The longest I’ve went without passing through a town was five days. It was while crossing the Andes dividing Chile and Argentina. Though doable in the moment, coming to a town only once a week isn’t sustainable. While walking I’m performing a continuous balancing act of consumption and resupply. I must have enough water, enough […]
Beyond the Páramo I set my tent on the edge of a cliff bordered by pine trees and tall grass. The grass hid me from the road and the trees gave me some protection from the wind. Through the bug net of my tent I could see the massive Andean gorge splitting two mountains. Following […]
The indigenous woman held up a clump of dirt and cocked her arm back. She hissed something in Quichua, the Incan language which sounded most akin to Parseltongue, then raised her arm higher. I didn’t understand, the moment before I was laughing as the herd of sheep approached and Savannah pounced around them as […]
By four-thirty on my third day from Quito I’d walked twenty-seven miles. I’d been searching for a place to set my tent for an hour but nothing cropped up. There weren’t any woods or nooks to hide in. All around me were pastures, each acre marked by a cottage. I paused at an empty […]
With every border crossing I’m amazed at how much difference the laws of men can make. Each country varies greatly, not just in infrastructure, but in mood. Crossing from Colombia into Ecuador felt similar to when I crossed from Honduras to Nicaragua. The biggest difference being the danger in Honduras was known and palpable, while […]