RoamBerry

It's been a long time since my last post for various reasons, fast travelling, moving from backpacking in South American to working full time in Calgary in Alberta, Canada. The biggest reason for my lack of writing however, is very simple - broken laptop. After finally earning some money and scraping some cents together I am back in the game and normal business will continue shortly with the posting of my second week on the Alpaca Ranch in Ecuador. In the meantime, BIG NEWS!!! A piece of my travel writing has been chosen to be published in David Slenk's new travel compilation book, From the Grand Canyon to the Great Wall. This book will be released within the week through numerous stores across the globe, in both physical and e-book form. It is a compilation of ... read more

New Years in Rio Bamba Between Montañita and getting to Volcán Chimborazo there was New Years. I spent it in Rio Bamba, the city nearest to Chimborazo and where I arranged my volunteering I started my night with Wlady and the other agency staff in the office before hits the streets and spent the strike of midnight with a group of locals in a park, speaking almost exclusively Spanish the whole night. Of course I had wanted to spend NYE with Mor, but as I couldn't do that, spending it in this fashion was the best thing for me. Ecuador has a rather fantastic tradition for New Years Eve; huge numbers of effigies are set alight in a symbolic gesture to burn away the bad from the previous year to give the New Year a clean ... read more

The Challenge and Back to Baños This has been my biggest challenge to write yet. It's the story of how I fell for a girl amidst a bunch of crazy outdoor activities and I hope this entry is as interesting as it is long, whilst somehow not being too detailed. Some things are just for my memory. Enjoy! I met Mor in Latacunga before leaving for the Quilotoa Loop trek. After finishing the second days walk, I bumped into her again by chance and left the people I was the following morning to walk with her and her friend, Shay-li. Once the loop was over, we found ourselves standing up on a bus, bouncing our way back to Latacunga. The terrible journey back took two hours of enduring crippling tiredness after the hike, but finally we ... read more

My time in Quito was a long one, I was there for three weeks during which I achieved very little. For this reason, I'll try to focus on just a few things. I arrived in Quito with my English friends, Lindsay and Julie. The pair were meant to be separating, Lindsay to travel Ecuador before flying to Buenos Aires, Julie to travel Columbia. The first plan for Quito, was actually leave, Lindsay and myself both wanted to do the Quilotoa, Julie not at all. When Julie decided to stay though (I think she was a little afraid to travel solo), the idea went out of the window. It was disappointing, but for the best considering my toe was still recovering from the dislocation. If Lindsay had gone, I would have gone, wrecking my toe further so ... read more

I love Baños so very much. This is the first part of the reason why. I arrived at the bus terminal with my two English friends, Lindsay and Julie. We had been on the road for some hours to Ambato where just had jumped off on instruction from the driver and crossed the road where like clockwork, a couple of minutes later another bus pulled up, taking us to Baños in the late evening. I had a hostel in mind for our time, but due to a lack of energy, when we were approached at the terminal by a tout, we checked out and checked into his hostel which was one of the typically non-guide book unpretentious places that granted us private room, bathroom and television to the delightful tune of $5 each. A good start. ... read more