GUAYAGUIL (Guaya kill) Guayaquil, Ecuador greeted us with a horrific monsoon and high humidity! The flight from Santiago was four hours. Our hotel, Oro Verde, provided as part of the Galapagos tour, was a 5 star hotel with a spa and fitness center - a very welcome respite for two weary travelers! Guayaquil is the main port and largest city in Ecuador, founded in 1534 on Santa Ana hill. We walked from the hotel, thru part of down town to the waterfront on the Guaya River. This part of Guayaquil is very kept up with parks, statues, plazas and a shopping center at one end. At one of the parks we came upon a huge land iguana just hanging out with the locals. Santa Anna, located at the north end of the waterfront, was calling us ... read more

We’ve left the hot, humid, tropical climate of Brazil for a brisker climate - cool morning and evenings. However, the afternoons could be sweltering. We were in Santiago Chile. The city seemed cleaner and richer than Buenos Aires and had a great metro system. Our hotel was in the Providencia neighborhood close to the Plaza Armas, a huge pedestrian plaza with St Ignatius Church being the cornerstone. We arrived here via the metro on our 1st morning just in time for cappuccinos. So we followed the crowd to a very modern (interior) building. Oh La La, the baristas looked like playboy bunnies without the tails and fishnet nylons! The cappuccinos were good and the people watching even better.! Fortified and ready to explore the city, we boarded a double decker tour bus we could ride for ... read more

Dozens of bright yellow butterflies greeted us as we drove from the small airport to our hotel! At first we thought the breeze was blowing yellow leaves around - but no breeze and no yellow leaves - yellow butterflies! After checking into our hotel, we immediately drove to the Brazilian side for the best panoramic view. Iguazu Falls (big water), well, what can we say? There simply are not enough superlatives to describe this natural wonder! Photos don’t do it justice! Awesome, majestic, thunderous, wild, calm, beautiful, powerful. These are a few words that come to mind. We not only viewed the falls but toured a huge (several acres) bird sanctuary where parrots and toucans were prolific. The next day we entered the park on the Argentine side and rode a little train to El Diablo, ... read more

Buenos Aires was our first stop in South America. The flight from Portland totaled 14 hours with a change of planes in Dallas, TX. The apartment we rented, via the internet, was as advertised, clean, light filled, and on the 12th floor of a tree lined street with a west facing patio. Our new hood, Ricoleta (to remember), has cafes on every corner, fruit stands, an internet café, and a supermercado. On Saturday, after walking 6 blocks to another barrio, Norte, we found the metro and rode downtown. We used our guide book to take a self guided walking tour which directed us to the Plaza de Mayo, Plaza Congresso and beautiful buildings on Florida Street. The architecture was amazing! Argentina is famous for the tango, so off we went! The show took place in a ... read more

We left Arizona in June of 2008 to return to the Northwest for the summer. Zion National Park was a must see spot! We stayed four days, hiking each day. This park is our favorite national park. It's scenic and so easy to access. Most canyons you view from the rim looking down such as the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Crater Lake. However, at Zion you are in the canyon looking up and hiking in the canyon itself. The best and most uniquie hike was The Narrows. This hike is 16 miles long. The correct way is to start from outside the park, above the rim and hike down thru the Virgin River Canyon into the park. The best way to do this is over a two day span. 80% of the hike is in the water ... read more