Adventures in the middle of nowhere with Land Cruisers, temporary adoption, kitesurfing and Yellow Fever

This post is from about a week ago. I`ve just been lagging on getting info up.

Seldom has my preconception of a place differed as much from the reality of a place as it did in Cabo de la Vela. I had been told about the place by this girl from LA, who had visions of a near-deserted town perched between the desert and sea planted in my head. The reality was somewhat different.

Before Cabo, I had spent 2 days on the beach in Palomino hanging out at a kinda crappy hostel with some friends I had met in Taganga. The place sounded cool - pretty remote location, right on the beach, sleep in hammocks. The reality was a hammock for the night was $25,000 pesos (about $13), the roof leaked and there was nowhere to stash your bags. The food was really expensive as well and pretty pedestrian. And the beach was really dirty with debris from the big storms that they had been having.

The first day we arrived a massive rainstorm hit, the hammocks got pretty wet, and I spent a sleepless night shivering in my hammock as the place had no extra blankets. The next day was pretty nice and I got to explore this nearby river and got some good beach time in. After another slightly-less-sleepless (but not by much) night, I decided to get out of there.

I caught a bus to Riohacha, the last major town in the Guajira Peninsula. It was a decent town to spend the night and check out the nice oceanfront promenade that had a ton of vendors selling food and drinks.

The next day I got my flip flop fixed as it had blown out in Palomino, and caught a shared taxi to Uriba, where I transferred to the bed of a beat up old Ford for the last leg of the journey to Cabo. Me and 9 other people were taken on a breakneck race through the desert to the village.

I had expected to find the aforementioned quiet little desert beach town. Instead, I found a desert beach town overrun by Land Cruisers blasting salsa and this big kitesurfing championship. It was a bit of a shock. Apparently, the big, calm bay and brisk desert winds create ideal kitesurfing conditions. There was a big pavilion with massive speakers set up in the bay to announce the competition. So other than all that, it was just the traditional Wayu indian village I´d expected.

I found a hostel, checked out the town a bit, and then put in an order for dinner at the restaurant down the street. For some reason you had to order 2 hours in advance. I decided to splurge a bit and go with a whole lobster, al ajillo. The wind wasn´t blowing strongly that day and the competition was postponed, so I killed some time having a couple of beers on the beach, admiring the results of Colombia´s affinity for plastic surgery. After a dinner of overcooked lobster and bad service, I decided to call it a night. Or would have, except for the techno blasting from the 4x4 parked next to my room and the Colombian family partying outside. And the Jack Johnson wafting down the beach from the pavilion on the bay. It was my own little personal hell.

The next day, the Colombian family was up at 6, despite their festivities the night before. I dragged myself out of bed at 8, and decided to hike out of town to get away from everyone. The hike through the desert was great, with some amazing views and a near-deserted beach with perfect turquoise water. After returning to town with the kitesurfing competition in full swing, I took a nap, had some dinner, and got some sleep for the first time in 4 days.

I wanted to get out of town the next day. I had set up a ride with this guy who did tours, and was supposed to be at his stand at 9 to get the transport. Arriving at 8:45, I figured I was in great shape. Wrong. The vehicle had already left and I was stuck for the time being. I had a conversation in Spanish that went like this:
Me (at 9:05): Do you know what time the transport is going to be arriving?
Tour Guy: Oh, you got here too late, it already left.
Me: What do you mean I got here too late? I was here at 8:45. You said to be here at 9.
Tour Guy: Oh, the transport left at 8.
Me: Why did you tell me 9?
Tour Guy: There is another transport coming soon.
Me: What time?
Tour Guy: In about an hour.
As 11:30 rolled around, I started to think that I might be stuck in Cabo for another day, as there was no sign of another transport. Just as I was about to go find another hostel and hit the beach, this Colombian family swung by the tour guy´s stand, looking at some of the trinkets he was selling. I guess he informed them of my predicament, because they offered to give me a ride. It was a three-generation, two car caravan. I rode with Grandma and Grandpa in their little Hyundai sedan, while Mom, Dad and their two college-aged sons rode in a Ford Escape. Initially, they were just going to take me the hour and a half to Uriba, but when they found out I was headed to Tayrona Park, they offered to take all the way there, as it was on their way home to Barranquilla. Sign me up!

After the 5 hour ride to Tayrona, including lunch with the family and a couple of stops for bootleg Venezuelan gas (quote from Dad: The only good thing about Venezuela is their cheap gas), I got dropped off at the park entrance. It was about 5:30 and when I got to the entrance booth, I was informed that the park was closed. Dammit. Then, a slightly sketchy looking guy told me to wait 15 minutes, and he could get me in. Ignoring my better judgement, I stuck around. About 10 minutes later the guy came down the hill and said I could get in. I went up the hill, paid the $15 "park admission fee" to the security guard, and got a fake receipt and wristband. I hopped on a motor taxi that dropped me off at the start of the trail that led to the first beach. I had a mad dash in the failing light on a super-muddy trail to reach Atacames before it was pitch black. I got there minus a flip flop that had ripped, rented a hammock and settled in for the night.

The next day I decided to hike to some ruins called Pueblito. I set out up the rocky slope and was feeling a little weak when I got to the top, presumably from the heat. It was hotter than hell, and really humid. I laid in this little creek for a while trying to cool down, and then returned to the beach at the bottom of the hill. I splashed around in the ocean, but was still feeling sort of weak. It wasn´t until I was hiking out of the park that evening and still feeling weak that I figured out I had a fever, and not heat exhaustion. I started wondering if I had Yellow Fever, but my full recovery since leads me to say no.

Taganga

Finally, some hot weather! I`ve spent the last three days in a little fishing village/beach town called Taganga. It`s hotter than hell here which is a nice change after getting realtively cold, overcast weather on the beach in Ecuador. I stayed in an apartment with my friends Sarah and Will - it was nice to have a place that felt somewhat home-like after months of hostels. We cooked a bunch of fish and just hung out, it was pretty sweet.

Went spear fishing the other day, which was pretty much the best thing ever. I got three fish and we made ceviche with them back at the apratment. It was tasty, if a little heavy on the lime. Today I`m headed to the Guaranji Peninsula that stretches out near the Venezuela border. It sounds like the end of the earth, so it should be an adventure. Untill next time...

Careful what you wish for

After waiting in San Gil for a few days for the Rio Suarez to be low enough to raft, I was finally able to go today. I was told by Ivan, the helpful owner of the hostel I´m staying at that the river was had class 5+ rapids. After being told in both Ecuador and Panama that we were going down rivers that rated 3-4 and being somewhat disappointed, I thought that 5+ would be a really good ride.

We had to wait until noon to set out to let the river get a bit lower. We picked up the 12 people going on the trip from various hostels and grabbed the rafts, kayaks and guides. Arriving at the river, it was a muddy brown torrent and looked like it was going to be intense. We did the standard safety talk and hopped in the two rafts to practice a bit. Along with the two rafts we had three other guides in kayaks to grab anyone that fell in. Little did I know how key they would be. The raft I was in had two people that had rafted before and four who had never rafted. The other raft had people who had all done at least 4´s before.

We set off down the river and the first rapid we hit was a 4. I was in the front and we went in sideways and I got thrown out when this big wave knocked me across the raft. I got trapped under the raft for a few seconds (it seemed like much longer) but was able to push my way out, just to get a massive mouthful of water when another wave hit us as I was getting pulled in. We pulled over to the side of the river to regroup and I saw that the other raft had gotten through with their crew intact.

As I tried to catch my breath and calm down a bit, I realized that I was definitely getting more than my money's worth on this trip. We made it through the next couple of rapids ok, and then pulled over again to get instructions on the class 5 that was coming up. Coming into the first part of this one I´m not sure what exactly happened, but I think we just took too direct a rout through this wave that was about 8 feet tall. The entire raft tipped up on the side and we tried to high-side, but the whole thing flipped. Once again I was under the raft and struggled to get out. I couldn´t get a hold of the raft and ended up having to ride through the entire 400 meter rapid on my back. It was damn scary - every time I could get my head above water I would get sucked back down and swallow more water. This repeated about six times until one of the kayaks got close enough to me so I could grab on. I was on the front of it, but had to move to the back so we could pick up another one of my raft mates. We finally got out of the worst of it and got near enough the other raft so they could pull us aboard. I was so spent that I couldn´t offer any help and it ended up taking two guys from that raft to pull me aboard. I couldn´t get my breath and threw up a little water.

We stopped again so the guides could get the flipped raft on the right side of the river and to allow everyone to recuperate. At this point this Irish couple let the guides know that there was no way they were doing the last class 5. The guides told them they could walk around the last rapid, and asked if anyone else wanted to walk it. I sort of did at that moment, but there was no way I was admitting that. The guides did a bit of re-arranging of people so all the inexperienced people weren´t in the same raft, and we set off again. The next two rapids were class 3, and we got through fine. We stopped one last time for instructions on the final class 5. I was REALLY hoping I would stay in the raft/not have it flip here. Being 0-fer on the class 5´s and swallowing another bunch of water was not something I wanted to have happen on my trip.

We headed down towards the last big rapid minus the Irish couple. I was really nervous going into this one through some hard-earned experience. We hit the rapid, navigated the first little class 1 and plowed into this massive class 5. We were set up right going into this one, and had a roller-coaster ride through the waves which the guides later told us were over 9 feet high. A few times I though we were going over, but the raft stayed upright and almost before I knew what had happened we were through. I felt completely exhilarated as I realized there were just little choppy waves ahead of us and the guide said we were through!

We paddled down the river a bit to a beach where we pulled out. Snacks followed and then we loaded in the van and headed home. I was talking to this German guy sitting next to me who turned out to be a river guide, and he said that there was no way people with no experience should have been going out on that river in it´s current state. I told him that I had gone rafting about seven times on 3´s and 4´s, and he said even that was about the minimum that you should have to do that kind of whitewater.

I think I´ve learned a few valuable lessens. First, don´t go rafting down a hardcore class 5 with a bunch of inexperienced people. Second, don´t take class 5 rapids lightly. Third, stick to class 4´s, because they skew more on the excitement side of excitement/terror. Actually, scratch that third one as now that I´ve had a few hours, I´m ready to try one again.

Minus the fact that I don´t have much hair left on my left shin from the rubbing on the raft while trying to keep myself in and possible dysentery from drinking half the water in the Rio Suarez I´m pretty much no worse for the wear. I was supposed to catch a night bus to San Augustine on the coast tonight, but after getting back to the hostel, there was no way I was hopping on a bus for 12 hours. I´m staying one last night in San Gil and then heading out tomorrow evening after the Cup final. I´m going to sleep well tonight.

Finally, to all my friends who surf bigger waves, I think you are nuts. The whole being held under thing is pretty damn scary.

San Gil

I`ve been in this decent-sized town called San Gill for the last few days. It`s a bit up in the mountains and I really like it. There is apparently some great rafting around here that I`ve been waiting to do, but the river has been too high for the past couple days which pushes it above class 5 or whatever is considered raftable. I`m holding out hope that tomorrow the river will be open, and if not I`m heading on.

In the meantime, I`ve been taking little treks to different villages and seeing the area. If rafting still isn`t an option tomorrow I might go paragliding. Who knows..... My camera battery died today so no pictures.

The story so far

So when I last checked in, I was planning on heading to Tierradentro, a archaeological site near the village of San Andres. I was all set to catch the bus there when I realized I was a bit low on money and that there were no ATM`s in the town. I went to get money out in San Augustine and discovered that both ATM`s in the town were down, and wouldn`t be up till the next afternoon. The local bank could only give cash advances on Visa`s, not the Mastercard or AMEX, which was all I had. Counting my remaining pesos, I realized I did not have enough to both pay my hotel bill and the bus fare back to Popayan. It was time to start scrounging.

I eventually found a place that would exchange my $15 remaining dollars for pesos at a borderline criminal rate (apparently Colombia is flush with dollars, can`t imagine why) which got me enough money to get me back to civilizations, but just barely. It was an interesting bus ride back to Popayan that had the bus driver and conductor jumping out of the bus to fight a truck driver that wouldn`t let us pass for 15 minutes (they won), waiting 30 minutes for a road closed by the army to open, passing an army camp with tanks and APC`s parked on the side of the road and seeing some beautiful scenery. I got my money and my luggage I had left in Popayan and then hopped a bus to Cali.

Rolling into Cali I immediately liked the city. It was warm, had a pretty nice downtown and just gave off a vibe that I liked along with having toilets where you could flush the paper. It reminded me of Panama City a bit, but I really disliked Panama City, while I loved Cali. Go figure. I found a decent hostel, met some new people and cooked a few meals.

On Thursday, me and a few of my new friends set off to find a salsa club, as apparently Cali is the salsa capitol of the world. None of the downtown (aka non-sketchy) ones were open so after a few drinks we caught a cab to this one outside the downtown that we had heard about. It was an interesting ride with 7 people stuffed into a tiny, and I mean tiny, Hyundai cab.

We got to the door and the bouncers were having none of us. Apparently you need a 1-to-1 guy/girl ration, and we were rolling with a 5-2. While trying to talk our way in, we saw several lone Colombian guys walk right in, so I think we got racially profiled. There was a bar next door so we rolled over there, looking for three more girls. Just wanting to get in, let`s just say we aimed low...

We met three middle-aged Colombian ladies, but they wanted to stay at the bar a bit longer and even with our spectacular charm turned on full, we couldn`t talk them out of it. After a drink there, everyone was getting tired, so we decided to call it a night. We had to walk back by the salsa club to rat-pack another cab, and were witnesses to a massive brawl outside the club. So maybe it was for the best we never got in.

Friday, I had planned to take a day trip to this river in the jungle accessible only by motorcycle modified to drive on train tracks, but it was pouring rain and I decided against it, and instead wandered around Cali a bit and put a dent in this book I am reading about recent Colombian history. My original broader plan was to head to coffee country after Cali, go through Medellin to the Caribbean coast and then circle back through the Tierra Paisa before finishing in Bogota and heading home. However, while in Cali I heard that there is this massive, free, three-day music festival Sat-Mon in Bogota called Rock Al Parque (Rock In The Park). It sounded like a good time so I decided to rearrange the itinerary.

Friday, I caught a night bus to Bogota from Cali. It would have been a nice, restful ride except for a few factors. First, the bus (a big, comfy one) had this digital speed display, visible to the passengers. Apparently buses in Columbia are not allowed to go over 80 km/hr. I`m of the opinion that it is not so much the speed that Colombian drivers go that is the problem, but the passing on blind turns on windy mountain roads, but what do I know? This digital readout would make this buzzing noise every time we went faster than 80. The driver was hovering right around 80 on any flat, straight stretch, and the buzzer was constantly going off. Not conducive to a good night`s sleep. Second, the a/c was cranked. I was wearing a jacket and pants, but my flip-flop clad feet went numb and I could never really get warm. Why you need a/c while going through mountain passes at midnight is beyond me, but again, what do I know? Finally, the bus left at 9 p.m. and was supposed to get in around 6 or 7. I left a nice cushion so I could get to a hostel and find a tv before the 9 a.m. Argentina/Germany match up. What I didn`t factor in was the road being closed for 3 hours for reasons I still don`t understand. So I missed most of the game.

I then tried to catch a bus to the hostel I wanted to stay in, but caught the wrong one and ended up in the ghetto. When I finally got a cab out of there, the cabbie told me about 10 times how dangerous the place I was in was.

Bogota is a pretty ugly city that sprawls forever. Hopefully the culture here makes up for it. I haven`t got out to explore it to much yet, but am about to head over to the concert in about an hour. I don`t recognize any of the acts beyond one of Bob Marley`s countless kids but it`s free, live music with hundreds of thousands of other people in attendance. Should be fun.

Tomorrow is still up in the air, and Tuesday I want to check out a couple of museums before heading off to parts yet unknown. All in all, it`s been a nice few days, but with the end of my trip getting closer, I`m starting to miss certain things about home more.

That`s it for now. Hopefully I discover some good bands at this concert!

San Augustine

I´ve been in this town up in the mountains called San Augustine for the last two days. There are a bunch of cool stone sculptures up here from these Indians that used to live up here. I´ve been checking out the archaeological parks and tomorrow am going to head too this village called San Andres, which has these tombs you can go down into. Apparently they are pretty cool.

I was almost going to skip San Andres after hearing that the FARC put in a little appearance in the town the day of the recent presidential elections, but I guess it is pretty safe. That was the first time in years they had been seen there and they only made an appearance because it was election day. I met this German guy who was standing right next to one of the guerrillas when he came into this little shop and asked to use the bathroom. Apparently he was really polite and didn't give the gringo any problems. Should be interesting...

Pics from the last few weeks

Mompiche, land of no change

Hostel in Mompiche

Hostel in Ibarra

Park in Ibarra

Some church in Ibarra

Again

I really wanted to offer to buy this sign but it was too big to lug around

Tamale de pipan

Popayan, the white city

Cool old bridge in Popayan

Massive patacone

Columbia

After spending a few extra days in a city called Ibarra in Ecuador due to "stomach issues," I finally made it to Columbia last Thursday. I stayed in a town a couple hours from the border called Pasto the first night and then bussed it 7 hours to Popayan, where I've been since. Popayan is a beautiful colonial city up in the mountains at about 6000 feet. I´ve been hanging out, trying lots of local food and walking all over town. Tomorrow I'm going to head to a place called San Augustine to see a bunch of crazy sculptures in the desert made by a bunch of shrooming Indians way back in the day. Should be interesting.

The border crossing from Ecuador to Colombia was strangely easy. I had expected security to be tight due to the fact that guerrillas are still active in the area and there are tensions between the countries over a raid Colombia made on a FARC camp in Ecuadorian territory a few years ago. Instead it was the easiest I have ever made. If I wanted to be an illegal immigrant I could have just walked across without getting any of the stamps as no guards or anything stopped me on either side. After a hair-raising mini-bus ride to Pasto on the Panamerican I crashed out early. (Dear Colombian Drivers, Maybe if you didn't drive like maniacs, there wouldn't be crosses on the side of the road every few feet. Just a thought. Love, Nate).

The next day I got to Popayan in the evening and checked into a pretty sweet hostel. I discovered that Popayan was recognized by UNESCO as a world culinary city or some such thing, so I was excited to try the local specialties. Ive had some tasty tamales de pipan (chicken with this spicy peanut sauce) but overall the food has been a little disappointing. My favorite thing Ive eaten was the chorizo and white bean soup I made the other night. I got the chorizo from this little meat market down the street and it was fantastic. There was a Mexican restaurant in town that was supposed to be really good, but turned out to be pretty crappy. Today while watching The Battle of the Ghosts of Sovereign Debt Default Past and Future Mundial match, I had my first patacone - a mashed, fried plantain that can be topped with different things. I picked one at random without knowing what it had on it and ended up with a patacone heaped with sausage and shredded chicken smothered with melted cheese. It was so massive I couldn't finish it. I know, I know...

Also of note was the Colombian election. Juan Manuel Santos smoked Antanas Mockus in the runoff round to get elected president. There was a nationwide ban on selling booze from Friday through Monday morning (the election was on Sunday) as apparently political parties used to hand out free booze to get people to vote for them. A nice bottle of bourbon might get me to rethink my no voting stance. Maybe.

Tomorrow I'm getting up early to watch the US play Algeria if I can figure out what channel the game is on as the regular one that televises the games is showing England/Slovenia and then hopping on the bus as soon as it is over for San Augustine. Its a 7 hour ride on dirt roads to the town, which just sounds like a great time.

I forgot my USB cable, so pictures will have to wait until the next post. Until then stay classy.

Things that are possibly of interest only to me

The economics of change
Last week I was in Mompiche, a little town on the coast of Ecuador. Beyond it being cloudy, one of the things that cause me to leave was the complete lack of change and the nightmare of buying anything. I came to town with about $5 in coins, a couple of non-coin dollar bills, a five and a bunch of twenties (Ecuador uses the US dollar after they switched over, trying to curb rampant inflation). I figured this would be enough money, especially after I had no problem breaking twenties in Canoa, a town somewhat similar to Mompiche. It turned out to be plenty of money, it was just the act of spending it that was a nightmare.

It seemed no one in town had any change. I got a $.20 discount on a milkshake because I only had $.30 in change and a two ones, and the vendor couldn´t give me $.50 in change, so accepted $1.30. A pizza place me and a couple friends ate at couldn´t give us the $10 change for a $20, even after we had spent over $10 there the day before. Numerous places couldn´t break a five for charges in the range of two to three dollars. I was reduced to giving places larger bills, and just keeping running tabs with them so I could buy things. The final annoyance was when my hotel didin´t have five bucks to give me change for $60 on a $55 dollar bill. The frantically scrambled around for 20 minutes trying to find someone with change, almost causing me to miss my bus.

Thinking about this, I coudn´t figure out why on earth a town with a decent amount of tourist dollars coming into town would be so short of spare change. I´d experienced the no-change phenomenon in other parts of the country, but never on the level I encountered in Mompiche. Granted, it is a fairly isolated place, and I have no idea how far away the nearest bank is. At least an hour I´d assume.

Initially, I thought that the influx of tourists dollars would be a boon for getting change - more money in circulation, hence more change. This obviously wasn´t the case. Thinking about it further, I decided that tourist money must be the problem - take me for example. I spent about $120 in the town total. Upon arrival I carried about $12 in non-twenties. Despite adding the aforementioned $120 to the town´s economy, little of that was in bills that helped the change problem. In fact, my $120 actually compounded the problem, putting into circulation money that wasn´t very useful for most purchases you could make in the town.

I did a little looking into academic research on change, and couldn´t find anything on it. I wonder if any economists have looked at this problem?

Political advertising
During the Mundial (World Cup in Spanish) broadcasts in Ecuador about one in two commercials are ones the Ecuadorian government pays to air. There is one that consists of four people talking about how the opponents of the government are variously trying to: return to the rule of the powerful, treat people´s rights like a business, and steal all the countries wealth. They do these stupid hand movements to represent each different thing and then wraps up with a guy saying don´t fall for it and an old lady saying "we already have a free country, to victory always!". I tried to find this commercial on youtube but it´s not there.

I´m not sure exactly how the add is funded (it seems to be paid directly from government funds) and its pretty aggressive. One of the hand motions this girl makes is a gun. I was trying to figure out parallels in US political advertising, and couldn´t think of any real examples with maybe LBJ´s famous "Daisy" ad against Goldwater being an exception.

Being hammered over the head multiple times during each game broadcast with this ad got me thinking about Ecuador´s political future. The President, Rafael Correa, seems to be taking the country in a more and more authoritarian direction - jailing journalists, trying to set up local committees to report on "counter-revolutionary" activities and demonizing his political allies as a bunch of plutocrats looking to loot the country. Though considering Ecuadorian history that last one isn´t exactly crazy.

Yet Correa maintains his approval ratings, which last I saw were at about 60%. I can only imagine that the country is going to look more and more like Venezuela in the coming years. But what do you expect when you elect a guy who openly admires Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro? And now I´m going to get deported as foreigners are not allowed to engage in any political activities while here...

Mystifying decision
I am a big fan in general of SI.com´s soccer reporting. Grant Wahl is very good, and the rest of the crew is solid as well. Yet the editors there decided to send their inane and mystifyingly popular football reporter Peter King (who's reporting consists of penning loving tributes to Brett Favre and bragging about all the players and coaches who reply to his texts) to the Cup. Did I mention he knows next to nothing about real football? His opening column consisted of talking to Tim Howard while Wayne Rooney walked by and then making some stupid American football analogies. Crazy. I would have loved to be at the editorial meeting where this was considered a smart move.

Overheard in the internet cafe I`m in

"I don`t think I`m going to have a beer while watching the US play because I only like good beer, like Heineken, and thats really expensive here."

You should have your citizenship revoked for a comment like that.

Go USA!

For a small country...

...it sure takes a long time to get anywhere. After getting sick of not having any sun on the beach, I decided it was time to start making my way to Columbia. So I caught the one daily bus from Mompiche to Esmeraldas (the biggest shithole of a town I have seen yet in Ecuador incidentally). A less than 100k trip on little backroads took over three hours. Having not really thought things through, I assumed that Esmeraldas to Quito would take about 3 hours. WRONG. It took over seven, so I didin`t get into Quito until about 11 last night. I found a little hotel to crash that luckily had tv, so I didin`t have to go find somewhere to watch the opener today. Anyhow, after that scumbag Rafa Marquez ruined what was shaping up to be a nice little morninig, I decided to just stay in Quito for the day. I stocked up on books, got some lunch and am about to go watch Uruguay-France. Tommorow I may head to Ibarra early, or may just stay here untill after the US-England match. It`ll be a game time decision...

Fron Canoa to.....

After lazing around Canoa for a few days, I got sick of the town and the reggaeton that the bar across the street from my hotel played all day and decided to head out. I was looking to get to this town called Mompiche, but buses only run there in the morning. So I´m now in Pedrenales, which I didin´t even know existed this morning. It´s not bad, but also not really a place you would want to stay for any legth of time. I haven´t seen any other gringos, and definitely no other gringos with mohawks.

Tommorow I try to get to Mompiche. We shall see how that goes...

You can have my salt shaker when you pry it from my cold, dead hands

Apparently, the latest demon we need the government to protect us from is salt. And here I thought it was a naturally occurring compound that was essential for life.

There is a push for the FDA to regulate salt as a food additive and force food companies to reduce the amount in their products. The shocking truth is that eating tons of processed food can have some negative health effects. I'm sure all my readers are as bowled over by this as I am.

The push to regulate salt is just another example of the creeping nannyism in American life, and one of the most obnoxious aspects of the public health movement. The things that are being taken away from us by my count now include:

• Salt
• Tobacco
• Alcohol
• Wind through our hair (helmet laws)
• Comfy shoulders (seatbelt laws)
• Trans fats
• Any others I'm missing?
  

When I open a bag of chips, it's not exactly a mystery to me that what I'm about to eat is not health food. My favorite part of that article was the food scientist Dr. Howard Moskowitz bemoaning the fact that people care about calories because being thinner makes them look better, but don't care about salt because it is only a health issue. Imagine that - people deciding what is most important to them each day through the spending of their own money. But when the choices people make don't square up with what experts consider important, we need the boot of the government to squash their little choices and get them on the right path.

How to climb a volcano

On Thursday at around 5:45 a.m. I got to the top of Cotopaxi Volcano, the highest active volcano in the world (Don`t buy that bs that it is in the one in Argentina. That thing is erupting out it`s side, which in my book disqualifies it.) We summited at 5,897 meters (19,344 ft) in a light snow storm. The trek to the top was pretty hard, though not as hard as I expected. We had really good weather and I was in pretty good shape for it. I had heard some horror stories from other people who did the trek, talking about how it was the hardest thing they had ever done. It was very tough, but not the hardest thing I`ve ever done.

The trip started at Secret Garden on Wednesday when the guides arrived with all our stuff. We got fitted in mountaineering boots, waterproof jackets, pants, and gloves and various other pieces of mountaineering equipment. Our group of 11 then hopped in the 4x4`s and headed to the refuge, a building where you spend the night. We got kitted up and hiked up to the glacier to do some training with our ice axes and crampons. Then it was back to the refuge for dinner and bed around 7 p.m.

At 12 p.m. we got woken up and put on all out equipment. We had a quick breakfast and then started heading out in groups from the refuge. The group I was in left last as we had 11 people and were kind of lagging. We started at 1:15 a.m. We hiked up to the glacier, and put on our crampons and got tied together - two climbers per guide. Me and Sam (another volunteer from Secret Garden) were tied to Segundo, a guy from the local village El Pedregal. As we set out on the glacier I could see other groups way up on the mountain. No way we catch them, I thought.

As we started the slog up the glacier we made good time. Our group of three kept passing other groups until it was just us up against the mountain. It was nearly a full moon and a really beautiful night. Towards the top clouds obscured the moon and a light snow started falling, but there was no wind to speak of, which was huge. Sometimes there are 70+ mph/hr winds and blinding snowstorms. We got pretty lucky with the weather.

I did pretty well with the altitude until the last 200 meters of the ascent. At that point it got pretty hard to catch my breath and we were going at a notably slower pace than earlier. However, we pushed through and at 5:45 reached the top!

I was pretty proud of myself for getting up there in 4.5 hours. Most people took about 7 and some people took like 9 or something. The peak was amazing - we watched the sun rise (sort of, as it was obscured by some low clouds), saw the crater that is obscured from the side we came up and just admired being so high up. It was really impressive to see other volcanoes you have climbed look like little hills.

So far as I can tell, the following are key to making it up a snow-covered volcano in a good time:

• A summit mohawk is key for speed and strength
  
• A summit beard helps keep your face warm and also provides strength
• Living at 3,500 meters for over a month helps a lot
• Doing 3-4 hikes a week to 4,200 meters doesn`t hurt
• Step on a glass tea cup two weeks before heading up and put an inch and a half gash in your foot, then do nothing for a few days
• Drink lots of weak, free Pilsener
• Consume about 8,000 calories the day before you head up the mountain
  

Cotopaxi a few days before heading up

The panoramic view

Volunteers with summit mohawks

Me training on the glacier to scare away Yetis

Though this was a cool pic

Sunset at the refuge

First group to the top!

The crater

Again

Passing people on our way down, thier way up

Glacier/rocks

People on thier way up

Summit mohawk!

Again

Fiesta Pics, Ect.

Here are some pics from the last few weeks, most from the fiesta in El Pedregal (the closest village to where I work) that I went to. Coming soon will be my slightly fictionalized account of life at Secret Garden Cotopaxi. Stay tuned.

Thats not Sprite...

Kids doing thier dances

Cool sky

The pig I made sausage out of who was stabbed in the heart right as I was showing these Dutch girls to thier room. They were vegetarians and horrified. The sausage turned out great.

Bullfighting

Me taunting the bull

Me and a buddy. My jacket was a casualty this day as I left it outside the bull ring and someone jacked it. I gotta get another one today, and I imagine it will be a nightmare finding my size again.

Working

I´ve spent the last week plus up at Secret Garden Cotopaxi. I´ve been doing work around the farm and leading hikes to these waterfalls and up a volcano called Pasochoa. It´s been really good - eating well, getting exercisie and meeting a ton of people.

I took today off to come into town to check email and get some warmer clothes. It gets COLD up there. It was hailing a bunch the other day.

Last Saturday I went to this local fiesta to celebrate the end of the local soccer league. They had a cow roping competition, bronco riding and then let everyone into the bull ring to get chased by bulls. I got in there but after seeing a guy being pulled out by his buddies with a hoof print on his forehead, unable to stand, I decided to make my exit. It was awesome day overall - there were three gringos there total among the hundreds of locals.

Last post for a while and contact info

I just arrived in Riobamba after spending four days up in Banos. I really liked Banos- it had a great central market, plenty to do, and a great climate. Yesterday I spent a few hours playing basketball with a bunch of locals in the park. There was a bit of a warm breeze blowing and it reminded me of one of my best summers ever - my last in San Diego. I always used to play ball on some courts above the sea and for some reason last night gave me a overwhelming sense of nostalgia for those days. Then the awful heartburn I had from devouring a massive plate of chicken and rice smothered in very hot aji chili sauce brought me back to reality, and more pressing concerns, like not throwing up as I sprinted up and down the court.

Why would I do something like eat a huge meal right before playing basketball? Well, I was famished from renting a bike and riding for about 4 hours down the Routa delas Cascadas. It was really interesting starting off in the could forest and then descending into the jungle. I made it to a town called Mera, where a combination of fatigue and rain combined to convince me that it was time to catch a bus back to Banos.

Along with biking in Banos, I also did some hiking and went on a somewhat disappointing rafting trip. I had wanted to do the class four section of the river but they didin`t have enough people to do that so we went on the class three section which was kinda weak. The class threes in Panama were much better, and you didn`t have to wear a wetsuit there.

I came to Riobamba with the intention of visiting the big Saturday market they have here. Which I did, scoring a sweet alpaca sweater to keep me warm during the cold nights at altitude near Cotopaxi. I start working at Secret Garden tomorrow and wanted to be prepared as I will be pretty much isolated out there beyond bi-weekly trips to town to use the internet and pick up anything I may need. I took an instant liking to Riobamba when I saw several monster trucks rolling down the street as part of a car show and noticed a big poster advertising a rodeo in the bullfighting ring tonight. It`s a total hick town in the Andres. Gotta love that. I`m still debating going to the rodeo tonight but better make up my mind soon as it starts in half an
hour.

For the next month or so I will be posting rarely, if at all and will have only very sporadic access to email. If you want to reach me just give me a call at the Secret Garden Cotopaxi (website is http://www.secretgardencotopaxi.com/) at 593 0935 72 714. It`s free for me to receive calls there, and it`ll be good to hear some familiar voices in the sticks, so don`t be shy about calling.

And don`t worry, the place is really a lot less about ecotourism than the website suggests. I haven`t gone all hippy on you down here.

Pics from the last few days

I`m having trouble getting my text bloc to paste into blogger so I`m just posting pics for now. It`s always something...

Rafting in Banos

Apparently thieves get burnt in Ecuador
Church in Banos

Monster truck!

Dangerous road

Accosted by a monkey

Cowboys in Riobamba

Meat on a stick on the street, Riobamba

Cool old truck

Lots of pics, and yes, I am alive

Well, it`s been quite a week or so since I last posted. I`ve been above 5000 meters, found a pseudo-job, seen some really cool sights and hiked about 30 miles. It`s been a good time.

After Mindo, I headed back to Quito for a night to get my plans firmed up for Cotopaxi. I booked 4 nighs at this hostel called Secret Garden, which has a sister hostel in Quito. I got it all lined up, found a pair of pants (see below) and headed off. The place was a little pricey at $28 a night, but that included all meals and a few hikes, so I figured it was well worth it.

The hostel was in the middle of nowhere, about 20k from the Cotopaxi volcano. It is in an agricultural valley surrounded by volcanoes, and overall one of the more beautiful places I`ve ever been. The first day I got there the staff took us on a hike up a creek to a couple of waterfalls. I led the way in jumping into the glacier fed creek. They next day included a 6 hour horse ride up to the peak of Huachinago. My legs are still sore from that. The day after was Cotopaxi - took a 4x4 to about 4500 meters, hiked up to the refugio and then after a rest there made it to the glacier at 5200 meters. It would have been an easier hike but due to some localized, completely natural weather variation, the glacier has retreated up the mountain over the last 10 years or so. The day after included another hike to the top of Pachocoa. I then chilled for the next day and recovered a bit.

Secret Garden is owned by a Aussie guy and his Ecuadorian wife. It`s one of my favorite places I`ve ever stayed - they grow a ton of their own veggies on the property, have pigs, ducks, rabbits, guinea pigs, geese, chickens,and sheep for meat/eggs and get really good milk and butter and whatnot from surrounding farms. Katerine (the Ecuadorian) is a chef and we had some great food up there. Particular highlights included a few of the soups, the pizza baked in the wood-fired oven, and a rabbit pie (made by one of the volunteers that I`m replacing who also happens to be a chef). The rabbit had been freshly slaughtered that afternoon. I liked the place so much that when I found out they were looking for volunteers to take the place of a couple guys that are leaving on the 25th, I jumped at the chance. Starting Sunday I`ll be leading hikes, helping out on the farm, doing waiter duties and whatever else is needed around the place for a month in exchange for free room and board. Should be a good time and allow me to extend my trip a bit longer.

The last few days I`ve been doing a bit of town hopping. I went to Quilotoa yesterday afternoon to see the crater lake up there and hike around. After a morning hike today I took 4 different buses to a place called Banos where I am now. It`s a little touristy, but I`ve been told there are some great bike rides and hikes around here so it should be fun. There are also volcano-fed thermal baths that I`m going to check out. That`s about all for now. As a reward for making it through all that here are some pics:

Ziplining through in Mindo

Rock jumping in Mindo

Cool flower

My buddy the tree frog

Omar rounding up horses at Secret Garden

An experienced horserider

Waterfall near Cotopaxi

Lake Quilotoa

Cotopaxi on a clear day

Omar feeding Bazel a dead rabbit. Bazel eats them skin, bones a all. He especially likes to crunch the skulls.

The top of Cotopaxi