medellin to tolu INFERNO

bus caught on fire or to be more correct arsonist set fire to the bus at 3am by splashing gas over the seats while passengers were still on the bus.



After getting to Tolu a sleepy caribean town with a slight reminder of South America I headed off to the mud baths!!! What is called a volcano but is more like a hole with thermal heat that keeps the mud warm and the locals add water to keep the consitancy nice a fluid. I had heard that it was a bit of a tourist trap but being there during the week I was the only one for a good hour and then was joined by a large group of Colombians. It´s cool to go to a tourist spot with local tourists rather than Gringos

Quito, Ecuador - Popayan, Colombia

The trip to Popayan Colombia cost me two iPods a USB Charger my camera batteries memory cards, card reader, stand and 50 USD. Not a very good travel day infact I have only been robbed once before (and not %100 I hadnt misplaced the money) in a hostel before.

Floreana Galapgos Volcane Chica

Floreana Galapgos Volcane Chica

Galapagos tour day 5

Day 5 Galápagos
Isla Santa Cruz
/ Darwin Centre
Giant Land Tortis

Day 4 Galapagos
Isla Floreana
- Bahia Post Office, lava tunnel
- Flamingos, ermit rab, sea turtle nests

Galapagos tour day 3

Day 3 Galapagos
Isla Española
- aquatic iguanas, rays
- Albatros, boobies blus and masked and blow hole large aquatic iguanas.

Galapagos tour day 2

Galapagos Day 2
Isla Santa Fe
- biting sea lion, cactus shiney petrified gwana, cross bread of aquatic and land iguana
- photographers on sea lion beach, large trunks

Galapagos tour day 1

Galapagos Tour Day 1
Day 1 Galapagos


San Cristobal (lobos)
The Queen of the Galapagos is a luxury class catamaran boat four levels decadent goodness only out done by the lovingly prepared food. Mark and I did not pay for this boat in fact we payed for a lower class boat at a discount and payed for a higher class then we wanted to too, but with the time constraints that I had we went for it.
At the airport we tried to join a group of people wearing similar buttons to our boat the Istrella del mar II but were told that we weren't on the list and asked to see our itinerary which we produced only to be told that we would have to go on another boat that had room, we had met some passengers from the new boat so we eventually consented and were on our way.





WOW was this boat nice we unpacked and settled down to lunch counting our good fortune. Mid way through lunch we were told that two passengers on Istrella were supposed to be on the Queen. Not wanting to leave without some sort of compensation we told our guide we didn't want to leave. to our surprise we were granted our wish and remained right where we were.



The first day we swam with sea lions and tried to out pace them. which was as fun as unrealistic as the pursuit.

Male Frigate birds have a red pouch attached to their bills used to attract the females.
- frigate birds, dancing blue footed boobie

Cotopaxi National Park, Ecuador

Cotopaxi National Park, Ecuador
"Free Stylers" is the theme of this trip, after spending days searching for a trip to the Galapagos both Mark and I were completely sick of tour offices so with the idea of hiking Cotopaxi Volcano we set off to the bus station with 60 bucks a piece and a back pack full of warm clothes.




A bus is easy to catch leaving at all times of the day and is even easier to on the way back by flagging down a bus,all roads lead to Quito. In the bus station the Chicken soup offered only the finest parts of the chicken and hopping a chickens foot may bring the same luck as a rabbits foot I decided to take it along with us.


We made it to the park gates just before they closed at 3pm and with another 3 hours to hike to accommodation we set off in hopes to make it before sun set, fortunately a entrepreneurial Ecuadorian mountaineer offer to drive us for 5 dollars.




Accommodation was a simple A-frame building that we had to ourselves so we stationed ourselves by the window overlooking the mountains and lite a candle (with some one else this could have been quite romantic!)


The next morning we quickly eat and set off on the long road to base camp being passed by a few jeeps with out the money making spirit of the guide eariler. No worries we were happy to enjoy the environment.



At the foot of Cotopaxi we caught a ride from a mountaineer that spoke excellent English apparently the clouds hadn't cleared for weeks and if we hurried we could hike the mountain before it clouded over. So 5 dollars more and we were at the parking lot about a km from base camp. The hike to base camp was exceedingly slow Mark did a lot better than having a 2500 KM acclimatisation in Quito, unfortunately Arica and Buenos Aries had sufficiently drained and extra blood cells that I had built up traveling in Peru.





After a quick rest at the base camp lodge we hiked up several KM more up the glacier 5oo meters higher and out of breath we turned back, and made record time since sliding down the snow takes very little effort.



In order to hike to the crater you need to start the hike at 1am and use ice crampons to ascend the hardened glacier. It take 5 hours and 2-3 down. Unfortunately we needed to push on so we headed back to Quito hoping that we would find a ride for part of the way to the main road

Quito, Ecuador

met up with a friend I had meet in Cambodia Marc. He is living in Quito studying to reach English. We headed up the equator and Solar museum to get the obligatory picture straddling the equator. The Solar museum although a bit campy had some interesting displays of the corollas effect on water and balancing a raw egg on the tip of a nail.
It started raining on the way back to town but we were able to check out the plaza which were nice but much nicer with out the rain which seems to percipatate half the day and half the night.

Buenos Aires week 2

kay I had wanted to do two weeks of Spanish classes but at the end of week one my brain was so full of information that I decided not to and try to arrange a flight later the next week to Quito as to have more time in Colombia. Turns out a flight from BA to Quito is 700 USD ochh. but to take a bus was out of the question. So after checking around I happend on a student center that was able to give me a flight for 400USD but not until the following monday. Perfect i set out to get a flight to iguazu falls which are one of the natural wonders of the world. Only problem is a flight centre wouldn´t give me a locals price and to fly would be as much as my flight to quito, the busses are inexpensive but are 20 hours each way. So I had to write of that trip.

Urban art
Might recognize this guy Garry Baseman. Just happened to be at the site while he gave a presentation. He´s gone far in his career starting as an illustrator and moving to fine artist / uraban artist with a strong presence in the viynl toy industry. I like his editorial work but not the most recent ¨fine art¨.












Bocca jrs fubol game

buenos Aires sites

Down by the Bocca Stadium








Sunday Fair in San Telmo
Dragon Ball Z is officaly an antique according to this vendor in San Telmo or at the very least is a collectors item. What a fair just wondering the streets you see the best and worst wares for sale.



I bought a photograph that I wish I would have taken in La Paz Bolivia and a few poster type items. But the best thing by far were porcilian figurines. Which isn't a lost art in Buenos Aires just look a Captain Janeway from the Voyager sci-fi series.






This antique wood working table was by far the most alluring item save the size and cost it would be to ship to Canada, but if I had bought it I would most certainly use it as a kitchen Island.