The Quilotoa Loop

I decided it was time for a more rural adventure, so I set off to do the southern half of the Quilotoa Loop. This loop which takes about 2-3 days to navigate -- by a combination of buses, hiking, and riding in the back of pick-up trucks -- takes you through the upper Paramo - a dry and cold landscape with desert cactus, canyons, and rocky peaks. You pass through farms which cultivate Ava, a green leafy vegetable much like spinach, known also as Mate in Argentina, where it is smoked to help with high altitude and respiratory functions. You see llamas (alpacas), sheep, and lots of very large hogs. In this hillside view you can see a typical house...thatched roof huts which are built into the mountainside to protect them from the elements and use the slope for refuge against the wind.

After a 2 hour bus ride, I arrived in Zumbahua where I caught a truck going towards the Laguna de Quilotoa, a crater lake, and the only official tourist attraction in the region. This photo of the peaks above Zumbahua is taken from the back of the pick-up which took me the 15 km to the Crater Lake.

It was a cool morning when I started the hike down into the crater. I had hired a little boy to bring his mule down later to bring me back up the mountain. It was breathtaking in more ways than one, and I decided the mule would be easier on my lungs than hiking back up to the top! I arrived at the bottom to take photos, opted out of the boat tour, and had a cup of tea with a couple from France. Then my mule showed up for the return journey. It had started raining a little while I was sipping my tea, but just when we got started up the mountain, the rain turned to a hailstorm. The ice pellets were hitting us pretty hard, so we decided to wait the storm out a while. A few minutes later, it passed and I got back onto the mule who at that point was drenched, cold, and unhappy. It was a wet ride up to the top, but well worth the few dollars spent.
After my cold and wet journey, I was ready for some hot tea. When I got to the little restaurant at the top of the Crater Lake, these women were serving lunch and hot soup. The lunch didn´t look to appetizing, so I opted for trying the Sopa de Ava. The two older women in this photo, Maria Latacunga and Maria Hortencia, were very pleased, and sat watching me while I ate. I had to run to catch the bus and we snapped this quick photo. I looked at it and started laughing at how huge I was next to them. I hadn´t noticed since we had all been sitting down while I ate my soup. Then all 3 of them started laughing as well!

the markets in otavalo, ecuador...

you can get pretty much anything you´ve ever wanted...rice and grains, bread baked in the form of a llama, or roast PIG....

To avoid some political activity that caused road closures in the southern Colombia I had to catch a flight from Medellin to Pasto. Not too bad since I wasn´t looking forward to another 20 hour bus ride in 2 weeks. This is the view of the Andes from above. I took this photo just before we landed in Bogota where I had a 15 minute layover, the capital city is located on a plain high in the northern Andean Cordillera.

Powerful Exhibit in el Museo de Anitoquia, Medellin

In this wall are almost 600,000 faces. Tallies of international organizations say that the forced displacement has affected up to 4,500,000 people. The violence that results from Coca and African Palm plantations is one of the most deadly causes of displacement in Colombia.

I voted,...will you? Go Democrat Virginia!!!!

My ballot arrived in Colombia by way of Mauricio...at which point we had to search all over Medellin for a #2 pencil. I am happy to say my vote should have already arrived in Fairfax County to be included on November 4th! Could this be the first time in 44 years that Virginia voters vote for a Democrat? Let´s sure hope so...

Happier Report from Ecuador

Well, I will admit I was able to find a few nice things to say about Quito. At the end of the day, I rambled into the largest Gothic Cathedral I have ever seen in my life. It was quite beautiful. Then I took myself out for dinner -- splurging on myself I spent $15 on dinner just to make sure that I would fall asleep happily...and the scene in the new town at night was quite fun for dinner and a drink! But I was just as happy to get on a bus this morning and leave the city. Went through a fabulous hail storm where I could see the snow capped peak of Cotapaxi -- the highest in Ecuador -- and arrived in a nice little small town where I will rest my head for the night. I can already tell that my blood pressure has returned to normal!!!

Bicyclists on Sidewalks and other Annoyances of the Ecuadorian Capital

I only arrived in Quito 6 hours ago and I am already ready to face another bus ride just to get out of the Capital city. I am not sure if it is the gray skies and rain that are keeping me from seeing the bright side of this place, but right now I would prefer to be in Tegucigalpa, and that is saying a lot. But...as the eternal optomist I went out in search of something to change my mind. Instead, I found children who wanted to polish my tennis shoes, a piece of cake that was overpriced at $3 and tasted like it was baked a month ago, a grouchy waitress at a cafe specializing in ¨empanadas de platano¨ but didn´t have any to offer and was annoyed with ME at that request, and a bicyclist who thought he owned the sidewalk and only stopped for me when his bike tire was actually touching my leg (And I think he thought I was in HIS way.)

I have heard so many wonderful things about Quito and came here in search of all of them, including that it boasts the largest in-tact historic core of colonial buildings in South America. I will agree that the buildings are beautiful, but I think the Lonely Planet writers got a little romantic over the balconies on the buildings, because, while they are nice to look at, it ends there. Most of the store fronts are crammed with poor quality fast food or boarded up shops. Panama City and Cartagena, Colombia offer equally as beautiful, if not more, historic cores, while on a slightly smaller scale. The thing that Quito has to offer are its plazas, very European, large stone expanses with historic churches and government buildings on all sides. This is a very religious country. There are more churches and monasteries here than I have encountered in other Latin American cities, but with that said, there are much better examples in Europe.

I also respect the fact that there has been some effort to bring modern conveniences to the old town, but the addition of contemporary light posts and kiosks does little to reinvigorate a place. I have met a few public spaces and pedestrian streets today that could be quite beautiful, but the city only added modern light posts, when they would have been much more pleasant spaces with the addition of some green (ie trees, grass, flowers), seating options, etc...so the spaces feel very empty save the beggars and street entertainment.

On two occasions today I entered beatufiul old historic buildings which had open air patios within. In both occasions I noticed people sitting around all edges of the space, so I stopped to see what they were all looking at...but the space held nothing, they were empty patios that had stone floors but lacked any of the traditional elements that make up latin american patios...such as plantings, fountains, statues. bizarre.

Though not a typically negative person, I am a little dumbfounded by this place.

I am going to give the new city a try tonight or tomorrow and hope to have better things to write...but with little expectations, I plan to be on my way out of Quito very soon.

Disclaimer: This speaks nothing about my sentiment for the rest of the country which is beautiful and has treated me very kindly.

Otavalo, Ecuador

I had a beautiful bus ride from the border of Colombia to the town of Otavalo, Ecuador -- home to one of the largest craft markets in South America. Passing through the Northern Andean Highlands is a sight unto itself. This region is full of fertile farm land as you can see in the photo above. As we passed through one town lower in the valley the temperatures picked up a bit, and you can see a line of little boys in the river if you look closely at this photo below. The town of Otavalo itself is unique in that the culture is highly preserved in language and traditional dress. The people are very humble and very kind -- always welcomgin conversation especially if it leads to a sale. Most of the vendors are themseles producing the crafts that they sell -- from jewelry to weavings, bags and blankets. The ponchos typically worn dur to the cold climate in the high sierras are made of alpaca or llama and are warm and cozy.
There is also a lot of great food in town, too -- I´ve enjoyed lots of fresh vegetables and fruits, every meal is served with a fresh fruit salad, last night I had Spinach Lasana and garlic bread. After I made my puchases in the market I sat in a pie shop and had Strawberry pie and a cup of coffee at a great price of $1.70. Can´t beat that. Am trying to contain my purchasing so that I have some money left over when I get to Peru...

Santuario de las Lajas - This Cathedral was built over a River Gorge in Ipiales, Southern Colombia. The original cathedral was begun in the 1700s after a woman passing through the region to visit her family saw an image of the Virgin appear on a stone wall. The church was built around the image to preserve it in its original location.

Medellin, Colombia

With my friend Mauricio at El Peñal, overlooking the hydro-electric lakes of Antioquia, Colombia

Once the drug capital of Colombia, Medellin sure has changed its face and has become an ideal city for urban designers wishing to build their ideas. Purely by chance, my tavel plans took me to the heart of Colombia at the same time my friend Mauricio (we worked together at ZGF, Los Angeles) was to be visiting his hometown for his father´s 80th birthday. I arrived by bus and we met on the side of the highway just outside of Medellin in the town of Rio Negro where his family lives. My bus driver refused to tell me the actual time we would arrive so Mauricio was waiting on teh highway for an hour, concerned that I had missed the stop. What a great opportunity to get together now with my improving spanish. I think it threw Mauricio off a little, because when we were working together I couldn´t speak a lick of the language. It was great to be included in all the family jokes though I had a little trouble with the Paisa accent at times. My first night in Medellin, we went to a family birthday party at the home of his cousin who lives in a 400 yr old Hacienda turned house. Absolutely beautiful home with just as amazing views over Medellin.

Day two was another big family occasion...with a surprise birthday party for Mauricio´s father. We started the morning with a nice breakfast in El Poblado district of downtown, and then went off to explore all the architectural delights of medellin. For a small city, it has invested heavily in public spaces, parks, and architecture (I have noticed this trend throughout Colombia). we started off on the metro line that runs almost the full length of the city, along the river dividing the city into two halves. Then we took the new Cable car up into the hillside to see one of the new libraries. Here is where the urban designers dream comes into play - I felt like i was excperiencing a grad school urban design project come to life in the built world. It was neat, but surely there was some urban renewal necessary to make it come to life. The mixture of parks and transit and libraries all set within an existing framework of a city...it was great!

After the library, we went to the botanical gardens to check out the fabulous Qrquid House and then had to run since we were short on time. That afternoon we went to Mr Ortega´s 80th birthday party which was just as fun as I imagined it would be. We ate at an excellent Argentinian restaurant and I made friends with all of the old men at the table. It was quite a good afternoon and I thinkI was just as entertained by Mauricio´s family as they were by me!!! They were truly wonderful to me and included me in all the family events of the weekend.
On sunday, we went to El Peñal which is a giant rock much like the one you see in images of Rio de Janeiro. We climbed to the top for the obligatory photos, which were quite spectacular! On monday mauricio had to leave for Los Angeles and i was off on another tour of the city by his fabulous tour guide-nephew Sebastian who had a day off from classes at the University. We started the morning visiting the University of Antioquia (the region where Medellin is located). The university has some fabulous graffiti and you could sense the activity in the students there. Afterwards, we went to the museum of Antioquia and the Plaza de Botero. As exhusted as I am of museums, this was probably my favorite thus far. Excellent display of Colombian artists and a very moving exhibition about Displacement which focused on situations around the globe of individuals and groups of people who have been forcefully displaced from their homes by violence. It was a beautiful display of faces, voices, maps, and images of the shared struggle by people in all parts of the world. For Colombians who are experiencing this in their own coutry today, they can see that they are not alone in the struggle for equality and peace.In the afternoon, we had lunch with Mauricio´s brothers and then visited the new public library in downtown as well as the Plaza Cisneros which is a field of vertical light columns. We tasted some traditional Colombian sweets...Minisigui, Pulpo de Tamarindo, Tabla de Coco, and then I had to have Crepes & Waffles one more time before leaving the city. This is a phenomenon in Colombia and perhaps my new favorite restaurant. I just might have to open a franchise if I can´t find work upon returning to the US.

Crepes & Waffles...need I say more?!?

Sadly, I departed Medellin on Tuesday morning heading south for Ecuador. Due to some civil unrest on the Pan American highway where indigenous groups had taken control of the roads, I would have been unable to pass through the country by bus so I left Medellin on a plane to the South of Colombia. My time with Mauricio and his family was one of the best parts of my trip. They were so kind to me and we had such a nice time getting to know one another.

Bogota, Colombia from Cerro Monserrate

La Ciudad Perdida

¨La Chiva¨- almost didn´t make it to the starting gate. Look closely and you can see the axle hanging down from the underside of the truck. We walked the rest of the way to the starting point of the hike.

We passed through some Kogi villages - descendants of the Tayrona people where they still live very quiet humble lives.

My hiking partners...Jeff and Mike from South Africa, Laurent and Samuel from France, Joe, Jerome and myself!!! Here we are at the Fountain of YouthMe and Jerome...We finally made it!!! VICTORY!!!

Its Saturday afternoon as I write from the old city of Cartagena, Colombia four days after returning from a 6 day hike to the Lost City in the Northern Sierra Nevada of Colombia. The ruins of the Pre-Colombian Tayrona people still remain mostly covered in the thick jungle moss of the mountains where they were discovered roughly 20 years ago. There are still few visitors to the site today due to the rough terrain one must surmount over 3 days to reach the Ciudad Perdida. Though archeologists had begun their work excavating the site 15 years ago, the indigenous people that still live in the surrounding area asked that they discontinue their work 5 years ago and return all artifacts to their original locations to preserve their integrity of the civilization and respect the people who are descendants of this lost city.

We started our journey on Oct 2nd...Jerome and I along with another PCV, two guys from South Africa, and 2 guys from France, a guide named Isisdro and his 18 year old daughter who was to cook our meals. We had a rough start when the truck that was taking us to the starting point broke down on the rough mountain roads and the axel literally fell out of the bottom of the truck. Getting a late start, we only hiked 2 hours on the first afternoon. It was in this beginning stage that I wasn´t sure I was going to make it on this journey. We found our first camp just after sundown, had a great meal, a warm beer, and fell asleep in hammocks with mosquito nets. It was the last night of good sleep for the next 5 days. Each day was slightly different...challenging and beautiful in its own way. The first day and half were most difficult for me...hiking uphill for 2 hours at a time in some cases. The second day involved a lot more winding path, up and down less steep slopes, and some beautiful rocky passes, where we were literally climbing through crevasses of beautiful red clay. This would prove to be challenging on the way back because the clay was so slick from the rains each night. The third day was more technical with lots of rock climbing, river crossings, and a final assent of 1600 precarious stone steps to reach the civilization. The day rest at the top proved to be helpful since we would descend from the mountain in only 2 days. We hiked on average 4-6 hours a day, stopping for snacks and a swim in the river at every chance. We got used to wearing wet clothes and hiking boots and lack of proper shower facilities very quickly, but it was all well worth it in the end when we reach the beautiful monument high in the mountains. We had a walking tour with our guide, jumped in the fountain of youth, and were in bed each night by about 8 pm to prepare for the next intense day. it was a great group of people, an excellent workout, and a challenge that I was glad to complete! In the end I felt similar to how I have felt after running a marathon...it was good to be done, but I was glad to have done it!