Paddling the Pacific

When David's friends Tony and Randy decided to visit, we I spent a lot of time trying to think of a good trip to take them on while they were here.  Luckily we had a 3 day weekend, so that made getting out of Cali for a bit a little more reasonable, but still didn't give us much to work with.  After lots of blog stalking, Lonely Planet reading and advice from friends, we decided to do a kayaking trip to the Pacific with Julio and Bicivan, the same group I went with to Volcan Purace.  I had heard nothing but good thinks about this trip and it really couldn't be worse than the volcano hike, that is off course unless I were to fall and tear my MCL again, but that didn't happen, thank goodness.  In fact, it was probably my favorite thing that I have done so far.  Now, I know I say that a lot, but it really was quite the experience.  Even better, we had 4 other co-workers join us, 3 of which had done the trip at least one other time and Kristin's cousin visited last minute and jumped on board.

Saturday started off early, and to a bit off a rough start with me thinking at 4am that they had been kidnapped as they weren't yet home and David's phone mysteriously shut off mid ring.  Luckily, they were ok, well at least not kidnapped, and we eventually made it to meet up with the rest of our group and were on our way to Buenaventura.  After about a 2.5 hour drive, we were in Buenaventura, a major port city on the Pacific Coast.  While there are actually a lot of goods and money coming through the port, the city itself appears very poor because the people benefiting from the port don't actually live there.  While I wouldn't have minded exploring the city a bit, it left much to be desired and I was OK with jumping onto our lancha for the ride to Juanchaco.  I had been warned that this trip was rather bumpy, but we lucked out and although it was the bumpiest boat ride I had been on, it was smooth compared to normal.  Even better, I didn't get seasick at all since my tolerance for motion (cars, taxis, buses boats etc) has improved about 100 fold since being here. 

After settling into our camp-like cabins, we made our way to the beach to get our kayak on.  A quick tutorial from Julio and we set out to the Pacific.  The first day out was filled with the usual coastal rain, which actually wasn't bad since the weather was still warm and we were pretty wet from the ocean anyway.  We spent the next several hours kayaking through caves and caverns (I don't actually know the difference between the two) and exploring the many little tributaries off the bay.  To my surprise, David and I only flipped once and it totally was not our fault.  It was however David's fault when he "accidentally" hit me in the head with his oar going under the dock.  Then we flipped coming back onto the beach and I was covered EVERYWHERE with black sand.  All in all though, a good day out.

Some people needed more instruction than others.

Julio showing us a map of where we were headed

Sunday was an unusual hot and rain free morning and we set out to explore the three islands across from our beach, including a short walk, several waterfalls, tide pools and even a bat cave.  The sun and stops to hike and explore made for a long day, soar backs and ridiculous tan lines; I was wearing Chaco sandals and capris, so even one week later I have white strap lines zigzagging across my feet and it looks like I am wearing socks.  So attractive.  But oddly enough it was quite relaxing.  Our free afternoon was spent by most sleeping and then we went to watch the sunset over the water.

Hanging out in the bat cave

"We're the three best friends that anyone could have..."

Monday was a no kayaking day and we all thought we were hiking to Ladrilleros about 45 minutes away, but we ended up going to La Barra almost 2 hours away which was not good news for my already-had-enough feet.  My sandals are not three-day-in-a-row shoes.  Ouch.  Walking back on the beach in bare feet helped and then came the socks and sandals which was a significant improvement. 

All in all a was an adventure filled weekend with good friends, good guides, good food and beautiful scenery.  Getting out of the city was a great way to enjoy time with visitors and a long weekend break and explore another part of Colombia.

Celebrating Earth Week

In honor of Earth Day/Week, the Middle School decided to get our kids out and enjoying the world around them for 1 hour everyday.  While this meant shorter class periods and trying to get 11-14 year olds to class on time with no bells. it also meant (hopefully) getting the students to see and understand some things that they might miss on a normal day.  There were several activities planned for the week, such as: a water walk to represent how far some people have to walk for fresh water, garbage and recycled art, yoga and meditation, Frisbee golf and a nature scavenger hunt.  I decided to sign up to help make and chaperon the nature scavenger hunt, and a good decision it was; as it turns out, our students really like to complain about walking and touching garbage, so some activities didn't go over as well as intended.  It took some time to get groups engaged in deciphering the clues and wandering ALL over campus to find the nature objects, but in the end we had two teams get all 21 of the clues and several others come pretty close.  On the second day we had students complete the hunt, I was wandering myself to make sure students weren't slacking off, and I decided to capture the images for the clues too.  Here's what I found:

1. Never say you can't, just find a tree with a hanging plant.

2. Near the place you learn the ABCs, you'll find fern-covered palm trees.

3. Don't give excuses starting with but, do your best to find a giant hut.

4. Look for flowers that appear just like the sun, but don't be fooled it must be a real one.

5. A place you can go to sit and eat too, here you will find trees waiting to greet you.

6. Follow the path to walls made of stone, the green coverings offer a cool natural tone.

7. Finding a palm tree will fulfill this stop, but in order to succeed you must leap, jump or hop.

8. I normally hang high in the trees, but it is possible that I have fallen to the ground.  No matter which way, I am a tasty treat for animals all around.

 9. A natural looking door is what you should look for

10. We’re easy to find, we crawl, we fly, and we can even sting.  Of one of us a small image you should bring .

Do you see what I see?

11. Look for me near the base of a tree.  I am often poisonous, so make sure you don't eat me! 

12. I am the color of t-shirts, shoes, backpacks and sometimes even ink. Combine the red and white and you get the color______. Go find something this color and take a great shot. Just make sure it´s grown and not bought!

13. Look for me, I’m everywhere among the other colors in the ground; Over there in deep violet pigments I am around.

14. You can find me in all those places where the Gods bled;
And stained Mother Nature with this beautiful color instead.
The blood painted pieces in the puzzle of creation;
You will find on the Bolivar Campus and across the nation.

15. Parts and pieces painted with drops of sunlight are found in flowers and TREES where they shine so bright!

16. Near the soccer field, the water tumbles clean and free.  Snap a photo of this and be sure to capture the palm tree.

17. Near a great waterfall you will have a good vantage, take a picture of your team in the middle of this bridge.

18. A scary plant that grows out of the dirt, it is best to not touch it, for you just might get hurt.

19.  Near a place where Bolivar is feared, you will find some trees that wear a long beard.

20. A typical palm tree this is NOT, it is shaped in the form of something we use when we´re hot.

21. Although it has no organs and has no feathers, find this bright bird all grouped together.

OK so I may have had an unfair advantage considering I made the scavenger hunt with Jeff and our principal, but you will notice that technically I didn't fulfill some of them since I couldn't be in the pictures, like the jump shot in front of a palm tree (because I was the photographer).  I also snapped this of a baby chucha, which is kind of like an oppossom, that the had to catch from the boys bathroom.  Super cute as a baby, not so cute as an adult, especially when it runs across the science building balcony (or in some cases into classrooms) while you are trying to teach.

Bonus points?

I think our students got at least something out of the activity and I might dare say that some even enjoyed it.  Hopefully they can appreciate the amazing campus we have with such diverse natural beauty that we can see almost on a daily basis. 

The Amazon: An Audio/Visual Tour

There were many situations in which a picture just didn't do justice to some of the things we experienced in the Amazon.  Luckily there were a few situations in which audio and video at least helped to capture the experience.

This mostly just sounds obnoxious in a video, but I thought I would share anyway.  Santander Park in Leticia, Colombia is where you can experience this phenomenon everyday at sunset.  Hundreds (if not thousands) of little birds, pajaritos, similar to a parakeet, gather in the trees in Santander Park for their nightly rest.  Before actually resting of course, they communicate and chirp away resulting in this chatter.  Although this audio helps, it certainly doesn't do it justice.  I was in awe of the collective sound of all of these tiny blue an green birds.  They are also almost as loud at sunrise when they awake and leave the trees, a sound we heard in the morning from our hostel at least 4 blocks from the park.  A definite, almost unavoidable, must see hear if you stop in Leticia.

This was taken during our first trip by boat to our lodge.  The slow and serene ride was unlike anything I have ever done: so simple, yet so amazing.  Due to the high water levels we were literally boating through the Amazon jungle, ducking and attempting to avoid trees and branches in our way.  Note: the audio in the second part of the video was removed due to the disrupted silence of "Are you filming?" asked mid video by a certain tall friend and later by David's rendition of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance"; I just felt as though the video could do without them.  No offense. 

Of course this wasn't David's only ride on the Tarzan swing, but his near collision with a tree, the quick save by our guide and subsequent elated "Gracias" make it a real gem. 

No, there's nothing wrong with your computer or the video, this is simply the sound of an Amazonian rainstorm, one that happened to occur the night we slept in the jungle.  Luckily, our trusty guides covered us with a sturdy tarp, so we woke without being soaked.  Again, the audio hardly does a good enough job of capturing what it is like to be sleeping in the middle of a rainstorm in the Amazon: sounds I won't soon forget.

This Stuff vs. Amazonian Insects

When I shared with friends at school that we would be venturing to the Amazon for spring break I received lots of advice.  One being to make and bring our own bug spray for a couple reasons: 1.  Amazon bugs are supernatural and may not be phased by your normal store bought spray.  2.  Its better to take natural spray because sprays containing high levels of deet and other chemicals are not only harmful to you, but to the environment.  After sending several people to several different stores, we finally found what we needed and decided to get together after school one day to throw together a giant spray of bug repellent.  Luckily, there were three science teachers so we had access to lab and other helpful tools. 

Grinding up camphor tablets

INGREDIENTS

• 250 mL alcohol
• 250 mL "menticol"
• 6 camphor tablets
• 1 oz. 10% "Eurax"
• 2 Tbsp citronella essence
• 3 Tbsp Johnson's baby oil
• Nopikex soap

The process was fairly simple; after crushing the Nopikex soap and camphor tablets (which I learned is the science-y name for moth balls) with a mortar and pestle we combined all the ingredients together and stirred.  A lot.  The website with the recipe said to use a blender, but we certainly weren't going to use the same one we use for food and purchasing one for the occasion wasn't exactly ideal.  Hence, the excessive stirring.

What we got were concoctions in various shades of yellowish-green that smelled, well, like bug spray.  After testing it for a week in the Amazon, I would say the stuff works pretty well.  It doesn't last as long as I would like, so repeated applications are necessary, but when I did have it on, I wasn't bothered by the mosquitoes or other biting insects.  So I'd say that in This Stuff vs Amazonian Insects, this stuff wins.  Next time you head to the Amazon, or any other insect infested areas, give it a try. 

Slow and Steady Wins the Race OR To Hell and Back: Hiking Volcán Puracé

This past weekend Amanda, Mandi, Jessica and Stetson set off to hike Volcán Puracé just outside of Popáyan, about a 3-4 hour drive south of Cali.  Some co-workers had completed the hike last year with Bicivan Tours and although we all felt slightly unprepared, we were ready to take on the challenge.  We thought the most difficult part would be the fact that Puracé is about 4,800 meters about sea level, or about 2.5 miles.  We met the vans that we'd be taking outside a store near my apartment in the south at about 4:30 Saturday morning and after meeting up with the vans from the north, set out toward Popáyan. 

 

After a few coffee and bathroom stops later we made it to the condor lookout cliffs, the first part of excursion in Purace National Natural Park. A guide put out meat to attract the condors and we waited quite some time for them to decide to swoop down and eat. In the 1990s they found the condor counts to be low so they took condors to the US to reproduce and then the San Diego Zoo reintroduced them in the park.  Condors mate are monogamous and only lay one egg every two years, which may add to their low numbers.  When they finally swooped in, I was shocked by their massive size and wingspan (compare the condor to the no so small vulture next to it). Watching their flight patterns was impressive as well; at most time their wings did not flap, rather they simply let the wind carry them and would make small adjustments in their wings or feet to change direction as the circled the rock. The pictures certainly do not do it justice.

The next stop on day one was to a waterfall and then we were off to the Termales de San Juan.  This river is said to be one of the most beautiful in Colombia, second only to Caño Cristales, or the river of seven colors. It was by far one of the most beautiful and unique places I have seen yet, and even though it stunk of sulfur and rotten eggs, we took our time exploring everything before us. 

 

When we finally got to our home for the night, we chatted with a new friend and talked about our countries, travels and weather, most of us saying how we could never live in cold weather here despite our Midwestern upbringings; lack of central heating really changes the game and its not one we're willing to play.  A little walking and exploration, some hot soup and one presentation later, we were heading back to our cabin to pack for the next morning and attempt to get some shut eye. 

Our 4am wake up call came all too soon and we quickly found out how unprepared we might be.  We thought we would be taking the vans to our step-off point, instead it turns out our hike started in the pitch black morning at 5am shortly after breakfast.  Due to our lack of headlamps, we had to keep up with other more advanced hikers and blindly climb fences and start our ascent through the fields, passed cows and over small streams and bridges.  We were all just waiting for day light to break.  After the blind ascent, the sun finally rose an we could see our way through the slightly muddy trenches to even muddier land and then to the land of mossy-false-ground where every step was questionable and success relied heavily on one's jumping skills.  Needless to say I walked away from this area with a severe case of wet foot, despite the plastic bags covering my socks.  We stopped off at a shelter to take a break, sip some coffee and refuel for the remaining 2.5-3 hours that would be the most difficult and grueling portion of the hike.

While the first half of the hike was filled with greenery, the second offered nothing but ash and rocks.  The wind was strong and scary, the temperatures were quite low and visibility was less than 50 yards I would say: not quite what we expected based on the photos of other trips.  Later we were told that these were some of the worst conditions they had seen, usually common in August when they don't do trips.  Lucky us.  Eventually 3 of us (Stetson, Mandi and Jessica) made it to the top and later admitted and shared with hikers who were behind us "No vale la pena"-its not worth it.  Amanda and I trekked on despite wanting to turn around several time because of the fierce winds and ultimately made it within about 300-400 meters of the summit: close enough for us as we saw our friends coming back down.  Then we started the adventure back which was at times harder than the ascent due to slipping rocks and severe fatigue from 5 hours of high altitude climbing. 

About 8 or 9 hours after we set out, we had finally made it back to low ground and our cabin.  A little worse for the wear (some worse than others) I think we all agreed it was one of, if not the, most difficult thing we had ever done.  Given the chance, I would do it again, if I could get some guarantee of good weather, which is completely impossible to do at the top of a volcano, so I guess I wouldn't. 

Salento

After leaving San Vicente, it took a little work for David and I to get to Salento, mostly because we chose to stay in the termales until the afternoon.  Leaving SanVicente, we had 45-60 minute jeep ride, including a flat tire change, a 30 minute bus ride from Santa Rosa to Pereira, another hour bus ride to Armenia were we could catch our 40-45 minute ride to Salento.  Whew.  It was a lot.  Regardless, we got there around 7pm, had a slice of pizza and walked around the square bit after checking into our hostel. We* went on a hunt to play pool, only to discover strange hole less tables with only three balls (I later discovered that I think this is Carom?) and then back to our hostel for a little reading and slumber.  In the morning we had breakfast at the hostel, where Mary Elena the sweet woman who owns the hostel convince David to have some coffee, because we were after all in the coffee region. 

Pretty garden area

Breakfast nook

Mary Elena was great.  She spent many years in the states so she knew English but only used it when clarification was needed, which basically meant we were getting Spanish lessons all weekend.  She told us about getting a jeep to Valle de Cocora and even drew a little map for us.  We made our way to the jeeps in the square where there were 6 other travelers waiting to go to the valley as well, so also seriously doubted, and even started to argue with, the driver about getting 8 people in the jeep.  Clearly they had never seen these jeeps before, sometime with 15 people in them.  Amateurs.  We were on our way, and shared a nice conversation with a woman from Vancouver who had been travelling in South America for 6 months and said that Colombia by far was the most beautiful country she had been in.  Ever.  I have to agree with her, although my travels are far less extensive than hers.  When we got to Valle de Cocora we found a guide and got on some horses to start our trek through the valley.  Often people hike up to the peek, but it being the rainy season it can get very muddy and several friends suggested the horses because it offers you a slightly better view and experience.  I loved it.  David, not so much.  Being his first time on horse, it was a little scary to be climbing steep rocks and crossing rivers and creeks (which I said before we went, but of course nobody* listens.  Our guide Norbe took pictures for us along the way, and I swear the man was a horse whisperer, clicking and whistling and making other randoms noises at the horses to keep them in line.

Oh, David found a friend.

Cowboy!

At the end of our ascent we stopped at a natural reserve where we paid $3.000 for a drink, like hot chocolate and $500 for the bathroom.  There were SO many hummingbirds fluttering around it was unreal and so beautiful.

On our way back down, I took my camera back from Norbe to grab some shot of my own.  That's right, I was riding the horse and taking pictures.  I'm a little more confident now than my first horse experience in Colombia.  Speaking of which, Amanda later went back and rode the same horse I was on that day and got bucked off; it wasn't just me, Serpentina was crazy.  Anyway, Valle de Cocora is home to these amazingly tall trees called wax palms that pop up around the mountainside and are quite the contrast to some of the farm land below.  Beautiful.

Real cowboys

When we got from our three hour ride, we stopped in the restaurant and I ate more trout before another jeep left to head back to Salento.  It was a little rainy when we got back, but we eventually made it out to explore the Calle Real, the main street in Salento with countless shops where we did the majority of our Christmas shopping. 

After our shopping we grabbed dinner at a place Mary Elena suggested, Alegria for some Italian type food and then found ourselves at a tienda turned bar/cafe for some live music.  David also introduced some Colombians to a Ruso Blanco (White Russian) as opposed to a Ruso Negro without cream or milk; they were very confused.  We planned on heading out by 10am on Sunday so we got to bed so we could get up early to check out the view from Alto de la Cruz, a 250 stair climb marked with the stations of the cross.  From there we were offered more breathtaking views of the mountainside.

And after checking out with Mary Elena we made our way to the square to catch a bus, argued (or attempted to since it was in Spanish) about the quickest way back to Cali, decided to do it his way and got on a bus to Armenia and finally back to our home sweet home in Cali.  This is a place I would love to go again and try my hand at the hike and of course do a little more shopping whenever I get the chance.

*David