Fresh from a morning of paddling, strolling around palm-fringed beaches, and snorkeling on surrounding coral reef, our group of 11 sea kayakers sat under a cane shelter on the edge of a large white sand beach on an island in… Read More ›
Culture
Singing, The Most Affordable Drug, by Ellie Osborn
Almost every culture believes in the power of music to heal both physically and psychologically. Ancient and modern scientific research confirms these beliefs and we now can show evidence of changes in the brain when listening to Mozart or the… Read More ›
A Rastafarian Stair-step Through History on the Caribbean Island of Dominica
Rastaman live up. Rastaman don’t give up Keep your culture. Don’t be afraid of the vulture. Grow your dread lock. Don’t be afraid of the wolf-pack. (Bob Marley – Lyrics from the Song Rastaman Live Up) ________________________________________________________________________________ I was in… Read More ›
The Ambivalent Tourist Town of Chachapoyas, Peru – An Off the Beaten Path Travel Gem
It’s easy to fall into the trap of visiting only the most popular attractions at travel destinations. We’re bombarded by Top 10 lists in travel guides and websites, and the typical vacation has to fit within a 1 to 2-week… Read More ›
A Glimpse of the Future in the Old City of Venice, Italy
Symbolic of a glorious and prosperous past, Venice also is symbolic of the world we’re poised on the brink of – maybe it could be called the Engineero-zoic Era? ______________________________________________________________________________ Part One: The road to insight is paved with water. … Read More ›
The Market “Crash” in the Beach Village of Puerto Lopez, Ecuador
The last days of a 4-month long, 4-country travel stint in Latin America winding down, I got off the bus last week with my son and his girlfriend in the small community of Puerto Lopez, Ecuador, a village of 16,000… Read More ›
A Quest for “Nature” in Uruguay
Noone I knew had visited Uruguay, and few had heard anything about it. I’d read that it’s a peaceful country with a democratically-elected president who is a former freedom-fighter from the 1970’s when Uruguay was ruled by a military junta. … Read More ›
The Old Man and the Pan – A Soggy Story from Cuenca, Ecuador
A couple years back, I signed up for a Spanish Language course at one of the many schools in the beautiful City of Cuenca, Ecuador. Cuenca is one of those mellow, stable, and lovely latin cities that Americans and others… Read More ›
When Up Goes Under and Under Comes Up: Time, Space, and the Current “World Reversal” in Indigenous Peruvian Thought
by Hillary S. Webb, PhD The first time I heard the term yanantin was back in 2000, when I accompanied a group of people to Peru to learn about the indigenous spiritual philosophies as they exist this region of the… Read More ›
Hiking Salkantay in the Clouds of Peru: A Gift Wrapped in Silver Ribbons
“Every once in a while, the Apu, or mountain spirit, will call to a cow to graze way up high on the steepest slopes, where the cow will slip and fall; by doing that, he provides food for the Andean… Read More ›
VENTURE OUTSIDE BLOG: THE PUMA DIARIES 