Monthly Archives: June 2012

Someplace special in Colombia

Gates leading into a little slice of heaven

First you catch a bus to Armenia, then one to Salento, and when you arrive in the main square, you hire a jeep and tell him to take you to La Serrana Eco Farm and Hostel.

As the jeep rolls down the long, dusty gravel driveway, you’ll find yourself on a cozy finca overlooking panoramic views of rolling farmland, grazing animals, and impossibly green mountains. Hydrangeas grow along rocky pathways. A hammock–just asking for a weary traveller and good book–sways in the breeze.

Friendly dogs greet you as you make your way into an airy ranch. This ranch feels like your childhood best friends house–the one in the country. The one where you had all the room in the world to run and play.

Inside, a vase of tropical flowers sits on a large inviting table, an open kitchen contains Dutch girls making hot chocolate and popcorn, couches filled with Germans, Israelis, and Aussies gaze at a TV–which plays a classic American comedy. One guy plays guitar on the patio while another drinks fresh coffee.

Raw milk and homemade yogurt fresh made from the happy grazing cows nearby, large rich brownies, and homemade peaunut butter are available at cost if or when they are desired. A popcorn maker sits in the corner waiting for a case of the munchies.

Guest kitchen and dining area

Living room

Lawn

And just when you think things can’t be more perfect, the sky paints a rainbow. Travelers head to the hillside to gaze at it.

At seven, the dinner bell rings and all head to the kitchen. This is an open tiled room with windows for walls, wine bottles adorning the ceilings and friendly Colombian women busy with the finishing touches on tonights meal–family style burritos–homemade tortillas, guacamole and salsa, steak, chicken, veggies, beans and rice: ingrediants of which were born on or near the farm.

We gather at long candlelit wooden tables to share our home-cooked meal; drink wine and discuss where we’ve come from; where we are going. This dinner continues for hours, until we head to back to the house.

Some play the guitar and sing, others practice their Spanish, the rest pop in another movie. The mood is chill, and as we sit on cush leather couches-the tv screen gently flickering- it feels as if we are cozy at home. And for some- after months, even years on the road–and many more ahead–thats a feeling worth far more than the $10/night price tag.

First taste of Colombia

A lovely cathedral in Popayan, Colombia

Anna walking along the whitewashed walls of Popayan´s main square

After a long couple days of traveling from Ecuador, we decide to make a stop in Popayan, Colombia before heading to Cali.

And having read that it was Colombia´s second most architectually impressive spot (next to Cartagena) and also that it was named an UNESCO gastronomic city, we decided this was a city worth spending a few nights in.

If you haven’t noticed the prevalence of food related talk on this blog, nothing gets us quite as excited as the promise of good food.

The city of Popayan is distinguished by its colonial architecture and clean, white walls. Because of this, the entire city center has a spotless, and orderly feel to it. The park is spacious with exotic flowering trees surrounding a fountain. Street venders sell various delicious fruit-based concoctions, palm fruit, the ubiquitous candy & ice cream, arepas- yummy thick, corn-based tortillas- and envueltos (Colombian style tamale). The days here are sunny and warm; the nights comfortably crisp. Our hostel -Park Life- is a historical house spot in the middle of all the quant beauty.

Like many other places we’ve explored, we spend one full day walking the city; enjoying the hot sun, getting a small taste of the flavor of the city.

Once again we decide to take the street food approach (big surprise) to Popayan, never spending more than $3 on any one meal. This allows us to get a small taste of lots of different treats- including a Colombian favorite- arepas which taste like fresh cornbread with cheese; Pan de Bono (a bread baked with cheese), Champus (chunky fruit juice), plus strange and exotic fruits like uchuvas and lulos (tart fruit unique to Colombia that is awesome in juice), and a strange milk & guanabana mixture.

Chontaduro- the fruit of a palm- seasoned with sugar and honey. Tastes like a starchier, slightly less sweet, sweet potato. We werent fans.

Corn Arepa with cheese

Strange marshmellow like candy made from animal fat and oatmeal

My personal favorite- uchuvas- seedless, sweet and tart: like some kind of lovechild of a mandarin and passion fruit

At night we buy a bottle, actually a box, of cheap wine after buying arepas (different from the others we had previously tried), and ice cream (we had to see how it was different from Ecuador ice cream) for dinner. We drink the wine in our hostel’s dimly lit sun room on cozy floor pillows and muse on our plans for Columbia, as chill, foreign music fills the rooms. Rather enticing smells come from the hostel kitchen, where Hip French travelers wearing trendy glasses cook a late dinner.

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It’s one of those satisfying nights that we are perfectly happy heading for our bunks by 10 PM …

Post Ecuador Roundup

Number of Days in Ecuador: 20

Areas Visited: Guayaquil (2 nights)- Montanita (4)- Banos (4)- Tena (2)- Misahaulli & The Jungle (3) -Quito (4) -Tulcan (1 night in the border town)

The surprisingly lovely city of Guayaquil- in the Las Penas Barrio

Enjoying one of our favorite parts of the hippie beach paradise of Montanita- the cheap street food…

The Beautiful Banos sucked us in longer than expected

Climbing to our swim & lunch break at the waterfalls in the jungle

Lovely old town Quito

Average daily cost for lodging: around $7

Most Expensive Hostel: Splurged on a double room at a fancy boutique guesthouse in Guayaquil, when the dorms filled- $30 or $15/per person. Well worth it at the time.

Our splurge room in Guayaquil

Least Expensive: El Centro del Mundo in Quito- just $5.60 per night. Well worth it considering this price included free breakfast and free rum & coke on Mon-Wed-Fri… A big reason why we had so much fun in Quito.

Number of beds slept in: 8 hostels over 20 nights (i.e. a much better ratio than in Peru)

Average meal cost: $2-4 (we were extremely cheap, sticking with the menu del dias, which typically involve soup, a hearty main dish of meat, rice, veggies or beans, fresh juice, and if lucky- dessert for $1.50-3…a steal

Hours spent on buses: Aprox 21 hours -i.e. nothing compared to Peru

Time Spent ill: 0 – WOOHOO! My stomach has toughened up, it appears

Strangest things sold by street venders:
-Puppies: There were street venders in Quito literally selling puppies. Holding one or two in each hand and walking around Old Town.
-Lamps on the beach: In Montanita men were walking up and down the beach selling floor lamps. Why anyone would buy a floor lamp while on the beach is beyond me, but they must have had some luck at some point.

Things we’d like to bring with us when we go home:
-Amazing, cheap fresh fruit and juices. I’ve been taking advantage of the fact that I can get fresh fruit for next to nothing on every corner. In Ecuador, I went through a Maracuya (passion fruit) obsession. Such a strange and amazing fruit. Also I ate a ton of amazing (and amazingly cheap) strawberries.

-Street food in general. It’s so nice to just be able to pick up a delicious snack or meal quick, fresh off the grill, or blender, etc. for $1 or less at nearly any hour of the day/night. Any bus you take, at any stop, an army of venders bombard the bus selling skewers, fried chicken and potatoes, ice cream, homemade chips, fruit salad and more. All you have to do is sit comfortably in your seat and let them seduce you with their treats. Though overwhelming, it’s good fun.

I truly wish the economy of the US was set up to support street venders more. Sure- they can undoubtably be annoying, my overall feeling for anyone selling something on the street is love. I’ll miss hearing their annoying voices yelling “Mango, mango, mango”

-Dancing culture: whats not to love about going out on the weekends and dancing the night away. It gives purpose to a night of drinking. It seemed that all Ecuadorians were professional dancers (especially the men- which was new for us, haha). If children in the US grew up dancing, maybe less of us awkward white people would be terrible dancers, and we all may be a little more fit and a little more happy.

There- I think I just found an answer to a few of our biggest problems…just dance.

Highlights

–Adventure sports in Banos- Canyoning, whitewater rafting, bridge jumping…

Because nothing quite compares to that feeling…

-Our 3 day Amazon Tour: It was just enough time to get a nice taste for the jungle- a little trekking, plus learning about indigenous culture, cooking, dance, crafts, etc. It definitely left me wanting more. I´d like to go back- maybe delve into the Colombian Amazon?

-The Quito Nightlife: we took advantage of the fun salsatechs and bars near our ¨party hostel¨ in Quito. Also, the people we met in our hostel were quite a hoot. Quito was a blast.

Favorite Hostel: We stayed in some pretty satisfactory places in Ecuador, but one that stands out above the rest was probably Plantas y Blanco hostel in Banos. For $8 a night, we got a clean dorm, nice bathrooms with consistantly hot showers, bed sheets changed daily, daily clean towels (a luxury). The Wifi was good. The rooftop cafe was better. The breakfast was the best (homemade breads & jams, pastries, juices, and good coffee. Lovely views of the surrounding volcanos, cathedral and city.

As far as bang for our buck and the place I had the most fun-definitely El Centro del Mundo, in Quito. However, the beds were dreadful.

Favorite Foods:

We had really excellent luck with the street food in Ecuador. In fact we ate incredibly cheaply in Ecuador. It was not uncommon for us to have an entire meal for $1.50-3. I think my most expensive meal was around $5. It wasnt uncommon for us to spend more on dessert than on our main course.

The highlights included the meat skewers and grilled corn on the cob in Montanita, and Shawarma- a wonderful middle eastern food consisting of slow grilled meats in a pita wrap with lettice, tomato and yummy yogurt sauce, that instantly became a favorite -typically around $1.75 each. Also, the Pina Burger in Banos, stood out for me (no picture unfortunately), which was a juicy burger on a homemade bun with cheese and fresh pineapple. Finally I had a highly satisfying salad of beans, tomatos, onions, plantain chips and corn, marinated in lime juice and garnished with fun salsa and cilantro (ceviche del choclo): that I will be daydreaming about for years.

Ceviche de Choclo

Annoyances:
-The lack of free breakfast in Ecuador :)
-The weather; especially in Banos- we were unable to go on a bike ride down the road of waterfalls because of uncooperative weather.
-Trying to find a good rainforest tour. We wandered all over creation, searched the depths of both internet and guide book and talked to randoms before finally we stumbled on our tour operator.
-The price of drinks (other than beer) in big cities. However this was probably a blessing in disguise.

No biggie, can´t win ém all…

Regrets? I can´t say there is anything I regret about our time in Ecuador. If I must chose something-I suppose I would say that I wish we had mustered up the energy to go to the Saturday market in Otavalo. However, I fully intend to return to Ecuador someday to visit The Galapagos. I´ll just have to hit it then…

What´s next?

On to Colombia! Perhaps my most highly anticipated stop (I´m currently in Cali, Colombia, where we will begin Salsa lessons tomorrow!)… After Cali, likely we are off to coffee country, next to Medellin, and on to Cartagena, Santa Marta and the Carribean coast. Columbia splurges? A 7-8 trek to the Lost City; and sailing from Cartagena to Panama?

Also possible- a surprise side trip to somewhere south of the equator? Not sure?

That´s the beauty of having no set schedule…

The Mighty Jungle

Though now I sit in a hostel in the very Metropolitan capitol city of Quito, 5 days ago I was trekking in primary rainforest in the mighty Ecuadorian Amazon.

Strangely the decision took a long time. We couldn’t decide which part of the Jungle we wanted to visit, which tour agency to book with or which city to begin our trek. First, we travelled to the city of Tena, with no luck. For whatever reason, none of the tours seemed appealing. Shortly after arriving in Misahaulli, and once we walked into Teorami Tours, our decision was made. The tour guide happened to be someone Janek (our young German travel buddy), had heard about from friends he made on his Galapagos trip.

You have to follow the coincidences.

Moments later we were being whisked away in a pickup truck to an Ecolodge in the secondary jungle, near an indigenous community. Surrounded by palms, banana trees, and plant varieties I’ve never seen before, the lodge was made from bamboo, with dirt floors and no electricity, WIFI or general contact with the outside world.

After a night of sleep, we awoke for our first day in the jungle. This involved 7 hours of trekking in the primary (untouched) jungle- myself, anna, and Janek, our local private bilingual guide and two of his apprentices.

As we trekked, we stopped now and then so our guide could teach us about medicinal plants, insects, flowers etc. Janek and I even tried the sinus remedy, which involved our guide grinding up a plant, mixing it with water and pooring it down our nostrils. Crazy painful, but definitely cleared the sinuses. Our guide used a flower which contained a vibrant red natural paint to turn us into jungle warriors…

We stopped for a lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches on plates of palm leaves, and swam at a series of waterfalls. Then 3 more hours of trekking- we ended at another more secluded ecolodge- fell asleep to the sound of the jungle…

Jungle Picnic!

Our jungle abode for the evening

Second day we woke up and after breakfest hopped on a riverboat and went bird watching on a river that if followed would eventually merge into the Amazon River… we then went to a musuem where we learned about the indigenous people- including how they trap their animals and how they give birth. This invovled a rope attached to the ceiling which the woman holds on to and squats. According to our guide it was not uncommon for the woman birth alone.

Demonstrating th e birthing process for these particular Amazon indigenious women

At lunch we got to play with a strange monkey-ant-eater-like animal (forgot the name of it). with a long wet snout, that let us pick it up and then crawled all of our back and head!

Next it was to an animal preserve with all sorts of exotic animals that were rescued from the surrounding jungle- tons of beautiful birds, monkeys, strange cats Ive never seen before.

The Caiman

After a longer boat ride we arrived back at the first ecolodge, and after dinner we did a night walk. Since most insects in the jungle are nocturnal we saw many… tons of giant spiders, huge killer ants, beauitful butterflies and a caiman (a small crocodile)….

There was also several tarantulas- one of which we were all able to hold and let crawl on our face … Tarantula facial?

Third day was spent with some woman from an indiginous native community… we went out into the jungle fields with her to learn about planting/harvesting. We picked plants, tea leaves, and fruit (one of which was one of the best grape fruit Ive ever had), then we walked back to the village to help wrap talapia freshly caught in the river nearby in banana leaves then put on the fire to be slow smoked. While the fish cooked we went to make chocolate from the bean… roasted, shelled, then grinded, and mixed with milk and sugar.

It was quite interesting, during lunch in the hut where we were eating there was a a war going on between ants and cockroaches. The hut had hundreds of cockroaches living in the walls (an issue our first night at dinner, there were literally roaches crawling on the dinner table) so apparently the natural way to exterminate the roaches is to let a massive army of ants invade the hut. The ants actually eat the roaches. So they come into the hut in swarms, surround the roaches and eat them until there is nothing left of the roach corpse… quite a spectacle to watch! I am no longer afraid of roaches, haha!

Cockroaches VS ants… the ants won

We had a lunch of river talapia (absolutely amazing), yucca, rice and an onion/tomato salad. For dessert it was fresh papaya with the chocolate sauce we made..

Next we made jewelry using jungle materials, seeds, etc. After that we panned gold in the river. We only found a few tiny specs.

Finally we took a river taxi back to Misahaulli and waited for our bus to arrive. With quite possibly the best entertainment we could have asked for the monkeys which invade the plaza every afternoon to pester passerbies and steal from unsuspecting tourists- gave us a show. One monkey stole a bottle of bug spray from a German couple, then proceeded to apply the repellent to himself and his friends. Another monkey climbed Janek, unsuccesfully attempting to steal his grapes.

Hola Playa!

Currently in the hippie surfer paradise of Montanita, Ecuador- a beach village that could not get any more beachy.

Arrived last night: drank $2 piña coladas and passion fruit mojitos, then danced until 4 in the morning to Bob Marley and outdated American dance music.

Spent the entire day today on a lounge chair on the beach – eating fresh ceviche, chocolate covered bananas and drinking from coconuts. Watched gringo backpackers & ecuadorians, wander the beach barefoot, locals play fetch with their dogs, dreadlocked surfers catch some waves and venders sell jewelry, tacos, sunglasses, beach toys, ice cream, lamps (explain that one), juice and more.

I’m staying here forever- so I can live a peaceful life by the sea- I will grow dreads and sell empanadas by the sea. Nice knowing you all ….

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The First Month Lowdown

OK let me preface this post by saying- a few days ago, while on a 19 hour overnight bus journey, I spent around 3 hours writing a Peru/first month recap. Something went terribly wrong, and for reasons I’d rather not discuss, my post never saved.

This is a touchy subject for me- but I will try my best to rewrite this post, while staying positive.

As I write this, I sit in a fabulous “boutique” hostel in Guayaquil, Ecuador. I mean this place feels like The Ritz (if I knew what that felt like), compared to half the places I stayed in Peru. The hostel or “guesthouse” occupies 3 floors of a building in downtown Guayaquil, overlooking “Malecon,” an expansive stretch of boardwalk along a river, with lovely little parks, statues, fountains, ice cream venders and lookout towers.

My guesthouse has an incredibly chill vibe with cool tile floors, lantern lighting, hammocks, unique Galapagos themed art work, and chaise lounge chairs with throw pillows. I’m sharing a 4-person dorm room with 2 other solo female travellers (both seem very cool); we are treated with fluffy towels (Hallelujah!), free filtered drinking water (first place to offer this in a month), comfy beds and a clean and modern bathroom. The cost of all this? …just $11 :) thank god for cheap thrills.

After my whirlwind of a month in Peru, this place is exactly what I needed.

Let’s recap-

The day by day breakdown:
May 5- Depart Chicago
May 6- Crazy layover in Panama; followed by flight to Lima
May 6-11; explored Lima with friends I made on layover, Anna joined me on the 9th. Ate lots of excellent food.
May 11-12: Took a night bus to Nazca, Hiked and sandboarded down the largest sand dune in the world; visited a local festival, drank wine with a Peruvian family in a lively plaza; hopped the night bus to Cuzco.
May 12-17; Explored Cuzco; visited ruins by horseback, went dancing, wandered the ancient streets.
May 17-20: 5 day/4night spectacular Salkantay trek
May 21: Spent an entire day marvelling at the wonder of the world that is Machu Picchu.
May 22-23: Joined a couple Brazilians and a Norwegian I met on the trek at a quant hilltop hostel overlooking the city; recovered by cooking meals in the hostel kitchen and relaxed by camp fire on the lawn.
May 24: grabbed a 12-hour tour of the Sacred Valley, followed by 10 hour overnight bus journey to Arequipa.
May 25-27: Explored the beautiful streets, parks, and plazas of Arequipa. Ate the exceptional food (and a few of the best desserts I’ve ever consumed). Visited a hopping dance club at 3 PM in the afternoon.
May 28-29; Full day tour of Colca Canon. Saw 9 condors at one time. Incredible. Grabbed a 19-hour night bus to Lima, arriving at 5pm the following day.
May 29-30; stayed the night in Lima (one more phenomenal sandwich at La Lucha), 11 AM flight to Ecuador.

The Numbers-
Hours spent on Buses:
Roughly 70 hours
Number of different beds slept in (over 27 days of travel):
About 20 (this is tricky, because 1-2 nights I barely slept at all, 3 nights were on buses, 4 were in a tent/sleeping bag
Sick Days:
5 days of weird stomach/altitude problems, 4 days with head cold & cough. Nothing too depilating.

Total Cost of about 1 Month in Peru: $1467 (and this includes everything- accommodation & food, tours, treks & gear, laundry & water, Boleto de Touristicos (2 different times at about US$30 each) bus rides, and even my plane ticket to Lima). I anticipate this may be one of my most expensive countries. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Average Total Daily Cost: (excludes plane ticket) around $39

Biggest Expense: Machu Picchu, which I got at a bargain price of $260 (but took out an additional $200 to buy pre trip randoms and to spend along the way). Totally worth every penny and more.

Transportation: Considering all the overnight bus trips we took, we barely broke $100 paying for all of them.

Lodging: I didn’t keep the best track of this–but we rarely spent more than US $7-10 per night on a hostel. My most expensive room in Peru was about $12. We spent the majority of nights in hostel dorms.

Annoyances:

Money= I got all my cash from ATMS; which most commonly dispense in amounts of 50s and more likely 100 sol bills. Almost no vender accepts anything larger than a 20, because nobody EVER has change. This made actually spending money/paying for things very challenging.

Bathroom= There seems be a national shortage of toilet seats in Peru, and a law that says toilet paper must only be available for charge. This wasn’t a huge deal as I have no problem “squatting” and I just got used to carrying around my own TP. But there were several awkward instances where I was caught in the wrong place with no TP, or no toilet at all. Yikes (see: lowest point)

I’ve also had to just squat and pee in some strange places- a woodsy area of Machu Picchu (there are NO bathrooms on the premises- what do they expect), a kitchen sink (haha, again see: lowest point), several bushes, behind a crate at a train station, etc. As they say, when you got to go- you got to go.

I couldn’t live without my:
iPod Touch- True, my travels would be more “pure and authentic” without it (i.e. I’d be more lost), but I’ve gotten so much use out of this little fellow, and it’s been the source of entertainment and resource- I’m not sure what I’d do without it. I can check my email, facebook, bank accounts/finances etc. I can take pictures or video. I can check my location on google maps and find out how far I am from hotspots or my next hostel- and get directions. I used it to use Skype to call my credit card company and tell them I was in a new country, and then to find and get the address to the high rated hostel I now find myself in. I used it to Facetime call my sister in law; in which she used it to show me her growing belly, and some miniature clothes for the baby girl that will soon emerge. I use it right now along with an amazing bluetooth keyboard to type this blog post…In fact, just two seconds ago a british girl walked by and exclaimed in a very British way, “Are you using that keyboard thingy to type on your little iPhone- WOW- Technology these days”

Exoficio Underwear- I have 4 pairs of underwear, I’ve sent out laundry for cleaning twice in nearly 30 days, yet I am never wearing dirty underwear. A miracle, you ask?? Nope- just my Exoficio underwear. Wear it, wash it in the sink, dries perfectly overnight. Rotate, repeat. These bad boys have held up flawlessly, and show no signs of wear and tear. Simply amazing. The same can be said for the 3 merino shirts I own. A miracle fabric from God. I could wear the same shirt for days on end (and I basically have) and they hold absolutely no odor and won’t lose their shape. Smart wool and Icebreaker are my golden brands.

Highest Point:
This is difficult to chose. There have been a few. Finally reaching Machu Picchu at sunrise was tough to beat. It wasn’t just that I had endured four amazing days of walking, climbing, sleeping amongst the mountains, and finally climbing thousands of steps; but it was the realization that after months of saving, working, planning, I felt that I had accomplished something much bigger.

Lowest Point:
Arriving back at my cold, lonely hostel after my 5 day Salkantay hike. I had taken just one shower over the past week, and slept on the cold ground all but one night. I was beyond exhausted, still a little sick, freezing cold and more than a tad grumpy. It was after 1 AM when I arrived and it appeared I was the only one staying at the hostel. I planned on staying for that night and leaving first thing in the morning to meet up with others. All I wanted to do was go to bed, however first I needed to pee like crazy (I had been trying to rehydrate all day) so I headed to the bathroom. For some unknown reason the door was locked (but with no one inside). There was no way I could go to sleep without emptying my bladder first- I very quickly scanned the vicinity for unlocked doors, another bathroom, an unsuspecting plant, empty bottles, etc. I was getting desperate. I saw the dingy kitchen, and then the dingy kitchen sink. It’s not hard to guess what happens next…

Yes, as I stood on the countertop, one foot planted on each side of the sink- squatting, I literally thought to myself, “Lindsay, this is your low point.”

But really, what else was I supposed to do?

Highlights:
FOOD! The amount of joy I’ve received from food in Peru has been immense. I’ve tasted things I’ve never tasted before and will likely never taste again. Anna and I sat in a restaurant in the Barranco neighborhood of Lima, and spent an hour savoring our meals in near silence–I ate a local dish called Aji de Gallina, and hers was a tender beef and bean dish of which I can’t recall the name. Both were indescribably good–creamy yet light, flavorful yet delicate, comforting foods.

I’ve eaten some of the best desserts I’ve ever had–mounds of homemade gelato, impossibly decadent chocolate cakes, moist tres leches tortes, perfect cheesecakes. It’s a good thing I spend most days in constant motion.

I’ve ordered seemingly common foods such as sandwiches or pizza, only to be surprised by new techniques or flavor combinations.

Strangely, I’ve also eaten some of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had–homemade crusty breads, tender meats, creamy cheeses, spicy sauces, avocado, sautéed veggies, onions marinated in lime juice–in some combination–throw them together and you’re guaranteed an out of body eating experience ;) I’m going through a bit of a sandwich obsession.

Don’t get me started on all the fresh squeezed juices and smoothies–available all over and everywhere for dirt cheap.

Scenery-
At times it’s been otherworldly–scary, spectacular mountain roads, rivers and waterfalls, and babbling brooks. Lush, green jungles, impossibly deep canons, impossibly high peaks; stark, sandy desserts as far as the eye can see, ocean views; jagged rocky moon landscapes. All in one country. All in one day. My camera is getting a workout.

People-
Wow have I met some spectacular people. Inspiring people, fun people, fascinating people, highly motivated “super people,” local people, just plain bizarre people; incredibly knowledgable, and incredibly kind people. People from all corners of the globe.

The people you meet while traveling are special. I can’t wait to see who else I stumble on.

What’s next?
The possibilities are endless. I know I will likely continue traveling with Anna until she departs Bogota on June 28.

So what will we do for the next month?

Considerations:
-The Galapagos!?
-An Amazon Excursion
-A stop at the lovely coastal, surfer , hippie hotspot of Montanita
-A few days in Ecuador’s adventure sports mecca- Banos.
-An afternoon at Otavalo- the largest market in South America.
-A few days in the capital city of Quito
-Overland into Columbia stopping in it’s Salsa dancing capital of Cali
-Medellin? Bogota? Cartagena?
-Tour a Columbian coffee plantation
-Relax in a Caribbean beach town

I have a feeling the next month will fly by as quickly as the last.