We arrived in Lima, Peru on the 20th after an 18 hour bus ride. I found the bus to be quite uncomfortable as it was a sleeper bus with deep reclining seats so there wasn´t much room to spare. Also, the woman infront of me kept reclining her seat fully without looking behind her so twice I had my head pinned down to me knees and other times I had her head practically in my lap - not an enjoyable way to travel, especially if you are claustrophobic. We were also 2 rows away from the toilets so the smells were [View Full Entry]

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Sunny Mancora is not the place you want to get sick, just ask Braeden. He has unfortunately been sick for almost the entire time we have been here and has been trapped in the room for days. We believe he got a bacterial infection from the bloody hamburger he ate (he knew better but decided to try it anyway) as he has been sick since that meal 5 days ago. Even his prescribed dose of Cipro wasn´t strong enough to cure it so today I went on a mission to find something that would work. Unfortunately, there are no English-speaking doctors [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Mancora, Peru on the night of the 9th after another long bus ride (approx. 15 hours). Fortunately, crossing the border didn´t turn out to be the nightmare we read about on the internet as we chose to take a direct bus to Tumbes then another short bus to Mancora. Apparently several people have had problems with theft, etc. while crossing that particular border point into Peru so we were happy that it was quick and painless for us. Mancora is beautiful! It is hot and sunny everyday and the water is clear and blue - much different than [View Full Entry]

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We are still here in Montañita and unfortunately the weather has not changed. We have not seen sunshine the whole week or so we have been here and there has been more or less a constant light drizzle of rain that is enough to get you damp and keep you that way. Braeden has enjoyed surfing every day despite the cool temperature but I have yet to get into a bathing suit. If you´re not a surfer and can´t lay out on the beach, there really isn´t that much to do around here. For this reason, I´m pretty sure we will [View Full Entry]

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We took a flight from Quito to Guayaquil then a bus to Montañita. Unfortunately when we arrived it was raining and cool which wasn´t exactly the exotic beach life I was expecting or hoping for. The weather hasn´t been too bad and Braeden has been able to surf. We got enrolled in Spanish school and have been in class for 4 hours/day with another guy (Matt) from the US. It isn´t exactly what we were expecting as it has been a lot of verb conjugation (which I´ve already taken and what Braeden doesn´t care for) but we do get to play [View Full Entry]

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We arrived safe in Quito and were super happy that we chose to fly. As for Quito, not much to say other than, if you´ve seen one big South American city, you´ve pretty much seen them all. One thing that is nice is the massive presence of the policia - makes the city feel a little safer (especially since Quito is known for its theft). It is pretty crazy though to see police on horses in the middle of busy streets, or roaming around the city with large dogs, some wearing full camoflauge gear, and all of them carrying huge guns [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Medellin a few days ago after taking the 14 hour bus ride from Cartagena. The city is nice but, due to the time of year, it pretty much rains every afternoon and evening. We haven't really let the weather limit us but the majority of our pictures look gloomy. We have been staying at the Black Sheep hostel which has been great - it is an older crowd, very clean and friendly English-speaking staff. We take the metro everywhere which is super cheap and allows us to get around the city quickly. We've managed to see quite a [View Full Entry]

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We survived the sea! We arrived in Cartagena, Colombia yesterday after 5 days of sailing and it is nice to be on solid ground (despite still feeling the motion of the boat - I hope it doesn´t take long to go away). The trip was an experience and not all what I was expecting. Fortunately the people we sailed with were fun (a single guy from England and a couple from Croatia and England) and a Swedish captain who knew how to sail very well (and wasn´t a drunk like a few that we had heard about). The first couple days [View Full Entry]

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Today we switched guest houses as we have arranged a boat trip for tomorrow in which we will be picked up from Mamallena's Hostel at 5am. We will be taking a sailboat from Panama City to the San Blas Islands where we will spend a few days and ultimately end up in Cartagenia, Columbia. It is quite an expensive trip so hopefully it will be worth it (it has been highly recommended by several travelers we have spoken to). So for the next 5 days or so we will be sailing, snorkelling and exploring the islands. I hope I don't get [View Full Entry]

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Today we took a cab to the Panama Canal. Unfortunately our timing was off and we waited for over an hour with no signs of any boats passing through. Finally, a couple of very large boats approached so we were able to get pictures but had to leave before we actually saw one pass through the locks. We also made the mistake of cheaping out and only buying tickets for the observation deck for $5 instead of the $8 general admission which meant missing out on the 3-story museum and the theater. So if you ever take a trip to the [View Full Entry]

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