No sooner had we stepped ashore on the Caribbean then we realized just how much money was in the country. There, waiting to take travelers to Panama City, were 4 Toyota SUV/ pickups that could not have been more than two years old. One had a snorkel on it. This helped explain why it cost $25 pp. Well, almost. It turned out that they were a place short, so Jorin was stuck riding in the back of a pickup (it did have a canopy). However, with the humidity and heat, Justin ended up switching with him half way through. We had great A/C in the cab. As we neared Panama City, it was very impressive. The skyline honestly looks like it belongs to Miami. Very similar feel. Especially when the weather report has a 'feels like' ... read more

After a few days in Cartagena, we were ready to go to a slower paced part of the country and take it easy for a while. The problem with Cartagena is that while it is on the coast, it's beaches are kind of nasty and that leaves one with just a lot of hot and humid town without the chance to really cool off. Enter Taganga, a beach village about 4 hours East along the coast. The first thing I noticed about Taganga was that it seemed to have more Israelis than Israel. Seriously, signs are in Hebrew. We went to several street carts that sold fantastic fruit smoothies for 2,000 pesos (about $1). They had menus in Hebrew. Not in Spanish, not in English, just Hebrew. As we found out, the reason for this is ... read more

Upon landing, we were greeted by classic Colombian weather, a thunderstorm with decent downpour of rain, lightning, nice and laud thunder. While at baggage claim, I was approached by Matthias, a German guy who had just finished his one year of social service (he had done it in Ecuador). He wanted to share the cost of a cab. Fine with me, always happy to cut costs. We were being met at the airport by the tourguide former co-worker of Justin's coworker's friend. I think I was looking at 5 degrees of separation, you know, almost family. Margarita the tourguide met us on her day off, paid for the taxi into town (Matthias got a better deal than he was counting on) and then spent the afternoon showing us around. Even though my opinion will of course ... read more

So states the Lonely Planet guidebook. Cuenca is one of those places that does not seem to be overloaded with tourist sites (which is a generous way of saying it is kind of boring) but is a great place to stopover if you happen to be going north to Quito. It is quiet, safe, has it's fair share of expat hangouts and is not short of travelers, but does not feel that touristy. I came away with the impression that I was witnessing the locals going about their business and enjoying life along with Ecuadorians. We stayed at the Hostel Macondo, which was a little higher than I was aiming for ($11.50 a night pp) but was very nice, decent breakfast and right in the center without being on a main road. Cuenca is a city ... read more

Compared to what we had heard about Lima, our experience was very nice. We didn't end up in the trunk of any cars or separated from our most valuable possessions either. This may have had a lot to do with our collective decision to take recommended taxis (taxi green is the best from the airport). This was made more affordable by the addition of a temporary 3rd traveling companion, Rea. She is from the Philippines, just 17 years old, and is traveling Latin America by herself after spending a year studying Spanish in Bolivia. We were on the same bus getting into Cusco, and then went on the same jungle trek together. We only took official taxis, and then stayed in the upscale neighborhood of Miraflores that is more expensive for both food and lodging. We ... read more