Page 21 of Bellini Travel Blog Posts


South America » Ecuador » Centre » Chugchilan June 24th 2008

After barely sleeping in my leaky room in Quilotoa, I simply wanted to get out of that town, despite feeling tired and a bit ill. Atahualpa and Maria left with a guide at around 8:30 AM, and I stayed behind curled up in my bed, leaving periodically to stand outside when the sun peeked through the clouds. It was still in the high forties at around 9:30, so I decided to pack up and leave, instead of waiting for the 1:30 bus. It was the only way for me to warm up my body, so I began to walk back to the main road. The route that the two Mexicans took was a shorter option for the hike to Chugchilan, which led off the crater and onto a trail rather than along a road. Being that ... read more
Log
Canyon Path
The Canyon Again

South America » Ecuador » Centre » Quilotoa June 23rd 2008

After a short bus layover in Latacunga and an interesting "bagged" lunch (see photo), I took a second bus into the clouds and to an area called Tigua. Here I stayed at the Posada de Tigua, a family-run farmhouse. When I first arrived, I went for a hike near the Rio Toachi Canyon (more to come about this canyon later), and then returned for one of the best dinners I've ever eaten. Everything was organically grown right at their farm, and all of it - the soup, chicken, potatoes, carrots, greens - was delicious. For breakfast, the fresh cheese, milk and yogurt were rich and creamy. This hotel was about double the cost of most other hotels in this country, but well worth the splurge. They have horses to rent and have wonderful trails around the ... read more
The Hike to Quilotoa 1
Zumbahua
Laguna Quilotoa

South America » Ecuador » North June 18th 2008

(2022 EDIT: I wrote a lot about safety in this entry, but it's really for travelers who have little experience with Latin America since this was just my second trip. Ecuador is very safe overall and in 2019 I walked alone extensively at night in Guayaquil, the second-largest city without any problems. Unlike in the US, in Latin America dangerous areas are usually in the outskirts rather than in the city centers. Leave your passport and a backup credit card in your hotel room and don't carry much cash, so you're not tempted to fight back or chase a pickpocket if someone does try to rob you.) (2023 EDIT: So... apparently things have taken a turn for the worse in previously-safe Ecuador. Narcotraficantes have found a new route through Ecuador, which has apparently increased both petty ... read more
Iglesia
Quito Street
Quito Street 2

South America » Colombia » Bogota June 17th 2008

After a washout in Miami, I left the States Thursday morning and arrived in Bogota at around 10AM. Since my flight to Quito wasn´t scheduled to leave until 4:30, after some research and some courage-building, I hailed a taxi outside the airport, which was arguably the most dangerous part of the excursion. Eduardo was happy to help me despite my minimal Spanish, and I asked him to drop me off in la Candelaria, the main historical/cultural district in town. Before stepping out of the cab, I was already happy that I had made the trip. The city is beautifully situated, and the edges reach into the steep mountains surrounding it. There is a significant skyline, which I didn´t expect, and the roads were wide and well-organized. Once we dodged our way through the typical chaos in ... read more
Street in La Candeleria
Catedral Primada de Bogotá
Lunch break


The cloud forest looked quite a lot like the muggy forests of Pennsylvania and seemed slightly less rainy, with many more screams in the distance - not of monkeys, but of zipliners, and the monkeys and other animals have all been scared away in this natural amusement park for Americans, but I guess that's what pays for this treasure to be protected; besides, a hiking tour with a botanist who could call animals to him was really interesting and entertaining, especially when the American tourists got upset with him for "believing" in evolution.... read more
Thicket
Hummingbirds


I used to draw volcanoes as a child because I couldn't draw well and they were simple, but I've learned through my travels that they often appear as misshapen forms, a hole on the side of a mountain or one side all blown away by pressure, except Arenal is volcan quintessance, looming and grumbling above the town, the long walk to the waterfall, and the hot springs forged from its smelter, unchanging but shifting in the light and the night.... read more
Puff from Arenal
Perfect shape


The beach at Tamarindo is spectacular, but others - so many others - had found it in 2006 and I can imagine how many more by 2016 by hiking away from the beach and coming upon another sea - endless retirement homes being erected in suburban unison, but for me it was fine for a day walking on playa grande and paying to cross the croc-infested estuary, and along naked stretches of sandy beach with jagged boulders scattered for miles (all developed today, no doubt) and then back to the estuary just before dark, this time crossing on foot, frightened with water to my chest, and then air drying on the bank, watching the pelicans rise effortlessly from wind of the sea, circle and then dive into the estuary, float and rest till the fresh water ... read more
Estuary
Beach hiking


Get out of here ASAP unless you have somone to stay with in an authentic part of the city - not much more to say about it.... read more


This was a terrific day trip from Montezuma but might have been better as an adventurous, rustic overnight.... read more
Good for kayaking
peccary / javelina


Here some friends and I found a comfortable wooden dormitory with a nice breeze and only some protection from the strongest deluge I've ever seen, with water to the knees in the streets, quickly draining into the sea, echoless and forgotten by the next morning.... read more
boy climbing waterfall




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