Almost time to go home...

But before I end my wonderful time in the traveling world, I still have a few days to kill...In a few hours I will be hopping on a bus to get to Lima, which I´m sure will be my last long overnight bus ride for awhile...I still have time to wander around the streets of Arequipa for a little bit longer.

Over the weekend we went to Colca Canyon, which is supposed to be twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. I guess they can call it that deep because it is surrounded by 14,000 foot Andean mountains! We opted to skip the tour and do it ourselves, knowing that we´d like to be on our own time schedules instead of a group of strangers. I´m glad we did it that way. Although we didn´t have much time there, we did a great hike down to the bottom of the canyon and back up in one day. Whew, was it steep!!! On the way down we really mosied along, walking slow because it was pretty slippery and steep-and even then I still took a digger :) At the bottom was a nice oasis with pools and we just relaxed. Funny enough, we were a little quicker hiking back up the steepness then hiking down! The town of Cabanaconde was really nice...A quaint little village made of rocks and giant stones held together by mud, with some of the nicest Peruvians we have encountered. The area was really beautiful, and if we´d had more time it would´ve been nice to spend a few days trekking through the canyon. Maybe next time...

Machu Picchu!

Yesterday we spent our day touring the site of Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu was a city built by the Incas in 1490 high up in the Andes of Peru, but they lived in the city for only about 100 years before the civilization fell to the Spaniards. Archeologists only have a few theories of what Machu Picchu actually was, but that does not take away from how impressive it is. It's a sight that many people make as their life-long goal to see, and it certainly was up there on my list. Machu Picchu was a major destination that we put on our list to see during this trip, and it's cool that we finally made it here. We have seen so many amazing things along the way, but there have only been a few of those that we knew about before hand that would be a must-see, of course this being one of them.

We got up super early to get on the first 5:30 a.m. bus up the road to the site from the town below. I awoke with disbelief when the alarm went off to hear rain hitting the hotel roof.. There is a pretty loud river right outside the hotel, so I hoped that's what I was hearing...Nope, it was raining.. The one day when I am finally here, and about to spend the whole day exploring this amazing site-it's raining! It was a bummer of a start but I was hopeful that the rain wouldn't last very long. When we got to the site, the fog was just about the only thing you could see...We started walking through the ruins but not really seeing anything. A few of us slowly walked together, following a path through the ruins but not really being able to take anything in, as the fog made us really disoriented. As it started raining harder, we stumbled upon a few covered huts towards one end of the ruins. We bunked down here for one hour, trying to wait out the rain and fog. It really didn't look good for a while, but since we had gotten to the site so early in the morning, we had time to wait. Finally the rain slowed to a light sprinkle and we had had enough of not exploring. We decided to hike up to the nearby peak of Wayna Picchu in hopes that the weather would start cooperating and we could get great views of Machu Picchu. After a quick but steep hike we got to the top and the clouds parted. The people already up there had been waiting 3 hrs. for the clouds to move, and we timed it perfectly to get sweeping views of the whole city of Machu Picchu. There were even ruins built up on this peak, so we spent about three hours up at the top fooling around and checking out the ruins and views. After that we hiked down and started to explore the rest of the ruins. It was impressive to almost see the whole site appear out of the mysterious fog. Even having been to many ancient ruins now, these sites never get old. I was in continuous awe of the place as we walked through it.

To make the day even more enjoyable, we met a few other people that we toured the site with and had a good time chatting along the way. Our crew consisted of Juri from Amsterdam, Jocelyn and her mom Penny from Alaska, and Alex from Colorado. Adrian and I always enjoy ruins and taking in this old history, and this time it was nice to be around others that shared our awe and amazement of Machu Picchu.

Later that night we met our new friends out to celebrate Christmas Eve. Jocelyn and Penny had gone out of their way and made us sandwiches and bought us wine and beer- so nice of them! We went back to their hotel bar and chatted and had some drinks. In Peru, it seems that Christmas Eve is the big night of celebration. They celebrate by going out into the main square and lighting off firecrackers and fireworks at midnight. We went down amongst the firecracker throwers to join in the festivities, and although there weren't very many of us-we had a great time celebrating Christmas Eve with our new friends.

It is a little tough being away from home on the holidays. I miss seeing family and friends, and just the whole feeling of Christmas at home. For part of our Christmas celebration, we ate at McDonalds! I know, it sounds weird...But it's American, and it is food that tastes familiar and therefore reminds us of home...

Peru-sing through Peru...

I know- so cheesy, but I couldn´t resist :) But, it is actually almost true. Since leaving Mancora earlier in the month I feel like it has been a whirlwind tour of Peru. Maybe that´s just because the bus journeys have gotten longer, and more frequent, as my time winds down. Having a deadline of a flight home is great stimulant to get your ass moving, but at the same time is a frustrating contradiction of the way we have been travelling.

Since leaving the dusty town of Mancora, we stopped at another beach town called Huanchaco. We ended up going there on a whim, because when we arrived in Trujillo in the morning the city didn´t look that cool, and we thought we´d give it a try. We made the right choice! Huanchaco was cute and very well-groomed, very different from many beach towns we have seen. I immediately loved that there was a boardwalk that went all the way down the stretch of the beach. We spent a few lovely days there and even took some time to see some ruins nearby. Who knew that right there was the largest adobe city in the world? Yes, that´s right...A little place called Chan-Chan. I wanted to go check the place out but we really had no idea what was in store for us. We were blown away by how huge the sight was, and that only a very small fraction is even restored. Walking through the restored section was pretty impressive. Giant adobe walls arranged in a maze-like pattern surrounding big open squares and even a pond! Carved into many of the adobe walls were intricate patterns and drawings of animals. It was pretty damn cool...

After enjoying the beach for a while it was then time to get back into the mountains, so from Huanchaco we went to a mountain town called Huaraz. The surrounding towering snow-capped peaks of the Andes really make this town. The main thing to do there is hiking and trekking, so we did a few day hikes on our own. The hike up Lago Churup was difficult and crazy, but beautiful. The final altitude of the lake was about 4400 meters (14, 435ft.), and because we got off trail towards the end of our hike we actually ended up on a peak looking down at the lake. So, technically we were higher then that...The altitude usually makes one pretty breathless, but this time my reaction was a bit different. My legs felt like lead that just couldn´t be persuaded to move, and my chest just felt all heavy. At one point I really thought I was going to pass out. I for sure thought this was a sign that I should turn around, but Adrian´s drive to reach the top and his motivation pushed me on. I fell for the ¨Let´s just hike to that tree and rest...Let´s just hike to that rock and rest¨. In the end I was very glad that he pushed me on, because I did get past it and eventually felt better and reached the top. The whole hike was pretty stunning- I have never done a hike where huge snow-capped rocky peaks are just off in the near distance.

After Huaraz we pushed on to Lima for one day, and then on to Cusco- just a short 22 hour bus ride! The bus ride was not as bad I was expecting, and we arrived in the very high city of Cusco a few days ago (3300 meters). Deciding to get to Machu Picchu and be back in Cusco for Christmas, we decided to move on the next day. Tomorrow we go to the site of Machu Picchu nice and early...I am very excited to see it, so I hope it will be impressive!

Peru!!

So we have made it to country number 11...Oh ya!! It was a strange border crossing for us. The Ecuadorian immigration building was just located on the side of a busy, dusty highway and the bus just dropped us of (we were the only 2 that got off the bus to go through immigration) and pointed us at the building. We quickly got our Ecuadorian exit stamp and then were wondering how we get into Peru, and where do we get our entry stamps? It turns out the Peru immigration building is about 6km away, so we had to take a taxi there! A bit strange-most countries we have been in you just walk from one building to the other and you´re done. So we hopped in a taxi, were taken to the border of Ecuador and dropped off in a market. They just pointed and said over there...It looks as if we are just in the middle of a busy city on market day and there is no immigration office in sight. As we started walking another taxi driver comes to us and says he will take us the 3km to the immigration office and then onto the bus terminal. Alright, I prefer than then walking in the hot sun with all my stuff. At the same time I am thinking how strange this border is...

As we start the ride with taxi number 2 we are talking with the taxi driver about this strange border crossing and how much the taxi ride will cost. Adrian says, don´t worry, we just changed a bit of money at the Ecuadorian border, it will cover what this ride costs. The taxi driver tells us that we the money changers there frequently give fake Peruvian money! We exchanged about $26USD and they gave us a 50 soles bill that looked very real, complete with holograms and watermarks (Adrian even checked when he got the bill!). So Adrian takes it out to show the cabby, and low and behold- it´s fake! Doh! It looked very real, the only way you could tell was that the number 50 on the bill was not an irridescent color. Now we know...Luckily we didn´t change much money and the fake 50 is only worth about $16USD.

We get to the Peruvian immigration and get our entry stamp and are back in the taxi to go to the bus station. Subtracting our counterfeit money from our stash, we realize we have just enough money to get us to Mancora, our destination beach town. Luckily, I had a few soles coins that I had traded with a guy in Montañita for some Colombian pesos that I had leftover...Those coins got us there on the bus! Whew...

We were pretty annoyed about getting some fake money and thought it was a lost cause. But later that night, I was able to buy some drinks at the bar with my fake note. We just picked the most wasted bartender and waited for him to help me. There was no chance this wasted dude was going to examine the bill to see if it was fake :) Good times...

Thanksgiving at the beach

I guess it´s been a while since I´ve posted an update-sorry! We´ve been bopping around Ecuador and have spent time in Baños, a cool mountain town with tons of adventure things to do and tons of beautiful waterfalls to see; stopped to see the beautiful Quilotoa crater lake in the mountains; and finally made it to the beach here in Ecuador. It took us a couple of days to make it here from the mountains in the center of the country, and in our journey we spent one night in the worst place yet. We got into this town called Portoviejo late at night, and didn´t seem to have many options in a safe neighborhood-so we ended up at Hostel Pacheco, for $3.50/night. It was horrible...Yucky bathroom with no toilet seat lid, no shower curtain (and you had to ask for tp), cot beds, dirty walls and a broken window...Good times! We stayed out a bit late trying to avoid spending an unneccesary amount of time in the room, but this town didn´t have much happening. We got up the next morning and we on our way, thankfully! We will just mark that place as our ¨worst place we stayed´, and move on...

Now we are in Puerto Lopez, a dusty little beach town on the coast of Ecuador. It´s a cute little town with not much going on. It´s been very nice to chill and relax here after the journey here and after being in mountains for a bit. The beach is nice and long and is great for a long walk or a jog. We spent our Thanksgiving here walking on the beach and eating seafood (a little different from all my previous Thanksgivings!).

Today we went to an island close by called Isla de La Plata (or otherwise known as ¨The Poor Man´s Galapagos). Since we can´t afford the Galapagos this time around, we figured this was a must do. It took about 1 hour and 20 minutes to get there on the boat, and the island looked quite nice from afar-tall cliffs dropping down to the ocean. When we started walking around we noticed how arid and desert-like it was. After a bit of a walk we started to see some of the cool birds-mostly the Blue-Footed Booby and the Frigate Bird. The cool thing was that these birds were all just sitting along the side of the trail, or sometimes on the trail-so we got a super closeup look at all of them. Many of the birds were sitting on just laid eggs, or warming about newly hatched baby birds. As we walked we started to see baby birds at all stages of growing, so that was pretty cool. The birds didn´t seem to mind our presence too much, but we would get a good sqwack if they thought we were too close. We walked for a couple of hours and saw more birds, but no other animals. After the walk and lunch we went snorkling but the visibility wasn´t very good. I enjoyed myself on the tour, but it was a bit overpriced for what we did. It was worth maybe $25, not $40...Oh well! I´m glad I saw the Blue-Footed Booby, check him out!

Time in Tunibamba

The other night A and I went to stay with a local family in the community of Tunibamba, about 30 minutes from Otavalo. We were told there would be ¨activities¨ and we would get to know how the locals lived here in Ecuador. When we arrived we met Carmen, the woman of the house, and after a few minutes of chatter, she said she needed to go get some beans- so of course we followed. She took us to one of their fields, where they were growing frijoles and corn. Such a good use of space, they planted the frijoles in between the corn so they would have both. She showed us which ones were ripe and we helped her pick some and just asked all these questions about the farm. It was great to finally get some answers about why and how they do things on the farm. After picking the beans we helped shell them all for dinner later while Carmen told us about the traditions for Day of the Dead, which happens immediately after Halloween. Families bake bread in the shape of animals for the people in there life who passed away in a way of honoring them, and keeping away the evil spirits. They spend all Saturday baking the bread, and then visit the cemeteries on Sunday. It is a pretty big event here, so it seems.

After shelling beans we relaxed a bit. I saw Marco, the 8 yr. old son playing soccer in the yard. I couldn´t resist going over to play with him-and he loved it! I love that just playing with a kid can cross all sorts of language and cultural boundaries. Before we played soccer he was a little shy, but that definetly broke the ice. Even later that night he asked me to play again, after we took the cow to drink water and put her away for the night...I had to let him win- so he gloated over dinner, saying that Ecuador beat the United States!

In the afternoon the husband, Alfonso, came home and took us for a walk. We went to see the community potato field. Such a good concept, they have a few fields that they grow crops for the people in the village. If you participate in harvesting the crops, you get to take some home for your family. ¨Working for Food¨ is really the motto here. Alfonso explained that they have 3 or 4 days to collect all the potatoes, and they have to do it when it´s not raining. There were about 40 people there when we arrived, all taking a break. Before we knew it, we walked into the field and were handed a bag to start collecting potatoes! Of course, this brought a few rounds of giggles from all the locals, but we tried our best. Adrian and I filled about 3 huge bags of potatoes, and then everyone was done for the afternoon-except for the loading of the potatoes into the tractor. I left that to Adrian, as the bags easily weighed 70 to 90lbs!!! Good times.

We had a lovely dinner that night and we chatted with Carmen and Alfonso. It was really interesting and we had a great time. The two were really involved in their community and thinking of ways to improve it. They were trying to establish an animal market in the town in addition to their weekend vegetable market, and she also volunteered to help people with medical problems in the community. Who knew that goat milk cured so many things?!

I really enjoyed our day there, it was nice to catch a glimpse of how the Indigenous people of Ecuador live. It was great of them to open their homes to us and share their lives with us, if even for a short time.

Exploring Ecuador with my Mom

It´s exciting to be in a new country!! And even better to pick up your Mom at the airport and explore a little of it with her...We met up in Quito and were off to a town a few hours south called Baños. Baños is located at the base of an active volcano, and it is a beautiful setting for riding bikes around and checking out the beautiful scenery. I lost count of how many gorgeous waterfalls we saw on our bike ride ...We cafe hopped and shopped, and chatted about everything. From Baños we hopped back up to Quito and met up with A. We explored the Old City of Quito and then went the the Equator!! There is a museum and monument there with an actual painted line on the ground to tell you your latitude and longitude. We couldn´t resist taking some corny pictures straddling the line between the hemispheres...

Since we were cramming a lot in in one week, we then went north a few hours to a town called Otavalo, which is where I am now. There is a really great market there on Saturdays, and we had just enough time to check it out. What a great market!! So many beautiful crafts- sweaters, blankets, purses, hats, jewelry...Oh, my! The products were hand-made in this region, and often you could see people at their stand knitting more wool hats or scarves. We could not get over how beautiful the fabrics were, and how cheap everything was...It was a bit painful to not be able to purchase gorgeous blankets, tableclothes, and other things for decorating my home-since I don´t even have one! I did manage to find myself some a few little things, most of which I sent home with my mom. It would almost be worth it for someone to buy a plane ticket and come to the Saturday market at Otavalo just to outfit your home and fly back with a new bag of goodies.

It was so fun to have my mom here, to catch up and to just spend time with her. I like that she gets to see that I´m doing well and am happy being on the road, but having someone from home with you is just so nice and comforting at the same time. It was so fun to have my mom fall in love with the non-U.S. things that I have become so accustomed to, like the people that get on the bus at random places and sell food and drinks. This has been happening in most of Central America and here in South America too, and I think it´s a great idea. Just picture, you left early in the morning and are on a long bus ride. Three hours into the trip you start to get hungry but are not even close to your destination...No need to worry, someone will get on selling chips, ice cream, peanuts, banana bread- you can always find something to get you through the trip! Why can´t we do this in the U.S.?! Well, I know why-but I think we should rethink that policy.

My mom is always up for anything, and we had a blast! I was so happy she came for a visit. So, if anyone else is interested, come on down- I´ll find some great things for us to see!

Last days in Colombia

Right now I am in a town called Ipiales, close to the Ecuadorian border. I plan on moving into Ecuador tomorrow, but had to stop here to see the beautiful Las Lajas Sanctuary. It was built in a gorge, spanning a river, which makes the whole setting quite beautiful. I spent a nice couple of hours wandering around it and admiring the scenery. Apparently many people come here to make religious pilgrimmages and there are many testaments to the miracles that have occurred here. Placques line the walls surrounding the cathedral with people giving thanks for their miracles. Even not considering myself not very religious, I still found this very moving...

Oddly, there were a ton of military at the cathedral, but not in an official way. They all raced down the stairs and lined up in front of the church. I could not figure out what they were doing until I saw them all file into the church-I guess when you are in the Colombian military they make you attend church too! I spent a little time talking with a very nice Colombian family and another Colombian girl that was learning English. Colombian people are so friendly and curious, so it is always fun to talk to them. Even with my not-that-great Spanish we still managed to have a nice conversation. I have spent the last week travelling on my own here in Colombia, and it has been very fun and interesting. Tomorrow I will head to Ecuador, where my mom is coming for a visit and I cannot wait! I have had the best time in Colombia and am looking forward to Ecuador!

I Love Colombia!

Especially when we get to do crazy things like bungee jumping, paragliding, and rafting...For unbelievably cheap prices! We went to San Gil, an up-and-coming mini adventure town that offers all this great stuff...We went bungee jumping for $12.50! I was scared out of my mind to bungee jump, but I watched Adrian go first, so that made it easier. I saw that the equipment worked fine and he was still in one piece, and then I was ready to go. I just forced myself to jump off that bridge-and screamed the whole way down! My heart didn't stop beating like crazy until about 15 minutes after I was back safely on the bridge. Bungee jumping was so scary to me that any other "extreme sport" seemed tame-like the paragliding. Paragliding was so fun, and not scary at all. You are standing on the ground with the guy, strapped in, and then all of a sudden you are flying like a bird. It was pretty tranquil up there taking in the beautiful scenery. It got exciting when the guy would drop the paraglider into a spin-it was just like a roller coaster! I got to check two things off my life's to-do list. Not bad.

Right now we are in Bogota-and damn-it's cold!!! It's 8661 ft. above sea level, so it is not hot up here. Quite a shock to our systems that have been lounging in hot temps for the past 8 months. We actually have to go out and buy a few articles of warm clothes. So far I only bought a hat, but I need to get a warm sweatshirt and some more pants...We will be going to a lot of high elevation places from now on South through Ecuador and Peru. Bogota seems like a pretty cool city, there is a ton of museums and parks and cool things cities have to offer. Today we went to the Botero Museum, named after probably the most famous Colombian painter (Fernando Botero Angulo). He's got a bit of a strange style, but I think the paintings are kind of amusing. They call them "Fat People". What do you think?

Bus Rides

Traveling on the cheap, as we are, means a ton of bus rides to get where we are going...Going all the way from Mexico to Panama you see a ton of different buses, and you start getting used to the shitty chicken buses, or being packed in like a sardine. But it is never easy to get on city buses that are jam packed with your giant pack and not make a scene...I would rather take a taxi!

The longest bus ride we took in Central America was about 10 hours, but here in South America, that is a small-distance ride. The countries are bigger and the buses have longer to travel, so getting used to 15-16 hour-plus bus rides (and usually overnight!) is not going to be easy.
Especially when taking a ride on a bus here is the exact equivalent of trying to sleep in a meat locker. I am not joking! They blast the air conditioning so much that it is just so uncomfortable. And we even come prepared-we change into long pants and bring a sweatshirt and socks. Last night, it wasn't enough...Instead of sleeping comfortably and waking up at your next destination- you go into hypothermia and just lay there shivering.

Not to mention that other interesting things happen on the bus rides. Take last nights' 9 hour ride, for example. First, the bus leaves late-and there were only 9 passengers...Then, about 30 minutes into the ride, the lady and young guy in the front of the bus turn around and ask Adrian if we saw a furry creature running around our feet?! What the Heck?! The bus lights are all off at this point, and all I can hear is Adrian say "A raton?" and I immediately start to get a bit grossed out. I have just been riding on a bus with a rat or a mouse crawling around my feet?! Yuck!! So Adrian gets out a flashlight and we start looking around our feet, and about the same time- I hear the translation- "You think it's a hamster?" A hamster?! This must be what they call mice in Colombia...So after some scuffle and looking around-the thing crawls by my feet and the young guy dives under the seat in the dark and catches it. It really was a hamster! A cute little orange and white guy!! What the hell was it doing on the bus?! This guy picked it up and asked all the passengers if they lost a hamster...No one had...So the two proceeded to put him in a purse for safe keeping, and feed him a cooked potato...He seemed pretty content in there. I had no idea what they were going to do with it but I just figured they would keep it as a pet. So after we watched the little guy eat the potato and wonder why he was on the bus, they decided to tie the purse closed and put it in the overhead compartment until we arrived. Needless to say the hamster chewed through the purse and is back loose in the bus somewhere, now in the overhead compartments! Good stuff...

We fall back asleep after we caught the hamster and wake up for the 2am rest stop. I go to the bathroom and come out, waiting for the bus to get going. I am standing outside the bus talking to this Australian guy we are traveling with, and we notice that Adrian is talking to some locals and has a little crowd gathered around him...We were so amused watching this scene-at 2 am, this little restaraunt in the middle of nowhere was packed and jumping and Adrian managed to enrapture a group of locals with who knows what...And we were sort of sleepy and wondering what he was doing. It was a really cool scene from afar- you could see them all asking questions, and every minute a new person would come over to hear what was going on-and there is Adrian in the middle, waving his arms around telling some story...So it turns out he was just buying a snack, and starting talking to the restaraunt owner, who asked about his trip, and they all got so curious about him, and us and they were asking him all sorts of questions. They were just so excited to talk to him, you could see it-it was cool. I think the Colombians are so far the friendliest people in all the countries I've been to. And I also think that they are really excited to see tourists in their country, after years of travelers avoiding the country because of the previous dangers.

To top it all off, on our second leg of the bus trip today-the bus broke down! Let's hope my first bus break-down is also my last...I slept for most of the time and only noticed when they turned off the bus and therefore the AC slowly died out and I had to strip off all the layers I had put on. One interesting point, I didn't hear anyone complain about the holdup (or maybe it's just because I was sleeping), but everyone just patiently sat and waited, knowing that they were trying to fix the bus. I'm not sure if that happened at home people would idly sit and wait like that...

So those are just some random thoughts about bus travel...It's weird, even though you may sleep alot, and are just sitting there-taking a bus ride really wipes you out! Time for bed...

Hiking to La Ciudad Perdida

So I just did my first trek!!! Yeah!!

When we were in Cartagena, we ran into a few other travellers we met in Panama and they told us about this 6 day trek to a place in the Colombian jungle called ¨La Ciudad Perdida¨. We hadn´t even heard about it before, but were immediately interested. We decided to tag along with a new group of people and go to the next city and check out this trek. We didn´t know much about it, but got into the city the tour was arranged from and realized that our friends booked the trek to start the next day! Mind you, we got into this city at about 9pm, and the tour was supposed to leave the next morning at 8:30...We talked to the tour operators and decided to go for it, even on the short notice. Who needs sleep before a 6 day trek anyways? We paid 30,000 pesos (=$150 US) and then immediately had to get supplies and pack our bags...and we still hadn´t even eaten dinner :)

The guide company supplied all our meals and water for the trip, so we just need to bring dry clothes, long pants, bug spray, toilet paper, extra shoes, plastic bags to protect our gear from rain, etc. We crammed all that we thought we might need for the 6 days into our small daypacks-the lighter the better.

On the first day we drove about 2 hours to the turnoff to the park, and from there we drove another hour up and down a horrible dirt, mountain road to a small town in the mountains that we would start from. After a lunch of stale sandwiches, we were off. There were 8 people in our group- a nice mix of a few Americans, a French guy, Spanish guy, Swiss guy and and Aussie dude. We were to hike a total of 22km to the Lost City, mostly about 3-5 hours a day, with one long day of an 8 hour hike on the way back down.

The first day was a bit rough, getting back into hiking after a while is always hard. Add in torrential rain and the fact that we were hiking uphill through mud canyons and basically a mud river at our feet. Oddly enough- it was really cool to hike in the torrential rain. Knowing that I had no choice but to keep going and plug on, I think made it fun to be out in the rain (and I was so excited that I had decided to put my dry clothes into a waterproof travel bag inside my backpack!). A strange thought, because it also meant that we would probably see a lot of rain on the rest of the 5 days! After the first days´ hike we made it up to a little house in the mountains where we were to camp, and we got into dry clothes and had some dinner. Our guides really knew how to cook-we had great food the whole time! We slept the night in hammocks and were off early the next morning...

The next couple of days were great hikes. I was a bit sore, but tried to do a lot of stretching to keep the soreness at a minimum. Oddly enough, I think the best remedy for the sore muscles was to just keep hiking! The scenery and the terrain was gorgeous throughout the whole hike. I especially enjoyed that the terrain changed frequently- we´d hike through the jungle, along mountain ridges, up mud canyons, alongside a river, through a river, by little shacks in the forests...We saw a lot of Indigenous families living way out in the middle of no-where. They were mostly very wary of the hikers, and not smile or say anything to us. The adults would mostly stare, while the kids were sometimes a bit more curious. The children were amazing...Wearing little potato sac dresses (boys and girls alike) with long brown hair...Some smart Indios even sold Gatorade at their little houses! If it was cold, I probably would have bought some :) The hike was such a great hike that I was excited to be doing it, even before I made it to the Lost City!

On day three, we finally made it to La Ciudad Perdida. After a pretty tough hike of about 4 hours, we got to the base of a stairway. The stairway looked like it just started right out of the river, so we waded across and started climbing the stairs...I have never climbed so many stairs in my life!!! There were at least 2,000 stairs to get to the city!!! And after already hiking the whole day-our legs were pretty shot. It was tiring, but a cool, mysterious walk up mossy covered stairs into the jungle...

We got to the top and were greeted by a small troop of the Colombian military...They all seemed friendly and amused at our exhausted looks of climbing all those stairs. The military was stationed there to protect tourists from any residual FARC guerilla activity in the jungle-which was fine by me. I was glad to see them instead of rebels...

We spent the next day exploring the city, founded by Tayrona Indians (discovered only in 1975). Our guide didn´t have the complete history of the place as we would´ve liked-but it was still really cool...They had basically built all these round circular stone terraces linked by tons of steps. Set high up in the mountains, it was such a spectacular sight.

The toughest part of the hike was the 8 hour hike down, which started with a descent of all those 2,000 stairs!!! My legs were wiped out immediately...But I made it to the lunch stop and the lunch gave me a second wind for the last 3 hours-whew!

So if you can´t tell, I really enjoyed this hike and was proud of myself for having done it...It wasn´t as difficult as I expected! Maybe that means there will be more treks in my future-who knows!

South America...via San Blas

Now doesn´t that look nice?! Yup, it was pretty amazing...That´s me relaxing in the beautiful water in the "Swimming Pool" in the San Blas Islands. Behind me in the photo you can see a handful of boats docked, and this is where we spent three days of our sailing trip from Panama to Colombia. It was a beautiful spot to swim, snorkle, and hang out on deserted islands.

We had heard many horror stories of these boat rides from Panama to Colombia: people getting lost for 10 days, people running out of food and water, or having a horrible captain...I am glad to report almost exactly the opposite of what we feared. We set sail on the Melody with Captain Marc and his wife Paola. We had a crew of 8 backpackers, 6 Americans and 2 Austrian guys. It was such a fantastic trip!! Everyone was cool and chill (a necessary characteristic for sharing the confined space of the boat!), and the captain really knew what he was doing. Not to mention we were well fed!! Marc´s wife, Paola, was a great cook- we were treated to meals us backpackers don´t normally get: lasagna, fish tacos, and even a turkey dinner! On the first day of the sail we made it to the San Blas Islands in about nine hours, and the seas were really calm. We even had a small crew of dolpins swimming alongside us for awhile. When we got to the paradise of San Blas- we knew we made the right choice instead of flying to Colombia! We were enjoying it so much we actually asked to stay another day at San Blas, which we did! It was hard to get sick of the beautiful surroundings we had...

The rest of the sail from San Blas to Cartagena was supposed to take 36 hours...That sounded pretty daunting to me...And the first day in the open waters was pretty rough, I must admit. The waves were pretty big and I did feel a bit seasick. So much for dramamine! I spent most of the first day trying to sleep and lay down in one spot. As soon as you got up to use the bathroom or move around you would feel sick almost immediately. The second day of sailing was much calmer and therefore a much better sail...We even caught some wind and a current and made it to Cartagena a few hours ahead of schedule. Even with a little seasickness-this was definitely the way to go!

We are now in Cartagena and enjoying the city. The city is surrounded by a huge wall built 500 yeas ago to defend against pirates. The walled part of the old city has these great old buildings and so much character...It is an interesting mix of old and new-you have one area of the city surrounded by an old wall, and then a few miles away you can see the skyscrapers that have been built to modernize the city. At night, the old city is so romantic, and just such a great spot to sit outside and soak up the atmosphere. What a great city!!!

Here´s one last shot of us amid the palm trees in San Blas...

Shoes...and other random thoughts...

I miss my selection of shoes (I guess this can also be applied to clothes)! But it's especially hard when we are in a cool, happening city like Panama City and we go to the clubs...I want to wear a sign around my neck that says, "I have cuter clothes and shoes at home-but I couldn't fit them in my backpack!" Not that I look shabby, I did manage to bring a cute top and jeans that is my standard going-out outfit. But you know what I mean...

I do have to note, I think Latin American women are born wearing high heels! I am a little envious at their ability to wear the tallest of high-heel shoes and walk around like their wearing running shoes. And they still manage to dance in these crazy shoes. I, as well as many people I know-would be limping around after an hour of wearing some of these shoes...And last night as I sat in the club observing this-not one woman was wearing flat shoes (and the club was packed)!

More about shoes...My favorite little black crocs are useless here in Central America during the rainy season. It's very strange, but many parts of the sidewalks that are directly in front of a store are tiled. Wet tiles are the enemy of any croc-wearer. You take one step and immediately start to slide, and if you aren't quick about it, you will end up on your butt. It's like trying to walk on a sheet of ice...You start taking baby steps and look absolutely ridiculous! So it seems that my crocs aren't coming back out until the rain stops, or people stop tiling the sidewalks...

Here in the city I started seeing a few sushi restaraunts and just knew that I had to have it...We love sushi, and haven't eaten it since before we left (over 6 months ago!). We were taken to this great lounge that served delicious sushi, and we were in heaven! It was SOOOOO good :)
To top it off, we found another bar that had import beer...SAM ADAMS - double :)

There are a few more random thoughts I have, but that will do for now.

It has been SIX months on the road!!

We have finally made it to Panama City!! It took us six months to get here from Cancun, but we did hit every country on the way down! Looking back on the past six months, it's been such great fun and we have seen and done so much! I honestly wasn't sure how I would feel after traveling for, let's say, even three months. But, I am really loving it. I think even more so then when I started. I have learned to chill a bit and not need be on the go as much as I usually am. Traveling on a budget certainly means that we are not taking expensive tours every day, but there is something else to be gained by slowing down and doing this a little differently. Being away from home and the people I love there is the hardest, but while I am still enjoying myself the road is still calling me :)

Here are some highlights that pop to mind over the last half year...

The whole country of Guatemala was amazing. It's such a beautiful country, and very cheap! I recommend anyone interested to visit there. Tikal, Semuc Champey, Lago Atitlan...ahh...

I loved seeing all the different Mayan ruins as we came south, and I have learned a lot about the Mayan culture...(even enough to question some elements of the movie Apocalpto)

Scuba diving has been completely amazing...and addicting!! It is so fun to be underwater and observe the world down there. My favorite place to dive has been in Belize, near Caye Caulker, where the water is crystal clear, making the visibility perfect. There were so many fish, and the coral reef itself was fascinating.

Having visitors!!! My mom and her friend Lyne visited us in Honduras, and our friends Gavin and Lilly visited us in Nicaragua. Huge props to them for coming to see us in these areas of the country where not many people have an interest in seeing. I know that we were the main draw, but I think they all enjoyed there visits, and in a place where they might not have normally gone to. I would not be surprised if my mom went back to the Bay Islands of Honduras, because they were just beautiful...If anyone else is interested-we would love to have you!

Boquete, Panama, was a great spot for us to hang for awhile...Since I just talked about it I won't blab any more about it.

Meeting great, fun, interesting people along the way.

Trying to learn Spanish...I am getting a little better, but is still intimidating to speak in front of Adrian, who speaks Spanish perfectly. Damn him! :) At least I get a laugh out of the silly things I end up saying by mistake, and I know am able to accept help from Adrian now instead of being annoyed...Watching the Olympics in Spanish gives me alot of new words!

There may be more, but that is what I have at the moment. Time has gone by so quickly! Time to go explore the city...

Back on the road...

So we finally managed to leave our cozy little town of Boquete. We left a little over a week ago. We first went to David, the closest city to Boquete and then onto Santa Catalina, a surfing village on the western coast. We went there on our first trip to Panama, and wanted to go back and stay a little longer this time.

Santa Catalina is a very, very small town, with not much to it except a few places to stay and some surf camps. There are two tiny little markets that run out of food towards the end of the week, one pay phone in the center, and no internet places!!! It´s definitely nice for a change to be away from everything, but I completely forgot how basic this town was. On the first day we got there, it was the end of the week, so the market shelves were wiped out. We couldn´t even by bread to make sandwiches...And because the place is so quiet, some of the few restaurants don´t open every night, or close as soon as they run out of food, which can be often. It certainly is a funny dynamic to adjust yourself to that pace and non-technology of a place. But, it´s a very quaint town that is very relaxing. We spent a day or two relaxing, reading, laying in hammocks, and going for walks. Adrian had another go at surfing as well, but this time I just cheered him on from the beach.

Last Friday we took a snorkling trip from Santa Catalina to Isla Coiba. Isla Coiba is a national park, about a 1.5 hour boat ride off the coast. It´s really interesting- they call it the poor man´s Galapagos, as the island never had any serious development on it, and it has a few species of animals that are only found on this island. Back from 1919 to 2004 the island actually served as a prison colony that was pretty brutal for its´ prisoners. Other than the few prison facilities, nothing else was ever built on the island so it remained a hotspot for birds and wildlife....

So, doesn´t it sound like an interesting place to visit? The boat ride out to the island was pretty spectacular. The coast line was mainly just rocky cliffs with a few isolated beaches sprinkled around. There were a ton of little rock islands that formed off the coast. We stopped at a spot and snorkled around, and then went on to the island. What a cool spot. I wish we had thought ahead to stay overnight there. We did a brief little hike to see some of the island. We didn´t see such spectacular wildlife on our brief walk, just tons of iguanas and some cool birds. If we had more time it would´ve been amazing to check out more of the island...If anyone is in the vicinity, you should make a point to get out there-it´s a great spot!

From Santa Catalina we came to Las Tablas, a small city on the way to our next destination. Our main idea was to come back to civilization, use computers- and I wanted to go shopping (which is a completely different/strange experience then shopping at home!). We are going to try to get to another remote island when we leave here (possibly this afternoon) called Isla Cañas. It seems like it will be an adventure to get there, so we´ll see!

Still in Boquete!

Here's my favorite little guy at the Paradise Gardens...Billy the Capuchin Monkey!!! He is only a few months old, and when we first arrived he had only been there a few days. He was so scared of people he did a lot of squeaking and running away from us. We really couldn't get near him...But, after almost one month, he is getting so brave! He now comes and sits on us and hangs out, pulls our hair and plays with us. He has learned a lot from his older monkey friend, Monty. It has been really cool to see him become healthier and less scared as we spend more time with him...

It's been very nice settling for a bit here in Boquete. It's been a month, and we will leave at the end of the week :( Volunteering at the gardens was the best move we could do while we here-we got to spend time with fun animals, and got to meet really great people! One of my favorite things about the gardens is that the people there are so nice. The owners, Jenny and Paul Saban, have created a truly homey community among the people that spend time there. When it's raining we all just sit around on the porch, drink tea, and chat (the owners are English, so our tea drinking has definetly gone up over the last month!). Since we have been on the move for the most part of the last 4-5 months, it is a different, enjoyable feeling to stop in somewhere and start to get to know people there. It will be sad to leave here, but there is more to explore of Panama...and then on to South America!

Time to stay put, for a little while.

We have decided to hang out here in Boquete, for about a month...We have been thinking that somewhere in Panama we would try to stop for a bit, and either work or volunteer somewhere. By staying in one place we will save a little money by not paying for traveling expenses every couple of days, and getting a deal on a place to stay. Plus, it's nice to unpack for a bit! We rented a little cabina right across the driveway from the cool hostel we were staying at. It is a pretty good setup for us!!

On our second or third day here we visited Paradise Gardens, and garden and wildlife refuge started by an English couple that retired here in Panama...After some time, they started taking on all sorts of rescue animals and trying to rehabilitate them. Three years later, they have a beautiful garden, bird aviaries that contain beautiful tropical birds, different monkeys and other animals. I am not doing the place justice in my inadequate description, but when we went for a visit we absolutely loved the place. We stopped back to ask if they could use our help, and we are now volunteers there!!! It is so fun!! We go there in the afternoons and give people tours and tell them about the animals, or do various other things to help out around the place...The other day I sawed down an orange tree (a first for me!) and put the branches in the animal cages for them to play with. We get to play with all the animals, and start to try to hand feed some of the rescued babies. What is so cool about this place is that it is just run on donations, and the retirement pension of the couple that started it! I think it will be a fun way to spend some time here, hanging out with animals and trying to learn all the plants that they have. Here is a picture of me with Precious, a Hyacinth Macaw. I have never seen a bird like this before, she is absolutely beautiful!

Country number 8!

We are back in Panama! Last week we visited Bocas del Toro, a town on an island called Isle de Colon, on the North Eastern coast, just below Costa Rica. It is the same spot where we spent New Years' 06-07. It was nice to revisit a place that was slightly familiar. Being on the road and seeing so many new things is really great, but it is a nice to change to have a little sense of knowledge of the place. I think I have forgotten that reassuring little aspect of familiarity! It was cool to go back there and remember that the white truck at the end of the road has a guy who makes the most delicious sandwiches in the town...We went several nights for dinner there, and told as many people we could about his yummy sandwiches- They all agreed. I think the sandwiches were still even the same price:)

I thought it would be boring to go back there, but we ended up staying for a week!! We had a blast and weren't bored at all. We went to the beach, we did a cool dive, and we even attempted more surfing (it didn't go so well this time, as we forgot the board wax and couldn't stay on the board because it was too slippery!). We stayed in a relatively new hostel, and we met some great people that we hung out with for the week. Bocas is a big party town, and it is extremely hot AND buggy. Not a fun combination. It was the strangest thing, we decided that around 7pm was the hottest time of the day...It was very weird, you felt ok, finally cooling off from the scorching daytime heat and then in the evening you started sweating all over again! So, the combination of staying up late, not sleeping due to the heat, and being eaten alive- Bocas kinda wiped us out...

Which leads us to where we are now. We are in the highlands, in a town called Boquete. There is supposed to be some good hikes and some hot springs here. For today, we are doing nothing...Relaxing and catching up on sleep, as well as enjoying the cooler mountain temperature! We are finally not sweating!!! And my bug bites are subsiding...

There is a serious need for editing down here...

Do you see anything wrong with this sign?
It doesn't make any sense!!! It was a sign that was in our hotel, encouraging visitors to book any excursions with them because they would allow a full refund if you would like to cancel due to rain, unlike other tour operators in town. A very good thing to have, as it really pours here during the rainy season!

Adrian and I have a great idea for a new business...Contracting Sign Editors for businesses all over Central America. We've been seeing signs, all over the place, written in English for benefit of the non*Spanish speaking visitors. This is a very good idea, obviously, but noone seems to execute it very well. The translations turn out very bad, and often don't make much sense. If you were a business owner and had the good idea to make your signs in English, shouldn't you go to a little bit of trouble to find a native English speaker to give it a once over?! I'm not trying to make fun, as I myself am trying to get by in a country who's language I don't speak very well...But we do find it funny that noone takes that extra little step to make sure the signs make sense...Or that there are no spelling errors. Just a thought!

Costa Rica!

So we have made it to Costa Rica...Like I mentioned before, the rainy season is upon us, but it´s really not too bad. It rains for a bit in the afternoon, or just at night. For us it just means that we now bring our rain jackets with us all the time, and try to plan it so we are not stuck in a downpour with all our belongings on our backs.

After the tropical storm passed in Nicaragua, the next day was absolutely beautiful. So, of course we headed to the beach and took surfing lessons! It was great! I was able to stand up after a few tries, and by the end of the afternoon I could stand on almost every try. Granted, I still had help from the instructor turning the board around and getting into the wave at the right time. Next time I try I´m sure it will be so much harder, as you have to do so much crazy paddling! But it was fun, and we will definetly do some more. I wish Christen were there to learn with me!

Anyways, back to Costa Rica...We just spent the last three days driving up and down the Western coast of the Nicoya peninsula. We beach hopped and drove between all these hard-to-get-towns. We rented a car because it was easier than using the bus for where we wanted to go. I know, renting a car-so luxurious!!! It worked out well, though. We went to Tamarindo and Samara as our two major stops, and checked out most of the beaches in between. The beaches near Samara were pretty nice, and you could find yourself all alone on a beach. Very nice...We just headed back inland and into the mountains, we are on our way to Volcan Arenal and then Monteverde Cloud forest.