Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

A Bus Tour of Cuenca

October 23rd, 2013 | Posted by Ian in Ecuador | The Places We've Been - (7 Comments)
Girl with Tour Bus

I know, I know, it sounds like a cheesy, touristy thing to do, but at only five bucks a head an open-air double decker bus tour of Cuenca will let you cross a slew of historic sites off your list of things to see. There are at least two different routes that depart at slightly … Read more

A Market in Cuenca with the New Cathedral in the Background

Ecuador, though a small country by South American standards, is packed full of numerous and varied attractions for visitors. From the Andes to the beaches, Cotopaxi to the Galapagos, big cities to quaint villages, there seems to be something for everyone. Had we armed ourselves with all of the options when we began our search … Read more

Las Lajas

October 15th, 2013 | Posted by Ian in Colombia | The Places We've Been - (0 Comments)
Las Lajas, Colombia

In brief, Las Lajas Sanctuary is a Gothic revival basilica located in the Colombian town of Ipiales, just a few miles from the border with Ecuador. Built between 1916 and 1949, the church lies at the bottom of a canyon spanning the Rio Guáitara. There are some purported miracles/sightings of the Virgin Mary that inspired … Read more

Salcedo, Ecuador ice cream

We haven’t had a long-haul like this one for quite some time. Actually maybe never. We’ve driven longer distances in one go, but time-wise this one takes the cake (at least until next month). Moving through Mexico and Central America, we’d gotten quite used to single-day trips or a single night in a hotel before … Read more

DIAN

We cross borders by land in a CR-V with US passports and our two dogs. We do not carry drugs or weapons or disallowed fruit (usually). These articles are not a definitive guide to crossing borders nor should they be used as a sole source of information. They are our experiences. When, Where, and Which … Read more

10th Floor View

Our slideshow is quite short this month and the number of blog posts we wrote about our temporary home is fewer than usual too. Some of this can be attributed to the fact that we wrote like crazy during our first week or two in Colombia as we dished the details on our Darien Gap … Read more

Medellín Studio

October 6th, 2013 | Posted by Brianna in Colombia | Lodging | The Places We've Been - (2 Comments)
Living Room

The studio apartment that we rented in Medellín for the month of September is just about perfect for us. It is small, open, airy, and bright and with everything that we need. Bar seating separates the nearly full kitchen (everything but an oven!) from the living room, and a small closet area further delineates the … Read more

Man on Horse

Our first metro ride in Medellín took us north through the center of town before dropping us to catch a connection on a cable car to Biblioteca España. Aside from our neighborhood, we hadn’t seen much of the city in the daylight before and one stop after another we found ourselves excitedly getting each other’s … Read more

Rooftop terrace in Medellín, Colombia

This is an installment in an ongoing post series detailing a typical day in one of our destinations. Not everything in this schedule might happen on any given day, but it should give you a good idea of our usual activities. 5:30 AM – Because Medellín is in a valley, dawn lasts a long time here. … Read more