More than 40% of South America is the Amazon Basin. It stretches across 9 of the 13 South American countries and is commonly known as Planet Earth’s Lungs, serving as the world’s most powerful oxygen generator, which is also critically endangered. Thus, we knew it was time for us to get there. We chose our entry point to be Leticia,…
There are a LOT of ways to experience the Amazon…from super rustic to super luxurious to everything in between. Because we knew this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, we decided to maximize our experience and not to stick to our normal $50/day ($1500/month). If we had wanted to do so, it would have been close to possible by staying in Leticia…
We woke up at 5 in order to get to Leticia in time for our 7:00 tour, (which didn’t leave til 9:00. Oh ColOmbia. 🙄.) We chose a tour through our accommodation that would give us a variety of things: an indigenous tribal and a nature reserve visit, a stop to let monkeys crawl all over us, the chance to…
From Pasto, we continued north for another seven (should have been five) hours to the capital of the Cauca Department (state) called Popoyán. Now, we must admit, this had us on edge un poquito because Cauca itself is still not the safest, but we also heard and read that if we stuck to the Pan American Highway corridor, and Popoyán…
From Ipiales, we took a very roomy and comfy collectivo about two hours to the city of Pasto. Most backpackers, typically the ones who make it to this part of Colombia, only stay for a night here en route between Medellin and Ecuador, but we’re really glad we gave it a couple so we could visit the extraordinary Laguna La…
Balanced in the ravine of a very different ColOmbian River Gorge than the one in Oregon, one can find a sincerely stunning spectacle of god meets nature near the Colombia/Ecuador border. The Neo-Gothic Catholic church, built between 1916-1949, has a powerful legend, which led to it being built in the most dramatic setting we’ve ever seen a religious structure. It…
The Market Town of Otavalo From Mindo, we headed two hours east back through Quito, and another two hours north on a bus so new that the plastic was still making obnoxious noises on every seat when you shifted. We were heading to the famous market town of Otavalo for a night of which would be our last stop in…
To be honest, we had kinda written off Bogota after our visit in 2014. It was kind of a two-days-and-done sorta of place…check out Plaza Bolivar, sweat your way to the top of Monserrate (10,000 foot/3100 meter city viewpoint), and have an amble through El Museo de Oro. (Museum of Gold). We learned quickly that the plethora of small towns…
