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We Nearly Skipped the Galapagos Islands

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It was a no-brainer at first: We’re already in Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands are in Ecuador, so let’s go to the Galapagos Islands. Anyone who’s been to the Galapagos will tell you that it’s a fantastic place to visit. The islands are home to exotic species that you won’t find anywhere else in the world, like the Galapagos penguin, marine iguana, giant tortoise, and all sorts of wacky plants and insects.

So why did we consider skipping it and possibly miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

Because a week in the Galapagos was going to cost us four months of travel in South America.

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Janice April 13, 2016 Ecuador, Pan-American Trail, South America
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A Taste of “Normal Life” in Otavalo, Ecuador

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Gregor and I needed to pick a place to stay put for two weeks so that we could concentrate on some serious intellectual endeavours. Gregor wanted to work some extra days to catch up on a software development job. I wanted to take two weeks of Spanish lessons to improve my conversational skills.

A British overlander that we met in Colombia mentioned that there were some decent Spanish schools in a town called Otavalo, located in the Imbabura Province of Ecuador. (more…)

Janice March 28, 2016 Ecuador, Pan-American Trail, South America
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Boat Life on Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway

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Gregor and I were super excited when we found out that our dear friends from Calgary had purchased the sailboat of their dreams. James and Christine had been talking about sailing across the Atlantic Ocean for several years, so when they bought their first bluewater boat it felt like we were witnessing their dream coming true. Their sailing vessel is a beautifully appointed 42-foot Whitby named ‘My Destiny’.

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Janice January 27, 2016 North America, USA
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Shipping Lucky to South America

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When Gregor first told me that there was no road connecting North America to South America, I thought he was joking. That’s ridiculous, I thought, of course there’s a road.

Well, you can’t actually drive between North and South America because of a 50-km break in the Pan-American Highway called the Darién Gap. It’s a roadless stretch of swampland and forest between Panama’s Darién province in Central America and Colombia’s Chocó department in South America. (more…)

Janice January 6, 2016 Central America, Colombia, North America, Pan-American Trail, Panama, South America
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