Bonito is bonito and Pantanal is mais o menos
Leaving the wonderful home and comforts of Madalena’s house in Belo Horizonte was going to be difficult regardless of where our next stop would be, but we didn’t make it any easier of an adjustment by picking Pantanal as our next stop. Everyone knows about the Amazon rainforest, but not too many non-Brazilians know about the Pantanal and Bonito, the Brazilian savanna (mixed with a little rainforest too). Lucky for us, Otavio showed us pictures of both while we were …
My favorite Brazilian import
Foreward: Tyler really wants to write a post about Itacare, but hasn’t had a chance yet. For this post’s purposes, just know it’s a beautiful Bahian surf/beach town south of Salvador where we spent a week staying in a gorgeous beachside pousada and Tyler surfed his heart out. Our journey has been a sequence of mostly unplanned and happenstance events, and the events of the past week were no different. After Tyler got his last surfing fix of South America in …
Salvador – before and after
First – some bragging. Our Indian food “thank you” dinner on our last Saturday in Fortaleza was an all-day affair and a total success. I have never cooked for 10 people and certainly don’t cook Indian food very often and definitely not in other countries, so I was a wee bit nervous. Otavio drove us to a fancy grocery store that fortunately had quite a few spices (in Portugese, so we had to open everything and smell it to figure …
This one goes out to Tom
Sad news today. One of our Panama-to-Colombia shipmates emailed us (from Ecuador) because he heard that Tom, the captain of our ship, the Luka, passed away from a heart attack! He and Bea were sailing from Colombia to Panama with 4 passengers when they apparently ran into some navigation trouble. The stress caused Tom to have a heart attack. He had just found out in Colombia that one of his arteries was 99% blocked and was planning to go back …
Norte do Brasil
America may have my body & mind and India may have my soul, but Brazil has taken my heart. As much as I loved the cities of Colombia and the history and children of Peru and will surely love the vibrance and tastes of Argentina and Chile, none can compete with the profound beauty of Brazil and its people. It is to Brazil that I owe a renewed appreciation for living life to the fullest, for relaxing without feeling ashamed, …
Reality Check
So it’s been a while again – oops. After our crazy Machu Picchu climb, we hit a bit of a wall, both physically and mentally. Our bodies are just starting to feel normal again – no fevers, no double-digit bathroom visits per day, restoration of appetite (though not weight, in T’s case, but we’ll keep force feeding him). Our physical sickness led to some very nostalgic homesickness, to the point where we ate Domino’s pizza for 2 dinners in the …
No Guts, No Glory: Our Machu Picchu Story
Note: As I post this, I’m lying in bed in our Puno, Peru B&B (Lucky Your House – awesome hostel – highly recommend). I pretty much haven’t moved from the bed since Sunday night and have been rocking a fever between 99-103, accompanied by all kinds of other special issues I won’t detail here. Suffice it to say, the nomadic life has finally caught up with me. As much as I know I will truly cherish our trekking and Machu …
Colombiana (I kind of wish)
Our time in Colombia has been utterly brief – a measly 10 days – and I am writing this on our way out of the country (in Cali, to be exact) en route to Cusco, Peru. Our overall impressions are that this is a gorgeous, vibrant, fast-growing, and youthful country filled with people striving to outgrow their violent and volatile past and embracing all things modern and beautiful, but maintaining an unshakeable pride in being a Colombiano/a. The people here are, generally …
Best/Worst of Central America
T&I came up with this list upon exiting Panama. Though we’ve visited Mexico, Costa Rica, and Honduras on previous trips, we have excluded those experiences from this best/worst list and have only included Belize, Nicaragua, and Panama. We hope to come up with something similar for South America as well, mostly because it makes for a good passing-time activity on bus rides. FORMAT: Category- Best/Worst Category Best Worst Beer Toña (Nicaragua) Belikin (Belize – only 9oz) Rum Flor de Caña (Nicaragua) Strong Rum (Belize) Street Food Lady selling oxtail stew & other …
Son of a son of a sailor
Words are failing me. I don’t think I can fully describe the last week of our lives with the accuracy and depth required for you to fully comprehend how incredible it was. Suffice it to say, sailing from Portobelo, Panama to Cartagena, Colombia via the San Blas Islands on the S/V Luka will be one of our most treasured memories from our year of travels. The most important factor to our enjoyment was the people we were fortunate enough to …
