In cities of central Ecuador, you may have a surprise in store when it's time to discard some trash: you can do it with real panache. The cans for throwing things away are not olive green or gun-metal gray but decked with images of a circus almost to the point they irk us. Clowns and … Continue reading Ode to Ecuador’s Circus Trash Cans
Ecuador, of course, is named after the equator, which passes more or less through the middle of it. So there was no way we could visit Quito, the closest major city to the equator, without paying our respects to this imaginary line that splits the globe in half. And that meant visiting Mitad del Mundo … Continue reading Straddling the Equator at Mitad del Mundo
During our final week volunteering in Ambato, Ecuador, we found ourselves tangled up in some of the notorious Ecuadorian red tape that some of our students have alluded to. As we've mentioned before somewhere, our preparations for this journey when we were back in the States included the purchase of a Steripen, a nifty little … Continue reading Adios, Ambato; and Hola Again, Quito
Puyo, Ecuador turned out to be a bit of a disappointment -- at least as far as the city itself. We didn't see why anyone would recommend going there except for nearby attractions. Like the Amazon -- Puyo is the closest jumping off place to tour the jungle; even the tours leaving from Baños go through … Continue reading Monkeying Around in Puyo
After our session of Performing and Poetry in the park, we jumped in an Uber and headed over to the bus terminal on the east side of Ambato. Destination: Return to Baños de Agua Santa Sunrise in Ambato, Volcan Tungurahua in the distance Our return trip to Baños involved two little lessons about the importance … Continue reading Baños to Puyo
Wrapping up our two-night stay in the resort town of Baños, we decided that the one thing we really wanted to do before heading back "home" to Ambato was to tour Pailon del Diablo (The Devil's Cauldron), a reputedly awe-inspiring waterfall a few miles out of town that many of our students had mentioned was … Continue reading Pailon del Diablo, Ecuador
Originally, we'd planned to spend 4 nights in San Pedro at the home of our rescuer Rene, which would get us through New Year's Day, and then we'd have more options about where to go until our next gig. But we soon developed such a fondness for San Pedro, Rene's home, and Rene himself, that … Continue reading Layover in San Pedro la Laguna, Guatemala
Finally, the time came to report to our next volunteering position. While we've been enjoying our "down time" to play tourist, that's not really the purpose of this tour. We are volunteering our way around the world, and so we were glad to be able to get back to it. These girls are carrying cement … Continue reading Volunteering in Jaibalito, Guatemala
Tue. Nov. 30, 2021 Early this morning, we welcomed a couple of new arrivals to Barrio Vivo hostel: two young men from Seattle who work in robotics and computer-related fields -- one is a PhD candidate. These are only the third and fourth fellow Americans we've met here since checking in here. Then we went … Continue reading Anthropology Museum and Theatre Games
Sun. Nov. 28, 2021 - Merida, MX This morning at breakfast, James, who was one of our group on the memorable cenotes excursion on Friday, said goodbye and was off. People come and go here with great frequency -- most stay only a couple of days -- but we've still managed to get acquainted with … Continue reading Stumbling Upon the Marketplace and Visiting an Expat
travel with a theatrical flair 