Palawan

It may consist of over 7,000 islands and 100m people, but the Philippines had only ever entered my radar for providing a disproportionately large number of nurses to care for Irish geriatrics, and Manny Pacquiao. In truth, I had never considered the country as a potential travel destination until I stumbled on an article about…

Rehydrate or Die!! Volcanoes in Nicaragua

There are nineteen volcanoes in Nicaragua. San Cristobal is the highest, but, in this country, height doesn’t necessarily carry the same drawing power as the rarer attributes of some of its smaller rivals. For instance, after hiking up Cerro Negro it is possible to sit on a piece of formica-reinforced green sprayed plywood and board back down to the bottom. At the crater of Telica, lava (magma since…

Little Corn – An Island Paradise (subjective)

Big Corn has the only airport on the islands which means all visitors must pass through it. It’s meant to have the best beach too but that’s not enough to keep travellers from flocking to its car-less little brother, which despite only being a fraction of the size gets three times as many visitors. There are only two…

First Stop – Managua (an arbitrary starting point)

Originally we were only going to tour South America, but the best value flights we could find online landed in Managua and flew home from Sao Paulo. Since we had no firm commitments and enjoy not spending money unnecessarily, this meant our plan quickly changed to a tour of Latin American. The departure date was fast approaching,…

Riobamba – Another Place in Ecuador

Riobamba was to be our base for some mountain climbing and railway tourism. The city itself is not particularly memorable but it is small, quiet and pleasant. My attempts to resolve a dispute with Ecuador Eco Adventures meant that our railway plans never did come to fruition, but we did still have the consolation of…

Seeing the face of evil on Chimborazo (Robbery at 6000m)

Always be wary of your guide and ask around about whether he is motivated before attempting to summit. Sometimes guides will increase the pace so that you struggle with the altitude, others will just invent imaginary dangers. If Fausto hadn’t faked a phone call, we would have been forced to take it at face value that…

Smoking in Bolivia

Smoking remains a reasonably popular pastime in Bolivia, most likely due to the addictive nature of cigarettes. The country is, however, making great strides to curb growing popularity with its recently introduced smoking ban. People are no longer allowed to light up in hospitals, in primary and secondary schools, or on buses. Most other places…

The Bad – Travel Agents and Diving in the Galapagos

It can be difficult dealing with people in Ecuador, especially when you are attempting to exchange money for goods or services. With travel agents often it is the case that they do want your money but are not necessarily keen on providing any goods or services. It was torturous dealing with Mockingbird in Puerto Ayora, the operator…

Cuy – The Future of Sustainable Food

Most of Ecuador is just south of the equator so there are only two real seasons – dry and wet. Dry season runs from June to September and rainy season is from October to May. Since we were here in July we reasoned that it would be the perfect time to go to Baños, the…

Guayaquil – A ‘Living City’

The reason most tourists stop in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city and the country’s main port, is to fly to the Galapagos Islands. We ended up stopping here because it was impossible to get a bus directly from Riobamba to Lima without spending a night in Guayaquil. It is, perhaps, best described as a living city.…