Up And Down The Santa Cruz Trail

A sub-zero wakeup call pushes me out of the tent at a fumbling shuffle, trying to get the gas stove working from inside thick gloves.  As I knock ice off the breakfast bowls, I take in my surroundings; a wide meadow, thick with grasses and a stream bubbling through the centre, all shaded in the [...]

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Old Friends Far From Home – Bloody Weird

I walk across the plaza of Huaraz with excitement chasing my heels.  Across the square under the orange street light I can see Mary and Nigel wandering in no particular direction, awaiting our meeting with unsuspecting punctuality.  It has been two years since I last saw them prior to leaving the United Kingdom, and I’m [...]

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A German, An Englishman And A Dog Decide To Climb An Hill…

“We’re going over there,” pronounces Miri, pointing to the distant hill that rises from the mist.  Four days later,  we set off from Huanchaco towards the looming rise in the distance with Tomasa trotting behind us, unaware that we are destined for a long walk.  “We’ll be done in four hours,” I predict, “One hour [...]

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Man 0 Machine 1

Monday was an important day for me. After trawling the internet for examples of good organizations in the hope of finding a project in Latin America with which to involve myself, I’d come across Fairmail, a non-profit that was based practically on my door step.  Needless to say, they’re a fantastic organization and I was [...]

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Bathtime

I’ve noticed that my canine sidekick has been smelling a little less than fresh lately, so after deliberation decided that it was time to give Tomasa a bath. I’ve never given a dog a bath before, but the instructions on the back of the anti-flea shampoo seemed simple enough so I locked myself in the [...]

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Two Reasons to Promote Latino Products Overseas

I try to derive insight and learn from my experiences out here, reflecting on things via this blog.  However, sometimes I get distracted by juvenile stuff.  Give me a break, I’m a boy…

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Finally, Culture

I’ve felt very proud of myself in the last couple of days having pro-actively gone to a local art exhibition at the Alianza Francesa in Trujillo. Not a grand show by any means, the gallery consisted of about twenty canvases spread over two rooms, but the event was a gem. I’m the first to admit [...]

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Saintly Behaviour

The peaceful winter pace of sleepy Huanchaco has been shaken over the last few days with the Fiesta de San Pedro. A tuneful and ear-pounding range of practising marching bands have been stomping around town before convening in the local sports ground for a brass-off until the early hours, which has actually been quite entertaining. [...]

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Weighty Responsibility

Continuing the theme that seems to be predominant for this month, the next couple of months promise to be pretty tight on the purse-strings. Luckily I’ve been offered the option of house-sitting for the lovely couple who run a beach-front surf hostel and house themselves elsewhere across town while they fly back to Finland for [...]

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Faking it

I’m really enjoying the joint photo blog project that I’m doing with Dad, Digital Photography by Mistake.  In a nutshell, I put what I consider to be my best snaps up on the photo blog and Dad (who is a bit of a photo veteran) leaves me suggestions about how I could improve them.  I’m [...]

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