When people ask us to describe our favorite part of our 6-week Chilean/Argentinian road trip, my husband's answer never falters - it has to be Route 1. In Northern Chile, Route 1 follows the coastline from Iquique to Antofagasta, and further down to Taltal. The road itself seems to have been decommissioned, as the newer... Continue Reading →
The second stop in our Chilean camper van adventure, after leaving San Pedro de Atacama, was the seaside town of Antofagasta. Like the rest of Northern Chile, the town is steeped in history of struggle with Bolivia, of the mining industry and of the construction of railroads, and is surrounded by the Atacama desert and... Continue Reading →
When visiting the Atacama Desert, the one area that you absolutely must make the journey to is Piedras Rojas. I'll warn you - it's far and quite the trek from San Pedro de Atacama - but it is absolutely 1 million % worth it. First, take a look at the journey on the way out.... Continue Reading →
In Northern Chile, closest to the small touristy town of San Pedro de Atacama, you will find the breathtaking Salar de Atacama salt flat -- the third largest salt flat in the world. And within this salt flat, you'll find a number of salt lakes (lagunas) that are the most incredible colors! The first one... Continue Reading →
I'll tell you now - the 3 day hike called the "Quilotoa Loop" in the Andes in Ecuador was g*ddamn HARD. Arnie and I found it particularly difficult for a number of reasons - but primarily because we had no map and basically 0 clue what we were doing. Anyway, here's the tale of our... Continue Reading →
Our favourite tourist attraction in Mindo was the Mindo Canopy Adventure. This is a series of 10 different ziplines - flying you across the treetops of the Cloud Forest. Over the 10 ziplines, you mostly ride "normale," but you also have a few different options for rides too 🙂 First, there is the "rapido" line... Continue Reading →
Welcome to Mindo ~ How can I even start to describe the wonder that is Mindo? It's a sleepy, small town in the middle of the Cloud Forest in Ecuador with nothing left to be desired. It's likely to have at LEAST 1000 times more hummingbirds than people, and you can hear them & the... Continue Reading →
Volcan Cotopaxi outside of Quito is the second highest volcano in Ecuador, and the highest active volcano! Cotopaxi is a female 🙂 and the translation of her name comes from Coto (meaning "neck") and Paxi (meaning "princess"). Apparently this princess has a bad temper, and whenever she gets "full," she explodes. Arnie & I had... Continue Reading →
Arnie & Amanda's Grand Adventure 