Playas Trip

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!! It could be my imagination, or just wishful thinking, but it feels like it has been cooling off a bit. The mornings, at the very least are much more cool. We now have a little over 20 days left of school left. I think about the summer trip a lot. I can't wait to get out and about and explore some new places and countries. Most of all, I can't wait to do some good hiking. Lately, I've been hitting the gym pretty hard. Combine that with paddle tennis on Tuesdays, sports night on Thursdays, and staying active in general, I feel like I am in pretty good shape. This past Thursday, we skipped sports night. Instead, the guys took a trip to the beach right after school. We left at 3:00, got to the beach and caught a few waves, ate some empanadas, drank a few beers and headed home the same night. Believe it or not, it was the first time that I've gotten in the ocean in Ecuador. I'm not too much of a beach person, but it was great to be there (especially in the middle of the week). It was pretty surreal working and going to the beach in the same day. Here are a few pictures of the trip:

Surf's up!

Chillin' on the beach.

Sunsetting . . . time for some empanadas.

Do we have to go home???

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Mountain Fun/Time Coming to an End

All good things must come to an end, right? Why is that? It doesn't really seem quite fair. I've been really fortunate to meet some really cool people who enjoy the same things that I do. I've made friends with whom I'm able to be myself. Personally, I think that is pretty rare but maybe that has something to do with my personality. At this point, we have exactly five weeks before some of these great friends move on to new adventures. At the end of the school year, Dave and Danielle go back to the states for a short time before heading to their new post of Vietnam. I'm really excited for them and the awesome opportunity. Selfishly, I'm bummed that they are leaving. Steve and Jean are also leaving to go back to New Zealand after many years overseas. Again, I'm really excited for them but sad to see them go. Now we just have to enjoy the time that we have left. Live and enjoy every moment . . . that's what life should be like anyway, right? I wish I lived my life with that in mind all the time. These next five weeks, we'll have to pack it with fun and adventure . . .

This past weekend was a great start. Andrea and Leo invited us up to their gorgeous mountain house near Cajas National Park. It was a blast, like always. It was fun to play cards, relax, goof off, spend time with great friends, and do a bit of hiking. I, nor was anyone else, ever sure of the altitude of their mountain get away. This time, Andrea brought a GPS unit to find out. I would have guessed around 9,000 feet, but it turns out that it is at 11,200 feet. I've always really enjoyed hiking, but I've learned that it is one of my favorite things to do. Here are some pictures of the weekend:

You can't quite see the face in the rock behind me.

Here is a better look at the face.

The crew.

The crew take #2.

The guys

KARATE!

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Rubén Blades Concert

So . . . these past few weeks I've found myself pretty exhausted. It feels like I need a break or something to get out of a rut. I haven't been out of town in a few weeks and I think that is what is bringing me down a bit. The solution is easy. This coming weekend I'd like to head to Cuenca to enjoy the cool weather and just to "get away". I find myself thinking constantly of the summer plans of travel. It's almost like an obsession. Here are the plans:

I'll head to La Paz, Bolivia on June 12th. I'll be traveling solo, so I'll get to do what I want and when I want (mmm . . . that sounds a bit selfish). Anyway, I'll travel to southern Bolivia by bus and train. Tupiza is a town where I'll spend some time hiking and exploring. It is badlands country. Extremely beautiful, from what I've seen in pictures. I'll also head to Salar de Uyuni (the salt flats of Bolivia). After that, I'll head back to La Paz and explore a bit. Then it is off to Lake Titicaca. I'll hike and explore the lake on the Bolivian and Peruvian side. In Peru, I'll go to Arequipa. There are tons of hiking opportunities there. Really close, there are two canyons. One is the deepest canyon in the world, and both are twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. After exploring a bit, it's off to Nazca where the Nazca lines are and then on to Lima. My friends will be meeting me in Lima. We'll head to Cusco and hike the Inca Trail to get to Machu Picchu. Can't wait for the trip to begin!!!

This past weekend, I went to the Rubén Blades concert with friends. It was a great time! Even though I only knew a three or four of the songs, it was easy to realize their talent. All the musicians were amazing! A good word to describe the venue is HOT! It was like watching an amazing concert in a sauna. It was definitely worth all the sweat. Here are some pictures and a few videos I took.

BBQ before the concert.

Rubén Blades y Seis de Solar

Here are a few videos I took:

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A Blogger Who Doesn't Post

I'm quickly realizing that my aspirations of creating weekly, or even bi-weekly, posts is slipping through the cracks. I think there are lots of reasons why it seems to be harder to keep up on the blog. At the beginning, everything was so exciting, new, and different. Now that I have been here for a while, things that would have shocked and amazed me five months ago have sort of fallen short of astounding me. It is a good sign, I think, that I have adjusted and have started to think of Ecuador as a home rather than a strange and beautiful place that I have been visiting. Regardless, I'm going to make a conscious effort to improve the frequency of my posts, even if they are shorter posts with less pictures. Having said that, this past weekend I returned to Mindo. I wanted to go back to take a guide out bird watching. The bus ride up to Mindo took 12 hours (it should've taken 8 at the most). The next morning I was up at 5 and ready to see some birds. I saw some pretty amazing species. Some of the highlights were: andean cock of the rock, different species of toucans, toucanets, woodpeckers and tanagers. Unfortunately, my camera was too big to take pictures through the guide's spotting scope. However, I have pictures that the guide took of the same species of birds on different outings of his. Here are a few pics:

I spy . . .

is that . . .

three dudes looking for birds?

Andean cock of the rock

choco toucan

flame faced tanager

crimson rumped toucanet

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Relaxing Weekend

Returning to work after two weeks of vacation was difficult. It's hard to believe that after three more months, I will have successfully (knock on wood) completed my first year of teaching overseas. Looking back on the experiences that I have had, both professionally and personally, I am truly thankful for this opportunity. It has not always been smooth sailing. There have been some great highs and few lows. Throughout the whole process I feel that I have learned a lot about myself. I didn't intend for this post to be so serious, so I'll change the subject . . .

This weekend has been a relaxing one in Guayaquil. I can't say that I did a whole lot other than recuperate from a busy two weeks. Today, I did have the chance to go to an amazing soccer game. It was time for another Clasico (the game when the two professional Guayaquil teams play each other). It was the most outstanding, outrageous, and entertaining sporting event that I have ever been to. The first game I went to was at Barcelona's stadium. It is a huge modern stadium. This game was at Emelec's stadium. It is smaller and with much more character. The place was packed with rowdy fans. It was great! BO, fireworks, yelling, screaming, dropping beers on Barcelona fans, yellow and red cards . . . it is truly an impossible scene to describe. It was truly electric. Husker fans are very passionate, but I have never witnessed fans like Emelec and Barcelona. Emelec won this game 3-0. I wish I would've taken my camera, but it will have to wait until the next time.

Below are some fotos from the Carnaval break that didn't make last week's post . . . take care!

Proud owners of paja toquilla hats (Cuenca).

Last day of Carnaval (Cuenca).

Cuencanos relaxing in the plaza.

Flowers at Laguna Mojanda (Otavalo).

More flowers at Mojanda.

Laguna Mojanda

Chicken, anyone?

Waterfall in Baños . . . it used to be just be one waterfall and was recently formed into two.

Ready for space travel (Baños).

Volcano Chimborazo in the background.

A view of Altares (Baños).

Volcano Tungurahua and Altares

Guitar shopping in Baños

The family at work.

Ended up with two guitars . . . one for my brother and one for me.

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The End of a Great Vacation

So . . . it has been a while since I have blogged. Things have been pretty busy leading up until our two week Carnaval vacation. My parents came down to visit and experience Ecuador. We had a great adventure. We stuck pretty well to the mountains. We visited some places that I have been and a few that I have not been. Even in the places that I was familiar with, we did things that I hadn't experienced before. We hit it pretty hard and kept really busy the first week. We only spent one full day in Guayaquil on the front end of the trip. We visited the Iguana Park, Malecón, and Las Peñas. The next day, it was time for one of my favorite cities . . . Cuenca. It took a bit longer to get there than normal due to rain and fallen rocks. We got there on the final day of Carnaval celebration. That meant that some of us got doused with water and all of us got wet from a water balloon or two. We saw a church ceremony that ended in fireworks (my kind of ceremony!). The next day, it was off to check out the "Panama" hats that the region is famous for (and the origin of the paja toquilla or "Panama" hat). We also did a double decker bus tour to check out the sights and a view of Cuenca from the lookout of Turi. The following day, it was time to check out Cajas National Park. It was a beautiful day (cloudy, but beautiful). Cajas is definitely a place that I could see myself doing much more hiking, fishing, and camping. The camping park makes me a bit nervous, as it gets really cold. After we explored Cajas for a short time, we went to Chordeleg. It is a small town east of Cuenca known for its silver. That evening, it was off to Quito. After spending a night in Quito and visiting El Panecillo and El Teleférico, we took a bus to Otavalo. Saturday morning was the markets (starting at around 6 am with the animal market). It was my second time going, but still an eye opening cultural experience. On Sunday, we visited one of the Lagunas de Mojanda, a waterfall, Lago San Pablo, and Laguna Cuicocha. Mojanda was new for me. It reminded me a lot of Cajas. It is a place I'd like to go back to to do some hiking. There is also Fuyi Fuyi (a volcano), that only takes a few hours to summit. Cuicocha was just as stunning as the first time I had been there. It was much more overcast, but still stunning. We ended our trip in Baños . . . it was great! Paragliding in front of an active volcano, volcano watching, hiking . . . what more could a person ask for? Puyo was another side trip that we took to see the Paseo de Monos. It was great to have my parents here to share in some adventures. I do feel that it is a special place and I think they feel the same way. I also made a 10 minute video with pictures, videos and explanations. Take care . . . cheers!

Trying to keep warm in Cajas National Park, home of over 200 lakes (some smaller than others).

Cajas

Heading up El Teleférico to get a view of Quito.

At the top.

Animal Market of Otavalo.

Walking the trail of Mojanda.

Laguna Cuicocha

One of the smaller eruptions of Tungurahua. One of my favorite things that we did was to volcano watch at night. We saw three small eruptions with ash clouds.

The green valley of Baños.

Pailón del Diablo

There are so many more great pictures. Take a look at the video for samples of the remaining ones (paragliding, hiking, Puyo, Cerro Blanco . . . etc). Click on the directional arrows to check it out in full screen.

The best way to view the video is to press play and then pause to allow it to load up. After a few minutes, it should be ready to play.

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Mosquitoes and Sweat

Mosquitoes and sweat is a fitting theme for this post. It has been a while since I've blogged. Since vacation and returning from Quito, things have settled into a regular schedule again. We are now in rainy season. As I am typing, a light drizzle is falling. So far, the rainy season has not been unbearable by any means. I should probably knock on wood, but there hasn't been too much rain. From what I gather, there have been rainy seasons where it was three months of solid rain daily. With the coming of the rain, the surroundings have changed a bit. It seemed liked after the first drop of rain their was all the sudden a large beetle and cricket population. It has been nice to see everything flourishing and getting greener by the day. The mosquitoes, which were very present before, have now come out in full force. The humidity dial has been turned up a notch, or two, or three. These past two weeks of school, I've tried to stay as active as possible. Luckily, because of the lack of heavy rains, we have been able to go on our Tuesday bike ride. The mosquitoes made it interesting. This past Tuesday was the worst that I have ever experienced a mosquito problem. We always stop at the trail head. While stopped, I looked down at my right calf. Five hungry mosquitoes were having their way with me. They only got worse. It was actually amazing and impressive to see the swarms of them following us up the trail, biting through shirts. When I got back, I found that I had between 30 and 40 bites on my back alone (and I was even wearing a backpack). I do have to say that it was my own fault. I had forgotten mosquito repellent. The humidity has added another challenge factor. The amount of sweat that one body can produce astounds me. This week, we started our Thursday sports club again. Hand ball and hockey were the games. Both were a lot of fun, considering the mosquitoes and humidity. Every Thursday we play different sports for about an hour and a half and then it's time for a few deserved drinks. I've been going to the gym when I can. It is more like a small sweat box, as there are no fans. Today, I went to Cerro Blanco. It is a protected tropical dry forest region very close to where I live. It was pretty cool. Lots of birds, a huge tarantula, lizards, a small snake, and LOTS of mosquitoes were on the viewing list. The tarantula might have been the biggest that I have seen. Although the ones in Monteverde, Costa Rica probably rivaled this one. The guide tried to coax him out of his hole. It was coming slowing, until all of the sudden he popped out so you could see his whole body. He was really quick. Unfortunately, I only have a picture of his legs. Towards the middle of the trail, howler monkeys made their presence known with their howls. They sounded extremely close, but we were unable to locate them. Now that I've experienced Cerro Blanco, I plan on going there much more often. It is a 25 cent bus ride there and only takes about 10 minutes to get there. It will be nice to have that option to get into some nature at my convenience.

Three more weeks and my parents will be coming down for two weeks during my Caranaval vacation. I am so excited for them to be here. I'm also really excited for the experiences that they will have. They have visited me in Panama, Costa Rica, and Guatemala before, but in Ecuador everything seems grander. For example, the mountains and volcanoes that we've seen together in Central America have been absolutely spectacular. But, these are the Andes. I'm hoping that they will be as impressed as I have been thus far. Below are a few pictures from the past couple weeks. The mountains remain my favorite. Cool climate with no mosquitoes. I hope everyone is well!

I thought that I would take the opportunity to pass along this message. Everyone is aware of the dire situation that the country of Haiti is experiencing at the moment. As most of you also know, Haiti has had a long history of suffering and poverty. It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with the majority of people trying to live off of $2 a day. The alarming statistics go on and on. If you look at the long history of suffering and this recent tragedy, Haiti needs our (everyone's) help. If you have not donated to the earthquake relief, please consider doing so. Whatever you can spare would be helping Haiti a great deal. Thank you for your consideration. Here is a link to a few of the organizations:

http://www.helphaitinow.org/ (this is the organization from the telethon)

http://www.hopehaiti.org/

One of the beautiful ceibos trees that are common in tropical dry forests (Cerro Blanco).

You can see his legs, but nothing more. I guess you'll have to trust me . . . he was rather large and in charge (Cerro Blanco).

Another neat spider that we found along the way (Cerro Blanco).

A view of the greenery (Cerro Blanco). Unfortunately, surrounding this area, companies have many quarries (including where we go mountain bike riding) and extract the rock and destroy the existing habitat.