On Saturday April 15, 2017 we crossed from the southern hemisphere into the northern hemisphere at where else but The Equator! A momentous event as we finished the southern half of the globe and transitioned closer to our home hemisphere. It also occurred to me that we also transitioned from fall to spring in one step. Ha, how cool was that? Since we left Seattle before the first day of winter we managed to totally skip winter 2016/2017. I’ll take that. Continue reading
Author Archives: donnh
Galapagos!
Warning – there is nothing in this post having remotely to do with motorcycles. Being a motorcycle blog I feel the disclaimer is in order. However, if you are interested in seeing some amazing wildlife, me being attacked by a Sea Lion, the Albatross mating dance, boobies (yes.. boobies) or me swimming with a shark…. read on. Continue reading
A Slower Pace (and more mud)
Sometimes a picture just tells it all:
We stayed an extra day in Banos and decided to zip line across the canyon (Thanks for the tip Jeanne and Bo). Continue reading
Paradise Found..
I ended the last post with, “We’re ready for a few days of rest.” We found it. Once we crossed into Ecuador everything changed. What? Does the rain just stop at the political border? No, but we learned that Ecuador recently invested millions in upgrading its infrastructure to withstand the occasional years with heavy rain. It was still wet in Ecuador but the roads and bridges all seemed to have adequate drainage to deal with the flooded rivers. We were glad for that. Continue reading
Through The Worst of the Flooding
It wasn’t easy… at all… but we made it safely to Ecuador. Seriously the last few days were tough by any standard. We’ve had hard days before but this might top the list.
Hmmm, where to start.
Here are a couple of links if you want to see it in the news:
Peru reels from floods as it waits for end to brutal rainy season
More rain to plague Peru as death toll rises amid worst flooding in decades
Disaster in Peru
I don’t have first had experience with some of the big disasters in the US like Katrina in New Orleans but now we are sure in the middle of this one in Peru and it’s a mess. A large part of the Peruvian coast is severely impacted by the rain and flooding. Continue reading
Flooding in Peru – We’re OK… for now.
Headlines from today 3-19-17… Deby’s birthday:
Death toll hits 72 as Peru’s floods confirmed the worst for two decades
Ummm, so we are OK but stuck. We can’t go north and we can’t go south. Lot’s of pictures of devastation in the news and online. Here are a few I took yesterday. Continue reading
Cusco and the Sacred Valley
Cusco Peru is one of those cities everyone should visit sometime in their lifetime. Sure it’s full of tourists but it’s an amazing place with an indescribable vibe. I could spend days just walking around the city and exploring, as a matter of fact that’s exactly what we did. Of course, for me…. first stop was the Norton Rats Pub. 
At the Copacabana
At the copa (co) Copacabana (Copacabana)
The hottest spot north of Havana (here)
At the copa (co) Copacabana
Music and passion were always the fashion
The song was recorded by Barry Manilow in 1978 about a night club in New York City. There is also the famous Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. As fate would have it there is also a city in Bolivia called Copacabana and it is on the shore of Lago Titicaca where there is also a beach, of sorts. Any similarities to Copacabana, Bolivia and the other famous namesakes end in name only. Continue reading
Cusco – by truck
Ok, I won’t get ahead of myself here….
Thursday March 2, 2017. We were just up early so decided to make the short run to the Peruvian border before it got busy. We were on the bikes by 8:30 and to the border only about a half hour later. Nobody was around so we sailed through the exit process for Bolivia checking out us and then the bikes as is the normal procedure. The Bolivian Aduana was quick and professional, they asked if we liked their country and thanked us for our visit. Nice. I was reminded that when we entered the country they thanked us for visiting. Continue reading