BORDERLINE COLOMBIA 10010 KM / DAY 105 / JUNE 29, 2011 - 09:03 / COLOMBIAN BORDER, ECUADOR

Only a river separates Ecuador from Colombia. It`s soaring hot, no wind. After reading a report that 1500 Colombian refugees continue to arrive in Ecuador every month, I`ve traveled here to meet these refugees. Apparently `no news means good news` doesn`t apply to Colombia. I cross the river by boat. All I see are mangrove swamps and a bunch of circling vultures marking a settlement.

I step into deep misery, garbage everywhere and children playing in-between. It`s low tide, so the village is dry now, but in a few hours the water will flood it once again. The houses are built on stilts so they stay dry, but the people have to wade through the water to move around. It seems peaceful, but people tell me that Colombian paramilitaries operate on both sides of the border and regularly enter this town at night.