Happy Thanksgiving

And another Thanksgiving has come to a close. There is never enough time for all of the speed scrabble, wiffle ball, frisbee golf, walks along the river, and cooking of great meals that is needed...

Home

I just got home from a two week jaunt up North on the Ridge, and just wanted to share some photos of the Fall.

And... we're... back.

We're finally back from South America, and are enjoying the food up here again. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Christy for taking our sorry asses down here to Santa Cruz from the City. Here, here to zip car (and finding the overdrive button halfway down 280). We're excited to get back into the swing of things again and to see all of your lovely faces. Kate started school today, and I official end mine with the submittal of my thesis (please let the margins be correct this time). It was a great trip, but we're glad to be home (the new bathroom that was installed while we were gone helps).

Quito and Out

Welcome to the Jungal

And yes I know that ¨Jungle¨is misspelled, although someone should mention that to the ¨Jungal Tours¨outfit that we came across in Quito. So we´ve survived the Jungle having braved Caiman Crocs, frogs that could kill you within 24 hours just for kissing them, red and white pyrahanas, a tarantula that guarded our dinner table, and two giant spiders that made sure that no butterfies disturbed our beauty sleep. From Mindo we took a 2.5 hour bus to Quito, then a 9 hour bus to Lago Agrio (Neuve Loja if you work for the oil industry), a 3 hour truck ride into the jungle and finally a 2 hour boat ride through the swollen rivers to our lodge on one of the many temporary lakes in the Cuyabeno reserve. Our lodgings were of course basic, but the ambience and sounds made those silly ¨rainforest¨audio tapes sound like... well... silly. The birds and insects were amazing, and the monkeys that we saw everyday were furry and monkey-like. Our first night was spent swimming in the lake with the sunset as a backdrop. The next day was taken up with a long walk through the jungle, listening to our Death Metal Ecuadorian guide enthuse about the medical properties of all the trees that he was hacking with his machete. After surviving the mud pit that our guide tried to get us stuck in (hey he needs some entertainment too I guess), we motored over to a river to do some pyrahana fishing. Alas, Kate and I didn´t get any fish but Kate got some bites on her hunks of steak that we were using for bait. Luckily we had a Dutch couple with us who were real fishermen and we were able to check out there toothy catches (although when Hans dropped one in the small boat things got a little tense- those things are FAST). The next day was filled with a visit to a nearby Shaman where our guide wouldn´t stop talking about his ¨flying¨experience using some of the Shaman´s local plant life, and ended with a peaceful sunset over one of the other nearby lakes. Later that night we visited the nightlife of Cuyabeno, and shared some laughs with the local wolf spiders, cicada´s, giant ant colonies, and countless other bugs straight out of an 80´s horror flick. On the last day we woke up at the butt crack of dawn for some bird watching from a paddle raft. It was a beautiful sunrise through the fog on the lake, as we winded through meandering waterways. And then... we did all of those bus rides in reverse, and are now back in Quito getting ready to head out to Otovalo, home of the expensive trinkets. Hope everyone is well, and we´ll see you soon.

Mindo

Just got back from Mindo, and about to jump on a bus to the jungle where Kate´s hoping to have Monkeys playing with her hair. Mindo was great. It´s a sleepy little town deep in a valley surrounded by hills of cloud forest. We did a 5 hour hike to the various waterfalls around the area and generally had a great time.

Mountains, donkeys, and waves

Ah Ecuador, where the buses pass the cars, motorcycles carry no less than four people each, and the lines in the road are more like ¨guidelines¨ than actual demarcations of fact. We´ve finally made it to the coast, and are in fact getting ready to take an overnight bus back up the hill to the highlands in the middle of the country.

From Cuenca we moved on South to the town of Vilcabamba. We splurged and stayed in a cabaña with a private deck and hammock, and a view of the surrounding hills. It was a tranquil place with the ever present dogs in the streets, friendly people, and donkeys that will bray you to sleep in the night. Shawn was unfortunately turned inside out by something that he ate and left Kate to do the hiking for the first full day that we were there. On the second day Kate got Shawn off of his death bed for a ¨short¨ five hour hike up to a viewpoint that allowed us 360 views of the surroundings.
At the top we opted for the adventurous ¨that looks like a shorter route¨ way, and navigated a knife ridge, and steep descent down to a dry a river bed where Kate was spooked by the sprinting donkey we encountered.
From Vilcabamba we took the hottest - why do Ecuadorians not need air? - overnight bus ride we ever thought humanely possible to Guyaquil. For some reason the bus did not stop at the main terminal, but decided to drop us off near an empty soccer field 1/4 mile away at 6am.
Things always work out though, and a few minutes later we were on a local bus to Mantañita, the surfing capital of Ecuador. Mantañita is something that you would find in Disneyland under a sign that said something like Ëcuador Land¨. It was definitely a surfer´s party town as our little bungalow was bombarded by thumping base (a different song from each cardinal direction). We tried our hand at surfing the mess that was the beach break (the famous point break is really only for short boarders) and Shawn surfed a locally made balsa board. The music and hemp bracelts were really all too much though, and after 2 days we headed north to Puerto Lopez which is much more our speed.

Puerto Lopez is famous for whale watching tours, but instead we opted for relaxing in our bungalow on stilts, runs on the beach, body surfing in the ocean, and petting the great dane called Scooby Doo that guards our bungalow. Off to the cloud forrest in Mindo and then the jungle!!

Closed roads and Cathedrals

Everyone must go to Baños. We enjoyed every second of our 3 days there and had marvelous adventures hiking, biking, and soaking hours away in the springs. On our last day we rented mountain bikes for a 4 hour excursion downhill towards the jungle. Along the way we passed some 20+ waterfalls, botanical gardens, and lush greenery everywhere.
We seemed to plan it just perfectly, and as the rain rolled in we found an empty, tin covered fruit stand and hailed a bus back to Baños. In town we lounged in the Casa Hood Cafe for 3 hours with nachos before gorging ourselves over an Argentinian grilled meat sampler plate (think sausage, pork, chicken, and beaf!) It was extremely hard to leave the hot mineral baths, but we tore ourselves away after one last soak for a 7 hour bus ride to Cuenca. Thanks to a mudslide and ensuing traffic jam the 7 hours turned into 11. With sore butts in tow we dragged ourselves to a hostel and passed out. In the morning light we realized the hostel was really a decaying, sloping building with disgusting bathrooms and electric green walls.
For $2 more we moved 12 rungs up the accomodation ladder to a different hotel and scored a 3rd story, sparkling clean room with private bath and views over the Saturday flower market. Today is Sunday, my favorite day in South America, when all the locals come out in their traditional best for church and slow walks around the city with family. Cuenca is lovely with cobbled streets, churchs on nearly every corner, clean sidewalks, parks, rivers, and a slow, relaxed nature. Tomorrow we head south to the mountain town of Vilcabamba for a few days of hiking and relaxation. Loving life.

Baños

Kate and I are now luxuriating in the town of Baños, where the baths are hot and the dogs are friendly (they´ll literally follow you around and be your buddy all day). The food is suprisingly good here as well. I´m still getting used to the prices, but Kate has no problem saying a restuarant is ¨too expensive¨ if the meal is over $5. We´re staying in a great place named Plantos y Blancos, and our third story window looks out on the town cathedral and a nearby waterfall that falls into the hot spring pools that Banos is famous for (one pool is around 72 while the other is claimed to be 117).
We attended said pools this morning, and I´ve sworn to do it every morning we´re here. We also hiked up the Volcano just above the city today, and I could swear that I could hear some rumbling up there. The volcano has actually been active since around 2001, and we´ve been told that the city has a fabulous evacuation plan where everyone will peacefully ¨walk¨ to the nearby bridge that crosses the local river and calmly walk up the other side while the volcano erupts behind them.
Here´s to hoping we don´t have to see this in action.
The high country was great (aside from the case of Atahualpa´s revenge that I endured for a couple of days). The crater lake (the result of a volcano going pop) was beautiful and the local native people were great. When we get home remind us to tell you about the bus ride...
p.s. I guess that they don´t celebrate 4.20 down here exactly the same way, since when Kate commented on this man´s 420 shirt he turned beet red.

Ecuador

So I finally made it down here to Ecuador to Kate´s smiling face. The plane ride was one of the more beautiful trips that I´ve had, looking down on slot canyon complexes in Arizona, passing above massive thunderstorms, and experiencing a sunset that made everything a bit more peaceful.
Quito is quite the city, with an old town full of cathedrals and colonial buildings, and a new town with discotecs, bars, and posh hotels. We stayed in the ¨Magic Bean¨ hosteria, where the sleep was hard to come by for me due to the elevation (it´s the second highest capitol, next to Bolivia´s La Paz) and the discotec next door. The food was good though. I´ve found that Ecuadorians love their fresh juice and tea with breakfast. After a couple of days we escaped Quito and hopped on a bus South towards the Cotopaxi National Park.
I´m a lucky man to have Kate, her Spanish is light years beyond my Spanglish, and she´s been able to navigate us without any hiccups so far. Right now we´re in a farm turned hosteria named Papagayo, with some of the best chocolate cake in South America.

Today we traveled up to Cotopaxi to see what we could see. The ride up there was long and grueiling since we happened to arrive just after half of the school children in Ecuador, and thus had the pleasure of eating the dust of 8 or 9 school buses (mmmm volcanic dust). At long last we made it up there and were presented with one of the most beautiful volcanos in the world.
Kate and I hiked up to around 4800 meters before turning around at the sound of thunder. Tomorrow we´re heading off to South America´s Crater Lake (Quilotoa) for a couple of days.

ciao Peru

Good times in Peru the last few weeks......

After Machu Piccu I splurged and flew to Lima (thus avoiding the insane 22 hour bus), bargained hard for a taxi and made my way to the bus terminal for an overnight bus to Huaraz. Peruvian long haul buses are surprisingly comfy with semi beds, blankets, pillows, dubbed movies and food. That said, it is a bus driving too fast often on poorly maintained roads with music blasting hearly 24 hours a day. I am always thankful to arrive safely.
Huaraz sits smack dab in the Cordillera Blanca surrounded by immense, Himalayan like peaks. I was in heaven. After 2 days of day hiking I started on a 4-day trek called oddly enough, the Santa Cruz trek. It was a proper trek since all I had to do was walk with a day pack and the mules and guides did everything else. What luxury! The scenery was fantastic (deep valleys, snow covered peaks, glaciers, glacial lakes) and I quickly bonded with 3 hillarious british travelers.
After the trek I went ice climbing for a day on a nearby glacier and quickly realized climbing at 15,000 feet has its challenges.
Persuaded by my new friends, I next headed to Trujillo and the coastal town of Huanchaco to see the famous ruins of Chan Chan and a few pyramids. It was here in Huanchaco that the whole room started swaying and I learned a few hours later of the terrible earthquake. Parting ways with the british accents and slang I headed north to Mancora for 4 glorious days seaside. Those 4 days were filled with lying in the hammock, reading on the beach, surfing small waves (while showing the locals that girls can surf!), eating seafood two times a day and drinking local beer with 3 wild Irish girls and the local surfer scence. One wild, somewhat dangerous border crossing later (and 12 hours in a hot, hot bus) I arrived in Quito. On the bus I met Julia, a sweet Peruvian girl on vaca, and we spent the next day walking around Quito speaking only in Spanish. It was my first day speaking all in Spanish and I loved it! At night I went to the airport and, like a kid at xmas, waited for Shawn. The arrival was thrilling and we spent yesterday exploring Qutio and roughly planning the next month. Today we are off to the volcano Cotopaxi for a few days of hiking.

It really is impossible to record even 1/10 of my experiences here, so here is a very short list of memorable Peruvian occurances...
1. People sell EVERYTHING, I mean everything (food, shoes, belts, insoles, back rests, socks, air freasheners, cord, napkins, etc) on the street. My favorite.... a scale where you pay to find out your weight.
2. There is someone at every corner yelling - llamada, llamada, llamada = phone call, phone call, phone call. Many people have cell phones in Peru, but they often can only accept calls, so people who can make calls out sell minutes on their phones (which are attached to them via a long chain which it very easy to trip over if you are not looking down)
3. Children street performers rush out at red lights and perform all manners of entertainment for money. Standing backflips are the best.
4. In each region the women have different traditional dress and hats that range from tall white mad hatter styles to brown bowlers to those ornately decorated with feathers. I wish I could pull that off in the USA.
5. They put papas frittas, aka french fries, in (not beside) everything. And rice comes with every meal.
6. Blond hair attracts attention.

Hello Ecuador.

I'm outa here...

I've finally finished the Master's degree and now I'm off to embrace my lovely girlfriend in the Quito airport. I hope that everyone has a great month.
cheers
Shawn

Safe

Just a quick post to let you all know that I am 100% safe after the big terramotto down here. I am now way far north in the resort surfing town of Mancora near the Ecuador border. Last night I was in the town of Huanchaco when the eq hit and for10 seconds the whole room swayed - it felt like I was on a big ship at sea. Crazy. My thoughts go to those affected down south.

¡Buenas Dias!

I have just had the best shower of my life and the usual, very boring, breakfast of bread, butter, jam, and tea. Yesterday I went to Machu Piccu and had a marvelous day. I awoke at 5 am and walked through the dark streets of Agus Calientes to the bus up to the ruins. Along the way I walked through the fruit and vegetable market busy with locals taking down blue tarps opening up shop and past a Peruvian man whom I had met on the train the night before. Upon eye contact he happily shouted CALIFORNIA!, most likely waking up everyone in a 3 block radius. It came as no surprise that although I was early for the bus there were already 50 people in line. Machu Piccu sure is famous. Luckily they have the whole system dialed and 30 minutes later I was watching the sunrise over the ruins. I have to say that even though I have seen 100s of pictures of the ruins before, shelled out quite a bit of money to get there, and was not alone, the site before me was still powerfully breath taking. After watching the sun rise and the fog roll in and around the ruins for a while I hiked up Wanu Piccu (that famous tall mountain next to the ruins) for an even better view of the ridge Machu Piccu so desperately clings to. It was easy to spend hours walking around the ruins and I passed out in an Incan terrace in the warm sun for awhile before heading back down to the train. On the train I treated myself to a Milky Way and a much needed 2 hour nap. In a few hours I will be on a plane to Lima, then a bus north to Huaraz to start a backpack in the Cordillera Blanca. Cheers to big mountains, ancient cultures, warm showers, and friendly faces. Did you know one of the national food specialities is guinea pig?

Estoy en Cuzco!

¡Hola mis amigos!

I am now in Cuzco, a beautiful colonial city situated at 10,500 feet in Southern Peru. I was more than happy to leave Lima, a city of 10 million people with nothing to do, on Saturday and took an overnight bus to Cuzco. Everyone I have met took the plane (1 hour flight) to Cuzco, but I thought since I had the time I would take the scenic bus. The 22 hour journey was more than memorable and I am now a master at peeing standing up on a slippery floor (it was water on the floor, right?) going around sharp corners. Ahhhh the joys of traveling. Anyways, now I am settled in Cuzso at Amauta Spanish school and have been taking 4 hours of Spanish classes everyday. There are lots of other students here (strangely mostly Dutch) and I have been going on lots of long walks. Cuzco reminds me a lot of Italy with its cobbled streets, red roofs, and narrow pedestrian streets. Next week I am going to take classes (and live) in a small town called Tarray, which is about an hour from Cuzco. I am looking forward to being in a more local, rural town and getting out on some hikes.

Lastly, if you are ever in Cuzco DO NOT eat the lasagna at the restaurant Kindergarten unless you want 24 hours of constant diarrehea and vomiting. Thank goodness my room is right across from the bathroom!

Much love,
Adios,
Kate

Tetons

Hey Everyone,
Since this wasn't the first trip that we've been on this summer, and I'm sitting at home while Kate gets to travel, I decided that I would show you some of the pictures from our trip to Jackson Hole. We began our trip by driving through the hot central valley, and pushing through the deserts known as 'Nevadaandutah' during the night. We ended up driving until 5am the next morning where we promptly collapsed from exhaustion near the Utah/Wyoming border. Upon finally reaching Jackson the next day, we met up with our fabulous host Christina in her amazing condo. After wandering around Jackson during the first day we were itching to get up into the mountains, so Kate called her friend Tom and we wandered up to Death Canyon for a day hike. Little did I know it, but we would be taking these "hikes" everyday for the first 5 days that we were in Jackson. This high altitude conditioning continued with a 3 day backpacking trip into the Teton's from the Westside of the park in the Targhee National forest. Neither Kate, Christina, nor I had been over on 'the other side' before, and it turned out to be amazingly different. The forest felt more lush and green and the valleys and hillsides followed the gradient of the uplifted rock layers rather than the steep canyons and cliffs of the East side. The first day we backpacked for 7 miles up a valley into an area called Alaska Basin that boasts lakes, streams, beautiful views, and of course mosquitos (I think that this last aspect is the main reason for the name).
I tried my hand at fly fishing up there, and although the fish were literally jumping out of the lake into the air, the comedy of errors that I call fishing had me looking into the lake for the pieces of my rod that had fallen off more often than not. At least it was beautiful...


The next day Kate and I took off for a day hike to see what we could see, and 3 miles later we ended up on a pass, looking at the Tetons from the backside (scandalous, I know).
And then, after another failed fishing attempt the second night, I was actually able to land one early the third morning. Of course neither Kate nor Christina were on hand to backup my victorious moment. I swear it was "THIS BIG"...
Later in the morning, Christina was also able to snag one and we decided to call the fishing trip succesful (don't worry, no fish were harmed in this little exercise). The hike back down was as beautiful as the hike up, as we followed one of the rocky shelves that bordered the valley down to the car.
For the 4th of July, we car camped on a bluff overlooking the Tetons and the town of Jackson with Tom and some of his friends. We had a great show from both the fireworks over Jackson, and the amazing sunset that mother nature put on:

Later that week, we were lucky enough to get on the Snake river for some kayaking. It's a great river, with some nice and fluffy wavetrains, a couple of nice jumping rocks, and some of the largest bald eagles that I've ever seen.
As thanks for her hospitality, Kate and I decided to cook Christina and her friends and family a nice big BBQ later that week, and although them were some good eats, we can't thank her enough.
After that we spent our time with Christina's extended family, crushing the oposition at wiffle ball, roasting some amazing smores (complete with melted chocolate), and doing one last hike up the Snow King hill behind Christina's house. All and all, I wish I had it to do all over again...
-shawn