In an effort to bring you some new voices on Ottsworld, here is a guest post from blogger Mark Whitman. Mark has hiked all over the world and I asked him to write someone up on one of the harder hikes he’s done. He chose the Vilcabamba Trail to Machu Picchu – an alternative to […]
I always wondered how Patagonia became Patagonia. The historical answer is that Magellan in 1520 used the word patagón to describe the Indians of the region. But more than just the history, I wondered how this region became so popular among travelers. It’s a unique region that spans two countries and seems to maintain an […]
I walked down the long stone walkway, full of anticipation. The landscape was barren and dry, and the building in front of me was simple and brown blending in like camouflage. I felt like a giddy child overflowing with excitement about what was to come. I opened the heavy wooden door and my whole world […]
As we drove into the city of Santiago from the airport my mouth was agape. Santiago wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I was expecting Buenos Aires or Lima, but what I saw in front of me was a modern, clean city surrounded by nearby mountain peaks. The Andes mountains were so close around […]
Surprisingly this was my first trip to Colombia; for some reason South America hadn’t demanded my attention yet in my travels. I was eager to leave the cold December in NYC behind to land in hot, steamy Cartagena. The best part – it was so simple – no super long flight, and no jetlag. Poof! […]
This is the stuff that is normally kept far away from most American’s eyesight; the carnage that happens before that lovely piece of prime rib or fish fillet ends up behind the glass in the grocery market case. Mercado de Bazurto Cartagena was a serious market, the kind where you get a glimpse into local […]
I was expecting a handshake and I received a powerful, emotional hug – one that in my culture is normally reserved for close family or friends. I quickly learned being hugged with gusto was a normal greeting in in the Perez-Cuesta family home in the suburbs of Cartagena Colombia. Like mother, like daughters – each […]
Do you feel the beat? I sure did this last week in Cartagena Colombia! This was my first trip to Colombia and with a few salsa beats and welcoming hugs it had me won over and wanting more. I was there working on a project for USTOA and AFAR. It was a quick 4 days […]
Three times every day 50+ people sit down at wooden tables with colorful plastic plates piled high with food at Project Peru, the refuge my niece and I had been volunteering at outside of Lima for a week. I knew it was no easy process to put food on those plates every day, as kids […]
The hills of Las Laderas were brown and barren of trees, however they were dotted with little colorful cubes representing simple houses. Josue told me many of these houses built into the hills were filled with single mothers which immediately made my heart sink. The homes were very simple, some made of brick, some of […]