Time to summarize

As our trip in South America is wrapping up I thought I would take a moment to think over our time here and write up some thoughts on our trip, things we learned, things we would have done differently, etc. It is amazing that it has already and yet only been two months since we started our journey and that we still and only have four months left.

I don't really know where to start but I'll jump right in and let the order take care of itself.

Bolivia is the cheapest country to travel through in SA. From what I have gathered from other travellers the order from cheapest to most expensive is as follows: Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile. I don't know of any tests done to confirm this but from the talk this would be a rough outline. Argentina and Chile are every bit as expensive as Europe from what I have been told. Venezuela has been excluded because the only people I met who went there were robbed on their first day in front of military guards and left as soon as they could after that. I don't recommend going to Venezuela for a few years at least.

At the outset of our trip we would probably have only done one thing differently. Throughout Central and South America there are options for two week Spanish immersion courses and home-stays. These are affordable and extremely useful. Most are six hours of learning per day and then speaking with your host family for the rest of the time. I very much wish that we had known about and decided to do this before we started out.

We have learned to read between the lines of our guide books and evaluate what we really want to see when someone tells us about a sight to see or a tourist attraction. The books are valuable information but they are there to bring out the positive qualities of a place and not to be negative. Likewise people may have had a good or bad experience somewhere but it is very situational. The weather or a bad or good employee might make the difference for the entire trip. That is why we have also been learning to take things as they come and appreciate what we can about it. Our Machu Picchu experience was hampered by the fog and how expensive it was to see it but we absolutely loved walking to the Inca bridge, hiking around the ruins, and sitting to enjoy the quiet of the fog when we were able to get away from the tourists.

Ecuador Summary

Ecuador provided us with some time to slow down. We felt more comfortable staying in cities longer due to better infrastructure; museums, monuments, exhibits, restaurants, etc. The landscape is extremely varied from warm sandy coastal beaches to fertile lowlands to cloud forests to high altitude mountainous terrain, to jungles. The biodiversity of plants and animals is vast. It is a plant, insect and animal lovers playground.

There is definitely much to see in this country but its is easier to travel due to its smaller size. It only takes 10 to 12 hours to cross the entire country. Its fuel industry is also heavily subsidized making bus fare much cheaper than other countries; about a dollar per hour.

We appreciated Ecuador for the ability to relax and take our time. There were no pushy travel agencies, we could see sights on our own instead of with tours all the time, and day trips were easier to plan and accomplish. We traveled at a relaxed pace and enjoyed things when we wanted to which allowed us to appreciate more of each place we were in. It helped that each place that we stayed had more to be appreciated than a specific sight but rather a diversity in things to do and see.

We also appreciated the food in Ecuador. Instead of rice, potatoes, and a meat there were usually good soups and beans added to the mix which was a welcome change. We were able to buy big lunches for $2 per person. We also found that there was more selection within the country of international food. We found italian, western, german, mexican, thai, and even indian cuisine. Good food selection was a very welcome development in our travels.

All in all Ecuador provided us with an inexpensive, relaxing, and diverse travel experience. We greatly enjoyed our time there and would definitely recommend it to others.

Canoa Treats

Winding down

Our time in Canoa, Ecuador, and South America is winding down fast. Tomorrow we take the bus to Guayaquil so that we can take the bus to Lima so that we can take the plane to Amsterdam so that we can take the plane to Scotland. It is crazy to think we are leaving and yet I am also very excited to move on.

We have spent the last week at a hostel about 15 minutes walk down the beach from Canoa. Carnival was, as promised, mayhem but we were relatively unaffected by it due to our little cloister. The hostel is being managed by a couple who own the surf shak restaurant on Canoa's main strip. They live here along with other local gringo's, travellers who have been intending to leave Canoa for the past two to six months but haven't been able to, and short term gringo's like us. It has made for wonderful mix of people and the hostel is used for a gathering point for all. The most wonderful thing is how welcoming the people are here. Whether you've stayed here for a week or months everyone is welcomed into the group. We feel like we have friends here just from our short stay.

Our days have mostly consisted of surfing and eating. We found a five dollar all you can eat buffet in town with a French lady doing the cooking. She makes crepes with chocolate sauce and the buffet consists of fruit, granola, yogurt, bread and jam, cheese and meat, juice, coffee, and eggs. I can say that I feel that I've been eating more than five dollars worth of food every day. The breakfast usually carries us over until dinner leaving the rest of the day for surfing.

Surfing consists of being in the water for an hour or so and then running for the shade once I'm out. There it is warm enough but the sun cannot scorch my skin. I swing in a hammock and read or play the guitar that is at the hostel. I also had the chance to volunteer at the Surf Shak during Carnival as a server. The system was very simple and I picked it up quickly. It was fun to be productive and to meet and chat with many different people. I even got some free meals out of it for working and a discount off the food whenever we eat there.

We have spent most of the week with our friends from Ireland who continue to be so sweet. We meet them in the morning for breakfast and plan the day from there. They have enjoyed our hostel as theirs is in the heart of downtown where the mayhem is. We have enjoyed their company whether it is surf chat or just quietly reading books together we are so thankful that they are here.

Backpackers

We have been informed that it is different in other areas of the world but I wanted to take a moment to comment on the back packing culture. I have been very surprised by others who are travelling in a similar manner to us. The majority of travellers we have come across have been driven not by a desire to experience different cultures first-hand, visit historical sights, eat different foods, etc. The majority of travellers seem to want to experience those things in between the times that they are intoxicated. Finding the bars is the goal and many blow through budgets months earlier than anticipated.

There is also a large contingent of subcultures from different countries. We have seen what can only be described as the grunge culture from Argentina, England, Australia, Germany, The US, Canada, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Chile, and France. The one common thread between all the countries is to be as dirty in appearance as possible. Dreadlocks also abound naturally. Our first couple days in Canoa we saw three young men who were too perfect. A hollywood costumer could not have picked better outfits. The one was tall, lanky with dreadlocks and an ugly hawaiian shirt. The second was stockier with short hair and a folded bandana tied around his head. The third and my favorite wore a camouflage wide rim hat with the chin strap tightened and resting on the top of his chin, a thick moustache with soul patch and an uglier hawaiian shirt. It was priceless.

I have described what I have seen but I have also a few observations of things I have been puzzled to not see. Mostly the Russians. Where are the Russians? I have not met a single person from Russia traveling in South America. It could be that this continent is as of yet not a popular destination to some countries but I am actually puzzled as to why I have not met just one traveller from there yet. Puzzling.

One thing I have most enjoyed on our travels is eavesdropping. I greatly enjoy listening to other conversations; listening in to thoughts and opinions. I have not enjoyed the two most prominent word in the English language "like" and the expletive that starts with the letter "f". These words are used in much the same way, usually spoken every other word in a sentence and both are as unforgivable when used in this fashion.

A few observations.

Canoa again

Today as I type I am sitting in the Surf Shak in Canoa, Ecuador. A thatched roof peaking at around twenty feet decorated by surf boards with legs of manakins surfing, fans stirring the air, a row of small colored glass square windows, and a wall of clear glass windows facing the ocean. There is an abundance of ragae music in the air as well as smells of sea breeze, wet sand, onion, and my own sweat drying on my shirt.

The town is quiet this morning, prepared for the weekend. yesterday it was bustling with noise and people moving about, fixing things up, repainting, putting out signs, putting in an overhang in front of their store, etc. The reason for the buzz is Carnival. It is currently low tide. A good metaphor for this weekend. In roughly 5-6 hours the town will experience a flood of people. There is a projected twenty to thirty thousand people coming to Canoa for the weekend; ten to fifteen times the population of the town. From what we have been told there will be a shortage of sober people throughout the weekend and a severe increase in eggs and flour in the air.

Our original plan was to go to a town called Puerto Lopez during carnival but as we could not find one hostel or hotel that had vacancy online and that all the coastal towns were to experience such a flood of people, we decided to try our luck here. As luck would have it we ran into a couple of travellers whom we connected with in Quito. They are two very sweet Irish ladies and we get along very well. We will be staying in Canoa until next Wednesday when we commence the last leg of our South American trip. Seven hours by bus to Guayaquil and thirty-one hours bus ride to Lima after there. Ugh is all we can say but it beats a five hundred dollar plane ride.

We rented a surf board between the four of us and will be splitting the cost for the week. I tried it out yesterday and stood up for the first time every I believe. It felt good but was short lived. Speaking of such things Ashley is currently in the ocean some where taking a surf lesson. She informed the surf instructor yesterday that she doesn't actually like water all that much to which he replied that they would work on that. I hope that they are finding it easy to work on that.

With Carnival starting we have moved hostels. Out hotel owner Felix will be charging $25 per person starting today and as there is no chance that he will not fill all of his rooms and each full room is worth around $100 per night he was not willing to allow us to stay for our combined $16 per night. Just as well because we found a hostel about 15 minutes walk down the beach for a reasonable price. The owners of the Surf Shak are managing the hostel for a friend and most everyone who has been here has said it is best not to stay in town with how crowded it will be. We are expecting madness and plotting how we can stay outside of the town for the weekend. The actual holidays are the 11th and 12th of February.

Good times.

The Middle of the World

While in Quito we had the opportunity to go to the very center of the earth. It is probably self explanatory that Ecuador houses the equator and we, like every tourist, had to go check it out. The "Mitad del Mundo" is the official monument and park for the equator but it is not the real center of the earth.

The real equator is three hundred meters from the monument. You see when the Spanish decided to build a monument for the equator they used their best instruments and such but it just wasn't good enough. With GPS they found the real equator and it ran through someone's back yard. This back yard now holds the Museo Inti-nan.

The Museo Inti-nan is quite small but we found it fascinating. While inside we were able to take part in many interesting experiments to prove that we were in fact standing on the equator. We saw water swirl clockwise south of the equator, counter clockwise north, and not swirl at all when standing directly over it. We balanced eggs on the heads of nails and we walked in a straight line. The difficulty in walking a straight line is that our inner ear, being liquid is accustomed to the gravitational pull going towards the poles of the earth. It adjusts easily on either side of the equator but to stand directly on the equator and walk in a straight line is very challenging.

The museum also heldanother treasure. A Ecuadorian tribe from the Amazon jungle came and built a traditional house, canoe, weapons, etc. to give a picture of their lives. When I say isolated I mean that the only clothing the men wear is a string around their hips to keep their penises pointed straight up. They do this of course because of the danger of amazonian fresh water fish that will make a home of a urethra if it gets the chance. The string protects the men from this disastrous fate. We also learned step by step how to shrink someone's head which I thought may come in handy in the future?

We did go to see the monument and the surrounding park but it was not as interesting and had more to sell than to offer us. One cool exhibit was the insectarium which held insects mainly from Ecuador but also from around South America. Most of them were gigantic.

Treats!

Photos from Canoa.
1. A walk along the beach
2.A rained out superbow
3. The pouring rain
4. Canoa's main street

Canoa, Ecuador

Ecuador's coastal towns range from large ports to tiny fishing villages. On the spectrum are surfing towns large and small. Canoa is a small fishing village turned small fishing village too tired to resist becoming a small surfing town. It has a wide stretch of beach with cliffs to the north and an island to the south. The waves are consistently around three feet and are very gentle. It is a good place for surfing and a perfect place for learning to surf.

The night bus here was pleasant enough. It was quite cramped which was not conducive to sleeping for me but we managed a few hours between us. At about 3:30am I may have cursed salsa music but I have since realized that it had no control how loudly it was played over the bus speaks. I forgive you Salsa music but you will have to give me some time to warm up to you again. I was less enthusiastic about being dropped off in an unfamiliar town at 5am without knowing which direction our hostel lay.

Things seem to work out in the end. We found our hostel and though we woke the owner up at an unreasonable hour he gave us a reasonable price, a room right away, and as long a time to sleep as we liked. It was so nice to sleep after that bus ride. Felix, the owner, has been wonderful to us since with plenty of good advice and information. Our hostel, which is really a hotel is very clean and Felix is always hard at work tending to the needs of the place.

So far we are enjoying Canoa quite a bit. We even caught half of the Superbowl but we ended up getting rained out. It rained so hard the streets turned to streams and the power went off. We had to run about a half a kilometer or so to our hotel by which time we were soaking wet. The rain was warm and we loved it.

The last few days have been spent relaxing on the beach and discovering hang out spots within the town. Our current favorite is the Surf Shak from which I am writing. They are a hostel, restaurant, and rental facility owned by a young couple from Colorado. Today we are planning to play in the ocean and tomorrow we will hopefully be surfing.

Ta ta for now.

Treats!

These are a select few photos from our trip to Mindo.
1. The first dirty dirt hill. The rest were a combination of mud, gravel, rock, and sometimes tree branches.
2. My walk of shame in Mindo. My pants are in the bag and I had long underwear on behind the bag. How embarrassing.
3. Our wonderful hostel room. It was small but so very pleasant.
4. The next days ride home yielded much better photo opportunities.

A day trip adventure

Herein find the tale of our adventure to Mindo, Ecuador.

Ashley and I had planned on going to Mindo since Banos. It is a very small out of the way town about an hour and a half from Quito. The description was that it was a sleepy town, that it had a two hour hike circuit with seven waterfalls to view, and that it had a butterfly... museum I suppose that raised 25 different types of butterflies including the Giant Blue Morpho. It would be a quick one or two day trip depending on if we liked the town or not. As it turned out it was a one day trip but not because we didn't like the town. The reason was that we had to return the motorcycle that we rented.

That's right we rented a motorcycle and rode it to Mindo. Not only did we ride it to Mindo but to get there we took the back roads. Fifty five percent of the drive was mountainous dirt road. I rarely took it out of second gear the entire first day. I was wary because we rented at 200cc Suzuki dirt bike which I thought may be a little weak for two people. That little bike was loving life! It ate up the hills and bounced along the sometimes stony path with ease.

On the way there we followed streams through valleys and went up and down mountains all along through a cloudforest. About an hour into our backroad journey the cloudforest lived up to its name. We expected a drizzly mist and we got it. The wind and the mist were playing a game to see who would win. About two hours in, with two hours left, the cloudforest outdid itself and released a torrent of small but effective droplets. Luckily we were wearing rain jackets but anything waist down was thoroughly soaked. Even so with the uncooperative weather we still loved the entire trip.

When we pulled into Mindo we had puddles in our shoes, our pants stuck to our legs, and we were ready to be dry. We went to a few hotels which were charging a ridiculous price per person (apparently Mindo is a bird lovers paradise and apparently bird lovers will pay huge amounts of money to be comfortable while they journey). In my misery I mistook one hotel to be fifteen dollars per person instead of the fifty dollars per person that it was. Ashley went to pay while I started figuring if I had packed anything that resembled a change of clothes. Imagine trying to explain to a hotel owner that we thought the charge per person was thirty five dollars less than what he was asking while standing in a muddy puddle in one of his rooms wearing only a shirt and a towel around your waste. Now think of that scenario scrambling to think of spanish words to explain the situation. It got awkward. Real awkward. I suppose the jacuzzi jet bathtub should have stopped me from taking off my pantaloons.

Luckily the hotel owner took it well, though he wouldn't even think of giving us a discount. He did point us in the right direction and after a short walk through the main street of town in my underpants we came to a suitable hostel. It may have been my favourite hostel yet. We have our laundry done straight away and I spent the rest of the night without clothing to wear. Luckily Ashley packed workable clothes and was able to go out to find us dinner.

We were unfortunately unable to see the butterfly museum or go hiking due to the fact that we didn't get our clothes back until the next morning and we had to leave relatively early to get back on time. One pleasant thing (other than dry pants) about the morning was that we did not fully realize how stunning the cloudforest scenery actually was until we were on the bike again. The trip home completed a circuitous route and was all paved road but the sun was shining and the puddles in our shoes dried slightly (our clothes that we didn't have washed and dried did not dry at all throughout the night).

We made it back safely and on time even though our gps locator stopped working half way through the ride home. All in all 100% successful trip and I think it is already a highlight of our travels.

Right now

We are awaiting our bus departure tonight. An 8 hour trip to the small coastal town of Canoa. We are a little perturbed because our hostel would charge us half a day payment per person to hang out there until nine or so tonight. Most backpacker hotels are more understanding than that. Luckily we've found a refuge and we are waiting it out until we have to leave. Buy something every hour or so is the game. In the end we will have spent the same amount of money but we have the added bonus of having good beverages or food while we wait and that we somewhat stuck it to our greedy hostel owners. Only four hours to go!

The Basilica

There was one sight in Quito that dominated our interests. The Basilica. Its spires rise high above the central square and the old town and it is a gorgeous building both in and out. Reconstruction has been taking place for over one hundred years and has seen its gargoyles replaced with Galapagos turtles, iguanas, and birds.

We climbed its seventy-four meter spires and beheld an excellent view of the city. We were even allowed inside the clock tower and saw its inner workings. I was so excited to be inside with five minutes to noon expecting the bell to toll. Unfortunately I am not one for whom the bell tolls. It clanged twice to signal the hour but it was very soft.

Below:

1. The Basilica
2. Can you spot the gargoyles?
3. Beautiful stained glass. It was at least 4 brothers in height.
4. View of the clock towers and city from the spire.
5. View of the spire and the city from the clock tower. I think the spire is gorgeous.

Adjusting

The last week has been very interesting for me. It has been over a month since traveling. Over a month since going to any type of employment. Over a month of planning my days to solely revolve around seeing sights, eating and keeping entertained. It has required a bit of adjustment.

I have been feeling restless and ill-content during the day time especially on days when we are sitting around the hostel. My ill-content comes from a feeling of not being productive. There is no real work to be done or stimulus to bring a worth-while challenge to the day. Some days I feel that I am just killing time between meals and sleep.

I expected to feel this in some capacity as I am used to working full-time. I am excited for our time on the coast in Ecuador as I plan to surf which will be a new challenge. Other times are more challenging due to setting and events. I have a few ideas as to how to address this but it will be interesting to see what other thoughts and feelings will arise due to full time travel. It will also be interesting to see the adjustment getting back to the non travel life.

Photo Con Crema

Pictured is:
1. Quito's old town view of the "Dancing Virgin". It is actual a giant statue of Mary standing on a serpent ready to take flight.

2. The beautiful and bustling central square of Quito. Beautiful.

3. Quito's Presidential Palace in the main square. Just outside of the square you can find the most extravagant church. The interior walls and ceiling is covered in gold. Hundreds of pounds of gold. Impressive or ridiculous; you decide.

4. A view of the old town streets. Still cobblestone and some with the original stones laid in the 1500's

A lovely weekend

This weekend we went to a little town called Otavalo. We were lucky enough to have met two Argentinian ladies at our hostel who were headed to the same place and spoke English and Spanish. It was very fortunate to because trying to navigate through the public bus system was challenging.

After a two hour bus ride we pulled into Otavalo where the market starts in the town square and expanded from there. It was huge. We did our best to see each part of the market but we ended up getting lost in the streets and going wherever we saw something interesting. There were so many different things; fruits, veggies, clothing, instruments, jewelry, blankets, table clothes, hammocks, yarn, trinkets of all varieties, paintings, and cloth. Ashley went coo-coo for cloth where as I wanted to find a replacement hat and was interested in the instruments.

We stayed for two nights in Otavalo because we wanted to have less pressure to buy at the market, the surrounding area was beautiful, and the hostel was comfortable. On the second night, Sunday, we were kept awake by loud music playing. I couldn't sleep because the beat was too good and eventually I gave in to curiosity, put my clothes back on, and went in search of this live band. I found it two blocks from our hostel in a small soccer stadium. There were a couple hundred local people there all chatting and dancing. The main thing to make a group that walked single file in a circle and dance to the music. I naturally stayed on the side lines until a jovial local pulled me into a circle. I was very inconspicuous as I stood at least a foot taller than most everyone and I was the only gringo there. The music lasted and hour or so longer and then I went home ready to sleep. All in all a fun experience.

Our ride home went smoothly and when we returned to Quito we realized that we had brought more back with us than what we purchased at the market. We brought back a fervent love for Fresa Con Crema. While in Otavalo we were inexplicably locked out of our hostel and so being too early for dinner by some time we went to a nearby icecream shop. It was there that we discovered our delicious treat, strawberries with cream. We have both been craving strawberries and we thought we would try this. It has since turned into a daily event to have our strawberries with cream. We cannot get enough and it is so, so good to taste strawberries again. Lovin' it.

Pictured below are some photos of things we did not buy, a typical market stall, and Fresa con crema!

For my nephews

Pop quiz!
What are these animals names?
Where do they live?
What do they eat?
Which is your favorite?

Quito, Ecuador

A capitol city. Significant to Ecuador's independence from Spain. Significant to South America's independence from Spain. A capitol. The hills hold Quito like Atlas holds the world. The city is cradled between the shoulders of the Ande's foothills. Narrow sided it stretches on for miles and miles. The spine of Ecuador.

There are two sections of the city marked on our map; old town and new town. We have been told not to stray from these areas because it is not safe. We have been told to be careful within these areas because they are not safe. We stayed in old town, it was filled with the sounds of barking dogs, children playing or yelling, and car alarms. We stayed in new town, it was filled with the sounds of throbbing base, young inebriated adults playing or yelling, and car alarms. Old town has basilicas, cathedrals, and government palaces. New town has hotels, international cuisine and night clubs.

There is strength here. The presence of military, police, and many hospitals attest. The previous President was found to be embezzling millions of tax dollars for his toys and fancies. He fled the country when he was found out. The current president has brought national development to national economic resources. He has asked other country's corporations to leave. He has spent millions on new roads and improved infrastructure. He is in control and the people take pride in him.

Photo Meringue Pie!

Some treats for you from Banos.

A Banos Beauty
A yummy stout (finally!)
A sleepy Jaguar
And a night shot of the old cathedral

Banos, Ecuador

It is our last day in Banos (pronounced Bahn-yos). We will be jumping on a bus to Quito, Ecuador's capitol city in a few hours. It should be about a four hour bus ride winding through the Andes and up in elevation. I really hope our driver takes it easy. It is such a beautiful area but much harder to take it all in when you're swerving around ridiculously tight corners.

'Donde esta el bano' means 'where is the bathroom' in Spanish. Banos is named for its thermal baths. It is situated quite close to a Valcano most recently erupting in 2010. Its popularity has arisen due to its thermal baths. It is a small town nestled in a valley but a great volume of people come to visit each year. It has many hostels, restaurants, shops, and tourist agencies to meet its visitors needs and desires.

We have visited other tourist towns but we haven't liked very much. Banos is much different. That is because there are options in Banos. We can enjoy the scenery, the town, the touristy things, whatever we want. We are not pressured to do anything because we are gringos, the paid for activities are reasonably priced, and the restaurants have tasty food that offer variety. In short we have greatly enjoyed our time here.

But it is time to move on. In Quito we are hoping to see the city and its museums, what is reported as the best market in South America by our guide book, Both the real and fake equators, and a cloud forest that houses hundreds of different birds and butterflies. It should be a full trip and fast paced compared to how we have been travelling the past two weeks.