Galapagos Islands

I returned this afternoon from my eight day cruise in the Galapagos islands. It was amazing, one of the most special and magical places I have ever been. The animals were fascinating, the landscape interesting, and the people in my group were a lot of fun and a good mixture of nationalities. Our ship was very comfortable as well, we even had hot showers! I had the opportunity to snorkel with sea turtles, penguins, sting rays, sharks, all sorts of fish, and of course the sea lions, who incidentally like to play in the water by swimming all around you. And on dry land we saw just about every animal you can see in the Galapagos...boobie birds of all sorts, finches, iguanas (marine and land), waved albatross, frigates, pelicans, and giant land tortoises. It was really an unforgettable experience. I will write more in my blog upon my return to Atlanta in a few days. For now, here are a couple of pictures...

Ok, this machine is taking entirely too long to load the pictures, so I will have to put more on when I return to Atlanta. Incidentally, I did run into two minor issues in the Galapagos, 1. my Texas Longhorn hat was stolen at the airport in Baltra and 2. A black spot appeared at the upper left of my pictures, so I adjusted as best I could. I did not want to mess with the lens too much (as it is a loaner camera). So I would like to thank Todd in advance for his assisting me in the coming weeks at editing my pictures.

To all those who emailed me the past week...I expect to return emails tomorrow, right now I am going for some dinner.

Banos

I arrived to Quito from Banos this afternoon. The bus ride back was less eventful and much faster than the bus ride there, which was nice.

Banos was incredible, I had one of the best days of the trip so far yesterday. For the first time I actually fit in a bed, a Queen size! I slept great and woke up to the sound of the waterfall outside my window. Then went for my complimentary breakfast, which was the best of the trip. It consisted of cheese, fruit salad, yogurt, granola, three different kinds of bread, papaya honey, delicious coffee, and fresh blackberry juice. I actually did not eat again until dinnertime (except for the necessary midday ice cream). In deciding what to do with my one full day in Banos I had many options, there is canyoning, white water rafting, horseback riding, etc. The option I went with though was mountain biking, yet again. I could not pass up the Rutas de Cascadas, Route of the Waterfalls. It is a 22 km ride which takes you through the valley past spectacular waterfalls.

I went alone, which ended up being fantastic. It is supposedly a popular activity, but there were very few gringos in town due to the threat of the volcano. It seems as though the Ecuadorian visitors like to chill out in town more than explore. So, that being said, until I reached Rio Verde, the last waterfall of the day, I was the only biker on the route. To view many of the waterfalls you have to lock your bike up and hike down trails. The trails were spectacular with all sorts of flowers blooming around them. It was a near spiritual experience being on these trails all alone with spectacular scenery and the thundering of magnificent waterfalls. At one point you can take, which I did, a long cable car ride from one end of the gorge to the other. At the opposite end is a huge waterfall, one of my favorites. You see waterfalls all around, and even bike through a couple. Also, along the way you pass through some small villages. The children always seemed to get excited to see me coming through.

Once I reached Rio Verde it was necessary for yet another hike to get to El Diablo waterfall. This is a monstrous, fast, loud waterfall. On the hike I ran into a large family. I stopped as one of the guys was taking a video, and then he turned it on me! I said a few words in Spanish, then he began talking to me. I was doing alright, but I still get tripped up a little. A 10 year old kid on the trip, seeing me struggle, all of sudden says, Where are you from? I was shocked to hear this because I thought the family was Ecuadorian. It actually was an Ecuadorian family and their cousins from New Jersey. This reminded me a lot of my family getting together on trips with Meltzers. They were a lot of fun and we continued the hike together. The guy kept wanting me to get in pictures with the family, which I thought was funny. I think he liked me because when he asked why I came to Ecuador I responded because of the beautiful scenery and friendly people.

After a long bike ride and a lot of hiking during the day, there really is no better way to wind down at dusk than to relax in a hot spring under a waterfall. And again, for the second night in a row, I was the only gringo in the springs. That night I went to try and view the volcano, which I knew was hopeless due to the clouds (but it had to be attempted). As I suspected, nothing. It would have been a great end to a great day to see something, but it did not dampen my spirits as I knew I had a big comfortable bed and a delicious breakfast to look forward to!

I was a little sad to leave Banos so soon, I definitely could spend much more time there. But of course, the Galapagos beckons! Tomorrow morning I am off for 8 days in the Galapagos. That means, unless you want to keep reading the same post, do not worry about checking the blog for the next week.

Cotopaxi, outside of Quito

Monkey on one of the trails on the Ruta Cascadas

Waterfall

Me and the family I met

I don´t know where I´m a gonna go when the volcano blows

I have arrived in Banos today after spending yesterday in Quito. My original plan was to go yesterday, but my body told me otherwise. I think after 4.5 weeks of going non-stop my body finally just crashed.

My first day in Quito I walked around and became acclimated to the city and somehow ended up going out with a bunch of kids on a Canadian abroad volunteer program. It was fun, but I had to wake up early the next morning for a tour to Cotopaxi, which included biking down the volcano. My ass already being sore from the ¨Death Ride¨in Bolivia I was a little worried about the bike ride. It ended up being great. We had a perfect view of Cotopaxi the whole day and the biking was fun. Cotopaxi is a massive snow capped volcano and views all around were excellent. I also met a couple of Israeli girls from Haifa who had just arrived in South America. It was interesting talking with them about the recent conflict. Of course they are concerned, and one of their friends was injured in the attacks on Haifa, although only minor injuries. It was interesting because one girl was so impressed I was travelling on my own, yet she had served in the army in the Gaza Strip, which seems much more scary and impressive to me. Cotopaxi was a fun time.

Yesterday I took it easy and did some walking around the old town in Quito. I like Quito; it is picturesque and colorful.

Today I took the bus ride from Quito to Banos. Public buses are always interesting in South America. When the bus started some drunk guy began talking to me (9 AM). I was thinking ¨Shit, this guy isn´t going to leave me alone the whole ride¨. I couldn´t understand most of what he was saying, but I think it was more because he wasn´t making any sense than my lack of Spanish. He did tell me he loved me, which was odd. Luckily he got off about 30 minutes later on the outskirts of Quito, and when he got off he patted my head and said ¨Gringo¨. We kept stopping to pick up passengers along the way and at every stop people jump on trying to sell you a range of items, from cds, to empanadas, to ice cream. The guy I sat next to for most of the way was Ecuadorian and we spoke some. He said I would find many ¨Gringos¨in Banos. With all the people going on and off the bus, I was the only ¨Gringo¨the entire time, which I quite liked. My bus to Banos stopped in Ambato, which meant me and the other person going to Banos had to rush to pick up another bus. I actually really enjoyed the journey, just people watching the entire time.

So far in Banos I have not seen the volcano, it is covered in clouds, though I have seen an army truck unloading supplies for refugees from other towns. Banos is tucked in the mountains and I am staying in a great place with a view of a waterfall from my window and hot springs not too far by. Hopefully tomorrow I will get to see some explosions!

Tarantino time...

I am going to Tarantino this and start from now and go backwards.

Today:

Currently I am in an internet cafe in Quito, Ecuador. I arrived this morning to headlines of a big explosion and evacuations of a volcano. Once I dug deeper I found out it is the volcano which sits right outside of Banos. Now, who can guess where I was planning on going Wednesday? If you guessed Banos you would be right! I have been getting many conflicting reports... the roads are closed, people are going there in mass to get a look at the volcano, no problem getting there, do not go, etc. Honestly no one really knows what is going on. Right now I am just thinking of going to the bus station on Wednesday and if buses are going to Banos, I will go to Banos, and if not, I will go somewhere else. Tomorrow I am going to Cotopaxi, which is not having any massive eruptions.

Interesting single serving friends on the airplane from La Paz to Lima this morning-- a Japanese woman and Italian man couple who are moving from La Paz to Lima. Now there is a combination you do not see everyday!

Yesterday:

The road leading through the mountains to the jungle town of Coroico in Bolivia is known as the "World's Most Dangerous Road" due to the amount of deaths that occur, an average of one per day. It is a gravel/stone one lane road which on one side has cliffs with sheer drops and the other side a wall of stone. Down the entire road there are many blind turns where a driver cannot see if another vehicle is coming in the other direction. Someone along the way got the bright idea to add mountain bikers to this malay, and I figured I would give it a go. It was a ride of incredible scenary and a spectacular descent of more than 11,800 feet, from mountain ranges down to the steaming Amazonian Jungle. Then we got to ride back up in a bus, which was an experience all on its own! It was fantastic. Alana, who came back to La Paz from Sucre with me as well, went with me. She was admittedly the speed demon of the two of us, as I stayed more towards the middle of the pack and her towards the front. Oh, and since we were going downhill we had to stay as close to the cliffside as possible.

Saturday:

After leaving our group in Sucre early in the morning it was on to La Paz for Alana, Mike, and myself. As luck would have it, this past weekend was La Paz day, a celebration and huge festival. We just keep happening upon these festivals which is really fun. This one consisted of the whole area around Plaza San Fransisco being surrounded in maroon, green, and yellow. At the plaza was a free concert with dancing, and the main street was closed off for revelers and vendors, as well as the parade. The parade was bizarre, mainly consisting of what seemingly was a military marching band. Alana and I walked around the parade loop and at one point the parade collided with traffic. When this happened we decided to jump in! So we were actually walking along with the band down the parade route. Imagine a couple of gringos in the middle of a Bolivian parade! Apparently the fireworks went on until 3 AM, but I was so tired I slept right through them. Oh, and for those who are wondering (i.e. Jade) we did have Dumbos ice cream at approximately 4 PM local La Paz time. I went just for the double this time.

Mas Fotos

Pink Flamingos at the Salar
Laguna Colorada

El Tio (The Devil) at the entrance of the mines at Cerro Rico

Miner and his 12 year old son working the mines

Bolivia

Over the past week or so we´ve been traveling throughout Bolivia, which has been spectacular. The last entry I had was from La Paz, so I will begin from there...

From La Paz we had to get to the town of Uyuni, a small town on the right outside the Salar de Uyuni, a salt lake/sea that dried up and now has crazy landscapes and thermal activity. But first the adventure getting to Uyuni. We were supposed to take a bus to Ororro and then a 7 hour train ride to Uyuni, but we learned that the train workers were striking, so it appeared we´d have to take a bus all the way. This is quite a usual occurence here, our guide, Melanee said out of 8 trips from La Paz to Uyuni only one has gone smoothly. By some stroke of luck, the train workers stopped striking the day of our journey, so we were back to the bus-train ride. On our way to Ororro there were students protesting on the road, blocking the road with fires and rocks. The bus had to go off road in a field for a couple of miles to get around the protest. This worried us, because now there was a great possibility the train workers would be striking again once we got to Ororro. Welcome to the craziness that is Bolivia! Fortunately, the train workers decided not to strike and we were able to get on the train.

The train, a private company, was actually really nice. I enjoyed the train ride very much. It was nice scenary (including pink flamingos) and good conversation with my travel mates. The dining car was nice as well. The only problem was the carriages got real dusty as the ride went on. People began putting their shirts over their mouths. This was quite funny as I was on the train at one point reading a book Todd loaned me about a guy taking trains from Boston to Patagonia and while in this dusty carriage I read a page where he was describing a train trip where the dust was so bad people were putting their shirts over their mouths. Ironic!

We got to Uyuni around 10 PM and it was freezing! The Salar over the next 4 days would bring me some of my coldest nights of my life. The next day we set out on the Salar in 4 wheel drive vehicles. The first part of this was amazing, nothing but salt for miles. It kind of looked like ice, but it was solid salt! We drove for a little while on the salt flat and reached the salt hotel, a hotel which is now not in use, made completely out of salt, from the building down to the table and chairs. Then we drove for a few hours until we reached what I describe as ¨cactus island, an island in the middle of the salt falt full of cacti. This to date has to be the most bizzarre landscape I´ve ever witnessed. Cactus island, then salt flat, then in the distance snow capped mountains. Afterwards we drove for an hour or so and then took pictures out in the middle of the flat. It is traditional to do weird things with these pictures since it is nothing but white landscape. Then we headed for some caves, which were nice, but after the salt flats kind of anticlimatic.

The next morning we woke up early and headed out to see some multi-colored lakes and the famous rock tree, a windblown rock in the shape of a tree. The lakes were spectacular, one black and one red. All had pink flamingos feeding and flying around. We also got to see an andean fox around the lakes. All these were surrounded by volcanos and volcanic rocks. There was one volcano that was still spewing some ash into the air.

The following morning was the earliest, a 5 AM wake up call. We drove for a few minutes and reached an area with multiple geysers and boiling mud pools. They were nice, but not as spectacular as Yellowstone. It was also might have been the coldest I´ve ever been. I had to stop taking pictures because my hands were frozen in a fistlike postion. At about 8 AM we arrived at some natural hot springs, where the brave ones changed into swimsuits and hopped in. It was subfreezing outside, but very warm in the pools, a nice reprive. While driving in the desert we stopped for a brief bit at ¨Dali´s Rocks¨ the inspiration for Salvador Dali´s Melting Clocks picture. It was cool because you could really see where he got the landscape from. I had no idea he had ever even been to Bolivia. We traveled to another lake, this one green! It was like we were seeing a rainbow of lakes! I really liked the next stop a lot. It was called ¨Valley of the Rocks¨. Basically they reminded me of Arches national park in Utah. A valley full of huge rocks windswept into crazy formations. The Salar was awesome in that each stop was a whole new landscape, thermal activities, etc. all in a relatively condensed area. We climbed around for a while then headed to our next sleeping spot. The sleeping conditions were interesting in the Salar, freezing cold and dorm style. One night the beds were literally a concrete slab. I slept in layers and layers of clothing, including my hat and gloves. It was definitely worth it though because of uniqueness of the area.

The last day of the Salar was mainly a travel day, although we did stop in at the train cementary, a spot where they moved abandoned trains of 50-100 years old. From there we headed to Potosi.

I was really looking forward to Potosi more than most because I saw an intriguing program about the famous Cerro Rico silver mines. Potosi was once the richest towns in all of the Americas as in the Cerro Rico mountain huge amounts of silver and other metals were found. It is still mined today, though not for silver, in horrendous and dangerous conditions. Approximately 8 million people have been killed working in the mines since the 1500s. There are interesting customs and superstitions regarding the mines, one being that the devil lives in them and miners must make sacrifices of cocoa leaves, alcohol, etc. each Friday. Every one of the approximately 5000 entrances has a statue of the El Tio, the devil, as you get into the mine. A group of us went into the mine, it was quite an experience. Inside the mountain are many shafts going in every which way. There is no machinery except in the far bottom of the mountain, so everything is done by hand. This includes a miner spending three hours chiseling a hole for dynamite, something that probably could be done in a minute using a drill. It is obviously horrific conditions inside, dark, dusty, gaseous. We observed many miners doing different jobs, and helped them out some too. It was extremely hard labor. Most of the miners work 12 hours a day and earn the equivalent of $5 per day. They don´t eat or drink during the entire time because there is nowhere to go to the bathroom. To keep sustenance they only chew on cocoa leaves. As gifts we brought the miners cocoa leaves and dynamite. We saw all ages of miners ranging from 12 to 45. One interesting thing we did was get lowered down a shaft on a rope. Also, we heard 16 explosions of dynamite. You could feel the vibrations of the rocks. It is scary because there really are no safety precautions throughout the mine (thus the number of causalties). The miners really appreciated the gifts we brought them because for a lot of them it was equivalent to a day´s pay. They are also very proud of the work they do. No conveyor belts either, all extracted materials is removed in wheelbarrows. It was really quite an experience to see.

Now we are in Sucre, a picturesque town. Most buildings are white. Yesterday we saw some dinosaur tracks. It is strange because they are so unprotected right now (although supposedly they are going to try and preserve them in the next year). They are in the middle of a quarry where workers still dynamite. It was a fun tour (many laughs) and interesting to see. I have now have today in Sucre and then fly to La Paz. This is the last day with the group, who I will really miss a lot. Then it is on to Ecuador.

(Sorry if this post sucks, I am struggling a bit today after a night of drinking last nice. The British are kicking my ass)

Cactus island

Lake Tittikaka

After Cusco and the jungle we moved on to Puno. Puno is located on the shores of Lake Titikaka. Puno isn´t the nicest of town, very small, but it had a huge market which we wandered around for a while trying to decide what to buy the people we were going to stay with during our one island homestay of the trip. We finally decided on some rice, quina (which is like a cereal), and sweets, however we found out that they grow quina and you aren´t allowed to take the kids sweets because they have no dental care at all so we had to change our minds and get some candles and some markers for the kids. For some strange reason they don´t allow you to tip the family which would have been much easier.

The boat trip out to the first island took three hours which probably could have been halved if the boat actually went over 2 miles per hour. The weather was fantastic though and the scenery was amazing, the lake is apparently the highest navigable lake in the world and it is huge. We stopped first on an island where there are two restaurants only both sell Trout or a vegetarian omelette, wow the choices were amazing. After that we went to the next island which is geared up for homestays which apparently give us tourists a taste of the lives of the locals. We met our ´mother´and she then dragged us about 3 miles (well maybe not quite) uphill to her house. Very basic house, the room we were in was ok, had three single beds and a light bulb which was solar powerd. I was staying with Tony and Karrie, we were like a family staying in another family's house. Went for a walk up to the top of the island to watch the sunset, it was awesome, well worth the effort. After the walk up, we went back to our ´mothers´house to get ready for dinner which consisted of soup, very filling and some sort of stew with rice. I managed to have a brief conversation with the "mother" of the house in Spanish. It was an interesting experience. After dinner we retreated to our bedroom to await her coming to get us to go to the discotheque!

Now we come to the fun part of the evening. ´Mom´came with gifts, traditional Peruvian dress for us to wear dancing. I lucked out as the guys only had to wear a poncho, the women however weren´t quite so lucky as they had to go in full skirt and an embroidered shirt. The discotheque was happening! Each song lasted about 15 minutes and we were kept quite busy dancing. Interesting moves, lots of holding hands and moving in and out. Also there is a funny one where everyone on the dance floor grabs hands and runs around dragging the others behing them, seems like they try to make people fly off their feet round the corners. That was quite fun.The dance finished about 10, I guess the homestay people have to do it every night so they don´t stay too long. We went back to bed.

The next day another 2 hour journey took us to the floating islands (during which we were singing songs helped out by my ipod). They were weird, you can´t tell from photos but they are literally made from reeds about 2 meters thick one below the water and one above, which is quite a weird feeling. They are quite bouncy and you can fall down on them without hurting yourself. We took a ride on one of their cool boats that they make out of the reeds and plastic bottles believe it or not. After lunch headed back to Puno for a relaxing afternoon.

We are now in Bolivia, La Paz to be exact. Funny looking city as you come into it you come round a hill and there it is sitting in the bottom of a crater. There are skyscrapers and everything, what on earth are they doing in Bolivia! We wandered round some markets this afternoon looked at some Llama fetuses you can buy and bury under your house for good luck.

Got to go now, maybe I´ll put some pictures on tomorrow.

Welcome to the Jungle, we´ve got fun and games

Right now I am sitting in Puno with Jade, a sexy Kiwi girl! She is going to assist me in my post. Myself, Alana, Karrie, Lorraine, Donna, and Tony flew out to the jungle after our hike on the Inca Trail. The rest stayed behind in Cusco to get sick. The jungle was a lot of fun, we saw parrots, macaws, boaconstrictor, monkeys, caimans, tarantulas, fished for pirranhas, saw giant sea otters, etc. We also we are able to relax in nice hammocks in much warmer weather than we have been, also being able to breathe easy again out of the altitude. I did get bit by a howler monkey, but apparently in didn´t have rabies because I am not sick. It has been pretty fast paced considering within a 24 hour period I was saw Macchu Picchu and slept in a hammock with a monkey in my lap in the Amazon. I got to use a machete and clear a path through the jungle. The foliage was beautiful, with avocados, bananas, starfruit, papayas, lemons, potatoes all growing in the jungle, until of course I cut them down with the machete. On a night boat ride Marco, "Amazon Dundee", wrestled a caiman and then we got to hold it in the boat. We also saw a rodent which looked like a rat the size of a big dog.

Today we took a bus ride from Cusco to Puno, which was seven hours. Jade sat next to me, after abandoning her sick husband Chris and left him with "Doctor" Mike. We slept and talked the whole way down, mostly sleeping trying to avoid Mike and Chris´talking bollocks (I am learning a lot of new phrases from the motherland and the southern hemisphere). Tommorow morning we head to Lake Tit... to stay with locals in their houses. It should be interesting, but unfortunately very cold.

Here personal message from Jade...Elliott is super cool and we want him to move to New Zealand. He is not coming back to America. I am going to set him up with a super hot rich Kiwi girl and he can live next to Chris and I in Christchurch forever. You are all welcome to visit anytime.

Our group on first night on Inka Trail. From left to right...Lorraine, Tony, Karrie, Jo, Chloe, Donna, me (Jade), Chris, Alana, me (Elliott), Mike

View from the Inka Trail

Drinking champagne after arriving at Macchu Picchu (6:30 AM)

Jade, me, Jo, Chloe, and Chris on the Inka Trail, waiting at the top for the others to arrive

Pepe and Me