My first day in Cajon de Maipo was warm for November. I decided I would go on a group hike. Unfortunately the front desk told me that I would be going by myself if I were going to go at all. There was no group. When I hesitated about the idea of hiking alone, I was reassured that there were no...

The first thing I did when I landed in Lima, after I exchanged my money for soles, was barter for a taxi. Luckily, my Spanish professor had warned me of the unregulated taxis, and I was prepared to drive a hard bargain. When I finally got the price down to 40 soles (from 60), I decided it was probably...