Adventure Dogs of South America

Back in 2008, on a mountain biking tour with KE Adventure in Peru, we met Milo—a scrappy little black dog with floppy ears and a coat full of burrs. He appeared under our breakfast table, patiently waiting for scraps. When we rolled out of town, Milo trotted after us, determined to keep up.

He ran alongside as we climbed steep switchbacks and crossed a high mountain pass. By lunchtime, we decided he was part of the team. Our guide agreed, and Milo rode in the support van, spoiled with food and affection. From the Sacred Valley to the edge of the Amazon, Milo lived his best life—surrounded by people who adored him.

Milo, high above the Amazon at Tres Cruces in Peru.

But adventures end. When it was time to leave, we left Milo where we had first found him. He chased our van until he faded from view, returning to his world as a street dog in a tourist town. That image stayed with me for years.

Guia (Spanish for guide) running with us on our La Asuncion Mt. Bike Adventure

17 years later, history repeated itself.  While biking with Runa Way Adventours near Lake Busa in Ecuador, a small dog we named Guia began following us after I fed her.  Nine miles later we felt she couldn’t continue. None of us wanted to abandon her, so I placed her in my backpack and promised to keep her safe. She nestled against my shoulder as I carefully rode down the trail, speaking softly to reassure her. I told her how lucky she was to be riding so high with the wind in her face.

A few miles down the road she threw up, motion sickness or too many treats, but after that her head was again held high as we finished the last few miles on the paved roadway to town.

Tired Dog

What now?

When I sat her down, in the pack, next to my bike she tucked her head into a side pocket as if ashamed for throwing up or afraid of what was going to happen to her.  I left her in the pack and gently moved her next to us at a table where we had drinks and waited for a taxi back to our van.  Slowly she immerged and then wandered over to say hello to the gas station dogs before laying down on the sidewalk to rest.  She was exhausted.

When it arrived, she curled up in David’s lap and slept during the drive. Back at our van, parked a mile down from Lake Busa in the local town, we thought she was going to leave us as she wandered to greet the local dogs but when we called her, she ran happily back into the van and we drove her back to where we had first met her at Lake Busa.

Of course, she tried to come back into the van to continue the journey with us but David, being stronger than I am, shewed her away.  As we left, one of her dog friends greeted her.  She walked up to a new tourist with that curious look on her face and before long she resumed her old routine of charming visitors and playing with her packmates.

Did she have an owner? We’ll never know—but from what we saw, she seemed to live a good life near the lake’s restaurant, surrounded by tourists and friends.

Guia following us up the hill.