The national strike has already begun a few days ago as we left Cotapaxi and Quito area. Over the week it has intensified and our prospects of reaching Cuenca were not so good. We have traveled form Porto Lopez along to coast through coastal town of Guayaquil and on through mountain passes into Cuenca. We have encountered two major blockades with trees and tires burning and riot police dispersing the crowds. It was pretty much the last day before the city was cut of from all directions by multiple road blocks. The strike intensified, especially in Quito area and the Amazon region. Over t ..read more

After couple warm days in Quito, doing laundry and regrouping, we headed to Cotopaxi National Park, south of Quito. Cotopaxi is the second-highest peak in the country with a height of 5,897 m. This makes it one of the highest active volcanoes in the world.  To get there we drove a country road, which got close to 4x4 track as we approached the north gate of the park. View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize We found a beautiful campsite, nestled in growth of pine with small park facilities nearby. At this altitude it is much harder to move ..read more

 It has been already few days since I arrived in Ecuador and it is one again full-on South America adventure.  The altitude of capital city Quito took some time to get used to. Coming from ocean level of Vancouver Island to 2850m is never easy.  After visiting the Centro Historico and searching for oil mediums and mineral spirits to clean my brushes it was a time to hit the road. Mariko and I travelled to Papallacta, a small village high in the Andean cloud forest famous for its amazing hot springs (termas). View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsi ..read more

I finally arrived in Quito to get ready for my departure. There is always a process of repacking the paintings to plastics sleeves and making sure they would travel safely. This time, after driving for two months in Ecuador, driving in Quito did not even faze me. It is amazing what you can get used to. Upon arriving in Ecuador in June I was introduced through mutual Canadian friends to Hanshi Rafael Janowitzer who is a member of our Karate organization, IKA. Rafael is the biggest distributor of martial arts equipment in Ecuador, teaches karate at his own dojo in Quito and he is the head of IKA ..read more

  Crossing the border was breez and I followed the route to Tok and then on to famous Denali Hwy, which follows the Alaska Range. It is a very busy time period for the hunters and the area was full of ATVs and hunters looking for the elusive moose. The landscape is a wide valley stretching over 200km east west ending at the Denali National Park. The long winding road gives way to towering mountain peaks in every direction, with vibrant flora and ample amounts of wildlife.   View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View ..read more

After five days it was time to leave the coast and head back inland towards Quito. Once again, I was shaken up for a bribe at another police check. This time I did not waste any time arguing my case and asked straight forward, how much..It solved the problem and I was on my way under 5 minutes.  My last adventure in Ecuador was Mindo. It is a small village in the western Andes Mountains. It's known best known for the many bird species, butterflies and orchids found in the surrounding cloud forest, part of the Mindo-Nambillo Reserve. View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsi ..read more

Being on the road for nearly two months and working steady on my plein work, I thought now it would be a good idea to chill out and relax during the last few days in Ecuador. I decided to spend my last week on beach and headed along the Colombian border to Las Peñas a small fishing community just north of Esmeraldas. Sun continued to shine as I approached the coastline and all the communities, I passed by were inhabited by African decedents, which was interesting once again to see how diverse Ecuador is as a country. Just before reaching the coast I was stopped by the police check point and go ..read more

 With constant rains on the easter slopes of the Andes and having another 10 days left into my trip, I decided to drive north all the way towards Columbian border. The weather had defiantly improved as I arrived in a little town of El Ángel in the Carchi province. I found an amazing hotel in the heart of the town which has very friendly atmosphere with smiling locals and great little restaurants.    Just north of town is El Ángel Ecological Reserve.   The Reserve was created specifically to protect Frailejones plants. Frailejones look like a big, upright tube with bun ..read more

  While in Whitehorse , friends of mine suggested that I should visit Keno City, which is about 100 km east of Stewart Crossing on Klondike Hwy. The road leads through Mayo and then on gravel route through wide valley. Silver mining during the 20’s first opened up the area and created another boomtown with mines popping up in the hills above. Today it is a very sleepy settlement with less then 10 people living there all year around. There are still some mining activities going on but mostly the town relies on its unique charm and spectacular location. Because of mining, neighboring mount ..read more

The jungle region of Ecuador is called Oriente. The eastern slopes of the Andes vegetation becomes more dense and tropical giving away to low lands of tick jungles and hundreds of rivers. From Baños I traveled a short distance over the mountain pass doted with many incredibly high waterfalls falling into the canyon bellow. Wanting to spend some time in actual jungle I booked a spot at small ecolodge for incredibly affordable price of $25/night.  It was located about 25 north of Puyo along a dirt track. View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsiz ..read more