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Charles Wiegand

Roaming South America

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There are 498 blog posts for you to enjoy.

The Problem With Unverified Quotes

September 25, 2025

We’ve all seen them: quotes that zip across social media, tucked into memes or writing blogs, attributed to some famous thinker. They’re catchy, clever, and often ring true. But here’s the rub - many of them can’t actually be traced back to their supposed author.

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El Coca, Ecuador

September 22, 2025

coca-sign.jpg The Coca city name signs are located in: Parque Central, Parque Santa Rosa, and Parque del Barrio Paraiso Amazonico.

Wedged between three rivers and surrounded by endless green, Coca is a town you don’t stumble into by accident. It’s the Amazon’s launchpad — equal parts oil town, jungle gateway, and riverside pause. Coca is built between these three rivers - the Napo, the Coca, and the Payamino. The city has a population of around 52,000, and was founded as "San Antonio de la Coca," then it was changed to "Puerto Francisco de Orellana," and then again, in 2019, the name was changed to "El Coca." Although the town dates back to the colonial years, it wasn't until the mid-20th century that it started to grow in earnest. That was due to the discovery of nearby oil fields.
Reference: wikipedia

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Chicha: The Many Faces of an Andean-Amazonian Drink

September 21, 2025

When you travel through Ecuador and Perú, the word chicha pops up in conversations like it’s one universal drink. But here’s the trick: chicha doesn’t mean the same thing everywhere — and what arrives in your cup (or gourd bowl) might surprise you.

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Loreto, Ecuador

September 20, 2025

loreto-sign.jpg Loreto has a couple of nice parks, but no primary central park, so the Loreto city name sign is on the main road through town in the center of town.

Loreto, a city of about23,000, sits a bit south of the Equator and at the western edge of the Amazon Basin. From Quito, crossing the mountains to go into the Amazon Basin, this is the first "city" you will come to. And it's not a bad little town. The city has a few minor dips and rises, but is mostly flat, sitting at around 330 meters elevation.

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San Antonio, Ecuador

September 18, 2025

latitude00-sign.jpg This latitude 0.00000 sign is located in the Muse Intañan.

San Antonio de Pichincha, Ecuador, AKA Mitad del Mundo, sits about 26 kilometers north of central Quito. The town has a population of about 70,000. The town was formally established in 1901. But, it's history goes back to before the colonial era. The original name was Llanura de Lulumbamba, it means "plain of ripe fruit," that was followed a name change to San Antonio de Lulumbamba and then changed again, when it was formally established in 1901, to San Antonio de Pichincha. Why is it called "The middle of the world" when there are other cities on the equator in other countries? Because it is not only the fact that it is on the equator, but it is also the highest elevation on the equator. Thus making it the closest to the sun of any on the planet, so they say at the museum.

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Chip Wiegand

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Contact me:

chip at wiegand dot org

I used to teach English as a foreign language in Barranquilla, Colombia. Now I'm retired and traveling throughout South America.

I'm from Kennewick, Washington, USA. In my previous life, as I call it, I was an IT guy, systems administrator, computer tech, as well as a shipping/receiving guy and also worked as a merchandising guy in a RV/Camping store.

©2002 - 2026 Charles Wiegand