My boss used to say, it was real and it was good but it wasn’t real good.  That was Namibia. Namibia is a beautiful country, but it was difficult. Unable to get money out of several ATM’s, we had visions of wandering through the desert without cash or petrol.   Not exactly a “real good” start.
Namibia is a incredibly striking country, from the arid desert of the south to the lush forests in the north.  We only had a short amount of time in Namibia so we skipped things like sand boarding, which we had done in Peru and Nicaragua and instead spent our time, soaking in natural hot springs in the desert, climbing 100m high red sand dunes for sunrise, …

Everything Jill just shared about our Santa Cruz Trek is absolutely true. It was a fabulous hike, especially with the mules carrying everything. What made it even more special for me was how I woke up that first morning…when it was still dark out and I ran to the toilet (err, I mean hole in the ground).
Yes, when I woke up that first morning…after our first night of camping, I had diarrhea. For starters, pooping in the outdoors isn’t too fun to begin with. I’m not sure how many of you out there have actually done this before but you have to squat down low with your pants off totally exposed to the elements. Doing …

Heaving as I reached the top of the pass, I was glad the hard part was over.   At 4750m (about 15,500 feet) doing anything can be a challenge, let alone hiking uphill.
Resting at Punto Union pass early Friday morning I could hardly believe my eyes.  What had taken us less than 24 hours to climb, despite the altitude, had given us the most spectacular views of the Cordillera Blanca.  Surounding mountain peaks covered with snow, blue lagoons too icy to even put a toe in, the surrounding wilderness was incredible and well worth the effort of the climb.
But how did I find myself on the top of a very cold (I wore every piece of warm clothing I have with …

This should be a post about whitewater kayaking on the mighty Rio Cangrejal. This should be a post about getting thrashed on a giant Class V river. This should be a post about how we’ve completely upped our kayaking skills in do or die situations. Instead this is a post about how we enjoyed the chance to play in nature for a few days, and save a few bucks at the same time, because the river was about 5 meters (reminder, that’s 15 feet) too low.

We arrived here at the lodge of Omega Tours early in the morning prepared to hit the river. We started asking questions about the river and realized that on account of …