It was 9 am and when I looked down at my iWatch and it said that we had walked three miles. Three miles is the exact distance from the front door of our home in Mississippi to our neighborhood gate, which Ol and I walk regularly at about the same time everyday. We walk by our neighbors beautiful homes and farms. We see deer, cows, horses and a few dogs and birds. Today, I was thinking how different our morning walk was to Otavalo's Cascada de Peguche. Even though it was only

Our host at Hostal Chasqui, Roberto, told us that the best outdoor activity in the Otavalo area was hiking around Laguna Cuicocha, a stunningly beautiful volcanic lake. He said that many tourists are duped into paying a tour company nearly $100 for a trip to the lake. He told us to do it on our own and save $100 dollars. We took Roberto’s advice and hopped on a city bus for a twenty minute ride to the town of Quiroga. The cost for the bus ride was .35 cents a person. In the t

I knew that our stay in Otavalo would be different when at check in, our host Roberto warned “If you see the Shaman he will be drunk, just take photos, don’t drink his potion or eat the “magical” egg.” I knew that the Hostal Casqui was the right place when Roberto ran out the door and grabbed our bags and gave us a warm greeting. He invited us into our new home. He gave us a wonderful tour and our choice of several rooms. We had our choice of the rooftop with a lovely courty

Excited to be going back to Bogota! Civilization! No rooster wake up calls and restaurants with menus! The departure time wasn’t printed on our airline tickets from La Macarena to Villavicencia, so we made our way to the office of the airline the night before to make sure that we knew what time to arrive for our flight out. When we walked into the lobby the lady behind the counter knew our names without us saying anything! I guess there aren’t that many non-spanish speaking A

The boat ride back from the hike to Macarena was touch and go. We drifted in the fast moving current unable to steer because the engine lost power. We neared the bank covered with vegetation teeming with wildlife, including huge tree climbing iguana with very sharp teeth. Finally, the boat operator got the motor working and we made it safely back to the dock. Carolina was waiting to greet us after the long day. We immediately asked about our itinerary for the next day. To our

No need for an alarm clock when the roosters and construction started around 6:30 am. We awoke to find the city was without power, it happens a few times a day. No problem, we opened our shutters and watched the neighbors chasing a horse out of their yard and a lady wielding a machete cutting the common area. Life starts early in the country. We dressed in our hiking gear, filled our water bottles and headed out to find breakfast and meet our group. After only one afternoon w

After our mountain hiking experience we needed a few days to rest and recuperate in Bogota (okay I actually needed to go eat again at my favorite Colombian chain restaurant, Crepes and Waffles). And, so after my fill of caramel, chocolate and ice cream, we were off to hike the jungles of central Colombia and see the beautiful colors of the river in Cano Cristales. I think we have mastered the Colombia bus system. We had no problems navigating our way out of Bogota to Villavic

Today we are leaving Bogota for a new adventure in Cano Cristales, a river in central Colombia. Also known as “the river of five colors” and “the liquid rainbow, Cano Cristales has been described as the most beautiful river in the world. Until just a few years ago, Cano Cristales was controlled by guerrilla forces and was not safe for tourists. Recently, the area has opened for tourism and we are excited to experience the natural beauty of the river that is like no other in t

None of us would get out of bed if we didn’t think that the day had the possibility of being better than the day before. It was with that thought that I crawled out of my warm sleeping bag and started packing our wet clothes. The roosters crowing, the dogs barking, and the sun light beaming into our room also helped. Even though it was 6:30 am, the children I had seen the night before were no longer in the house. I don’t know if they were out doing chores around the farm, or

We were in Colombian Andes and life was good. I was eager to hit the trail, so after adjusting hiking poles and packs we set off. I saw a sign with a trail map, but didn’t really see much of a trail. For the first 30 minutes we jumped from rock to rock, to avoid sinking into the rich deep mud. The trail was more of a creek bed or bog. I think the sheep and cows were as surprised as I was, when several times I came nose to nose with them as they blended into the shrubbery. As