So where to begin. Eduardo and my goal was to head to Venezuela to get some rafting. Our location; Merida. We hopped on a bus headed to Caracas with a stop off for us in Maracaibo. Unfortunately they forgot to let us know we were in Maracaibo and dropped us off on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere at 2 a.m. A local walked up to us and simply said, ¨what in god´s name are you doing here at this time, you should not be here!¨ We did eventually find a ride to Merida but our first experience in Venezuela was... sketchy to say the least.
When we made it to Merida it was a nice university town but noticeably being run to the shits. This can be accredited to the help from their leader and president, Hugo Chavez. Later we found out the water level was too low to raft and the largest Tran in the world found in Merida was out of service. I also got a bug of some kind and was sick off and on every day. Our time was spent on the hot springs on day and a lot of our own walking tours of the city. To make a long story short, I did not enjoy the country and found it very dangerous but it was nice to explore the unknown and now I know. The only plus was that the women were gorgeous and it is easy to see why so many Miss. Universes come from Venezuela.
After a hellish border crossing it was nice to be back in Colombia where everything is easier. We took a bus to Bogota where we ran into Mark from England whom we met earlier in Taganga and Carnival. Bogota has been my favorite major city thus far. Our hostel was set in between two universities with cobble-stoned roads and very funky pubs. The highlight in Bogota were going to a semi-pro futbol (soccer) match, taking a cable car to the top of the city, and being in a Colombian soap-opera. The soap opera was shot in the restaurant at the nicest hotel in the city. I was approached on the street and went the next morning. Full wardrobe and makeup. At the beginning of every scene the camera rolled across me to the main table with me talking to a woman in the background. I walked out with $80,000 pesos as well. $50 is not bad for 4 hours work. Another day of walking around we found ourselves in the house of Simon Bolivar. Very famous in Venezuela, Colombia, and Bolivia where the country was named after him.
After Bogota the three of us headed to Cali which is notorious in Colombia for the most beautiful women. We stayed in a neat hostel owned by a futbol addicted Englishman. A couple days of partying and then we set out for Ecuador with a quick stop off at the border. This was unlike any other border as it came with a church set in a valley over a river. What a gorgeous stop-off before our next bus ride.
Eventually when we made it to Quito we all went out for our last night before my Mom and Perry would arrive and Marc and Eduardo would depart. It was a great month and it´s great knowing I have a place in Sao Paulo, Brazil for the rest of my life, as well as a great friend.
When my mom and Perry arrived we headed to Galapagos Islands the next morning. We were staying in the main city but it was small and had a certain class to it. We checked into the Red Mangrove Inn which also came with free bicycles too fart around all day. The first day we went to a nearby beach which was more-like flour than sand. Waiting on this deserted beach were metre-long land iguanas and sea lions. We spent the day body-surfing and taking in some sun. The next day we did the same but rented some surf boards. After a rather disappointing day of surfing due to the sets ceasing to let up even once to paddle out, we found our out of surf-shape selves hiking up the beach to a lagoon to snorkel.
The following day we went diving which turned out to probably be the best day of diving in my life. Our our first drop we were greeted by a sea lion looking to play around with us. Truly an acrobat of the ocean. That dive we say families of Manta-Rays, Sting-Rays, Turtles, Black and white tip reef sharks, eels. Everything! We spent our surface interval snorkeling with sharks and turtles and then ate lunch. Our next dive included over 200 sea lions which was said to be the best dive ever from a woman having over 250 dives under her belt. We also swam into a cave full of sleeping White-Tip reef sharks. What a day!
The next day we took a taxi that brought us to a tortoise farm with hundreds looming about in the forest. For most the day was spent by the entrance where a bunch sat for attention. We went on a hike thick through the bus searching to this giants crushing their own trails. Some we found were as big as a small pool table. We also went to the Charles Darwin Research Centre on our bikes that day. With our time on Galapagos dwindling we had a night of sushi at the hotel and then flew back to Quito for the night.
With little time to rest we took a plane the next day which turned into 3 to a mud airstrip in the middle of nowhere. This nowhere was on the Ecuador/Peru border on the Pastaza river at an Eco-lodge. The first night there we went for a night-hike seeing tarantulas, snakes, and conga ants that can kill the average person with one bite. The next morning we woke for bird watching up the river and then kayaking later. Perry and I hopped out and swam half the way back only to be informed by our guide the river translates to Piranha River. Yes we were swimming in Piranha river in the middle of the Amazon. No bites however but we could definitely feel them around our feet. The next day we went for another hike and then fishing for our dinner. Dinner came up rather small but Perry caught a piranha and still has the jaw of it, including its razor-sharp teeth. Other days we went Cayman hunting in the night, learned how to fire a blow gun, and visited a village. Visiting the village was very interesting and the rituals and ways of life were as expected but still rather strange. Eventually after English-Spanish-Native translations our conversations ceased and the master of the house played a song on his guitar for us. After which he informed us that in ten minutes time we had to present something to him. This caught us a little off guard and the minutes were spent looking at the native good where I bought a spear. With one minute before our presentation we came up with the 7 of us singing, ¨for he´s a jolly good fellow.¨ Worth quite a laugh when we´ll look back on it further down the road. After a full week and a half and a very delayed plane and car ride we made it back to Quito where my mom and Perry left the next day and Adam, my friend from Niagara arrived an hour later.
I apologize for how general my descriptions are but I have done so much since and even remembering the fine details proved to be a task. I´ll write in the next couple days to get everyone up to par on where I am now. Take care!
Soutern Costa Carribean Side
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9629&id=1650960019&l=367523bf5f
Lunas Castle & Casco Viejo
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9676&id=1650960019&l=108fc0066c
Cartagena, Colombia
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9677&id=1650960019&l=dbbcc8640b
Planting Flags in Tagonga
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10592&id=1650960019&l=4cdcb06b18
Barranquilla Carnival
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10713&id=1650960019&l=2ccd7035a1
Venezuala & Bogota
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10719&id=1650960019&l=6a44cca8f0
Galapagos Islands
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12625&id=1650960019&l=79c0fe7023
Dive Galapagos
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12638&id=1650960019&l=ee0a04be2b
Kapawi Eco-Lodge
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12629&id=1650960019&l=77308be078
