Stretched out at an elevation of 8,600 feet and home to more than seven million people, Colombia’s capital Bogotá is best seen in its entirety from Monserrate, a 10,300-foot peak located on the city’s east side. I use the word “entirety” loosely however, because I’m not sure we see anything — including Bogotá from a […]
Meeting Forrest Gump in Nicaragua
In November 2008, on the steps of the cathedral in León, Nicaragua, I came across a man who reminded me more of Forrest Gump than a beggar. When I asked if I could take his picture he was gracious in his reply and never once expressed interest in me giving him money. Picture complete, we […]
Thoughts on Extremes (or, Blinded on a Costa Rican Beach)
If you visit Costa Rica’s Marino Ballena National Park late in the afternoon and see a couple walking down the beach into the blazing light of a setting sun, you might take a picture. Later, in looking at the picture, you might decide you like how it could lead one to ask, “Is this couple on […]
Paul Theroux and “Despair is the Armchair”
On most days of the year in the Colombian city of Bucaramanga, you can spot paragliders in the distance sailing along the valley’s edge. Or, if you take a bus up from the city to the mountainside itself, you can sit and watch folks gallop off the grassy slope right in front of your eyes. […]