BIG Bogota Post

We´re going big with this blog post. Big pics that is. Accidently forgot to switch back to small after the last post but since Google so generously just upped the amount of photo storage I have for free I figured we´d see how it goes.

While I´m talking about big lets start off with the BIG win the Colts pulled off over the Pats. Gemma and I had a sweet flat screen in a fancy hotel all to ourselves to watch the game. And beers only cost us about 60cents. I definitely did not see us pulling that off but I´m so glad we did!

We stayed in a hostel in the La Candeleria district. Its an artsy district with lots of students, bars and restaurants. There were many walls covered in cool graffiti and most of the buildings are painted in bright colors which I loved.


The Freak Family - Just like Yours


We visited the Police Museum to see an exhibit on the 499 day manhunt to catch Pablo Escobar. The building itself was really beautiful and they were playing 1930´s music throughout so it felt very elegent inside. It reminded me of a really nice Disney Hotel.


It was pretty interesting seeing some of Pablo´s personal artifacts including the Harley Davidson he had made for himself. We also saw the beeper he used (apparently the first in Colombia) and some old school car phones he used in his last days. Most of the technology the Colombian government used to catch him was donated by the CIA.


Here is a wanted poster with Pablo´s picture and some of his associates.


This picture below is a cocaine press they used to package bricks of coke. The horses would be imprinted into the bricks so buyers could identify who was making it. Unfortunately, or fortunately if you´re into that kind of stuff, the cops spent all their time and money on capturing Pablo and while they had him in jail for a brief period (he escaped) and on the run, other cartels simply took over a majority of the trafficing.


Our favorite museum in Bogota had to be the Fernando Botero Museum. I´d never heard of this painter before but he´s from Colombia and really famous here. He paints mostly ¨fat figures¨as he once called them and they are delightfully hilarious. He makes everything fat, women, horses, presidents, even Jesus on the cross.



The museum also had some Monet´s, a Dali sculputre and a few Picasso´s including my favorite of the group below.


This is the courtyard of the museum and one of my favorite photos I´ve taken recently. This museum is a must see in my opinion.

Ah Bogota, city of museums apparently. We also went to the Museo de Oro or Gold Museum. It has ALOT of the shiny stuff and some really cool pieces found in ancient tombs.



This photo is taken from the top of Bogota´s tallest building. The weather was terrible that afternoon but we got to see the bull ring from the top and although I´m still waiting to see my first bull fight, I thought it was still cool just seeing the arena.

So do we like the big pics or should I go back to the small to fit more text on the screen??? Let me know!

Wax Palms - Zona de Cafe in Colombia

After turning the salsa world on its head in Cali we danced up to the Zona Cafetera to get buzzed up on some fine Colombian coffee. Unfortunately the coffee plantation we stayed at for the evening ran out of coffee and the owner needed to leave town the next day so wasn´t able to provide us wth a tour of his farm! I mean are you serious? Geeze. But we were able to get him to give us a quick tutorial on coffee and learned about the different types of beans and the process they use to harvest them.

The highlight of our time in the region is when we went to visit the Valle de Cocora. The guidebook describes it like a lush version of Switzerland and I´d add it has a bit of the airy mysteriousness of Machu Picchu mixed in as well (see below).

One of the main reasons to visit this area is to see the Palma de Cera, these really tall palm trees which don´t grow outside the area.

We went on a four hour hike which led us into a cloud forest with rolling clouds touching the mountain tops. We stopped at a hummingbird reserve along the way where seven different types of hummingbirds buzzed about. We were served hot chocolate with a block of cheese to dip into it. A bit strange and oddly kinda nice.

After about 3 hours we reached this view:

After another thirty minutes or so we reached the bottom of the valley and were rewarded again with stunning views of the wax palm trees.

Everyone else took the easy way and hired horses while Gemma and I walked. We are enjoying hiking these days and seem to be pretty good at it. We actually kept up with the horses the entire way despite some serious uphill climbs and river crossings.

Next stop Bogota.

Introducing two new Legends of Salsa... Cali, Colombia

We left Ecuador and literally ran across the border into Colombia. We haven´t had the best beach luck on our trip and have been fantisizing about the Colombian Coast for quite a while now so to finally be entering the country felt good. Now its only three more weeks till we get to the coast but at least we´re here!

Our first stop in Colombia was in Cali. There are three mains styles of Salsa dancing which are Puerto Rican, Cuban and Cali. We spent five days in a Salsa school learning how to perfect the sweet sweet steps of Puerto Rican Salsa. You´d think we´d have learned Cali style but we didn´t. The reason is because of the three very basic steps we first learned, our least favorite was a Cali Style step and we pretty much refused to work on it after awhile choosing to focus on the more fun and natural feeling moves.

Our instructor´s name was Wilbur and had been dancing professionally for about twenty years. Wonderful dancer, but he seemed sort of bored teaching us and didn´t provide the best instruction. His english also wasn´t the best. But all that being said we actually learned enough steps and twirls to look like we know what we´re doing. Here is a pic of the three of us in the studio below.

We stayed in the Jovitas hostel/dance school which had the studio you see above inside. We took six hours of private lessons and four hours of group instruction. On top of that, each night Wilbur would take us and the other students to the best Salsa clubs in town and we´d all dance until about 3:30 in the morning.

By far the best night was when we went to a club called Chongos. The club is about 25 minutes outside of town and when our taxi finally pulled up to the clubs entrance I felt a little like I´d stepped back in time to 1950´s Vegas. It was all lit up in neon and had some really nice cars in the parking lot. All of Cali´s best salsa dancers go to Chongos on Sunday nights so naturally we were there.

There are two dance floors in Chongos and all the tables face inward towards them. Anytime you step on the dance floor you can feel everyone watching you. But it also made for some great people watching. Cali is also known for being the plastic surgery capital of Colombia and there were quite a few examples of this on the floor.

We had an unbelievable time there and were seriously tearing up the dance floor by 3am. We even had a small fan base watching us to which we bowed as we left for the final time. I think I even danced all the way out the door we were having so much fun. The video below is pretty bad quality and the girl that took it was terrible with a camera but its proof we know how to cut a shape or two in the club. Check it!

Gemma made some friends with the workers outside before we hopped in our cab home.

We also went to the Cali Zoo to see some unusual South American animals. The bird below has a pretty wild looking face and if you look closely you´ll see a baby anteater on her moms back. We also saw alot of miniature frogs only found in Colombia.


Which of these beasts would you not want to run into in a dark alley???

Journey to the center of the Earth!

After leaving the beautiful Laguna de Quilotoa we headed to Quito, Ecuador´s capital. It is less beautiful and way more shady. Everyone we spoke to before heading to Quito told us a story about how they or someone in their hostel got robbed. We almost got robbed but couldn´t understand what the guy was saying in Spanish so I just responded with a ¨No Gracias Amigo¨and we kept on walking. He walked along side us for a minute but I just kept telling him ¨No comprende and No Gracias Amigo¨and he finally stopped following us. Hopefully he wasn´t threatning our lives in Spanish. I guess it paid not to speak the language for once.

We mainly went there so we could see the Equator, or Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World).

The Equator is about an hour outside of Quito by bus. We first went to the sight of where the French originally measured the Equator in 1736. They actually were about 200 meters off. We paid three dollars to enter this touristy village full of shops and food stands. There is also a large monument erected there which is impressive, except for the fact that its in the wrong place.

We then walked out the gate and 30 seconds up the road to another Equatoral theme park where the real Equator, as measured by US Military GPS, lies. If you get a chance to visit, skip the first park and come straight here. Well actually go to both, its only $3. But the outdoor museum-like area where the real Equator lies was actually fun and informative.

There is only so much you can say about an imiginary line in the ground so they also spend time telling you about the Ecuadorian Amazon and some of the more unique tribes that still live there today. The first was the Wuaorani tribe which has very little contact with the outside world and all walk around naked. The men actually wear a string around their waist to keep it from flopping around.

We also learned about a tribe that shrinks the heads of their enemies when they kill them, but also of their chiefs when they die. They do this to their chiefs because they believe the head retains the persons knowledge. They shrink their enemies heads and display them on sticks as a warning to other enemies. I always thought this was some sort of gimick but they explained how they do it. They remove the skull from the head but leave all the cartiledge in the nose and ears to retain their shape. They then boil it in a pot with 30 different herbs that are found in the jungle and only known to this tribe. Click on the pic below and notice the crazy amount of detail the shrunken heads retain.

Some fun facts we learned about the Equator:

• Towns along the Equator experience a constant 12 hour day and night all year long


• You weigh slightly less on the Equator (only 3% or so)


• Water drains staight down on the Equator whereas it drains counterclockwise in the North and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere (or the other way around, can´t remember)


• Its difficult to walk in a straight line with your eyes closed and arms held out with your thumbs pointing upwards on the Equator (although I think this is difficult most anywhere)


• I once owned the biggest guns in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere
  

Our next stop is the long awaited and much anticipated country of COLOMBIA!!!!

Laguna de Quilotoa, Ecuador

This is going to be a short post. Not much to say other than to look at the picture above.

The two mile wide crater was formed when the volcano erupted approximately 800 years ago and the cone collapsed. The laguna is a rich turquoise color as a result of dissolved minerals from the Volcano. Mix this beautiful color with the reflection of the sky and clouds above and it makes for quite a sight.

We hiked down to the lake and enjoyed the scenery for awhile. We then kicked ourselves for doing so because the hike back up was rediculously steep. The path was also mostly sand or volcanic ash so as you took one step up, your foot would slide half the distance back. Grueling.

Banos is Banging - Ecuador

Banos is a town known for its plethora of adventure sport options and Gemma and I knocked them all out of the park. We dominated this town. But before I get to that let me tell you about the beautiful square in the middle of town and the amazing little fruit juice stands in the central market. The weather was amazing in Banos with clear blue skys and lots of sunshine. We sat on the porch of a CRAZY Danish ladies cafe looking out over the park, drank good coffee and read English newspapers and magazines that were at least a month or so old.

I say the Danish lady was crazy because she´d just pop out of the cafe and to our table and start shouting at us about how her daughter`s passport is invalid and she is worried she´ll be denied at the US border on their upcoming trip. She also dropped at least 4 F Bombs during this story. Thanks for the info. She popped over to our table at least three times interupting an otherwise pleasant morning.

Gemma and I have also been living off these little fruit juice stands all over South America. Our favorite is Fresa con Lecha or fresh strawberries blended together with milk. You should try it. Banana and peach con leche are also personal faves.

Now onto the good stuff. Our first day in Banos we went whitewater rafting. I´ve always wanted to do this but never have and now after trying it feel like I´ve missed my calling in life as a river guide. Since I was 18 I´ve always said I wanted to live in New York, California, Colorado and London. Recently I´d dropped Colorado off the list but now I realize why I thought I´d like it having never been there. I love these outdoor sports. It was a really fun day and we both had a good first experience learning how to do it.

On our second day we went canyoning which translates to repelling/absailing down waterfalls. The great thing about South America is they´ll let you do anything even with zero experience as long as you give them 20 bucks. We had about five minutes of instruction that was mostly in spanish before we started lowering ourselves down these falls.

It was an amazing experience. On the first waterfall we lowered ourselves almost all the way down and then jumped backwards into the pool of water from about two meters. Gemma went first and was a pro right from the beginning.

I went next and again dominated. The second waterfall we just kind of slid down while the water was pounding down on us which was kind of fun.

Then came the third and final waterfall which was somewhere around 60 to 80 meters high. After repelling down about six feet or so the rock stopped and we just slowly lowered ourselves down next to the water. The vegetation near the top under the water was lush and just beautiful.

Once I got to the bottom I was able to take a few pictures of Gemma coming down. We then both went under the water and our guide took a couple pics of us. If you click on the pictures above you might be able to see some of the vegetation I was talking about.


On our third day Gemma and I rented bikes for a 40km bike ride along the Routa de Cascada (Route of Waterfalls) which takes you to the next town and passes 18 waterfalls along the way. What we forgot before signing up for this is that Gemma isn´t much of a bike rider. The ride is along a busy winding road so its necessary to stay close to the edge of the road which she can´t do. We also didn´t realize how hilly the road was. We made it about 45 minutes before G decided she´d had enough.

I continued on and made it about half way before flagging down a bus to take me back. Gemma wasn´t so lucky as to wave down a bus and it took her two hours to push her bike back uphill to the town while the peddle kept banging into her leg. I don´t think you´ll see any more bike riding posts from her for awhile.

Here are a couple pics of the best waterfalls along the way.


And now for the big mack daddy. Check out the pic below.

We jumped off that little ledge in the left hand corner!

Gemma went first as always and was terrified.

Its bad enough that the bridge is 100 meters high, but then the platform is actually placed about another four feet up and you have to climb over the railing and stand on it before you jump. Well you´re supposed to jump off it. Gemma just kinda fell face first off. :o) Not the best jumper. She says she was too terrified to jump so she just fell. I just don´t think she can jump. It is terrifying climbing over the railing. It just isn´t something you feel natural doing.

The rope is tied to the other side of the bridge so you are supposed to jump out as far as you can away from the bridge and then when the slack runs out it kind of whips you back under the bridge where you then swing back and forth a few times before they lower you to the ground.

This is how its done.

I have to give G some props for capturing the moment in the pics above. She couldn´t have done a better job.

Jumping off the bridge was terrifying and a mega rush. We only free fell for a couple seconds before the rope caught us and swung us but it felt like an eternity.

Next stop is Ecuador´s capital city, Quito. We´ve only heard bad things about the town but we´re heading north towards Colombia so we´re stopping there for a few days.