I am standing in front of the largest wooden structure in the Caribbean, Latin America, the Western Hemisphere or the world, depending on whom you talk to.
Verifiable facts are that
The Wooden St Peter and Paul Cathedral in Paramaribo (Suriname)
Unesco
Hiking the Backdoor Trail to Machu Picchu (Peru)
From the bridge I could see them for the first time: the famous Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. This was the site that had been on my one-day-must-see list since childhood and finally I was going there.
I was so excited!
Visiting the Ghost Towns of Humberstone and Santa Laura (Chile)
A breeze carried the sound of squeaking hinges and creaking wooden panels. In the overwhelming silence of the desert, the slamming of a metal roof plate echoed as if a gun had been fired.
When listening carefully I heard voices from the past.
Enjoying Uruguay’s Most Scenic Village: Colonia del Sacramento
I picked up the thermos and filled up the gourd with mate, a popular herbal tea in Uruguay. Coen and I were sitting on a low wall along the Río de la Plata, the river that divides Uruguay and Argentina. The sun slowly sank into the river and sets the sky aflame.
Everything was perfect: my company, my drink, the sunset and Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay’s most scenic village.
Hiking in Los Glaciares National Park (Argentina)
We stared at pieces of plastic strewn around our campsite. Chunks of bread lie here and there but we gathered two of our three loaves had gone.
We were aghast.
What had happened here?
Eating Piranha, really? – Fishing in the Pantanal in Brazil
For a moment I am caught off guard and almost fall overboard. Something is sharply tugging at the chunk of fat I had fastened on the hook. Pablo, my host, guide and friend helps me pull in my line until the feisty creature plops on the bottom of the boat in fluttering spasms.
I just caught a piranha!
Why the Galápagos Islands Are Worth a Visit (and how you can visit them)
Do you go on a cruise, or do you stay in a hotel and find your own way around? Do you need a bag of money, or is the Galápagos a destination for low-budget travelers as well?
Let’s take a look what the islands have to offer, and to whom.
Fort Zeelandia on the Essequibo River – Dutch Heritage in Guyana
“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”
~Maya Angelou
One of our surprises in Guyana has been its earliest colonial history, which happens to be Dutch.
Why did we never learn anything about Guyana in school? (as we are Dutch).
Who Are The Prophets of Congonhas? (Brazil)
When you follow the Estrada Real in Minas Gerais, the Royal Route along which gold and other mined treasures were transported to Rio de Janeiro in the colonial days, you’ll probably get saturated by the number of baroque-rococo churches along the way. Even we did, and we are church buffs.
There are (too) many. What to do?
Exploring Colombia’s Coffee Culture
“You’re lucky. Normally I don’t answer the phone if I don’t recognize the phone number,” Luis Jaime said.
We were lucky indeed.
Snorkeling in the Galápagos Islands – Ecuador
I feel as if I’m swimming in my grandmother’s tropical fish aquarium; the fish have the same bright colors, the same vertical shapes. All around me are yellow-purple-striped king angelfish, ivory-colored barber fish, and black stripe and deep-blue surgeonfish.
The Journey IS the Destination – Going to the Galápagos Islands
When we returned from the Galápagos Islands and I looked back on a trip full of magic and wonder, my eye was drawn to a sticker above my seat in the Land Cruiser.
“The Journey is the Destination“
And I realized, once more, how true that is.
Slow Travel – Does it Really Matter Where You Are?
It’s weird, it’s funny, it’s incredible. We’ve been camping here for close to four weeks and I’m still somewhat in awe of us being here. In a workshop…
Slow Travel has gotten a whole new meaning
Falling in Love – Again; The Jesuit Missions in Bolivia
I have fallen in love. Again. It’s been a while, but boy, does it feel good. I look at Coen and I know the same has happened to him.
Yet, we haven’t fallen in love, again, with each other.
Watching a 360-degree Waterfall in Iguaçu National Park in Brazil
The waterfalls of Iguaçu have been credited with all kinds of superlatives: the best, the highest, the largest, the most spectacular, the deepest, the most impressive.
So, what are they?