South American Hospitality

It's been quite awhile since we've posted, but for some good reasons. For one, Kim has been grinding out her Physical Therapy graduate school applications. She sent them in for verification a week ago, and with that a huge weight was lifted off her chest. We both also had a pretty strong case of the flu, and that left us with little motivation and less energy. However, we feel healthy and happy now that we are on the beach in Brasil - and that is a LONG way from Taltal, Chile. So I'll do my best to fill you in on what's been going on and what we've been up to.

We made plans to head to La Serena, a bit further south from Taltal. However, the morning of our departure we woke up to rain, which was surprising as Taltal is in the desert. It seemed innocuous at first, but as it continued it became clear that the town was not built for rain. The streets quickly had small rivers running down towards the ocean, and shortly after that the hostel we had called home for three weeks was flooding. Water came in under the front door at first, and then it started to leak in through the roof. Ramon and his partner Kathy came over and we spent a few hours waterproofing the upstairs rooms and cleaning up the water that had already invaded the hostel.

Floods were reported on the highways to the south and in some cities as well, and so Kim and I decided not to board our bus for La Serena and to wait in Taltal until things cleared up a bit. Ramon was gracious enough to let us stay - thank you so much again Ramon! We spent the next two rain free days drying out some of our stuff that had been soaked, and hiking around Taltal. We climbed a decent sized hill behind the town and had a spectacular view of Taltal and the bay on a crisp, clear day.

Ultimately we made our way to La Serena and it was quickly obvious that it was a vacation destination for Chileans. A beautiful beach with good waves and dance clubs scattered along the waterfront. We arrived at the same time that winter vacation began, so the city was quite full. In fact, we were thinking about staying beyond the one day we had booked before arriving, but our hostel told us they had no open beds.

Hector, the teacher at EFTG in Taltal, sent us a text message asking where we were. The conversation went something like this:

Hector: Hey, where are you guys?
Us: We're in La Serena!
Hector: Ok, hold on one minute.
...
Hector: I have a former student who lives there, he says you can stay with him. Give him a call 555-1234.

Kim and I kinda looked at each other, trying to decide if we wanted to give his friend a call or not. After a few minutes of not deciding anything, we got another message.

Hector: Did you call him? He said you didn't call him yet. Call him!

So we called his friend, Jonhy, and after chatting for a few minutes he told us that we could stay with him and his family and he would pick us up from our hostel the next day at 5pm.

Jonhy picked us up as he said and we had a short drive to La Serena's neighboring city, Coquimbo. We expected to stay a night or so with him as his family, but after showing us our room, Jonhy proceeded to explain our itinerary for the next week. He told us that the next day we could do a walking tour of Coquimbo with his niece, Mariajesus, and the day after that we would go out to the clubs, and the day after that there would be an asado at their home, and the day after that we would go visit the Elqui Valley. Slightly overwhelmed, we decided to go with the flow and stick around with his family in Coquimbo.

They were incredibly welcoming. We were brought along to family activities, including a birthday party and driving to see some of the other beaches in the area with his parents, sister and brother-in-law. I made pancakes one morning for the family, and they returned the favor with an asado. If we haven't made this clear in previous posts, BBQ's in the states are often times hamburgers and hot dogs (delicious, don't get me wrong), but an asado in South America is so much more. They grill chorizos (sausages), chicken, pork ribs and steak - usually way more meat than can be eaten. The unspoken challenge is to be able to eat as much as your host offers you, which of course is a game the host always wins.

Although at first we were apprehensive about invading their home and space, at the behest of Hector no less, we are so glad we stayed with Jonhy and his family. We had just left the wonderfully welcoming town of Taltal and we fell right back into the same situation in Coquimbo. Of course we thanked the family profusely before we got on a bus heading for Santiago. We also sent Hector a quick message saying thank you for connecting us with Jonhy and his family and that everything went well. Another barrage of messages ensued:

Hector: I'm glad, Jonhy is great! Where are you going now?
Us: Santiago.
Hector: Oh I have a former student there too!! In fact you know him, Luis! You can stay with him too!

Luis was a student at EFTG in Taltal during his break from university. He had left Taltal shortly before we did to head back to Santiago and get ready for the upcoming semester. Hector sent us a phone number for Luis and we met up with him at the bus terminal in Santiago. Luis had a couple weeks free before starting up classes again, and since he lived on his own, he was happy to have some people who he was acquainted with staying with him.

Kim spent the first couple days getting over a nasty cold she had come down with at the end of our time in Coquimbo. The first night, Luis and I took the metro to meet up with a friend of his for a drink. We got back to his apartment rather late, and as we were hungry, I decided we could throw together some grilled cheese sandwiches. This was a new culinary delight for Luis, and being a bachelor, he was in love. We spent close to a week with Luis sleeping in late, watching bad action movies on TV, and sharing typical foods from our respective countries - aside from the grilled cheese, we made pancakes and homemade macaroni and cheese, and Luis took us to a place to eat Pollo a la Pobre (grilled chicken topped with a fried egg and onion all served atop fries). It was a simple and beautiful week in Santiago.

For some time we had been in touch with Robbie, the host from our last trip to South America almost three years ago. He lives in San Rafael, Argentina, which is three hours south of Mendoza, and we had made plans to go and visit him as we had such an incredible time there the first time around. With this in mind, we headed off to Mendoza, and this time Hector did not have a former student there who we could stay with, so a hostel it was.

When we arrived, we contacted Robbie again only to find out that he had encountered some health issues upon returning from a trip to New York City, and was stuck in Santiago (to which we thought, "Damn, we could have visited him there!"). But having come all the way to Mendoza with plans to visit Robbie, we decided to wait in the area until Robbie was able to return with his health. We had visited Mendoza on our previous trip in Argentina, and it is almost as beautiful in the winter as in the summer.

Not wanting to spend a week in a hostel, we found a wine bar in Maipu - just outside of Mendoza, that was accepting short term volunteers. Mario, our host was wonderful, and he spoke very little English, so we were able to practice our Spanish. The work was pretty simple - Kim would help make empanadas for the wine bar in the mornings with Mario and I would go to a local bike rental shop to help English speaking customers and also try and get them to go to the wine bar for a tasting. As it was low season, my only complaint about the work was that it was slow. However, I imagine if we had been there during the summer, my only complaint would have been how busy it was.

A few days into this, Kim caught a pretty bad stomach flu, and her temperature ran at 101 for a few days. At one point she was feeling really awful and I was feeling fine, so she said, "Why do I always have to be sick? I wish you would get sick too!" Well I did. And way worse than her. Which is why I'm still reminding her how rude it is to wish your illness on other people. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to do any bike tours of the vineyards in the area due to being so ill. However, Mario was very accommodating during the whole ordeal and we were very grateful for his help.

With both of us feeling mostly better, and Robbie having arrived home without further complications, we traveled to San Rafael to reunite with him. We stayed at the farm house for a little less than a week and for the most part we were with another couple from the United States. It was their first time doing a work exchange, and to be honest, they seemed a little overwhelmed by the experience. They were, however, lovely people and we enjoyed sharing the farm work and meals with them. On the final day of our stay on the farm, Robbie threw together an asado for us just as he had done the last time we were with him. When we first met him, he put some thyroid gland on the grill for us to try. Not to be outdone, this time we tried cow intestines. Kim was really turned off by the greasy/fatty texture of the meat, but I thought intestines were tasty.

From San Rafael we went back to Mendoza for one night before heading on to Cordoba. The hostel we stayed in previously was a nice enough place so we decided to return. Unfortunately, there were a small group of people at the hostel who were incredibly inconsiderate. Kim and I went to bed a little bit before midnight, and there was another gentleman also in the room asleep at this point. Outside of our room there was a group of people drinking and talking loudly, despite several requests from the front desk that they quiet down. They ultimately called it a night at 3 am, at which point two of the partiers came crashing into our room - turned the lights on, banged around looking for their clothes and what not, loudly talking with each other, and just generally being rude.

This left us with very, very little sleep and an all day bus to Cordoba. Our original plan was to stay for a week or so in Cordoba, find a nice private room in a hostel, and try and take a few more Spanish classes before heading onto Brasil. We arrived at 9 pm or so, took a cab to our hostel, and were informed that they had no record of our reservation. Kim was able to pull up the email conversation that had taken place between her and the owner, but it really didn't matter as someone else was in the room we booked. Thankfully the guy behind the desk was honest and told us that the hostel was pretty much a party every night (the last thing we wanted at this point), but that he knew another hostel a few blocks away. We arrived there and settled in for the night.

This last string of events was the straw that broke our backs. Looking back on the events leading up to that first night in Cordoba it's amazing we didn't both have a breakdown. We had both been sick in Maipu with Mario, and then we slept at a farm with a rooster waking us up at 4:00 am every morning. Then we were pushed to the limit by the disrespectful jackassholes we had to share a room with in Mendoza. To arrive expecting a quiet room, but finding that the hostel screwed up and we had to go searching for another place was almost too much.

We spent one night in the hostel that was recommended. It was alright, and to be honest I was so tired that I probably slept better that night than I have in many other hostels. However, we were still really bitter and angry about the whole thing the next morning, so we said, "screw it," and went and stayed three nights at a nice little boutique hotel called Azur Real. Those three nights did wonders for our morale and energy. We spent time in several art museums, at a park with some beautiful weather, and exploring the pedestrian only streets. We ended up greatly enjoying our time in Cordoba, despite the rocky start.

Our final destination in Spanish speaking South America was Puerto Iguazu, right next to the Iguazu Falls. We arrived from an overnight bus in town and headed straight to the falls. We spent about 5 hours exploring the many trails and catwalks built on the Argentinian side of the falls (as opposed to the Brazilian side, which we'll get to). Some of the trails take you right to the edge of some of the falls, both from above and from below.

We were lucky we decided to go see the falls on our first day because our second and final day there was a torrential downpour most of the morning and early afternoon.

The next morning we took a bus from Puerto Iguazu across the border to the Brazilian vantage point of the falls (Rio Iguazu forms a border between the two countries - in fact at one point you can be standing in Argentina and see Brazil and Paraguay). When asked the question, which side is better than the other, most sites or authors offering an answer give the cop out of "they are different, but equal." Well I disagree. The Brazilian side is way cooler. You have panoramic views of the falls at almost every point. And then they have a catwalk that takes you out over the edge of a waterfall while another waterfall a short distance away blasts everyone who ventures out with a wall of mist. It was spectacular.

After spending the afternoon viewing the falls from the other side, we took an overnight bus to Florianopolis. Floripa, as it is called, is a city on an island in southern Brazil, but is famous for its many beautiful beaches. We had arranged to stay in an apartment for about a week through Airbnb, and our hosts were great. Although Floripa is famed for its beaches, we are in Brazil in winter, and unfortunately we had mostly overcast and rainy weather. The one sunny day we had, we did get out and see the lake in the middle of the island. Other than that, we took advantage of the weather by cooking for ourselves, which is something we've missed while traveling. Kim also spent a lot of time grinding out her applications for grad school and was able to submit them during our time there. It was relaxing despite not being on a beach.

From Florianopolis we went to Sao Paulo, again choosing Airbnb to find a place in an apartment. Our hostess, Lilo, was a lady from Colombia who has been living in Brazil for about 5 years. We only spent the weekend in Sao Paulo, but we were able to explore Sao Paulo's versions of Central Park - Parque Ipirapuera, and Times Square - Avenida Paulista. Lilo also had a small gathering of her friends, many of whom were also Colombian, the first night we were there. They made traditional Colombian food (i.e. fried empanadas), and Kim and I were reminded of how much we loved Colombia.

A short bus ride from Sao Paulo landed us in another beach town called Boissucanga. We arrived here on the 31st of August in order to help teach English. We spent our first two days getting acquainted with the town, the beach, and how classes are run (which is very differently than in Taltal). The English school, Centro Liceu, is a family run business and they are wonderful. We are excited about the next 2 weeks here before we head off to Rio to end our trip in style.

As we near the end of this trip, we've both talked about our mixed emotions. On one hand, we are tired of the traveling routine - pack everything up, get to the bus station, arrive in a new town, find your hostel, unpack your stuff, repeat. However, we both know how much we are going to miss traveling and getting to know different cultures and peoples and being able to share our culture. We are happy we have one final work exchange position, wish us the best of luck with the weather, and we look forward to coming home and seeing our friends and family.

Taltal, Chile

Dylan and I have spent the past three weeks on the coast of Chile in a small city called Taltal. If you look it up in any guide book, you will be hard pressed to even find it mentioned. Though the tourist scene is nearly non-existant, Taltal with it's rocky shoreline, normally sunny skies and always genial people has definitely left a lasting impression on us.

Upon arrival in Taltal, we headed to the Paposo Inn, where we were greeted by Hugh and Aoife (pronounced eefa), an Irish couple, who were starting their 5th week with English For The Greatest (EFTG). They told us they had initially signed on for 3 weeks but kept extending their time. This is always indicative of a good volunteer exchange. During our time in Taltal, we also volunteered alongside an Australian named Nathanial, and two French college students, Nico and Julian. By the end of our stay, we were all hesitant to leave Taltal and the Paposo Inn, but since school is on break for 2 weeks, I guess it was sort of necessary to move on. Even Hugh and Aoife, who had completed 7 weeks at EFTG, admitted they should probably see other parts of Chile.

English classes are provided for free by EFTG for the community. Hector, the principal and director, has many donors, or "secret friends", who support his program, and he has a catering business on the side to make ends meet. Each morning and afternoon, he hand delivers breakfast and lunch all over Taltal; then he heads to the library for classes until sometimes 10:00. Talk about a busy guy! Though by 6 pm he has already been hard at work for 12 hours, he is still teaching energetically and cracking jokes. There are 7 different levels of students who attend classes, ranging from 6 year olds to 65 year olds, and Hector works with them all perfectly! Our role as volunteers was to sit in small table groups and assist the students with their coursework. Though there were a few children who gave us a run for our money, most of the students were awesome to work with! In fact, our students in adult classes became our friends in Taltal. We all got together each week for Gringo vs. Taltalino basketball, and we would often head to the local bar, Costa Traviesa, after classes for a round of Escudo (a brand of Chilean beer).

Several times during our stay, students would invite the entire volunteer clan over for asados with their family. Time after time, we were welcomed into homes by wives, husbands, children, parents, grandchildren, brothers, and sisters as though were too were family. If the welcome into their homes wasn't enough, the food was always above and beyond. In the states, if I am invited over to grill or have a BBQ, I expect hamburgers, beer and maybe some brats. In Chile, asado is an art. We're talking racks of ribs, steaks, chorizo, chicken, fresh baked bread, salads, wine and of course Escudo.

Every time we were invited over to people's homes, we had an awesome time, but one day stands out in particular: the final of the Copa America at Christian's house. We arrived in Chile at the start of the knockout stage of the Copa America, which was being hosted in Chile. Each night Chile played, we found ourselves gathered around tables at Costa with several of our students. We would all be drinking Escudo and cheering on the Chilean team. Though most of us did not speak the same language fluently, we always managed to be the most boisterous table. The gringos learned some choice phrases in Chilean Spanish and whenever a player of the opposing team deserved it, we all (regardless of Nationality) shouted abuse at the TV in Spanish.

The day of the final (Chile vs Argentina), Hector had planned to sell fish sandwiches and fries as a fundraiser for the school. We were graciously offered Christian's home to use as our preparation station.

The game was at 5:00, and we had approximately 100 sandwiches to prepare between 11:00 and kickoff. With the help of Christian, his wife Corina and several other students, we managed to pull it off just in the nick of time. We sent the last sandwich out the door as the game started. Our intentions of going to the bar for the game were out the window, and so we continued to drink Escudo and cheer on Chile from the back of Christian's house. It was a blast!

The game went to penalty kicks, and as soon as Chile's famous attacker, Alexi Sanchez, knocked in the winning goal, Taltal exploded. People spilled out onto the streets and headed to the main plaza where there was a caravan of honking cars filled with people. There was a big screen set up to show the hand off of the trophy, and thousands of people were chanting and jumping up and down in the plaza. It was the first time Chile had won the Copa America, which it being in its 99th year, made the victory all that more special for the country.

Of all the communities and cultures we have experienced so far on our trip, I feel we were most welcomed and integrated into that of Taltal. The people, from Hector and Ramon, the Inn owner, to Christian and his family, made us feel like we belonged. Thank you Taltal for making us feel like honorary Taltalinos for the past three weeks :) Salud!

Peru

The day after flying from the Galapagos back to mainland Ecuador, Dylan and I took a 27 hour bus from Guayaquil, Ecuador to Lima, Peru. While this sounds daunting, in actuality, it wasn't so bad. The bus company, Cruz del Sur, was very precise and reliable (a relief after our experiences in Colombia). We were able to book seats on the bottom floor of the bus that reclined to 160 degrees, and we each had a personal screen to watch movies on. While we certainly didn't sleep soundly, we managed to get some rest. I even got to watch the new Hunger Games movie in English! Score!

Once in Lima, we had a day to rest and revitalize while awaiting the arrival of my sister, Kelsey, and her boyfriend, Robin. Kelsey just graduated from University, and the two of them were joining us for a two and a half week jaunt through Peru. Our hostel, Dragonfly, was very laid back, and we were happy to be able to hang out and cook for ourselves again after so long of eating out in the Galapagos. Kelsey and Robin arrived after a long international journey, and we all took the evening to catch up and plan a rough outline for the next few weeks.

Kelsey and Robin's second night in Peru, we went out to experience a little of the nightlife Lima had to offer. We started with double Pisco Sours at a very interesting bar, Ayahuasca. After finishing our drinks, we got a tour of the bar, which is located inside an old mansion. It has endless rooms, each having its own theme and bold, quirky decor. From Ayahuasca, we went in search of a dance club. Since it was a weeknight, this was a bit of a challenge, but eventually, we found somewhere to dance the night away.

The next day, we packed up and caught a bus to a little town on the coast called Paracas. We organized a boat tour to Islas Ballestas, also known as "the poor man's Galapagos," of Peru for the next morning. On this tour, we saw more birds than I have ever seen in my life. The islands and sky were full of birds including Peruvian boobies, cormorants, pelicans and even a few penguins. There are so many birds there, that the topsoil of the islands is mostly composed of bird poop (or guana) and is actually highly coveted for its fertilizing properties. Wars have been fought over the bird poo.

Upon returning to Paracas, we caught another short bus farther inland to Ica. Once in Ica we got a quick 5 km taxi ride to Huacachina. Huacachina is a cool little tourist town in the midst of sand dunes. While all of the restaurants only serve overpriced hamburgers and pizza and the hostels are a bit run-down, the sand dunes are awesome! We climbed the dunes the first night to watch sunset, and it was really lovely. Of course, we also played around some, and by the time we returned to the hostel, we all had sand in every crevice of our bodies.

The next day was Robin's 21st birthday. To celebrate, we went on a dune buggy adventure. The ride in the buggy was a bit like the Disneyland ride "Indiana Jones", with sharp, bumpy turns and steep drops off the tops of tall dunes. The trip also included sand boarding. Our driver would take us up to the top of a dune, hand out boards (sort of a cross between snowboards and sleds) and then meet us at the bottom. The fastest and most fun way to ride was headfirst on your stomach. After our adventure, we returned to our hostel and drank Pilsen beer and danced salsa in the bar.

The following day, we hired a taxi to take us on a pisco tour. We visited two pisco distillery/ wineries in the area. Here, we learned about the pisco making process and then did some tastings. I will just say that "tasting" hard alcohol is not my favorite. I tried following the tasting protocol : sniff, sip, swish, swallow, exhale slowly...and nearly gagged. After the third or fourth taste, I was grateful for the sweet wine we were given... despite the fact that it tasted like fruit syrup. I fully intend to save future wine tours for Chile and Argentina.

We spent one last day relaxing in Huacachina before heading to Nazca. Since there were several ruins and sights between Huacachina and Nazca, we hired another taxi to take us. With four people, this ended up being less expensive than taking a bus to Nazca and then doing a tour from there. At one stop, there were a bunch of aqueducts built by the Incas that we were able to climb down into. The size and quantity of the aqueducts was really impressive. We also were given the opportunity to hike around the Cahuachi ruins. Though they were no Machu Picchu, they were still very interesting. We were able to see some of the Nazca lines from a tower we climbed up.

 The driver ultimately dropped us off at the Cruz del Sur bus terminal in Nazca. We checked our bags and then headed to a restaurant to kill some time. We ended up drinking Pilsen and playing hearts while watching a very strange game show.

Our bus from Nazca to Cusco was about 14 hours long, and boy was it a challenge. From the minute the bus left the terminal, it was winding through mountains. Both Kelsey and I felt nauseous and did our best to just close our eyes and sleep it off. Thankfully, neither of us actually got sick, but the combination of curvy roads and gaining close to 11,000 feet overnight left all four of us feeling pretty badly upon arrival in Cusco.

We spent our first two nights in Cusco at La Boheme Hostel. It was very well ran, and Robin was excited to get to speak some French as most of the staff was from France. In the evenings, most of the guests crammed into the small indoor common area, and between the free coca leaf tea and the fireplace, there was a very cozy atmosphere. We chose to switch hostels because there wasn't a kitchen we could use. After so many days of eating at overpriced restaurants in Huacachina and Kelsey having to compromise her dietary needs, we were ready to cook for ourselves. Our third day, we switched to Dragonfly Hostel (the sister hostel of the one we stayed at in Lima). Like its partner hostel, the Dragonfly was very laid back, and the kitchen was kept very clean. Best of all, there was a foos ball table.

We spent those first few days wandering around Cusco. The day after we arrived was the start of Corpus Christi in Cusco. The streets around the central Plaza de Armas was jam packed, and there were 15 giant statues of saints being carried around in a procession. In addition, there were marching bands and people in costumes. It was quite exciting, especially since we had no idea that it would be happening.

In the first few days, we also discovered the San Pedro market where you could find anything from alpaca sweaters and key chains to fruit, cheese and meat. Kelsey, the vegetarian, had a hard time with the meat section as the heads of the animals were typically on display as well as the entire hind haunch.

There were also hundreds of street vendors selling the local favorite, cuy (guinea pig).

Though it took us until one of our last days in Cusco, we did try it (even Kelsey took a bite). The meat was dark and pretty greasy, and I suppose, of all the types of meat I've tried in my life, it most resembles duck. That said, it was definitely a unique experience since, as you're eating, you can look to your right and see the full animal, teeth and all.

From Cusco, the four of us made our way through the Sacred Valley toward Machu Picchu. Since Kelsey's leg was bothering her, we opted not to backpack in, but to do a mix of cars and hiking. We first took a collectivo from Cusco to Ollantaytambo. This little town sat within Incan ruins, and many of the walls of buildings in the city were originally walls of the ancient town.

We spent one night there and then continued on via taxi to Hidro Electrica. We then hiked along the train tracks for a few hours to Aguas Calientes, also known by its tacky new name - Machu Picchu Pueblo.

 Aguas Calientes is at the base of Machu Picchu and is the hub for nearly all tourist activity related to the area. Thus, like Huacachina, it is primarily composed of really overpriced pizza restaurants and run down hostels. We found one such hostel and then after grabbing dinner, turned in early. At 3:30 the following morning, we got up, ate an early breakfast at the hostel and made our way to the bus station. The first bus didn't leave until 5:30, but even at 4:30, there were at least 20 people in front of us in line. Once on the bus, we had a 25 minute journey up the mountain to the entrance of Machu Picchu.

We made it in the gates in time to see sunrise and were very fortunate to have a day entirely free of rain.

We snapped some photos of the sunrise over the ruins and then made our way to the entrance of Machu Picchu Mountain, which we had tickets to climb. At 7:00, we began the hour and a half ascent up the incredibly steep mountain. Talk about a workout. After about 10 minutes, we reached an overlook with new birdseye views of Machu Picchu. About 30 minutes in, there were a few spots with sheer drops, and I started to panic a bit. I have a pretty severe fear of heights that can lead to vertigo. At this point, I decided I didn't want to keep climbing so Dylan and I turned around while Kelsey and Robin hiked on. After seeing their photos from the top, I'm grateful I made that choice. At certain points, the trail was only a few feet wide with sheer drops on either side. I would have had a nervous breakdown. Instead, I enjoyed a nap in the sun on the ruins of Machu Picchu while my sister and her beau had their asses handed to them.

Once we were all reunited at the bottom of the mountain, we began to explore the rest of Machu Picchu. It was spectacular! Though there were certainly a lot of tourists (especially between 9:00 and 12:00), we were able to find little patches of grass within the ruins to sit and enjoy the views of the mountains. We walked around all afternoon exploring the city. By late afternoon, we were all tired, especially Kelsey and Robin, whose legs were beat. We caught a bus back to Aguas Calientes and had a low key evening.

The next few days, we made our way back to Cusco the same way we had come. The views on the drives were gorgeous and at times terrifying!

Kelsey and Robin only had two more days in Cusco, and we filled them with lots of foos ball,  walking around and checking out the festival and visiting with their friends from college who happened to be in Cusco at the same time.

It was wonderful spending part of our trip with my little sister. Since she did a project on Machu Picchu in middle school it has been her dream to visit it. I'm grateful to have been able to experience it alongside her.

Kelsey and Robin flew back to the US to begin their summer jobs, and Dylan and I tried to find a new volunteer placement. After nearly 2 months of visiting tourist sites, we were beyond ready to settle down for a few weeks. We finally heard back from an English Language school in Taltal, Chile. With 10 days left before our start date, we slowly made our way south.

We bussed to Arequipa where we made plans to hike the Colca Canyon. After a day of down time in our cozy room at Park Hostel, we caught a 3 am bus to Cabanaconde in the canyon. We were on a "tourist bus" with about 15 other people. Most of these people were doing a guided tour of the canyon, and we were the only solo hikers on the bus. On the way to the trailhead, we stopped at an outlook, Cruz del Condor, where we saw condors flying at eye-level. They are massive birds with wingspans of up to 10.5 feet and are typically only seen soaring far above you. Because we were at such a high elevation and it was early in the morning, we caught them just as they were making their way up out of the canyon.

We began our hike just outside of Cabanaconde. Though we did not cover much ground in terms of distance, the Colca Canyon trek was very challenging due to the changes in elevation. On day one, we planned to hike down to a small village called San Juan for lunch and then on to a village called Tapay for our first night. By the time we were nearing San Juan, we had descended over 3,000 feet in just a few miles and our legs/knees were really tired. We were intercepted after crossing the bridge at the bottom of the canyon by a woman named Gloria. She asked us if we were going to San Juan that night, and when we said no, she asked if we were at least going to eat lunch there. We told her that was our plan and she smiled and told us that she had a restaurant. How convenient. She then proceeded to herd us up a shortcut path that led directly to her hostel/restaurant. We were seated and then fed vegetable soup, rice, alpaca, and veggies all for about $3 a person. By the end of the meal, we were ready for a nap. Conveniently, she had a private room available for $6 for the night. Done and done. As we were moving into our room, the guided group who had been on the bus with us arrived at the same hostel. We spent the evening chatting with them. Gloria's dinner was equally as filling and delicious as lunch, and given our 3 am start that day, we passed out shortly after.

The next morning, after filling up on banana and chocolate pancakes, we bypassed Tapay and headed straight for Sangalle, also called Oasis. Our hike called for a lot of up and down, and once again, our legs were pretty tired upon reaching the small village. Oasis has a separate microclimate from the rest of the canyon, and the subtropical patch of land is lovely. We holed up at another hostel that had a pool and spent the afternoon playing in the water.

Dylan and I took turns playing the games we played with our siblings in pools growing up. He taught me his brother and his rendition of pool football (involving a lot of dunking), and I taught him a synchronised swimming routine. Though his front somersaults could use some work, he is surprisingly good at back walkovers in the water. That evening we had dinner at the hostel (it didn't compare to Gloria's) and then turned in early.

At 4:45 the next morning, we were early to rise. We began the grueling uphill journey back to Cabanaconde in order to make our 9 am bus back to Arequipa. In about 2 hours, we regained the 3,000 feet that we lost that first day. Towards the top of the canyon, we reconnected with the guided group and continued to chat with them. We followed the group to a small restaurant for breakfast and then got back on the same bus with them. Our bus made several stops on the journey back to Arequipa. The best was the hour long soak session at some hot springs. They were divine. We also stopped at the highest point of the canyon, which, according to the altimeter on Dylan's watch, was over 15,000 feet (the guides told us we were at 4910 meters, which google tells me is over 16,100 feet!!) and at a nature reserve for alpacas and llamas.

Overall, it was another beautiful drive and the views of the Colca Canyon were incredible.

 Though our time in Peru was brief, we enjoyed every city and village we visited, especially those visited with Kelsey and Robin. We have now started our volunteer position in Taltal, Chile, and we are already having a blast. More to come on Chile.

Galapagos Islands

We finished working at Gringo on the Beach and caught a bus to Guayaquil - a fairly easy trip from Manta. Arriving in Guayaquil on May Day is a bit like being in Quito for Easter Sunday - most stores are closed and the streets are almost empty. Kim and I dropped our stuff at our hostel and walked down to the mall to find an ATM, get some lunch and pick up a few necessary items before we flew to the Galapagos Islands. Guayaquil has a few craft breweries and we bought a couple bottles to celebrate our last night in continental Ecuador.

The next morning, a short two hour flight landed us on Baltra island in the Galapagos archipelago. Baltra island is barren, very dry, with only an airport and a small dock area for ferrying passengers across the Itabaca Channel and onto Santa Cruz island. Puerto Ayora, an hours bus ride to the south side of Santa Cruz, is the largest city in the Galapagos at about 15,000 people. We found our regal-sounding Hotel Sir Francis Drake (not as fancy as it sounds), and dropped off our bags before we started exploring the town. We knew we had three weeks on the islands, and that we wanted to do a cruise. And so we started exploring the different tour agencies and doing some research on what activities could be done independently.

The majority of the islands are designated as National Park area, and you are not allowed into the National Park without a guide. However in and around Puerto Ayora there are several places that are privately owned or that lie outside the park boundaries. We made a list of things we want to see and places we wanted to go, but part of each day was consumed by shopping for a cruise that suited our budget and let us see the islands we most wanted to visit. It quickly became clear that all the tour agencies had more or less the same information and offers. Other travellers had told us that you can find the best deals on cruises if you book on the islands, and the prices most places offered were much lower than the price listed when we checked online. After four days of haggling over prices and researching boats and islands we booked a six day tour around Isabela island. We knew that we probably could have had a better price if we waited a few more days before booking, but we wanted to enjoy our time and start spending our days seeing what Santa Cruz had to offer rather than in tour agency offices.

We had a week to explore Puerto Ayora and other spots on Santa Cruz. We visited the Darwin Research Center, which sounds far more scientific than it was. In reality it was akin to a very small zoo, so we saw some land tortoises and land iguanas. They also had a breeding center for land tortoises, so we saw some very small tortoises; the tortoises they breed are relocated to the wild once they are old enough. We also took a taxi to the highlands of Santa Cruz and checked out three different spots - los gemelos, the lava tunnels, and las primicias. Our taxi driver turned into a makeshift tour guide as he explained the history of a site or helped us find tortoises and gave his estimation of their ages. Los gemelos, the twins in Spanish, are two giant craters created by magma pockets that emptied, leaving enormous caverns that later collapsed with tectonic movement. Nothing to stare at for hours, but they were cool to see.

 The lava tunnels are what they sound like, natural tunnels created by magma flow. Also fun, maybe not great if you get claustrophobic as you have to crawl through a very small gap at one point. The best attraction in the highlands was most definitely Las Primicias. Basically, it's a privately owned piece of land (meaning you don't need a guide to visit) where land tortoises hang out. They probably spend time there because there are lots of guava trees and visitors gather the fruits and help the giant tortoises out.

On another day, we walked 40 minutes out of town to Tortuga Bay, where we would presumably see some marine turtles. To our disappointment, we saw no turtles, but the beach was lovely and peaceful and there were lots of marine iguanas on the beach and occasionally in the water swimming. The marine iguanas are a bit creep (they kind of look like demons), but we probably took 300 pictures of them throughout our time on the island. We revisited Tortuga Bay several more times just to relax. One man we met on the island told us that some locals go every day, calling Tortuga Bay the Temple.

We also went to Las Grietas (the cracks in Spanish), which are exactly that - but filled with clear blue water. We swam around for a bit in the brisk water and when the water was calm, we could see some bright blue fish below us.

During our time in Puerto Ayora, we had a hard time finding a hostel with a kitchen that was not extremely dirty. Thus, we ate out for most meals (sometimes buying fresh bread from the grocery store as a makeshift breakfast or lunch). We often purchased set "almuerzo" (lunch) menus on Kiosko street for less than $5 that were very filling (usually soup, fish or chicken, rice and salad). We also returned to the street for dinner and had some of the best sea food of our trip so far for less than $10 a plate. We treated ourselves to sushi a few times and found that Pelican View restaurant had by far the best on the island (you know it's fresh when you walk past the fish market on the way to the restaurant :)). Kim also became addicted to the ice cream served at Galapagos Deli. I think her record was 3 cones in one day (it was her birthday to be fair).

After a week on Santa Cruz, we were definitely ready to start our cruise and check out the other islands. We met everyone on our boat, the Encantada, at the Baltra airport. All together there were twelve passengers. Kim and I from the US; Lewis, Kerrie and Jenny from Australia; Robert and Julia from Germany; Sevi, Raphi and Sabrina from Switzerland; Heather from Belgium, and Natalie from England. Juan, our guide, was born on the island and has been guiding in the Galapagos for 35 years. Most importantly, he was a ranger for the Galapagos National Park and a Marine Biologist. Kim was immediately impressed with his vast knowledge, especially when he was able to talk lichen with her. We all got onto the boat, got settled into our cabins, and shortly after had our first meal together.

The meals on the boat were good, pretty typical Ecuadorian food (rice, fish, veggies and fruit) and plenty to eat without wasting much. Coffee and tea was available at all hours, and you could grab a beer and mark it down on your tab whenever you felt like it. The cabins were small and the bathrooms smaller, but we didn't empty our wallets to hang out in our cabin, so it was more than acceptable. The boat itself was small compared to other boats, but it was an old sailboat repurposed as a cruise boat for tourists. Where most of the other boats we saw were very modern looking, with glossy white sides and black tinted windows, we were on a fire engine red boat with a mast and circular portholes for windows.

Our first stop was a short trip further down on Santa Cruz island where we got off and walked around on a trail close to Cerro Dragon. This ended up being our first and only opportunity to see land iguanas. Kim and I were ready with our camera in hand and our battery fully charged - but with the battery still in the charger plugged into the wall in the cabin. Oops. So instead of peering at these yellow and orange monsters through the lens of my camera, we enjoyed watching them lethargically move about if they moved at all. Back on board we had our first nightly briefing with Juan before eating dinner. He explained that we would navigate to Puerto Villamil on Isabela Island overnight. That night, before heading out, we saw a sea lion hanging out around our boat trying to catch fish (the fish were drawn to the boat by the lights). The sea lion had attracted a more impressive predator, a Galapagos shark. With the help of Robert's and Lewis' super bright head lamps, we saw the shark dart after the sea lion. To the dismay of some and the joy of others, the shark didn't catch the sea lion (at least to our knowledge).

To put it mildly, the seas were a bit choppy that first night. Kim had been taking the motion sickness pills we had with us, so she wasn't feeling awful, but she did head to bed early. I ended up staying up and playing Uno with Robert, Julia and Sevi. When I did make it to bed (the top bunk), the boat was rocking back and forth hard enough that I was a little worried that I would get tossed out of bed. As such, I didn't sleep so well the first night.

At breakfast the next morning, I found that just about everyone else had the same troubles (you might even say we were in the same boat). The second day we had a chance to check out some marine iguanas and some sea lions before we went snorkeling for the first time. The water was a bit cloudy but we saw lots of colorful fish ranging in size from my pinky finger to my torso. We also saw a sea turtle who was incredibly calm and unafraid of us despite the fact that we were a large group and were quite close to it. Right at the end we saw a huge sting ray nestled into the bottom.

In the afternoon we disembarked in Puerto Villamil and took a van a short ways out of town. We all got out of the van to check out some flamingos in a pond a short ways away. I got out of the van last and the driver closed the door behind me and quickly took off. I thought we were just getting out because we were lucky to see some flamingos, but when I asked Juan he said no, we would walk back into town from where we were. Awesome, because I left my backpack on the van thinking it was just a quick stop. Losing the backpack wouldn't have been a big deal, but it had my wallet with debit/credit cards, and Kim's cell phone in it. Needless to say I spent most of the rest of the afternoon in Villamil worrying about if I would get my backpack back and if so would it have my wallet and Kim's phone in it. It didn't help that when we would ask Juan about it he was fairly nonchalant about it and kept telling us we had to wait to find out - that the driver had gone up into the mountains to pick up a different group and had no way of being contacted for an hour and a half. Ultimately, Juan did pull through, and we got the backpack and important items back no problem. We did get to see the tortoise breeding center in Villamil, though it is much like the one in Puerto Ayora, and I was deep in the middle of a pity party so it wasn't the best Galapagos afternoon.

The second evening we learned from the Captain that the seas were supposed to be even rougher than the night before, and it was a 12 hour navigation to our next destination. A crew member offered to tie us into our bunks (we still aren't sure if he was kidding). More people had trouble with this night, Kim included. We went down to our cabin and she laid on the bottom bunk and told me that she wasn't going to get ready for bed - that she couldn't or else she would be sick. She took her contacts out and gave them to me to put away for her. I had felt a little seasickness myself when we were up on the top deck, but once I sat down on the bed it went away.  Luckily, both of us slept through the night without too much issue, something that not everybody was able to do.

The third day we were settled into the routine of the boat, and feeling the swaying of the sea was starting to become natural. We were on the west side of Isabela Island where we walked on a huge swath of black lava rock called Punto Moreno. We walked a ways in and there were some pools with flamingos standing in the water. It was also pretty incredible to see how different plants had begun to grow in the lava rock despite a lack of soil. Even more incredible was how there was a cactus that looks a lot like a penis.

That afternoon we went to Elizabeth Bay, a short ways from Punto Moreno, where we had another chance to snorkel and then did a tour of the bay by dinghy. From the dinghy we saw blue footed boobys, galapagos penguins, and flightless cormorants. In the water we had what might have been our best snorkeling outing. There were penguins in the water with us and at one point a group of them torpedoed directly beneath us as they chased a school of small fish. Later there was an octopus crawling along the bottom of the sea. I followed him for a bit, keeping my distance and just watching what he would do. It was mesmerizing to see how instantaneously and flawlessly the octopus could change his color to match his surroundings, or how he would flash a bright blue when another fish accidentally swam into him. While I was distracted by the octopus, Kim and the others were swimming with a sea lion and a sea turtle.

Day four started at Fernandina Island, which is just west of Isabela. Our walk on Fernandina culminated in us seeing a big male (macho, in Spanish) sea lion barking and honking and chasing a female sea lion. Juan informed us that he was trying to mate with the female and the female was playing hard to get. Our second stop, Punta Vicente Roca, was also to be visited by dinghy only. We saw lots of blue footed boobys and the landscape was reminded me of Isla Nublar. There were two opportunities to snorkel on the fourth day, and we swam with sea lions and saw lots of incredible fish - however the water was a bit too cold for most at the first area and it was murky and too deep at the second stop.

Juan told us that we were going to be crossing the equator at about 5 pm, so Kim and I as well as the Aussies all had a few beers and enjoyed a beautiful early evening on the deck of the Encantada. We stopped at the equator and a bunch of people were trying to take pictures of the ship's navigational equipment reading 0'0'0' latitude.

Unfortunately I didn't see the equator on the day we passed it, but Juan said it is pretty rare to catch a glimpse of it. On the plus side, Kerrie, Lewis and Jenny taught me a wonderful Australian drinking song where you peer pressure your buddies into chugging (skulling, in Australian) their beer.

(Side note, as I'm writing this post so incredibly late I have heard about the eruption of Wolf Volcano in late May. Kim and I were off the islands at this point, but the volcano is on the northern part of Isabela and we sailed around it. We were about a week too late to see the eruption. Damn.)

The fifth day started on Santiago Island and we found a place that had cracks in the lava rock where sea lions would hide from sharks. We saw a large group of sea lions hanging out and playing in the cracks. Juan told us that it was one of the few places to see fur sea lions, as opposed to Galapagos sea lions, but to be honest they don't look all that different. There was also a hole in the ground called Darwin's Toilet where the water would retreat and then come exploding out of the ground. Snorkeling was right from the beach, and the water was warm and clear. It seemed like we were going to see mostly the same animals we had seen the previous snorkeling days, until Kim said that Robert and Julia saw a shark. I swam over to where they were and caught a couple glimpses of a shark, but that was enough for me so I swam away from where the sharks were and back to the group.

Our day ended at Rabida Island. The beach is made up of deep red sand, which made for interesting landscape. Unfortunately the weather was overcast and threatening to rain and there wasn't much in the way of wildlife. We spent most of the hour or so on the island chatting with other people from the boat (I spent a good 30 minutes explaining American Football to Sevi from Switzerland).

The last day on the boat was a quick circumnavigation of Daphne Island. Daphne used to be open to tourists but it has since been closed to the public, only a handful biologists have been allowed to disembark on the island. After Daphne we sailed back to Baltra Island, unloaded our belongings and then ourselves. We all caught a quick bus back to the airport where most of our new friends were getting on a plane back to Guayaquil. Kim and I gave hugs and said goodbye to all before we took a couple busses and a ferry back to Puerto Ayora.

We had originally booked a day trip to Bartolome Island for the day before our cruise started, but there was a miscommunication on the part of the tour agency so the bus left without us. The agency re-booked our tour for the day after our cruise ended. To be honest, we both had mixed feelings about the day tour before leaving since we had just spent 6 days going non-stop. We were tired and both feeling ready to move onto something else. However, Bartolome Island was incredible and we were so glad we went. Our guide was fantastic, and the landscape was stunning (scenes from the movie Master and Commander were filmed here). We hiked up to the top of a hill where you have a panoramic view crisp blue water, white beaches, and black lava rock. Even better were the Galapagos hawks that were soaring around us and seemingly posing for pictures on the handrails not more than six feet from our group.

After Bartolome, we headed over to San Cristobal. It was an almost 3 hour ferry ride. As a native to the Puget Sound, I use the word ferry only in the most literal sense. The boat fit about 25 people and the locals all sit as close to the back as possible. The reason for this became clear as soon as we left the bay of Puerto Ayora and the boat kicked into high gear. I don't have any reference for how calm or rough the seas were that day, but there were parts of the trip where I literally bounced half a foot off the bench. Kim had taken a motion sickness pill, but even so she wasn't feeling too hot. The most frightening parts were when the captain would kill the motor right before a particularly large wave so as not to capsize the boat and it felt like a car fishtailing on ice. Thankfully, we did make it to San Cristobal in one piece, and with no chunks on the ground.

San Cristobal is less touristy than Puerto Ayora with less restraunts and bars, but we heard there were some lovely beaches and good snorkeling. We found a nice little hostel, Casa Mabell, with the sweetest older gentleman running the place. There was a nice restaurant in town, Rosita, that served a fantastic five dollar set lunch (maybe the best set lunch we've had). The huge downside was that it poured rain for the first two days, not leaving much opportunity for visiting beaches. When the weather finally cleared enough (still pretty overcast), we walked a ways out of town to a local beach that was filled with sea lions. We saw some sea lions that looked like they couldn't be more than a few weeks old, and Kim took some great pictures of them nursing and playing.

When it was time for us to fly back to Guayaquil and end our Galapagos adventure, I think we were both a little bit relieved. Everything on the Galapagos is incredibly expensive compared to the rest of Ecuador, and after three weeks, our budget was pretty shot. That said, it was an experience that neither of us will ever forget and something that we wouldn't take back if given the opportunity.

Beach Bums

In one word, Good Friday in Quito was strange. Thousands of people walk in a procession that starts and ends at Plaza San Francisco; the journey is a huge loop that takes several hours. When we first set up camp on the street to watch, the procession had not yet passed where we were, and there were people selling ice cream, toys, stools to sit on, hats ect. We bought a bit of street food - some fried plantain chips and some delicious little fried dough balls covered in sugar (i think they were called Chilenos). The atmosphere felt like we were getting ready to watch an exciting parade. However, as the procession neared, the street vendors disappeared, and the people slowly walked by, many not wearing shoes and almost all were dressed head to toe in purple gowns that held an unfortunate similarity to the KKK outfits. A very solemn mood settled over all of the observers.

 Some folks were quite serious about the self-penitence - one guy had a band of barbed wire wrapped around his bare chest and several men were carrying huge wooden crosses while dressed as Jesus.  The procession is pretty much the same thing the whole time, and, after about an hour of extreme melancholy, we had our fill. We decided to go find a few more snacks, which ended up being hand crafted coconut ice cream, and then headed back to the hostel to chill out for a bit while the procession wrapped up...

The next day we went a did a free walking tour of Quito. I don't know if it was typical or if it was because of the holidays, but about 50 people showed up for the tour. The tour took us through the Old Town of Quito, and in addition to visiting the central market, several churches and key plazas, we learned a bit about Ecuadorian history, and some interesting and brutal stories about their political history. While we took pictures of the presidential palace, their statue of independence, and other interesting architecture, our guide filled us in on the variety of ways that presidents of Ecuador have left office. One former President in particular had a particularly gruesome ending. He made a bunch of changes in Ecuador, some of them trying to curtail the power of the Catholic church in government. As the conservative Catholic population is fairly dominant in Ecuador, he was later forced out of office and then the country. When he tried to return and regain control of the country, he was jailed. A mob of Catholic youth stormed the jail and tied him to a horse and dragged him through the streets of Quito, before they burned his body in a park. She spent 15 minutes or so telling us other stories of presidencies that ended poorly.

Later that afternoon, already exhausted from walking around the city for over 4 hours, we had to head to the bus terminal to buy bus tickets for our trip to Manta the Monday after Easter. We took the hour and 15 minute trolley ride to the bus terminal - 25 cents fare each versus a 10 dollar fare if we had taken a taxi. We wanted to make sure that we got off at the right place so we asked a guy standing next to us which stop we needed. This turned into a pleasant 40 minute conversation with him and his family on the trolley - they were going to the terminal as well. In this time, we learned that he had 4 children, had been married for 28 years, that his 9 year old son is studying English, that his sister owns a boat on the coast and much, much more. Our new friend ended up escorting us to the proper booth so we could buy our tickets to Manta, and then he showed us which trolley to take to get back towards our hostel. After a long day seeing some of the most beautiful buildings in Quito and hearing incredible stories told regarding Ecuadorian history, the most memorable event of the day was probably our conversation with the man on the trolley. Random interactions with strangers at home can be pleasant, but somehow the sensation was magnified for me - being in a foreign country and speaking a foreign language.

On Easter morning, we attended a Catholic mass at Basilica del Voto Nacional. The church is beautiful and absolutely massive. 

Kim had very high expectations for the mass, especially the music. While the mass was lovely, the music was rather painful. The woman leading the congregation was approximately 120 years old and sang each song in an average of 5 keys; the organ often came in a few measures after she had already started singing, dropping out here and there. After mass, we decided to walk around and see if we could find anything open for lunch. The city was nearly deserted, even on the larger thoroughfares. We walked down to the commercial district and found a little restaurant that was open - gringo customers with gringo food, but pretty good. Afterwards we searched for cards for Kim to send to friends in the States, and we found some that Kim really liked at a booth in a park (same place they burned the liberal president), but as we had one more day before we left Kim wanted to keep looking before she made a decision. Easter was a pretty low key day for us, and as the rain started to fall we decided to head back to the hostel and relax. Some folks in the hostel had put together an asado, so we joined two Uruguayans, an Argentinian, a Peruvian, a Venezuelan, and a German for a nice little community meal and a great way to end our day.

For our final day in Quito we went and finished up all the business we had started. Unfortunately we discovered that the vendors don't set up shop on Monday - not sure if it was only a holiday thing or an every Sunday thing. On the other hand, we found some cards that Kim was very happy with and we found a cafe where we could drink coffee while Kim wrote some messages to her girlfriends. Afterwards, with some trouble, we found the post office and sent off our cards. We stopped at a bar that had craft beer and slowly sipped on a beer that was not a lager. I was even able find a new baseball hat as the one I brought with me was turned into a disgusting mess from my use of it on the farm.

We caught our bus to Manta with no problems, and it was thankfully a peaceful and uneventful ride to Manta. In Manta, we were immediately slammed by the heat and humidity - much the same as when we arrived in Cartagena. Looking to get to San Lorenzo, about 40 minutes south of Manta, we asked the bus driver where we could catch a bus there. He told us that they had one leaving in an hour, and that it was a 6 hour ride. Immediately confused, we thought we would take a taxi, but the taxi we hailed told us it would cost us 25 dollars. We decided to check out the other bus terminal down the street and see if we could figure out the proper bus. I was very thorough in asking for a bus to San Lorenzo near Manta, in the same region (Manabi), and asking how long it would take to get there. We were ushered onto a bus to San Lorenzo for 1 dollar (and it only took about 30 minutes). Apparently there is another San Lorenzo in another region... 6 hours away. Good thing we didn't get on the first bus!

A short, and very hot and sweaty, walk down the main road in San Lorenzo led us to Gringo on the Beach resort, where we made plans to volunteer for most of April. We met the owner, a gringo from Chicago - Dan, and our fellow volunteers - Romy, Vanessa, Lila and Lamia. Vanessa is from England, and she is in Ecuador with her boyfriend Sandro, who is from Cuba. Romy is from France as are the two sisters Lila and Lamia.

The hotel is right on the beach; we walk 3 minutes and we are in the Pacific Ocean. 

There is a pool at the hotel, a small soccer field, and a road lined with coconut and palm trees. Our main job is to work in the kitchen and serve any guests. The menu is pretty easy, a lot of it being typical fast food from the US - burgers, fries, hot dogs. Some of it is different as well - empanadas, salchipapas, gato encerado. The times of day vary, but we work between 5 and 6 hours a day for 5 days a week. When not working we have access to wifi, obviously the pool and the beach, and there is even a projector with DirecTV (lots of soccer, movies at night). Dan owns a spare boogie board, so I've gone out a couple times and tried that out. I drank a lot of salt water and got a little sun burned, didn't catch many waves. There is also a steep hike to the top of a rocky hill right on the beach with a lighthouse on top and a spectacular view of the ocean, especially at sunset.

The last 3 weeks here have been tranquil. Lots of time at the pool and the beach or just lounging in hammocks at the restaurant. The two French girls were only here for a few days with us before they left, so we didn't really get to know them well. Vanessa and Sandro are great, and Romy and I get along really well. It's been really fun getting to know everyone and sharing a few drinks in the evenings. There was a surf competition on the beach here this last week, and the judges and some surfers were staying here. Kim was really enjoyed these guests as most of the guys walked around shirtless.

Time feels like it is going slowly here, but in such a good way. The days are relaxing and laid back. Right now the hotel is mostly empty, I think there is one couple here, and Kim, the other volunteers and I have been watching lots movies and relaxing. We plan to stay one more week before traveling to the Galapagos Islands.

Here's to more time lounging in the sun!

Going going, back back, to Cali Cali

Halfway through our four weeks on the farm and we had settled into a nice groove. Matteo, our new friend from Italy, Kim and I were jamming out the projects that Erika had assigned us before she left for Bogota again. Matteo and I spent countless hours gathering dried plantain and banana leaves to use as mulch, and so I was able to practice my Spanish with him. I can't always say exactly what I want to say in Spanish, but usually I can make myself understood, which is more than enough to get by. We ended up talking about movies, and discovered that we have pretty similar taste in movies. Most of the time we had no problem communicating, but occasionally a movie would have a drastically different title in Italy and then there was little chance of me figuring it out once he translated it from Italian to Spanish. For example, he asked me if I had seen a movie called One Night of the Lion. Definitely not. He said it was about 3 guys and lots of crazy things happen. Still nothing. Una Noche de Leon? Si. We eventually figured out that this is a phrase in Italian that means to go out and have a wild night of debauchery and hedonism, and it was The Hangover.

Erika came back for our last week of work, which was just in time as we were down to peeling coconut all day for work (with a bit of cleaning here and there). We got to do some interesting things - Kim helped make coconut oil and Matteo and I made plantain flour. We sprayed some more shit solution on the coffee plants, and did a little more maintenance work with them before we packed up our stuff and headed back to Bogota. On one hand, our four weeks on the farm was very relaxing - I finished The Count of Monte Cristo, Get Carter, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. On the other hand, our host wasn't able to spend very much time with us at the farm, which takes away from the experience some. Of course, this isn't an indictment of our host - she has a young child to take care of. Rather, I think that she has her hands full with her son, and adding 3 volunteers to the list of people who are looking to you for direction and guidance is probably a bit too much to ask.

We made it back to Bogota with plans to catch a bus to Cali the next day. We didn't do much in Bogota last time as I felt like utter crap, and we didn't do much this time because we were tired from the farm and we wanted to get an early start to Cali. We did eat a nice lunch at a restaurant near the hostel, and then we participated in the hostel's BBQ dinner. We can't really be sure whether it was the BBQ, or something else entirely, but something did both of us in. 

The next morning on the taxi ride to the bus terminal I was suppressing a mild urge to vomit almost the entire way. Normally I don't get motion sickness. I hadn't said anything about it when Kim asked if my stomach was hurting as well. She was feeling the same. We bought tickets for Cali, a 10 or 11 hour bus ride, took some antacids, and prepared ourselves for what we thought would be an uncomfortable trip. It turned out to be much worse. I spent most of the ride with my stomach churning like a washing machine, and I was constantly dropping silent but deadlies (the guy behind me was not happy about this part). Kim was worse off than me. She does get motion sickness and had to run to the bus bathroom to throw up, which is really more similar to a port a potty as it doesn't flush. After the 3rd or 4th trip to the bathroom she looked at me and said, "We might have to get off this bus, I can't do this much longer." I considered that this option would have left us in some small town in the middle of the Colombian Andes, and I patted Kim on her leg and said, "You can do it. We can't get off the bus, it's not an option." 

We ended up having a reprieve from the motion sickness as we inexplicably were stopped for three and a half hours in the afternoon. Okay to be fair, we moved probably 5 miles in that time. But it did help Kim's stomach, and she took some motion sickess pills before we got going again and we didn't have anymore extreme gastrointestinal issues. However, the delay meant that we arrived in Cali at 1am instead of the projected 8pm. We also discovered that my phone was the only place we had the address of our hostel, and it was completely dead (to be fair the battery life issue on my phone isn't a new issue for us, just one we failed to anticipate and that was compounded by a shitty day).

I figured we could find a taxi driver who knew the hostel, or would have gps or a phone he could do a quick search to find it. Our taxi driver had never heard of it, and he had been robbed the week before so he didn't have a phone or gps anymore. This did wonders for Kim's anxiety, especially it being after 1 am, but that didn't stop him from doing his damndest to find it for us. He drove to a group of taxi drivers and asked them if they had heard of Caella or Caelling hostel (the name is Caelum, but we found that Spanish speakers have a difficult time pronouncing this even when reading it). One guy was able to figure out that it was somewhere on Ave 4n - a really long street stretching across a really big city. But a start nonetheless. We drove around on Ave 4n for a bit before he started asking other people on the street if they had heard of the hostel. We finally found help from a security guard at a hotel, who was running in and out of the hotel to use the internet to try and find our hostel.

Kim was able to connect her phone to the hotel wifi from the car, and we had a full address and a small map of the surroundings. I thought we were in the clear, but even with the address our driver was still pretty confused (this was a first for us in Colombia). After some more slow mo driving, Kim was able to successfully navigate the driver to our hostel once we found a big landmark that was on the small map on her phone. If you really know Kim, this is some superhuman shit. The same girl who couldn't find Pizza Hut in the town where she grew up (emphasis  on town, only one Pizza Hut), told a taxi driver how to find the hostel after a 15 hour bus ride and a stressful 45 minute ride through the late night streets of Cali.

We were let into the hostel, thankfully, and they hadn't given away our reservation so we had (very large and comfortable)  beds. The next morning we ate pancakes, provided by the hostel, and met some of the other guests.  Stuart and Lewis, two English boys from Leeds,  are maybe the two most charming people we've met so far. Gamal, from the US, has lived in Ecuador and now Colombia for nearly a decade. Gamal is a bit older than us, and he came to Ecuador in the late 90's with the Peace Corps, and he definitely has some interesting stories about his experiences in South America. We also met Alvaro, from Cali, who is the owner of the hostel. It was new for us to eat breakfast with the owner of the hostel, but  this was obviously not a unique thing at Caelum, as all the other people were quit friendly with him. After we ate, Alvaro gave us a map of the city and pointed out some of the more interesting places to go and see or eat (again, the owner, not his employee). We reluctantly decided to go for a walk about the city after eating a huge lunch at the hostel, and right as we both were ready to go it started pouring rain and lightning sounded so close it may have been hitting the streets outside the hostel. We took this as a cue to nap and relax at the hostel.

Talking with the Leeds boys, we found out that they had been at the hostel for over 2 weeks and they were so happy there they had worked out a deal with Alvaro to work for the next 4 weeks in exchange for a bed. They told us that Alvaro organizes trips for guests to go and see things in and out of the city, and that Alvaro will drive guests himself and then join the guests out to see different things. Kim and I  had already made plans to volunteer at a hotel in Ecuador, so we knew we had  to leave Cali in a few days to make sure that we could make it there on time. However,  it was sorely tempting to cancel our plans and just stay in Cali at Caelum until our visa ran out.

Our first night at the hostel there was a salsa teacher who came and taught a free hour long lesson at the hostel. Stuart and Lewis, Kim, myself and a few other people who joined a bit late all participated. It was very simple steps, I think Kim and I got them down pretty well over the hour. The English boys on the other hand were an absolute riot to watch. When done properly, even very difficult Salsa moves look fluid and easy, but our friends looked a bit like robots trying to stomp out Salsa. And to be fair, in case they find this blog and read it somehow, Stuart was much better than Lewis. But their slang and accents came springing forth anytime the instructor introduced something new. "Ah fuckin' 'ell mate! Ah juss got the last step down." or "Shite! Ah've lost it. Ah had it and ah've lost it!" At one point, I had to step out of the class because I was on the verge of hysteria watching and listening to them.

After the class we all sat around, drank a few beers and chatted. Alvaro and a few more people, I think mostly Alvaro's friends from Cali, joined us and we had a nice social evening but without too much going on. The next day Kim and I got out of the hostel a bit earlier and did our own walking tour of the city. It was interesting, but Kim really doesn't like sight seeing, and the city doesn't have too much that is spectacular to see unless you get a bit outside of the city. There is one really weird park, Parque del Gato, which is just 15 or so statues of cats, painted in different ways by different artists. After walking around for a bit, we sat down and had coffee, and then found a small place called Lulodka that had a delicious menu del dia - soup, salad, risotto and chicken cordon bleu.

That evening we sat in the backyard of the hostel and once again enjoyed the company of other travelers. The English boys kept bothering Alvaro to get the salsa instructor to come back because "ah really enjoyed that" and "she was really fit." Halfheartedly, Kim and I decided we would stick to our original outline and head to Quito for Easter weekend and then on the the beach in Ecuador just after. We purchased bus tickets to Ipiales, a town in Colombia right on the border with Ecuador. Purchasing tickets was a bit of a shit show - none of the companies run daily buses to Quito (hence our destination being Ipiales), and a lot of the companies only ran buses heading north back into other parts of Colombia. But, eventually, we did get our ticket, and our plan was to take a taxi from the terminal in Ipiales to the border, cross on foot (which is what we have heard buses make you do even if you have a direct bus), and then catch a taxi to the Ecuadorean city of Tulcan where we have read  there are frequent buses onto Quito.

But we still had one more day in Cali, our bus was to leave at 9:30 at night. We spent the day hanging out with the people we had met the past few days - ate lunch with Stuart, Lewis, Gamal and Alvaro. In the morning Alvaro took us to the local market, very reminiscient of Seattle's market, and we bought some fruit and meat for a BBQ that evening. Alvaro also introduced us to a medley of interesting fruits we hadn't tried before (and forget about the names, I have no clue). In the afternoon Alvaro took us up to the Cristo del Rey, a giant statue of Jesus on a hill overlooking the city. I asked Alvaro who was building all these gigantic Jesus statues and planting them all over South America, and he told me it was an Italian artist who did the one in Cali and the Catholic Church paid for it. Alvaro definitely knows a lot about his city.

We had the BBQ that evening (delicious choripan - sausage on a bun but Argentinian style), and as time got closer and closer for us to leave Kim and I were bummed about leaving and definitely not looking forward to a really long bus ride. The people we had met all of two days before also seemed genuinely disappointed to see us leave as well. It is rare to find this type of camaraderie and connection so quickly, but when it happens it gives you so much more energy to keep travelling.

Our bus left Cali more or less on time, and Kim and I were both able to fall asleep relatively quickly, albeit not very soundly. Sleeping on these buses is definitely better than sleeping on an airplane, much more leg room, but it is by no means comfortable. And our seats were right up in the front of the bus, so we got to listen to the music and serenading voice of our bus driver as he sporadically joined in on the music of his choice. It took us 12 hours to make it to Ipiales, we crossed the border as planned, and found a bus heading to Quito. In all we spent about 20 hours going from Cali to Quito, which was definitely exhausting, but not the worst thing ever.

We booked a hostel, Minka, in the Old Town of Quito with plans to see the procession on Good Friday (imagine a parade of people in purple KKK outfits), and to go to mass on Easter. The hostel is nice, very laid back. But having come from one of the best hostels I've ever been at, it seems a bit boring, with most of the people more interested in their phones or laptops than in socializing (of course I'm being a hypocrite as I'm typing this).

We went out to find some food last night, and we found a row of  street vendors selling fried fish and a local soup called fanesco. Deciding to share, we ordered one portion of each and sat down to eat. Very tasty food, maybe a bit on te salty side, but way more food than the two of us were going to be able to eat. On our way to the street vendors we walked through and around a large group of young people who you would lump into the stereotype of punk/skateboader or if you wanted to be political anarchist. They didn't seem threatening to me or to Kim, but halfway through our meal the police showed up on the street and shortly after a tear gas canister was spitting fumes that were wafting into the seating area for the street vendors. We were full, so when we felt our breath get a little peppery we decided to pay (US dollars - a bit strange after paying in thousands of pesos) and head back to our hostel. On our way out, I stopped to see what I could make of the ruccus. To be certain, I have no actual idea of what started the conflict between the police and the group on the street. But it reminded me of scenes you could see in Seattle - large group of "alternative" young people hanging about, maybe looking suspicious to some, but not doing anything malicious when the police show up and order them to disperse. The scene in Quito seemed to be wrapping up, I couldn't even tell if anyone was arrested, but we made our way back to the hostel safely and went to bed early as we were exhausted from the long day of travels.

It is Good Friday as I'm finishing this post. Kim and I will probably shower and then make our way out into Quito to find an ATM, a grocery store, and then try and find a good spot to see the festivities. Or rather, we've heard it isn't really all that festive, and some people are quite serious about the physical punishment part and so they choose to wear crowns of thorns or barbed wire, or even carrying crosses made of cactus. We'll find out for ourselves how it goes shortly.

We spent 10 weeks in Colombia. I absolutely loved it, far more than I thought I would. This was the general attitude I felt from a lot of other travellers - people heading south were spending far more time in Colombia than they had planned and people heading north were disappointed they hadn't planned enough time for Colombia. There is so much of the country that we didn't see at all, I'm already hoping to return someday. One guy at the hostel in Cali suggested that we could fly back to Colombia at the end of our trip and spend a little more time there. I have no idea what our budget or timeline will look like 8 or 10 months from now, but right now it is something I very much want to do.