-The new edition of Frommer’s Chile & Easter Island has been released (I updated the Lakes District, Chiloe, Carretera Austral, and Easter Island Chapters by the way) –Peru’s Lucuma exports jump 99 percent over the first half of 2009 –Buenos Aires Spotlights it’s Cafes – from the NYTimes -…and the accompanying Slideshow

When I was younger I stayed at the Platypus Hostel in the Candelaria district of Bogota. It was and still is the best hostel I ever stayed at. It wasn’t so much that the facilities were great, but that the community that the Platypus contained was unparallel. Owner German was helpful and always gave his wise advice. In the dorm rooms and private rooms in the annex across the street were young writers, photographers, actors, backpackers, travelers, and occasionally locals.

The Capilla del Hombre in Quito, Ecuador is an art museum and monument designed by the famous Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamín (1919-1999). The exterior of the Capilla del Hombre, or Chapel of Man, is shaped similar to a Pre-Colombian pyramid, made mostly of stone and overlooking Quito from a hill in the Bellavista suburb.

Barranco, Lima’s seaside suburb to the south of Miraflores, was once a weekend retreat for Lima’ s Creole bourgeoisie built homes there in the 19th and 20th Century, as well as wealthy German and British immigrants. In the late 20th century the area became decrepit, a haven for drugs, and fell apart. The last few decades have seen resurgence in investment and in the neighborhood and many of the most prominent families, writers, artists, and celebrities in Lima now live in the restored colonial mansions that line the cliffs.

With the Andes forming the backbone of the continent, almost every South American nation can lay claim to one of the Earth’s top hiking/trekking destinations.

At Cafe Clock in the Fes Morocco medina, the ancient, maze like walled part of the city, British restauranteur Mike Richardson has discovered what he calls the perfect meat for burgers: camel. I tried the burger recently and surprisingly, it was excellent. Served with purple onion, tomato, a slice of… Read More →

-Two girls infatuated with the Che image have launched a website spotting, well, the Che image. -Dan Saltzmen at the NYtimes sips mezcal in Mexico. -Gastón Acurio’s new anticucheria in Lima, Panchita, has opened. -A new Photo book on Machu Picchu, Stone Offerings: Machu Picchu’s Terraces of Enlightenment, as been… Read More →

Iquitos, Peru is the largest city in the world not connected by roads. The capital of Peru’s northern Amazon rainforest sits on the Rio Ucayali, not far from where it meets with the Amazon River. The city was officially founded on Jan. 5, 1864 by the Peruvian Navy, however, the Spanish conquistadors were in the area as early as 1542, and numerous native tribes were there well before that.

The Nikkei (Japanese-Peruvian) take on ceviche is tiradito. Like ceviche raw fish is marinated in lime juice, where the citric acid cooks the fish. It is served in a number of ways, but the common traits are thin slices of fish. Usually there is a thick aji-based sauce (a yellow… Read More →

In Baños, the semi-tropical Andean town under the shadow of the frequently erupting Tungurahua volcano in central Ecuador in a region they call the Avenue of the Volcanoes, nearly every mom and pop soda shop can be seen practicing an art that seems a little bit out of the ordinary.