Sedate / South America / Tropics
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published February 26, 2018 · Last modified February 20, 2018
Guayaquil, Ecuador is not on a sea coast. Yet it has two separate waterfront boardwalks; malecons, in Spanish. That’s because there is both a bay and a navigable river flanking the city from either side. Both provide ocean access for shipping. Both also provide lovely recreation areas for residents and...
History / South America / Strenuous / Tropics
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published February 24, 2018 · Last modified February 20, 2018
Activities / Moderately Active / Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Tropics / Wandering
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published February 20, 2018 · Last modified February 12, 2018
Trujillo, Perú has so many amazing doorways and alleyways, it’s tempting to want to just wander through every one of them. Instead I decided to design my own little walking tour and photograph some. Quite a few doors were closed and alleyways gated. That only added to their mysterious allure....
It rains every day in the tropics. At least it does in Ecuador at this time of year. Usually, the rains come at night or in the early morning hours. And it’s that kind of warm, soft rain that makes you want to sit up in bed and just listen....
Active / Activities / Bucket List / Culture / History / South America
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published February 10, 2018 · Last modified February 8, 2018
Most everyone is familiar with them, even if you didn’t know what they were called or know much about them. The Lineas de Nasca are a bunch of lines and shapes out in the high deserts of southern Perú. If you were walking on the ground and came across one...
Logistics / Sedate / South America
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published February 8, 2018 · Last modified February 3, 2018
SPOILER ALERT!! If you have the stereotypical vision in mind of Third World markets as seen in Hollywood movies, with 3-day old dead chickens hanging by their feet in the front window, you might end up disappointed. In all the Third World countries I have been to, you can of...
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published February 7, 2018 · Last modified February 1, 2018
Walking along the waterfront in January, it is 80°F but feels considerably warmer. Even though Montevideo has a fantastic swimming beach right in the city, it is a workday so the beach is not the least bit crowded. In fact, it’s all but vacant by North American standards. Technically speaking,...
Laid-back / Modes of Transport / South America
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published February 3, 2018 · Last modified January 28, 2018
Rio de la Plata, the river separating Argentina from Uruguay, is so wide that it takes two hours to cross by ferry. That’s not even to get you down river to Montevideo. The ferry simply crosses from Buenos Aires to Colonia, the closest major city in Uruguay. From there, it’s...
Active / Nature / Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Tropics
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published February 2, 2018 · Last modified February 1, 2018
While Iguazú Falls may be the big draw, the park that encompasses the falls is more than 250 square miles. So it is much more than simply a big river impressively jumping off a cliff. Plus there is the nearby Argentine town of Puerto Iguazú, its Brazilian counterpart Foz de Iguazú and the...
Active / Nature / Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Tropics
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published February 1, 2018
Reportedly, upon seeing Iguazú Falls, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt exclaimed, “Oh poor Niagara!” Having been to both, I can say that Iguazú is by far the more impressive of the two. It is several times larger. Like Niagara, Iguazú Falls marks the border between two countries. In this case, Argentina...