Six hundred miles off the coast of Ecuador you’ll find the Galapagos National Park which encompasses 97% of the land mass of the Galapagos Islands and the surrounding waters. This is one of the most bio-diverse places on earth.
In August 2013, we ended our 4 month trip to South America in Buenos Aires. We rented an apartment there for two weeks and during that time we took a bus trip to Puerto Iguazú in order to see Iguazú Falls. This is really a collection of approximately 275 discreet waterfalls that straddle the border between Argentina and Brazil. Iguazú Falls are considered to be among the most beautiful and largest in the world. They stretch out over an area 1.7 miles long so it’s difficult to take it all in but you can experience the beauty of these falls from many vantage points.
https://coopsecondact.com/2013/08/10/cataratas-del-iguaz/
While in Puerto Iguazú, you can easily check out Tres Fronteras which provides a view of three countries at the confluence of two great rivers.
https://coopsecondact.com/2013/08/11/tres-fronteras/
We got married on April 13, 2013, and then 3 days later headed to South America for a 4 month honeymoon. This trip began in Ecuador then on to Peru, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. One of the most fascinating stops we made was in Puno, Peru, on the shores of Lake Titicaca.
The surface of this lake sits at 12,600 feet above sea level. We took a boat tour of a portion of the lake that allowed us to get a close up look at two remarkable indigenous cultures that live here. One group on Isla Taquile and the other on floating islands made from reeds harvested from the lake. Also, at the end of the article is a mention of a steamboat that operated on the lake in the mid-1800’s.
https://coopsecondact.com/2013/06/28/lake-titicaca-puno-peru/
I would also mention that while in Puno we suffered through some gastrointestinal sickness, one of the only such times we encountered this type of sickness while traveling. We had to postpose our boat tour for a couple of days until we were sufficiently recovered.
Since we retired near the end of 2010, our plan has been to travel, well pretty much full time travel. We no longer had a permanent residence or even a rented one so we were mostly forced to keep moving. Sure, in between, we were able to spend time with Valerie’s Mom or visit with friends and family.
We made extensive trips to Central America, South America, Mexico and Europe. We took off on extended road trips, one across the country to the East Coast and one to the great Northwest ending in Vancouver, BC. We did some house and pet sitting at various locations. In 2015, we purchased a motorhome and spent 4 years wandering the US.
But now, well, the nomadic lifestyle doesn’t seem very realistic given the current circumstances. Perhaps one day that will change but for the near term we have to rethink our travel centric approach to life. In the meantime, we’re going to recall some of our favorite travel experiences of the past 9 years. We’ll call these articles, the “Look Back” series. Sometimes it’s fun to reminisce, especially since we may not have any new such experiences for a while. Continue reading
You’re not alone! At least one-third of the global population is under some form of “stay at home” or lock down restrictions. Perhaps in no other time in history have we seen this much of humanity being asked (or ordered) to limit their movement beyond their own front door. This has led to tremendous changes for millions of people with schools closed, malls, restaurants, bars, movie theaters and most other retail establishments like hair salons, gyms and clothing stores all closed as well. Of course, this has led to millions of stories of quarantine and lock down.
