We arrived safe in Quito and were super happy that we chose to fly. As for Quito, not much to say other than it is quite similar to the other large South American cities we've seen. 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 camouflage gear, and all of them carrying huge guns - we´re definitely not in Canada anymore! Like all foreign cities though you do see strange and unbelievable things like 6 year-old children selling cigarettes on the street late at night and dance clubs packed with ... read more

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 were spent swimming and snorkeling off of a couple different islands. We also had the opportunity to tour one of the San Blas Islands and see just how primitive the people still live. The Kunas ... read more

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 Panama Canal, just pay the extra $3 - this is not the time to get cheap, especially when you may be waiting an hour and a half for a boat to arrive. Tonight we learned ... read more

We arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica at approx. 9pm on October 4th. We spent all day yesterday looking for a place to buy bus tickets to Panama but had no luck due to poor directions, a lack of street signs and the obvious language barrier. It has been raining quite heavily the past 2 days but we´ve still managed to see a fair bit of the city by foot. Overall, this city is dirty, loud and unappealing. We are looking forward to getting on the 11pm bus tonight and heading to Panama. The bus ride is 17 hours putting us in Panama City by 3pm tomorrow afternoon. ... read more