2012 - South America

February 6, 2012–November 13, 2014

The Sacred Valley

November 13, 2014
Ollantaytambo, Cusco, Peru
I’m still slowly catching up on my blog posts over the past couple years. Here’s another from my South American adventure from two years ago… Shortly before I departed on my trek to Machu Picchu I received a Facebook message from a friend asking how long I would be in Cuzco since they would be there soon as well. This is yet another serendipitous moments where Facebook has brought us all closer… Read more
A green mountain inset with yellow brickwork rises in the ancient town of Ollantaytambo.

Manu Jungle

August 26, 2014
Madre de Dios, Peru
Yet another short post, the most import piece being the photos… Cuzco and the surrounding environs is where I spent the longest portion of my trip. I arrived in Cuzco from La Paz on 4 March and did venture beyond until 18 March. My final excursion was a four day trip to Manú Jungle. While not a deep venture into the Amazon… Read more
Overlooking the Amazon river.

Machu Picchu

August 22, 2014
Cusco, Peru
As I’ve described previously, this is part of my series of getting caught up on my South American adventures, and as such will be much shorter than my usual posts. As I had a very undefined itinerary for the second half of my trip, I did not know when I would arrive in Cuzco and when I would be able to do my Machu Picchu trek. The famous route is the Inca Trail… Read more
Your intrepid traveler kneeling atop a rock hovering above the beautiful hills and valleys of Machu Pichu. Like an asshole, of course I made it my profile picture.

Some Kind of Jetlag

July 20, 2012
Chicago, Illinois, United States
I’ll call it latitudinal jet lag. As my travels were due south, there was no drastic time zone shift upon my return to reality. But my circadian rhythm has been thrown out of whack nonetheless. When I left Chicago in February the sun was setting around 5pm. In Argentina summer was in its final weeks and autumn was quickly approaching (that still didn’t stop the excessive heat in Buenos Aires… Read more

Floating Islands

May 10, 2012
Puno, Peru
Ever since I was little it’s been impossible for me to say Titicaca without giggling at least a little bit. Even as I stand at its shore, maturity still has yet to grace me. At least it’s complemented by a sense of awe at the immensity and beauty of this tranquil lake. It could just be the lack of oxygen at this altitude… Read more

Ecuador Social Media Posts

May 4, 2012
I got really far behind on my actual blog posts at this point, so here are a few Facebook and Twitter posts from my time in Ecuador: A series of “oh, I’ll just stay here on more night” and overly expensive Peru-Ecuador plane tickets might lead me to have to miss the Galapagos on this trip. Any suggestions on how I should spend the next week getting from northern Peru to Quito? – Mancora… Read more

La Paz Photos

April 26, 2012
Nuestra Señora de La Paz, La Paz Department, Bolivia
Here’s a full photo album of my time in La Paz including Lucha Libre and Death Road. And a little insight into my time in La Paz. “do you have any plans for tomorrow? because I don’t know about you, but I plan on getting ridiculously drunk tonight.” 5 minutes later: “this is going to sound ridiculous but I have to be up tomorrow at 7 to be on Bolivian television”  

The Most Dangerous Road. In the World.

April 26, 2012
La Paz Department, Bolivia
North Yungas Road, leading from La Paz to Coroico, Bolivia has been christened “the world’s most dangerous road”. It’s affectionately known now as “Death Road”. It winds down the side of mountains rarely more than a single lane wide and even more rarely with guardrails. The road goes under waterfalls, over streams, with the sheer dropoff just outside the window. In the past… Read more

¡Lucha Libre!

April 26, 2012
Nuestra Señora de La Paz, La Paz Department, Bolivia
And now we come to what has definitely been a highlight of the trip. While many visitors to La Paz go to the touristy cholita wrestling, I had the opportunity to attend a truly local luche libre “match” (“show” might be more correct… Read more

Salty Uyuni

April 24, 2012
Potosi Department, Bolivia
I’m now pretty far behind on my posts, so some of these next few may be on the shorter, did-this-then-did-that, side as I try to catch up. Sunday 25 March–Thursday 29 March After a quick reunion over a lomito (steak sandwich with egg and everything) with Victoria in Iguazu, it was off to the airport for an overnight layover in BA. My flight the next morning  was early… Read more
An absurdly good looking bearded man stares out in the distance as the mysterious Sphynx does the same, wondering what I'm looking at
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