Climbing Pisco mountain (5752m) is fairly straightforward but also a great warm up for other more challenging peaks in the Cordillera Blanca (popular ones over 6000metres include Chopicalci and Tocllaraju). Here are some photos of the trip which I did with Chris in June 2016 (who I met at the fabulous Llanganuco Mountain Lodge). NOTES on climbing Pisco:…
It can be complicated to go after what we truly want so it was impressive to meet someone who has swum against the current for a consistently long period of time to fulfill their vision. Charlie Good of Llanganuco Mountain Lodge (introduced through the legendary mutual friend Steven Ruhl) gave up his safe career with…
Amazingly (or perhaps not, knowing me) I find myself on the closing end of my visa in Peru and the shoulder months of the rainy season. I smugly entered Peru right at the start of the dry season in May and it is now the 1st of October. I’m writing this only two-thirds of the way down…
After reading about Paulâs experience on his route between Cajamarca and Cajabamba (he and his friend were detained by mistrusting villagers for 18 hours in Santa Rosa) it was with some doubt that cycling the dirt road via Jesus was a good idea. However I had the good will of the âteniente’ in Cachachi and I could…
It’s hard to know what’s round the next corner on this journey so it was without much surprise that I found myself one evening dancing with a large number of strangers two feet smaller than me at a mother’s day town party in hot Perico (Northern Peru). With thirst and tiredness at a non-trivial level it was the last…
Diving in the Galapagos with the right operator is normally a safe experience. Five Fingers island off San Cristobal with its various swirling ocean currents and deep sea drop-offs is, however, somewhat hazardous and more suited to advanced diving. Some years back a couple of divers were taken to 65 metres by down currents for a…
Realising I’d be timing Peru perfectly for the raining season I decided to ‘put the brakes on’ and explore more of Ecuador. Passing by its beautiful volcanoes on the way down had sown a seed in my mind that was hard to shake off. Here is a video of my experience climbing these mountains, a written account…
Are you using your time and resources effectively to have the highest possible positive social impact during your time on Earth? How you allocate your time and money may not just result in a fractional change in your effectiveness.  It could change your impact (for better or worse) by a factor of thousands.  We must take a step back…
With its lower altitudes this may not win the award for being the most dramatic section of the TEMBR but it is still a fun ride and a good way to get down to Peru… I made the mistake of deviating from the main route on the penultimate day onto a rather gnarly horse track…
This section included a deviation from the TEMBR for further exploration of the old abandoned Ecuadorian railway line that passes through most of the country.