The animals in the Galapagos are truly unique, from Darwin’s finches (which were the basis for his theory on Natural Selection) to the blue footed boobies, penguins, sea lions, cormorants, frigates, and more. Aliya’s favorite was the baby sea lion…
Waterfalls & Chocolate in the Cloudforest!
We could have spent days exploring the wonderful area near Mindo, Ecuador! But we only had a day to hike the waterfalls and learn all about the process of making chocolate. From growing the cacao pods, to drying and sorting…
The Center of the World!
Here we are at the Center of the World: 0 Latitude! Where we did experiments with water to see the Coriolis Effect: water whirled clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere, counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, and just went straight down on…
Drink It With a Spoon!
We were quite surprised when our “Rosero” drink at the Plaza Grande Hotel in Quito was so thick that we had to “drink” it with a spoon. It was like having a sugary sweet, syrupy, fruit cocktail with barley in…
The Green Police!
In the US, police cars tend to be blue and white or black and white, and police stations rarely have a uniform color. But in Chile, the “Carabineros” (the police) drive green and white cars and are housed in green…
Graffiti Artists
We never realized how beautiful graffiti could be until we visited Valparaiso, the graffiti capital of the world! Sunday we went on a Graffiti tour of Valpo with graffiti artist, Al Ramirez, who explained the evolution of graffiti, with its…
Unique 1 Ring Circus!
Today we had a funny incident while Raquel and I were sitting at an outdoor café having lunch. We kept hearing a loudspeaker announcing performances for a travelling circus. In fact, we went to this Mexican circus about two weeks…
Unique Signs!
It is always fun to travel and see signs that we wouldn’t see in the US. Here are a few of our favorites:
The Night Our World Shook: Earthquakes in Chile!
Aliya, Asher and I (Ben was safe in Boston) were on the couch, snuggled closely watching youtube music videos, when a roar came from deep inside the soul of the world. The room began to rattle and the loud sounds of…
Touring Valpo with the Leders!
We went on a spectacular tour (Tour 4 Tips) of Valparaiso, Chile with Raquel’s brother Jason, sister-in-law Norri, Jordan & Sammi. We had a great time riding on the funiculars and exploring the nooks and cranies of the streets of…