This very well could be the end of the earth. What was expected to be a four hour drive took nearly seven and by the time we arrived at Bruce Peninsula National Park we weren’t thinking about the geologic significance, the new ecological zone we’d entered or about how we were going to set up for our first night camping. All we were concerned with was standing up. It’s not that the drive along Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment wasn’t scenic, it was just so long and speed limits in Canada are relatively slow compared with what we drive in the states (80km/hr is the equivalent of 50mph!). The Niagara Escarpment runs from Rochester, NY northward through Ontario and up along the Bruce Peninsula. In 1990, UNESCO named the Niagara Escarpment a World Biosphere Reserve, internationally recognizing it ... read more

After a day on the road, we made our first detour in Erie, PA. Neither of us knew much about Erie. I think collectively we knew that there was a Lake Erie, an Erie Canal and that if you added another ‘e’ than you got the word that meant ‘spooky’. We also knew that is was in Pennsylvania, and to us that meant the Pennsylvania Dutch and the Liberty Bell. Yep. That’s pretty much what we knew. A whole lot of not-very-much-that’s-useful. Perhaps that’s why we both jumped at the chance to stop and explore this city at the invitation of a friend of ours. What we came to find out is that Erie has a lot to boast about! This self-deprecated “Mistake on the Lake” is anything but. We met up with our hostess for ... read more

It’s….a lame duck? The hike through the Mindo Cloud Forest takes my breath away with its beauty, and the water of Cascada Nambillo takes my breath away with its icy chill. The hike itself follows a dirt and gravel road up the mountainside until it branches off and heads down the slope towards the river. Red and purple impatiens cover the riverbanks, providing an splash of color in amongst the leafy green foliage. The songs of the birds fill the air, but I hear more than I can see. It is a tranquil place, interrupted only by our laughter and stories as we make our way upward and by the occasional Chevrolet hauling wet tourists back down the road toward the city. This area is so different from the other parts of Ecuador that we’ve been. ... read more

Disclaimer: This entry is less on my travels and more my thoughts and musings. Consider yourself informed. Getting to work at the Centro for Recuperative Nutrition was like getting to work at a live-in WIC clinic. Great career experience (plus we were indoors with AC, could I ask for anything better?) and it also gave me the opportunity to put to use some of my dietary advice for hypertension and anemia more-so than when working with the other populations because there seemed to be a greater awareness of their dietary correlations. Still, it is frustrating trying to explain to many people that their conceptions about anemia are inaccurate. Most individuals just want to receive something, though I don’t think even they know what it is they want. As a result, most put down anemia as a ... read more

This is hot, frustrating and tiring work, but I wouldn’t prefer it any other way. Monday morning finds our team heading out to El Poste, an indigenous Tsatchila community about an hour outside of Santo Domingo. As we arrive to our worksite we find ourselves once again facing some difficulties, but we’ve gotten used to things not being ideal so coming up with solutions to unusual dilemmas is now the norm. Of the three permanent structures in the area, one is being used as a school-room leaving us with a four walled structure for the examination rooms and an open aired shelter for the pharmacy and triage station. Ants cover the floor of both structures (I have never seen so many ants in my life) but a push-broom takes care of that. If you’ve never found ... read more