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My South America Journey - A Brief Summary - Part 3
November 26, 2025
I’ve finally settled into Roldanillo, Colombia, where I’ll be for at least five months. Maybe longer, maybe not, residency is technically an option, but I doubt I’ll spend my days wrestling with immigration offices when I could be drinking coffee in the plaza. Besides, residency in Perú and Ecuador is easier than in Colombia. Before I get too comfortable, I want to rewind and share the trip that brought me here: a winding route through Peru, Ecuador, and into Colombia.
Read MoreWhen “Adiós” Doesn’t Mean Goodbye
October 29, 2025
Today, as I walked down the street (here in Roldanillo, Valle del Cauca, Colombia), an older woman stood in her doorway as she does every day. I walk this block almost every day as it is between where I live and downtown. She smiled, raised a hand, and said, ‘¡Adiós!’, same as she does every day. I waved, said, "buenas tardes," and then kept walking. This has happened in all seven countries I have visited in South America, not just once or twice, but consistently.
Read MoreLa Hormiga, Colombia
October 5, 2025
La Hormiga is the municipal seat of Valle del Guamuez, in southern Putumayo, Colombia. It’s modest, unshowy, and very much a working town. You won’t leave here feeling like you’ve seen a “destination”—but that’s okay. It’s a place that lives more than it dazzles.
Read MoreEscaping the Humidity: A Journey from Ecuador's Amazon to Colombia's Andes
October 4, 2025
I arrived in La Hormiga, Colombia, on Oct. 3. La Hormiga is a small and noisy town on the Colombian edge of the Amazon. After weeks of scratchy throat and sleepless nights from the humid air of the northern Ecuador Amazon region, I decided to leave the it behind and head for higher, drier ground. For almost three months I had lived in the forests and mountains of Peru and Ecuador, places I loved, but northern Amazonia simply wasn’t for me.
Read MoreShushufindi, Ecuador
October 3, 2025
Shushufindi is the cantonal seat of the Shushufindi Canton (county), in Ecuador’s Sucumbíos Province. It sits in the Amazon region on a broad plain along the right bank of the Shushufindi River, at about 260 meters above sea level. The climate is typically tropical, with heavy rainfall and an average temperature around 27 °C. Its name comes from the Cofán language: shushu meaning “puerco sahino” (a type of wild pig) and findi meaning “hummingbird,” reflecting the abundance of both in the region when the area was named. The canton itself was officially created on August 7, 1984, and the date is still celebrated each year as the anniversary of its “cantonization.”
Reference: Wikipedia – Shushufindi
Reference: Shushufindi Alcaldía
I used to teach English as a foreign language in Barranquilla, Colombia. Now I'm retired and traveling throughout South America.
I'm from Kennewick, Washington, USA. In my previous life, as I call it, I was an IT guy, systems administrator, computer tech, as well as a shipping/receiving guy and also worked as a merchandising guy in a RV/Camping store.