I watched as the 8 year boy ran lithely down the slope with my bag. His mud covered feet deftly moving whilst I slipped and slid my way towards the bottom. I began to wonder if I was going to see it again. Months on the road had lodged a fair chunk of wariness and distrust in my psyche. Sadly I had heard too many stories of being ripped off, held up and taken advantage of. But there he was, patiently waiting and no doubt wondering why I was taking so long. He reached for my hand, my bag still securely [View Full Entry]

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It began to occur to me that I had lost my mind . How did I think I could do this? I drew another ragged breath and tried to balance on my tired legs. I had never wanted to give up so much. All the scenarious of how I might be able to get myself out of this started to play through my head. Short of getting the hovering skateboard from Back to the Future, none seamed very feasible. I looked up at the relentless mountain and down again at my clay coated boots. One foot in front of the other [View Full Entry]

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My heart was pounding and my breathing was becoming deeper and erratic. I looked around me again and still could see nothing. Panic started to tear at my brain and my mind became fulll of images of people drowning, floating in the water, or scrambling desperately to the surface and never making it. All around me was blue. It was like I had crawled inside a globe or fallen into the sky. I tried desperately to dampen the feelings that were threatening to engulf me and sought to control my ragged breath. As I hung suspended in the blue nothingness [View Full Entry]

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Ecuador is a small Andean country of approximately 13.3 million people. Over the last five years thousands of Colombian refugees have crossed the border to escape an escalation of armed conflict amongst the military, paramilitary and rebel groups, and the hardships created by drug eradication programs (spraying coca crops with herbacide) in southern Colombia. The reception to refugees by newly elected president, Rafael Correa, has been positive and he has promised to incorporate them into the economic and political life of Ecuador. The feeling amongst the Ecuadorian community is on the whole positive, although it´s not uncommon to hear the [View Full Entry]

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The light plane wobbled and headed towards the grass runway. On either side of us were imposing mountains shrouded in jungle and the scene from Air America where Mel Gibson crashes his plane into the undergrowth sprang to mind. I peered into the cockpit, fascinated by the fact that one pilot seemed to be texting on his phone while the other steered us to what would hopefully be a safe landing. We alighted into the thick heat like moviestars and looked about in wonder. Half an hour before we had been struggling for breath at the highest point in La [View Full Entry]

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So there we were. Sitting at a cafe gossiping about the strange characters in our little hostel. The crazy middle aged woman from Lima who parades around in her fake levi jeans and behaves like she is on a south american soap opera. The very black and outwardly camp columbian refugee who hosts an afternoon radio show on human rights and columbian culture. The hairy and overly affectionate Isralite who works on a farm during the week and obviously craves female attention. The well meaning but dithering Eucadorian owner, a latino version of Fawlty Towers who still can´t believe I [View Full Entry]

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I opened my eyes reluctantly and wondered why the bus was stopped. Damn it was cold. There was ice on the windows and the thin blanket was about as warm as a wet flannel. I squinted at my watch. It was only 11pm. We still had at least 6 hours to go in our overnight journey from Cusco to Arequipa. Thinking it was probably just another flat tire I closed my eyes and tried to dream of warm beaches. I heard animated murmurings from other passengers and opened my eyes again. One of the staff had emerged to inform us [View Full Entry]

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We stood on the edge of the cliff and gazed down to where we would spend the night. The tiny village was but a mere speck against the side of the deepest canyon in the world (twice as deep as the Grand Canyon) and it seemed like an insurmountable task. The sun beat down on us and the dry dust got in our lungs as we slipped and stumbled our way along the narrow, rocky path. It was difficult to take in the spectacular view whilst simultaneously trying to avoid the cacti lined cliff edges. Only a handful of families [View Full Entry]

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We waited. And waited. And waited. Finally the bible group was ready to go. Decked out in the latest in tourist merchandise and speaking loudly with their terrible spanish, my two Argentine friends and I rolled our eyes. It was going to be a long boat ride and we were already almost an hour late. The small ferry chugged along slower than a game of cricket. Apparently there is a gentlemans agreement amongst all the fisherman that no one is to get a faster boat and instead subject tourists to the equivalent of deep sea water torture. The slow pace [View Full Entry]

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The four day hike along the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu is a challenging one for anybody let alone a girl with less than 10% vision. Trekking 50km along narrow paths, over mountains reaching 14,000 feet above sea level, fighting the effects of altitude and the eternal challenge of steps going up and steps going down. The first day was relatively easy and I managed to fool everyone into thinking I was just like them. But day 2 proved more challenging as the path got rockier and the cliff edges more dramatic. It was only after a slight mishap - [View Full Entry]

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