South America 2004
From February 2004 through April 2004, Maureen and I traveled through the northern regions of South America: Ecuador, Venezuela, and Brazil. Our trip was cut “short” in late April when we opted to return to D.C. to help my sister and family through Anna’s recovery from her second liver transplant.
Despite the short duration of this jaunt, we had some life-long highlights in store. We spent our first anniversary in the Galapagos Islands and met up with our dear friend Kim in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Galapagos were truly the most amazing highlight of all my travels. Being surrounded by the beauty and animals was without parallel. One of the best surprises of all was Banos, Ecuador. It’s a small town in the mountains south of Quito. We thought we’d stay there for a few days and two weeks later we had to force ourselves out of the town.
Venezuela was nothing more than a 1 week stop over in Caracas. It wasn’t the best of times or the most interesting place to visit. We were biding our time until Brazil, where we would meet up with Kim for a little joint holiday.
Brazil was fantastic. The beaches at Ipanema were gorgeous, save for the constant flow of men in their freaking banana hammocks. Our favorite was a local man who stood facing the ocean for 5 minutes “adjusting” his package for optimal viewing. Yeah, good stuff.
