Why I would’ve liked to have gone climbing in Ecuador:
Quito
Mountain aminals
Seeing the volcanic cone of Cotopaxi from the summit.
Why I didn’t go climbing in Ecuador:
Climbing up this
And making it back down.
(Photos via Jeff - major kudos for being able to photograph under duress!)
I can’t even put my own crampons on. That’s why I leave climbs like this to my Dad & Jeff who’ve just returned from climbing the Cayambe & Cotopaxi volcanoes in Ecuador.
Source: girlwiththerandomlife
Beautiful mild days always evoke the feeling of being on the streets in a foreign city enjoying the day and the moment.
The newest Anthropologie catalog describes Cartagena, Colombia, as “Crumbling and majestic. Vulnerable and walled.”
I want to go back to South America, backpacking through Cartagena, Caracas, Quito, Rio, Buenos Aires, Patagonia. Ian would come and we’d spend a month traveling the continent.
I am dreaming. But maybe someday.
See also The Amazon.
Peruvian Prep: Motivational Inspiration
Views from my dad’s 2007 climb on Aconcagua, in the Argentinean Andes, the highest point in South America.
Clip from a fellow climber’s trip report:
“Arrived into base camp in a huge snowstorm, and many people almost had hypothermia the first evening. The wind was blowing at 80 miles and learned that a lot of tents at base camp were destroyed. Several other teams had to abort their plans because of damage to their tents and equipment. To top it off, we were also threatened by lightning on the way to high camp.”
While it will probably be raining on Machu Picchu, surely things will be easier than this!
Peruvian Prep: Empirical Inspiration
Peru will be my first trip to South America, but I have done some Latin American/Spanish travel:
España: School Trip Spring 1999 / With Alison
Mexico: Mission Trip Summer 2000 / With Alison & Kim
Costa Rica: School Trip Spring 2001 / With Alison, Kim, Kristen & Jenny
Mexico: Cruise Winter 2005 / With Jessica
Take a Seat
Dominic Gills’ book and award-winning documentary of his travels biking on a tandem through the Americas from the tip of Alaska to the bottom of South America.
I saw his documentary at the Banff Mountain Film Fest and it features some great South American scenery. Get a preview at the link.
And, for the record, real biking is so much cooler than motorcycling.
Peruvian Prep: Cultural Inspiration
Watching:
A few I’ve wanted to see for awhile, a few old gems, all set in South America.
The Motorcycle Diaries (photo c/o)
Che
Evita
Love in the Time of Cholera
180 Degrees South
Romancing the Stone
The Quantum Solace
Reading:
I’ve read a lot of standard Spanish lit, most of it in school (thank you Hispanic Readings). My favorite, not read in school, is Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who I think truly captures the spirit of South America.
Practicing:
My Spanish. Also learned in school and slowly fading. Poor Fritz is having to learn his commands in Spanish now :)
