A reader recently asked me what I thought were some of the best places to travel in South America. Now I have lived in South America and travelled considerably across this part of the world, but I haven’t been everywhere, so today I’m tag teaming with fellow travel blogger and boyfriend to answer the question, [...]
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So you may have noticed there is a Blogger Relay Race being headed by LowCostHolidays. The idea is to share your top three travel moments from across the globe, and Brenna of This Battered Suitcase has passed on the baton to me. I now join the Green Team headed by Over Yonderlust, and will hopefully [...]
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On that particularly hot Bolivian afternoon, I managed to sweet talk the driver into letting my friend Alyssa and me ride on top of the bus. It’s probably not the way parents hope their daughter is travelling around rural Bolivia, but if you had to choose between a stuffy cabin with screaming children and a [...]
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The youngest of the two sisters approaches, her playful nature shining through a timid smile. Loose strands of her jet black hair hang from a messy ponytail. I grin her way and wave hola. We are soon sitting together chatting away in Spanish. She is no more than eight years old but I don’t question [...]
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My decision was made before the question had been phrased. When given the option of spending the day helping at a nearby community that had running water, or, venturing to a small village deep in a valley without running water and where very little Spanish was spoken, I jumped at the second option. I surprised [...]
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The boys in San Pedro enjoying their breakfast Pantipampa A tub with a view outside Cochabamba A hitchhiker we picked up outside Mizque The girls in their traditional outfits It was a year ago that I was flying down to Bolivia to volunteer with Niños con Valor – yet I’ve written very few posts about [...]
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The end of the year, for me, is a time to look back and reflect on all the travels and adventures I’ve been blessed to experience; and with New Years fast approaching, I thought I would look back on some of my favourite memories of 2011: + In January my friend Alyssa and I spent [...]
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4,170 meters is the highest altitude at which I have ever stood. The day started long before sunrise. Our driver stopped at a corner store and urged us all to purchase coca leaves in preparation for the long day ahead. (They worked their magic in Cusco and I’ve been a chewer ever since.) A few [...]
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Remember the time this happened? “A sheer layer of dirt coats my sun-burnt face as I bounce around the back of the old pickup truck. Our two-vehicle caravan consists of a beat up Toyota and a dump truck borrowed from the Mizque municipality; the latter topped with food supplies and school materials for a neighboring [...]
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Bolivian roads are unpredictable. You never know what you’re going to find until you get there. Sometimes the road has been washed away by the heavy rains, other times small puddles turn out to be mud pits, and in our case, we encountered a small rock slide and had to get out of the car [...]
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I must admit, whenever I find myself some place new, I like to visit the bathrooms. Some are glamorous facilities with hand-painted porcelain sinks and gold-framed mirrors (like the ones at the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas), while others are a simple hole in the dirt (like the bathroom hut I encountered whilst [...]
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Okay, so maybe I overreacted. But it sure sounded like one! We arrived in Cusco and headed straight for the hotel; not because we were tired, but because located at 3400 meters of altitude, the only way to combat the effects of altitude sickness are with rest and coca. The symptoms can range from migraines [...]
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