photos: S. America

A mid-life crisis is caused by denying one's age.  In contrast, this trip is an excellent mid-life transition from my working years to my finally-settled years.  From age 28 to 50 I was a professor and curator.  From age 50 to ~60 I am a traveler and photographer of the obvious.  From age ~60 to 70 I may be a flâneur (an affluent man who saunters about while blending into the background and acutely observing urban society) and photographer of seasons and moods.

Peru: Huancavelica, Ayacucho

Peru: San Mateo, Huancayo

Peru: Lima

Peru: Barranca, Miraflores, Barranco

Peru: Piura, Chiclayo, Trujillo

Ecuador: Guayaquil, Cuenca, Loja

Ecuador: Quito

Ecuador: Quito: Iglesia de Santo Domingo

Quito has several outstanding colonial-Spanish churches and monasteries.  Among them, Iglesia de Santo Domingo is one of my favorite places in the world.  This is an active church, high school, monastery, and museum that was designed in 1581 and initially completed in 1688, with the Chapel of the Virgin of the Rosary addition completed in 1732.  The church is well renovated and the administration opened the entire complex for private tours at a modest fee.  The centuries of history on display are enlivened by the airy corridors, active high school, peaceful cloister, and even the friars' young dog.  After the tour I was allowed to visit the domes of the Chapel of the Virgin of the Rosary, the bell tower, and sit in the cloister at my leisure.  I recommend that visitors spend an entire day here.

Ecuador: Quito: other churches

Ecuador: Otavalo, Banos

Colombia: Pasto, Ipiales

Colombia: Periera, Buga, Cali, Popayán

Colombia: JericĂł, Aguadas, Salamina, Manizales

Colombia: Monteria, Medellin, Santa Fe de Antioquia

Colombia: Barranquilla, Cartagena

Colombia: Giron, Bucaramanga, Mompox, Santa Marta

Colombia: Zipaquira, Villa de Leyva, Mongui, Barichara

Colombia: Bogota

"A window covered in raindrops interests me more than a photograph of a famous person."

-- Saul Leiter