A Fresh Start in Colombia

Our 6 hour night bus ride turned out to be a 9 hour ride due to a power line that had fallen across the road. We arrived at 4:00 am, tired but still with a sense of humour. We rented a great little apartment in Santa Marta from a nice family. It was a 5 minute walk to the beach, it was spic-and-span clean, had air conditioning, 3 bedrooms, our own kitchen..... and was half the price of our Cartagena hostel! It was a great place to do our laundry and map out our plans for the rest of our trip. Less than 2 weeks left....

There was a trek that I had read a lot about, the Ciudad Perdida (literally translated 'Lost City') and Santa Marta was the trail starting point.

We have been so lucky to do so many treks on this trip. High altitude treks, cultural highland treks, Sacred Valley treks..... I didn't know if everyone would be up for one more. They have all been physically challenging and quite honestly, pretty exhausting. They have all been beautiful and rewarding and inspiring but Greg and I didn't know if the kids would appreciate them as much as we did.

We had a family discussion and with a unanimous thumbs-up, we re-packed our bags and got ready for our last South American multi-day romp.

We could never do hikes like this with all our gear. We stored the majority of our stuff and just compressed what we needed for the 4 days into the girls' backpacks: sleeping sheets, sunscreen, hats, bathing suits, two changes of clothes, a bucket of mosquito repellent, and our Preparation H for all the bug bites that we were fairly warned about.

We hiked about 15 kilometres a day, tough terrain with several river crossings thrown in for additional challenge (and maybe just to embarrass those of us with poorer balance). The scenery was exceptionally beautiful yet exactly what I imagined the Colombia jungle to look like; misty layers of green mountains densely packed with tropical vegetation.

What I didn't expect, but loved more than anything else were the little villages we came across. This was the real deal, not people dressed up for a parade or a Luau. Tiny circular mud homes with thatched roofs. Pigs and chickens running around and scads of the cutest kids literally wearing garments that looked like white potato sacks. They were. either barefoot or were wearing rubber boots, they all had matted hair but generally wore multiple layers of colourful beaded necklaces.

Although Greg and Levi were able to insert themselves in a little soccer game, it was typically hard for us to interact with the kids. Some approached us and asked us for sweets, but most just ignored us (and likely wished we would just go away). I found these encounters fascinating and often left shaking my head thinking about how these kids have such different lives than our kids in Canada. The kids don't go to school, the mothers are expected to teach them what they need to know and they tend to be working full time by 14 years of age.

My favourite cultural eye-opening moment was meeting this family in the video below. Apparently in these villages it is common for a man to first marry an older woman, one who has experience and can set up a home. After the home has been established, it is customary for the man to then take a younger wife and start another family. It is fine then for him to separate from the first wife, or, he can just keep them both. We met these women and learned that they were both wives of the same man; pretty sure the younger wife was about 16.

There is not much you can pack or prepare for to cope with the heat here. Almost 40 degrees Celsius with humidity that you could see hanging in the air. Although there were numerous swimming holes and river rapids to enjoy throughout the trip, we were soaking wet with sweat all the time -- seriously dripping. We would get up around 5:00 am, eat breakfast, pack up, and be on the trail by 6:00 am to try to avoid some heat. We would start dripping with sweat at about 8:00 am until we would arrive at our camps in the evening. Let's just say that our clothes and our shoes were not smelling 'pretty'.

"Dad! Stay away from me! You are gross!!"

Frequent fruit breaks were appreciated.

Levi's highlight of this trip was jumping off some of the river boulders into pristine swimming holes. He was vibrating he was so excited.

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The accommodation along the way was basic but charming. Communal eating areas, basic kitchens that produced great meals and bunk bed structures packed together tight. Somehow the sheer mosquito netting above each mattress seems to make it OK that you are sleeping beside a stranger. I did have a moment of regret wishing I had brought earplugs but ended up getting lucky that nobody seemed to snore.

Unfortunately on Day 2 of the hike Colby was awake all night vomiting. Poor kid. I was sure she had food poisoning yet was puzzled because she was eating and drinking the same things as the rest of us and we were all fine. She then got a fever so at least that confirmed that it wasn't the food or water, just a rotten time to get the flu.

Colby had to stay in bed the morning of Day 3 while the rest of us went to the actual Lost City ruin. It felt terrible going to the ruin without Colby. Terrible that it was the primary destination of the trek and she had to miss it.

We will have to "Photoshop" Colby into our Lost City pictures.

Ciudad Perdida is one of the largest pre-Colombian towns discovered in the Americas built between the 11th and the 14th centuries. During the Spanish conquest, the people were wiped out and their settlement disappeared under the lush tropical vegetation. It was only re-discovered in 1975 by tomb robbers.

We started early in the morning to get to the ruin. Twelve hundred narrow steep steps up to get there and then 1200 shakey steps back down, a good way to jump-start your heart first thing in the morning! The central part of the city is set on a ridge from which various stone paths descend. There were about 150 stone terraces that once served as foundations for the houses, ceremonial communal meeting areas, storage, and a sophisticated water distribution system was evident.

We were trying to figure out a way to get a mule to carry Colby back but she was feeling a little better after lunch. What a trooper! Although solemn, she put her determination face on and was able to make it to our camp 10 hard and hot kilometres away. She passed out in her bed about 5:00 and slept 12 hours. Better again the next day (but far from feeling like hiking in the heat), she finished the final 15 kilometres.

While the ruins were a fascinating place, the trek was really all about the journey, the Indigenous villages and the breathtaking scenery along the way.

A young mother does laundry while her children enjoy the stream.

The trip was a stiff 5 day hike that we compressed into 4 days. Sixty kilometres in length and we were either climbing up or going down. The grades were so steep going down was almost harder than going up. When we finished our legs were wobbly and tired and they looked pretty bad too. 

I ask myself , "how can this be a highlight of our trip when our legs look like this?"

Finding Our Groove in Colombia

Our first real stop in Colombia was Cartagena, an intoxicating Colonial city with a population of 1 million people. Although Cartagena has a reputation for being the most beautiful city in Colombia, we found ourselves arranging our departure early so we could get to more rustic and charming Colombian spots.

Our accommodation in Cartagena might have influenced our early departure plans...... first of all, everything was full. 'No Vacancy' signs everywhere. The city was bursting with people and we arrived after 8:00 pm. With our backpacks we trundled down the busy and narrow sidewalks of the old city for over 90 minutes before two nice young fellow travellers (who had the same problem the night before) helped us finally find 5 beds. A true hostel experience, one that we have not had to have on this trip. We had 5 beds in a dorm room with 10 beds, the bathrooms were in worse maintenance than most outhouses, and then to top it off we had a couple of less-than-conscientious dorm mates. The strangest thing was that we paid $175 for the night there-- the most expensive accommodation we have had the entire trip and easily the worst. This was where Quinn spent her 16th birthday. Happy birthday sweetheart!

The next morning we were up to see the city and desperately wanted to give Cartagena a second chance. We had a pretty good day touring around until Colby slipped on some slimy poop-smelling liquid that was all over a sidewalk. She slipped and fell into the gutter where the liquid covered her shoes and since she was down on all 4's, had it all along her shins and her hands were covered. I have no idea what the substance was but it was a greasy poopy sludge that would not wash off. A police officer saw Colby fall and he ordered a street vendor to clean it up, but it was too late for Colby.

We walked back to the hostel and tried our best to sanitize. It adds to the difficulty when there is no hot water. I had some powdered laundry detergent and Colby was rubbing that directly on her skin trying to cut the grease in the cold shower while I was while I was at a sink gagging trying to clean off her shoes and her clothes.

We decided that Cartagena was not our town and we headed to the bus station and boarded a night bus to Santa Marta, one of South America's oldest cities northeast along the Colombian Caribbean coastline.

We would try Cartagena again someday, it just wasn't our town this trip.

The Otavalo Market

Beneath the backdrop of a large volcano is a pretty Ecudorian city called Otavalo. There is lots to do in and around Otavalo but we came for the famous markets. There is a market everyday in Otavalo but the real action happens on Saturday, official market day. On Saturdays the market moves beyond the town square and it swells into 6 adjacent streets. This was a perfect destination to finish off Todd's trip.

We started our day at the animal market. Indigenous men and women were milling about with their pigs, cows, goats, chickens, guinea pigs, dogs, and rabbits. Somehow we ended up buying a couple of scarves there but otherwise it was a fun excursion to people and animal watch. Always amazing how disassociated we are from our food sources in Canada.

Todd even managed to find Otavelo's version of Home Depot.

Next we went to the crafts market. There was an astounding array of traditional crafts including tapestries, blankets, ponchos, sweaters, hammocks, carvings, jewellery, paintings and more. Apparently the biggest craft market in all of South Ameria. We were able to find some nice souvenirs (that we happily loaded Todd up with to take back home).

The Amazon

Luck was on our side once again! I must say that we have not suffered one little bit by organizing our trip ourselves. Sometimes the logistics have worked out so smoothly for us we have been amazed!

A great example of this was our Amazon Adventure. We arrived in Quito, Ecuador by bus at about 1:00 pm on Boxing Day. We knew that most Amazon trips left from Quito but we knew that they were very expensive (about $1200 US per person for 4 days) and we knew that it would be difficult to find something last minute over the busy Christmas break.

We were all sitting in a little park trying to get our bearings with a map to find Amazon outfitters in the area. We had not been there for more than 10 minutes when a nice lady approached us with perfect English asking if we needed directions. I told her that we were looking for some agents in the area and she quickly replied with a smile, "oh, I might be able to help you, I own a travel agency." Trusting our gut and knowing that these coincidences have continually worked for us, we followed her to her shop.

She was like an angel! She started making phone calls and within a couple of hours she had a van and driver lined up to take us that night to Lago Agrio, an 8 hour drive away. Our Amazon adventure was going to start at 9:00 am the very next day. She knew the owner of a lodge and they custom designed a 6 day trip for us. We were with 3 other travellers for the first 4 days and then the last 2 days we had our guide and driver all to ourselves.

It was an amazing trip and a perfect grand finale to Todd, Cleo, and Ben's time with us. The accommodation was great, the food was great (except for the fancy bone-shaped breakfast wieners), and our guide and our driver were both nothing short of exceptional. We couldn't have asked for better quality or better timing and it worked out to less than $350 per person for 6 action packed days!

The Amazon has 66% of the world's fresh water, a rainforest of unique beauty and diversity of both plant and animal life. We saw monkeys (capuchin, wooly, spider, and squirrel), sloths, fresh water dolphins (pink and grey), tree snakes, red snakes, anacondas, caiman (alligators), toucans, parrots, paiche fish (measuring over 3 meters long), pencil fish, bats (long nosed, flat nosed and fishing bats), king fishers, falcons, stinky turkeys, owls, ospreys, parakeets, pelicans, cranes, bright blue butterflies, vultures, king vultures, spiders (golden silk, wolf), snake birds, toads, crystal frogs, mackaws, beetles, ants (army, leaf cutter, giant), centipedes, turtles...... It was amazing.

We trekked into the primary rainforest to learn about medicinal plants and all sorts of other interesting flora and fauna.

We also spent a lot of time in a swimming hole to cool off from the heat and to play in the goopy mud.

Most evenings we were on the river scouting for nocturnal wildlife. We were breathless as our guide's flashlight would catch the orange reflection of a caiman's eyes. Our river boat would get so close to the creatures .... we were all with wide eyes ourselves. We saw both black caiman and speckled caiman. The black ones can get up to 6 meters long. I think the biggest one we saw was about 5 meters in length.

Our guide Fabricio could see things in the trees and in the water that we would never pick out, we were constantly impressed and amazed at his eyesight, how he identified hundreds of different species and then knew all kinds of interesting facts about them. His English was great (self-taught) and we were in awe of his maturity and wisdom and knowledge since he was only 22 years old and had only been guiding for 2 years. His goal is to one day be an environmental engineer and work advising the numerous oil companies in Ecuador on environmental stewardship and protection of the Amazon. He is so smart, we hope all his dreams come true.

One day we spent down river at the Tarapuy Siona Community where we learned about their culture and traditions and we participated in making bread out of yucca. Then we went further downstream to visit a Quichua community where we met an authentic village Shaman. Because this day totally aligned with some of Levi's grade 5 Social Studies curriculum, he covers more detail about this part of our Amazon Adventure in his own blog, check it out.

The river ride to get to these communities was rich with culture as well. I loved passing the women along the shore who were doing their laundry, almost always accompanied by at least one naked toddler running around.

A real highlight for us was when we went 4 hours further downstream in the river boat to spend the night at a different jungle lodge. It was from here that we had a 5:00 am early dark and dusky start to the day in search of the mysterious fresh water dolphins. This was a dream for Cleo to see dolphins and we were so lucky to stop the boat in a fresh water cove and watch both pink and grey dolphins swimming around us. Our 4 hour boat ride back to our original jungle lodge was in pouring rain but we were all still smiling.

Our Amazon trip was over on New Years Day. We reflected on our favourite parts of the excursion:

• Our skilled river boat driver -- ramming the boat into freshly fallen trees to break off branches so we could pass through, we also had some river passages where we had to duck down in the boat so that we could get through overhanging branches of fallen trees. And then of course, our favourite.... when the driver would speed up and take a run at a fallen tree in the river, lifting the motor out of the water at the last second and the boat would coast across the top of the tree out of the water. It was quite a ride! 

• Our jungle lodge neighbour who was stomping and making a great amount of noise in the middle of the night having met a snake in her bathroom when she got up to pee.
• Our guide removing 2 slivers from Ben's foot. I offered him my tweezers but he went into the jungle instead and got a sharp plant thorn to do it and it worked perfectly!
• Swimming and sliding in the inlet until dusk with the mud and slippery goop (and the mysterious rash that the kids got that we think was from the mud).
• Watching the guides remove about 40 spurs from a European traveller's foot after he stepped on a spiny palm bark branch in the swimming hole. It took 3 evenings to get them all out. It was painful to watch. We bought him beer.
• Quinn discovering a tic embedded in her calf. We learned how to first apply butter to it and then used a lighter to help pry it out intact.
• Going on a land hike and getting seriously stuck in mud up to the top of our calves. Good thing we had rubber boots to wear! We left understanding how quicksand works.

• Watching another groups guide handle the anaconda on the shore and then getting bit by the snake with the snake leaving a tooth in the fleshy part of the guide's thumb.
• We laughed about the fact that we were asked to wear our lifejackets when we first got into our boat on the first day of our trip and then again 5 minutes before we arrived back at the port at the end of the trip.
•  The horrible stench of our wet clothes.
• And, one of my favourite memories will be a little girl named Melody. Melody was one of the lodge workers children, about 4 years old. Greg started playing with her, showing her how to spin a top, playing cards, drawing games on the ipad..... We would wake up in the morning and the first thing we would see was Melody standing at the bottom of our stilted bungalow stairs, just patiently waiting for Greg to get up so that they could play. She then warmed up to all the kids and was pretty sad on the day we were leaving.

I don't ever want to forget the sounds of the Amazon jungle when waking up.

Itchy and Scratchy Blog Post

Not much to write here.... The photo says it all. Yup, classic bed bug bites. You can see how they bite in lines, makes it easy to identify. Todd was the only one affected which was lucky since they are quite uncomfortable. We know exactly where he got them and unfortunately it was at one of the coolest hotels we stayed at, just bad luck with the bed he got.

Luckily, we learned from our Icelandic pharmacist travelling friends that 'Preparation H' is the best thing to put on insect bites as it reduces swelling and itching. Todd spent a couple of days basically bathing in it. Too bad it doesn't smell better.

Christmas

We finished our trek of Quilotoa Loop on Christmas Eve we spent it in a little town called Isinlivi. We enjoyed cold beer and a nice supper at the Lulu Llama hostel and got ready to go out to the town square in the evening to enjoy the local celebration and festivities as Christmas Eve is a bigger celebration in South America than Christmas Day.

Greg took Ben and Levi to a little corner store and they bought a big bag of small bouncy balls and a jar of sour candy. The boys were so excited to distribute these things to the local kids at the town square celebration.

We showed up around 8:00 pm to find a mini-fair environment complete with dozens of foosball tables, a couple of bouncy tents for kids, a band and dance floor, and several gambling tables. All the women and girls were dressed up in their traditional clothes which included their felt hats, wrap around skirts and multiple layers of fake gold necklaces.

At 10 pm the fireworks started. It was quite an impressive display of fireworks for this town ...... but it ended up being completely stressful for all of us. Fireworks here mean lighting large racks of sparklers and then having local men basically run through crowds of people with the sparklers showering over our heads.

The men lit the fireworks with their cigarettes and many of the helpers were drinking alcohol while they were setting the fireworks off. When the sparkler display was over, the real fireworks were lit. The shocking thing for all of us was that the fireworks were lit just meters away from the crowd from the rooftop of a building the height of a garage. The fellows in charge used empty wine bottles to launch the works.

After several minutes of dodging flying embers and choking on the gunsmoke, we looked at each other and agreed that we best head back to our hotel.

Christmas morning we were up at 5 am to catch a ride in a pick-up truck to get us 14 kilometres away to a nearby town so that we could catch another local bus to a place called Saquisili which had a reputation for having a great local market. We only bought a couple of wooden spoons, some shelled peas, fresh carrots, blackberries and strawberries but enjoyed taking pictures of the roasted pig heads and grilled animal intestines for the throngs of locals.

We had to keep reminding ourselves that it was Christmas.... there was no snow, no Christmas concerts, no fancy baking, and our Christmas meals could generally be described as being pretty darned awful in comparison to what we have grown to love about Christmas back home. Of course we spent a long time all talking about what we wish we could eat and what we miss, not sure if that made it better or worse but we had some good laughs.

Quilotoa Loop

We noticed a big change in the environment going from Peru to Ecuador. There were more parks in the cities, the roads better maintained, hardly any litter.

It was interesting to make these observations and then learn that there has been massive reform in Ecuador in recent years. A young new President in 2008 brought in such things as free Medicare, enhanced education, and social assistance from the revenue of booming oil and gas companies. The poverty rate dropped dramatically and as outsiders looking in, we noticed a place that felt friendly, hospitable, and safe.

Quilotoa Loop

We completed another interesting and beautiful trek in the heart of Ecuador's Central Highlands. For trekkers and climbers, this area is a paradise. We hiked the Quilotoa Loop which started at the breathtaking volcano crater lake of Laguna Quilotoa and then traversed about 30 kilometres between several mountain ranges and numerous Andean villages.

The most difficult part was trying to constantly figure out if we were going the right way. The trail instructions were almost comical, sorta like poorly translated Chinese manufacturing assembly instructions. Between all of us, (and the occasional red spray painted rock markers) we were able to work our way through.

One of our biggest challenges was keeping up with the young sheep herders who were clambering up the hillsides wearing only flip flops; that was embarrassing.

The scenery was amongst my favourite. Green lush rolling hills and mountains scattered with the occasional home and crop.