A Million Minutes in Africa

While we wait for the truck to continue our South American foray, we just wanted to post some photos we didn’t get a chance to share from Central America. They were taken in December.

Dan on a zipline canopy tour in Nicaragua. It is called a canopy tour so that it takes on the air of eco-tourism, a popular term these days. However, it is really just a great excuse to zip through the trees and get an adrenaline rush.

A boat washed ashore at San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Just some purty light on a rusty hulk.

The crater of Volcan Irazu, Costa Rica.

A guest in our room on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. I go to take a shower and as I touch the shower curtain to pull it back I notice this little critter hanging out in the folds of the curtain. Often Giselle screams moderately when there is a creepy crawler about so I ease her into this one. “Honey, there is something you shouldn’t see in the bathroom.”

The same guest, close up.

One of the most trying things about traveling is the constant pounding you take from strangers’ indifference. Actually, that would be one of the most trying things about everyday living. However, when you come across someone who shares an idea or the excitement of travel, it makes a strange place feel like home.

We had the good fortune to run into Rafael del Campo Quintana at Ultramar, a customs agency. When we told him we were driving through the Americas he said, “I want to go!” He was only half-joking, but he has taken on the cause of getting our car out of Peruvian customs as if it were his own. He broke out a map of Peru on his computer, and we talked about all the places we should visit. As a contrast, the first agency we ran into told us because the car was more than 5 years old we could not import it; we would have to ship it back to Panama. They said that was probably our only option. We are going with Rafael.

Tomorrow we are supposed to go to the port to see if the car is in one piece. At the risk of sounding like an unabashed advertisement, if you ever need customs agent services, we can give you Rafael’s number in Lima. He is a good person.

Nazca is an area described by a Quechua word that means "suffering" because the ancient people had little water in this part of the world. It is in the Peruvian desert, a place notable for mysterious shapes marked ... [Continue reading this entry]

These are pictures from a boat tour of a "guano island." These are islands that in the past were valued for the fertilizer the colonies of birds produced. According to ... [Continue reading this entry]

Carless, we took the bus to Pisco, home of the Pisco Sour. Traveling by bus is an entirely different thing. There are obvious differences like the higher cost and associated convenience of having your own wheels, but there are also ... [Continue reading this entry]

We haven't seen a single one yet.

Lack of lima beans proves unhealthy.

We visited the library of the Monastery of San Francisco. No digitization here, ... [Continue reading this entry]