Nora and I arrived at the airport, ready and excited to take our tour in what turned out to be a glider, a six passenger aircraft (including the pilot and co-pilot) with propellers on the front. Although I’ve never been afraid of heights or flying, I started to feel a little nervous while waiting for our turn. I assured myself that those feelings would subside as soon as we took off safely.
I spent a week volunteering in the rural Amazonian village of Yantaló, Perú, and it changed my life.
Through the grapevine of travelers and the good ol´ Interwebs, the news of this countryside treasure started surfacing: Cajamarca is Perú’s capital of both cheese and Carnival. Swoon. I instantly thought it would be worth deviating from my ever-so-sacred plan.
With lush hillsides, jungle rivers, city skylines, white sand beaches and cloud forests — I personally think it´s difficult to declare one place the winner of beauty in the small, yet diverse country of Ecuador. But nestled in the south of the nation´s illustrious landscape is certainly a contender for the prize — Cuenca. It´s a small city of 400,000 people, and deservedly known as Ecuador´s gem.
Guayaquil, Ecuador, was pretty much a bust. The city is filthy and there´s not much to see. Except one thing. But this one thing completely salvaged my experience in Guayaquil, so here´s way too many pictures …of … pre-historic looking iguanas!
For four days and three nights, I sacrificed modern conveniences for cold showers and candlelight in order to experience life in the Amazon Rainforest. To be fair, in the heat and humidity, cold showers were hardly a sacrifice. But I did have to sleep under a mosquito net and once woke up to the sound of a mouse (probably rat, but I prefer to think mouse) chewing through my friend Nora´s backpack. A few days of roughin´ it were more than worth the experience, though.
One of my favorite pastimes is shopping. Especially when the average cost for items is jaw-droppingly low and bargaining is encouraged. A two-hour bumpy bus ride from Ecuador´s capital and I was in heaven. Otavalo is home to South America´s largest market.
