Geo: -13.52, -71.99It's street after street of indigenous women sitting on sidewalks with a bag or two of fruits or herbs--some on display--some tucked under their wide skirts. They sit there rain or shine, sometimes so wrapped in plastic sheets all you see is their hat brims. They live in surrounding pueblos and don't leave for home until after 5 at night, so every afternoon when the rains come they're the most pitiful sight.It's streets so steep and narrow cars aren't allowed, surrounded by walls 500 years old and made of stones carved to fit so exactly they don't need mortar --they're so commonplace here as to be their normal. The whole area--from Machu Pichu to Cusco--is like being in a living museum. It's eye jolting traditional clothing set against tall grey stone walls. And it's ... read more

Geo: -1.56124, -80.8072We met a fun couple from Canada here at the Mandala and after spending the day sharing travel stories, they decided they'd join us on our boat ride to Isla Salango for a swim and some snorkeling.Our day started with a 25 cent bus ride south to a neighboring fishing village called Salango, a place Bob and I had been with Ligia and Sook our first week here. But this time we found a fisherman eager to take tourists out to the island and what a trip.It's quite a task just getting the boat off the shore and past the breakers, as there's no dock. But that accomplished, it was a quick trip to the island. During the first 5 minutes of the trip our crew member dashed forward--rummaged in the hold and came ... read more

Geo: -0.866667, -80.2667We love Montanita! The surf's the draw, but it's the surfers and all the girls who make it fun. At about 4 or 5 in the afternoon it starts to wake up and stays awake til well after dawn. That's why we're staying a block out of town at the lovely Hotel Swiss Point--it's just far enough that we don't hear the partying.And the great restaurants! There's Hola Ola with a zipping fast internet connection, Papallon where we go most often, Tiki Limbo right next door and our newest discovery the Kapatapia, a Mediterranean Grill where I could finally get my vegetable fix. And all the street food anyone could want. On Sunday we had a string of 12 buses lined up on the highway. What the?? The poor barrios of Guayaquil had been ... read more

Geo: -2.89844, -79.015It's the most wanted place to retire in the whole world and it's at 8,000 feet elevation. International Living puts it ahead of Mexico, Panama, Uruguay and Italy.EVERYONE we've talked to, every single person, has told us we'd love Cuenca, that it's charming, the weather is perfect and the climate is invigorating, it's an ideal walking town, it's old world beautiful, it's safe...and on and on.While we can't refute any of that--it all appears to be true--we would never retire here. But boy do they make it appealing.As a senior citizen you get half off public and private transportation within Ecuador, including the Galapagos; half off tickets for all cultural and sporting events, including movies; half off electric and water bills; free domestic landline; half off international airfares for round-trip flights originatin... read more

Geo: -1.04364, -77.7063Sunshine! After three days of rain the sun gives us one glorious day--a perfect day to be on the water. With Jaire again we traveled down river for a couple of hours in our skinny canoe passing small fishing villages and people panning gold from the mud to an animal rescue center staffed by volunteers. Those we met were college students from Chile and Germany. The mother Wooly monkey and her baby lying in the sun were found after an alpha male change, they tell us. When a new alpha male takes charge the first thing he does is kill all the babies so he can mate with the mothers sooner. This mother was badly wounded protecting her baby, but was expected to live. We were warned not to get too close as she ... read more