As we've been wandering the planet, we've ended up in places that have sent our friends scrambling for their atlas (or in the case of Bonnie D, places that all just ended up in her broad category of "why the heck would anyone want to go there??"). The atlas' were definitely not required when we announced plans to head to the Mexican Rivera for some R&R (it's exhausting being on vacation 365 days a year), as well as a fitness blitz (as Carol C has ...

In Latin America, it would seem that every city & town has at least one central square/plaza, and there is at least one church overlooking all of those squares. These houses of worship certainly don't rival the great churches of Europe and after weeks of travel in South America, there was a 'sameness' to them that saw us zipping through a number of them. It was somewhat surprising then that the primary reason we were visiting Bogota was to see yet ano...

For years Columbia has been something of a no-go zone for travelers. Between armed-to-the-teeth drug cartels, FARC rebels, corrupt police, heavy-handed military, and right wing paramilitary groups there was the potential for the sort of unplanned adventure that made the relative safety of a stroll through Afghanistan, Nigeria, or Scarborough much more appealing (around the dinner table, the only thing Columbian bad guys could agree on was that robbing and/or kidn...

To get to Nazca we had to take an overnight bus from Arequipa. Bus travel in South America can be a bit tricky with respect to comfort and safety but, having been in a car driven by Deb P, it takes a lot to get us overly worried. The bus we were on was actually pretty good but the security process was airport-like, and just before we were going to leave, a security guard with a camera came on board and started videotaping all of the passengers while reading the s...

After winding up our jungle adventure, it took a mere two boats, one bus, three planes, and a Peruvian taxi (where duct tape is used to secure the doors), to deliver us to Arequipa. We're not really sure why we came to Arequipa but, almost immediately, we were glad we did. It doesn't sit too high on the must-see destinations of Peru but it deserves a much better fate. In the area around the main square, it's about as pedestrian friendly as any city i...