Archive | Photo Essays

Ecuador Travel – Otavalo Market

By Aracely Castellani on July 20, 2010 ]

The Otavalo Market is one of South America’s most grandest and famous markets. The best day to experience the market during Ecuador travel is on Saturdays. From Quito, it’s a 2 hour bus ride to the city of Otavalo. Passengers will start to get off the bus at several stops after you enter town, but [...]

Ecuador Travel – Discover Chone My Hometown

By Aracely Castellani on July 15, 2010 ]

As I stare out the window of the bus, I watch a world passing by. It is moving quickly through my window and it’s incredibly different from my world today. Every time I visit my hometown of Chone, located in the province of Manabi in coastal Ecuador, I can’t help but wonder what my life [...]

Inti Raymi Festival In Cusco Peru

By Jason Castellani on June 29, 2010 ]

Inti Raymi Festival is the largest festival in Cusco and lasts one full week. The festival takes place during South America’s winter solstice (June 24) and it is in honor of The Sun God which the Inca’s believed to be the most important God of all. To be specific, the Inca’s actually worshiped the sun [...]

Cusco Beyond Machu Picchu

By Aracely Castellani on June 11, 2010 ]

We initially visited Cuzco with one goal in mind, to trek to Machu Picchu. However, two days before we were scheduled to begin our 5 day journey via the Salkantay trek, they closed one of the most visited archeological sites in the world. Heavy rains caused severe flooding and entire villages were washed away while [...]

Hiking With Condortrekkers In Sucre Bolivia

By Aracely Castellani on June 8, 2010 ]

We joined a 3-day trek with Condortrekkers, a non-profit tour company based out of Sucre, Bolivia. Our tour included walking on an Inca Trail, visiting the crater town of Maragua and seeing ancient fossilized dinosaur footprints. On day one we took a microbus from Sucre to a nearby small town where our group of 7 [...]

Sunday In The Tarabuco Market, Bolivia

By Aracely Castellani on May 30, 2010 ]

How to spend your Sunday morning while visiting Sucre, Bolivia. In Tarabuco, Bolivia, Sunday begins bright and early, 4am early for the Yampara people who walk 4 to 6 hours up and over mountain ranges into town to participate in the weekly market.