Medellin – Drugs, Modern Life and…Hippos?

31 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by Anita in Colombia, South America

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Medellin – Modern and as colorful as it’s unfortunate past

I was pissed when I arrived in Medellin. The bus journey here from Manizales was supposed to take five hours and it took six and a half because we were stuck behind a town’s Saturday night “procession”, the bus driver insisted on keeping his front two windows rolled down completely nullifying any cooling effect the air conditioning might have brought those suffering in the back, a really cute guy sitting in the front got out only an hour into the journey (obliterating my plan to ask for assistance on arrival and thereby become acquainted,) there was a deafening hip hop concert taking place at the bus station upon arrival, and to top it all off, once I’d found the taxi rank, after five or so sweat-inducing laps of the entire bus station with all my luggage, listening to the thwamp thwamp of the loudspeakers and some dude screaming at the crowd instead of singing, it took seven cab drivers before I found one who actually knew where The Black Sheep Hostel was located. Well, he didn’t know where it was. But his response was at least more than a shrug of a shoulder and silent dismissal; he was willing to wait and look at my guidebook map and hear me explain the actual address.

Joggers on Avenida Poblado

Cab drivers in Colombia, I have concluded, will do anything to ensure that you take a different cab.

Now I’d left the girls at the beautiful Hacienda Venezia because it was Saturday and I’d heard a lot about how legendary Saturday nights are in Medellin – the dancing, the music. It’s supposed to be a really great night out with the locals. By the time I arrived at the hostel it was 8:30 pm, and guess what? They didn’t have my reservation and they were full. So I was sent to the Casa Blanca just down the road – which turned out to be a shitty hostel filled with very pale 18 year old English college students, wearing dirty clothes sitting around plastic tables gulping cheap vodka with Fanta and shrieking with laughter. I enquired around, meekly, to see if anyone was up for heading out on the town, but not getting any response, I decided that I’d had a long day and got a private teeny tiny room and passed out.

Park in Poblado

I immediately regretted my decision the next day when I re-packed my stuff and checked back in to The Black sheep, only to hear and see everyone talking enthusiastically about what a great night out had been had by all. Well, surely Colombians go out on Sundays too?

No, apparently. They do not.

Colorful bars in the Zona Rosa – which I didn’t go out in:-(

After finding some breakfast, I asked the sardonic Kiwi at reception for ideas on what I might do on a Sunday in this city. He suggested a walk around The Poblado (the modern side of town where the hostel was located) and a visit to the botanical gardens for a quiet nice afternoon. Since there wouldn’t be much open today, that seemed like a good plan and I quietly also devised a plan to go watch a movie that evening and treat myself to some nice air conditioning, popcorn and diet coke (bliss – a fast cure for the little bit of home sickness I felt for modern life)

Kiddie play area at the mall

I was thoroughly impressed right away by the city. It was clean, modern, bright and had well landscaped public spaces and parks. On this Sunday, the main ‘Avenida’ in Poblado had been closed to traffic and I joined the throngs of joggers, cyclists and families taking a Sunday stroll, visiting a lovely market along the way and relishing a Maracuya juice.

Piranhas at the Aquarium

The other impressive feature in Medellin is the Metro. On the walking tour (which I would take the following day) our guide explained that it was the building of the metro that gave this city the glimmer of hope it needed to pull itself out of it’s horrific history of drug violence and murder of the 80’s and 90’s, and give it’s citizens something to be very proud of. And they are – on the metro today you will see no sign of graffiti or trash anywhere. It’s extremely efficient, and what I loved most of all – it connects all neighborhoods with the economic core centers of the city for the same price. This means that someone living in the poorest neighborhood, which is typically far away from downtown, is not forced to pay more money for a longer commute, thereby excluding them from lots of job opportunities.

Why couldn’t they instigate this same concept in, say, London? Or New York?

Me on the free walking tour – great concept! If you enjoy the tour – you give a great tip!

In any case, I rode the metro each of the four days I was in Medellin and though it still involved a lot of walking to and from each station, it was a highly efficient, though jam-packed nut-to-butt experience. I rode to the Botanical Gardens only to discover that there was some sort of massive music festival going on, together with the typically deafening music and pulsing beat that Colombians seem so attracted to. It was so packed full of people, but I persevered looking for the orchid complex, only to be told that they had been removed for the festival!

Administrative center sculpture, which is also a memorial for it’s artist – his ashes are laid to rest here too

Statue by the beloved Colombian artist Botero in front of City Hall

So I opted instead to visit the aquarium which also surprisingly was a Science Center, not unlike the one in Seattle or Portland. My cost of admission also included a short movie about the inner world, and entrance to the many exhibits on the science of the human body, reptiles, football and so on.

The aquarium itself was very impressive, focusing mostly on freshwater fish, they had very large tanks full of fish that you might find in the Amazon River, including piranha.

At the movies that night, I got the last seat to the Greg Kinnear flick called “Heaven is for Real”. It was so strange to be transported back to the US and Nebraska culture with a Colombian catholic audience. They seemed to really enjoy the movie, and my aching feet were very grateful for the respite as well.

Catedral Metropolitana

Upon returning to my hostel (to which I walked from the mall in the dark, feeling surprisingly safe as I did so completely alone) I found the hostel cat, Rufus, asleep on my bed. It was lucky for Rufus that I like cats and we snuggled up all night, waking throughout when Rufus needed more attention and stroking which he indicated with a jabbing paw to my neck.

Once again, I didn’t really connect with anyone in particular in Medellin. I spent most of my days alone or in tour groups, which was fine. I did a walking tour with Real City Tours, which I highly recommend. Their owner, Pablo, has lived and studied in France, the UK and Hungary and at only 26, shows a thriving entrepreneurial spirit that is extremely refreshing compared to the service-absent mentality of almost everyone else here involved in the booming tourism industry.

At 26, Pablo, as well as Paola, the guide I had on my Pablo Escobar tour the day before, each remember very well a Medellin that during their childhood, was the murder capital of the world. Shootings and bombings were daily events. People didn’t go out at night. Everyone lived in fear. Those in powerful positions in the cartels, at that time, were literally untouchable. Anyone that stood in their way, a politician who spoke out for change, a police officer, any man, woman or child that happened to be in the general vicinity of someone they saw as a threat to their flow of substantial drug cash was killed without regard for any consequences. They were above the law. Paola, in particular spoke with an extreme amount of passion about seeing people shot to death on the street, her two uncles among the victims. She is obviously still extremely bitter, and was much less optimistic about her country’s ability to fight corruption still inherent in the system.

House where Pablo Escobar was shot

Pablo, on the other hand, believes that things are really improving and that there is a future now for the youth of Medellin, a chance to get educated and improve their lives free of that kind of fear. Much of the drug violence has moved up the chain to the distribution phase, the majority of which now occurs in Mexico. Most of the coca plants are now being grown in Bolivia and Peru because it’s cheaper to do so. The city has invested a lot of money into it’s infrastructure and now builds libraries and community centers in neighborhoods that used to be too dangerous to walk through in the daylight.

Of course, Pablo helped to dispel the myth that is still so pervasive in the world, that Colombia is such a “dangerous” country. It’s not dangerous anymore. Sure, there are areas deep in the jungle one would still want to avoid, but here is the issue. Drugs and their production have resulted in the kind of bloodshed that could be likened to a civil war – countless hundreds of thousands have died. However, until the demand lessens or ceases, there will still be a fight to supply. In other words, it could be argued that those that bought and still buy the cocaine (which incidentally is only about 2-3% pure by the time it reaches, say, the States) are the ones with blood on their hands. That’s where the money came from to buy the bombs, the guns, and created the wealth enjoyed the most notorious drug lord of all – Pablo Escobar.

My group on the walking tour

The tour I took about him was very enlightening. Not only did I learn about the Drug trade from this perspective, but out guide also talked about the rich plentiful resources that are still available here in this country. Colombia is number five in the world for country’s with the most freshwater. There are minerals to mine, incredible flora and fauna not found anywhere else in the world. Including incidentally, Hippos.

What? – you may ask.

Well, along with seeing many of Pablo’s organizations’ buildings, the house where he was finally caught and shot dead, his mansions, and his final resting place (the most visited grave site in South America after Eva Peron) we also learned about his hacienda out in the countryside, which among it’s lavish, opulent staples was a zoo which Pablo insisted should also contain hippos which he had flown in from Africa.

After he was caught, the police seized his compound and rounded up most of the animals and found homes for them all in zoos across the continent. But the hippos were too big to move. They figured that if they just left them, they’d wander off and die from hunger somewhere.

But they didn’t. They survived. And reproduced.

Me, trying to Salsa with Fabrizio

There are now approximately 40 hippos roaming the countryside of north east Colombia and if they continue to do so, will start wreaking havoc on the local animal and human populations.

My time in Medellin wasn’t all learning about history. I also took a private Salsa lesson and hit the dance floor with Lillian and Fabrizio at Eslabon Prendido on Tuesday night. Despite the fact that the place was packed, I was pretty proud that I managed the steps without too much fumbling or looking stupid. I will have to find another place in Bogota later in the trip where there is more room to spread out. I had the typical Paisa dish of “heart attack on a plate” better known as Bandeja Paisa with a couple of boys after the walking tour.

I also learned that the poor service in restaurants doesn’t just stop at the food trying to make it’s way to your table. Every morning, after my Rufus cuddles, I’d plod on down the street to this little coffee shop for breakfast. One day, I just upped and left and forgot to pay! I didn’t realize until that afternoon, at which point I returned to buy a brownie and settle my bill.

They had no idea that I hadn’t paid. They didn’t even care. It was all very strange.

I enjoyed my four days there. I would have to say, that of all the cities I’ve visited in South America – this is the first one that I could see myself living in.

Welcome to Colombia – Getting Caffeinated in Coffee Country

23 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by Anita in Colombia, South America

≈ 6 Comments

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Hikes, Mountains, Travel Days

Hammock time at Hacienda Venezia

I opted to fly across the border, this time from Quito to Cali. I had stayed the night in a motel close to the airport after flying back from The Galapagos and managed to get laundry done, bags re-packed, and, for the first time since June 4, I watched TV in English including my beloved BBC World News. Incidentally, at the airport, I ran into the group of four whom I’d met at The Secret Garden in Cotopaxi and was planning to climb Cotopaxi with. They told me that the weather that night had been an all-out sub zero blizzard and they’d been forced to turn around after only two hours. While I felt badly for them, it was somewhat of a relief to me and helped soften the blow of getting injured at the worst moment.

Charming Salento

My flight went smoothly, stopping briefly in Esmeraldas to go through immigration. I met two Canadian girls from Vancouver and Victoria, Gisele and Heather, who also happened to have the same travel plans as I did – to skip Cali and catch a bus to Salento: a pretty little village in the heart of the coffee region that also offered great hiking in the Valle de Cocoro.

Jeeping it to the Valle De Cocora

Valle De Cocora

We got on the same bus, being assured that it was an express (I was informed the journey should be no more than 2 to 2 1/2 hours) bus and that it had air conditioning. Once again, the consistency with which unsuspecting (well, in my case I now just expect it) tourists are blatantly lied to in order to make a sale was achieved. Not only was the journey much longer, not 2, not 3, but 4 and a 1/2 hours…but there was no a/c, AND NO WINDOWS. The only source of ventilation was the bus door, which they only opened intermittently as police checkpoints had to be assured that the bus was practicing passenger safety by having the door shut.

Crossing one of the suspension bridges

It was like sitting in a slow cooker. A new kind of torture. Not a good start to my first day in a new country.

Luckily, the 3 of us left the bus together and were able to find a dorm all together at The Plantation House Hostel. We wearily collapsed after having a wonderful meal together at a small restaurant owned by an American who moved here after working for Microsoft in Redmond for over ten years!

The following day we embarked on a 12 km hike up the Valle De Cocora in the Parque National de los Nevados to see the famous Wax Palms. Wax Palms are the tallest palm trees in the world and seem so tall as if to be unstable. In true South American style (no regard to safety) we rode a jeep to the trailhead, standing on the bumper and hanging on for dear life as it careened along winding mountain roads.

Super fun.

I was happy to discover that my hip only gave me a little bit of trouble – though I am paying for it now several days later as it is still aching daily 😦 The valley itself was a lush green, with a rushing stream, thick jungle vegetation and these numerous rickety Indiana Jones-like suspension bridges that we had to cross as we slogged uphill through the mud.

Death by Peanut Butter Brownie

Hummingbirds

At the half-way point, we had a welcome break at a Hummingbird center where they offered us hot chocolate and a giant wedge of cheese (strange combo, but delicious) for the cost of admission. The three of us sat there happily, watching the eight different species of hummingbird, munching away on our goodies which included the best peanut butter brownies I’ve tasted that had been acquired that morning at the breakfast joint Brunch.

After another uphill slog, we found ourselves at the Mirador and looked down over the valley full of these towering trees. It was beautiful and many photos were snapped.

Wax palms

I was happy to be back in the mountains and I couldn’t believe how overjoyed I was in this environment, as compared to being in The Galapagos.

Our day ended perfectly with a nice wander around the picturesque old village, a refreshing cold shower, and then goodies and a movie, in ENGLISH, at the same place we’d had breakfast. A coffee shop with its own private in-house mini cinema! I was in heaven, drinking my smoothies and noshing on quesadillas.

Town Square

I managed to convince the girls the following day to join me in a stay at one of the Haciendas that dot this landscape and indulge in a few more days of blissful relaxation in the countryside. We ended up taking a bus to Manizales and stayed at the Hacienda Venezia which was exactly as I’d imagined it to be: white colonial main building set in lush tropical gardens, coffee bushes surrounding the property on hillsides as far as the eye could see, peacocks roaming the property (ok, I hadn’t envisioned that detail,) hammocks on a wrap-around veranda, and a lovely swimming pool for dipping in and getting cooled off from the afternoon sun.

Espresso time at Hacienda Venezia

The idyllic Hacienda Venezia

It was the perfect location for a few days of nothing. And getting jacked up on espresso, which was available free of charge anytime you wanted.

The Galapagos Part III – Highlights from Under the Water

22 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by Anita in South America, The Galapagos

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Animals, Sailing, Snorkeling, Tours

Me snorkeling

By far, my highlights of the Galapagos came from what I experienced and saw under the water. For the majority of the snorkel sites, there was not a great deal of color, per se, except for the fish themselves, this not being a coral reef based archipelago. However, there were two sites in particular where I got to see some pretty amazing underwater landscapes of life, and they left me longing to have my scuba tanks strapped to my back so that I could get a better look..

Gorgeous Kicker Rock

Shark at Kicker Rock

Kicker Rock

The first stand out location was Kicker Rock – an anomalous small island jutting out of the ocean all on its own. The rock itself was split in two, with a nice swimmable though choppy channel separating the two islands that made up the formation. As soon as we were dropped off in the dinghy, I knew it was going to be a unique snorkel just based on the depth and visibility of the water. Almost immediately in the channel I spotted several turtles, some of enormous proportions. Then we saw sharks – lots of them, both white and black tip. There was something so very eerie about looking down into the great blue depths, not seeing anything else in terms of form, just shards of light piercing the color creating lighter streaks that then formed a backdrop that tricked your eyes into questioning whether that sleek silver creature swimming beneath you is in fact, a shark.

Further around the rock, once we had swam through the channel, you could see a wall of rock that was teeming with sea life. Here there was an abundance of fish, turtles, and a few eagle rays. At the entrance to a cave, there must have been some anomaly in the nutritional content of the water because we came upon a school of fish, so dense and cloud like that it defied belief. There were thousands of these grayish fish all clumped together such that it reminded me of the fish in Finding Nemo who form the directions to the East Australian Current using their bodies. And just when it was registering, a cool light silver shadow would appear beneath the fish and glide among them, parting a path for itself as it made bits way through the school, both beautiful and frightening to see. I’ve included the amazing video footage that Narissa managed to capture while we were watching this.

Puffed up Puffer fish

Me and a giant school of fish

Another similar snorkel site was off the coast of Floreana island and is known as the Devil’s crown. It too had strong currents and choppy waves, but with the depth of the water and being fed directly by the Humboldt current, it was one of the most biologically diverse I’ve seen underwater. So many fish, rays, turtles and sharks, all congregating in one place at one time, the water a darker but clear blue.

Sea Lion underwater

Other high points included the chance to swim and interact with the very playful sealions who sometimes came a little too close for comfort. Narissa even had one of them bite her fin and then her leg underwater. That made several of us quite nervous but we swam with them nonetheless. I’ve included some videos here for you to see just how fearless these creatures were of us, and how they almost had puppy-like qualities, wanting to play fetch with a sea shell in the water.

Penguins are increasingly rare in the Galapagos and we managed to only spot around six during our entire week, but again, Narissa was lucky enough to capture a single shot of a penguin swimming underwater. I didn’t spot the penguin, but I did come face to face with a marine iguana while snorkeling off of Chinese hat, and that was something very unexpected and so had me catching my breath.

Penguin sighting!

On our very last morning, we left the boat at six am to have a short tour of the mangroves on Santa Cruz island. There we watched many many turtles swimming as they awoke after a night of sleeping underwater, not surfacing at all for air for almost 8 or 9 hours.

Turtle

The only famed Galapagos creature that I didn’t get to see underwater was the Hammerhead shark. I would really have liked to see one of them, but a dive is necessary as they typically stay at depths in excess of 50 feet.

Galapagos Part II – Highlights from the Land

21 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Anita in South America, The Galapagos

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Animals, Beaches, Sailing, Tours

Sea Lions frolicking on a beach

My favorite experience was watching the mating dance of the Albatrosses on Espanola island. It was hysterical watching their clumsy walk, lateral head bob following by the clacking of their beaks together – their version of French kissing. It felt somewhat awkward being present to witness the birds’ at their version of foreplay, but that was one of the wonderfully unique things about the islands. A lack of natural predators has resulted in the animals developing no sense of fear of humans – they made no effort to move away if we photographed them from just a few feet away.

On North Seymour island, we watched the courtship ritual of the Frigate bird, the male of the species’ neck inflates into a basketball sized red balloon to attract the females who then decide based upon the balloons size, color and shape, together with the potential nesting site chosen by the male, whether or not to mate with said male. If only courtship in humans was this simple.

Male Frigate bird trying to attract a mate

On the same island, we saw a few mother Frigate birds feeding their chicks. On one occasion, we watched as the mother regurgitated a whole sardine into it’s chick’s mouth, only to have the fish swiped by an audacious passing male! I’ve included the video footage of this for your viewing pleasure.

Watching Sea lion pups playing in large groups on the beaches. This didn’t ever get old. The sea lions are so cute and quite vocal, the younger ones reproduce what can only be described as the sound one makes when puking to cry out to their mother’s their need for breast milk. Not as entertaining, was watching the pups when the adult females “rejected” a pup because it wasn’t their own offspring. On South Plaza, which I nicknamed “Death Island” because we came across 8 dead bodies of various creatures, we watched a painfully thin and clearly starving pup get rejected by an adult female, who even bit the poor hungry screaming animal. It was very difficult to watch as you could see it being very weak. It appears with Sea Lions at least, that if something happens to the mother sea lion, the pup’s fate is grisly and sealed.

One could get very close to the Sea Lions

We got to observe giant tortoises in their natural “pen” as park officials struggle to help re-populate the islands with these creatures whose numbers have dwindled. Watching them move with quite unexpected speed was fascinating.

Giant Tortoise on Floreana Island

Hanging out on the beautiful white sandy beaches on Floreana island (though I often laid out and read instead of taking the walking tour)

Beautiful beaches

Climbing to the viewpoint on Bartholomew island (which I did twice because it was the first cardio I’d gotten in a week) and watching the sun setting on the surrounding islands.

Our group on Bartholomew island

Mating dance of the Blue Footed Boobies. The males show off their feet to the female and practice “skypointing” which involves them elongating their necks as they stretch upward to the sky, spreading their wings out fully to show themselves off.

The Galapagos Part I – A Shocking Confession

20 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by Anita in South America, The Galapagos

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Animals, Sailing, Snorkeling, Tours

Beach on Floreana Island

I just returned from a week long sailboat cruise around The Galapagos islands. I am going to start this post by stating something which will probably strike up some controversy. But I’ve never shied away from speaking the truth and I can’t write about my experience there without being supremely honest. Most people (as in 100% of all the people I’ve ever talked to who have been to the Galapagos, including everyone who was on my boat) wax superlatives upon their return from the islands; they found it to be incredible, the scenery was breathtaking, the beaches stunning, the wildlife unbelievable etc. etc. In all, it was a pretty difficult destination to not at least be intrigued by, given the statistical consensus in the affirmative of it’s merits. However, I hadn’t planned to go on this trip for several reasons, the main one being that it simply didn’t appeal to me that much in the first place. I am not that keen on birds, I’ve been so spoiled when it comes to beaches and I was heading to the Caribbean coast of Colombia anyways, I love sailing but I get very sea sick, and it was very expensive compared to the rest of my travel options in South America. Nevertheless, it was the consistency with which people expressed that I simply HAD TO GO combined with the doctor’s suggestion that I walk a very minimal amount while I heal my torn hip tendon that pushed me into making a decision that initially ran contrary to my gut. I assumed the islands would be themselves achieve the same status as Machu Picchu in my travels – a place that could simply not be over stated or over hyped because it always surpassed expectations.

My cabin

That was not the case for me. I, for one, was completely underwhelmed, and didn’t really enjoy my overall experience there.

Ok, I’ve said it. There you have it – just my opinion, and in no way an indication as to whether you, dear reader, would be likely or unlikely to feel the same way if you’ve been or are planning to go. We all need to judge a place for ourselves, however, in this case I feel burdened with the need to justify my opinion, so I will attempt to do so while at the same time, letting you in on what some of the highlights (which I did thoroughly enjoy) were as they appeared scattered in my days on the islands.

Our Sailboat, named like Darwin’s vessel – The Beagle

Let me paint a picture of what a typical day was like. I was traveling on a 100 ft. sailboat, aptly named The Beagle, with a total of 13 passengers, 5 crew, and one very awkward girlfriend of our naturalist/guide. Each day we would navigate to a new island or landing point. We’d typically have breakfast at 7am and leave the boat at 8am for a “walk” which I place in quotation marks as they could far more accurately be described as “ambles” or “meanders” with LOTS of waiting, standing, being castigated for moving ahead of the guide, listening to the guide while standing, and waiting for the group to finish taking photos, or cease their ooohhhing and ahhhing at the 10^th animal of the same species that we’d seen in the past hour and perhaps the 50^th that we’d seen so far on the islands. After a typical two hour walk where we would have covered a maximum distance of about a mile (yes, if we’d been walking any slower it would be backwards) we would come back to the boat for a snack and perhaps more navigation while we searched for a snorkel location. We’d then get back in the dinghy to a snorkel spot and be in the water anywhere from ½ hour to just over an hour. The water temperature varied from bearable to very cold (at least for me) and though I LOVE to snorkel, the boat did not, unfortunately, have a wetsuit that fit me. They only carried large wetsuits that basically allowed all the cold water in at the neck which continually circulated fresh cold water around my body so the wetsuit was rendered useless. This meant that I often just had to get out of the water even if I was really enjoying the snorkel.

Sunset

After our water time, it was lunch then usually a nap or, if it was sunny (which it wasn’t most days – lots of complete cloud cover and quite chilly temperature-wise,) a lie out on the top deck with a book. In the afternoon we would take another 2 hour “walk” after which it was time for a glass of wine and then dinner at 7. For me, the fact that it was difficult to sleep at night (often the boat would be rocking so hard you felt as if you were going to be launched from your bunk like an aquatic rocket) and the general lethargic pace all our activities took meant I was ready to fall fast asleep around 9 each night.

And so passed our six full days at sea.

I will grant one concession for the islands to my general malaise during the whole trip. My boyfriend ended our relationship a few weeks ago and I’ve been heartbroken ever since. If anything, I hadn’t been as eager to include The Galapagos on this particular South American itinerary as I thought it would be a great destination to share with him, especially since he is also a diver and I would have definitely added several days of diving at the end of the cruise if he’d been there. In general, I think that a boat-based tropical island paradise full of wildlife is best experienced when you can share it with a partner that you love. Every sunset, glass of wine on the deck, snorkeling crystal waters – all of these activities scream romance and I found myself literally and physically aching to share those moments with him. This, in turn, worsened the pain

On the boat

in my heart and left me crying into my pillow most nights as I returned alone to my single cabin – incidentally, I was the only person traveling solo on the ship, the rest either being on their honeymoon (difficult to be around when you’re fresh from a break up) or married since their early twenties. This, and our guide constantly waxing on about his “beautiful future wife” left me feeling very much the odd duck, and painfully lonely. There was little to distract me from my grief, and LOTS of quiet time to contemplate and obsess over it when I wanted anything but. Not having anyone to share these feelings with as I had them was also quite difficult, and combined with the fact that I was in a lot of pain recovering from my torn hip tendon, didn’t set the best tone for appreciating my surroundings.

Chinese Hat

Having said all that, this is my third day in Colombia, and my heartache hasn’t prevented me from absolutely loving the scenery and ambiance of the coffee region of this country.

I guess I just really didn’t like the Galapagos.

Cotopaxi and What’s Just Around the Riverbend

07 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Anita in Ecuador, South America

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Climbing, Hikes, Mountains

Beautiful Cotopaxi

While in Banos, I met a traveler who raved about a hostel that was situated within the Cotopaxi National Park. He said that it was in such a stunning setting, all meals included, and that I would be able to arrange my climb of the volcano from there. It sounded like a great recommendation, so after Saquisili, Lilian and I headed back to Latacunga to pick up our luggage and then immediately turned around and got the bus headed north to Machachi where I had arranged for a truck from the hostel to pick us up.

The hostel itself has a pretty magical setting and we were lucky enough to arrive just as Cotopaxi herself emerged from nearly permanent cloud cover to show us her staggering beauty. There is an organic farm, guinea pigs on site, a hot tub, super comfortable main house with inviting fireplace and coffee and cake available anytime you want it (dangerous for me!)

The view from the hostel

Lilian and I were pretty content to be here and immediately jumped into the hot tub for some hearty singing before dinner which is served at the giant communal table. Sitting around the fire and talking with other travelers, playing cards, and writing my blog was how we relaxed away our evenings, together with a good glass of red wine.

The next day I was eager to see if I still had enough red blood cells from my Peruvian acclimatization to attempt Cotopaxi the following day. A Finnish traveler, by the name of Oto, was eager to join me on a summit attempt on the 5th. So we awoke on the 4th of July (a little sad being away from home and friends on this holiday after having hosted a party at my place for the last four years) and headed out to climb Volcan Ruminahui, which at 4722m would be a perfect re-acclimitization hike for me.

Volcan Ruminahui

It was a blustery, colder day, and we all climbed wearing our hats, gloves and fleeces. This land surrounding the volcano is pretty stark and bare of trees, and it reminded me a little bit of the English moors. The ground was covered in wildflowers and the hillsides dotted with wild horses.

Lilian and I climbing

I was super pleased with how I felt during the 3 hour ascent. My legs were in great shape, and I didn’t really feel the altitude much at all. I was about as prepared for the climb as I could possibly have been on this trip thus far. Feeling great and egged on by my female co-hikers, we all stripped to the waist for a celebratory semi-naked summit shot. I’m super pleased with how the photos turned out – hope you agree.

Heading down, the weather turned and it snowed and sleeted on us as we descended a super tight, steep and muddy canyon. Having lost so much weight, my pants kept falling down and were developing a true ring of mud and sogginess at the bottom. But it was a great climb and I was ready for my next challenge.

Steep Section, but feeling good

Unfortunately, the universe had other plans. My first hurdle was that Oto changed his mind about climbing. So I was left with the option of climbing alone, for another $110, or delaying my climb till Sunday when a group of four from the hostel were planning on climbing. I really didn’t wish to delay because my cycle had decided to time itself ever so inopportunely for me once again, and dealing with feminine issues in a harness, on a rope team in the middle of the night at 5500m is not an ideal experience for anyone. Then, to add additional complication, I got an email that night from one of the agencies in Riobamba saying that a place had opened up in a group climbing Chimborazu the very next day – which had been my initial goal since it was the highest volcano in Ecuador, and it would have allowed me to beat my own personal record of climbing to 6022m (which you can read about here) It would have involved a 4 hour bus ride though to get to the starting point.

Heading down in the snow

I had a pretty sleep-less night. The stress and emotional pain of events from the week before with regards to my life back in the States were really beginning to hit me and take a toll. I cried for several hours.

In the morning, Lilian was planning to leave by 11am so she could be in Quito in time to watch The Netherlands play Costa Rica in the World Cup. She wanted to go on a quick walk to the waterfall together so I agreed to join her – and hopefully make my final decision with her help. The walk was beautiful and much of it involved wading in rubber boots through a river. We giggled as we sang our favorite song again “Just around the Riverbend” because it seemed so appropriate to our location at that moment.

And then it happened.

“Just around the riverbend” can also refer to fate, or having your circumstances change and shift when you least expect them to. I think given my father and brother’s death last year, losing my job this Spring, and so recently having my heart broken again has re-slapped this truth in my face. It is all too much to bear. Just being in South America is proving to be very difficult for me emotionally as I am in the middle of a very profound cycle of grief. Somehow, shifting my pain from the emotional kind to the physical, by climbing a high altitude volcano, was what I’d convinced myself would help me cope with my grief.

Wildflowers

Coming back down from the waterfall, Lilian and I somehow lost the trail. Lilian was becoming stressed out as she had a taxi leaving the hostel in 20 minutes. I saw what I thought was a trail heading up and to the left from the river. I walked over to it and saw that it involved quite a large and steep step up to join it. Cranking my left foot into a foot hold half way up, I grabbed at a branch with my right arm and began to pull myself up and onto the trail. What happened in the next two seconds felt like an eternity and it was as if I was observing myself from outside my own body.

At the top of Ruminahui – feeling my physical best…until the next morning

The branch gave way and I found myself slipping backwards, my whole body ground up against the side of the hill, dirt and rocks scraping against my front. I was falling and there was nothing I could do about it. I landed in the river, and fell at an awkward angle feeling a seering pain through my right leg. Lilian looked horrified and I assured her that I didn’t think anything was broken. She came over and helped me out of the water and I sat on a rock, assessing. My hip and thigh were throbbing and just moving the leg sent shockwaves of pain through to my brain. I’d somehow hyper extended my hip flexor. Badly.

Celebration

And so ended my quest to climb any of the volcanoes in Ecuador.

I spent the rest of the day icing my hip and hobbling around the hostel trying to rest. I napped, read my book, blogged, cried, and chatted to some really nice and sympathetic travelers.

I leave for Quito in an hour, my grief now spread between my hip and my heart.

Saquisili Market – Screwing Llamas for sale

06 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by Anita in Ecuador, Opinion Articles, South America

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Culture, Food, Opinion Pieces

Saquisili main square

In Ecuador, markets are an extremely important part of the culture. We had been told that the market in Saquisili was the most authentic indigenous market in the country and it was held every Thursday. Upon arriving in the city, we were informed there were actually four markets in one- a textile market, a food market, and the large and small animals market. Finding the one hotel in town was easy enough and though a little shabby, at $15 for a comfy bed for the two of us, I was pretty happy.

The difficulty came in finding somewhere to eat. Just like Latacunga, there didn’t appear to be any restaurants in town. We asked lots of individuals where we might be able to eat dinner and we were repeatedly met with blank stares. Since the majority of the townspeople were poor, it appeared that eating outside of the home was a luxury that the vast majority could simply not afford.

Breakfast at Saquisili Market

Eventually, we did find a little converted garage on a side street where an old lady stood over 4 steaming pots of food and offered us potatoes, meat and a fried egg for $2.50. The meat was extremely tough and what made it even tougher was that we were only given a spoon to eat our food with. At least the beer was relatively cold.

Main Food Market

In the morning, I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to get my caffeine fix. I can almost imagine living in a town that didn’t have a selection of restaurants, but I cannot imagine living in a town where you can’t purchase a cup of coffee in the morning. Luckily, at the food market, there were several stalls offering up a traditional Ecuadorian breakfast of a boiled egg with cornmeal served in a husk and black coffee. I managed to buy a cup of hot milk from another stall for 20 cents and Voila! – Café Au Lait.

Baby pig for sale

There were some shocking sights awaiting us at the animal market. Some more surprising than others. For instance, I was mentally prepared for seeing pigs squealing and being dragged by their legs and thrown into trucks, I was prepared for the cows and sheep all tied up and bleating in unison. I wasn’t, however, prepared for the sight of two Llamas having sex, while also tied up and awaiting purchase. I got some interesting photos to be sure.

Llamas…doing what Llamas do

The small animal market was a little more distressing for me. There were hundreds of plastic and fabric bags on the ground by people’s feet and I didn’t think much of it until I noticed that there was squealing and meowing and barking coming from the bags. The bags were full of guinea pigs, rabbits, puppies, chickens, goslings, and kittens. As people walked by, the owner would grab an animal, often by the neck to show the prospective buyer and then mercilessly drop the tormented creature back on to his buddies.

Guinea Pigs – yummy?

Guinea Pigs and a basket of fowl for sale

In addition, there were hundreds of cages just filled to the brim with little sad creatures. Some showed significant signs of fighting with open wounds on their backs and legs.

Puppy anyone?

It was all in all, quite upsetting, but an eye-opening cultural experience that had to be had at the same time.

Hiking The Quilotoa Loop

05 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by Anita in Ecuador, South America

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Hikes, Trekking, Villages

Lago Quilotoa – An extinct Volcano

Lilian and I grabbed a bus heading to Quilotoa because we’d decided after much consideration to do the Quilotoa loop in the regular direction. A number of people in our hostel had elected to do the loop in reverse, arguing that the additional altitude would help them train for Cotopaxi. I personally didn’t think that an extra 600m of ascent would really make that big of a difference in my physical conditioning, and Lilian was quite happy to do the loop descending more than ascending.

Quilotoa lake itself is said to be one of the most beautiful locations in Ecuador. It is actually an extinct volcanic crater that’s filled with water, like Crater lake in Oregon. The loop itself is a rural hike through hillsides dotted with lots of Kichwa indigenous villages and farms.

Lilian at the main viewpoint area

By the time Lilian and I left the viewpoint area that was packed with day trippers, and headed west along the crater rim towards the village of Chugchilan, our destination for the first night, we had the trail to ourselves. We had rudimentary maps and a detailed description of the route and with a little luck, we intended to guide ourselves through the hike, despite having a number of “guides” try to convince us that we’d get lost and that it wasn’t safe for us to walk without them.

The views across the lake itself were beautiful, green hills set against the turquoise of the water. The ground was also covered with a variety of beautiful wildflowers. At 3800m, there was all-too-familiar thin air to breathe, but we were lucky with only a few clouds in the sky and some sunshine warming our skin.

Love this shot

The hike was relatively easy and passed through a few villages where we had some interactions with local children who squealed when we showed them photos we’d taken of them.

Suspension bridge on the way to Sigchos

Arriving in Chugchilan, we walked into The Cloud Forest Hostel and were immediately greeted by the manager, who turned out to be the single most hospitable Ecuadorian I’d met to date. He told us that everyone was in the TV room watching the US play Belgium, so, despite my reluctance up to this point to watch the World Cup, I was more than happy to settle down on a couch with a beer and some chips after our long hike.

Cloud Forest Hostel

The hostel itself was absolutely lovely and was an incredible deal at $15 each for a private room, VERY hot shower, dinner, and breakfast. Our room had five beds, including a double up in a loft that you could reach via a step ladder. It had a sloping roof and a lovely triangle window and Lilian and I immediately loved it and decided to sleep here together because we had a higher likelihood of staying warm.

We killed a few hours singing songs together from our respective iPods. I couldn’t believe I’d met someone who enjoyed singing as much as I did, and that she loved the same music I did. She squealed with joy when she saw that I owned “Just Around the Riverbend” from Pocahontas because it was one of her favorite songs…and it became the anthem of our five days’ traveling together.

Our cozy loft room

I’m sure the people in the room next door just loved us.

Our meal was delicious and I was excited to meet a couple from Colorado who had just climbed and summited Cotopaxi. They described their experience and it got me very excited, in a nervous way of course, to get there as soon as possible.

Since Lilian’s ankle was bothering her greatly, and our host pointed out that Ecuador’s most authentic indigenous market was taking place the day after next in Saquisili, we decided to follow his suggestion and hike out to Sigchos the next day instead of spending another night in Isinlivi. Our host assured us that it was an easy walk and only 11kms, the same as the walk to Isinlivi.

Looking down over the canyon before Chugchilan

Which turned out to be untrue (shocking, I know.) In fact, looking at the map the following day, I wondered how I never questioned how Chugchilan-Sigchos could possibly be the same distance as Chugchilan-Isinlivi, when the latter is clearly about half the distance. In the end, the hike took over six hours, and we got lost repeatedly.

We also got the fright of our lives by twice being chased by teeth baring nasty dogs trying to protect their territory. We approached a farm and from a distance I spotted a large angry dog running full speed towards us barking his head off. Lilian stayed calm and calmly instructed me to pick up a rock, not make eye contact, and back up slowly up the trail. I was having a strong fight or flight response and the adrenaline was pumping through my body – not helped by the shrieks of the dog’s owner who kept trying to call her pup back home.

Descending one of the many canyons

Thank God we didn’t get bit.

The last part of the hike was a super steep slog up a road. The directions clearly stated that we had to be on the lookout for switchbacks heading up the mountain to the left to get to Sigchos. We found a trail, and I must have climbed over 1500 vertical feet only to find the trail led to a farm and a bunch of pigs on the top of a hillside. So, with lots of backtracking, we eventually gave up on the trail directions and decided to just walk up the same road that vehicles were driving on.

It became obvious that we were going to miss the 2:30pm bus, but when we actually saw the bus heading down the mountain towards us, I was super impressed when Lilian staunchly stated that I was welcome to take it, but that she wanted to officially “finish” out hike by walking back to Sigchos. I agreed to join her in the last hour of climbing to the town, and then another half hour to the bus since, of course, the town’s bus terminal was “mas arriba”.

CHIPS!!!

Getting on the bus, we could barely contain our joy as we sat and stuffed our faces with our last bag of potato chips. Those were some incredibly tasting potato chips.

Lata…what? Traveling to Latacunga and Food Service in Ecuador

04 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by Anita in Ecuador, South America

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Food, Travel Days

Me and the stunning Lilian

I was ready to leave Baños and take on my next adventure. Luckily for me, I ran into a lovely young Dutch woman called Lilian the night before I left, at her hostel. I’d gone there to meet up with four other travelers who’d agreed to go to eat together. None of them showed up, so Lilian and I chatted. She had had a rather rough day because her ATM card had been skimmed. I told her about my scary waterfall experience and a little bit about how tough things had been for me emotionally of late, and we sort of bonded over that. Turned out she was planning on leaving Baños to go hike the Quilotoa loop the following day as well, but was feeling a little wary of taking the bus alone as she’d also recently been robbed on a bus. So we made a plan to head out the next day together.

Within an hour of our bus ride together, I knew Lilian was going to rate as one of the best traveling companions I’ve ever had. Which is impressive given our significant 17 year age gap. She has the fortitude of someone ten years’ her senior and always does what she sets her mind to. She is a Speech Therapist and is five months’ in to her six month journey around South America. I am constantly impressed by her opinions, thoughts and maturity at how she handles herself. And she’s stunningly beautiful to boot. I am so grateful to have met her.

On the Quilotoa Loop

In addition to that, we have so much in common! She is also a rock climber/hiker who loves the mountains, and a singer who loves musical theatre. Incredibly, we discovered pretty early on that our iPod libraries were shockingly similar and we spent hours the first day of travel together singing songs that would make most people cringe.

It is fantastic.

Arriving in Latacunga, we quickly discovered that this was a very bizarre city indeed. First of all, the lady at reception of the Hostal Tiana (whom I referred to as lady with the scary eye-make up because she had two solid luminous pink thick lines of eye shadow defined across each eyelid) gave us a couple of recommendations for restaurants for dinner by drawing them on a photocopied map of the city and highlighted the street and corner where they were located. She also assured us that if we didn’t like those restaurants, that this was the street to find lots of other options.

After walking up and down this street several times and visiting the exact locations she had highlighted, we had not found a single restaurant and our bellies were starting to really growl. Why had she told us to come to this street? Was she just having fun with us? Or was she crazy? I’m guessing we will never find out.

We asked lots of locals where there might be somewhere to eat. They seemed shocked that we were asking for a place to sit down and pay for a meal like it were a request for a place that offered a full Brazilian wax and butt bleach. Some simply said “No hay restaurantes” and others each suggested the same Pizza joint that we’d already passed several times and given the thumbs down because it was completely empty.
Eventually we stumbled across another pizza place that also offered savory crepes and we devoured one with chicken, cheese and mushrooms together with a salad. This was wonderful in spite of the fact that we had to experience the typical Ecuadorian service drama that ensues after every meal order regardless of venue.

The day before in Banos, I really wanted a burger after my morning in the waterfalls. I went to where I’d been told had the best burgers only to discover it was shut. A kid there told me it would open at 3pm, so I decided my belly could wait a couple of hours.

Baby chicks for sale. Waiting for these to grow up, get plucked and served as food would be quicker than most food service in Ecuador

Returning at 3pm, the doors were all still shut. At 3:15pm there was movement…but I was told to come back in a few minutes. At 3:25pm I gave them my burger and fries order and went in search of diet coke as they didn’t sell it. I eventually bought the diet coke at restaurant up the hill because none of the stores in the immediate vicinity sold it. Going back for my burger at 3:35 I was met with blank stares and zero responses to my questions about when my meal might be ready. Eventually when I got my burger around 3:45 – I asked where my fries were? The guy said nothing, but just ignored me, turned around and went into the back of the restaurant. Where had he gone? Where were my fries? My burger was getting cold in the meantime…

Eventually, the other worker responded to my pleas for information by mumbling something about needing to turn on the fryer to make the fries. Turn it ON?! Why the F*&% hadn’t they turned it ON an hour ago? How long would fries take? “Tres minutos” I was assured. Ok. I could wait 3 minutes.

My fries arrived 20 minutes later at 4:05pm. I was not happy. These were handed to me without apology, smile or acknowledgement.

Its moments like that that I miss the United States. There, I would have gotten 1 – a fresh burger because of having had to wait so long for my fries 2 – a refund for being forced to wait so long and 3 – an apology.

Welcome to Ecuador. Especially a touristy town in Ecuador.

So, similar blank stares, a long wait for food, and drinks arriving way after the food was our experience in Latacunga as well, but at least the crepe itself was delicious.

Finding super poor internet back at the hostel I ended my evening with a lovely glass of wine and some writing at a bar across the street. By the way, the wine was white. Because the bar didn’t have any red.

Didn’t have. Any. Red. Wine.

Welcome to Latacunga.

Super tired after almost 5 days of very troubled sleep, I was so grateful for the wonderfully comfortable beds at the Hostal Tiana. I needed rest for we were starting our 2 night/3 day hike of the Quilotoa loop the following morning.

Time for Adventure – Baños Part II

03 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by Anita in Ecuador, South America

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Adventure Sports, Climbing, Tours

With Nick and Florian

With one more day to spend in Baños before heading out to Lago Quilotoa, I decided to join Nick on a Canyoning tour of a local river. I’d rapelled lots of times recently in my climbing course, so I figured that it would be within my capabilities to do the same thing in the middle of a waterfall…?!

As it turned out, it was a little bit more tricky than I had counted on. The first couple of waterfalls were easy, you could maintain your footing and just get distracted a little bit by the heavy spray of water over your face and body.

Canyoning with attitude

This, however, was not the case on the following waterfall. My guide gave me the usual advice: keep my feet really high, lean far back into my harness, and keep my stance nice and wide over the falls. The first two were easy enough to follow, but this waterfall was so big and powerful that I was really struggling to maintain a stance that had my feet clear of the heavy pounding water. Compounding the issue was the lack of grip in the super cheap (and in my case, too large) shoes, that just kept slipping. And before I knew it, I lost my footing, fell against the brute force of the waterfall and found myself being pounded against the rock, with water falling on my head with such force I couldn’t gasp for air.

I kept telling myself to stay calm and think of a solution. I could hear the guide yelling something at me from above, but I had no idea what he was saying. I kept trying to get a foot hold while holding my breath, and eventually just let out some more rope in the hope that the flow of water might change and I’d be able to get a grip on the side of the falls.

2nd waterfall

After what seemed like forever, I was able to do so, and quickly lowered myself to the pool below and one of the group members, Florian, grabbed me and helped me away from the water to a rock to sit. I was gasping for air and only now realized how fast my heart was beating, pushing the adrenaline around my body. Florian was also pretty shook up because he’d witnessed the whole event from below. He said he’d been terrified that I might drown and didn’t know what to do to help me. Poor guy, he was super sweet to be so concerned.

To add insult to injury, our guide was wearing a Go Pro and captured the whole embarrassing episode on video which I’ve added here for your viewing pleasure.

Feeling quite shaken, I was very scared to complete the next and final waterfall descent. However, I didn’t really have a choice because there wasn’t a way to hike out of this location. Luckily, there was an option to descend on the drier side of the waterfall which I did, very thankful and proud of myself once my feet touched solid ground.

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Anita Go Travel

~ Life as a passport, one stamp at a time.

Monthly Archives: July 2014

Medellin – Drugs, Modern Life and…Hippos?

Welcome to Colombia – Getting Caffeinated in Coffee Country

The Galapagos Part III – Highlights from Under the Water

Galapagos Part II – Highlights from the Land

The Galapagos Part I – A Shocking Confession

Cotopaxi and What’s Just Around the Riverbend

Saquisili Market – Screwing Llamas for sale

Hiking The Quilotoa Loop

Lata…what? Traveling to Latacunga and Food Service in Ecuador

Time for Adventure – Baños Part II