for the final two and a half weeks.. We went back to my second home at Pais Libre in Canoa. The sun was still shining and the surf still pumping, this was the perfect place to wrap up 6 months of travel. I introduced Isabelle to Canoa on a Saturday night, we went for dinner at Doug's house and then crammed 3 on the motorbike and hit the Rumba (party) on the beach. Weekends are more or less always the same people jam onto the street and bounce between beach bars or loiter outside on the street drinking cheap rum from one of many of the local tiendas. The bars blast music ( always the same 15 songs ... read more

The lazy days of beaching have passed and I am off and out into a world of many buses, rapid travel.. and heights of 5000m above sea level! It is amazing the distance you can cover and things you can see when you are willing to accept long bus rides, luckily the buses are quite nice here in Peru. I left Ecuador just under 2 weeks ago and my first stop was Mancora. Arriving from Canoa Mancora had a very tough act to follow. The beach was pretty and the backdrop was desert hills but I didn't feel the town had much heart, it lacked character and appeared smattered together for tourists. I hate to pass judgment after only a couple of days but the vibe didn't seem quite right. I stayed at The Point Hostel ... read more

Salento in the Zona Cafeteria was the final stop on my Colombia tour... I spent a blissful week meandering through the pastoral landscapes, watching coffee grow and cattle graze, life seems to stand still here. The town is surrounded by coffee plantations and it was a great base to set up shop and explore the natural beauty of the region. Parque Cocora is located 20 minutes from Salento and I spent two days hiking through the park encountering waterfalls, swimming pools, suspension bridges and of course coffee plantations, but most impressive were the wax palms (the larges species of palm in the world), everything else was dwarfed by their size. In addition to hiking in the park Ali and I opted for yet another horseback ride and this ended up being a highlight of my time ... read more

It is Christmas day and I realized it is the first one in all my years I have spent away from my family. I managed to make all my Christmas phone calls and speak to the majority of the lot, Mom, Dad, brother, Aunt, Uncle, Grandma and cousins... I could feel the holiday love from across the miles (Mom and Dad had even saved me a stocking for my return!). Those who are far away somehow feel a little it further during the holiday season and there are some particular individuals that feel millions of miles away I am missing this season. Despite the lack of familiar things, faces, and the ski hills of home Colombia has been a wonderful place for the holidays. Colombians tend to make Christmas eve their big event and music, dancing ... read more

After being in Ecuador for seven weeks I decided it was time to start a blog. This was not necessarily an easy decision to come to. The thought of strangers or even friends and family reading about my travel experience at first felt uncomfortable, did I really have anything to write interesting enough? Heck, I like reading about other peoples travels but for some reason I had always held off on publishing reflections of my own. Despite reservations I decided to write this blog to organize the random ramblings in my journal and to hopefully peak the interests of friends, family and other curious wanderers.. A friend once told me you have gypsy blood... I didn't have to contemplate it, I instantly agreed. Being in a constant state of movement has never been a conscious decision ... read more