South America
From Sand to Snow
Written By: jeff
Posted On: December 12th, 2010
On Monday, the first order of business was finding out the status of my skis. From the FedEx website, I tracked them to customs in Buenos Aires. So, I knew they were at least in the country. Little did I know, that was the easy part. I received the customs paperwork in a FedEx package [...]
Rio Baby! Rio!
Written By: jeff
Posted On: November 14th, 2010
On Saturday, the 28th and headed off to catch my bus to Sao Paolo. This megaopolis has something like 20 million people and maybe upwards of 26 million. No one’s really sure. But, everyone was clear – be careful in Sao Paolo. I arrived at the bus station and jumped on the metro which had [...]
Brazilian Beach Tour
Written By: jeff
Posted On: November 7th, 2010
On Friday morning, we got up to head out to the beach. We headed to a stretch of coastline known as Costa Verde, or Green Coast. This area is located between Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro and is dotted with small cities and fishing villages. To get to the coastline, we had to drive [...]
The Colombian Halloween Song
Written By: jeff
Posted On: November 1st, 2010
Yesterday was Halloween. But, more importantly for me, it was Sunday. In Bogota, Sunday was made for heading out to La Calera, a rural region in the mountains to the northeast of Bogota. Here you will find restaurant after restaurant feeding the hungry Bogotanos who head out with their family, friends and dogs. Our favorite [...]
Barbeque, Beer and Lonely Women
Written By: jeff
Posted On: October 31st, 2010
On Tuesday, July 10th, I finally landed in Sao Paolo. While it took me a while to get there, I did finally arrive – exactly one week and about 2 hours before the terrible plane crash on July 17th. But, I made a two-hour drive to the northwest of Sao Paolo to Piracicaba – the [...]
The Long Patient Wait
Written By: jeff
Posted On: October 17th, 2010
I arrived in Lima on Thursday morning and made my way over to my hotel. I got so little sleep this week due to the crazy schedule of having to get up early almost every morning to either get to/from Machu Picchu, up Machu Picchu or to leave Cusco, that I just crashed in my [...]
From Uninspired to Awed
Written By: jeff
Posted On: October 10th, 2010
To say my stay in Cusco was uninspired, would be an understatement. The city itself is beautiful with the best central plaza I’ve seen so far in South America. There are also some beautiful museums, ruins, and a decent nightlife. However, I arrived during the busiest time of the year. Add to that the fact [...]
Stumped in Cusco
Written By: jeff
Posted On: October 3rd, 2010
Well, after having been in Ecuador since the end of April, my time here has finally ended. I’m a little sad to be going. The country treated me very well. And, unlike Argentina and Chile, I am probably not returning so this really is goodbye. The toe saga continued. It wasn’t looking very good and [...]
Galapagos Day 7: Penguins & Volcanos
Written By: jeff
Posted On: September 19th, 2010
Today started early to explore Bartolomeo Island. We were on board the rafts by 6:10AM. The penguins of Galapagos are early risers to get their fishing done before it gets too hot. Granted at this time of year, the temperature only rises to about 22-25 degrees C (about 70-78 degrees F), but during the hot [...]
Galapagos Days 5 & 6: Birds, Turtles and Fish
Written By: jeff
Posted On: September 12th, 2010
On Thursday, we had an even earlier start to the day since our excursion left at 7:30 instead of our normal 8:00AM. I awoke early and again sat out on the back of the boat taking in the view of the islands. The cool breeze coming off the water made for a crisp, fresh morning. [...]
