Refine your search

About Me

I have been in Cuenca, Ecuador for over a year. Before that I lived in Oaxaca Mexico and spent two years in Cusco Peru.

I 'm from the UK but have spent most of my adult life working overseas, mostly as an EFL teacher. I spent three years as a VSO in a remote part of Indonesia. From that experience, I know how special it can be to feel part of a community and to get involved with local life.

My first trip to Latin America was to Guatemala as a naïve 19 year old in 1990. No email or even Lonely Planet so the only way to get information was to ask a local or a fellow traveler.

I came to South America in 2005 on a 9 month trip during which I trekked my way around Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Peru. For me, walking of any kind is the best way to meet people and experience a country.

Since then I have had a baby in Cusco, run the South American Explorers Club in Cusco, run a language school in Oaxaca and trekked some more.

When I first came to Cuenca, I spent some months volunteering at a network for community tourism projects in the area and am really interested in this form of tourism.

I have joined up with a local hiking club and some other individuals and whenever we get the chance we go off hiking and finding new routes.

Nowadays I am particularly interested in places that are just right for a three year old with lots of energy. Last year we did a mammoth tour of north Peru including a three day trek through the mountains to the fortress of Kuelap. Recently, we stayed on a small organic near Cuenca where my son enjoyed feeding the guinea pigs.