This is about 10 days late, but I am officially back in NYC. My lovely roommates are allowing me to crash in my old apt for the month of March, but I found my very own 'cozy' one bedroom for an April 1 lease. All grown up and moving upper east baby.
It has definitely been a whirlwind and I feel as if I've entered a whole different, yet very familiar, world. So bear with me as I get used to the crazy city again.
I'm heading down to VA to visit the fam March 12th and I'll be back March 19th. I hope to see everyone soon!
Chau
Monday, March 10, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Galapagos with Mamacita
MamaDeCou and I did up the Galapagos and it was great. We were lucky in almost every way...my fears of a boat of old people for 8 days were not realized. There were 6 of us 26 year olds. There was even another American mother daughter pair of almost our identical ages. Mamacita also had her fair share of 'wiser' folks to hang with. Altogether a fun and interesting group of English, Dutch, Italian, American and Danish. Other than the day we almost lost a Danish girl during a snorkeling outing (no joke), the trip was just fun and easygoing. The crew on the boat were lots of fun and the food was even good. I experienced a couple bouts of seasickness but was able to recover pretty quickly.
We saw lots of pre-historic looking animals that look like direct descendants of dinosaurs. There were sea lions EVERYWHERE...even playing with us as we swam and snorkeled in the crystal clear refreshing water. We had lots of sun and a little bit of rain to cool us off, but I had plenty of sun to work on my tan.
On to the pics...better from the bottom up
The volcano on the way back to Banos
Apparently they developed ETs face from these large land turtles
Mamacita enjoying the Panga ride
Flamingos too...but the marsh was kinda smelly
Our kind of Titanic moment
See I wasn't lying about the gorgeous water...
Sea lions enjoying the view
Yup those are bright blue feet...blue footed booby (no I did not make that name up)
Sea turtles..my favorites!
Happy couple picture
Sea lions showing off
This guy was one of the cooler looking iguanas..there were many to pick from
Frigget bird looking for a ladyfriend
The not very well camoflaged crabs on the islands
La Floreana...the lovely boat we stayed on
We saw lots of pre-historic looking animals that look like direct descendants of dinosaurs. There were sea lions EVERYWHERE...even playing with us as we swam and snorkeled in the crystal clear refreshing water. We had lots of sun and a little bit of rain to cool us off, but I had plenty of sun to work on my tan.
On to the pics...better from the bottom up
The volcano on the way back to Banos
Apparently they developed ETs face from these large land turtles
Mamacita enjoying the Panga ride
Flamingos too...but the marsh was kinda smelly
Our kind of Titanic moment
See I wasn't lying about the gorgeous water...
Sea lions enjoying the view
Yup those are bright blue feet...blue footed booby (no I did not make that name up)
Sea turtles..my favorites!
Happy couple picture
Sea lions showing off
This guy was one of the cooler looking iguanas..there were many to pick from
Frigget bird looking for a ladyfriend
The not very well camoflaged crabs on the islands
La Floreana...the lovely boat we stayed on
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Is it really Feb??
January flew by after a crazy New Years, a few weeks in Colombia and a great 10 days with Sara. Ok - maybe the beach wasn´t so successful but I could have predicted that! Lots of mosquitos and sunburn for Sara...and a scary fish museum!
Below are some pics of New Years, my adventurous trip to Colombia and some more recent pics. Right now South America is in the midst of Carnavale..party party party. In Banos there are lots of people, parades, water balloons, sticky spray. Overall a dangerous time to walk the streets :)
So here are the pics...
Dancing and parading in the streets of Banos during Carnavale
Some sticky spray victims :)
Daytime entertainment during Carnavale in Banos
Beautiful and relaxing thermal springs outside Quito with Sara
Solar clock at a visit to the equator with Sara
Heading back from an amazing day of repelling down waterfall in Banos
Sara and I in our taxi at the beach in Ecuador after an allnight busride
Some of the beautiful landscape on the way back from the Lost City in Colombia
Lovely lodgings :) during the Lost City trek
Trekking across rocks and rivers
The freezing fountain of youth in the Lost City
These steps were all over the Lost City..beautiful but treacherous
Indigenous families we met in the mountains in Colombia
Cooling off in the river
Learning the truly gross ingredients such as gasoline that go into cocaine
First place we stayed overnight during the trek...home of the guide
Midway through Day 1 of the Lost City trek
Driving down into the beach town of Togonga, Colombia...a haven
The walls and canyons of Cartagena, Colombia still protecting the city
Beautiful view of Cotopaxi on the busride from Banos to Quito
Jackie, fellow American, sitting with a couple dolls to be burned at midnight on New Years
New Years in my vampire costume with friends at the bar...yup that´s Elvis
Below are some pics of New Years, my adventurous trip to Colombia and some more recent pics. Right now South America is in the midst of Carnavale..party party party. In Banos there are lots of people, parades, water balloons, sticky spray. Overall a dangerous time to walk the streets :)
So here are the pics...
Dancing and parading in the streets of Banos during Carnavale
Some sticky spray victims :)
Daytime entertainment during Carnavale in Banos
Beautiful and relaxing thermal springs outside Quito with Sara
Solar clock at a visit to the equator with Sara
Heading back from an amazing day of repelling down waterfall in Banos
Sara and I in our taxi at the beach in Ecuador after an allnight busride
Some of the beautiful landscape on the way back from the Lost City in Colombia
Lovely lodgings :) during the Lost City trek
Trekking across rocks and rivers
The freezing fountain of youth in the Lost City
These steps were all over the Lost City..beautiful but treacherous
Indigenous families we met in the mountains in Colombia
Cooling off in the river
Learning the truly gross ingredients such as gasoline that go into cocaine
First place we stayed overnight during the trek...home of the guide
Midway through Day 1 of the Lost City trek
Driving down into the beach town of Togonga, Colombia...a haven
The walls and canyons of Cartagena, Colombia still protecting the city
Beautiful view of Cotopaxi on the busride from Banos to Quito
Jackie, fellow American, sitting with a couple dolls to be burned at midnight on New Years
New Years in my vampire costume with friends at the bar...yup that´s Elvis
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Back in Ecuador
Well I survived the 6 day trek to the lost city in Colombia with about 100 bug bites and a sinus infection. I was the only one of 10 people who didn´t have stomach problems from the water..so I consider myself very lucky. The trek was pretty much uphill and through rivers the whole time, so very intense and very beautiful and very hot. We slept in hammocks with wool smelly blankets in COLD temperatures every night. A few days relaxing on the beach were very much needed and now I´m back in Quito with Sara, who I very conveniently found in customs. So now we are hanging out in Quito waiting to take a night bus to the coast to spend a couple more days at the beach, per her request even though she doesn´t like to sunbathe and is afraid of fish. Go figure.
Just wanted to let everyone know I survived Colombia pretty much unscathed. It´s great to have Sara here visiting to give me a taste of home. We´ll be heading to Banos to party with my friends here in Ecuador for a few days this week. I think she´s excited to get out of the city tonight after being chased around Quito today by a man saying dirty things :) A very nice welcome I thought..ha.
Happy birthday Dom!!
Just wanted to let everyone know I survived Colombia pretty much unscathed. It´s great to have Sara here visiting to give me a taste of home. We´ll be heading to Banos to party with my friends here in Ecuador for a few days this week. I think she´s excited to get out of the city tonight after being chased around Quito today by a man saying dirty things :) A very nice welcome I thought..ha.
Happy birthday Dom!!
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Happy New Year!
I can't believe it's January! New Year's here in Ecuador is actually more like the equivalent of Halloween back home except a bit more extreme. Everyone gets dressed up in costumes. There are lots of typical costumes that we would see in the states like goblins and gory stuff but it's also traditional for the men to dress like women..and they go all out! Lots of miniskirts and makeup and wigs. Those who don't get dressed up get pestered for money all day...literally men dressed as women and kids dressed up as goblins block the streets and stop cars for change. They also make dolls of themselves for the Año Viejo (Old Year) and burn them in the streets at midnight...Año Nuevo (New Year)- not quite as romantic as the kissing in the states but definitely interesting. There were also lots of fireworks and then fiesta of course. I dressed up as a vampire and have lots of fun pics that I need to post at some point.
But today I am heading to Colombia for a couple weeks to check out the northern coast. I´m going to the cities of Cartagena, Santa Marta and then hiking to Ciudad Perdida (the lost city). I´m psyched for some new travels although of course I am sick for the first time and am afraid my head may explode on the plane :)
When I get back to Ecuador on January 19th Sara will be here to greet me!! Very excited for a visitor. We´re heading to the beach, then to my fave town of Baños and finally some sightseeing in Quito and around the equator.
I hope everyone had an awesome New Years!
But today I am heading to Colombia for a couple weeks to check out the northern coast. I´m going to the cities of Cartagena, Santa Marta and then hiking to Ciudad Perdida (the lost city). I´m psyched for some new travels although of course I am sick for the first time and am afraid my head may explode on the plane :)
When I get back to Ecuador on January 19th Sara will be here to greet me!! Very excited for a visitor. We´re heading to the beach, then to my fave town of Baños and finally some sightseeing in Quito and around the equator.
I hope everyone had an awesome New Years!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Finally more pics!
The pictures below..in no particular order...are of various events over the past 2 weeks. The Fiestas de Baños are the first 2 weeks in December. Complete with parades, concerts, motocross, car racing etc. I also went flying up in the mountains and took some day trips of my own, hiking and visiting markets. Enjoy!
Watching and dodging as the cars come flying down the hill
Wooden car race...one of the more popular and dangerous events of the fiesta
Flying
Para-penting..or flying up in the mountains outside Baños
Locals having some fun with the bulls or vice versa?? during the Fiestas de Baños
The motocross competition in Baños
Having some fun on the hike down to Quilotoa
Danny and Henry testing out the merchandise at the market
Dancers in the parade
Quilotoa
We stopped at a market on the way to Quilotoa
Volcanic activity during a day hike
Watching and dodging as the cars come flying down the hill
Wooden car race...one of the more popular and dangerous events of the fiesta
Flying
Para-penting..or flying up in the mountains outside Baños
Locals having some fun with the bulls or vice versa?? during the Fiestas de Baños
The motocross competition in Baños
Having some fun on the hike down to Quilotoa
Danny and Henry testing out the merchandise at the market
Dancers in the parade
Quilotoa
We stopped at a market on the way to Quilotoa
Volcanic activity during a day hike
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Volcanic Activity
Baños is basically a city in the valley of mountains and one HUGE volcano. Normally the tourist agencies scam tourists into a $3 ride up to see the volcano and tell them they might see some activity but they never do. Of course I never fell for this thanks to my guide buddies :) But as of the past couple of weeks it is not scam. The volcano has been smoking all day and at night you can see rocks spouting out and lava running down the side of the volcano. My expensive camera takes crappy night pictures so I haven't captured it very well. Apparently the vibrations we feel aren't anything to be too concerned about and there hasn't been a big blow that destroyed the town in I think over 50 years...but I'll keep you posted :)
In addition to exciting volcanic activity, I took a daytrip to Quilotoa. Quilotoa is a beautiful lake in a huge crater. Interesting cultural twist here in Ecuador in that my friend told me we could 'rent' his uncle's car for the day. I thought that was odd enough that we would have to rent it but whatever. Then it turns out the day of his uncle actually drove us the whole way and waited for us to hike around to drive us back. So we basically paid his uncle to drive us...I don't know I thought it was a little strange. But it was fun. We packed into a double cabbed truck, 6 of us with the uncle. We made stops along the way to eat (I had a not so enjoyable time with a local soup) and at markets filled with animals and beautiful artwork. I bought a gorgeous blanket. When we finally made it to Quilotoa the hike down was a breeze and the other girl on the trip (sister of friend) was worried about the hike back up. Turned out rightly so. It was a very sandy hike down and we took a lot of time taking fun pictures. The hour hike up was painful! I consider myself to be a pretty active person and I was struggling bigtime. Not that the altitude or the fact that I couldn't stomach the animal blood soup for breakfast helped. I thought I might die of peumonia when I did get to the top because it was pretty rainy and cold and I was soaked but also sweating from the climb. Not to worry - I survived with my health intact :)
That night I headed on my own to Quito to renew my VISA the following morning with the head of my volunteer program. It went relatively smoothly, although for reasons unbeknownst to me they had my incorrect birthdate in the system and had that I was married. Go figure. The most interesting part of that day was my trips around to various travel agencies to try to get info on a trip to the Galapagos with the fam in February. Some told me they had no info for Feb yet, others that I better book right away because everything was getting sold out. But my favorite agent was a woman I spent about 30 minutes with as she made calls to all sorts of boats to try to find me something. At the end of our time, she had written lots of prices and boats down on a piece of paper for me. Her name was at the bottom, Deysi Duque...haha. I mean, people here in Ecuador are naming their kids after Daisy Duke? Is that her real name? Who knows, but I definitely got a kick out of that one.
This post is getting really long but there are a couple of other things to note. The fiestas of Baños began last Saturday with a huge parade through the streets. They build incredible floats and all the schools from surrounding areas participate with dancers and music. People of all ages get dressed up in costumes and dance - really beautiful costumes and some more cute/sexy stuff. There are also queens from the various cities..beauty queens. The parade lasted for about 4 hours...with people doling out water to the exhausted dancers along the way.
And lastly, on Monday I went on a great hike in the mountains here in Baños to get a better view of the volcano and to walk through the mountains. We hiked up about an hour and then across the mountains and down. Overall a total of 6 hours of walking. The views were incredible and I also found a gorgeous little puppy near a house that I wanted to steal but refrained :) Of course before we hiked back down the other side of the city, the guys I was with realized that their friend lived somewhere in a house near where we were...no road signs of course. They just started yelling his name until someone answered. But alas, he was not home. On our hike down, ash from the volcano was blowing like crazy and we were covered in it by the time we got down.
Ok ok I know you want pics...but the internet is not cooperating at this moment. I'll keep trying!!
In addition to exciting volcanic activity, I took a daytrip to Quilotoa. Quilotoa is a beautiful lake in a huge crater. Interesting cultural twist here in Ecuador in that my friend told me we could 'rent' his uncle's car for the day. I thought that was odd enough that we would have to rent it but whatever. Then it turns out the day of his uncle actually drove us the whole way and waited for us to hike around to drive us back. So we basically paid his uncle to drive us...I don't know I thought it was a little strange. But it was fun. We packed into a double cabbed truck, 6 of us with the uncle. We made stops along the way to eat (I had a not so enjoyable time with a local soup) and at markets filled with animals and beautiful artwork. I bought a gorgeous blanket. When we finally made it to Quilotoa the hike down was a breeze and the other girl on the trip (sister of friend) was worried about the hike back up. Turned out rightly so. It was a very sandy hike down and we took a lot of time taking fun pictures. The hour hike up was painful! I consider myself to be a pretty active person and I was struggling bigtime. Not that the altitude or the fact that I couldn't stomach the animal blood soup for breakfast helped. I thought I might die of peumonia when I did get to the top because it was pretty rainy and cold and I was soaked but also sweating from the climb. Not to worry - I survived with my health intact :)
That night I headed on my own to Quito to renew my VISA the following morning with the head of my volunteer program. It went relatively smoothly, although for reasons unbeknownst to me they had my incorrect birthdate in the system and had that I was married. Go figure. The most interesting part of that day was my trips around to various travel agencies to try to get info on a trip to the Galapagos with the fam in February. Some told me they had no info for Feb yet, others that I better book right away because everything was getting sold out. But my favorite agent was a woman I spent about 30 minutes with as she made calls to all sorts of boats to try to find me something. At the end of our time, she had written lots of prices and boats down on a piece of paper for me. Her name was at the bottom, Deysi Duque...haha. I mean, people here in Ecuador are naming their kids after Daisy Duke? Is that her real name? Who knows, but I definitely got a kick out of that one.
This post is getting really long but there are a couple of other things to note. The fiestas of Baños began last Saturday with a huge parade through the streets. They build incredible floats and all the schools from surrounding areas participate with dancers and music. People of all ages get dressed up in costumes and dance - really beautiful costumes and some more cute/sexy stuff. There are also queens from the various cities..beauty queens. The parade lasted for about 4 hours...with people doling out water to the exhausted dancers along the way.
And lastly, on Monday I went on a great hike in the mountains here in Baños to get a better view of the volcano and to walk through the mountains. We hiked up about an hour and then across the mountains and down. Overall a total of 6 hours of walking. The views were incredible and I also found a gorgeous little puppy near a house that I wanted to steal but refrained :) Of course before we hiked back down the other side of the city, the guys I was with realized that their friend lived somewhere in a house near where we were...no road signs of course. They just started yelling his name until someone answered. But alas, he was not home. On our hike down, ash from the volcano was blowing like crazy and we were covered in it by the time we got down.
Ok ok I know you want pics...but the internet is not cooperating at this moment. I'll keep trying!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
