Like nearly everyone else in the world, our lives have been disrupted by the Coronavirus pandemic. Before we made the decision to hunker down in Buenos Aires for the duration of the lock-down, we had plans to go to Mexico. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and we wrote about all the…
Stories from the field
Article in VinePair: An Alternative History of Chicha
Before we left the U.S. in June 2019, we stumbled across a story about an archaeologist/anthropologist at UNC-Greensboro (where Renee went to graduate school) whose team was excavating the site of an ancient chicha brewery in Moquegua, Peru. The pre-Inca site had been ritually destroyed by fire, and Dr. Donna Nash wanted to know about…
How to Get Your Gaucho On
In South America, dude ranches are called “estancias” and cowboys are called “gauchos.” There are countless similarities among ranches and estancias, including cattle and sheep on a big, open range; hearty, homemade meals sourced on site; and lots of horseback riding. But there are some significant differences between North and South American horsemanship, as I…
An Ode to Masking Tape
After seven months of continuous travel through South America, we have grown quite attached to several pieces of travel gear. Our Sawyer squeeze water filter and metal HydroFlask bottles have kept hundreds of plastic water bottles out of local landfills, estuaries and streets. My HyPath backpack system has held up admirably through many sessions of…
Four Frustrations of Long Term Travel
After seven months of continuous travel in South America, we have identified four areas of frustration that keep cropping up. In the interest of preparing other travelers who also plan to embark on long-term trips outside the country they call home, we are airing these annoyances here. Unfortunately, we have not yet managed to figure…
Deluge, Despair and Endurance at the Triple Border of Colombia, Brazil and Peru
Torrential rain greeted us on the morning of November 15th, the day before our departure from Leticia, Colombia for a four-day, slow-boat journey down the Amazon river to Manaus, Brazil. Our tuk-tuk driver picked us up at 8:30am to complete the morning’s tasks: an exit stamp on our passports from the Colombian migration office at…
How Mosquitoes Helped a One-armed, One-eyed, One-legged Admiral Beat the British in the Battle for Cartagena
One of Cartagena’s most famous tourist attractions is the San Felipe Castle, a sprawling fort set apart from dozens of towering skyscrapers scattered throughout this modern Caribbean city. The Castle was the site of a massive battle between the English and the Spanish for Cartagena. A long-smoldering war – called The War of Jenkin’s Ear…
What is now proved was once only imagined – William Blake
In 1993, Medellin, Colombia was the murder capital of the world with 420 murders per hundred thousand people. In the worst section of Medellin, Comuna 13, the murder rate was twice as high. Today, Comuna 13 is a vibrant, lively, and safer community, as well as one of the top tourist locations in town. The…