Buen Provecho Ecuador

December 4, 2009 · 3 Comments 

Meals in Ecuador often consist of set menus known as almuerzos (al-mur-zoes) lunches and meriendas (merry-en-das) dinners, which usually consist of a soup, main course (usually meat) and a dessert. These usually cost just one or two dollars.

Soups are without doubt Ecuador’s specialty. They are always hearty, usually including vegetables, potatoes and a small amount of meat or fish. Soups vary as much by region as the person who prepares them and, like soups across the world, can be made up on the spot as... [Read more]

The Center of the Earth, Quito

December 1, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

Standing 20KM north of Quito the Mitad del Mundo is a thirty-meter tall, stone clad monument, topped by a 4.5-meter diameter globe weighing five tonnes. A white line, representing the Equator line runs through the monument and dissects its East and West face. A sign on the line proudly announces “Equator: Latitude 0′0′0′”

Finding the exact equator was the subject of many studies, the most notable of which was carried out by Frenchman Charles Marie de La Condamine in 1735. As well... [Read more]

Lonesome George- the World’s Rarest Animal

November 5, 2009 · 1 Comment 

The fragility of the natural world in Ecuador (and around the world) can be summed up in just one word: George!

George, or Lonesome George as he is more commonly known has come to be an unwitting star in the Galapagos Islands as a symbol for conservationists and naturalists the world over.

Lonesome George is a Giant Tortoise from the small island of Pinta in the north of the archipelago. Found by explorers in 1971 He was alone on the island and has since been classified as the sole survivor of the Pinta... [Read more]

Experiencing the Mountain Pass in Ecuador

May 3, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

At 10,000 feet, the air is perceptively thin in the Ecuadorean capital of Quito. Travelers puff and gasp the first few days of their visit. Stone steps and sidewalks seem steeper; footsteps tread slower.

This ancient, beautiful city is home to over 2 million residents. It fills the valley at the foot of 15,710 foot high Rucu Pichincha with thousands of single-story simple homes that creep halfway up its green slopes. At the city center is the international airport, laid out on a dried-up lakebed.

... [Read more]

Cemeteries and Penguins in Southern Chile

April 26, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

I was doubly blessed that Christmas Eve. December in the Southern Hemisphere is a time of lingering twilight and balmy summer air, or what passes for “balmy” in southern Chile. I was in Punta Arenas, where the Chilean Andes meet the Straits of Magellan.

The first surprise of the day was the Cementerio Municipal, a walled, flower-riot of a gem where the paths are marked with street signs. Los Gladiolas and Las Margaritas (the flower, not the drink) speak to the beauty that lies therein. Family members were... [Read more]