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If you avoid rain and traffic, which I somehow managed to, the trip down to Quepos is really very attractive and very changeable. 3 hours to Quepos was pretty good going considering I was going at sightseeing pace.

Neither Quepos nor Manuel Antonio was the destination. I was heading on towards Dominical, first checking out Rafiki Safari Lodge. Well before Quepos, though, I saw an intriguing sign for Xandari Lodge. Read the rest of this entry »

A great trip! Short in this case means 10 days, 9 nights, excluding the nights at either end in the hotel in Huaraz. A short but succinct description of the place is given in the Moon handbook. This was a trip I was checking out for Peru Discover as well as for my own pleasure. The main problem setting it up was that there was no regular trip I could join in, and no friend could be tempted along, so I ended up doing it on my own, with own guide, ‘arriero’ and flock of ‘burros’ (donkeys). But it was still fun, and there were fellow trekkers (not many) to talk to from time to time. Read the rest of this entry »

click to see Arenal photos
This was only my second visit to Arenal lake during the windsurfing season (Dec-Apr), definitely the lowest of many years. The Easter week is surprisingly quiet on the northern part of the lake, unlike the busy south where small lodges abound around the volcano and Fortuna. We spent 2 nights in an attractive but basic cabin in Xiloe Lodge, beside the best local barbecue place around, Equus, with its stone grotto and cowboy style. The weather was great during our 2 day stay. Read the rest of this entry »

I am a boy of 11 years and this is my description on my trip to Peru. This has been probably the longest trip I have gone on but definitely one of the most exciting ones. Read the rest of this entry »

click to see Kamuk photos
I must admit I’d never even heard of the place, let alone had any clue where it was. Nor had anybody else, including ticos. So when the opportunity came to climb Kamuk volcano, apparently the second highest mountain in Costa Rica, I jumped at it, if only through dangerous cat’s curiosity. Read the rest of this entry »

click for photo album

The choice on Sunday was a 60 km ride with 500 or more participants at Zurqui, towards Volcan Poas, or a 30km ride with fewer people at a small village called Lagunas de Turrubares, 2 hours from San Jose towards the Pacific. I headed for Lagunas, mainly because the Johnny, an old friend whose family had ‘rescued’ me on a previous failed trip past Carara National Park, had invited me along. His mother was organising it with the local school. Read the rest of this entry »

click for photos

A few days in Atacama is a complete escape and passes in a flash. Nowhere matches this amazing place. We are already plotting to head back!

Most people arrive at Calama airport. This is a 70 minute scenic hour drive across the desert, but on an immaculate asphalt road, to San Pedro de Atacama 58 miles (94 kms) away. The last few miles you go through an impressive range of hills, Cordillera de la Sal (the Salt Range) – remember these, you will be back shortly! Read the rest of this entry »