Giron Colombia

Today Ana Maria, Pedro and I took a trip to Giron. It is a colonial town just outside of Bucaramanga and the buildings are all original from the colonial period. The town is complete with cobble stone streets. My hosts are more than hospitable. We are having a great time and Pedro (Carolina´s uncle) went a little camera happy with the personal photos, so hope you don´t mind the numerous ones of me.

Click on this link for photos from Giron Colombia

Bucaramanga Colombia

Would anyone like a little meat?
Friday May 27, 2011: I arrived to the airport today at 8am for my 9:30am domestic flight. I was waiting around for the check in counter to open and still at 8:50am there was no one around. I was able to find an information person who started looking into things for me. The departures board said my flight and posted it as going at 9:30am. The woman said the airport did not know anything about the flight and tried to call the companies office but did not get anyone. I thought it was a little odd that the airport was so segregated that they would not know if a flight was cancelled, coming, not here, whatever. Finally a woman showed up to the airport Easy Fly (that is the airlines name) office and with her little English and my little Spanish I figured out that the flight had been changed to 12:05pm. I could see on her computer that was name was on the list of flyers so that was good.

I am flying to Bucaramanga where my neighbor from Peterborough’s mom lives. Carolina is from Colombia and invited me to stay with her mom while I am in South America. I feel bad because her mom Ana Maria was inconvenienced by the late arrival. It was a little weird to be standing in a check in line with no one around you and no one working the desk and the flight to “leave” in 30 minutes. But it has all worked out.

I would say Colombia is an up and coming holiday destination for backpackers and all inclusive travelers alike. A lot of it is uncharted and beautiful. It is a gem of a place to come. The sites are spectacular, people extremely friendly; there is beautiful scenery and the sea. It is neat to because there is not much English around which makes me work harder and practice my Spanish. In the airport usually anywhere in the world they say things over the loud speaker in the native language first and then follow it up in English, but that is not the case here.

Sunday May 29, 2011: I am in Bucaramanga Colombia at Ana Maria and Stephan (Carolina’s mom and brother’s) apartment. They are lovely people and we are getting along nicely with the little English and Spanish that we each know. They are extremely hospitable and truly lovely people. It is great to have a real Colombian experience living with a Colombian family. Their apartment is a new large three bedroom apartment on the 10th floor that looks out onto the city. They have only been in it for two months. They have their master bedroom with ensuite set up as their guest room so I am living quite the life of luxury.

People’s preconceived conceptions of Colombia can be let at the airport it is a fabulous prospering country with good education, jobs, nature, history and tons to offer tourists and its citizens alike.

I have met Carolina’s sister and her husband and her uncle and cousin have spent the last couple of days touring about with us. Today we went to Chicamocha National Park. It is amongst a canyon with beautiful panoramic views. I took a 20 minute cable car ride down one side of the canyon and up the other. At the top of the other side there are then many amusement park attractions. We were there with some big shot from the government and he was pretty heavily guarded by men with subtle guns on their hips. We didn’t make the connection until later so they probably didn’t appreciate me walking in and out of them as they were not moving too fast and I was trying to get by them.

Stephan is a lawyer, Ana Maria works in insurance and her sister owns her own boutique clothing shop. We can see Stephan’s office from the balcony and the clothing shop is a few blocks away. I cannot believe how first world it is here.
You can check out the photos from Bucaramanga and area at the following link;

Click on this link for photos from Bucaramanga Colombia

Cartagena Colombia

Check out his catch from the beach in Caragena.

Cartagena is great. The Old Town is lovely and the cobble stone streets and balconies are great to check out. Today I spent the day at the beach. The water was so warm it was like entering a big bathtub. It was over 30 degrees today but not muggy so you weren’t melting.

At the beach there were some fisherman collecting their catch. They must have pulled in a net for 30 minutes and we were excited because we thought they were going to pull in a huge swordfish like I had seen the other day when I didn’t have my camera with me, but it turned out to be shrimp and small fish they had caught. They were working pretty hard pulling so we were sure it was a swordfish but no such luck.

We have been visiting the Café Del Mar pub on the wall each night it is a magical setting. They make the best strawberry daiquiri I have ever had.

I was able to take some cool photos of locals today. Have a look at the following link.

Click on this link for photos from Cartagena Colombia

Taganga and Cartagena Colombia

This is a photo taken in Taganga Colombia
It is mighty hot now. I feel sometimes like I am melting it is so warm. The cloths I have with me are not for this type of muggy hot weather so today I chose to wear my bathing suit and shorts to walk around town. It did the job. I am currently in Cartagena which is a lovely town. It is large 1.1 million people living here. I am staying in the Old Town which dates back to the 1600’s and is walled by a huge stone wall. It is full of lovely balconies, nice flowers and cobble stone streets, a great place to roam around in this heat.

I spent four nights in Taganga a little fishing village of 5000 people prior to this and hung out on the beach. It rained one day I was there so I spent two and half hours swimming in the sea as it was warmer to stay in the water and really what else was there to do. I had a $2.50 massage on the beach the nice day and had a great shrimp cocktail delivered to my towel by a guy selling shrimp snacks from a cooler for $5. These Colombian girls befriended me and were having them so they let me try their “beach meat” instead of “street meat” and I liked it so I got my own Styrofoam cup full of shrimp and sauce and two soda crackers to go with it and presto. I didn’t get sick either.

In transit between Taganga and Cartagena the minivan/bus I was on had a little bit of a drama and the four hour road trip turned into six hours. It was a tourist minivan that cost $21 and was supposed to be locked at all times. It wasn’t however and when we were driving slowly through some flooded streets from all the rain we heard the back door open and shut and in that split second a bag was stolen from the back of the van. An older Colombian couple had their bag taken and it contained all of their documents. They were not pleased. We stopped two police officers that were close by but basically they said it was gone. The people were really mad because like I said they had basically paid a huge price for the security of a locked vehicle and didn’t get it.

Cartagena has the reputation of being the prettiest city in Colombia or South America and it sure is. It is a lovely place to stay. There are huge all inclusive places on the coast and hostels the like. The Old City and the wall are incredible. It is interesting to see the poverty and wealth right next door to each other.

Last night I went out with a few people from the hostel and we ended up at a pub on top of the wall looking out at the sea on two sides, big hotels on the other and the Old City on the other side. It was magical and as we came upon it the one guy had an interesting comment. There is corruption at work here with a pub being placed right on top of the wall. I thought it was interesting. You have to remember this wall is centuries old and then to place a bar on top of it just doesn’t seem right. But like I said a magical setting.

Here is the link for photos from Taganga and Cartagena Colombia. PS Cartagena was a port stop for those fans of the Love Boat.

Click on this link for photos from Taganga and Cartagena Colombia

The Cloud Forest in Nanegalito and Quito Ecuador

Wednesday May 18, 2011: Well she was an early start this morning. Not that the last week hasn’t been early each morning starting around 6am, but today it was 4am. There were seven of us left from our boat who decided that we would not sleep in on our last official day together but that we would get up early and drive to the Cloud Forest in Nanegalito Ecuador. A two and a half hour drive from Quito. It was great though. There were no clouds for us today though, which made for wonderful views of the surrounding volcanoes and mountains. The drive there was interesting. You have got to love the Hyundai minivan that took the seven of us plus the driver and guide and it actually had other seats and could have accommodated 12 people, four rows of three.

In the cloud forest we were able to bird watch. I have to say I really am not a birder, but they are cool to check out and there were tons of them and the sounds were excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed the vibrating sounds of the hummingbird’s wings. There were great hikes there through extremely thick vegetation a rainforest or jungle like natural setting. You know what? You can tell I am not a birder by my lack of camera lenses and the fact that my camera is not over two feet long.
Did you know that Ecuador has over 4650 different kinds of orchids? Also I think I forgot to tell you about when I landed in the airport and was coming through customs. I stopped twice and smelt two huge bouquet of roses and then after I did it and did the ah sounds after doing it I realized the old cheesy saying that we are to stop and smell the roses and that is exactly what I did.

We also saw a village today that exists inside a volcanic crater that was pretty neat to see. The crater has a diameter of 8km and is lush with vegetation.
My body is having a hard time adjusting to being back on land. I woke up in the middle of the night and felt like I was walking on a lean still. It is probably a combination of the boat and the altitude. So I feel a bit dizzy and off balance and so do the others. We would share our ailments and the others would say yes I am feeling that way too, or we would bend over too quickly and have a head rush and a woozy spell.

Thursday May 19, 2011: Well today has been an interesting day on a couple of fronts. I am in Quito Ecuador which is located 2850m above sea level so I am suffering a bit today from Altitude sickness. It really has interesting effects on your body. I woke up with a nasty headache and tingling lips and fingers. The tingling lips are the craziest sensation. I think because I flew in from sea level and didn’t have the gradual incline like in the bus that is why I have been affected this time.

You know some days when you just have a feeling something is going to happen, well today was one of those days for me. I just didn’t have the greatest vibe today. I headed out to the Old Town to see the sites with my day backpack and didn’t feel right about taking it, but I did it anyway. I had my camera in it and didn’t take it out very often as I just had this feeling I shouldn’t have my camera out in public so it stayed away for most of my walk in the area. The cab driver on the way to the Old Town had also given a warning about taking care of your camera and holding on to it tight. So I was standing out front of a park in front of the Basilica and I had liquid shit thrown on the back of me. Yep, it was a lovely aroma. I did nothing though. I felt and heard the liquid hit me and just remained in the same position not attempting to see what it was. A guy pointed to my back and the sky trying to indicate a bird did it. There were no birds in the air. Anyway I still remained calm with my hands in my pockets and didn’t move to see what was on me or attempt to take the bag off my back and kept a watch on the area and people attempting to come and wipe it off which I knew could happen, but it didn’t. Then a nice looking woman comes up to me and says “senorita banos” and points to across the street and attempts to walk me to a washroom. To which I just continue to stand there and say “no gracias.” This is their ploy to help you clean it off and rob you while they do it. I hailed down a cab and returned to the hotel where they said I was very smart and lucky to have done what I did. As soon as they saw me they said did they rob you this is what they do to rob you? I took my bag and cloths to get washed and for $5.50 it will be delivered back in three hours. So I guess that feeling I had was for real but I was alert to the fact something might happen. I will just chalk that one up to another experience I have now had.

Tomorrow morning will be another early start with a 4am cab to the airport. I am flying to Santa Marta Colombia at 6:20am. It is on the coast and the Caribbean Sea; I hope to enjoy a little rest and relaxation on the beach.

You can click on the following link for pictures from The Cloud Forest in Nanegalito Ecuador and the few I took in Quito.

Click on this link for photos from The Cloud Forest in Nanegalito and Quito Ecuador

The Amazing Galapagos Islands

Friday May 13 2011: Galapagos Islands – North Seymour Island (Happy Birthday Frances)

Highlights of my day today: Swimming with a sea lion and a shark. I was right over top of a shark and a sea lion was right beside me. What an amazing place. I love when you have no expectations and then are pleasantly surprised. That was the case for me today. I don’t know much about the Galapagos Islands and it really wasn’t a place that I thought I need to go there but upon learning more about South America I learned Galapagos is on many people’s wish list so given the opportunity to come here I took it and wow I am so happy I did. I make this statement so you know that I was oblivious to the incredible wildlife that is here. Today we snorkeled and went on a walk around North Seymour Island. I am usually not much of a bird person either, but wow the birds were huge, colourful and so close they were awesome to see. The Blue Footed Boobie being many a person’s favorite. It is mating season so we got to see lots of courting and dancing rituals. It really is just wildlife everywhere. It is hard to take it all in it is so abundant.

The boat was also circled by a large shark this evening that they said was not the friendly type so that was pretty cool to see. It was about 3m long. There is a deck that does a full circle around the boat so we were literally running around the boat pointing it out to everyone else. Yelling there it is, she it, right there.

Saturday May 14, 2011: Galapagos Islands –Rabida Island, Santiago Island and just docking off of Chinese Hat Island

Today’s quote or phrase is look out don’t step on an iguana. Santiago Island is full of huge marine iguanas that blend into the lava rock. There are also brilliant red and orange crabs that distinctly stand out against the lava rock. There literally were thousands of these big iguanas and crabs everywhere. A highlight for me today was seeing a large lobster in the water and the Galapagos Hawk. Today it was like swimming in an aquarium. There were schools of fish by the thousand and great vegetation all around.

I am able to type this now as the boat has stopped a rock’n and the anchor is down. The water was a little rough this evening with huge swells that made your stomach turn like that spot that you speed over on Lily Lake Rd to make your stomach do summersaults.

Each day consists of at least two walks and two snorkeling sessions. The experience has been fantastic and I highly recommend coming here.

Sunday May 15, 2011: China Hat and Bartolome Islands

Another amazing day today’s highlights were seeing penguins, swimming with the penguins and two sharks. Each day we take the two dingy boats from the main boat to the shore or go snorkeling from the dingy. So today we were heading to the shore and saw two penguins on a rock cliff right at the edge of the water so we went up to have a close up look. There are tons of Iguanas on the islands some are marine and can therefore dive while others are land Iguanas. There are also lots of crabs everywhere and they are a brilliant red/orange colour against the black lava rocks which is incredible. We went snorkeling on Bartolome Island and then went into the beach where it was extremely windy and it was like getting sandblasted with the sand from the beach. At the end of each excursion or activity you have to be hosed down by the captain so that species are not spread from island to island as each Island is so unique. Jean had been lying on the beach and she has really short hair and her scalp was covered in sand the captain had a trying time trying to wash that off on the back of the boat.

On Bartolome Island there is a gangplank walk that goes up to the top of the island for an incredible view over the islands. It was amazing to see. There are many volcanic craters you can see, some on land and some under water.

Monday May 16, 2011: South Plazas and Santa Fe Islands

Well the best snorkeling was saved for last. I haven’t mentioned much about the fish, but the fish schools are massive and the colours incredible. The snorkeling is spectacular. We went to South Plazas Island by dingy into a beach full of sea lions and saw huge sea turtles as we were coming in and a couple of groups of Eagle Rays mating at the surface. The turquoise water here was beautiful. We went for a walk on the island and me in my typical gracefulness fell into the water trying to get back into the dingy and soaked my running shoes that were in my hands and my cloths. Luckily my camera was in a waterproof bag and Jean was carrying it. But I did go into the shallow water where all the sea lions were and I could only imagine what was in that water, gross. Oh well, all in good fun and not a problem. We went snorkeling further out in the bay after the mishap and two sea lions came swimming head first into me. It was really cool. We chased huge sea turtles all over the bay, spotting them in different parts and hurriedly swimming over to see them. Then we saw the rays which were so cool. It was awesome.

The crew had a little cocktail party for us as it was the last official night on board for part of the group which was also a good time. Then in the evening we went into Puerto Ayora for a look around town. It was crazy to be back in civilization and society. I had the spins in town. It was interesting because I didn’t suffer from the spins when we would go onto an island for a walk but in and out of the shops and the overhead lighting, spins. Not a pleasant feeling so headed back to the boat by a water taxi and all was well again. I am getting good use out of my Gravol pills as the boat has been a rocking but I can say I didn’t actually get sick which is a bonus.

Tuesday May 17, 2011: Santa Fe Island, Puerto Ayora and Baltra Island

I don’t think I mentioned that there were 16 people on the boat and you share the cabin with a roommate. We had bunk beds and there were eight cabins for us. There was also separate living quarters for the crew which consisted of eight men from the Galapagos Islands and they were excellent at their job and extremely jovial.

The last excursion was a trip to the Darwin Research Station with another early start our visit started at 7am and we had to get there from the boat. The Research Station was really neat. Tons of huge tortoises were there. We got to see Lonesome George the last of his saddle back species. They are trying to mate him with similar species but have had no luck. As it turns out they had him with a hybrid female tortoise for years that could not reproduce. He has two new wives and they are hoping for success in this July’s mating season.

There were also huge dome shell tortoises there too. They were really neat to check out. It would be interesting to see all of the different research studies that are going on there and how many people are employed there.

It was an amazing experience living on the water, walking twice a day on different islands, snorkeling twice a day, eating like a queen and having an excellent, nonthrowing up experience. Ah the life. The Galapagos Islands were amazing and I feel like it was just a drop in the bucket for a future visit.

Check out the amazing and numerous pictures at the following link.

Click on this link for many photos from The Galapagos Islands in Ecuador

Visiting the Equator in Ecuador

The blog site was down and then I was on a boat in the Galapagos Islands so here is the post from May 12 2011: This is a picture noting my success at balancing an egg on top of a nail at the Equator. I received a certificate and everything; two as a matter of fact because I was able do it twice. Today I visited the Equator and it was really fun. I went with two women from my Galapagos group. We took the local bus out the Equator for 40 cents and had a blast on the bus. There are forever people getting on and selling stuff. My favorite was the ice cream guy with his 25 cent cones. It was an easy adventure with two bus changes and no problems. There are people selling $45 US tours, I think ours was great with 80 cents spent on transport and $6 spent to climb the tower and visit two museums at the “center of the world” as they like to call it.

At the one museum we got to try different experiments. One was the spinning water test. In the northern and southern hemispheres the water spins as it goes down the drain and right on the equator the water goes straight down the drain with no clockwise or counterclockwise movement. It was cool to just move a portable sink 1m each way off the equator to test this. Then we did the balance an egg on a nail in which I was the only one able to do it and I did it twice. Then there was the sobriety test. You have to close your eyes and try to the walk the line. The forces pulling your body and making you wobble feel incredible.

You have also got your discrepancies with where the actual line is and then lots of different photo opportunities with different things in the background along the line. You have your GPS equator line and your tourist equator line. There were also lots of school groups at the equator, what a cool class trip, sign me up.

Well it is an early 5:30am start tomorrow with an early morning flight to catch the boat to the Galapagos Islands. So I should get packing.

Check out the cool photos from the “middle of the world” at the following link.

Click on this link for photos from the middle of the world, or the Equator

PS Ecuadorian chocolate is to die for. Oh I am in heaven.

Quito Ecuador

Well I have just arrived in Ecuador after a couple of days in transit and what a drive it was from the airport. I witnessed a poor motorcyclist being thrown from his motorcycle after the car ahead of us hit him. I instantly jumped out the vehicle to help him and could see his scared eyes but was told it was dangerous get back in and other people were running over to him. We drove on up the road to aid in blocking in the vehicle that hit him with another motorcycle and remained there until the police came at which point the driver tried to deny that he hit him. An interesting start to the next leg of the journey. Luckily the motorcyclist had a helmet and gear on so I hope he will be ok. He was on the job as he was a delivery motorcyclist, probably delivering someone’s dinner.

I added more pictures to the last Easter Island photos so if you are not sick of statues and want to see some more there are more there.

Click on this link for lots of photos from Rapa Nui, Easter Island

I am starting a boat tour to the Galapagos Islands in the next couple of days so stay tuned for those experiences.

Also who knew Ecuador uses American money as their currency? Not I but that is interesting. So off I will go to the ATM tomorrow and get some good old American cash and then take a couple of local busses that should cost me less than a dollar in total to the equator.

More Easter Island

Easter Island (Rapa Nui) is incredible. I know that is what I keep saying, but it is. There are about 5000 people who live on the island and all in the undeveloped town. Which I told you has one main street a couple of blocks in length. Yesterday I toured all around the island and the coast is just open fields and coastline. There are no houses out there and this prime real estate, I know it always comes back to real estate is just out there for the wild horses and cattle to graze on. I was told there is only electricity and water in the town.

Today I took a taxi inland to Ahu Akivi, a site where seven statues are. It is the only place where the statues face the water. I took the taxi there and then wanted to walk the coastline back to town. Unheard of (with the locals) everyone wanted to make sure I was ok to walk back and I kept getting asked at sites along the way if I would like a ride back to town, lovely and very nice of the people to ask, but I just wanted a little exercise, fresh air and the beautiful coastal view. I got it. About a six or eight kilometer hike. I think most people are rushed for days on the island and rent a car, scooter or driver. I have lots of time and that was my plan for the day, walk the coast. On the way back to town I passed the dive shop and signed myself up for a dive tomorrow morning, then maybe the beach.

Click on the following link for tons of pictures from Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui.

PS: It is seven bucks a kilo to get your laundry done here typically I would weigh in with five kilos but luckily now I don't need my warm cloths washed (as it is hot here) and only had one kilo. Just a price point for you.

Click on this link for more photos of Easter Island

Easter Island

Easter Island is incredible. Coming here was a big wish for me so to be here is awesome. It is a small island 3800 km off the coast of Chile with one main street and everything shipped in. It has red dirt and beautiful coastal walks. I hiked up to a volcano on my own, a five hour around trip expedition with incredible views and a good workout. It did rain so that red dirt turned into mud and covered my shoes and legs. The temperature averages about 75 degrees here so the rain was refreshing. I was caught in a downpour a couple of times yesterday and overnight it poured rain. I wish I had dad’s rain gauge to calculate how much actually fell. So today is a catch up day and a day of staying out of the continuous rain. I cannot complain this is my first day of rain and it looks like it is braking just in time to grab something to eat.
It is low season so there are not many people around even though the plane was full coming over and it was a large plane. At the top of the volcano there is a National Park and a neat “Birdman ceremonial village” to visit. I ran into two people once I made it to the top of the volcano. The serenity is incredible here.
Now Easter Island and it’s Moai (statues) that is why I am here. They are incredible, huge things all along the coast. They are so cool. Here is a taste of the ones just around where I am staying. Stay tuned for more to come.
Click on this link for some of the photos from Easter Island