John White

The first four days in Santiago and Concón included eating incredible steak at Mestizo by Bicentenario Park, sampling delicious wines at the Veramonte Vineyards, and running along the Pacific coast. I went down to Chile with a few preconceptions about the world's longest and narrowest country along the western coast of South America. One of the most honest assessments of one's personal language skills and would be to travel the length of Chile starting at the Peruvian border (easier Spanish) all the way down south to Patagonia (most challenging). It was tough in 2001 in front of the Museo de Bellos Artes and 15 years later having taught Spanish for 9 years and traveled extensively through Latin America

Scuba Steve scheduled a more direct flight, Tulsa - Dallas - Cartagena, and I traveled the meandering route of Omaha - Denver - Panama City - Cartagena that started Saturday and concluded Sunday. As I touched down at Tocumen International Airport early Sunday morning, an airport experiencing painful transformations to compete in the 21st century as a major travel hub. This time, I was solo and awkwardly disembarked with two day packs, entered the nearby Casa Sucre café, and slid up to the front past a mature French couple talking and even older wooden chairs to order a coffee at the wooden counter. We traded friendly banter about the weather, Noriega, family, the subsequent U. S. invasion in 1989 in which Nacho had trained with the Marines, travel, the current state of his homeland all while his radio blared the local Evangelical pastor challenging the congregation and listeners alike, "¿Crees que Dios te proviene todo? "

That is amazing, look at all these free range chickens hanging out next to the trash cans without a care in the world. Eventually, that National Geographic stage just wears you out like a New Mexican police report. You start taking naps, lounging around the hotel room, maybe stare at the chlorinated water splashing around the pool instead of making the epic 50 foot walk over to that big, beautiful, sandy beach. You make immediate plans for the following morning to beat the crowds to the Queen Elizabeth Botanical Gardens that are teeming with blue iguanas (truly rare). . .

** Fourteen years ago I served as a volunteer in Perú and it had been 11 long years since my last visit. Setting foot back in the land of the Incas was a professional trip in nature, presenting and attending the 2016 AASSA Educators’ Conference in Lima at Colegio Roosevelt. A few days prior to the start of our AASSA conference, our Cayman International School staff made a little ol’ side trip over the Andes to the cradle of the Inca civilization, Cusco and Machu Picchu. We had just enough time to complete a two-day hike on the Inca Trail (it really was just a one-day hike with a second day to run around Machu Picchu) with our great guide Casiano from Llama Path.