Month: August 2015

Huacachina, A Peruvian Desert Oasis

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I had lingered too long in Montañita, cutting deeply into my time in Peru. Anthony was well ahead of me now- he ended up heading down to Lima to get the rabies vaccine as he found out the one in Ecuador isn’t reliable. I was hoping I would be able to catch up to him eventually, but I had to move fast. I bid a sad farewell to Montañita and hopped on the evening bus to Guayaquil. I had plans to jump on another bus right away to head straight down to Lima, a good 30+ hour trip. I got on the bus in Guayaquil after only an hour layover and was feeling awful. I didn’t like the bus, nor the energy around me and the idea of spending 30 hours on it made me anxious. Continue reading →

Montañita, My Paradise

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Oh my darling Montañita. What sweet, secret, untold treasures you had in store for me! After having my laptop stolen, I began writing everything in my journal, and I had nearly finished writing my account of my time in Montañita on the bus ride from Huacachina to Cusco, Peru, when I stupidly left my journal on the bus. I went back hours later to hopefully reclaim it, but had no such luck. All that writing.  Gone. So here I am – a month later – once again, trying to recall the incredible three weeks I spent on the beach on the coast of Ecuador in Montañita. Continue reading →

That One Time I Went To The Galapagos Islands

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Bright and early, Anthony and I headed to the airport to make our way through the customs-like checkpoints for heading to the famous Galapagos Islands.  While we weren’t leaving the country, the islands are treated a bit like their own country, with their own set of very strict regulations to ensure the environmental integrity of the islands. Look for my upcoming blog post on how to do the Galapagos islands for under $1000.

We paid the $100 entrance fee, had our passports checked, our luggage raided (lost a bag of chia seeds in the process, darn!) and then boarded our plane with a load of other tourists all excited for the trip of a lifetime. It was an hour and 45 minute flight out over the Pacific ocean and as the first island came into view we all excitedly peered out the little oval windows for our first look at the Galapagos.  Continue reading →

Hospitalized and Robbed in Quito & Baños, Ecuador – Still Had A Blast!

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I wish I could say I spent a few amazing days exploring the great city that is Quito, but Quito turned out to be a repeat of Medellin and Bogota- sick, sick, sick. You can read about my adventures dealing with illness for over a month on the road here.  We spent 5 days in Quito, most of them being in the hostel bed, bathroom and couch, and then in the hospital.  All we wanted was to get on the road. Other than exploring the streets near the hostel and on the way to the hospital, we didn’t really get to see any of Quito, unfortunately. We walked to the super market a couple of times to load up on soup, bread and rice which was all we could stomach. After a few days we were nearly delirious with desire for anything other than ichiban soup. The only excursion we set out on was to head to the equator which ended up in me getting painfully ill, almost as a lesson to not leave the hostel! Other than being terribly sick near the end of our day it was a a great way to get out and see a bit of Quito on the long drive to the Equator park. It’s cheap and there are lots of little shops – but it’s a pretty tourist heavy excursion; though still neat to learn the history! Continue reading →

How To Not Get Robbed On A Bus, Like I Did…!

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Well this also finally happened… I was robbed. Before you freak out, family and friends, no, I was not held up at gun or knife point and stripped of all my belongings, thank god. It was a more of a ghost robbery, where I was left totally unaware. I  hopped on my bus in Banos heading for Guayaquil to meet up with Anthony, a nice cheap $7 ride for 7 hours. I walked towards the back of the bus where my assigned seat was. There was a man at the back of the bus who looked as if he worked on the bus as he was directing patrons to seats. He motioned for me to take my assigned seat, which I did and then said I could store my backpack up top or below my seat. There were bags under the seat in front of me so I slide my back pack back under my own seat and settled in. Mistake number one. Unnoticed, the man took a seat directly behind me. Continue reading →

When Travel Sickness Strikes – How To Cope

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*Warning* this post is explicit in the shameless details of being ill- if you’re easily disgusted, don’t keep reading! 😛

So it finally happened. I got sick. Real sick.  Two days before I left Guatemala, I came down with mild food poisoning. I got through a bad night of basically trying to sleep while sitting on the toilet, the agonizing cramps making me nearly cry out for my mommy. There’s something about being violently ill that makes you want you mother desperately. I had flashbacks of warm baths, cold cloths on my forehead, four litre ice cream buckets that we dubbed “puke pails”, gingerale, tums, and gentle back rubs from moms comforting hands. Unfortunately all I had was a shared public bathroom with doors that were open on both the top and bottom, allowing all the gastric sounds to escape easily. Continue reading →