Mindo: The Cloud Forest

After a few days exploring Quito, we headed northwest to Mindo, the cloud forest. The scenery outside the bus window quickly changed from the dry, harsh landscape surrounding Quito to lush, tropical hills and valleys as we descended into Mindo.

Once in Mindo, we ran into a group of American teachers living and teaching in Quito. Most of them had been in Quito for almost two years, and they traveled to Mindo on Thanksgiving weekend to have a big Turkey Day celebration at the Drangonfly Inn, which was a hotel and restaurant owned by one of the counselors at the University where they worked in Quito. We ended up finding a cheap hostel just outside of town called El Rocio with a few of the American teachers. It was pretty cheap for a private room and for two dollars extra, we could get a wonderful breakfast in the morning: a huge glass of fruit and yogurt, two eggs, toast and hot chocolate!

Our first full day in Mindo, Jon and I walked up a muddy street to the top of a hill where you could take a cable car across a valley to a series of trails that led to lots of waterfalls. We spent the day hiking in the Ecuadorian forest, and even ran into a group of three Americans from Colorado that we had befriended on the bus ride the day before.

The second two nights in Mindo we stayed at La Casa De Cecilia. It was a wonderufl hostel with cheap, clean rooms, and hammocks to lounge in. Our only issue with this hostel was they didn´t seem to want us to use the kitchen, which is key for Jon and I as we cook most of our food to save money.

On our second full day in Mindo, we woke up early to go birdwatching with our Colorado friends. Apparently Mindo is world-famous for bird watching. And we got a great guide, Marcelo, and a crazy deal for only $40 for the five of us for the entire morning. Apparently most guided bird watchers, Marcelo included, usually charge about $100 per person! But, our Colorado friends were staying at a hotel owned by a local family, and the owner was good friends with Marcelo, so he was able to swing a deal for all of us. Our Colorado friends were so pleased with the deal, they let Jon and I come along without even having to pay for our portion! The bird watching was more exciting than we thought it would be. Marcelo clearly was the best guide, as we passed other groups of birdwatchers he would help their guides spot birds that they hadn´t seen. We saw lots of Tucans, Mott motts and male and female Quetzals, along with many other colorful, beautiful birds that I can´t remember the names of. Grandma, you would have loved it, except for all of the uphill walking.

Jon and I also did the canopy zipline tour. This consisted of 13 cables, zipping through and above the canopy of the forest. Some were fast, some were really long, and some you could do tricks like the superman (self explanatory) or the butterfly where you were upside down. It was really fun, especially in the pouring down rain since we didn´t get around to it until the afternoon, when rain will inevitably strike the Mindo area.

The food in Mindo was also extraordinary. Mindo is famous for its chocolate and we indulged in some deliciously fudgy brownies at a chocolate facotry right next to our hostel. There was also a fantastic wood-fired pizza place (we are suckers for those) and treated ourselves to large, thin crusted pizzas and some beer on our last night in Mindo.

Our only complaint with the wonderful, safe town of Mindo, is its lack of a working ATM. We were informed upon arrival that there was an ATM, but found out a few days later when we were getting low on cash, that it didn´t work. Unforunately, we had to pay for a taxi to take us two towns away (probably 40km each way) to find a working ATM. Lesson learned: always go to the small towns with plenty of cash, or at least ask if the only ATM is reliable!

Quito and Turkey Day

First of all, Quito is a HUGE city. In the days we were there, we only explored bits and pieces of the city, trying to stay where it was safest and not wander around too much at night, or if we did, bring nothing with us but a few coins and the clothes on our back.

We stayed at the Blue House in La Mariscal aka ¨New Town.¨ This area attracts a younger, party crowd, but we heard that it was safer past dark than Old Town, so we chose a hostel there. The Blue House was kind of trashy, but we ended up meeting a few people there that we enjoyed, and the hostel was only a couple blocks from the main square in New Town which had many cafes, restaurants, bars, travel agencies and shops.

Highlights in Quito include El Mita Del Mundo, which we did our first day with an Auzzie guy we met. We had to walk and hop on several buses but eventually made it to the far northern region of Quito surrounded by a desolate, desert landscape. There is some controversey about where the actual equator lies, but we visited a few places in the area and really enjoyed the second place we went that was down a dusty, unmarked road. We got a tour with an english speaking guide and he taught us a lot of history about the area and facts about the physics of being on the equator. We also did science experiments with water being drained from a tub (didn´t form any kind of ¨tornado¨when it was drained on the equator!)and balancing an egg on a nail (which we got a certificate for, definitely going on the fridge when I get home).

Another touristy attraction was La Basilica: a massive stone church with beautifully intricate design and stained glass windows. We had to pay US$2 each to climb the towers, which we were hesitant to pay at first, being the cheapos we are, but it ended up being so worth it. We climbed up spiral staircases, walked across gang-planks and ascended steep metal ladders on the outside of the building to get to the highest towers with rewarding views of Quito and the surrounding area. And, we got a few adrenaline rushes to boot!

From La Basilica, Old town is only a short walk away. It is filled with old, colonial style buildings, museums, statues and squares. We didn´t go into any of the museums (being too cheap) but enjoyed walking through the streets and grabbed an empanada de verde (Ecuadorian dish: plantain empenada filled with cheese) and tamales de pollo.

We spent Thanksgiving evening cooking up a mini feast. One of the only other Americans in our hostel was a younger guy named Hunter from Montana. He knew where to get a whole, roasted chicken, so we sent him on that mission while Jon and I whipped up some garlic mashed potatoes, corn, bought a loaf of bread and a decent bottle of Malbec wine from Argentina. Hunter arrived with the hot chicken in a plastic bag, dumped it on the table, and voila! Thanksgiving dinner served.

Observations of a few Travelers

Now that we are in Ecuador, I feel it's time to look back on our experience in Colombia, and here are a few highlights that come to mind:

When walking on the cobbled streets of a town, one must watch where their feet may land: wobbly cobbles, uneven cobbles, man sized holes, foot sized holes and doggie doo are just a few of the dangers at foot level.

Milk, yogurt, and water often come in bags not cartons or bottles.

Aguila (a corona style beer) is apparently for girls, And there is an Aguila LIGHT! (essentially clear beer...)

Shoulder bags are worn by all.

Colombian men often lounge about with their shirts pulled or rolled up to expose their bellies.

More countries should adopt Tejo (Tay-ho) as a sport, explosives plus beer, what could go wrong?

When taking an overnight bus, one must plan for sub-zero temperatures, bring a blanket.

Trying to use a restroom on a bus will lead to you feeling near drunkenness because you cannot stand up straight. It will also lead to something that usually stays dry getting a little wet, or lots wet. If you're a lady..hover like a pro, but with certain drunkenness because your hover skills are lacking/under pressure in a bus restroom situation. It's probably better to wait for a real restroom unless you're up for a challenge!

...

Special Traffic Observations!:

Be careful to look for motorcycles, they can come from nowhere and don't pay attention to silly things such as stop signs, red lights, lanes, direction of traffic in a particular lane..

Double yellow lines mean Nothing.

Lanes don't really matter either.

'Blind' corners on windy, curvy roads aren't seen as blind by bus drivers.

Horn use in Colombia is amazing and USA needs to catch up. Here's what a Colombian might use their horns for: hey I'm here!, coming around you, watch out motorcycle!, I'd like some of that fruit, please keep moving forward, why are you stopped?, get outta my way I'm three times your size!, is there anyone around this corner??, watch out for those of you who are thinking about crossing the street, hereby watch Up!;) , I haven't used my horn in a few minutes and wanted to make sure it still works.. An American might use a horn just to say they are angry.. We need to work on our horn vocabulary.

That's all for now, more observations on Ecuador a bit later..

miss yal

San Gil: Adventure Town!

We have been in the outdoor-adventure town of San Gil since last Thursday morning, and what an adventure it has been! From white-water rafting, to paragliding, to Jon getting sick, our stay has definitely had its physical and emotional ups and downs.

We have come to know a good group of travelers here during our stay in San Gil, a few that we arrived on the night bus with from Santa Marta, and we have done most of our activities with them. Bay and Deeg are a couple from London, who we liked right away when we sat in the back of the night bus next to them and Deeg promptly pulled out a bottle of wine and offered us some. Another good friend is a lady named Griz who we met at our hostel in Bogota. She is a Mexican citizen, but has spent the last 13 years working seasonally for a rafting and canyoning adventure company in Interlaken, Switzerland as a photographer. She travels in her time off. Not a bad lifestyle.

On Friday we went white water rafting on the Rio Suarez. It had dumped rain the night before so the river was reeeeeallly pumping. We did a grade 3+ to 5 section of the river. This was intense stuff, as we all soon realized when our safety talk was about 25 minutes long and involved information in broken english about what to do if we fell out of the raft, flipped it, had to go through rapids on our own, kayak rescue and most terrifyingly, what to do if we got stuck in a hole. A hole is basically a churning wheel of water that forms behind big rocks on the river in big rapids. It continues in a circular pattern, like a ferris wheel, and if you get stuck in one, you do the same. The best way to get out of a hole as you are tumbling around underwater is to curl up in a ball, and supposedly it will spit you out. If you flail about, you will be stuck until you basically drown. With Jon and I, and maybe one other guy having the only previous white water rafting experience between 12 people, as nervous as I was I cant imagine how nervous the first-timers were.

Luckily our guides were completely badass. According to the hostel owner we booked the trip through, they compete in rafting and kayaking world cups and were the top in Colombia. After seeing them in action, I believe it. Our guy, Henry aka Redbull, was a burly Colombian with hair three times as long as mine pulled back into a sloppy ponytail. He joked that it was his first time on the river, but he knew that thing inside and out. He expertly maneuvered us through the rapids, sloloming through graveyards of boulders and holes, which I would sometimes catch myself staring at wide-eyed as we passed, so thankful that Redbull knew their exact location since we couldnt even see them until we were on the downriver side. Our raft was extremely successful at staying together, until the last grade 5 rapid. Towards the end of it, there were some HUGE waves. We all got tossed from the boat, Redbull too. I remember flailing around underwater with people on top of me but eventually getting to the surface and assuming the safety position in the water (feet up and pointed downriver). Luckily, the rapids toward the end werent huge, so as the rescue took place, those of us still in the water werent in much danger. Jon stayed in the longest, floating through the entire rest of the rapid calmly by himself in front of the boat, collecting paddles along the way. Most of us, myself included, had ditched our paddles as we were being tossed about, thinking: screw saving the paddle, Im saving myself! Anyway, good thing we have Jon around. Looking back on the video of the tossing (yes, we have a video) the whole ordeal went incredibly smoothly. I think Redbull spent a total of 1 second in the water before he was back in the boat and pulling people in. The video continued for about 7 or so seconds after we were all ejected from the boat, and by the time it cut, 3 or 4 people were already back in.

The next day we went paragliding. Jon and I had never done this before, and the views of the surrounding valleys and mountains were absolutely stunning. The best part however was the spinning the guides would do if you asked. They coud manuver the parachute so we were falling facefirst towards the ground until the harness gently caught us and swung us out of the dive. Jon unfortunately didnt get to do as much swinging and diving since some clouds moved in and brought cold air that competed with the thermals that are best for paragliding.

That evening, we got to play the national sport/game of Colombia: Tejo (pronounced tay-ho). This is an awesome game. Two boxes filled with soft clay sit about 15 meters apart and are usually backed by rubber from tires. In the middle of the clay boxes are iron rings that are level with the top layer of clay. You place two triangular explosives on the iron ring. Your goal is to stand by a clay box and toss a heavy oddly shaped hockey puck made of metal at the opposite clay box 15 meters away. If the iron puck/stone thing lands on the iron ring on top of the explosive, the metal on metal contact causes the triangular explosive to explode. You do this all while drinking beer. Beer+Exploding things=AWESOME.

That night Jon and I went out to eat for our first time in Colombia. We ate at Gringo Mikes with a group of people, and actually got to meet the gringo, Mike, who opened the restaurant. Turns out hes one of the few Americans weve met in Colombia, and hes a Seattle native! He came down here to Colombia two years ago and started a mountain biking tour company and decided to add a restaurant to appease his hungry mountain biking tourists. Now, travelers and local Colombians alike, want him to franchise his restaurant and add several other restaunts throughout Colombia. The food was delicious, from burgers to burritos, oreo shakes and melt-in-your-mouth brownies for dessert...it was a real treat after all of the stir fries, arepas (corn cakes) and PB&J tortillas that Jon and I have been eating.

Unfortunately, Jon got sick later that night. We are pretty positive it was not from food (as Ive also eaten everything he has eaten, and most travelers dont have food problems in Colombia) but we were both up all night and he ran a fever the whole next day. But, with the help of our friends, the owners from our hostel and other random travelers, he is doing much better now (and to his delight, probably a few pounds lighter). We are pretty certain he got the bug from all of the dirty river water he ingested when we were flung off our raft the day before.

Now we head to Bogota to catch our flight to Ecuador! We are bummed to be leaving Colombia so soon and wish we would have given ourselves another week at least to travel around here but we figure less time in Colombia only means more time somewhere else cool. Not sure yet where we will be for Thanksgiving, probably Quito, but like we said, we have not met many American travelers with whom we could celebrate with. That being said, Happy Turkey Day to everyone back in the States! We are thankful to be on this journey, but we are even more thankful for the family and friends we have back home and we are always looking forward to the beautiful Pacific Northwest...home sweet home! You will hear from us in Ecuador!

Beach Time

For the last couple of days on the Caribbean coast, we did our best to get in as much beach time as possible. We spent one day in Tayrona Park, one of the most famous and beautiful parks in Colombia, northeast of the suburb we were in of Santa Marta. We went with a group of people from our hostel and spent the day swimming in the cool, salty water, walking the beach, tossing frisbees (and losing them in the ocean) and lounging in the shade.

Our last day on the coast was spent at the tiny hippie fishing town of Taganga, which boarders Tayrona park to the southwest. We went with an English couple we had met in Bogota and ran into again at the hostel in Santa Marta. Taganga definitely has the laid back, caribbean vibe. There were plenty of men with dreads and missing teeth swaying through the streets, dressed in the Colombian colors of yellow, blue and red. One such man declared everytime we walked by him: Thank you for believing in Colombia! with a big toothless grin. He came over to us as we were eating and explained the colors of Colombia to us in surprisingly good english and then tried to sell our friend Tabby a bookmark. When she politely declined, he asked us for a few coins to buy lunch and we all handed him a few coins, and Tabby handed him a whole handful. He thanked us profusely and walked away. At some point, he must have counted the coins in his hand and in a minute he was back at the table giving Tabby the bookmark for free. What a kind gesture from a man who already has so little to give!

We wandered through the crumbling streets and discovered how poor everything seemed away from the waterfront. On the side of one building, Jon spotted a giant map that was painted as a mural leading us to a multi-language book trade. The map was very cartoonish and primitive, but we decided to try to follow it. Sure enough, around the soccer pitch and off a bumpy dirt road, we found this beautiful white house surrounded by lush green plants and trees. As we got closer, we noticed that whole shells from the beach were slowly being added to the outside of the house and plastered on, almost covering the front of it completely! Inside was a lovely Swiss woman with a wall full of books in all different languages. She had bought the house 9 years ago and was still working on the shell project. The rest of the house felt like it had been plucked out of an Italian country-side and plopped down on the caribbean coast. We didnt swap out any books, but really enjoyed chatting with her. We wandered back to the beach and spent the rest of the day drinking a few cervesas and watching dogs chase iguanas. That evening we caught a night bus with a bunch of other travelers from our hostel to San Gil, a town about 8 hours north of Bogota and one of the outdoor adventure capitals of Colombia!

From City to Beach

Hello from Santa Marta!

After a rough trip getting to Colombia, we have finally adjusted and really started enjoying the country! We spent about 3 days in Bogota recovering from jet lag and seeing the sights.

We stayed at a hostel called Alagria located in La Candalaira district on the south eastern part of the city. The streets are beautiful: red cobblestone with multi-colored buildings rising up on both sides and people buzzing around in the streets. Quite a contrast from our 2am introduction to the city. I immediately felt at ease upon leaving our hostel for the first time. Colombians are happy people and generous and helpful to even the most ignorant traveler (which I hope we are not).

Highlights in Colombia included some museum trips to Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) and Museo Botero. The latter was free and full of paintings and sculptures of very large people. The gold museum portrayed the interesting history of gold in Colombia and was filled with beautifully intricate pieces of golden jewelry and sculptures.

We also hiked up to a church on top of a giant hill (or small mountain, however you want to look at it): Cerro de Monserrate. Even though the hike was only supposed to take an hour or so, we knew it would be no easy feat at the altitude we had just flown into: some 8,000 feet or so. We had been warned at first that the hike might not be safe, but we decided to not bring any packs to tempt theives and see how it felt. The trail was a stone stepped road all the way to the top and was busy with many Colombians walking or running up. We spotted some other white people in front of us with backpacks, and upon catching up to them realized they were our Dutch friends we had met in the Bogota airport a few days earlier, Sebastian and Elane. We hiked the rest of the way up with them and got stunning views of Bogota, which is a way more expansive city than we thought! We spent the rest of the day with Sebastian and Elane, visiting a fruit market and el Museo Botero.

We decided on Saturday to catch an overnight bus up to Santa Marta, 17 hours north of Bogota on the Carribbean coast. The bus ride was quite an adventure. We wound down the mountain side in our charter bus, constantly turning and braking and changing gears. With my queasy stomach, I resorted to the fetal position and almost paid a trip to the toilet in the back of the bus. Eventually we leveled out onto the straighter roads and flat land. There was a constant thunderstorm raging the entire night; at one point Jon pointed out that we probably didn´t even need headlights with the country-side lit so consistantly with lightning strikes. Rain came down in curtains and shattered against the bus windows. We were in the front seat and had a view of the road in front of us. During the heaviest rainfall, I couldn´t even see the blurry center line, but hoped the driver below could as he passed several trucks at a time on windy roads around blind corners. We just tried to get some sleep and hoped they knew what they were doing.

Santa Marta is incredibly humid and hot. We like the hostel we are at but don´t appreciate all the ants in this warmer climate, or the rats. Jon had an incident with a raton jumping on him from a windowsill; I don´t know if I was laughing or screaming myself as the rat scurried between my legs and across the room.

Today we went up to a waterfall in the coastal mountains with a group of travelers just outside the village Minca. We were able to swim in the pool beneath the waterfall and were joined by many local Colombians having BBQs and enjoying time with their families. Tomorrow we hope to hit the beaches for a couple of days and then head south San Gil, a town about 5 hours north of Bogota and known for its hiking and white water rafting!

Colombia!! El Amarillo, El Azul, La Roja!!

Bienvenidos from Colombia!!

We have finally arrived...After more than 24 hours in the air or waiting at the airports and getting through the customs, we have finally made it to Bogota!!!

First things first: We have Awesome Parents!! Our bad luck started as my (jon) parents were saying goodbyes. My Honda limped into the departure terminal parking area before sputtering to a halt. By battery was dead, no juice, no life, nadda. And here Kase and I were about ready to leave the country for at least a few months, saying, "Here dad, take care of this mess" We did get a hold of AAA who I assume was able to get the car back down to our mechanic in Lacey. But more stress than we were willing or expecting to take on at that time. Oh well, one crisis averted. On to crisis numba two. As we are trying to get our bags checked at JetBlue, the attendant informs us that we must have a flight or bus ticket out of Colombia or we cannot even get on the plane from Seattle to NYC!! Armed with Galaxy tablet and anger we furiously begin searching for a flight that we could book out of Bogota, just so we can have proof of continuation of travel. Neither mine nor Kasey´s Credit Cards worked, the airport internet was incredibly slow and unreliable and we are stumped.

Kasey´s parents to the rescue! They were able to book a flight for us, saving the day.

Back to the attendant to get things started. Bags checked, security passed, flight was fine.

We landed in NYC (JFK) on time and were able to make our next connection to Orlando since we had a 5 plus hour layover. It turns out that we got out of NYC just in time, upon our arrival in Orlando we begin hearing that many flights are being delayed due to snow! Another bullet dodged!! Our connection out of Orland was doomed though, one of the flight crew spotted fluid on the starboard wing, above the engine, as the problem was not going to be fixed soon, we had to wait for another plane. We had to wait 2.5 more hours, our flight would be leaving at 8:30 pm or later getting us into Bogota at about 1 am. Once we touched down in Bogota, getting through customs took a while, and we were finally able to see if our backpacks made the connections too!! Reunited with our bags we started the process of hailing a taxi.

This is Kasey now, Jon had to shower(smelly boy).. The taxi ride was more scary than fun for me, as my seat belt didnt work and our driver was a speedster and I dont think he could see very well (he had to flash his brights everytime we went through weirdly lit intersections or hard to see areas) But he was very kind and dropped us off right at our hostel, which I was extremely grateful for, since the streets were for the most part completely shut down and deserted. Windows barred, doors shut and locked, no lights on, and only a few people wandering the streets, some of them men dressed in fatigues and carrying what my imagination put as machine guns. Needless to say, I dont think we will be out much past dark in Bogota...I am fine hunkering down in the hostel for the evening reading books and practicing spanish.

Pre-Adventure WORLDwind

Well, after nearly 900 miles (886 actually) of car driving/riding, we have completed our pre-adventure trip. Taking off from Richland we saw friends in Portland (got THE Hook-Up at IceBreaker, thank you Claire and Casey) and had a fun and exciting Halloween evening with Rood, Ross, Hayley and Audrey.

Thursday we started the day off with some delicious food from Tasty n Sons in Portland before heading north to Lacey, to see my parents. For dinner that night we met up with my little sister, Rob and Abi, and my mom and dad.

Friday morning it was up to Seattle (of course a trip to the REI) and UW to see all of our Seattle area amigos! Kelly and housemates were gracious enough to have us invade their personal space and host a little gathering. Thank you ALL: Kelly, Bryn, Claire, Emily, Warner, Irving, Dean, Font, Caitlyn, Pat, Ari, Colin, Syd, Chris, Leah, Ryan, Sally, Josh, for coming out and having a rip-roarin good time!

Saturday was time to root the WWU Women's soccer team on to a 2-0 victory against MSU Billings at Starfire, Go Vikings! good luck in the next round! After the game we headed up to good ole Bellingham with Katie coming along to keep Kase and me company. Our grumbling stomachs lead us to Casa where we met Jaimie and Mitch and indulged in Nachos, Green Magmas, and BLTski's along with Scotch's! We met up with Kyle and Jon at Boundary Bay to continue the night of 'sight seeing' ;) Ending the night at the UP and then walking home to G'mas! (thank you Rosemary!)

Sunday, after meeting up with Tim and Jan to share travel plans and Olympic stories, we headed south to Everett to see Joel and Brian and watch most of the Hawks win (thanks for the 'pie' Joel). Then it was back home to Richland.

It is amazing to think that when we got back we had just about 48 hours until we headed out on our real journey.

Both Kasey and I feel extremely lucky to be able to take this adventure, but we feel even more lucky to have the family and friends that we do. Our four-day scramble to see as many of you as we could really could not have happened if you weren't all such awesome people. It was really great to see all of you and exchanging hugs, smiles, trip tips and enjoying time with each other. We can't tell you enough how fortunate we are to have you all in our lives, Thank you!