Alright everyone, this is the last blog! We fly home tomorrow, but before we do I have lots to talk about! I guess when we left you we had just gotten to the amazing giant, Mexico City. With all the hype about drug wars, kidnappings, robberies, gangs, zapatistas, corrupt police officers, pickpockets, poverty, pollution, litter, food poisoning, and dog meat, we were surprised to be welcomed into such a safe city of clean streets, delicious food (doggy friendly), beautiful decorations for te celebration of the bicentary anniversary of Mexico's independence, and clear blue skys! The first thing we noticed at the Zocalo (a giant square in the center of town) was the massive flag that flew high and proud above flocks of families blowing bubbles and sending balloon crayons into the sky. On the North end of the Zocalo sat a massive cathedral with a climbable bell tower and a fun roof to explore where we could get a great view of the National Palace and some other impressive govenment buildings that completed the border of the Zocalo. Next to the Cathedral, we explored the minimal remains of Teohitocan, the ancient city that sank into the ancient lake where Mexico city sits today. We got to explore the Templo Mayor, a pyramid with seven layers of pyramid that were built one on top of the other, each more intricate and larger than the ones entombed. Amazingly, the entire central district of Mexico city is built on top of other pyramids that were part of the same complex. The Temple of the sun is directly under the Cathedral, the ball court is under the Flag, and the subway tunnels run directly through all of it. Ooops. One day we had dinner on top of the National Pawn Shop on the Zocalo and had a wonderful meal overlooking everything. Down the street from the Zocalo, and next to the beautiful Alameda plaza (where cops dress up as charros and ride horses) that faces the sinking Museo de Bellasartes, is the Torre Latinoamericana where we took an elevator 44 stories up to get an amazing view of the whole capital. We could see everything from up there! We watched the sunset and then waited for the lights to come on over a cup of noodles. At night, the city contiunes on until the horizon. What stood out the most in the city lights were the 4 main avenues that are where the 4 Aztec avenues once were, and all meet in the Zocalo/the center of the ancient Temple, as they always have.
On the South end of town, an hour away by subway (the easiest subway to use and only 30 pesos, about 30 US cents, to go anywhere in the city), is Xochimilco. There, the last remaining part of the ancient lake has been transormed into a series of canals, bordered by floating gardens where locals grow flowers and sell some amazing Bonzai plants! We hired a colorful private boat for about $40 bucks and floated through the canals. There's other boats on the river that sell you food, have live mariachi bands, and sell little crafts. It was rad... perfect for the day after we went to a Lucha Libre match.
Another cool trip was to Coyocan. To get there, we first walked through the Viveros park where the city has a huge garden! Here they grow lots of trees and plants for reforestation projects and to plant throughout the city. There were creepy little german-shepard colored squirrels that followed you until you spit water on them, then they freakout and run up trees. After a lovely walk, we we went past the beautiful plaza where a statue of Hidalgo stands, and got to the antojito (translates-ish to a food that satisfies a craving) market. We got some sopes, quesedillas, and Coke. Later, we walked throught he neighborhood of Coyocan. A beautiful rich part of town where all the buildings are colorful and there are lots of flower garden parks. For dinner we headed to the pozole market in Garibaldi, where we treated ourselves to some Jalisco-style pozole (we both agreed that we liked red pozole a lot better). We did a quick run-though through the plaza, which we returned to at night for endless mariachi music and dancing as was recomended. I also tipped a guy to let me borrow his guitar, the restaurant staff and the guitar owner enjoyed my english music as much as we had enjoyed the mariachis.
On a different day, we headed to the Bosque de Chapultec, a hige park that has museums, a small lake, the best street food, a castle and the list goes on. There we went to the Zoo (yes a zoo in the middle of this huge city), which was cool because we didn't have to pay. Then we headed to the Anthopology muesem which is this huge two story complex with Mariachi bands playing in the middle. If there is one museum we would recoment people to go to it's definitely this one. There were so many different artifacs from all over Mexico including the original Aztec Calendar. Outside of the muesem Papantla flyers swung upsidedown from a giant pole, slowly descending on the ropes tied to their waist, while playing flutes and drums. The flyers represented different flying animals like eagles and vultures. So impressive!
We also went to Teotihuacan, the huge ancient Aztec city built by the Mexicas without modern tools or the wheel, where the complex of the Sun and the Moon are. These two pryamids were crazy big and were surrounded by many smaller ones as well as a huge auditorium/plaza and even a few sacrifice stones. The ruins ad their art were truely incredible. It was amazing to see this site with the pyramids standing so high even though it is all built over a lake! We climbed both of the massive pyramids and enjoyed the cool breeze from the top. We later found out from Kim's aunt that there was a tunnel recently found undr the pyramid of the moon, wherearchaeologists think lies the story of all of the Aztec leaders and their Empire. When were were done exploring the Aztec site it was fun running throught the annoying artisin vendors like we were being hunted.
After we had about enough of Mexico City (although we probably could have stayed there another week without getting bored) we headed to Kim's grandparent's house in Santiaguillo. They were so nice and so accomidatin gdespite us only having two days to visit. We were first greeted by her grandma and little cousin who were both so excited to see us. I was even given the nickname Mikesey in the first few minutes. We later saw her (also very excited) grandpa, aunt, uncles, and another cousin. The next day it was time to explore. After meeting Kim's great grandma and great aunt in their home set in the middle of a garden, and getting tons of love from their german shedhard, we walked trough the garden by the church. We then visited the corn and sorgo fields, and met the cattle. From outside of town we got to see the beautiful landscapes where Kim's dad grew up. That afternoon we drove into town to have a wonderful dinner with Kim's grandparents at an hacienda-style restaurant. We ended the evening strolling through the park and plaza, and both Kim and I drove for the first time in 3 months. On day two we met even more animals, including a baby horse that was only a month old and had a sibling on the way! Afterwards, we took a walk to the lake where we dangled our feet over the damn as Kim used to do as a little girl as we watched horse cross from one side to the other and our presence kept the dogs from crossing more than half way. We quickly headed back to the house and made a quick trip on te bus into town. On our return we ate some yummy chiles rellenos tha Kim helped her grandparents make. Kim and I later headed back to the lake to watch the sun set over the green hills. We were back before dark and ready for the next yummy treat. For our last dinner we had enchiladas (no as good as Kim's mom's) at Kim's aunts house where we were also warmly welcomed. We ended our last night after many laughs and bonding and were walked to our rooms with warm good-byes. What a great relaxing break before the last leg of our trip. And since we didn't have enough time to go horse back riding we were invited to go back in January for the big, town festivities.
After that we went to the awesome Guanajato (Kim's favorite!), a colorful little colonial town filled with dancing musicians, cafes, history, a university that looks like a castle, Diego Rivera's house, theatres, museums, alleys, and many colorful parks filled with trees and fountains and of course more deliscious street food. We walked around all day enjoying all of the main sights. First, we took an inclined train with panaramic windows up to the top of a mountain so we could get a nice view of the whole city next to the statue of El Pipila, the man responsible for Mexico's first Independence victory which took place in Guanajuato! While looking down on the city we realized that along with not having any streetlights, this very developed city lacked mainstreets; it was instead a community where everyone got around on pedestrian alleys and intertwined, small one way streets that lead to te underground tunnels. We eventually walked down the many steps back to the charming and lively city and took a bus to El Cerro del Cubilete to the Jesus. We got a great view from here as well. We could see the city, a few neighboring cities, and a big lake that we with ed we could have jumped into. That afternoon we visited the mine where El Pipila worked in his day, and were minners still bring out gold and silver today. We couldn't leave without seeing two more important sights. The mummy museum was the first of day two, the creepiest museum ever. They had bodies that had been preserved in lime so well that they still had skin, hair, their junk, and facial expressions. So gross. Mexican people apparently hae an obsession with death, and after seeing this museum I woud say that at least in this town they probably do! After this visit was over we headed over to El Callejon del Beso. This alley is a very narrow alley where two balconies across from each other almost touch. Back in the beginning of the city a girl from a well to do family who lived one side fell in love with a miner who rented a room across the way. Because their love was forbidden, they would secretely kis each other from their balconies. Their love had a trajic end, but the balconies and their story became famous. After standing in the balcony we were told that we had to give each other a kiss on the third step for 15 years of good luck! I guess we'll have to be back in 15 years for another kiss... and maybe a vacation home! the city was beautiful and hopefully next time we can catch the Cervantino festival, an huge international performing arts festival held every year that we missed by only a few days.
After Guanajato we headed to Guadalajara to hang out for a few days before our flight home. Guadalajara is a nasty ugly city with tons of whores, crack heads, and slutty guys. We left the next afternoon for Tequila! On the way, we saw one of the most incredible sunsets (Just another Tequila Senset?). What an awesome town... colorful, clean, lively, small. We took a little train car to several Tequilla factories, agav fields, and the olderst tequia destilery, a small hacienda that uses natural bacteria, natural spring water from a river flowwing behind the property and adobe ovens for the agave plants. They also took us aound town as the explained the process on making tequila and the legend of how it started. A the end of the trip the let you sample way too many types of tequila for you to remember what they tasted like... or where your house is. I guess some things are best left unsaid.
Well, I guess that's it! We'll be flying home tomorrow after such an amazing trip! It's been scary, long, and never ending at times, but most of all it was the trip of a lifetime. I'm sure all you family members can't wait 'til we go on our next one! See you soon!!!! And Congratulations from both of us to Kim's tio and madrina, and Daniela for their new family member on the way!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Adios Costa RIca, VIva Mexico!
After arriving back in San Jose we decided to take advantage of our last few moments in Costa Rica and booked a rafting trip in the Pacuare River! We literally had the time of our lives! [as always] We paddled our hearts out for 4 hours down the level III and level IV rapids. It was thrilling to get past every set. When we reached a calm part of the river we got to jump in for a swim. During our swim we got the chance to look up and around us and it was beautiful!! The river is at the bottom of a canyon set in the middle of the jungle, with birds and butterflies flying from every direction and a good share of small, but beautiful, waterfallls along the way. When we hopped back on the raft it was go time again. We never fell out, but our guide did purposely send us rapid surfing in a whirlpool, where our team battled our way back out to keep going. The next day we were quite sore, but it was well worth it!!!
After closing up our Costa Rican adventures we set out for a whole new kind of adventure...... crossing 5 borders in two days! Fear not! The only bad part was that if we had spent one more minute on that bus we would have completely lost our butts! Other than that, it's more difficult to cross into a theme park!
Because we were so sick of busses and had just about three weeks left of traveling, [it would've taken about 30 hours of bus traveling to make the trip to Cancun and back!!! Apparently Mexico is way bigger than we thought!] we decided to skip Cancun. Despite how sick of busses we were, as soon as we filled our bellies with over priced terminal tacos [worth it only because we had been waiting two months to have Mexican food again!] we hopped on our next bus. Thirteen hours later we were in Palenque, Chiapas. We reserved a well deserved night in a beautiful little cabaña nessled in the rainforest with a nice big pool that we could swimin and lounge around in between eating wonderful food and exploring our next sight! After a great night sleep where we were able to lay down [!!!!!!!!!!] , we ventured into the Palenque ruins in the middle of the jungle. These Maya ruins, we were told by a nice man who explained qute a bit of the Palenque history to us, are right up there with Teotihuacan and Chichen Itza in importance! They were absolutely impressive, and we even got a little bit of wild life observing. We saw a huge iguana sun bathing at the top of one of the temples, a butterfly caught a free ride up and down the ruins on my sholder for the day, and we were thanked for our visit by the sounds of howler monkeys in the beautiful rain forest!!!!
More yummy food and a few ice cream bars later we were off again. By morining time we had reached the city of Oaxaca and were welcomed by a bright and warm sun! We were ready to explore soon after arriving only because all of our big breakfasts [filled with hot chocolate, chilaquiles, huevos divorciados, huevos rancheros.... and the list goes on] made up for our long bus rides! And we had mole, 4 tacos for a dollar, tortas, tostadas and more waiting for us for lunch and dinner!!! [We were quite excited for the food!!] By noon we were watching a band play a combination of instuments,including the marumba to make beautiful traditional Oaxacan music! We then explores the old colonial city, surprisingly enough it has been hit with quite a few earthquakes that are not noticible at all! The city was not only filled with history, but also with colors! From the beautiful old buildings, to the tile, decorations, to the street vendors and their carts, baloons, food, and artisan work. And the parks! The plazas and zocalos are equivalent to a Main Sqaure. They are one of my favorite things about latin american cities and the one in Oaxaca was wonderful. It was filled with trees and all sides were closed to traffic, it was bordered by a buitiful colonial church and benches surrounded the kiosks where we filled our bellies with wonderful afternoon traditional Mexican treats!! Tired from our long strolls through the city and the markets, we headed home through the crowds of people watching street performers, and Mariachi bands serrenating couples!
The beach bums that we are, it didn't take us long to crave the pacific ocean again and we quickly bought a one way ticket to Puerto Escondido! Puerto Escondido means hidden port and it lives up to its name. It took us almost 8 hours to get over the hills and through the jungles only about 60 miles away! But once we were there it was just what we wanted! We stayed in Zicatela, which is this great little surf area part of town right by the beach. The beach was filled with palapa restaurants waiting for us to eat there and then relax on their hammocks or lounge chairs! We did all three! After the night came and the sun rose again we were ready for some surfing! We rented two boards from a nice local man that had just moved back home after living in Santa Cruz for more than 20 years!! Anyway we took our boards and quickly headed to Carrisalillo. When we arrived we had to carry our boards dowa steep set of satirs, nothing foreign to us since it's the samecase in SC, but this time there were tropical plants blocking our view of this beautiful coves with turquoise water waiting for us to paddle out to sea! We did just that, but it was pretty flat out so we spent most of the morning playing in the middle ofthe ocean and paddleing around on our surf boards! We later made our way in and rented some snorkel masks that helped us see the shell filled ocean floor and at least 4 different kinds of colorful fish. After snorkeling it seemed like the waves had picked up a bit and we paddled back out! Mike and I both got great rides and stoaked on life we made it back to town after about 10 hours of sun and surf!!!!!!
Next in line was Zipolite! It "only" took us about an hour and a half and the sunshine welcomed us once more. This beautiful little paradise was again filled with vegetation and the water was clear and gorgeous! After a deliscious breakfast we spent some time relaxing in our hammocks overlooking the ocean from our lovely balcony! This beach trip seemed to be like a little vacation in the middle of our big vacation! After maybe to much sun, full bellies and sand between our toes the day was over. We planned on some snorkeling for the next day but the morning wasn't as sunny as we'd hoped....For the first time since Brazil the weather let us down a little bit and we never got our snorkeling trip. The views from our hammocks were still beautiful, the air still warm, and the crashing waves still relaxing, but on the second rainy morning we left the beach. We went back to Oaxaca for the the night so that we could head to Mexico City in the morning! The next morning we learned that towns were getting washed out with over 100 familes losingtheir homes and rivers were overflowing.... we hope that the familes are doing well, but happy that we left the rain behind.
We're now in Mexico City [again welcomed with sunshine!] and once again the city is filled with centuries of history, so much life, beautiful colors and of course wonderful food and wonderful people!!
We love you all and miss you too!!
After closing up our Costa Rican adventures we set out for a whole new kind of adventure...... crossing 5 borders in two days! Fear not! The only bad part was that if we had spent one more minute on that bus we would have completely lost our butts! Other than that, it's more difficult to cross into a theme park!
Because we were so sick of busses and had just about three weeks left of traveling, [it would've taken about 30 hours of bus traveling to make the trip to Cancun and back!!! Apparently Mexico is way bigger than we thought!] we decided to skip Cancun. Despite how sick of busses we were, as soon as we filled our bellies with over priced terminal tacos [worth it only because we had been waiting two months to have Mexican food again!] we hopped on our next bus. Thirteen hours later we were in Palenque, Chiapas. We reserved a well deserved night in a beautiful little cabaña nessled in the rainforest with a nice big pool that we could swimin and lounge around in between eating wonderful food and exploring our next sight! After a great night sleep where we were able to lay down [!!!!!!!!!!] , we ventured into the Palenque ruins in the middle of the jungle. These Maya ruins, we were told by a nice man who explained qute a bit of the Palenque history to us, are right up there with Teotihuacan and Chichen Itza in importance! They were absolutely impressive, and we even got a little bit of wild life observing. We saw a huge iguana sun bathing at the top of one of the temples, a butterfly caught a free ride up and down the ruins on my sholder for the day, and we were thanked for our visit by the sounds of howler monkeys in the beautiful rain forest!!!!
More yummy food and a few ice cream bars later we were off again. By morining time we had reached the city of Oaxaca and were welcomed by a bright and warm sun! We were ready to explore soon after arriving only because all of our big breakfasts [filled with hot chocolate, chilaquiles, huevos divorciados, huevos rancheros.... and the list goes on] made up for our long bus rides! And we had mole, 4 tacos for a dollar, tortas, tostadas and more waiting for us for lunch and dinner!!! [We were quite excited for the food!!] By noon we were watching a band play a combination of instuments,including the marumba to make beautiful traditional Oaxacan music! We then explores the old colonial city, surprisingly enough it has been hit with quite a few earthquakes that are not noticible at all! The city was not only filled with history, but also with colors! From the beautiful old buildings, to the tile, decorations, to the street vendors and their carts, baloons, food, and artisan work. And the parks! The plazas and zocalos are equivalent to a Main Sqaure. They are one of my favorite things about latin american cities and the one in Oaxaca was wonderful. It was filled with trees and all sides were closed to traffic, it was bordered by a buitiful colonial church and benches surrounded the kiosks where we filled our bellies with wonderful afternoon traditional Mexican treats!! Tired from our long strolls through the city and the markets, we headed home through the crowds of people watching street performers, and Mariachi bands serrenating couples!
The beach bums that we are, it didn't take us long to crave the pacific ocean again and we quickly bought a one way ticket to Puerto Escondido! Puerto Escondido means hidden port and it lives up to its name. It took us almost 8 hours to get over the hills and through the jungles only about 60 miles away! But once we were there it was just what we wanted! We stayed in Zicatela, which is this great little surf area part of town right by the beach. The beach was filled with palapa restaurants waiting for us to eat there and then relax on their hammocks or lounge chairs! We did all three! After the night came and the sun rose again we were ready for some surfing! We rented two boards from a nice local man that had just moved back home after living in Santa Cruz for more than 20 years!! Anyway we took our boards and quickly headed to Carrisalillo. When we arrived we had to carry our boards dowa steep set of satirs, nothing foreign to us since it's the samecase in SC, but this time there were tropical plants blocking our view of this beautiful coves with turquoise water waiting for us to paddle out to sea! We did just that, but it was pretty flat out so we spent most of the morning playing in the middle ofthe ocean and paddleing around on our surf boards! We later made our way in and rented some snorkel masks that helped us see the shell filled ocean floor and at least 4 different kinds of colorful fish. After snorkeling it seemed like the waves had picked up a bit and we paddled back out! Mike and I both got great rides and stoaked on life we made it back to town after about 10 hours of sun and surf!!!!!!
Next in line was Zipolite! It "only" took us about an hour and a half and the sunshine welcomed us once more. This beautiful little paradise was again filled with vegetation and the water was clear and gorgeous! After a deliscious breakfast we spent some time relaxing in our hammocks overlooking the ocean from our lovely balcony! This beach trip seemed to be like a little vacation in the middle of our big vacation! After maybe to much sun, full bellies and sand between our toes the day was over. We planned on some snorkeling for the next day but the morning wasn't as sunny as we'd hoped....For the first time since Brazil the weather let us down a little bit and we never got our snorkeling trip. The views from our hammocks were still beautiful, the air still warm, and the crashing waves still relaxing, but on the second rainy morning we left the beach. We went back to Oaxaca for the the night so that we could head to Mexico City in the morning! The next morning we learned that towns were getting washed out with over 100 familes losingtheir homes and rivers were overflowing.... we hope that the familes are doing well, but happy that we left the rain behind.
We're now in Mexico City [again welcomed with sunshine!] and once again the city is filled with centuries of history, so much life, beautiful colors and of course wonderful food and wonderful people!!
We love you all and miss you too!!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Pura Vida!
Hello everyone!!The next part of our story begins on whim... while flying to Central America, and anticipating seeing the glorious Panama Canal, we decided that we could have stayed in the US if we wanted to see things built by Americans. Conveniently for us, our connecting flight landed in Costa Rica, and we simply "missed" our connection! So we found ourselves in San Jose, Costa Rica without a plan or idea, as we had done all our plan-changing during the last 10 minutes of decent. We couldn't have picked a better place to be clueless!!!
COSTA RICA: "Delicious Coast", endangered turtes.
Our Costa Rica trip started slow (no pun intended!)... we heard that we could see some endangered turtles on the Caribbean Coast, so we hopped on a bus bound for Tortugero National Park. After a depressing drive through some banana plantations, we hopped on a sweet speed boat to get to our destination at Parismina, which means "Mina! give birth!", to hopefully lay our eyes on some egg-laying Tortugas. After paying and arm and a leg each, we headed to the beach with our expensive babysitter, who helped us find the massive shelled beasts that left bulldozer tracks in the sand. We walked in the dark for what seemed like forever when out of the blue, crawled a giant from the sea!!! The creature was as long as I am tall and must have weighed 5 times more. She took no notice of us as she climbed the sandy bank to find a spot to lay her eggs. We sat on the beach waiting for her to prepare the perfect spot, not disturbing her ritual, until she gave up and went back into the sea as suddenly as she had come. Apparently, they're picky. That was the only one we saw but so amazing never-the-less. On the way back to Parismina we learned that some people here, lacking any huevos of their own, like to poach the endangered eggs for their aphrodisiac properties and probably the main reason for the turtles' near extinction. It's a bummer, but there are lots of opportunities to volunteer here to help save them.
DAY-O: Why you shouldn't eat bananas.
On the way to and from the Turtle park, we rode through a huge stretch of land where at one time grew a beautiful lush rain-forest, but now is home to a monocrop of billions of Chaquita, Dole, and Del Monte banana trees, each wrapped in a special pesticide-laced, blue, plastic bag that poisons and kills monkeys.
So, please don't buy these bananas if you like monkeys. Also, the bananas here are expensive! To put it into perpective, the workers that grow them get paid each day, about $15 or the equivalent of what it costs them to buy about 25 (reject) bananas! That's not enough to cover the healthcare they need after prolonged exposure to harmful pesticides. Anyway, to the workers it might seem like an OK deal at first since the get a secure job, but they aren't really educated about the side effects (both medical and ecological) of their work. In addition, all the local resources the comminiteies may have prior to the banana invasion are bought up by the conglomerates and families are forced to work for them or move somewhere else in their country (which is an expensive option and not always feasible for them). Also, bananas aren't patriotic-- some of these companies (mainly Chaquita aka United Fruit Company) have been charged with "terrorism" as they fund Latin American military groups such as United Self-Defense Forces, National Liberal Army, and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia-- all considered foriegn terror groups by the US state department. Bananas aren't even that good anyway: they go bad quickly, and you get sick of it half way through one. So let's not support terrorists, destory peaceful communites, nor kill monkeys by not buying bananas. Thank you!FINE BEACHES, BEAUTIFUL COAST
After our somewhat bitter sweet excursion to the Caribbean, it was time to relax!! The next day we bussed it back through San Jose to the Pacific Coast. We arrived in Puntareanas (which I think means something dirty but Kim says I'm wrong... whatever) and spent sometime with Kim's host family with whom she stayed 2 years ago while helping orphans in the same city. We met the best hospitality and had a wonderfully relaxing time. From there we headed to Santa Teresa on the beautiful Nicoya Peninsula where we wasted away the days on the white sandy beaches. We tried to Surf, but the waves came in too fast for us to paddle out, so we rented some cruisers instead and went for a ride. We found a great spot, built a lean-to out of driftwood, ate lunch, swam in the warm water, and built a killer Machu-Picchu-inspired sand castle that would've knocked the Incas off their feet! It felt great to be able to relax by the ocean after so much travelling. After Santa Teresa we bussed to the other side of peninsula to the small town of Montezuma--or Montefuma as the local say for some reason... We hiked through great waterfalls and went for a swim. We had a funny night on the beach watching the most amazing lightning ever and forgetting our hostel keys in the sand.
The next day, after Kim chopped my beard off, we chilled on the beaches in the beautiful Manuel Antonio National Park, just a jetboat ride across the gulf from Montezuma. We saw a few rare, red-backed squirrel monkeys on the way into the park. We over heard a guide say there were only 600 left and they all lived in the park! We are so lucky!
We went to eat sandwiches on the beach there, but as soon as we sat down, a brave little raccoon tried to steal our PB and Js! She and I played tug of war for a while, and I even picked her up and swung her in circles like a small dog plays tug-o-war! We eventually just gave gave her a sandwich because she had babies, and she ate it with us on the beach... literally, sat down next to us on her butt and chowed on the sandwich. Racoons are Awesome! Later, after swimming in the turquoise water, we walked out to be welcomed by a couple Capuchin monkeys, some giant colorful iguanas, and the raccoon with her whole family!! We watched the animals for a while and left the park totally not disappointed!
MONTEVERTE:
After chillin' for a week, it was time for some adrenaline again. And boy did we get it! They sell it at the Farmacia, just kidding-- well I'm not, but we didn't buy any. Instead, we went to Monteverde: where dreams come true! First of all (and yes, this is a tangent), we made the best Tacos ever- so good they put Mexico out of 
business. Anyway, I really liked the tacos. I digress... we did this canopy tour in the rainforest, but instead of ziplinning from tree to tree like a normal canopy tour, we went from mountain to mountain!! Imagine standing on a 3 story high platform that takes you to the tops of an amazingly lush rain forest canopy. From the platform extends a seemingly infinite long cable that disappears into the cloud forest filling-in some unknown valley in front of you. A man you have never met before attaches the harness you're wearing to a pulley that rests on the cable. He says, "lean back" and you're off! You rise up over the trees that seemed so tall a second ago and then the entire valley drops out from under you. Now, you're flying over hundreds of feet over rivers and forest at insane speeds. 
After what seems like forever, the opposite side of the valley appears through the fog and you try to see where you're going to land. Finally, you see the end of the line. A man gives you a signal, so you clench the trailing cable hard to brake so you don't smash into the valley wall. You walk through the rain forest, still wearing your harness, and you meet another guy who helps you onto the next cable. You do this 13 times!!!!! Then, at the end, you repel 300 feet out of a really tall tree. You walk a little further, and someone straps you into a rope and pushes you off a platform. You free fall 50 feet before the rope finally becomes taught and you swing out on the biggest rope swing you could ever imagine. You undulate for a while until your ride slows to an end. Two guys catch you with a big balloon animal looking thing, and you're off to the last cable. Someone takes your harness off, turns it around so it's backwards, and lifts you onto the last cable, one harness on your chest and the other at your waste. Then you fly face-first, higher and faster than ever, for over 1/2 a mile!! The ride only takes 20 seconds, which shows you something about how fast you go. You leave with a big smile!
business. Anyway, I really liked the tacos. I digress... we did this canopy tour in the rainforest, but instead of ziplinning from tree to tree like a normal canopy tour, we went from mountain to mountain!! Imagine standing on a 3 story high platform that takes you to the tops of an amazingly lush rain forest canopy. From the platform extends a seemingly infinite long cable that disappears into the cloud forest filling-in some unknown valley in front of you. A man you have never met before attaches the harness you're wearing to a pulley that rests on the cable. He says, "lean back" and you're off! You rise up over the trees that seemed so tall a second ago and then the entire valley drops out from under you. Now, you're flying over hundreds of feet over rivers and forest at insane speeds. 
After what seems like forever, the opposite side of the valley appears through the fog and you try to see where you're going to land. Finally, you see the end of the line. A man gives you a signal, so you clench the trailing cable hard to brake so you don't smash into the valley wall. You walk through the rain forest, still wearing your harness, and you meet another guy who helps you onto the next cable. You do this 13 times!!!!! Then, at the end, you repel 300 feet out of a really tall tree. You walk a little further, and someone straps you into a rope and pushes you off a platform. You free fall 50 feet before the rope finally becomes taught and you swing out on the biggest rope swing you could ever imagine. You undulate for a while until your ride slows to an end. Two guys catch you with a big balloon animal looking thing, and you're off to the last cable. Someone takes your harness off, turns it around so it's backwards, and lifts you onto the last cable, one harness on your chest and the other at your waste. Then you fly face-first, higher and faster than ever, for over 1/2 a mile!! The ride only takes 20 seconds, which shows you something about how fast you go. You leave with a big smile! 
The next day we headed into the beautiful Monteverde Cloud Forest reserve. We didn't see many animals, but we did get to walk through some virgin rainforest, one that had never been cut by humans. The trees here were enormous and the foliage so thick. There seemed to be as many leaves on the forest floor as there were half way up the canopy or at the top. Water dipped constantly from the leaves, though it wasn't rainy, and the whole place felt enchanted. As soon as we left it poured! A really cool fact we learned afterward, was that the huge park only gave visitors access to 3% of its property, the rest being strictly off limits to humans! Also, the whole park is privatly funded, and all donations and park entrance fees go towards buying parcels of even more virgin forests before they are chopped down! On the way home, we stopped at an organic coffee roaster for some of the best coffee and hot coca in the world!!
Tomorrow we head back to San Jose for one last adventure in Costa Rica before we take off to Cancan!! In Costa Rica, they say "Pura Vida" which means live life to the fullest, don't have regrets, and don't sweat the small stuff. So Pura Vida everyone!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sand Dunes, Penguins, Skeletons=/ and We Can Breath Again!
Again, as Mike promised, we´ve had many more adventures!!! On our way to Lima we made two wonderful stops. The first was in Huacachina, a little oasis in the middle of the second biggest desert in the world and home to the biggest dunes!!! Of course, on our first night there, we had no choice but to climb the tallest dune and get as high as we could and then come back down by rolling, jumping, and ¨swimming¨in the sand! We got our fix and got a good night sleep before big adventures the next day. We started day two by having a REAL breakfast (not just bread and butter, which we were usually given)!! Soon after we were lent sandboards, so that we could get some practice in before heading out on the dune buggy in the afternoon. We headed out for the equivalent o f a bunny hill and met some charming elementary school kids on a school field-trip. They were interested in everything from our names to whether Mike´s dad was the president of the U.S. Basically, they were fascinated with our ¨gringo-ness.¨ I think their favorite part was being able to show off their English speaking skills to their new friends, and being able to ¨teach us¨how to sandboard! Our favorite was how stoked they were! After some good laughs with these awesome kids we headed back up to the top of the sand mountain and had some fun on the boards! We sand boarded (which is pretty similar to snowboarding) all the way down and though we craved a little more speed thought we´d be having a lot more fun once we got better on our feet! In the early afternoon we finally went out on our dune buggy ride! 
Our driver was fortunately the right dose of crazy and took us on a great ride through the ups and downs of the giant dunes!Towards the end of our ride we stopped to do some sand boarding mod-desert! After we all got the hang of going down the dunes foot first our driver decided it was time for a new adventure. He used Mike to demonstrate how to lay on the board to go head first o n your belly. Just when Mike thought he´d be able to get back up however , our driver gave him a gentle push and Mike flew down the enormous mountain head first on his board and gave us all a big ¨YEAH!¨when he got to the bottom! after that we spent the next hour or so climbing and going down the dunes head first, and the dunes only got bigger every time! It was a real a adrenaline rush and more fun than going down on our feet could have ever been! We later learned that this sort of adventure only exists in Huacachina and in the Sahara!
Our driver was fortunately the right dose of crazy and took us on a great ride through the ups and downs of the giant dunes!Towards the end of our ride we stopped to do some sand boarding mod-desert! After we all got the hang of going down the dunes foot first our driver decided it was time for a new adventure. He used Mike to demonstrate how to lay on the board to go head first o n your belly. Just when Mike thought he´d be able to get back up however , our driver gave him a gentle push and Mike flew down the enormous mountain head first on his board and gave us all a big ¨YEAH!¨when he got to the bottom! after that we spent the next hour or so climbing and going down the dunes head first, and the dunes only got bigger every time! It was a real a adrenaline rush and more fun than going down on our feet could have ever been! We later learned that this sort of adventure only exists in Huacachina and in the Sahara! By day three we had done all there was to do in this lovely oasis and we headed o ff towards Las Is las Ballestas and Paracas National Reserve. The islands are nicknamed the poor Galapagos by the locals because they are a smaller version of the animal populated beautiful islands of Ecuador. Here we got to see hundreds of seagulls and pelicans fishing in the OCEAN! As an extra special little gift we got to see perky little penguins waddling around the island! We also saw quite a few sea lions that reminded us of home and lots and lots of bird poop that covered the islands! We actually learned that every few (4-ish) years about 20 men spend 4 months ¨harvesting¨the bird poop (which they call guano) to use as fertilizer for their crops. After about an hour of circling the beautiful rock islands surrounded by turquoise waters we headed back to the shore where we had earlier head a man playing Hotel California on the guitar and pan flute(!) and found a place to drop off our things and head out for the next adventure!
Our guidebook let us down for the first time! It told us we could walk all the way into the Paracas National Reserve from the little town we were staying in. We headed out at around 12 towards a spot that seemed nice for a picnic by the ocean shore. After about 3 hours o f walking we had walked on the shore, passed by The Hilton´s private beach (and gotten stared at for being poor?), collected about every complete shell I could find, payed our fee and the check point and refused taxi rides on what appeared to be the longest road even in the middle of the desert. If we wouldn´t have known better we wouldn't have known that one day that road would lead us back to the ocean. After a ride in the back of the truck of a nice family through the rest of the National Reserve we learned about how the earthquake that happened last time Mike was here had changed the geography of the area and then followed a trail to our lunch spot (another hour walk in the dunes). The view was beautiful! A lot like the cliffs of Big Sur, but without HWY 1 and with endless sand dunes instead of endless forest. Eventually we headed back to the road to learn that taxis charged an arm and two legs to get us back to town on the 10 kilometer desert road. We walked for about an hour before another lovely family gave us a ride in the back of their truck and got us back into town before dark! We were extremely thankful to them for that!After some chicken and fries for a dollar fifty we slept like babies! The next day we took off for Lima after breakfast, and has the smoothest day of travel we´ve had in South America; despite the fact that we had to take 3 taxis and a bus.
Lima..... I´m so sleepy but the highlights of Lima has been the great cheap food and pastries (mostly at the wonderful market on the Plaza de Armas and the best Chinese food ever!), we got our lost pictures back(!!!) and we visited the creepiest church EVER!!! The the church´s basement was filled with skeletons. The Peruvians found the thousands of skeletons years ago and decided it´d be fun to sort the bones by type of bone. They then took out all of the destroyed bones and arranged the remaining bones by type in huge brick planter looking things so that the tourists could ¨enjoy¨them! AHHH! We´ve decided that either non-cooperating Incas or Inca slaves of the Spanish were the ones buried under the church =(
Chapter 2 starts tomorrow! We´re off to the beautiful beaches of Latin America and as much fun as we´ve been having, we´re SOOOOOO excited for this next part!
We love you and miss you all!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
All kinds of Inca Stuff!!
Hi Everyone! It´s been a while since we last had an update, and wow is there a lot to talk about this time! It´s been all about Inca ruins and Quechua culture, as we´ve been exploring Cuzco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu!
Cuzco is beautiful and so full of history! As soon as we got off the bus the city fascinated us with its fusion of colonial-Spanish architecture built on top of ancient-Inca foundations. We went to el Museo Inca (ironically situated in an old Spanish Church) where we learned Peru´s story of conquest. It started with the Chilca´s 18000 years ago and has since been reconquered and inhabited by dozens of other cultures such as the Limas, Nazcas, and Incas, until the Spanish showed up in the 1500s. The Spanish have left since then and the Inca descendants (called the Amayara and Quechua) now proudly live independently. They even have their own flag (it looks just like the Gay Pride Flag) and try to respect their traditional values, rituals, and ways of life. After the Inca museum, we explored some local ruins just a Taxi ride outside of Cuzco. The Inca baths at Tambomachay still had water that was originally irrigated from the Andes over 1000 years ago running through them! What craftsmanship! Puka Pukara was possibly an old hunting lodge, and Q´enqo had some great tunnels to explore as well as an old sacrificial stone (where they sacrificed Chicha a highly alcoholic sacred corn beer). Sacsayhauman, by far the most impressive of the four locals, hosted one of the final Spanish battles. Massive stones, some 4 times the height of a man and equally wide, created huge zig-zags on a ridge high above Cuzco. The stonemanship was so precise that if you closed your eyes and felt the rock, it would be hard to determine where one started and another stopped! There were also a huge arena, some thrones carved out of solid rock, and some scary tunnels, which we navigated piecewise by camera flash! After spending two hours exploring the massive complex (of which the Spanish spared only 20%) we walked back to Cuzco via an ancient Inca road.
The next day we met up with our good friend Mimi from Santa Cruz so we could all conquer the next and most amazing part of the Sacred Valley together! We began our journey to Machu Pîcchu by taking a couple taxis to Santa Teresa. There we walked down river to indulge in some quaint- and very hot-springs to prepare ourselves for the long journey to come! The next morning we started our trek to Aguas Calientes, the little (crappy) town at the base of Machu Picchu mountain (whatever it was called). Our first mission: to cross the river. We had heard about a ¨scary cable car ride¨ we´d have to take to get across. We were surprised to find out it was self-operated. We each took turns getting into the basket and pulling ourselves, hand over hand, across the roaring river! Once on the other side together, we walked... far. It was amazing seeing the scenery change from a sparse high-dessert to a lush jungle throughout the day. Towards the end, we were surrounded by jungle sounds, butterflies, and avocado-bearing trees. We had an early night in Aguas Calientes to rest ourselves for our early start the next day to ..... drum roll ..... Machu Picchu!!!
We woke up at 4 that morning to begin our trek. For about an hour, we followed a long line of people climbing the thousands of Inca-stairs in the pitch dark to get to the entrance. Once inside, we were totally in awe. All the buildings were still so intact that it felt like people could have left yesterday! We climbed to a nice spot to watch the sun rise, bringing the whole place to life! After that, as if part of some torture ritual, we began climbing Wayna Picchu, the tall peak the originates at the ruins and continues up for another 1000 or so feet! Another million steps later, we were rewarded with great views of the whole ancient city and a nice rest. We climbed down and really started exploring the complex. They had everything here! First we saw an impressive drawbridge that was basically 10 stories of piled rocks on each side with a plank of wood in between. We weren't allowed to walk across. Then we went to the observatory, which housed a carefully carved calender rock. Depending on the time of year, shadows would fall along different lines that corresponded to the solstices and equinoxes to tell when seasons started. There were also some irrigation channels and baths that still functioned, quite a few temples, and all kinds of living quarters. A lot of our time was spent chasing llamas around through all the buildings, almost getting spat on a few times, in order to snap the perfect facebook photo. After 9 hours of ruins we ran back down the 1000s of steps (in only 20 minutes!) to take a shower and catch our train back towards the Sacred Valley.
The next day was really special. Kim had been wanting to learn how weave in the incredible way that the Inca descendants still do today. We heard that the town of Chincero offered some classes, so we went there directly from the train. Luckily, that night we found the Weavers Association of Chincero, where the nice Quechua women let us stay the night and use their kitchen. We spent the whole morning the next day learning how to weave! I didn't do too well, but Kim and Mimi were practically certified indigenous-women by the end! (Well, not even close I must confess. It normally takes the experts 3 weeks to weave one single cloth, but the girls got the hang of it pretty well!) After getting our weaving fix (I was quite frustrated by the end), we headed back to Cuzco. We got some well deserved rest and some amazing massages with hot rocks!
Now we're off towards Lima! Our time in South America is coming to an end, but there's still lots to do before we fly to Panama! Keep reading and we'll keep going! Hope everyone is having a great time!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Llegamos antes que las mulas!
Just as Mike promised we had our handful of adventures in Arequipa! A city filled with coloquial buildings from the 1600s made from all white rocks, which i think looks even lovelier at night! We spent the first day enjoying the town we even got a view of the Plaza de Armas from the same roof Mike and Matt were at 4 years ago! We of course later strolled through the plaza like the couples do. By the early afternoon we decided we´d seen what we were going to see and booked our three day trek for the 2nd deepest canyon in the world, the Colca Canyon. We were woken up at 2:30am to get ready for our trip, and by 4 we were on our way! After about a 4 hour ride we arrived at the over crowded and super touristy Cruz del Condor, which we weren´t all that excited about at first. We walked past the crowd to a quiet lookout and after a few minutes started seeing Andean Condors all around us! It was incredible to see them flying over us with their 3 meter wing span! We ended up seeing about 15 even though we were only supposed to see 1 or 2 since they are at risk of extinction! After quite a few pictures we raced back to our bus and drove just a bit longer to where our trek would begin.
The first day we hiked 8 kilometers downhill. It seemed like a breeze, but my muscles didnt agree the next morning! At the end of the day´s trek we had warm alpaca waiting on our plates, and it wasn´t tooo bad! On day two we hiked 5 kilometers (filled with ups downs and straight across-es) through two villages. In one of the villages we stopped for a small tour in a local museum and some chicha (the national fermented corn drink). We ended the day at an oasis at the bottom on the canyon where we dipped in a refreshing pool while we waited for more food! Before going to bed in our grass and adobe rooms we were told that we had the option of finishing the trek on a mule instead of hiking the 6 kilometers uphil for 3-4 hours =/. I pondered the idea since I don´t exacly consider myself a good hiker, but although the experience seemed pretty cool to us both, I didnt want to feel like I´d given up so I decided to hike! We headed up at around 5:30am on day 3, and after thinking we were almost there a few times we finally made it up in less than 2 hours! The best part? We beat the mules we (well probably more like I) would have ridden up! It felt great to make it up and we were rewarded with some wonderful hot springs then headed back to Arequipa.
After a night of trying to sleep during super loud techno music we decided we deseved more fun and went on my first rafting trip in the Rio Chile! We both managed to stay on the raft the whole time, although sometimes maybe more by luck than skill! We had a great time going down some rapids and even getting some speed in that rocky and oh so chilly river! Since then I´ve been trying to recover from some funcky virus, but we´ve left Arequipa and arrived in Cusco this morning ready to explore! You´ll get to read all about it when we come back from Machu Picchu some time next week! Oh and a small bummer... technical dificulties.... something went wrong with our memory card and we dont have access to any of our pictures =( But we´re hoping to get out files extracted somehow and we have a new memory card for new pictures!!! YAY!!!
The first day we hiked 8 kilometers downhill. It seemed like a breeze, but my muscles didnt agree the next morning! At the end of the day´s trek we had warm alpaca waiting on our plates, and it wasn´t tooo bad! On day two we hiked 5 kilometers (filled with ups downs and straight across-es) through two villages. In one of the villages we stopped for a small tour in a local museum and some chicha (the national fermented corn drink). We ended the day at an oasis at the bottom on the canyon where we dipped in a refreshing pool while we waited for more food! Before going to bed in our grass and adobe rooms we were told that we had the option of finishing the trek on a mule instead of hiking the 6 kilometers uphil for 3-4 hours =/. I pondered the idea since I don´t exacly consider myself a good hiker, but although the experience seemed pretty cool to us both, I didnt want to feel like I´d given up so I decided to hike! We headed up at around 5:30am on day 3, and after thinking we were almost there a few times we finally made it up in less than 2 hours! The best part? We beat the mules we (well probably more like I) would have ridden up! It felt great to make it up and we were rewarded with some wonderful hot springs then headed back to Arequipa.
After a night of trying to sleep during super loud techno music we decided we deseved more fun and went on my first rafting trip in the Rio Chile! We both managed to stay on the raft the whole time, although sometimes maybe more by luck than skill! We had a great time going down some rapids and even getting some speed in that rocky and oh so chilly river! Since then I´ve been trying to recover from some funcky virus, but we´ve left Arequipa and arrived in Cusco this morning ready to explore! You´ll get to read all about it when we come back from Machu Picchu some time next week! Oh and a small bummer... technical dificulties.... something went wrong with our memory card and we dont have access to any of our pictures =( But we´re hoping to get out files extracted somehow and we have a new memory card for new pictures!!! YAY!!!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Lake Titicaca...hehe
Hello friends and family!
After four days, and a few good beers, the time came to get out of La Paz. Kim and I left for Lake Titicaca and the Isla del Sol which Incans said gave birth to the Sun! True to legend, the sun was shinning bright and hot. Our lips peeled and our necks burned -- but the sun rewarded our sacrifice with a deep blue sky, sparkling clear waters, and amazing views of the snow capped Andes. The whole island was beautifully simple. There were no cars, maybe one streetlight, and the Amaraya-speaking residents brought water to the top of the island via donkey! To get there, we took a little boat that probably doubled as a bathroom judging by the smell. After porting, an intimidating ancient-Incan staircase tested our hearts and legs as we already had sore nalgas from the bike ride and now really heavy packs. Eventually, after many breaks and offers to stay at lower hostels, we and some new English friends made it to the top of the island and found the most amzing room. It had a private deck and an amazing view of the lake and mountains, over which the sun rose ever morning -- well worth some tender calves.
On one of the days there, we took a boat to the Northern part. We relaxed on a white sandy beach, saw some cool ruins, and walked back to the south -- not as easy as it sounds. Five miles at 12,000 feet in the scourching sun and biting cool winds while walking on what seemed to be a trail that went prepetually up, was tough. Kim was a champ and never whined like everyone else on the trail. We had some great locally caught trout when we got back!
The next day it was time to leave the island, and Bolivia. We caught a better-smelling little boat back to the mainland and took naps on the cabin roof. We bused to Puno, Peru from there to see some floating islands. We didn´t really get to explore as much as we would´ve liked, but they were still really cool. Descentent from a group that wanted to escape Inca oppresion, the inhabitants built islands out of reeds. Now they have their own system of governement, president, voting system, school, etc... They used to sell their reed boats and fish to make money, but now they mostly survive off of tourism. We ate some of their fish in one of their reed huts with a squishy floor--definatly a unique experience. With that done, we caught a bus to Arequipa, one of my favorite cities, where we will have the next batch of adventures! Hasta luego mis amigos!
After four days, and a few good beers, the time came to get out of La Paz. Kim and I left for Lake Titicaca and the Isla del Sol which Incans said gave birth to the Sun! True to legend, the sun was shinning bright and hot. Our lips peeled and our necks burned -- but the sun rewarded our sacrifice with a deep blue sky, sparkling clear waters, and amazing views of the snow capped Andes. The whole island was beautifully simple. There were no cars, maybe one streetlight, and the Amaraya-speaking residents brought water to the top of the island via donkey! To get there, we took a little boat that probably doubled as a bathroom judging by the smell. After porting, an intimidating ancient-Incan staircase tested our hearts and legs as we already had sore nalgas from the bike ride and now really heavy packs. Eventually, after many breaks and offers to stay at lower hostels, we and some new English friends made it to the top of the island and found the most amzing room. It had a private deck and an amazing view of the lake and mountains, over which the sun rose ever morning -- well worth some tender calves.
On one of the days there, we took a boat to the Northern part. We relaxed on a white sandy beach, saw some cool ruins, and walked back to the south -- not as easy as it sounds. Five miles at 12,000 feet in the scourching sun and biting cool winds while walking on what seemed to be a trail that went prepetually up, was tough. Kim was a champ and never whined like everyone else on the trail. We had some great locally caught trout when we got back!
The next day it was time to leave the island, and Bolivia. We caught a better-smelling little boat back to the mainland and took naps on the cabin roof. We bused to Puno, Peru from there to see some floating islands. We didn´t really get to explore as much as we would´ve liked, but they were still really cool. Descentent from a group that wanted to escape Inca oppresion, the inhabitants built islands out of reeds. Now they have their own system of governement, president, voting system, school, etc... They used to sell their reed boats and fish to make money, but now they mostly survive off of tourism. We ate some of their fish in one of their reed huts with a squishy floor--definatly a unique experience. With that done, we caught a bus to Arequipa, one of my favorite cities, where we will have the next batch of adventures! Hasta luego mis amigos!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
We Counquered Death Road!
In between getting aclimated to being at an altitude of 3,600 meters we´ve had what I would say is our best time yet! So much fun that at times I forget that the only times I´ve ever been this cold hvae been in the snow with a lack of layers.
After arriving in La Paz at 5am 3 days ago we waited for the sun to rise at the bus terminal and ate a typical (bread with cheese and tea) Bolivian breakfast. Then I, of ourse, had to pee; so after getting his tail light broken by an open door, our taxi driver dropped us off less than a block away! Mike was thrilled that we payed for that sinvce he told be like 5 times it was extremely close! I´m pretty sure it took our taxi driver longer to argue about his light than it took for him to drive us over…oops! Since then however, we´ve been woken up daily by parades, from ones celebrating the day of the indigenous people to ones getting ready for Bolivia´s Independance day celebration tomorow. We also got a little shopping in since we´ve been here! We visited the numerous markets that sell wondrful traditional and touristy souveneirs, and ended up with some awesome alpaca wool to keep us warm! I´m also quite glad to say that we´ve given most of the money we´ve spent in La Paz to actual Bolivian people! As wonderful as this all has been, obviously none of this includes THE BEST PART!
Yesterday morning
we woke up at 6am to walk up the hill for breakfast. By about 7:30 we were on our bikes. Mike was off to the delerium off-road trail and I was off to the windy paved road. We met about an hour later, after biking down to the beggining of Death Road! Mike flew down the wet muddy cliffs and I.. well I went fast enough past all of the crosses to have the experience of a lifetime. I´d say the ride was just a bit different from the rides down west cliff on my beach cruiser. Towards the bottom of the road however, I was speeding down the wider and dryer roads almost keeping up with Mike who was zooming through the last few rivers and waterfalls of the ride! Luckily we had full suspension bikes and we trusted our bikesenough to keep up with usas we gained trust in both our riding and dwindelling away of our fears. The ride was incredible and the scenery was beattiful through the mist and mud, but 6 hours and a 10,000 foot difference in elevation later, some hot tea and a warm shower were well welcomed.
After arriving in La Paz at 5am 3 days ago we waited for the sun to rise at the bus terminal and ate a typical (bread with cheese and tea) Bolivian breakfast. Then I, of ourse, had to pee; so after getting his tail light broken by an open door, our taxi driver dropped us off less than a block away! Mike was thrilled that we payed for that sinvce he told be like 5 times it was extremely close! I´m pretty sure it took our taxi driver longer to argue about his light than it took for him to drive us over…oops! Since then however, we´ve been woken up daily by parades, from ones celebrating the day of the indigenous people to ones getting ready for Bolivia´s Independance day celebration tomorow. We also got a little shopping in since we´ve been here! We visited the numerous markets that sell wondrful traditional and touristy souveneirs, and ended up with some awesome alpaca wool to keep us warm! I´m also quite glad to say that we´ve given most of the money we´ve spent in La Paz to actual Bolivian people! As wonderful as this all has been, obviously none of this includes THE BEST PART!
Yesterday morning
we woke up at 6am to walk up the hill for breakfast. By about 7:30 we were on our bikes. Mike was off to the delerium off-road trail and I was off to the windy paved road. We met about an hour later, after biking down to the beggining of Death Road! Mike flew down the wet muddy cliffs and I.. well I went fast enough past all of the crosses to have the experience of a lifetime. I´d say the ride was just a bit different from the rides down west cliff on my beach cruiser. Towards the bottom of the road however, I was speeding down the wider and dryer roads almost keeping up with Mike who was zooming through the last few rivers and waterfalls of the ride! Luckily we had full suspension bikes and we trusted our bikesenough to keep up with usas we gained trust in both our riding and dwindelling away of our fears. The ride was incredible and the scenery was beattiful through the mist and mud, but 6 hours and a 10,000 foot difference in elevation later, some hot tea and a warm shower were well welcomed.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Some Culture in the Amazon!
Hello everyone! Wow has a lot happened in the last few days! We got to Trinidad with no problems at all, except for a little paranoia when passing other double-decker busses on the little one lane dirt roads that map the Bolivian Amazon. The first thing we did was rent another motorcycle to whirl around in the city. We ended up riding most of the day, travelling into thick Amazon jungles and though some port cities on the Rio Mamoré. We must have rode 100 miles that day! We stopped occasionally to get some fresh sqeezed OJ on the street and Ice cream, but the most fun by far was when it was Kim´s turn to give the bike a go! I rode on the back at first, but immediatly got off for fear of falling. Then I got to sit back and laugh histerically as Kim wobbled throught the street (a very untrafficked street I might add) while all the local boys came out to watch and more-than-willingly offer their ¨professional help¨. Not surprisingly, Kim got the hang of it pretty quickly and I hopped on the back. We rode back and forth down some dusty roads for a while until we got tired and went home. What a great day!
Next on the agenda for the Amazon was the famous San Ignacio de Moxos celebration! Every year, for about a week, the small city about 4 hours from Trinidad celebrates The San Ignacio Saints Day. We got there on a camioneta, which is Spanish for a flat bed truck which uncomfortably packs 60 people and their luggage into a hot confined space where the stupid kids in the front don´t know the ¨don´t spit into the wind rule,¨ and angry fat bolivian ladies yell at you for squishing their kids with your backpacks. The front tire popped halfway through our ride which thankfully gave us time to strech out our legs and wipe off the spit. The bus dropped us off in the middle of a raging market (presumably for the festival) and a nice lady pointed us towards the plaza. We tried several hostels and walked around the city for hours until finally we resorted to following other white people around, hoping they were luckier than us. Wow! power in numbers! Within 5 minutes a large italian looking man drove up to us and offered us a room. Turns out, the guy turns his house into a hostel every year for the fiestival and he´s pretty much the God Father of the town! Lucky us! The next day, we climbed the roof to see an amazing parade! It was full of local kids dressed in indigious costumes, others dressed in animal pelts and macaw head dresses (they´re recycled every year), bands, people on stilts, a giant statue of San Ignacio, and lots more cool stuff. At some point, the ¨Don¨ learned that Kim´s family was from Mexico. He told Kim how everyone in Bolivia wants to be Mexican and points to his Mexican boots and talks about how much he loves Mexican music. From then on, he only adressed Kim as ¨Mexico¨. Later he learned her dad´s name was Ignacio so he drunkingly and repeatedly cheered and toasted for Mexico AND her dad. On the third day we went to the bull-teasing rink. Let me just say the stands were built in about a day and were really just 20 foot wooden poles shoved into the dirt with planks tied across them with some wires, with no stairs but plenty of home made ladders that got moved around to help people up! At first I felt sorry for the bulls as they were roped and dragged into the rink, but then they got loose and totally kicked everyone´s ass! There were a few fist fights too, which were at least entertaining, but not at all painful looking (the drunk contestants fell over more on their own than from opposing blows). Over all, a great time and I was happy the bulls didn´t die. Later that night, we watched a dangeously awesome fireworks show! Two of the rich locals competed on the street with their fireworks displays while pieces of hot cardboard flew into the audience. What a blast! We searched for some non-fried foods afterwards, but we ended up eating a bunch of empanadas anyway (emapandas are a pastry dough filled with chicken stew and then deepfried -- tastes like a chicken pot pie). Later we watched as costumed guys with fireworks coming out of their heads chase all the local kids around. The next morning, we awoke to a rediculously loud Moxos band that the wasted ¨Don¨ had hired to, probably, play a joke on all of his hungover residents. Overall, the three day long party was awesome, and we were sad to go, but we won´t miss hearing the loud banda style bands that only beated one song the entire time we were there!
The next day was full of travelling. We caught three taxis for 15 hours on some of the most dangerous roads in the world to finally get to La Paz! The altitude is tough, but we´re hanging in there. Until our next update, peace and love to all!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
A Bicycle with a Motor Isn´t Exactly the Same Thing
They speak Spanish in Bolivia!!! We´ve decided that´s allowed for much more adventure! WE started our journey with a taxi ride to nowhere.... so we´ve learned to be VERY specific with our directions. We did manage to eat some delicious Bolivian cuisine in the midst of our confussion. =) Next was the train ride from hell, or ´the death train´ as the locals call it. Mike would agree that that´s what it should be called, since we could see the car in front of us bouncing and swaying off the track and could feel that ours was doing the same! But 15 hours later, with quite a beating, we had survived and arrived in Santa Cruz. We ate a wonderful breakfast downtown and wandered the market before catching a taxi to our next destination.
After some sharp turns on the edge of the Andes mountains we crossed a hangingbridhe onto Ginger´s Paradise. Here we met a loving family who ran a lovely organic farm and fed us the best food ever!!! The had every kind of jam you could ever imagine, quinoa, neggies of all sorts, fresh squeezed qjuices (with our help since Mike picked the oranges and I SQUOZE them!!), and lots of other organic yummies! Here we also had a few firsts! Mike rode a horse by himself, I made peanut butter and we washed our clothes at the river! After some laughs and new friends we safely hitch hiked to Samaipata thanks to a kind family.
Samaipata was full of adventures! The first day we listened to Germans tell how to go about traveling the city, the second day we decided to do it OUR way! We started the day by taking a taxi over the river and through the woods to ¨El Fuerte,¨ the Inca ruins of Samaipata. Though the most important ruins in Bolivia, we hope to be more impressed by Machu Picchu! None the less it was a beautiful sight and a wonderful view. Looking for a little more adventure and a lot more excitement we decided to rent a motorcyle! After Mike lied to the renter about knowing how to ride a motorcycle (because a bicycle with a motor isn´t exactly the same thing) we were off! We had figured out thta there was a road up to a great view bordering the National Park that was usually driven on by 4x4s, and figured we´d try it on our bike (which I should mention: wasn´t much more powerful than a vespa). We forded three rivers (which i was pretty impressed by, especially after Mike splashed fearlessly through the first!) After getting the hang of the gears, and me having to get off of the bike to make it up the steep hills, things got a little smoother and were able to get some speed on the windy dirt road! By the time we were on our way back to town Mike was a pro! We decided to ride out to a zoo made up of animals who were rescued or were there to be rehabilitated and then let back out into the wild! Here we got to meet tons of happy animals, the first was the friendliest spider monkey in the world that immediately climbed onto Mike´s arm! After he held Mike´s hand and showed us around, a howler monkey searched my fuzzy jacket for lice! There were also friendly pigs, shy turtles, colorful macaws, viscious geese, a ferrocious linx and some wonderful horses we learned we could rent! We went back the next day for our horseback riding, and again bent the truth a little about Mike knowing how to ride things! I think one of the dogs caught on because he came along to make sure we didn´t get lost =). The horses lead us to a lovely lunch on the hilltop overlooking the beautiful Samiapata valley. After a short break, we attempted to continue on our path, but the horses had their own plan (two ifferent plans actually). So after a little wandering we all agreed we would take the same path back.
Now we´re off to Trinidad on the Amazon side of Bolivia. I´d happily like to mention that Mike realized yesterday that the camara is working again, so we´ll have more pictures on the next blog! I´d also like to publically mention that his spanish is great!!
We love you all!
Mike and Kim!
After some sharp turns on the edge of the Andes mountains we crossed a hangingbridhe onto Ginger´s Paradise. Here we met a loving family who ran a lovely organic farm and fed us the best food ever!!! The had every kind of jam you could ever imagine, quinoa, neggies of all sorts, fresh squeezed qjuices (with our help since Mike picked the oranges and I SQUOZE them!!), and lots of other organic yummies! Here we also had a few firsts! Mike rode a horse by himself, I made peanut butter and we washed our clothes at the river! After some laughs and new friends we safely hitch hiked to Samaipata thanks to a kind family.
Samaipata was full of adventures! The first day we listened to Germans tell how to go about traveling the city, the second day we decided to do it OUR way! We started the day by taking a taxi over the river and through the woods to ¨El Fuerte,¨ the Inca ruins of Samaipata. Though the most important ruins in Bolivia, we hope to be more impressed by Machu Picchu! None the less it was a beautiful sight and a wonderful view. Looking for a little more adventure and a lot more excitement we decided to rent a motorcyle! After Mike lied to the renter about knowing how to ride a motorcycle (because a bicycle with a motor isn´t exactly the same thing) we were off! We had figured out thta there was a road up to a great view bordering the National Park that was usually driven on by 4x4s, and figured we´d try it on our bike (which I should mention: wasn´t much more powerful than a vespa). We forded three rivers (which i was pretty impressed by, especially after Mike splashed fearlessly through the first!) After getting the hang of the gears, and me having to get off of the bike to make it up the steep hills, things got a little smoother and were able to get some speed on the windy dirt road! By the time we were on our way back to town Mike was a pro! We decided to ride out to a zoo made up of animals who were rescued or were there to be rehabilitated and then let back out into the wild! Here we got to meet tons of happy animals, the first was the friendliest spider monkey in the world that immediately climbed onto Mike´s arm! After he held Mike´s hand and showed us around, a howler monkey searched my fuzzy jacket for lice! There were also friendly pigs, shy turtles, colorful macaws, viscious geese, a ferrocious linx and some wonderful horses we learned we could rent! We went back the next day for our horseback riding, and again bent the truth a little about Mike knowing how to ride things! I think one of the dogs caught on because he came along to make sure we didn´t get lost =). The horses lead us to a lovely lunch on the hilltop overlooking the beautiful Samiapata valley. After a short break, we attempted to continue on our path, but the horses had their own plan (two ifferent plans actually). So after a little wandering we all agreed we would take the same path back.
Now we´re off to Trinidad on the Amazon side of Bolivia. I´d happily like to mention that Mike realized yesterday that the camara is working again, so we´ll have more pictures on the next blog! I´d also like to publically mention that his spanish is great!!
We love you all!
Mike and Kim!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Jesus has his head in the clouds
Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing well! Kim and I have been having a great time in Brasil, although it hasn´t exactly been what we expected thus far. SiOnce the last blog, a lot has happened. Our two days in Rio de Janeiro were clouded in fog and rain. n our first day, we walked along the famous Ipanema and got absolutley soaked! There were no hot babes in little bikinis, all the little kiosks were closed, but we still had a great time getting laughed at by all the bus drivers as Kim waved them all down. We eventually figured out how to pronounce the suburb were our hostel was in (botofogo is pronounced bodjofOH!!go and only like that!) and made it home safely. The next day, I contracted some kind of stomach virus and dry-heaved for half a day while Kim made me soup and bought be crackers and drinkable water (what a great girl). When that was over we took a train up to O Cristo Redentor, but Jesus looked decappitated since the fog was so thick! Unfortunetly we also missed the beautiful view of the city -- oh well.
On day 3, we upped and outted West toward Bonito, having had enough of the bad weather and in search of better. A month later we arrived in Bonito (well, the bus ride felt like a month, but it was really only 30 hours), a small ecotourism funded town with expensive snorkelling trips and still no sun. Instead of hopping on a tour, we rent bikes and rode around the area. We must have biked 30 miles that day! At Balneario Municpal (City Baths) we saw hundred of fish in the clearest water, played with monkeys, and a huge bright red macaw attacked me! I think it wanted to make a nest out of my beard. That night was so cold, Kim refused to get out from under the blankets to take a hot shower! We left the next day at 7 in the morning.
Via camioneta and combi, we arrived at the Pantanal; a vast wetland the size of Texas that floods annually. It´s home to a huge number of speicies and still pretty much untouched by humans. By the time we settled in, the weather was clearing up, and we were excited to see the sun, sky, moon, a star...after a week in Brasil! Then we saw a Monkey! We took a boat tour shortly after and saw 11 monkeys, countless caimen (crocs but smaller), cocibara (like a cross between a guinea pig and a bear), and a hundreds of beautifully colored birds! We went on a night Safari later, and it was too cold out for most of the animals (coldest it´s been in 35 years), but we still got a cool look at some glowing caimen eyes. We woke the next morning feliz como una lombriz! The sun came through like a champ, brightening our smiles and warming our hearts. We were so excited we jumped out of our sleeping bags at 6:30 in the morning for breakfast (bread and coffee). We fished for piranas afterwards, but the only thing in the water was the camera I dropped. oops. During a relaxing break between activities a macaw of every color of the rainbow appeared in our camp! Normally, red and blue macaws refused to mate, but when they do, the most amazing colors appear on the offspring. Apparently there are only a few of these in the wild and only one in captivity. You won´t see this bird in any fieldbook either. Kim says it´s the rainbow bird I summoned with my hippie powers. Truly a rare and special moment for us. Later we galloped on horses through the fields to spot armadillos, bush deer, reah (like an emu), more caimen, more monkeys, and a flock of vivid blue macaws! The best activity was walking through the pirana, caimen, anaconda infested swamp barefoot on a five hour trek deep into the Pantenal! The mud felt great between our toes and the wildlife was amazing once again. We saw a family of monkeys in a tree, a flock of flamingo-type birds, toucans, and got super close to the caimen! They were more scared of us though. We left that amazing place this morning to find ourselves in the border town of Corumba, between Brasil and Bolivia. We´re heading off the marsh and into the Amazon tomorrow! Who knows what adventures await us!
We love everyone,
Mike and Kim
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Why is his beer chunky?
We´re in Brazil! But whoever told me that by knowing Spanish I´d be able to understand Portuguese was absolutely wrong!! I mean i guess I can mostly get by but I MUST first process and then I can pretty much get it. In fact Mike was the big speaker at first, but now I´d like to think that I´ve caught up! =) Thankfully the people are absoulutely wonderful and super patient with us!! When we arrived in Brazil we very smoothly made it on the right bus! We met a fellow back-packer and together we all made it to our lovely hostel. One of the best parts so far?? We haven´t seen a bug neither in our hostel nor out and about!! We have now safely made it around town, to the beach, and had great food with out feeling sick (knock on wood)!! As much as we´ve had some great (although wet) fun in our first few hours in Rio we can´t wait to get into the jungle! Not sure if Mike´s mentioned but we actually got to see quite a bit in Texas: at least 4 shooting stars (one super amazing one), a huge frog, huge nasty bugs (of course), the fourth generation of geese to go to his grandpa´s, turkey vultures eating a wild boar, turtles, elk, deer and cardinals. With that said, that´s not enough and our adventure goes on!
**pictures will come soon we promise!**
**pictures will come soon we promise!**
Leaving on a Jet Plane
After a stressful week, we finally left Santa Cruz via Greybound -- bound for Las Vegas. We visited my Uncle Nick and Grandma June, hung out at the Colorado river, and watched one of the best firework displays! We chilled in Nick's pool, barbecued, played cards with my Grandma, and played pool on Nick's table too!! Then we left for Texas where we floated on my grandpa's lake most of the time, drank beer with a few of the locals, and melted under the big, hot, Texas sun (everyting's bigger in Texas (except for the beer quality!!) no offense Texenios!). Kim adds: It's was a surpisingly welcoming and loving place desite the neighbor's tattered confederate flags on the road leading to grandpa's (but at least it's history). We visted more family members in Dalls on the way to the airport and we were off!!! .... but not before US Airways made me travel 3 miles! from where we checked our bags to print an intenerary for our trip >:o . Talk about a pain in the ass! We barley caught our plane, but it all worked out in the end!! At least we landed -- and that's what I paid for I guess! But all shitty airlines aside, we've made it to Rio!!!! Time to party!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)