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

*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
Medellin And Bogota Photo Essay

Flying from Medellin to Bogota where I had a layover on my way to Santa Marta- the flight is gorgeous and worth the kink in the neck!
Here are a few snaps from my time spent wandering these incredible and massive Colombian cities. I’ve been sick my whole time in South America so I haven’t been able to see or do near as much as I had hoped, but what I have seen has been pretty incredible. Enjoy! Continue reading
Minca and Tayrona National Park: Paradise in Colombia

After being bed ridden in Medellin for several days, the itch to move on had become unbearable, despite my illness. It was time to get out! The bus up to Santa Marta would have taken me 24 hours, and since I was on a tight time schedule (and wouldn’t trust my bowels for 24 hours on a bus!) I booked a flight for a decent price with Avianca, a huge airline in Colombia. I arrived in the morning and while I waited for my room to be ready, slipped into the pool at the Dreamer hostel where I was staying. The cool pool was refreshing and kept the fever at bay. I decided I was going to tackle heading into Tayrona National Park even though I felt awful. I wanted to see a little of this beautiful country and didn’t want a little illness to stop me. So I packed a day bag, grabbed 5 litres of water and began my adventure into the park.
Medellin and Bogota: The Giants of Colombia
I was seething with excitement at being reunited with my good friend Anthony in Colombia as we had made plans to travel together through South America for the next three and a half months. Many moons ago, we hatched plans to meet in South America when were were both back in Yellowknife working for the City. Our friendship blossomed over endless talks of travel and alas we decided on meeting in Colombia in May. Continue reading
Belizean Beaches and Caves
I was scrambling to find a way to get to Belize to meet my dear friend from home Angela, as she had flown down to meet me and my dive course was already running behind. I spent endless hours trying to find the best, quickest and cheapest way to Belize City from Honduras, but let me tell you, it is not an easy trip to map out, unless you leave on a Monday! I was looking at having to take the ferry back to La Ceiba, a shuttle to Livingston Guatemala, another Ferry over into Belize and then another bus up to Belize City – and because of ferry and bus schedules it would take me 3 days!!!! Continue reading
Travel Tips For Central America
Central America is wonderful little collection of tropical countries that separate North from South America. I spent the last three months traveling through Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras and Belize. Three months was no where near enough time and I regrettably missed seeing El Salvador and Panama and only got to see a tiny bit of Honduras. It was my first time backpacking, so I was a bit of a novice at traveling in general, but I learned a lot about travel through Central America in those three short months. I’ve compiled a few of the things that I think would be most helpful to a first time traveler in Central America, however these tips could likely be applied to most places backpackers venture! Continue reading
Back To Guatemala: Tikal Ruins
My tuk tuk pitched out into traffic and jolted to a stop at the first set of lights. As it turned green, the motorcycle beside us lurched into a cat wheel, shooting ahead of us, the scooter next to him bolted after him, and our tuk tuk picked up the rear, gears grinding, engine struggling as it coughed to life and chugged through the intersection. Each gear shift was a screeching protest from the stressed engine. We puttered across the bridge and made our way from Santa Elena into the beautiful and quaint Flores. Cobblestone streets in abysmal disrepair took over for the pavement and we bumped our way along to my hostel, Los Amigos. Continue reading






