The Week That Should Not Have Been

SO we returned from the Galapagos to Quito during the middle of Halloween celebrations. Our intention was to stay the night, leave for the Quilatoa loop the next day and then head to Southern Ecuador and on to Peru. However, as everyone knows, when travelling one must be flexible...
We did end up going to Quilatoa which is a tiny Andean town famous for the Quilatoa crater, a lake set in the middle of an extinct volcano. It was a bit of an adventure to get there as it involved being dropped off the bus on the side of the road with no idea where we were, finding the bus station in a rain storm and then trying to figure out where Quilatoa actually was. We arrived being the last people on the bus just as dark was setting in. At that altitude (somewhere above 4000m) it gets really cold!
We spent the night in the hostel, woke up to a fantastic breakfast and set off to hike down into the crater to see the lake. It was pretty fantastic although the hike back up was very steep and the sandy soil made it difficult to climb up. We almost caved and paid for the easy way up...by mule. After our hike while having coffee we made the decision to head south quickly and try to get to Peru by the weekend. We left to go back to Latacunga with a bunch of others from the hostel riding in the back of a truck. It was beautiful to experience traveling through the Andes looking at all the tiny villages and all the Alpacas. They are everywhere!
It was in Latacunga that things went wrong...
We had caught the bus to Ambato and were just pulling out of the bus station. We were laughing and chatting and did not really realize that the guy sitting behind us had got up and walked off the back with my backpack! I immediately had a bit of a panic as I was positive that my passport was in the stolen bag. We got off the bus to try and find the guy who took it but no luck.
Luckily there are better people in this world than the guy who stole our backpack. Some of the girls that we had just met were living in Quito and invited us back to their place until we figured out the whole passport thing. Very nice of them and ended up being very convenient as the Canadian embassy is only a few blocks from where they live.
To make a long story a bit shorter...I (Natalie) am an airhead. The passport was actually in my CAMERA bag the whole time! Unfortunately we had already reported it stolen by the time we relaized this so the saga continues with getting a new one.
While waiting for the passport we decided to continue on to Mindo and are now on the coast of Ecuador. Midno is a bird watchers paradise with tons of hummingbirds, tucans and butterflies. We finally got to go zip-trekking which was fun to zoom across wires looking down as the cloud forest canopy. Bryan was even brave enough to go upside down!
The costal town that we are currently in is a beautiful somewhat sleepy surf town. Yesterday was super busy being the weekend and the beach was packed with familes enjoying a day on the beach. It is not very sunny here but it is nice and warm.
Enough for now...time to go for 1$ Caprinias!
Next post...Hopefully from across the border in Peru!

Galapagos Islands - Be jealous...very jealous

On the 22nd of October we caught a plane at the crack of dawn from Quito to Baltra Island, Galapagos. Upon coming in for landing just before touch down our plane got caught in a cross wind and our pilot made the executive decision to pull up and make another pass. A little nerve racking considering the runway ends by going off a cliff into the Pacific.
Anyways, we arrived in the Galapgos and quickly met our group for the boat cruise. As soon as we arrived in the bay in Baltra we knew we had spotted the "Nuevo Flamingo". As other have said "if this was the New Flamingo I hate to think what happened to the old one!" All joking aside our boat was something similar to the Gilligans Island boat...maximum sailing speed of 8 knots and barely room for all. 10 passengers aboard including Bryan and I, an American girl, two German boys, two German and one Dutch girl and the Irishman thrown in for comic relief.
We set sail almost immediately for an island full of Boobies (yes, the blue footed kind), Frigate birds and Iguanas.
From the beginning of our boat cruise till the end we truly had a blast. We saw amazing animals including suntanning with sea lions, snorkeling with rays and turtles to being shit on by Frigate birds being that close to everything and them not fearing people at all was an amazing experience. We had a great group of people on the boat. The German boys drank all the beer, Bryan (and almost everyone else) got seasick and having our own personal Irish Mr. Bean it was great fun to spend five days with such a wonderful group of people.
I think that we both agree that diving in the Galapagos has been and will continue to be a highlight of our trip. The first day we saw reef sharks, Galapagos shark, sea lions and loads of fish. We also got stuck in a washing machine current which spat us very quickly 1000m away from our intented end point. The second day of diving was Gordons Rocks. A site well known for the probability of seeing Hammerhead sharks which we did...lots. It was a truly spectacular day. The third day of diving we must have seen at least 20 Manta rays which are absolutely huge! They are so spectacualr to watch swim under the water. Bryan and I were doing a compression stop about 5m from the surface when one came within 10feet of us. So cool!
The Galapgos is truly a place of wonder and highly recommended as a place to visit!

Our time in Otavalo and Quito

Hi Gang,

Last time we talked Natalie and I just finished a 30 hour bus ride (due to over sleeping and our lack of Spanish speaking skills). As a result of this we came to the decision that one of us had to learn some Spanish. Since Natalie took French till grade twelve she had a big advantage over me. We decided Otavalo would be a good spot to take some lessons on the recommendation of a friend from Colombia. We decided to stay at hostel up in the mountains so from town we caught a cab.
Up until this point we have had little need to book a place to stay in advance. Rosa, the owner of the hostal let us know immediately that we probably should have booked in advance as she opened the gate to her property in her pj's.
Rosa Cottages was an interesting experience in a beautiful place. Rosa herself is a cute little Ecuadorian grandmother type who while being very nice is totally CRAZY!!! She had some funny little ideas about how to run a hostal. Case in point: telling us that there was no room in the fridge and to put the beer outside to chill. Hmmmm...obviously doesnt understand the Canadian need for COLD cervezas.
Otalvalo itself is a charming city. Many of the locals dress in traditional dress and are a maximum of 5ft tall. The city has the largest market in South America on saturdays along with an animal market. Everything form cattle to guinea pigs was available for inspection by people looking to buy dinner...or lunch or whatever. Natalie was explicitly told not to buy anything!
Despite Natalie's run in with a bad chicken sandwich and the ensuing 3 day illness the Spanish lessons were helpful and Otavalo was a great time.

Natalie's Spanish teacher was able to help us set up a trip to the Galapagos Islands. The only catch was that the payment had to be in cash and trying to withdraw large amounts of cash in South America is to say the least a challenge. We discovered that it was impossible to do this in Otavalo so it was off to Quito. We ended up traveling to Quito with an entertaining pair of Brits. Quito is a huge city built in the mountains so the views are quite spectacular. We were able to quickly resolve the cash issue and are now booked to go to the Galapagos this Friday!

While at the language school we decided that a trip to Ecuador would not be complete without biking down a volcano! We booked a trip to go mountain biking in Cotopaxi National Park. Cotopaxi itself is about 4,800m high and just as the guide books say it literally takes ones breath away. We maybe should have put a little more thought into booking a trip to this altitude as the weather in Quito was pouring rain so therefore SNOWING, yes SNOWING on Cotopaxi. Despite this, us and two other Canadians braved the elements to go biking.
It was a wonderful day speeding down hills, struggling up tiny inclines due to the altitude and looking at the wild horses playing in the wilderness. The landscape in Cotopaxi is spectacular with views of massive volcanoes set in the tundra-like land. Altogether a wonderful day.

We are currently in a town called Banos. It is a completely touristy place but fun because of the variety of activities and the thermal baths. We only have one night here and then off the the Galapagos.

Hopefully at our next post we will be fresh from viewing all the weird and wonderful sights the Galapagos has to offer!

The end of Colombia to the beginning of Ecuador.

From the last time I blogged Natalie and i have made a few changes.
One we did not make it to the Salt Cathedral in Bogata, we decided since we are going to visit the salt flats in Bolivia our time and money would be better spent not seeing the Cathedral. We also heard that the it was kinda a waste of time.

Second - We decided that we wanted to see some of the coffee region of Colombia. We picked a place called Solento and a hostel called The Coffee Plantation. This turned out to be a great choice, the town looked like a miniture version of Swizerland.

Once we got (9 hours later) there some packpackers were going on a horse tour. This was really cool so we asked them if it was alright if we joined. Out of the six that went only three had any experience with horses. I was not one of them. Ben (one of the six) was extremely nervous about the whole thing and happened to get the most exciteable horse. Mine was awesome, really chill and did everything i asked. The only problem that I had was I just could not handle going more then a trot. Everytime we went faster then that I had the unshakeable feeling that was about to fly right out of the saddle. During the ride we saw some really cool landscape.

The next day we went on a hike of the local mountain. At the top for 3000 pecos we were given a cup of hot chocolate and some cheese. We were told to put the cheese into the hot chocolate and allow it to melt. This turned out to be an awesome way comsume both cheese and hot chocolate. Later on that day Natalie fell ill and i went on a coffee plantation tour. The tour was a lot of fun and i learned a lot about the process of making coffee. From the fruit from the tree to the roasted coffee bean you grind up a home.

Once this adventure was done we went back to Bogata to hook up was to Ozzie girls for a night on the town. We were going to go to a bar that was suppose to be full of drag Queens and midgets but we were told by some local Spanish english students that it would be a little over the top. Basically we would not be able to handle it. Instead we conviced them to take us out on the town. This turned out to be a lot of fun. Its funny once a Colombian male decides that he is going to look out for you, they take it as their personal mission to make sure you are safe. It turned out to be a great night of drinking and dancing.

The next day Natalie and I decided it was time to start the move to Ecuador. We went to the bus station in the morning with the intention of going to San Agustian. We quickly found out that we had arrived there way to early the only to times that buses left for this destination as 5pm and 9pm . We didn`t want to wait that long so we bought a ticket to Popayan which is just a town on the way to the border. It was like a 20 hour bus ride. Unfortunately we both slept through our stop, the man beside us had a hard time figuring out that this was not a bad thing because the bus was actually going all the way to the border anyways. So at the next town we bought a ticket to Ipiales. The bus driver and the other people on the bus thought we were nuts. By the time we reached the border we had been on a bus around 24 hours.

The long trip did not stop there, we had a little further to go. After a wee bit of confusion at the actual border crossing we were on our way to Otavalo.

From Taganaga to Bogota

Since the lost city trek Natalie and I have been busy. We meet up with some fellow Canadians and one Ozzie. Together we rented a boat and did a fishing trip in a park called Tayrona. The fish that were caught were then cooked for us. That was a fantastic meal. Unfortunatly while on these trip we are blown away by the amount of stray dogs that are everywhere on the coast of colombia. They all seem to be on deaths door or a meal away from it. Natalie has to physically restrain herself from adopting every dog we see. I totally agree with her most of them are really cute even thought you can see their bones sticking out of there skin.

The group of us decided it was time to leave Taganga and move further up the coast to a Town called Palameno. On the way we were approach by a cute Colombian woman that offered her house for us to stay in (with her husband). We haggled about the price and decided on 10 000 pesos (really cheap) would be good for nights accomidation. It also turned out that her husband ran a tour where you take a tire tube out on the river and ride it down for about two hours. So much fun.

This is were the group split up Phil going back to Canada, James to Santa Marta and Nat and I decided to catch a bus to Bogota. This was not a fun trip. It was 18 hours of sitting on your ass doing nothing but sleeping or reading. If we knew spanish there were movies playing but we do not. The bus driver also informed us not to puke in the toilet or any other smelly things due to the fact everyone on the bus would enjoy the smell for the entire trip. During the entire trip we had one stop for that purpose and to grab something to eat. One of the other passengers brought his dog on the bus but not inside with the rest of the people he had to sit under the bus with the other luggage. We really felt for him.

So we are now in Bogota and recoving from that long trip. As a relaxing tour we went to the gold museum here in Bogota. It explained alot about the history of Colombia and had huge displays of gold artifacts as you can well imagine.

Tomorrow we are going to the Salt Cathedral.

Stay tuned.......

Rumble with the Colombian Jungle - Lost City Trek...

Hello there Folks!

The last week has been crazy, Natalie and I have had a big adventure in the jungles of Colombia. It was a gruelling five day trek to the Lost City. It started out on a beautiful wednesday morning the sun was out and the bus was rolling along up the rocky muddy road to our starting point of our week trek. On the way the bus actually got stuck and we had to get out on hold on to our stuff while the driver rocked the bus back and forth. Luckly we were able to store most of our gear at the hostel that we were staying at in Taganga so we only had a day bag camera bag between us. This was also the time we lost our first possesion (one of Natalie´s shirts). My fault of course.....

Once the bus was out of the heavy mud we were on our way again and at the starting point. The tour provided us with a lunch and we started walking. At first Nat and I were trying to figure out way people were thinking this tour was so tough. Then it started to rain and boy did it rain. Four out of the five days we were walking in at least two hours of rain. Which turned the trail either into rushing rivers or mud bogs that you couldn´t avoid. Natalie and I decided to just wear our sandles for the entire five days. It wasn´t a bad choice due to the fact that we were wet almost all the time but Natalie´s feet actually got some bad blisters. The guides were super worried about her feet (Natalie wasn´t of course) so they gave some herbal treatments. They boiled some leaves (not sure what kind but suspect that they were coco leaves). These treatments did a wonderful job of sealing the wounds up for the next day. She made it the entire way with no problems at all. Unfortuatly I destroyed the camera we bought a week ago by swimming with it.
Forgot i had it in my pocket.

I am running out of time so until next time for Colombia
Bryan and Nat.

Taking off from Vancouver.

Our flight from Vancouver left at 5:30 in the morning, so like good people we decided to hit the hay early. This was a good plan but the dogs had other ideas they decided that it would be good to sleep with us and since we were nervous we did not get much rest. As 4 am rolled around we had to say goodbye to our furry children and Vancouver.

16 hours later we were in Cartagena Colombia and boy it was humid. We quickly discovered our lack of spanish made getting taxis difficult. Some nice backpackers offered to share a cab with us to old town, Cartagena. They thankfully spoke passible spanish and we were on way to the hostel (called Media Luna - Thanks for the tip John). It was a really nice hostel with a pool and big shared rooms. Luckly we got a dorm room to ourselves. First thing we did once we got our stuff stored away was to head to the patio at the top of the hostel and have a beer and look around. It seemed a bit dangerous as we looked up and down the streets that night. We were proven wrong the next night everyone is very friendly and can tell when you have no idea what you are doing or going (Don´t worry mom we are being very careful).

After looking around the city for a day we decide its time to move on. We have read about a mud volcano that is suppose to have medical healing properties. We also found out it is in the same direction as our next destination (the lost city trek). This turned into be both a wonderful experience and a difficult one. Wonderful because when have you ever been in a huge puddle of mud with no bottem and difficult because when we tried to cut out on the return trip to Cartagena. The travel company tried to make us pay twice, luckly I talked them out of it because Natalie was ready to rip a few heads off. To make a long story short we got a money back and we on our way to Santa Marta. This required a few bus transfers and alot of rain.

Till next time people