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Safe Passage at the Border between Ecuador and Peru
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 7 February 2012
As my time in Ecuador grew to a close I vacillated over the best way to make the border crossing into Peru. Although it was possible to take a bus directly south from Cuenca to Peru, the trip would have required an eight to ten-hours bus ride to Zumba, changing to a Chiva (open sided [...]
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Sometimes the Old Ways are the Best Ways
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 4 February 2012
Gravel spit from beneath the van’s wheels as we climbed into mountains erupting with picture-postcard spring colors. Though I enjoyed my time in Cuenca, it had been difficult to connect with the local culture in a city of half a million people, so I had opted for a day tour to explore tiny towns in [...]
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Travel Inspiration: Real Men Don’t Cry
Blog: Canada's Adventure Couple - 30 January 2012
I was climbing a tree. By itself this was fine – I like climbing trees. If only I hadn’t mentioned this fact to the boss of the animal refuge where I was volunteering… I never would have ended up in this situation.
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At Home on the Road in Cuenca, Ecuador
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 28 January 2012
By the time I arrived in Cuenca I was stressed out and beaten down. Though rewarding, traveling through Ecuador had not been easy. I’d been seasick during my spectacular cruise with Ecoventura in the Galapagos Islands; sweaty and smelly in the Amazon jungle at Cuyabeno Lodge; and sardined into a bus full of Ecuadorians, where [...]
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The Best of South America Part 2: Travellers Share Their Tips
Blog: Never Ending Voyage - 25 January 2012
To celebrate the launch of our free ebook South America Highlights we asked other travel bloggers to share their favourite places and experiences on the continent. In Part 1 we heard their top tips for Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Brazil and now in Part 2 we move on to Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.
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Beyond the Hotels – Big City Homestays in South America
Blog: Vagobond.com - 24 January 2012
Unlike hostals, hotels, and hospedajes, a homestay is often a rented room in a private home. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Riding Down The the Devil’s Nose
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 23 January 2012
High in the Andes Mountains, at the point where the Guasuntos and Chanchán Rivers meet, a gigantic rock known as El Nido del Condor (Nest of the Condor) soars more than 6,200 feet. I sat atop this massif, safely ensconced in a leather seat on board what has been dubbed “the most difficult railroad in the [...]
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An Exceptional Welcome in Alausi, Ecuador
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 19 January 2012
The pickup truck squealed to a stop in front of me and six suit-clad men scrambled out of the open bed. A tall, thin, mustachioed man held out his hand. “Bienvenidos a Ecuador,” he said. Welcome to Ecuador. Surprised, I looked around and realized I was the only white face on the street; it was [...]
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Quenching the “Throat of Fire” in Banos, Ecuador
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 12 January 2012
In 1999, the volcano that towers over the small mountain town of Baños de Agua Santa in central Ecuador again began living up to its name. Seventy-four years after its last eruption, Tungurahua, which means “Throat of Fire” in the indigenous Quichua language, roared to life with a vengeance that required a complete evacuation of [...]
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Miracle Cure in Banos, Ecuador
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 10 January 2012
Still ragged from my bout with altitude sickness in Chugchilan, Ecuador, I dragged my weary bones off the bus and headed directly for my hostel when I arrived in Baños de la Santa. My intention was to climb right into bed and sleep through the afternoon and night but the sight of a spectacular waterfall [...]
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Down for the Count in Chugchilan, Ecuador
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 31 December 2011
After a week in 9,350-foot high Quito I was no longer huffing and puffing as I trekked up and down the city’s ubiquitous hills, so I was totally unconcerned about altitude as I headed for the central highlands of Ecuador, home to spectacular volcanoes and some of the best hiking in the country. The dust-caked [...]
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60 Tips from Kiva Fellows
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 30 December 2011
Compiled by Kate Bennett, KF16 Peru The sixteenth class of Kiva Fellows has all but left the field- but we're by no means done talking about our experiences. We've collectively spent 422 weeks in the field (just over 8 years!) and worked an estimated 16,650 hours at Kiva field partners around the world.
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My Travel & Business Year in Review
Blog: GoBackpacking - 28 December 2011
his year passed in the blink of an eye. Or at least that’s how it feels looking back. I’m lucky enough to say I’ve done exactly what I wanted to do, and had a great time doing it. This year had its share of low points too, however by surviving them all, they only served to [...]--------- Join Travel Blog Success today and learn to build a better travel blog. Membership includes 27 tutorials, 12 expert audio interviews, private support forum, and much more.
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A Fellowship in Photos (Part 1)
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 28 December 2011
My first placement in Ecuador was my first time in the country. Turns out that Ecuador is every bit as incredible as the guide books say, and more.
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New Year’s Eve in Ecuador – Travel Video Ep. 19
Blog: Two Backpackers - 25 December 2011
Watch More Adventure Travel Videos We celebrate fun Ecuador traditions on New Year’s Eve in this HD travel video from 2 Backpackers, Jason and Aracely Castellani, while visiting Chone, Ecuador during the Holidays. In travel video episode #19, we join Aracely’s family in her hometown of Chone to experience the chaos that is New Year’s [...]
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Cooperative Karaoke; Celebrating 47 Years of Savings and Loans
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 23 December 2011
By Marcus Berkowitz, KF16, Ecuador Institutional birthdays in the US can be fairly stuffy affairs. Seating is often arranged to maximize contact with those in the institution with whom one has never spoken (perhaps for good reason, argue some guests) and they tend to be remembered more for inappropriate comments inserted into otherwise boring speeches rather than for the celebrations that they hope to be but rarely are. Not so at the Cooperativa San Jose de Chimbo (CSJ).
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Producto Creer: How for a Bank Doing the Right Thing Can Pay Off
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 20 December 2011
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF16, Guayaquil (Ecuador) My host and Kiva´s partner organization Banco D-MIRO provides over ten different types of microloans to borrowers in and around Guayaquil: among them loans to finance housing improvements, school expenses, medication, and loans awarded specifically to employees, young clients with a business idea but no experience, and – as Ecuador´s only microfinance institution – discount loans for HIV-positive micro-entrepreneurs.
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Luis Attacked by Piranhas in Ecuador!
Blog: Lost World Expedition - 19 December 2011
Well, the truth is he was attacked by one piranha, while fishing for piranha and it was a tiny (maybe 5 inch) piranha… but the title is a lot cooler, no? So the story goes as follows: We spent a week in Reserva Cuyabeno a National Park that is part of the Ecuadorian Amazon (more [...]
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The Problem with Quito
Blog: Twenty-Something Travel - 18 December 2011
Quito is a pretty city. Like really, really pretty: It’s over 500 years old, built by conquistadors on the site of an old Inca City. The huge old town is full of elegant buildings and elaborate churches built by different orders of missionaries. It was the very first city to be designated an UNESCO [...]
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All Loans Lead to Home; When an Agricultural Loan is also a Housing (or Student) Loan
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 15 December 2011
By Marcus Berkowitz, KF16, Ecuador “We built a little house” she replied happily, when I asked how she had used the loan. I looked down at my sheet. Oops. This loan, according to its Kiva description, was for corn seeds and fertilizers. Of course, we have no right to insist on any particular loan use. That’s not the point. But of the first three borrowers with whom I had spoken as part of Kiva’s Borrower Verification process, not a single one had used the loan for the purpose listed on Kiva. And two of three had built houses with their loans.
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Traveling Like a Local in Ecuador
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 14 December 2011
I thought I was so clever. Ecuador’s President Correa had combined three national holidays into one to create the longest holiday weekend in the history of the country on November 2-6, so instead of winging it as usual, I’d made reservations in Chugchilan, a tiny town in the central mountains renowned for its volcanoes, stunning [...]
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Update from the Field: Loan Officer Training, a Photographic Journey + Kiva Gift Cards
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 12 December 2011
Compiled by Kathrin Gerner, KF16, Rwanda December has long been the month of annual awards, looking back and frantic searches for presents. The Kiva fellows blog is no exception to this rule: Share the fellows' memories by taking a photographic journey through Sierra Leone and watching a video about a typical day of a fellow conducting loan officer trainings. Learn about some incredible women in Costa Rica, who received a Woman Entrepreneur Award from Kiva's field partner, Fundación Mujer.
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A Typical Day in the Life of a Kiva Fellow: Loan Officer Training (Video Blog Post)
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 6 December 2011
By Emmanuel M. von Arx, KF 16, Guayaquil (Ecuador) Video posts on a "typical day" in the life of a Kiva Fellow are a time-honored tradition on the Fellows Blog. Without any more words, here is my contribution to the video series of documenting a typical day in the life of a Kiva fellow. Like all previous contributors to the series, I am keenly aware that there is no “typical day” for Kiva Fellows.
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Ecuador’s Amazon Jungle is Sultry, Sweaty, and Spectacular
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 4 December 2011
No matter what I tried, I could not get dry. I showered and toweled off, put on one of two pair of pants and T-shirts I had carried into the jungle, and within minutes of stepping into the unforgiving Equatorial sun, my sweat-soaked clothes were stuck to me like a second skin. To put it [...]
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Quito, Ecuador – the Middle of the World, Sort Of
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 24 November 2011
Quito enjoys a fair share of fame. Its elevation of 9,200 feet makes it the second highest administrative capital city (after La Paz, Bolivia) and the highest legal capital in the world. It is also the only capital located directly beneath an active volcano, Pichincha, which erupted as recently as 2006, sprinkling ash over the [...]
