Category: Off-the-beaten-path

Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Tropics / Wandering

Statues and Architecture of Guayaquil

At first glance, Guayaquil didn’t seem all that special to me. It took a while, and a bit of exploring before I started stumbling across some of the more beautiful little places hidden scattered about the city. Here is a random assortment of statuary, architecture, and other beautiful sights of...

Nature / Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Tropics

Parqué de las Iguanas

About two blocks in from Malecon 2000, is a small city park. This park isn’t really advertised and isn’t a tourist destination. It’s only about one block square but is home to perhaps 100 free-roaming iguanas. They are literally everywhere! Check out the photos and video.  

Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Tropics / Wandering

🎼…from Hawaii to the shores of Peru…🏄🏻

Me: “Is there a malecon in Trujillo?” Martin (who owns the hostel where I’m staying): “If you want a good malecon, the one in Huanchaco is much better. You should go there.” At least that’s the gist of what he said. Martin speaks very clear Spanish but it’s still sometimes...

Activities / Moderately Active / Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Tropics / Wandering

Secret passageways to Trujillo’s backstage

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....

Art / Culture / Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Tropics / Wandering

Trujillo College of Medicine

While out wandering around Trujillo, Perú I stumbled across the campus of the Trujillo College of Medicine. Like many places here, the college is surrounded by walls. However these walls are covered in amazing mosaic artwork. Spanning several blocks, these giant and elaborate masterpieces stand as public showpieces.

Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Tropics

Trujillo: Perhaps the prettiest city in all of Perú

Trujillo, about 9 hours’ drive north from Lima, is a beautiful colonial city right on the Pacific Ocean. Less than ¼ the distance to the equator as Miami, Trujillo is decidedly tropical. With mostly narrow streets, lovely town squares, and colonial architecture everywhere you look, Trujillo is an overlooked gem with...

Dining / Off-the-beaten-path / Off-the-cuff / South America / Vegetarian/Vegan / Wandering

Unexpected discovery: two vegetarian Peruvian restaurants

I went out wandering around Trujillo today and stumbled upon a vegan restaurant just 3-4 blocks from where I’m staying. Then I found a vegetarian restaurant just 3-4 more blocks beyond that. After several hours of exploring and taking photos, I started to feel hungry so I made my way...

Culture / History / Off-the-beaten-path / South America

Other archaeological relics of the Nasca culture

Aside from their world-famous geoliths in the desert, the Nasca people did leave a few other legacies behind. They built a few small pyramids, some burial mounds, stone living structures, and a complex aqueduct system. It is this aqueduct system that is perhaps most impressive. In the 1980s, a powerful...

Art / Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Wandering

Street Art: The graffiti of Montevideo

It seems that graffiti is everywhere you go in the world. I developed a whole new appreciation for “street art” after taking the Bogota Graffiti Tour in 2015. During this three-hour walking tour around Bogota, Colombia a graffiti artist pointed out the many different styles of street art. He noted...

Active / Nature / Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Tropics

Iguazú: More than just waterfalls

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...