Into Peru
We left Loja early Saturday morning for a 9 hour bus ride to Piura. The roads through Southern Ecuador wind through the mountains with beautiful views all around. All the bus drivers seem to like to take these turns as fast as possible, leaving us to hang on to our armrests as if we were on a roller coaster. Luckily my motion sickness drugs have been working well!
It was sad to see the level of desertification in the land that we drove through. We saw all the various stages - freshly burned hillsides that had been cleared of trees ; steep slopes with grass that had cows, donkeys, horses, or goats clinging to the sides eating away the scrubby grass; hills that had been grazed away to nothing that had great patches of earth washed away; and then whole sides of mountains that had just become rock/mudslides.
The soil here is thin and not really all that fertile, even though it seems to be, since in its natural state it is teeming with jungle life. But it depends upon the complex mixture of trees, shrubs, ferns, and all sorts of plants to combat erosion and keep the soil healthy. Once all the natural growth has been cleared, there is nothing to hold the soil in place, these mountains are so steep, and the rains are often very heavy. It's strange to think of how the ancient cultures (Inca among others) knew how to farm here with terraced hill sides, but all of that knowledge seems to be lost now.
Because there's no good grazing anywhere, people have come up with an interesting solution. They just let their cows, horses, donkeys or goats graze on the side of the highway. We passed so many that weren't tied or fenced in in any way. Just standing in the road, grazing on crappy bits of grass on the side. Somehow they didn't seem to get hit, and I guess their owners just came and herded them back to wherever at the end of the day. Since there wasn't really much grass on the roadside either, I threw our apple cores out the window to some surprised and happy goats.
As we got into Peru, the land became increasingly dry. There were tons of mango trees and then lime trees, and then nothing but sand and rock. There were shacks all along the roadside where people obviously live, but I don't know how. It is so dry & very hot.
Piura is a fairly big city that suddenly appears out of this desert. It was really culture shock to get off the bus and immediately hear the deafening sound of hundreds of car horns and moto-taxis, dirt bikes with a trailer welded on back that can hold 2 people comfortably, but often have 4-6 crammed in there somehow. Jonathan said the scene reminded him so much of India, and it was definitely different than any other city we've been in so far.
Today we're headed farther south on the coast, to a little town called Huanchaco. We finally arrived around 7 in the evening. We found a great Hostal (Naylamp) that will let us camp & has a kitchen. We found a great spot for dinner & actually stuck with our plan of ordering one dish, so that we weren't stuffed to the gills. It was great shrimp & squid with fried yucca and salad. Perfect!
Today we explored Huanchaco from one end to the other. We got to see the caballeros del tantos - the "riders" of these homemade kayak-like boats. They are made of spongy reeds that they tie together in such a way to make a sort of kayak. They paddle out with nets and catch fish, and then surf the waves back in. Pretty cool! We got to see some older guys making the boats. They only last for about 3 months before they're water logged. The people here have fished this way for thousands of years.
We had an amazing lunch of ceviche, where we forgot our new rule & ordered 2, when one would have been more than enough. We then found the local market & bought some corvina (sea bass), and fruits & veggies for dinner.
Tomorrow we will go see some pre-Incan ruins during the day and then head back into the big city of Trujillo. From there we'll catch the night bus to Lima (another 9 hours.)
I don't mind taking a night bus since this area around us is serious desert. It's interesting but very monotonous. I keep thinking that it looks like:
-The moon
-The set of Waterworld (the awful Kevin Costner movie from a decade ago)
-A post apocalyptic world, where all the green has been taken away as replaced with sand, rock, and trash.
So, while it's a remarkable landscape, it's one that I'm willing to sleep thorough.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Cajas & Vilcabamba
Cajas & Vilcabamba
Yesterday we went out to Cajas National Park, about 30 mins west of Cuenca. There was a 7am bus or 10:20 bus, so we opted for a relaxed morning and chose the 10:20 one. But because you never know if information you read in books or online is accurate, we headed over to the bus station early. For once, everything we read was accurate, so we walked around some to kill an hour. I'm so glad we did, because we stumbled across the most amazing market I have ever seen. It was absolutely huge and had everything for sale you could possibly think of. It was somewhat organized chaos, with very narrow rows between the vendors and then other people marching up and down those rows selling other things, all mixed in with people arguing over prices, children running and laughing or screaming and crying, and the sound of all the animals mixed together. The first row we ventured down turned out to be "live animals for sale" row. There were chickens of all ages (from boxes crammed with peeping baby chicks to giant roosters screaming their heads off), puppies (none of which were any discernible breed and all of which were crammed together in little cages - very sad), kittens,
ducklings, turkeys, geese, rabbits, guinea pigs, goats, and various song birds. It was completely overwhelming, especially for someone like me who wants to stop and pet each of these creatures. Petting was frowned upon, apparently, because I got strange looks from the people as well as the animals when I tried.
Then there were the vegetables & fruits - I dare you to come up with something that they didn't have for sale. The meat was quite a site, as they just have whole cuts hanging from hooks in the open air or slabs or red meat or whole chickens stacked on top of each other. I don't think the good folks at our Carrboro farmer's market would like it too much if we followed suit! There were many things we couldn't recognize and had to have explained to us - giant stalks of raw sugar cane, huge pods of something that looked like tamarind on steroids, as well as lots of fruits we'd never seen. My favorite things were: a giant tub of lard lorded over by a very large woman, who would begrudgingly scoop you out a giant spoonful if you haggled long enough; two goats who were ground tied that gave milk straight from the teats into people's empty plastic bottles; and 5 gallon re-used buckets that were full of cow's milk, and the seller would pour gallons into plastic bags for people.
We drug ourselves away from the market after buying some cherries & strawberries for our hike, and settled into the stinkiest bus ride yet. Luckily it was only 30 mins, because I don't think we could have handled much more.
Cajas National Park is huge & home to hundreds of glacial lakes. We did the "moderate" hike, which was not moderate for us! With the altitude and the steep terrain, it was one of the harder day hikes I've done. But the scenery was breathtaking. The mountains are mostly bare of trees because of the altitude. But this one tree, the Polylepis, grows higher than any other tree in the world, and there were patches of Polylepis forests that we had to hike through. They were described to us as looking like the forest from a Grimm fairy tale, and I would agree with that. They are kind of bent over & gnarled like a Bonzai tree, but their bark is bright orangey/red and peels like a Birch tree. They kind of had the appearance of melting. So cool.
Today we took a bus from Cuenca, through Loja and onto Vilcabamba. Vilcabamba is a small town that became famous when Readers Digest did a story on the inordinate number of centenarians living here. Everyone rushed here to find the "fountain of youth." The result is a seriously weird town. We are here during the low season, so maybe things are normally busier. But it feels like a ghost town where all the locals have left & been replaced by aging hippies from the US, Great Britain and Canada. While they all seem to be searching for peace, happiness, and longevity, the resulting feeling of the town is vacant & soulless. For example, this is the only town we've been in where we saw a dog get hit by a truck. Every town we've been in has endless stray dogs, and crazy traffic, and we've been amazed that we haven't seen any accidents. In Vilcabamba, one car went past every couple minutes, and one managed to hit a little mangy white dog. All the aging hippies at the juice shop where we had stopped, paused their conversations about emotional enlightenment and essential oils while the dog yelped & cried, and then they all went back to chatting. Just a strange feeling.
We had reserved a campsite at an "Eco-lodge" called Rumi Wilco. Our Lonely Planet guidebook told us the lodge was a 10 min walk from town. What they didn't mention was that the road had been washed out and the bridge that crossed the river (a pretty serious river with all the rain we've gotten) had partially collapsed. It was a concrete bridge, and one end had gotten washed out, so the whole thing was slanted and tilted. It was also partially covered in slimy moss, so we hung on like crazy to the bamboo railing as we went across. The folks who own Rumi Wilco are biologists who have been trying to preserve the land around them for 20+ years. It is really beautiful and was a good reminder of what this land is supposed to look like. Most of the local farmers use the slash & burn technique of clearing land, and that really only gives them 3-5 years of usable topsoil before the land is useless.
One night here was enough for us, so we are headed back to Loja, where we'll spend the night and take an early bus into Peru!
Yesterday we went out to Cajas National Park, about 30 mins west of Cuenca. There was a 7am bus or 10:20 bus, so we opted for a relaxed morning and chose the 10:20 one. But because you never know if information you read in books or online is accurate, we headed over to the bus station early. For once, everything we read was accurate, so we walked around some to kill an hour. I'm so glad we did, because we stumbled across the most amazing market I have ever seen. It was absolutely huge and had everything for sale you could possibly think of. It was somewhat organized chaos, with very narrow rows between the vendors and then other people marching up and down those rows selling other things, all mixed in with people arguing over prices, children running and laughing or screaming and crying, and the sound of all the animals mixed together. The first row we ventured down turned out to be "live animals for sale" row. There were chickens of all ages (from boxes crammed with peeping baby chicks to giant roosters screaming their heads off), puppies (none of which were any discernible breed and all of which were crammed together in little cages - very sad), kittens,
ducklings, turkeys, geese, rabbits, guinea pigs, goats, and various song birds. It was completely overwhelming, especially for someone like me who wants to stop and pet each of these creatures. Petting was frowned upon, apparently, because I got strange looks from the people as well as the animals when I tried.
Then there were the vegetables & fruits - I dare you to come up with something that they didn't have for sale. The meat was quite a site, as they just have whole cuts hanging from hooks in the open air or slabs or red meat or whole chickens stacked on top of each other. I don't think the good folks at our Carrboro farmer's market would like it too much if we followed suit! There were many things we couldn't recognize and had to have explained to us - giant stalks of raw sugar cane, huge pods of something that looked like tamarind on steroids, as well as lots of fruits we'd never seen. My favorite things were: a giant tub of lard lorded over by a very large woman, who would begrudgingly scoop you out a giant spoonful if you haggled long enough; two goats who were ground tied that gave milk straight from the teats into people's empty plastic bottles; and 5 gallon re-used buckets that were full of cow's milk, and the seller would pour gallons into plastic bags for people.
We drug ourselves away from the market after buying some cherries & strawberries for our hike, and settled into the stinkiest bus ride yet. Luckily it was only 30 mins, because I don't think we could have handled much more.
Cajas National Park is huge & home to hundreds of glacial lakes. We did the "moderate" hike, which was not moderate for us! With the altitude and the steep terrain, it was one of the harder day hikes I've done. But the scenery was breathtaking. The mountains are mostly bare of trees because of the altitude. But this one tree, the Polylepis, grows higher than any other tree in the world, and there were patches of Polylepis forests that we had to hike through. They were described to us as looking like the forest from a Grimm fairy tale, and I would agree with that. They are kind of bent over & gnarled like a Bonzai tree, but their bark is bright orangey/red and peels like a Birch tree. They kind of had the appearance of melting. So cool.
Today we took a bus from Cuenca, through Loja and onto Vilcabamba. Vilcabamba is a small town that became famous when Readers Digest did a story on the inordinate number of centenarians living here. Everyone rushed here to find the "fountain of youth." The result is a seriously weird town. We are here during the low season, so maybe things are normally busier. But it feels like a ghost town where all the locals have left & been replaced by aging hippies from the US, Great Britain and Canada. While they all seem to be searching for peace, happiness, and longevity, the resulting feeling of the town is vacant & soulless. For example, this is the only town we've been in where we saw a dog get hit by a truck. Every town we've been in has endless stray dogs, and crazy traffic, and we've been amazed that we haven't seen any accidents. In Vilcabamba, one car went past every couple minutes, and one managed to hit a little mangy white dog. All the aging hippies at the juice shop where we had stopped, paused their conversations about emotional enlightenment and essential oils while the dog yelped & cried, and then they all went back to chatting. Just a strange feeling.
We had reserved a campsite at an "Eco-lodge" called Rumi Wilco. Our Lonely Planet guidebook told us the lodge was a 10 min walk from town. What they didn't mention was that the road had been washed out and the bridge that crossed the river (a pretty serious river with all the rain we've gotten) had partially collapsed. It was a concrete bridge, and one end had gotten washed out, so the whole thing was slanted and tilted. It was also partially covered in slimy moss, so we hung on like crazy to the bamboo railing as we went across. The folks who own Rumi Wilco are biologists who have been trying to preserve the land around them for 20+ years. It is really beautiful and was a good reminder of what this land is supposed to look like. Most of the local farmers use the slash & burn technique of clearing land, and that really only gives them 3-5 years of usable topsoil before the land is useless.
One night here was enough for us, so we are headed back to Loja, where we'll spend the night and take an early bus into Peru!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Cuenca
One 9 hour bus ride later, and we arrived in the city of Cuenca, in the southern highlands of Ecuador. We found a great Hostal (El Capitolio) that is centrally located in the old part of the city, has a kitchen we can use, has HOT water, and even has a washer/dryer. Luxury!!
We woke up the next day to brilliant sunshine and blue skies. We got some groceries, made a little breakfast, did a load of laundry and were off to explore the city by 8:30.
We went to the amazing Museo de Banco Central and the ruins of Pumapungo. It is a huge complex that houses information about ancient peoples from this area. It also has exhibitions on many other things varying from the history of money in S America, many of the living tribes of native peoples and their dress and customs, and even some seriously strange modern art exhibits (giant replica of a Brillo box made out of cardboard anyone??)
The exhibits in the museum were very well done. Most of the wording was in Spanish, but we could understand fairly well, and occasionally they had English translations. My favorite exhibit was about the Shuar people who live deep in the Amazon. They have resisted contact with whites and attempts to "modernize" them for centuries. They are also the people who make shrunken heads, and they had 3 or 4 on display. Apparently now they don't do it anymore with human heads and only do the ceremony using sloths and making shrunken sloth heads!
By far the best part was the ruins of Pumapungo, an ancient Incan city that was outside the museum. It is huge and they have preserved it so, so beautifully! The city was almost completely abandoned by the time the Spanish arrived, due to infighting among the native people of the area and the Incans. The Incan empire reached all the way up into northern Ecuador at its height, and this city was built for the birth of one of the sons of the great Incan sun god. It was also used strategically for storage of goods and defense.
The foundations of the buildings remain (giant stones held together with very little mortar) as well as terraced steps of the huge hill that the city center sat upon. They used terracing in order to have more area for planting and to prevent soil erosion. They were masters of agriculture, and at the bottom of the hill, the museum has planted huge gardens that show the different types of crops they would plant along with many medicinal plants they used. They had herbal medicines for every ailment you can think of - rheumatism, head aches, nausea, diarrhea, plants to get rid of parasites, hallucinogens, anesthetics, even a mixture using Agave to treat syphilis!
We wondered around these ruins all morning long. You could spend a whole weekend at this museum and not see everything. But we were hungry, so we headed off in search of a good restaurant. We found it in El Moliendo, a Columbian place serving amazing food.
After eating way too much, we rolled back to the hostel and took a little nap. Then we were off again, this time exploring the center of the old city, where there is a beautiful park square and many old churches. We wondered for the afternoon and then found our way to a used book store that sold some English language books. We are both reading about 2 books a week, so we had to stock up again!
Tomorrow our plan is to go out to a national park where there is supposed to be amazing hiking. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and be as beautiful as it was today.
We woke up the next day to brilliant sunshine and blue skies. We got some groceries, made a little breakfast, did a load of laundry and were off to explore the city by 8:30.
We went to the amazing Museo de Banco Central and the ruins of Pumapungo. It is a huge complex that houses information about ancient peoples from this area. It also has exhibitions on many other things varying from the history of money in S America, many of the living tribes of native peoples and their dress and customs, and even some seriously strange modern art exhibits (giant replica of a Brillo box made out of cardboard anyone??)
The exhibits in the museum were very well done. Most of the wording was in Spanish, but we could understand fairly well, and occasionally they had English translations. My favorite exhibit was about the Shuar people who live deep in the Amazon. They have resisted contact with whites and attempts to "modernize" them for centuries. They are also the people who make shrunken heads, and they had 3 or 4 on display. Apparently now they don't do it anymore with human heads and only do the ceremony using sloths and making shrunken sloth heads!
By far the best part was the ruins of Pumapungo, an ancient Incan city that was outside the museum. It is huge and they have preserved it so, so beautifully! The city was almost completely abandoned by the time the Spanish arrived, due to infighting among the native people of the area and the Incans. The Incan empire reached all the way up into northern Ecuador at its height, and this city was built for the birth of one of the sons of the great Incan sun god. It was also used strategically for storage of goods and defense.
The foundations of the buildings remain (giant stones held together with very little mortar) as well as terraced steps of the huge hill that the city center sat upon. They used terracing in order to have more area for planting and to prevent soil erosion. They were masters of agriculture, and at the bottom of the hill, the museum has planted huge gardens that show the different types of crops they would plant along with many medicinal plants they used. They had herbal medicines for every ailment you can think of - rheumatism, head aches, nausea, diarrhea, plants to get rid of parasites, hallucinogens, anesthetics, even a mixture using Agave to treat syphilis!
We wondered around these ruins all morning long. You could spend a whole weekend at this museum and not see everything. But we were hungry, so we headed off in search of a good restaurant. We found it in El Moliendo, a Columbian place serving amazing food.
After eating way too much, we rolled back to the hostel and took a little nap. Then we were off again, this time exploring the center of the old city, where there is a beautiful park square and many old churches. We wondered for the afternoon and then found our way to a used book store that sold some English language books. We are both reading about 2 books a week, so we had to stock up again!
Tomorrow our plan is to go out to a national park where there is supposed to be amazing hiking. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and be as beautiful as it was today.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Quito & Esmeraldas
Quito - Esmeraldas
We arrived in Quito, Ecuador with no problem. Flying into the city, we went over amazing lush green mountains - the Highlands of Ecuador - that were really amazing. Quito sits at 9000+ feet, and the moment we walked off the plane we could feel it. This feeling of shortness of breath was pretty remarkable. Just walking up a staircase felt like a huge task.
We are staying with Nate & Fernanda, a wonderful couple who has been so hospitable it's remarkable. Nate is American and Fernanda is from outside of Quito. Fernanda is an architect and is restoring their beautiful home that sits right across from the huge Basilica of Quito.
We settled our stuff in and went for a walk around the old city. We went for a very slow walk, due to the altitude! Quito is a bit reminiscent of San Francisco in terms of the super hilly streets and homes off in the hills in the distance. So walking up these hills in the altitude was quite the feat. We were keeping pace with the ancient grandmothers, and that was just fine with us.
The old city is so incredibly beautiful. They have restored most of the buildings in a really wonderful way. There are huge churches everywhere you look as well as a lot of museums, restaurants, stores, etc. It doesn't feel touristy like many of the other cities we've been to. Everyone is just busy going about their day in this gorgeous, old place with so much history.
We had a wonderful dinner with Nate & Fernanda that night. We lingered for a long time in the restaurant, telling stories and having another round of beer, because it had started to pour outside. Apparently it has been raining like crazy lately due to the La Nina phenomenon.
The next day we walked again around the old part of Quito. We went to some famous churches & got to check out Museo del Alabado, a museum dedicated to pre-Incan artifacts. It was incredible. They had so many unbelievable pieces from as far back as 4000 BC.
In the afternoon we drove with Nate & Fernanda to their family beach house near the town of Esmeraldas. This was our first glimpse of the Pacific on this trip! We got in late, but a wonderful woman named Margarita, who cooks for Fernanda's family, had left us dinner. We stayed up late telling stories & laughing and finally fell into bed around 3am!
The next day and a half was spent lounging in the beach, finding incredible rocks and shells, reading, and eating the most delicious food made for us by Margarita. We had shrimp ceviche, calamari, rice, coconut shrimp, a fish casserole made with peanuts and plantains, beans, fried plantains, fresh made ahi (sort of like a salsa but way better) and all sorts of fresh squeezed juices. Amazing!
The weather was mostly good at the beach (good enough for a serious sunburn for me!) but then it was rain, rain, rain back in Quito.
Today we're off on a 12 hour bus ride to Cuenca through the highlands. We are sad to say good bye to Nate & Fernanda, but hopefully they will come visit us in NC this summer!
We arrived in Quito, Ecuador with no problem. Flying into the city, we went over amazing lush green mountains - the Highlands of Ecuador - that were really amazing. Quito sits at 9000+ feet, and the moment we walked off the plane we could feel it. This feeling of shortness of breath was pretty remarkable. Just walking up a staircase felt like a huge task.
We are staying with Nate & Fernanda, a wonderful couple who has been so hospitable it's remarkable. Nate is American and Fernanda is from outside of Quito. Fernanda is an architect and is restoring their beautiful home that sits right across from the huge Basilica of Quito.
We settled our stuff in and went for a walk around the old city. We went for a very slow walk, due to the altitude! Quito is a bit reminiscent of San Francisco in terms of the super hilly streets and homes off in the hills in the distance. So walking up these hills in the altitude was quite the feat. We were keeping pace with the ancient grandmothers, and that was just fine with us.
The old city is so incredibly beautiful. They have restored most of the buildings in a really wonderful way. There are huge churches everywhere you look as well as a lot of museums, restaurants, stores, etc. It doesn't feel touristy like many of the other cities we've been to. Everyone is just busy going about their day in this gorgeous, old place with so much history.
We had a wonderful dinner with Nate & Fernanda that night. We lingered for a long time in the restaurant, telling stories and having another round of beer, because it had started to pour outside. Apparently it has been raining like crazy lately due to the La Nina phenomenon.
The next day we walked again around the old part of Quito. We went to some famous churches & got to check out Museo del Alabado, a museum dedicated to pre-Incan artifacts. It was incredible. They had so many unbelievable pieces from as far back as 4000 BC.
In the afternoon we drove with Nate & Fernanda to their family beach house near the town of Esmeraldas. This was our first glimpse of the Pacific on this trip! We got in late, but a wonderful woman named Margarita, who cooks for Fernanda's family, had left us dinner. We stayed up late telling stories & laughing and finally fell into bed around 3am!
The next day and a half was spent lounging in the beach, finding incredible rocks and shells, reading, and eating the most delicious food made for us by Margarita. We had shrimp ceviche, calamari, rice, coconut shrimp, a fish casserole made with peanuts and plantains, beans, fried plantains, fresh made ahi (sort of like a salsa but way better) and all sorts of fresh squeezed juices. Amazing!
The weather was mostly good at the beach (good enough for a serious sunburn for me!) but then it was rain, rain, rain back in Quito.
Today we're off on a 12 hour bus ride to Cuenca through the highlands. We are sad to say good bye to Nate & Fernanda, but hopefully they will come visit us in NC this summer!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Panama City
We hopped on a bus at 6:30 in the morning & bid the wonderful town of Boquete goodbye. A short ride to David while watching a beautiful sunrise was the start to this long day. Once in David we had to get a bus that would take us all the way to Panama City (7 hrs). We had been talking about how we hoped we wouldn't have to ride that whole way there crammed on a chicken bus with the windows open, stopping every couple kilometers to cram on more people. Well, we didn't have to worry, because we bought tickets for what turned out to be the biggest bus Jonathan or I had ever been on! It was a new Mercedes double decker model. Jonathan asked if there was any way he could get a seat with a bit more leg room, and she put us in seats 1 & 2 on the upper level. There was a lot more leg room and we were almost out over the front of the bus, farther forward than the driver would sit, since we were on the second level. It was a crazy feeling, being so high, right up against the windshield of this huge behemoth, barreling down the Pan American Hwy. We got there in pretty much 7 hours exactly.
On the bus, Jonathan struck up a conversation (as he always does) with a really nice young guy who spoke good English. Kristopher was from Boquete but was going to school in Panama City and had made this journey many times before. He offered to help us once we got off at the bus terminal in the city. This was much appreciated, since we'd heard from everyone that Americans get really over charged by the taxis and that the city buses are a bit hard to use if you don't know exactly where you're going.
Once we got there Kristopher's brother was there to pick him up, and we started chatting about the best way for us to get to the hostel we had reserved - a hostel no one had heard of in a neighborhood no one seemed to recognize. After Kristopher's brother looked at our little map for a bit, he said, "You can't take a taxi, it's too expensive & too far. You will drive with us." And just like that they led us to their car, crammed all our luggage in and set off across the city at rush hour. They were so sweet and pointed out all the buildings and neighborhoods as we passed and answered our endless questions.
Panama City is huge and very modern. After being in small towns since we started traveling, the sky scrapers, smog and constant noise was a bit overwhelming. We finally found our hostel, the adorable Villa Michelle, and thanked our new friends profusely. This place has two kitchens we can use, so we walked to the local "mini super" (small grocery store/convenience store) and got stuff for the next couple days.
Today we explored Casco Viejo (the old city) and the canal. We both had been really looking forward to seeing the canal. Before we left, we each read a book on the history and construction of the canal. (Thank you Bruce & Ellen!!) It is such an overwhelming feat of engineering.
We went to the Miraflores locks, which are the closest to the Pacific an to the city. 35-40 huge vessels pass through the canal every day, which runs 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year. The average cost to go through the canal is a little over $100,000! They charge based on weight and carrying capacity of the ships. We got to watch 2 ships go through the locks. They were coming from the Atlantic, going into the Pacific, so we watched them get lowered back to sea level. It's absolutely amazing. They have a good museum and an educational film there.
After the canal, we were starving and looked up a place to eat on my gps. We found what sounded like a good place, so we hailed a cab and set off back across this crazy city. When the cab finally pulled into the restaurant, we both started laughing. It was a super fancy place, not what we had expected. There were men in tuxedos opening the front doors for us, and they all started looking at us, then looking at each other nervously. They finally pointed to our feet and tried to very gently let us know that sandals were not allowed in their restaurant. I'm sure that was the first in a long line of things about us that were not allowed, so we went off to find another option!
Tomorrow we fly to Quito, Ecuador, and I can't wait! A day and a half in a big city is more than enough for me. We'll be staying with friends in Quito, and I am so excited to begin this second leg of our trip. Adios Central America!
On the bus, Jonathan struck up a conversation (as he always does) with a really nice young guy who spoke good English. Kristopher was from Boquete but was going to school in Panama City and had made this journey many times before. He offered to help us once we got off at the bus terminal in the city. This was much appreciated, since we'd heard from everyone that Americans get really over charged by the taxis and that the city buses are a bit hard to use if you don't know exactly where you're going.
Once we got there Kristopher's brother was there to pick him up, and we started chatting about the best way for us to get to the hostel we had reserved - a hostel no one had heard of in a neighborhood no one seemed to recognize. After Kristopher's brother looked at our little map for a bit, he said, "You can't take a taxi, it's too expensive & too far. You will drive with us." And just like that they led us to their car, crammed all our luggage in and set off across the city at rush hour. They were so sweet and pointed out all the buildings and neighborhoods as we passed and answered our endless questions.
Panama City is huge and very modern. After being in small towns since we started traveling, the sky scrapers, smog and constant noise was a bit overwhelming. We finally found our hostel, the adorable Villa Michelle, and thanked our new friends profusely. This place has two kitchens we can use, so we walked to the local "mini super" (small grocery store/convenience store) and got stuff for the next couple days.
Today we explored Casco Viejo (the old city) and the canal. We both had been really looking forward to seeing the canal. Before we left, we each read a book on the history and construction of the canal. (Thank you Bruce & Ellen!!) It is such an overwhelming feat of engineering.
We went to the Miraflores locks, which are the closest to the Pacific an to the city. 35-40 huge vessels pass through the canal every day, which runs 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year. The average cost to go through the canal is a little over $100,000! They charge based on weight and carrying capacity of the ships. We got to watch 2 ships go through the locks. They were coming from the Atlantic, going into the Pacific, so we watched them get lowered back to sea level. It's absolutely amazing. They have a good museum and an educational film there.
After the canal, we were starving and looked up a place to eat on my gps. We found what sounded like a good place, so we hailed a cab and set off back across this crazy city. When the cab finally pulled into the restaurant, we both started laughing. It was a super fancy place, not what we had expected. There were men in tuxedos opening the front doors for us, and they all started looking at us, then looking at each other nervously. They finally pointed to our feet and tried to very gently let us know that sandals were not allowed in their restaurant. I'm sure that was the first in a long line of things about us that were not allowed, so we went off to find another option!
Tomorrow we fly to Quito, Ecuador, and I can't wait! A day and a half in a big city is more than enough for me. We'll be staying with friends in Quito, and I am so excited to begin this second leg of our trip. Adios Central America!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
More of Boquete
We rose the next day in Boquete to solid rain. We were told over and over again that the rain is not normal for this time of year. They have a rainy and dry season, and we were supposed to be there in the dry season. Oh well, it was still beautiful, but not very conducive to the hike we had planned. So we hopped on a chicken bus (called that because there is usually at least one chicken on there with you, often more) and headed out of town to a bookstore we had heard about. The Bookmark is the largest English language bookstore in Panama. It is chock full of used books from every genre imaginable - over 30,000 books at last count. Jonathan and I are speeding through our books, so we needed to stock up. We spent over an hour browsing and ended up buying 3 excellent books in great condition for $20!
Back in Boquete it was still raining, at times completely horizontal rain. It can get very windy there, and the town sits down in the valley, so the weather just sits on top of the town, but you can see the sun shining in the mountains on either side. So we spent the afternoon reading our new books with our friends from CO and the other folks staying in the hostel.
Despite the weather we still had big plans that night, because we had to head up to the house of the Packers fan Jonathan met, so we could watch the game at his house. We grabbed some beer and wine and headed up into the hills in a taxi with only vague directions. Things have an amazing way of working out for us, and even though we didn't know the exact street this guy lived on, the taxi driver drove us around his neighborhood, and he happened to be standing out in front of his house as we drove by.
We were warmly welcomed into Dan's beautiful home and pretty soon were joined by Jerry and Erdy (a retired couple from WI who were a hoot), Steve (a great guy from MI who was starting his own farm and eco retreat here) and Ryan (a young guy from WI who works part of the year here as a real estate agent). Everyone brought delicious food & immediately started yelling at the players and cracking jokes, so we felt right at home. Unfortunately it wasn't a good game for the Packers, but it was a lot of fun for us.
The next day was very rainy as well, but we were determined to go for a hike. We set off with our CO friends in an incredibly cramped little van that promised to drop us off by a trail head way up in the mountains. We were sure that once we were up there it wouldn't be raining anymore. Well, not only was it still raining, it was raining harder, but the land was absolutely gorgeous, so we just kept going. We hiked out to an amazing waterfall. By the time we got there I might as well have been standing under the waterfall, I was so wet. The hike back out was drier and we were in some incredible farm land. The way they can plant crops on these steep hillsides is almost dizzying to look at. We passed tons of coffee, some sugar cane, onions, corn, orange & papaya trees and even a Christmas tree farm!
In the afternoon we got to do a tour of Finca Dos Jefes, a farm that grows coffee under the label Cafe de las Lunes (coffee of the moon.) Dave, an American from Berkeley, CA, retired here about 8 years ago and bought an abandoned coffee farm. He was a serious coffee connossiour, but he knew nothing about growing coffee when he bought the place. He gave a fantastic tour, explaining the history of coffee in the world & specifically in Panama, how to grow the plants, how to process the beans, how to roast the coffee, and finally how to taste it. Dave's farm is organic, and he plants and harvests in coordination with the cycles of the moon - hence the name of his coffee! It was fascinating, and I even got to roast some beans myself.
We got a bunch of laundry done yesterday (washed, dried and folded for $3!) so now we are setting off to Panama City with clean smelling clothes. A miracle!
Back in Boquete it was still raining, at times completely horizontal rain. It can get very windy there, and the town sits down in the valley, so the weather just sits on top of the town, but you can see the sun shining in the mountains on either side. So we spent the afternoon reading our new books with our friends from CO and the other folks staying in the hostel.
Despite the weather we still had big plans that night, because we had to head up to the house of the Packers fan Jonathan met, so we could watch the game at his house. We grabbed some beer and wine and headed up into the hills in a taxi with only vague directions. Things have an amazing way of working out for us, and even though we didn't know the exact street this guy lived on, the taxi driver drove us around his neighborhood, and he happened to be standing out in front of his house as we drove by.
We were warmly welcomed into Dan's beautiful home and pretty soon were joined by Jerry and Erdy (a retired couple from WI who were a hoot), Steve (a great guy from MI who was starting his own farm and eco retreat here) and Ryan (a young guy from WI who works part of the year here as a real estate agent). Everyone brought delicious food & immediately started yelling at the players and cracking jokes, so we felt right at home. Unfortunately it wasn't a good game for the Packers, but it was a lot of fun for us.
The next day was very rainy as well, but we were determined to go for a hike. We set off with our CO friends in an incredibly cramped little van that promised to drop us off by a trail head way up in the mountains. We were sure that once we were up there it wouldn't be raining anymore. Well, not only was it still raining, it was raining harder, but the land was absolutely gorgeous, so we just kept going. We hiked out to an amazing waterfall. By the time we got there I might as well have been standing under the waterfall, I was so wet. The hike back out was drier and we were in some incredible farm land. The way they can plant crops on these steep hillsides is almost dizzying to look at. We passed tons of coffee, some sugar cane, onions, corn, orange & papaya trees and even a Christmas tree farm!
In the afternoon we got to do a tour of Finca Dos Jefes, a farm that grows coffee under the label Cafe de las Lunes (coffee of the moon.) Dave, an American from Berkeley, CA, retired here about 8 years ago and bought an abandoned coffee farm. He was a serious coffee connossiour, but he knew nothing about growing coffee when he bought the place. He gave a fantastic tour, explaining the history of coffee in the world & specifically in Panama, how to grow the plants, how to process the beans, how to roast the coffee, and finally how to taste it. Dave's farm is organic, and he plants and harvests in coordination with the cycles of the moon - hence the name of his coffee! It was fascinating, and I even got to roast some beans myself.
We got a bunch of laundry done yesterday (washed, dried and folded for $3!) so now we are setting off to Panama City with clean smelling clothes. A miracle!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Boquete the beautiful
We have fallen in love with the town of Boquete in Panama. I adore everything about this place. Let's start with the scenery - Boquete sits 3477 feet above sea level, and is surrounded by lush green mountains that go as high as 11,397 feet (Volcan Baru). Someone on the bus ride in told us it reminded him of Switzerland in the summer time. Having never been to Switzerland, I can't say for sure, but wow, is it gorgeous! It also reminds me somewhat of Hawaii because the clouds are very dramatic and it rains frequently. Our first afternoon here we saw a huge double rainbow. When I pointed it out to a local guy, he said, "Oh yeah, we see that everyday," and kept walking!
The town itself has about 19,000 people, and about 14% of them are expats from the US, Canada & Europe. Jonathan immediately met a man who lives here now who was from Green Bay, WI. He too is a huge Packers fan & has invited us to his home Sunday to watch the game. After that conversation, I knew we weren't going anywhere for a while! So we've decided to stay here through Monday.
We are staying at an adorable little hostel on the outskirts of town called Pension Topas. This week & weekend is the Ferria de los Flores y Cafe - a flower & coffee festival. It is also apparently a festival for selling every kind of good you can imagine - clothing, jewelry, leather goods, hats, toys, food, etc. It is also a festival for playing super loud music until about 4am, but we still managed to sleep ok.
This area does indeed look like te ideal place for a flower and coffee festival. There are beautiful flowers growing absolutely everywhere- on the fences, in the ditches, in the fields, and of course in everyone's gardens. The hillsides are dotted with coffee farms. We met some local guys on a hike today who were harvesting some beans. When we asked where the beans were headed he said, "The US, of course!"
Also staying at our hostel is a sweet couple from CO. They have been doing some volunteer work in Panama for 5 or 6 weeks now and just got engaged at Christmas! It's been really fun getting to know them. Today we took a hike together that we had found vague mention of online. We followed a road up a steep hill outside of town and then kept curving around on a dirt road. There were amazing views and the weather was absolutely perfect. Because of the altitude, it is much cooler here and not nearly so humid. There's a wonderful breeze all the time, and at night it even get a little chilly. Our hike made a big loop and brought us back down into the city just after lunch.
Panama is less expensive than CR by far, and they use US dollars, so that makes it even easier! We got a fabulous pineapple yesterday for $.50 that we all shared and a couple bananas for a dime each. Tonight we're going to try out a restaurant in town that seems to be a favorite with the locals. Today at lunch there was a line out the door and up the street- always a good sign!
I've posted some photos and videos on Facebook, since I still can't get my iPhone to let me upload anything here. So check out my page there to see some!
The town itself has about 19,000 people, and about 14% of them are expats from the US, Canada & Europe. Jonathan immediately met a man who lives here now who was from Green Bay, WI. He too is a huge Packers fan & has invited us to his home Sunday to watch the game. After that conversation, I knew we weren't going anywhere for a while! So we've decided to stay here through Monday.
We are staying at an adorable little hostel on the outskirts of town called Pension Topas. This week & weekend is the Ferria de los Flores y Cafe - a flower & coffee festival. It is also apparently a festival for selling every kind of good you can imagine - clothing, jewelry, leather goods, hats, toys, food, etc. It is also a festival for playing super loud music until about 4am, but we still managed to sleep ok.
This area does indeed look like te ideal place for a flower and coffee festival. There are beautiful flowers growing absolutely everywhere- on the fences, in the ditches, in the fields, and of course in everyone's gardens. The hillsides are dotted with coffee farms. We met some local guys on a hike today who were harvesting some beans. When we asked where the beans were headed he said, "The US, of course!"
Also staying at our hostel is a sweet couple from CO. They have been doing some volunteer work in Panama for 5 or 6 weeks now and just got engaged at Christmas! It's been really fun getting to know them. Today we took a hike together that we had found vague mention of online. We followed a road up a steep hill outside of town and then kept curving around on a dirt road. There were amazing views and the weather was absolutely perfect. Because of the altitude, it is much cooler here and not nearly so humid. There's a wonderful breeze all the time, and at night it even get a little chilly. Our hike made a big loop and brought us back down into the city just after lunch.
Panama is less expensive than CR by far, and they use US dollars, so that makes it even easier! We got a fabulous pineapple yesterday for $.50 that we all shared and a couple bananas for a dime each. Tonight we're going to try out a restaurant in town that seems to be a favorite with the locals. Today at lunch there was a line out the door and up the street- always a good sign!
I've posted some photos and videos on Facebook, since I still can't get my iPhone to let me upload anything here. So check out my page there to see some!
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