Aspen - November 08

I arrived in Aspen at the tail end of a small snowstorm on Wednesday afternoon, the fifth day of November. I found a place to stay in the heart of Aspen, just minutes from the Gondola and all the nightlife. The couple, who I am subletting a room from, have been great. Just the second night I was there, Matt got be introduced to the owner of a great restaurant and bar, and from that meeting I secured a part time job. I'm working one night a week checking IDs and handling the coat check. This is hilarious to most people I tell. I'm not sure if its because you don't see many men checking coats or because of my lack of an intimidating presence.

Since then, luck has continued to follow me. I joined a basketball league with Matt and I fell into possibly the best job I could have found just a few days ago. I was looking through the local paper, in the classifieds, when the ad for a snowboarding coach caught my eye. I am by no means an expert rider. I can comfortably go down anything in-bounds and am a very competent all mountain boarder. However, the park, the pipe, aerials, tricks, grabs, rails, and whatever else that is out there that I don't know about is a totally different story. I am a disgrace to all decent riders when in comes to those things. Because I usually only get three days of riding in a row (living in San Diego doesn't really provide ample or easily accessibly opportunities from playing in the snow), I've never wanted to waste the precious time I had on the mountain on things I wasn't good at and that would take significant amounts of time to improve. And now that is coming back to bite me right in the ass.

So, after examining the ad, I wrote a brief email that included the phone number for David McClurg, the head athletics coach and PE instructor at my elementary and jr. high school, and attached my resume. Within an hour, the snowboarding director called me and we set up an interview for the following morning. I met with Miah at the Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club and we chatted for about 20 minutes. He said he had called David McClurg and that I couldn't have a better person in my corner. We talked for a bit about the mission of the AVSC and then about coaching philosophies. I have been coaching flag football and basketball at my old elemenatary/jr. high school since I was a sophomore in high school. Most recently, I had finished coaching the 7th grade flag football team at my old jr. high school. We went 11-3. My philosophy with kids under the age of about 11 or 12 is more about experience than anything else. What I mean is that most kids under that age are not fully coordinated or developed. With their bodies (not to even mention their minds) changing so quickly, many youths of that age are awkward and appear unathletic. So, my focus is to get the athletes I work with as much experience as possible, allowing them to try things and allow them to find what they are and are not good at. However, more important that the athletic aspect is the coaching of the individual. My goal is to improve the individual athlete as a human being, who has the potential (whether it be athletically, religiously, politically, etc) to be integral part of the world in which we all live. Respect for others, commitment to one another, teamwork, and all out effort. These are the tenants of my coaching philosophy.

After explaining this to Miah and talking for a while longer, Miah offered me the position. I re-iterated to him my qualifications, wanting to make sure I would be the right person to coach these kids in a sport I myself am not confident in, especially since I would be having to coach 8-11 year old kids with riding in the pipe and park, performing aerials and stunts that I don't even know the names of. He assured me that he was not worried about my skill as a snowboarder and that how I worked with the kids was his priority. He insisted that he didn't think that would be a problem either. Later that day I accepted the position and was invited to join the rest of the snowboard coaches for a dinner the following night. All the coaches are incredible and I felt a little overwhelmed by it all. The other coaches I will be working with include gold medalists and AVSC itself has developed several Winter X Games and Olympic athletes. I didn't think I was qualified to be in the room. But, I could never got the feeling I was out of place. It honestly felt like I was among family, like I was home.

Two days later, I am feeling anxious and pretty nervous. I have been looking up snowboarding terms and tricks on the internet. I have no idea how I'm even going to be able to converse with these kids. Its like another language...and I had a tough enough time with Spanish. I'm hoping I can find a way to get a few good days in before the first day with the kids, which being November 30, is approaching fast. Nine days to go and I have only ridden 3 days in the past 614 days. The three days on the snow I got last winter over New Year's were lucky to come by since I was living in Mexico City at the time. Before that, it was March 2007 when I was last on a snowboard. Aspen Highlands and Snowmass are set to open November 27, but that's not all that exciting considering we haven't had snow in over a week and only about 12 inches over the past 3 weeks. Vail, Breckenridge, and the other mountains closer to Denver have opened. I may have to head towards Vail where Garret (a fellow San Diegan) is also claiming Colorado for the winter.

But, despite apprehension I have about coaching, I can't wait to get on the snow. I picked up a new board at a great price at a sale the other weekend and can get discounts at a local ski and board shop whose owner is also a coach at AVSC. Now, if I can only get a few more jobs lined up (night jobs of course...I can't be interfering with my riding time), I will be all set. Plus, Duke just won the Coaches Versus Cancer pre-season tournament by beating UMich. But, man, those 'Heels are going to be vicious.

Portland, Oregon

From Seattle, I drove south towards Portland. I had called my brother's friend (and recent groomsman), Matt, and he was willing to let me crash at his place in Portland. But, before making it there, I stopped at Multnomah Falls and Hood River. Multnomah Falls, I believe, is one of the largest falls in the US and sends water plunging down from cliffs over 500 feet high. Hood River is just a few miles east of Multnomah Falls and boasts one of the best spots in the world for windsurfing and kiteboarding. Despite the overcast day, the water was filled with kites of all colors dancing just above the water. I sat and watched for over an hour, filling myself with jealousy and seriously considering delaying my way to San Fran to get some time on the water. But, I finally dragged myself away from the gorge and headed back to the city. I arrived in Portland and was welcomed into Matt and Emma's home just a few mintues from the downtown area. We went out for dinner and then spent a few hours tasting many of the fine brews of Deschutes Brewery. If you enjoy a good pale ale, you have to try their Red Chair. You won't regret it. Tomorrow morning I will be leaving early to drive down the coast of Oregon with a goal of making it to the redwoods of northern California.

Olympic National Park

From Whistler, I headed south down to Olympic National Park, just west of Seattle. I had a few problems getting to the Olympic Peninsula as the ferries were booked solid until 6pm. But, I finally made it across. However, because of the late time of day and my exhaustion, I found a cheap motel in Sequim and stayed there for the night. When I woke on Monday morning, I decided to finally take care of a traffic ticket I got while crossing Kansas, so most of my morning was spend getting money orders and some document notarized and sent off to the DA in Kansas. I then ventured into Olympic National Park and spend the day exploring Elwah Valley. I hiked up to the Olympic Hot Springs and was reminded of my time in Yellowstone. The hot springs were amazing and definitely me the Perry standard for warmth...the hot springs were about 105 degrees. After spending several hours hiking through the forest around the hot springs, I visited Madison Falls, a 100 foot waterfall just a short hike off the road leading through Elwah Valley.

Instead of spending the night in the rain at a campsite, I made my way to Seattle to visit some old friends who had moved to Seattle about a year and half ago - Nick and Ingrid. We ventured out for a great dinner and then sampled some of the local beers at a one of the local pubs.

Whistler, BC

My family along with the Alamedas (plus Blair, Kristin, and Sara) spent a week up in Whistler. I had been to Whistler once before in college but it was for snowboarding. I have not spent much time in ski areas in the summer...and Whistler blew me away. Over the course of a week, we played golf, went kayaking, did a little hiking, and spent some time exploring trails on mountain bikes. I loved Whistler and that trip has definitely inspired me to spend some time in the very near future in an area like Whistler where I can fully enjoy the surroundings for an extended period of time.

But, aside from being able to enjoy the amazing beauty of Whistler, I was also able to spend some quality time with my nephew, Gavin. I can't get over how much he changes on a daily basis. He has started taking his first steps and I know it won't be long before my sister and Andy are chasing him around. I can't wait!

Anacortes, Washington

Wednesday night I made it as far as Ritzville, Washington, before I had to find a motel where I could sleep for the night. I slept in Thursday morning and made it to Anacortes around 1:30pm. After having lunch with my brother, I reluctantly made it to my haircut appointment...but, both my brother and his fiancee said they approved of the Jesus/Eddie Vedder look and that I should only get a trim. Thankfully Apryl, the appointed stylist, agreed and only took a tiny bit off. This news was not extremely well received by my sister, but as long as the bride and groom were happy, I figured no one could say anything to me. Thursday night we had a great picnic along the water at a park with friends and family who had already arrived for the wedding. We then sampled some of the local bars and did our best to not destroy the groom before his big weekend.

Friday morning a bunch of us got together and headed out to a spot for some cliff jumping into one of the nearby lakes. We would only let Blake go off the 25 and 30 foot cliffs, but some of the other guys in the wedding party tried the higher ones, including Blair Morrison who threw himself off the 70 footer that required him to clear several tree branches in the air before splashing safely into the water below. In the evening, the wedding party and family got together for the rehearsal dinner with a cocktail party following. Everything went great and Blake and Shawmonee were surrounded by tons of friends and family who were able to make the long trip out. Unfortunately some of the guys who made it out to for the wedding ran into some local trouble after the cocktail party. Thankfully no one was seriously injured, but several of the locals were arrested...promising to return the next night to crash the reception.

We woke up Saturday morning to gray skies and weather predictions calling for rain in the afternoon. However, the pastor performing the ceremony promised no rain, and we hoped we would have the man upstairs on our side for the day. The wedding ceremony was performed on cliffs overlooking Deception Pass. The bride was (and remains) gorgeous and the weather held just as the pastor predicted. During the ceremony, several orcas passed below as if they were wishing my brother and his new bride a bright future. As we were taking photos of the bridal party after the ceremony, the skies opened up and the rain came. Thankfully, many of the pictures had been taken before the ceremony, so we quickly scooped up the bride and groom and headed for the reception. The reception was wonderful (and the promised threats from the locals from the night before did not come to fruition). Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and we were able to send of the new couple in style. Blake and Shawmonee spent the night in a small bed and breakfast a little outside Anacortes and would be catching a flight the next afternoon to head to Kauai for their honeymoon. I couldn't be happier for my brother or more excited to have Shawmonee join our family.

Sunday morning we had a brunch at the hotel where most of the wedding party stayed. We all had a great time sharing stories from the previous night and nursing our hangovers with a wonderful buffet. Early in the afternoon, my family and the Alamedas packed up and drove north to Canada where we would be spending the next week in a house in Whistler, British Columbia. I do have to say that I was suspect of where Canada had come since my last visit to British Columbia as I was detained with my buddy Kevin at the border...I'm pretty sure it was because of the long hair and the fact that I stated I was unemployed. During the seconday inspection, the border agent furthered my suspicions of the good-naturedness of Canadians by asking my how I was going to support myself for a week in Whistler if I was unemployed. Not the friendliest group of people at the border. But, we made it across, and apparently none to soon since a women a little later in the day attempted to cross from Canada into the US carrying a suitcase she claimed held a bomb. We finally made it to Whistler Sunday evening and I am looking forward to a great week hiking, biking, golfing, and exploring the area I have only known in the winter.

Glacier National Park

I arrived in Glacier National Park on Monday (8/4) afternoon. I got lucky and found one of the last campsites available at Avalanche Lake. One my camp was pitched I decided to explore the nearby lake. The hike to Avalanche Lake was an easy 2.5 miles each way and provided amazing views of the lake and surrounding peaks and waterfalls.

Tuesday I made the 3 mile hike to Hidden Lake and was greeted by several mountain goats along the way. Hidden Lake was gorgeous...and teeming with spawning trout. Normally the 6 mile round trip would have only taken me 2 hours or so, but I got caught by several elderly folk on the way back that wanted to chat...extending my hike by another 2 hours. But, I learned alot about hunting in Montana and Wyoming. After the hike I decided to head to the other side of the park (Many Glaciers area) and stopped for lunch at a great diner along the way - Two Sisters. One in the Many Glaciers area I jumped on the trail to Iceberg Lake, a 10 mile round trip hike up into the mountains with hopes of catching a glimpse of some bears and moose. I passed several other day hikers along the way who had spotted a bull moose, but when I arrived at the prescribed location, no moose was to be found. I trudged along to Iceberg Lake and was glad to stop for a bit and soak my feet in the icy waters. Even with air temperatures well above 80 degrees, icebergs littered the crystal clear blue waters. While resting, I also spotted several mountain goats precariously climbing the dangerously steep inclines of the peaks surrounding the lake. When I returned to the trailhead I was changing my shoes before getting in my car and I spotted a mother grizzly and her cub walking towards the trail I had just exited. I tried to quietly follow them (at a safe distance) but quickly lost them in the thick brush.

On Wednesday I decided to do one more hike before leaving the park and heading towards Seattle for my little brother's wedding. I decided to try the Highline Trail, a 13 mile hike to the Glacier Park Chalet. I was completely exhausted afterwards, but had plenty of time to rest on teh bus ride from the end of the trail back to Logan Pass where I had parked my car. I then left Glacier National Park with hopes of making it into Washington before calling it quits for the day.

Big Sky, Montana

I spent Saturday afternoon through Monday morning in Big Sky, Montana, visiting Jamey Cunningham who I had met on my travels in the Galapagos Islands. Jamey and her boyfriend Izzy have been in Big Sky for several years and treated me to a great time. Saturday afternoon we spent at a local brewery and then we spent the night checking out several of the local watering holes. Sunday morning we headed up one of the lifts and spent a little time walking around the snowless runs of the Big Sky ski resort. In the afternoon, the three of us grabbed some tubes and beers and floated down one of the nearby rivers. Despite the occasional rain flurry, we had a great time. We barbequed Sunday night at Izzy's apartment. It was a great weekend and it was wonderful to get a few nights in a real bed. I left early Monday morning for Glacier National Park.

Yellowstone National Park

On Monday (7/28), I took a day off and wandered around Jackson, Wyoming. Tuesday I spent doing a couple more hikes in the Grand Tetons and finally spent some time relaxing at my campsite.

Wednesday morning I woke up early to head into Yellowstone National Park in hopes of securing a good campsite. Unfortunately, I ran into tons of traffic after entering the park due to road construction. By the time I arrived at the Canyon Village campsite, there were no sites available. I quickly made my way to the campgrounds at Norris and luckily found one of the last few sites available. It was a gorgeous campground nestled in a valley with a small creek weandering down the middle. It was already mid-afternoon by the time I pitched camp and settled in, so I decided to head to Mammoth Hot Springs in the northern section of Yellowstone. Mammoth Hot Springs has some amazing rock and sulfur deposit formations atop a cliff overlooking a beautiful valley. I spent a couple hours exploring the area and then found a small cafe where I could grab a bite to eat. Finding food a night has become an issue for me since I try to stay out and explore until the sun sets, but I am finding that most establishments close their doors at sunset (about 9pm).

On Thursday I woke up early to try to catch an eruption of Old Faithful at sunrise. Unfortunately I missed the 6:30am spouting, but old reliable went off again around 8am. I spent the rest of the day exploring the hundreds of geysers, hot springs, and rock formations that surround Old Faithful. I got to see some amazing eruptions and some of the most beautiful natural colors I could have ever imagined. In the afternoon I was hanging around Castle Geyser waiting for its eruption and I met a couple of girls who were working at one of the lodges in the area. It turns out the girls were from Turkey (Istanbul and near Ephesus) and were quite impressed that I had previously visited their country. We ended up hanging out and exploring some more of the geysers and hot springs as the sunset.

As the sun rose Friday morning I made my way to Lamar Valley in the northeast part of the Yellowstone. I was heading out there in hopes of spotting some bears and wolves that are known to roam the area. On my way out I spotted a large bull moose with some gorgeous antlers. When I arrived in the Lamar Valley, several other people had beaten me there and set up large telescopes for viewing the wildlife. The contingent included Bill Wengeler, a summer Ranger in the park and high school teacher in Santa Monica, who I ended up chatting with for several hours as we peaked through his telescope and saw 4 wolves, several bald eagles, and lots of Pronghorn antelope. Around 11am I left the Lamar Valley and went to the Canyon area where I grabbed a quick lunch and then drove up South Rim Drive to the top of Lower Falls and Uncle Tom's Trail. After hiking down over 500 feet towards the canyon's bottom, Uncle Tom's Trail provided me with a spectacular view of the Lower Falls and Yellowstone River. I then made my way to Artist Point and reached one of the most photographed places in all of Yellowstone. From Artist Point I had a view of the Lower Falls and the incredible painted walls of the canyon in both directions. The day before I had missed one of the "must see" geysers near Old Faithful, so I quickly made my way to Fountain Geyser and made it just in time to see the tail end of the eruption. From there, I visited Biscuit Basin where I made the short hike to Mystic Falls. To cap the day off, I returned to the Old Faithful area and met up with the two Turkish girls I met the night before (Ipek and Mŭge), Ipek's boyfriend, and another Turkish guy who was working in the area. We had dinner and then hiked up to a viewpoint that gave us a great view of Old Faithful. We watched the famous geyser erupt and then enjoyed a brilliant sunset.

Saturday morning I packed up my tent and drove to the parking lot for Fairy Falls. I broke out the Mongoose mountain bike and after a short ride, found myself at the trailhead to Fairy Falls where bikes were not allowed. The short 1.75 mile hike was incredible peaceful that early and I only saw a few other visitors. Fairy Falls throws water off a cliff over 200 feet hight into a small pool surrounded by bright white and purple flowers. In the distance several hot sulfur springs could be seen constantely spouting steam producing an eerie fog that enveloped a large part of the valley. After the hike, I said my goodbye to Yellowstone and exited the West entrance of the park and jumped on the 191 towards Big Sky, Montana.

Grand Tetons, part 2

I spent Sunday recovering from the climbing I had done the day before by sitting in the lounge area of the Jackson Lake Lodge where they had free wi-fi. I then went to Moose Junction where I could rent my climbing shoes for tomorrow. Sunday evening I had dinner at the Signal Mountain Lodge, just up the road from my campsite, where I met Heather who was one of the breakfast chefs at the lodge. It turns out she is from the Seattle area so I go some good tips of things to do and see when I make it out that way. After eating and having a few local beers, I followed Heather up to the staff housing area to enjoy the companionship of some other people near my age...it has been tough finding people my age in the campsites I have been staying in where they have largely been dominated by families with small children.

I woke early on Monday in order to get to the climbing office by 6:30am. While it was a little cool, the day look promising with just a few clouds in the otherwise bright blue sky. After taking the 7am ferry across Jenny Lake, Peter (my guide) and I hiked about 45 minutes until we reached the base of Baxter's Pinnacle. We strapped on our harnesses and helmets and started up the first pitch. While very challenging, the first few climbs up the different faces were conquered. However, after climbing up about 400 vertical feet, the last pitch I faced before reaching the summit was one that I was not prepared for. It required that I place my left foot on a triangular piece of rock with my left hand precariously wedged in a tiny crack far up to my left. With that body placement, I then had to basically swing myself out over the cliff and strain to reach a rock well beyond my reach with my right hand. Thank goodness for Peter. There was no way I would have made it up that face without his steady hand securing me from above through his belay system. But, I reached the summit. It had taken nearly 3.5 hours and we had climbed over 500 vertical feet. I can't begin to tell you the respect I have gained for climbers and how humbled I have been over the past few days. All that being said, this was an experience of a lifetime. I just hope I can get my heart to stop racing by tonight so I can get some sleep.

Grand Tetons, part 1

Thursday morning I began the long drive to the other side of the state to Grand Teton National Park. I arrived around sunset and had to scramble around to find a campsite. While I didn’t get the most scenic spot, it would do for the night.

Friday morning I moved to new campground on Jackson Lake and made camp. I then proceeded to hike up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. The hike was easy but treated to me some great views of Jenny Lake, the Tetons, and a fantastic waterfall. Once I had returned from the hike, I made way my to the Exum Mountain Guide office and signed up for a private rock climbing lesson for the following day. If all goes well and I impress my instructor enough I will be climbing the Tetons on Sunday or Monday.
I met my guide, Peter, at 8am at the Exum Mountain Guide offices and we proceeded to take a short ferry ride across Jenny Lake to the Hidden Falls area where we would be spending the next 7 hours. Peter began by discussing body placement and the different features of the rock that I should take into account when climbing. From there, we moved on to practicing several knots that we would be using throughout the day. Once I was comfortable with that, we started climbing. I would watch as Peter lead the way up crevices, cracks, and seemingly smooth rock faces, placing protectors on the rock along the way to prevent us from falling to our demise. Once Peter was in a safe area where he could spot me, I would begin my ascent. We did three separate climbs that varied in difficulty and necessary maneuvers, completely humbling me and giving me an entirely new respect for rock climbers. To cap off the lesson, I repelled down from the top of "Open Book" twice, each providing a 120 foot free fall, with nothing preventing me from being pancaked at the bottom but my right hand controlling the speed of the rope passing through my harness.

After the lesson, Peter said that I was prepared to do several different climbs in the Tetons, so before leaving the area, I signed up to climb Baxter's Peak on Monday morning. I then made my way to Climber's Ranch where I could pay $5 for a shower...and it was well worth it. It had been at least a week since my previous cleaning and after all the hiking and climbing I had been doing, I could barely stand my own stench.

Devil's Tower

I took it easy Wednesday morning and explored a few more viewpoints in Custer State Park before heading north to Deadwood. My plan was just to stop for lunch, but as it turned out, I walked into Saloon 10 just in time to see the reenactment of the day Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the saloon while holding aces and eights (dead man’s hand). After lunch I got back in my car and headed west with my goal being Devil’s Tower National Monument in northeastern Wyoming.

The drive towards the monument was fairly uninteresting with the flat landscape dominating the area, but when Devil’s Tower comes into view, it takes your breath away. The tower rises up out of nothing and forces your eye to focus on it above all else. I pitched camp, did a little laundry, and then made my way to the tower for sunset. Watching the sun set over the plains of South Dakota while illuminating this massive tower really made me think how insignificant we all are and how easily nature can dominate mankind. Despite all of the technology and advencements we have made, we are still at the mercy of Mother Nature. After the sun set I returned to my campgrounds where they were showing Steven Spielberg’s "Encounters of the Third Kind" that was filmed at the tower.

Wind Cave and Custer State Park

Monday morning I woke up early to try and get a hike in before my 1pm Wild Cave Tour. I jumped on the Lookout Point Trail that follows the rolling hills of the prairie and then connects with Centennial Trail to take me back to my starting point. The hike was nice and I passed through several prairie dog communities and saw a buffalo up close. It is easy to see how the prairie dogs got their name as they all emitted high pitched barks with tails wagging furiously as I approached their dens. As for the buffalo, I got within about 15 yards before deciding that was close enough, since I had no safety zone and would not be able to out run a mad buffalo in that terrain. After I connected with the Centennial Trail, things started to go wrong. I’m not sure if I missed a turn or if the trails were just poorly marked, but I ended up wandering around the prairies and eventually connected again with my original Lookout Point Trail, turning what should have been an easy 4.5 mile round trip hike into at least 6 miles.

The Wild Cave Tour was good, but it was a little slow and unadventurous for me. With their warning of being able to fit through a 10 inch gap, I was expecting to be challenged a bit during the tour, but that was not the case. However, the cave is exceptional and includes a formation known as box work that is a result of how the cave was made. Also, there were several other formations in the cave that were amazing, including one that looked like a crystalline porcupine. The cave tour lasted four hours despite only covering less than a mile of terrain. After the tour, I jumped in my car and headed north to the Crazy Horse Memorial. This memorial is one of kind and it’s just in its beginning stages. Like Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial is cut out of the face of a mountain. But, the size and detail going into this memorial puts Mount Rushmore to shame. When finished, the memorial will be of the head and torso of Crazy Horse as he sits upon his horse. Only the horse’s head and neck will be included. Right now, on the face of Crazy Horse is completed and they are working on the horse’s head. To give you an idea of the size of this memorial, the entire Mount Rushmore carving can fit into the head of Crazy Horse. The project began in the 1940s and is completely privately funded due to the creators’ desire to not accept federal funding because of their belief that the money should come from people who truly care for Crazy Horse and other Native Americans. While it may not ever be completed in my lifetime, I feel blessed to have seen it and added my support to the project. I hung around the memorial until nightfall as each night there is a laser light show. The light show was pretty incredible as it projected lasers onto the mountainside for over 45 minutes telling the history about Crazy Horse and Native Americans.

The next morning I packed up my camp and made my way to Custer State Park, just a few miles north of Wind Cave National Park. I then decided to hike to Harney Peak, the highest peak east of the Rockies and west of the Pyrenees in Europe. It’s hard to imagine the force the earth generated to force the earth to reach towards the heavens in the flatland dominated landscape of western South Dakota. The view from the top was a panoramic view of the Black Hills and surrounding areas. After the hike, I drove the Wildlife Loop of Custer State Park and then accessed Iron Mountain Road that leads to Mount Rushmore. Iron Mountain Road was an engineering marvel when it was built and it still amazes those that drive it. There are three tunnels that pass through the mountainside and each is situated so that as you pass through you are treated to a view of the four presidents carved into the granite. Like the Crazy Horse Memorial, Mount Rushmore has a night program, albeit not close to the level of the latter. The night program consisted of a ranger talk about the construction of the mountain and a brief history as to why Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt were included in the carving. It ended with lights illuminating the massive structure.

Badlands, South Dakota

I made it to Badlands National Park in South Dakota early in the afternoon. After finding a campsite and getting the tent up, I checked out the visitor center and its short video on the area. I then ate dinner at the lodge next door before driving out to the Pinnacles viewpoint to watch the sun set over the ancient ocean that now comprises a large part of the national park. The views were impressive and reminded me of Valle de la Luna near San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.

I woke early the next morning in hopes of watching the sunrise at an area called “The Doors”. Unfortunately my phone battery died during the night and that was my alarm. Luckily my internal alarm got me up just a little after sunrise, around 5:40am. I quickly made my way to The Doors Trail where I hiked just over a half mile out on the precarious fin like protrusions that made up the surface of the mesa. It was worth my time as I was finally treated to soft sunlight illuminating a landscape filled with cliffs, ravines, valleys, and towers. I did a few more short hikes before returning to the lodge for a buffet breakfast (fantastic French toast). With belly full I returned to my campsite, packed up, and headed West through the park to explore a little more before jumping back on the highway to go to Wind Cave National Park in the southwest corner of the state.

Because of frequent picture opportunities along the way, I did not make it to Wind Cave until about 3:30 in the afternoon. After establishing a campsite I went to the Visitor Center where I signed up for the Wild Cave Tour that requires that I be willing (and able) to crawl through spaces no more than 10 inches wide. I guess its time to suck in the gut. Exhausted from driving and hiking, I relaxed the rest of the day in my campsite writing this and watching families of deer rummage through bags around my neighbors’ tents…maybe I should do something.

Chicago

On Sunday I arrived at my friend’s new place in Chicago early in the evening. I was staying with my friend from Duke, Dave West, and his wife, Heather, in their new 2 bedroom condo that is within minutes of the lakefront as well as Wrigley. Heather’s sister and her husband (Mia and Alex) came over and we all sat on the roof top deck to have dinner and take in the site of the setting sun behind a cathedral’s spire just blocks away. Before going to bed I ran down to my car to grab my toothbrush where I found the back 2 windows on the passenger side smashed in. I could tell whoever did it had been looking through the car, but nothing seemed to be gone on first glance. Thankfully I had taken my camera and computer into Dave’s condo.

I spent the next 4 days getting to know the city I had only visited briefly before. However, before getting on to that, I scheduled an appointment for someone to come fix the windows on the car…it would be for tomorrow. On Monday, Dave took a sick day and we spent it having lunch with Heather (we picked up Potbelly subs…they’re excellent…you’ve got to try the “Wreck”) in a park and then taking a river boat architecture tour of the city. It truly is remarkable what Chicago has done. It boats some of the world tallest structures and displays designs encompassing nearly every possible style imaginable. Afterwards we briefly explored the amphitheater and “the bean” in Millennium Park.

I spent the first part of the day waiting for my car to get fixed. I then broke out the mountain bike for the first time on the trip. I headed down to the lakefront area and then headed south passing several beaches, the famous fountain (it’s in the beginning credits of Married With Children), the Navy Pier, Millennium Park, the Chicago Art Institute, and the Field Museum until I came to the aquarium. At the aquarium I found out about the Chicago City Pass that would get me into all the museums I wanted to see for a discount price. As it was nearly closing time at the aquarium I decided to return the following day and start my museum tour. That night Dave, Heather, and I went down the street from their place to Jack’s to meet a fellow San Diegan, Andrew Kaplan. We treated ourselves to several rounds of the finest (and most alcoholic) Belgian beer I have had to date.

I biked back to the aquarium, thankful that I had brought a towel in my backpack since I had sweated through my clothes. After spending a few minutes air drying, I entered my first museum in Chi town. I spent the next 3.5 hours wandering the enormous building and its thousands of fish, sharks, reptiles, and other fascinating creatures. This aquarium is like no other I have ever been to. Running low on time for another museum I managed to pull myself away from aquarium and headed to the planetarium. While not nearly the experience that the aquarium was, the planetarium was interesting and had some great hands-on exhibits…so most of them were for kids…there was no sign with age limits. Wednesday night Dave and I met Alex at a famous hot dog place where I was introduced to a “true Chicago hot dog” – mustard, neon green relish, tomatoes, onions, and two large pickles.

Thursday morning I once again biked down the lakefront. Today I found myself at the Field Museum. In addition to the normal exhibits, the museum had two additional presentations: mythic creatures and natural disasters. The mystic creatures exhibit focused on the origins of infamous creatures like unicorns, dragons, Bigfoot, and the Phoenix. The natural disasters area was fascinating and horrifying. It was broken down into 3 sections (hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornados), each displaying a video of their respective disasters. This included video from Katrina, the tsunami in Thailand, and several earthquakes in San Fran. The most remarkable part of the exhibit was the video that allowed us to see directly into a tornado. A man created a conical shaped piece of equipment that housed 5 cameras pointing in different directions that could be placed in the path of a tornado. The captured images showed a tornado approaching and then engulfing the multi-eyed camera. I also explored the museum’s regular exhibits of the dinosaurs, mammals, and birds.

I decided to finally get out of Chicago on Friday afternoon, but before doing so I got on my bike on last time in this city and returned to Millennium Park where I could take some additional pictures of “the bean”. I then made my way to the Chicago Art Institute. I spent about 2 hours there examining one of the greatest collections of paintings, sculptures, and other artifacts from throughout the world and throughout time. In order to try to beat the Friday afternoon traffic, I returned to Heather and Dave’s, gathered my gear, and headed out of town…with hopes of reaching South Dakota but really just going as far as I could on I-90 West. I made it as far as Fairmont, Minnesota before giving up and turning in for the night.

On the road again

I returned to San Diego from my travels in South America with a strong feeling of unrest. I decided to discontinue my employment at Digital Orchid, but did not have a definitive plan for myself, only knowing that I was not ready to hang up my traveling shoes. After a little deliberation I decided to pack up and head out on a little road trip across parts of the US that I have not seen or spent much time at. And, it works out fairly well as I have a family reunion in Missouri (July 10-13) and my little brother's wedding outside Seattle (August 9).

I left July 5th for Los Angeles. I spent one night there before jumping in my car and making my way to the south west corner of Utah and Zion National Park. Zion was incredible. It reminded me of the quebrada near Salta, Argentina. Zion is filled with towering sandstone cliffs that rise up to over 10,000 feet above sea level. I spent my time in Zion doing several hikes throughout the park, visiting Angels Landing, the Emerald Pools, Riverside Walk, and the Canyon Overlook. I only spent one night in Zion as I was a bit pressed to make it to Missouri in time for a family reunion.

I left Zion mid-morning on July 7th and started heading east towards Arches National Park on the other side of Utah. I made a slow drive of it, passing through several national parks along the way to take pictures and enjoy the unimaginable beauty that this amazing planet has supplied. I drove through Bryce Canyon and Capital Reef National Parks before arriving in Moab, Utah. My late start and constant stops along the way prevented me from arriving at Arches in time to get a camping spot, so I stayed the night in a tiny motel in Moab. I woke early on July 8th and was able to secure camp site #6 inside Arches. After setting up my tent, I headed out to explore the park and the natural wonders that gave this place its name. I spent the majority of the day visiting the natural landmarks of Broken Arch, Fiery Furnace, Sand Dune Arch, and the area known as The Windows. In the afternoon I decided to hike to Delicate Arch to watch the sunset. I, along with about 50 other adventurers, were treated to a remarkable sunset over the red sandstone rocks and expansive valleys surrounding the area.

I woke early on July 9th to hike through Devil's Garden and watch the sun rise over two incredible natural arches: Landscape and Double-O. It was an incredible experience watching the world wake up like this, with the sun throwing its rays across the sky to light up these natural bridges. I spent several hours in this area, enjoying the sight of the canvas of rocks, cliffs, and valleys coming to life with vibrant colors. Upon exiting the Devil's Garden I made my way to Balanced Rock, a 3500 ton rock sitting on a thin tower of sandstone. I had to be in Missouri the next day, so I decided to begin making my way back out the park to start the long drive east. Before leaving the park, though, I stopped at the Petrified Dunes, the Courthouse Towers, Sheep Rock, and Park Avenue for a few more pictures and a last look at the natural beauty sweeping across the landscape.

I then left the park and jumped on I-70 East towards Colorado. My initial plans included stops in Colorado to see several friends, but with time running short, I pressed on passed Colorado and into the barren landscape of Kansas. After driving 12+ hours, I finally called in quits in Salina, Kansas, where I stayed for the night.

Back in Guayaquil

Sunday, June 15

First, Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. I flew from Isla Baltra in the Galapagos back to Guayaquil today. I can't say I was excited to leave the Galapagos, but it had to be done. I was lucky enough to spend over two weeks out there and will treasure that time for the rest of my life.

Back in Guayaquil I met up with Greg and Alice who I had met on Isla Isabella in the Galapagos. We had a few beers together and watched Ecuador take on Argentina in a World Cup qualifying match. Ecuador was up one goal until Argentina scored with less than a minute to go in injury time. It would have been a huge win for Ecuador, but they definitely showed they can compete. Liga de Quite takes on Fluminense from Brazil on June 25th in the first match of the Copa Libertadores final and an Ecuadorian team has never won the cup, so keep an eye out if you are interested in fútbol.

I booked my bus to get to Quito for tomorrow morning. Unfortunately they have no direct buses, except on Sundays, so it will be interesting. It is supposed to take 9-10 hours, so I hopefully will make it to Quito sometime tomorrow. I have no idea what kind of bus I'll be on, but is was only $9 so I'm not expecting much. I will then leave Tuesday afternoon to fly back to the states. It has been a great run for me here down in South America and couldn't have met better people.

As promised, here is a link to learn more about the Sharkwater film I saw a few days ago in the Galapagos: http://www.sharkwater.com/. I would again encourage you all to watch it if you can as it will open your eyes to the destruction we are causing to sharks and other marine animals. I would also ask you all to visit Sea Shepherd's website (http://www.seashepherd.org/) to learn how you can help protect sharks and other animals in the ocean that are vital to our existence. Watching Sharkwater and spending over two weeks in the Galapagos has changed me and I hope to contribute to the cause of saving our oceans as soon as I return to the states. And, I hope I can encourage others to do the same.

Final Days in the Galapagos

Saturday, June 14

It was not easy getting up at 5:45am for my last dive in the Galapagos, but I did it. With a wicked headache, I joined up with the rest of the dive group and headed back to Gordon Rocks. As we jumped in the water for our first dive, I could tell it was going to be a much different day from my last dive at Gordon Rocks. The current was incredible strong and the swells were creating large waves that threw me and the rest of the divers all over the place. I happened to be in a spot with a very strong up-current as well, so I had to fight to get below the surface...I ended up using a fourth of my tank just getting down to 20m. The current remained incredibly strong below the surface as well, which forced us to alter our dive plan and swim outside of the rock formations, which prevented us from seeing any hammerheads or other sharks. Because of the conditions, we moved our second dive to Plaza Sur where we had a nice, relaxing dive. We got to see a large marble ray (probably about 2m across), a large scorpion fish, a group of three eagle rays, and lots of fish. While it wasn't how I wanted to end my diving experience in the Galapagos, I can't really complain as I had 3 great days of diving before today.

I leave tomorrow morning to return to the mainland of Ecuador. I will hopefully be staying the night in Guayaquil so I can see the first match of the finals for the Copa Libertadores between Liga de Quito and Fluminense. I will then try to catch a morning bus on Monday to get to Quito, where I have my flight back to the US on Tuesday afternoon.


Friday, June 13

I spent most of the day on Friday at a nice beach just outside of town. It was a nice relaxing day. In the afternoon I went out to Bill's boat, Fuerte, to join him and the rest of the crew for a few drinks. We then all had dinner on shore. Bill, Julia, Will, and Alan are heading off to Isabella in the morning, so this was my last chance to seem them. Bill, Julia, and Will called it an early night after dinner, but Alan and I bee lined it for Limon y Cafe for a few more drinks before he had to set sail. I was scheduled for my last dive in the morning, so I was hoping not to stay out late or drink too much...easier said then done. Alan was able to convince to stay with him and continue our drinking escapades until the bar closed...around 2am.


Thursday, June 12

I took the morning boat back to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz. I then spent a good part of the day getting photos uploaded and hacking away on the internet. In the evening, I went to the Charles Darwin Center to see a movie called Sharkwater. The movie was made to bring to light the shark killings that are happening world wide and the problems it is and will cause to our environment. It was an incredible film and I would strongly encourage everyone to see it and tell their friends about it. I will find more information about how you can see it and will post that shortly. After the film I met up with a friend of my parents' who had sailed their boat from the British Virgin Islands to the Galapagos, Bill Strong. Unfortunately his wife, Shelby, had to return to the US and wasn't able to join him for the Galapagos leg of their travels. But, I had dinner with Bill, Julia (the chef on board), Will (Julia's husband the captain of the boat), and Alan (a South African friend of Julia and Will who was joining them on the boat for a few months). It was great catching up with all of them and hearing about their travels through the Panama Canal.

Isla Isabella, Galapagos

Wednesday, June 11

Greg and Alice left on the 6am boat back to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz this morning, so I had no more friends to hang out with. I decided to check out the various sights on the island that I had missed. I began the long walk (about 6km each way) to Muro de las Lagrimas (Wall of Tears) that was created by prisoners who used to be kept on Isla Isabella. Along the way I made several stops at sights. La Playita and Paya del Amor were two picturesque beaches filled with iguanas and a few herrons. Los Tunos was brackish-water lagoon. Tunel del Estero was a cave right near the shore filled with salt water and tons of crabs. Pozo Redonda was another brackish-water lagoon, but it had crabs I had not seen before on the Galapagos. These crabs had one giant claw while the other claw was tiny. El Estero was a little beach in the middle of a mangrove forest, but the unique thing was the poisonous trees. My next stop was Muro de las Lagrimas. There really isn't a lot to see here, but I did spot a giant tortoise. I guess he was wondering what all the fuss about the "wall of tears" was too. As I was headed back to town, I stopped to climb up to the viewpoint from Cerro Orchilla. As I was climbing the stairs, I tripped and dropped my camera. While it was only about a 2 foot fall for the camera, it seems to have done enough damage to prevent it from turning on again. So, my pictures from this trek could be my last. I am not happy with myself right now.

Tomorrow morning I will board the 6am boat back to Santa Cruz. I am hoping to meet up with my parents' friends who have finally arrived. They sailed their boat from the Bahamas to the Galapagos and arrived on Tuesday morning. I then may also try to get another dive or two in before I finally leave on Sunday for the mainland of Ecuador.


Tuesday, June 10

Tuesday morning I decided to do a guided tour up to the Sierra Negra volcanoe. As we started our drive to the starting point of the tour the clouds moved in and rain began to drizzle. Our group, 16 people, jumped on horses and began the 1 hour or so ride up to the crater of Sierra Negra. The horses had been ridden by tons of tourists and it became obvious when they would not respond to any commands. But, with the help of our guides, we made it to the crater. However, we could not see a thing. The clouds had completely engulfed us and as we stared over the edge of the rim, we could see nothing but thick, white for. We then hiked down the north side of the volcanoe towards Volcanoe Chico, a small parasitic volcanoe that was formed when all of the magma could not escape from the maid eruption site. During this hour long hike the fog did clear for a bit and we could see down to the shore. We also saw amazing lava formations, lava tubes, and colors created from the different eruptions.

After the volcanoe, I met up with Greg, Alice, and a few others to go snorkeling at Las Tintoreras, just off the southern shores of Isabella. We were told that this was a good place to snorkel with white tipped reef sharks. Unfortunately, we did not see any white tips, but we did get to snorkel with about 15 sea lions and 20+ penguins. After not seeing any sharks, we headed into a lagoon surrounded by mangroves where all these sea lions and penguins were hunting for their dinner. They had no problem with us being there and the sea lions seemed to really enjoy our presence as they played and swam all around us for more than 30 minutes.

Isla Santa Cruz...continued

Monday, June 9

I woke up early on Monday to go to the AeroGal ticketing office to see about changing my flight from the Galapagos back to the mainland of Ecuador. I was successful and moved my flight to the upcomng Sunday, June 15. Afterwards, I met up with 2 Canadian girls I had met on the island, Julie and Laurie, and headed to Las Grietas. Las Grietas is a small channel of water between to cliffs (like a canyon) that is filled with brackish water...fresh water from the highlands and salt water from the ocean. The real reason people go here is to cliff jump. There are several spots on the cliffs where you can leap from, depending on how high you want to go. I started the day with a back flip from the lower ledge, about 8 feet above the water. That did not satisfy me, though, so I made my to the top of cliffs where the water was about 45 feet below. The tough part about going this high here is that the landing area is not big...the safe landing area is only about 10 long, so you have to be careful about not jumping out too far or not jumping out far enough. A group of locals had just showed up when I was about to jump, so I did not have a lot of choice as to whether or not I was going to do it. I jumped and about mid way down I realized that I may have jumped out a bit too far. I ended up landing about 2 feet from the far wall, but was safe. However, Julie had failed to get a good picture, so I decided I needed to go again. My second jump was much better, but I did not trust Julie to take the picture, so Laurie was in charge. Hopefully her pics will come out better.

Then, at 2pm, I caught a speed boat to Isla Isabella. It was about a 2.5 hour trip through some of the roughest waters I have ever been on. Three minutes into the trip we had one guy vomiting off the side of the boat. Not a good sign. And, lucky me, I had the seat at the back of the boat and was continually get sprayed and dripped on. But, we all made it safely to Isabella.


Sunday, June 8

Today I was doing the most difficult and demanding of the Galapagos Islands, Gordon Rocks. Gordon Rocks is located on the east side of Santa Cruz and is known for its strong currents, but also for its sightings of hammerhead sharks. Sunday was quite rough on the water and the current was strong below the surface. We spent about 30 minutes underwater for our first dive, but saw no hammerheads...just sea lions, white tipped reef sharks, and lots of fish. For our second dive we decided to go to the same spot and look some more for the elusive hammerheads. During this dive we got to see a sea lion hunting, which turned into one of the more memorable moments during my diving in the Galapagos. The sea lion caught a large fish in its mouth and immediately blood began spilling from the kill. The white tipped reef sharks nearby quickly picked up the scent and chased after the sea lion. I'm guessing the sea lion made it out of the water with its kill, but they went quickly out of our view. With about 4 minutes of air left in our tanks before we had to head up for our safety stop, we were hanging on to a group of rocks where the current was very strong. After a few moments there, we were treated to the sight we were all waiting for...a small group of hammerhead sharks. There were about 6 or 7 of them and we got to watch them for a few minutes before we had to make our way to the surface. What a sight! Hammerheads have to be some of the strangest looking creatures on this planet and they are a wonder to watch and see in person.


Saturday, June 7

I woke up early Saturday morning to meet up for my dive to Beagle Rocks, a small group of rocks just south of Isla Santiago. This dive site is not listed on any of the dive maps at the shops on Santa Cruz and our dive master, Yen, said it is off the beaten path but a great spot. It turned out to be just as he said. The first dive was pedestrian as we saw some white tipped reef sharks, turtles, and loads of fish. During our time between dives we were snorkeling near the southern edge of the rocks and spotted two giant manta rays. Yen thought they were about 4 meters wide. Because of the thick wetsuits we were wearing, it was nearly impossible to dive down very far to get close to them. But, the manta rays continued circling the area for the next 20 minutes, so I got to see them several times and get within a few meters of them. For our second dive, we started along the wall of the rock where we had seen the manta rays and slowly made our way to the shallow area where the mantas had been circling. We were lucky enough to spot one of the manta rays again, although only briefly. Seeing those manta rays, I think, was the highlight of my diving career. Those animals are just so beautiful and graceful in the water.

For dinner I met up with 3 Canadian girls who I had met on the island. We ate one of their apartments. I ended up getting into an argument with them about introduced species on the islands. One of the girls is living on the islands and is working at the Charles Darwin Center. One of the things that the islands are trying to do is rid the area of introduced species, especially those that are killing indemic animals. This girl adopted 2 cats while living on Santa Cruz, and I made the the mistake of asking her if that was a conflict of interest, as the Darwin Center was trying to rid the islands of animals like cats. I was then bereated for the next little while for my question...I was told that I was only a tourist and didn't understand the problem or the solutions for it. I definitely didn't make new friends that night. Good times!

Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos

Friday, June 6

On Friday, the whole group (Niels, Jamey, Jodi, Jessica, and me) took a day trip to Bartolome for some hiking and snorkeling. The hike up to the top of the volcano was easy and it provided some remarkable views. We then went snorkeling for a little over an hour. The snorkeling here was fantastic. We got to swim right up to penguins, sea lions, and white tipped reef sharks.

Friday night was my last with my travel companions and really the last time I would see them here in South America since I schedule another dive that was leaving early Saturday morning. The last month or so was great...in large part to the company of Jodi and Jessica. Its going to be strange not traveling with them...even if I only have about 2 weeks left. They are heading to Buenos Aires and then they are off to tackly Africa on June 16th. Good luck Legal Nomads!!


Thursday, June 5

Niels and I met up with our dive group at 6:30am and headed to the far side of the island where we would get on our dive boat. We had a 2 hour boat trip to reach the first dive site, Cousins. Cousins is a small, rocky island just off the coast of Isla San Salvador and is supposed to be great site for lots of fish and sea horses. We did see tons of fish, white tipped reef sharks, and some sea turtles, but had no luck with the sea horses. And, unfortunately, Niels ran into some problems and was unable to make the dive. The first dive lasted about an hour at a depth of 20m. After returning to the boat, we had a snack and snorkeled around a bit before moving to our next dive site off Isla Bartolome. Our second dive of the day was nice. There was tons of fish and I spotted a few moray eels. We also got to see eagle rays, sea turtles, and more white tipped reef sharks. I think I also saw a 6 or 7 foot Galapagos shark just before heading up for my safety stop. The highlight of the dive, though, was a quick spotting of a hammerhead shark.



Wednesday, June 4

We spent the majority of Wednesday at Bahia Tortuga. The bay is about a 40 minute walk from town and when we arrived, we stepped onto a pristine white beach that was being pounded by waves. We walked to the far end of the beach where mangroves lined the water and where several iguanas were hanging out. We then made our way to a smaller beach that was in an area completely protected from the surf. I spent the day walking around the area and doing a little bit of snorkeling. After returning to Puerto Ayora, Niels and I booked a dive trip for the following day. We will be heading to Cousins and Bartolome, which is supposed to be one of the best dive sites that can be done in the area.

Galapagos Tour - Day 5

Tuesday, June 3
We woke up early Tuesday morning to go to the Charles Darwin Center on the island. The center was a little disappointing, but we got to see several giant tortoises and the famous Lonely George. Lonely George is the last giant tortoise of his species in existence. They have placed him in a pen with several female tortoises of a similar species, but he refuses to mate with them. So, it looks like he will be the last tortoise of his species ever to live on this planet. It is amazing how old he looks. After the Darwin Center our boat group had its last meal together. We happened to also have breakfast with a group of doctors who were volunteering on the island. They were all dressed up in clown outfits and we couldn't figure out why until one of the younger doctors refered to the apparent leader of the group as "Patch". It turns out it was Patch Adams and he was just as goofy as I would have imagined.

After breakfast, I said goodbye to most of the boat travelers...all except Jessica, Jodi, Jamey, and Neils, who would be staying on the island for a bit longer. We all checked back into the hostel we had stayed the night before and then decided to check out part of the island. In the afternoon we rented bikes and hired a taxi to drive us and our bikes up to the highlands area of the island. We first went to a tortoise sanctuary where we could walk around a protected area with giant tortoises live. We then made our way back to the entrance of the sanctuary where there were 2 giant tortoise shells were kept. We took turns climbing into the giant shells and making complete fools of ourselves.

The next activity for the day was exploring one of the lava tubes that was created during the formation of the island. The lave tube we visited was over 2km long...although we only had time to explore the first kilometer. The tube itself was enormous...probably about 10 meters wide and 15 meters tall. Once we finished exploring the lava tubes, we rode our bikes the 9km or so back down to Puerto Ayora. We capped the day off by watching the Copa Libertadores semi-final match between Liga de Quito and America. The game ended in a 0-0 draw, but because of the point system, Liga de Quito won and will be playing in the finals. This is the first time an Ecuadorian team has ever been in the finals of the Copa Libertadores, so the island's inhabitants were understandably ecstatic.

It is great to be back on dry (and stable) land again. While the Friendship boat was in desperate need of a tune-up, I had a great time on our boat tour and am very happy that I did it. The group on board was fantastic and I know I will stay in touch with many people I met during the previous 4 days. For anyone interest in doing a boat tour on the Galapagos, I would highly recommend it. I would also be happy to provide any recommendations for booking a trip and what boat to take or areas to see, so please contact me if I can help.

Galapagos Tour - Day 4

Monday, June 2
We arrived just off Puenta Cormorant on Isla Floreana in the morning to a gorgeous sunrise and about a dozen black tipped reef sharks swimming around our stern. After breakfast we went onto the island to explore. We landed on a quiet protected beach that had brown sand with a green and red tint to it. This beach, because it is protected from the waves, gets it sand from the nearby moutains, so it takes on the color of its surroundings. From the beach, we headed inland to a large lagoon that was home to several flamingos. From there, we made our way to the other side of the island where there was a pristine white beach that is known as a popular spot for nesting turtles. The beach itself was littered with small sand balls that come from the resident ghost crabs. As the crabs search for food in the sand, they create these tiny balls and deposit them all around their holes. We also spotted several sting rays in the shallows of the ocean and in the tide pools. We then returned to the beach where we landed and were treated to a show put on by two sea lions pups who were wrestling in the shallows.

After boarding the boat, we made a quick trip to Corona Del Diablo, a formation of rocks just off the coast of Floreana. We snorkeled here for about an hour. It was incredible. We started by snorkeling completely around the rock formations where we spotted a few reef sharks and hundreds of thousands of fish. I then made my way into the middle of the formation where the water average about 3 or 4 meters deep and was several degrees warmer. Here I found 2 more sea lions who played with me for about 10 minutes. I also found several underwater caves that I could swim through that would take me back outside the rock formation. I tried taking pictures with a disposable underwater camera, so I hope they come out. The views going through these caves was remarkable. I was then reluctantly forced out of the water by the boat crew and we made out way back to the boat.

Our next stop was Post Office Bay, also on Floreana. Post Office Bay is aptly named for the "post office" that was established there in the early 1800s. It is actually just a box where mail can be dropped off and it will then be delivered by the next person to arrive on the island who happens to be traveling to the destination spot of the addressed letter. We all rifled through stacks of postcards and I picked up 8 that I will put postage on and mail when I return to the states. Just beyond the "post office" was a small lave tube that we were allowed to investigate.

We then boarded the boat for the final time. Before getting going, I needed a water break and quickly climbed to the boat to do a few flips into the water. We then set sail for Isla Santa Cruz where we would be spending the night on land. It was about a 6.5 hour trip, but the sea was much calmer today and provided for a fairly nice ride. We arrived in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz around 6:30pm and had our last meal onboard. Our group was then ferried onto the land (they actually had us where life vests for the first time in the dingy...must have some regulations in Puerto Ayora) and put up in the Lirio Del Mar hostel. From there we made our way to one of the two bars in the area, Cafe y Limon, where we celebrated our survival of the trip and spent our last night together as the Friendship group.

Galapagos Tour - Day 3

Sunday, June 1
We arrived safely to Española early on Sunday morning and had breakfast in Gardener Bay. We then hit the island for some hiking where we mostly saw sea lions sprawled out on a beautiful white sand beach. We also ran into Jon and Lucy here and saw the gorgeous boat they had managed to book...the Anahi catamaran, which came complete with a jacuzzi in the back of the boat. After a bit of hiking, I hit the water for some snorkeling. I headed out to a rock about 150 metes off the beach where I got to swim with several sea lions. The sea lions were incredibly playful and would hang around for about 5 minute stretches before getting bored with my obviously poorer water skills. But, I would run into more sea lions every few minutes. On the side of the rock furthest from the beach there were incredible schools of fish. It was incredible to dive down and swim through them as the school would completely surround me.

After snorkeling we all loaded back up on the boat, ate lunch, and then headed to Punta Suarez on another part of Española. We hike for about 2 hours here and got to get within inches of crabs, colorful marine iguanas (as opposed to the all black iguanas we had been seeing previously), sea lions, the largest species of the lava lizards, nazca boobies, blue-footed boobies, mocking birds, Galapagos hawks, and the albatross. The albatross here are the only colony of the birds anywhere in the Galapagos. They were absolutely gorgeous. Its funny to see how beautifully they could fly only to watch them minutes later awkwardly trying to walk on land. The blue-footed boobies and albatross were in their mating and nesting period, so we got to see the different "dances" the birds would do in order to attract a mate. The blue-footed boobies are absolutely ridiculous to watch as they perform their "dance". We also got to see a fairly large blow hole that would spray water several meters in the air when large waves hit the rocks.

After eating dinner back on the boat, we started toward Isla Floreana. It was another long ride and the water once again did not permit for a night of smooth sailing. I tried sitting on the top deck for a while, but was being thrown around so much that I couldn't last long. We also found out that this would be our last night on the boat. The boat was going into to dry dock for repairs, a paint job, and a cockroach cleaning...I guess we were on the last boat trip on this particular vessel before the high season starts here, so we were lucky enough to have the boat in its worse possible condition.

Galapagos Tour - Day 2

Saturday, May 31
The day started off with a 5am cruise to Plaza Sur, a tiny island just off the east coast of Santa Cruz. We had breakfast at 7am and then headed on to the island. We were greeted by what has locally been dubbed the "Welcoming Committee", which consists of about 30 sea lion pubs and their mothers. It was as if they were trying to impress us as we pull the dingy up to the makeshift rocky landing, playfully swimming all around the boat and wrestling with one another. We stepped onto the island and had to literally walk around sun bathing sea lions and marine iguanas. From the docking area, we walked up the coast looking at tons of sea lions, lava lizards, marine iguanas, and land iguanas. Plaza Sur is the only place in the Galapagos Islands where the marine iguanas inter breed with land iguanas due to their close proximity. We then made our made to the far side of the island where a group of bachelor sea lions had made a home on top of the cliffs over looking the Pacific Ocean...along with hundreds of frigate birds and swallow tailed gulls. Here I also got my first glimpse of a blue-footed boobie. As we were leaving the island, the "Welcoming Committee" came out again in full force. Twenty or so sea lion pups followed our dingy around for a few minutes doing their best imitation of dolphins.

Once back on board the Friendship, we headed to Isla Santa Fe for lunch and more exploring. Santa Fe is just off the southeast coast of Santa Cruz. After lunch, and before heading onto the island for some hiking, we needed a water break so a couple of us climbed up to the top deck and did our best to impress one another with dives and flips from the boat. Once on Santa Fe, we saw hundreds of sea lions, lava lizards, Darwin finches, mocking birds, and a forest of Opuntia cacti. We were hoping to spot some land iguanas that can only be found on Santa Fe, but had no luck. The mocking birds were incredibly fearless...I would never had imagined a bird would dare get this close to humans on purpose, yet there they were, coming right up to us and chirping in hopes of getting into our water bottles or finding a scrap of food. After about an hour of hiking we got to jump in the water for some much needed cooling off and another chance to snorkel. Here I saw my first Galapagos sea turtle as well as more eagle rays and thousands of fish, most of which were clumped together in schools so large and dense it seemed like I would never pass through.

We spent our second night on the boat on the move...a 6 hour trip from Santa Fe to Española...that was not for the weak of stomach. I'm not sure whether it was the boat or the sea, but it was a fight to stand upright or remain on the top bunk for much of the night.

Galapagos Tour - Day 1

Friday, May 30
I flew from Guayaquil to Isla Baltra in the morning. Jodi, Jessica, and I met our guide and several other people who would be joining us on our boat once we arrived on the island. We then gathered our belongings and made the quick drive out to the docks to board the Friendship boat that would be our home for the next 4 nights. When we arrived on the docks, we were greeted by several sea lions and iguanas who had made the area the home. It was my first introduction to the animal life here and it was just like I had heard...the animals have absolutely no fear of humans and you can get right up next to them with no fear of being attacked or them scrambling away. The boat was more or less what I was expecting for what I had paid...it was old, small, and over flowing with cockroaches. But, I got a great feeling from the group I would be traveling with and was ready to get started. Our group consisted of 3 Americans, 1 Canadian, 1 Brit, 1 Dutch, 2 Israelis, 1 Chinese, 1 Brazilian, and 6 Ecuadorians.

Once we had all 16 passengers on board (plus 7 crew), we headed out to Isla Santa Cruz for Playa Bachas. Here we got our first real taste of animal life on the islands. We saw tons of crabs, pelicans, frigate birds, marine iguanas, and a lagoon with a few flamingos. After hiking around the island for a bit, I was able to strap on my fins, mask, and snorkel and get a glimpse at underwater life in these secluded islands. The snorkeling was not great, but I did get to see tons of fish (including parrot and puffer) and a few eagle rays.

After about 40 minutes of snorkeling we all re-boarded the boat and headed out to Itabaca Channel between Santa Cruz and Baltra to spend the night. We had an incredible sunset and enjoyed it from the top deck of the boat. I then got to spend my first night on the boat (I had the top bunk...with about 10 inches of space between the mattress and ceiling) and tried to sleep despite the noise coming from the engine room and other creaking spaces of the ancient boat.

Baños

Thursday, May 29
I spent Thursday getting some more last minute things for the Galapagos trip (a new pair of board shorts, some food, and lots of alcohol). We are flying out tomorrow morning at 10am and are supposed to be on the boat by 1pm. After our 5 day trip on the boat, I will be spending an additional 4 days on the islands to do some more hiking, snorkeling, and diving.

Wednesday, May 28
We awoke Wednesday morning to much of the same weather...overcast with a good potential for rain. Yet again, despite the forecast, Jodi and I decided to rent bikes again and head further away from Baños to see more waterfalls that we had missed the previous day. We headed out and when we came to the bridge jumping spot, Jodi spoke with the operator and they let her have her go since she had paid for it the previous day. From there, we headed on down the road to a waterfall where we could take a cable car across the river and pass directly over the waterfall. There were 3 other people in our cable car and they were all from the states...Chris, Jose, and Megan. We got to talking and decided to head off together to see some of the other waterfalls.

The next stop was Pailon del Diablo, which, according to signs along the way, is the 8th wonder of the world. While the waterfall was impressive, I don't think it will make the list. However, there was a new set of balconies that gave people access to close up views of the waterfall and even let you go behind the falls. The only catch was that you had to basically crawl on your hands and knees beneath rocks (not good for claustrophic people) for a few minutes to access the balconies. We then headed on to Machay waterfall.

We capped the day off by watching the other Copa Libertadore semi-final match between Boca (Argentina) and Fluminense (Brazil) which also ended in a tie, 2-2. Jodi, Jessica, and I then headed to the bus terminal to catch an 11pm overnight bus back to Guayaquil. We decided to go with a different bus company, as they promised a better bus and direct service with no stops. They lied! First, the bus did not even show up until 12:30am. Second, the bus was remarkable worse than the first. The seats were so close together that I could not sit with my legs in front of me...instead I had to stick them out in the aisle. My seat would not recline...at least it wouldn't lock in a reclined position, so it was like sitting on a see-saw. Finally, it was not direct...we must have made 12 stops on the way. But, we all survived and pulled into Guayaquil at 6:30am.

Tuesday, May 27
We made it to Baños around 8am. It was not great weather. There were clouds hovering over all the mountains and it looked like rain was coming. But, despite that forecast, we all decided to rent bikes and attempt canyoning. Jodi and I also signed up for bridge jumping, which is similar to bungee jumping, but there is no give to the chord and it is more like pendulum swinging. The bike ride started off fine and we got some great views of the mountains and some waterfalls. After about an hour of biking, we met up with a crew to go canyoning. We jumped in a car and drove about 5 minutes to our staging point were we proceeded to put on wet suits and harness for the excursion. Canyoning is basically repelling down watefalls, so we were all required to wear helmets and knee pads to attempt to prevent injury. Our guide, Franklin (a 20 year old Baños firefighter) then led us on a 25 minute hike where we could start our adventure. We each got to practice on a small 12 foot boulder and then jumped right into the waterfalls. It was fantastic! We repelled down 5 different falls, the tallest being 35m high.

After we finished canyoning, we returned to the bridge where we had met the canyoning crew. It was this bridge where I would attempt the bridge jumping...Jodi had decided not to go at this time as she was incredible cold from canyoning and it had started to absolutely pour, so it wasn't exactly the ideal conditions for bridge jumping. However, since I was there, I decided to go ahead with it. Like bungee jumping, it is quite a rush standing on the edge of bridge looking down. The first few seconds are identical to bungee jumping...basically throwing yourself face first off a high place...but then you just swing back and forth beneath the bridge for a few minutes before you are lowered to the ground. For $15 it was worth it.

We finished the day by returning to Baños and watching the Copa Libertadores semi-final match between Liga de Quito (Ecuador) and America (Mexico), which ended in a disappointing tie (1-1).

Monday, May 26
We were able to meet up with Jon and Lucy for an incredible dinner (El Toro Asado) last night. Monday was spent buying a couple things for the Galapagos trip and then Jodi, Jessica, and I headed to the bus terminal to purchase overnight bus tickets to Baños. We figure since we have a few days to spare, why not check out a few other places in Ecuador. We hoped on what was supposed to be a 11:30pm departing bus to Baños. However, the bus arrived late and didn't leave until close to 12:30am. And, on top of that, I have never been on a bus with a temperature like that one. For the first 3 hours sweat was literally pouring down my face and completely soaked all of my clothing. Each time I opened the window (which opened from the seat in front of me), the 10 year old Ecuadorian kid sitting in the row in front of me would shut it. I was ready to lose it....I don't do well in confined areas with extreme heat.

Guayaquil...continued

Sunday, May 25
In the morning I walked down to the Malecon Saltado, another revamped waterfront area of Guayaquil. While not nearly as stunning or interesting as Malecon 2000, it is nice to see that the city is making an effort to improve itself. I walked through a small estuary/wetlands area and got some interesting photos of the fauna. Jessica, Jodi, and I then made our way to Las Peñas and climbed the 444 stairs (in the 100% humidity) to see the lighthouse and get treated to some great views of Guayaquil.

We spent the rest of the day buying snorkels and masks for our Galapagos trip, investigating bus options to get up to Baños (a little south of Quito), and browsing the street markets of La Bahía...where I bought a new hat, which I desperately needed to keep my mane out of my face, and a Barcelona (one of Guayaquil's futbol teams) jersey.

We will hopefully be meeting up with Jon and Lucy, who I met in Patagonia, tonight for dinner. They are supposed to arrive on a bus tonight and will be heading out to see the Galapagos on Tuesday.

Guayaquil, Ecuador

Saturday, May 24
We spent most of the day trying to find agencies with Galapagos tours. However, we picked a bad weekend to do this as it is a national holiday and almost nothing is opened. But, we did managed to book a tour and we leave on Friday (May 30th) for a 5 day tour of the Galapagos. I can't wait. While we booked the economic class of tours, I am hoping we will be okay. We have read numerous reviews of our boat (Friendship) and while they are extremely mixed, the most recent reviews look positive and give me hope of having a great time. It is a 5 day tour and we will be visiting the islands of Baltras, Plaza, Santa Fe, Española, Santa María, Santa Cruz, and Bartolomé.

After booking our tour, we had a quick lunch and then visited Parque Bolivar, where the iguanas rule and run around like squirrels do in the US. It is quite a site. While the park is gated, there is nothing keeping the iguanas there, other than the pools of water, lucious grass, and abundance of food provided by visitors. But, you can get right up next to the iguanas and even touch them without any problems. The trees are even filled with them!

I heard from Jon and Lucy who I met down in Patagonia and they will be arriving here tomorrow night. We will then be treating ourselves to what is supposed to be the a fantastic meal at the only Argentinian steak house in Guayaquil. I doubt it will compare to Rick's, but I will have to reserve judgement until tomorrow.

Finally, I have decided to extend my travels a bit and will now be staying in South America until around June 18th. I do not have any set plans as of yet for after my Galapagos tour, but I think I will stay out on the islands for a while and do some additional snorkeling, diving, and hiking.

Friday, May 23
We caught an 8:30am bus from Mancora headed to Guayaquil, Ecuador. We had been told that the border crossing that we would be going through is the worst in South America, so we had chosen this particular bus because it got us to the border around noon and it also did not require us to walk across the actual border (which other bus companies did require). We arrived at the exit point for Peru and passed through without incident. Similarly, we had no problems entering Ecuador. I can see why would not want to be passing through the area at dark, but other than that, it was a pretty standard border.

We arrived in Guayaquil and set out to check out part of the city. We briefly explored Malecon, which is the newly reconstructed water front area. I was very impressed. The area was very clean and safe, and offered tons of small food stops. We then ventured to Las Peñas for dinner. Las Peñas is also new renovated and has tons of restaurants, bars, and small shops.

Mancora, Peru

Thursday, May 22
Will be spending my last full day in Mancora soaking in some more sun and updating my blog with pictures. Ben flies back to the states today. He had a great time in the Galapagos and passed on some tips for me...can't wait to get to the Galapagos Islands.

Wednesday, May 21
Relaxed on the beach for most of the day. Also purchased my bus ticket to go to Guayaquil, Ecuador. Should be an interesting 9 hour bus trip. The border crossing into Ecuador that we will be using is known as the worst border crossing in South America. Because of that, we are taking an 8am bus that will get us to the border around midday, which we have been told is the safest time to cross. Watched a bit of the UEFA championship game between Manchester United and Chelsea...tough loss for Chelsea. Then I watched a quarterfinal Copa Libertadores game between Boca Juniors (Argentina) and Atlas (Mexico). Palermo for Boca had a hat trick in the first half and Boca went on to win easily 3-0.

Tuesday, May 20
Spent the day relaxing on the beach, trying not to get burned. The wind picked up nicely for kiteboarders, so I sat on the beach for a while being very envious!

Huacachina (part II) & Mancora, Peru

Monday, May 19
We arrived in Mancora earlier than we expected and we were taken to the hostel we had reserved...Del Wawa. However, after seeing our incredibly small room that was way overpriced, we headed next door to Las Olas and found a very comfortable room with 4 beds. While Jessica slept (she had started feeling really bad in Lima before we jumped on our overnight bus to Mancora), Jodi and I attempted to get some color...which we got...and then some. Apparently the close-to-the-equator sun laughs at sunscreen with SPF 30. But, the beach here is gorgeous and well worth visiting if any of you make it down to Peru. There is a great surf break right outside our hostel that is perfect for all levels of surfers. The water is warm (at least warmer than San Diego water), refreshing, and incredibly clear. Each day the different restaurants send poeple out to fish and dive for local lobsters, shrimp, and fish to serve for afternoon lunches and dinners. Jodi and Jessica have also decided to join me in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, so we will be leaving on Friday to Guayaquil.

Sunday, May 18
We woke up early Sunday morning to get to Ica to catch our 4.5 hour bus to Lima. We were not able to book a touristy bus from Ica to Lima, so we were on the local Peruvian bus...which, we later found out, had live and apparently free-roaming chickens in with our luggage. Once in Lima, we had to wait a few hours for our 18 hour bus ride to Mancora. Long day of travel!

Saturday, May 17
Jodi, Jessica, and I woke up at 5:30am to catch a bus to take us to the coast where we had decided to join a tour to see the Paracas National Reserve and the Islas Balletas. This reserve and the islands it includes is knows as the "poor man's Galapagos". Unortunately the sky was very overcast and made the 2.5 hour boat trip a little less than ideal. Our first stop was to view the Candelabra, a shape created in the sand dunes of one of the islands close to shore. Our guide explained that this shapes could have been created in a variety of ways:
1) by sea pirates as a guide to their hidden treasure, some 300 years ago
2) by some sea fairing folk as a guide to the coast, about 200 years ago
3) by the same aliens who created the Nazca lines thousands of years ago
We didnt buy any of the explanations, though, as we could see 4x4 tracks heading to the Candelabra where it looked like some people had dug out the shape just that morning. From the Candelabra, we headed to Islas Balletas where we were able to see tons of sea lions, crabs, a relative of the Andean condor, and hundreds of thousands of sea birds. Islas Balletas continues to be a large source of income for Peru as it provides a large source of guano....the guano is up to 50m deep on some parts of the islands. Unfortunately, Jodi got to experience the bird droppings first hand as a bird dropped a heat seaker right in the middle of her chest...and, of course, she was the only one on the entire boat of 40 people to get nailed! We returned to Huacachina in the afternoon and had to say so long to Woody and Luke. They had to catch an afternoon bus to Cusco. Then around 4:30pm we set out for a dune buggy ride across the sand dunes. The sand buggy ride was amazing...just imagine a high speed roller coaster across uneven and unstable terrain...we chose the company we did as it was the only company in the area that had not killed a passenger. We made several stops in the dunes to let people sandboard...which turned into a disaster for two drunks girls from Lima who were in our buggy as they collided half way down a dune and nearly decapitated each other. We stayed out in the sand until after sunset, so we were able to get some unbelievable photos.

Friday, May 16
I spent most of Friday figuring out my next move. Because I needed to eventually get to Ecuador, I decided to start heading North. Jodi and Jessica decided to also head North and possibly join me on my trip to the Galapagos Islands. We made it into Ica and bought tickets to go to Mancora (a few hours South of the Ecuadorian border) on Sunday. Friday afternoon, while the girls were shopping in Ica, I met up with Woody and Luke for a sandboarding session. We rented the boards for an hour and slowly climbed our way to the tallest sand dune surrounding Huacachina. Hiking in the sand dunes is about the worst thing I can think of...each step I took I would sink back about half the distance I had moved forward. Because of the effort it took to climb the dunes, we only went down twice...which was more than enough for my legs. But, sandboarding was great. Very similar to snowboarding except that you have to lean much further back and it is much more difficult to turn...but the sand is soft and provides a nice cushion for wipeouts. We had dinner again at the same restaurant with Jenga (Hospedaje Del Barco) but this time by candle light as the place had lost electricity. Still had a great meal and another towering game of Jenga.

Great travel blog

So the two girls I have been traveling with for a bit now (Jodi and Jessica) have a blog that is now recognized as one of the top 100 travel blogs by Travelhackers. So, if you want some great information about traveling the world, check it out.

http://legalnomads.blogspot.com

Huacachina, Peru

Thursday, May 15
We were required to vacate our room at noon on Thursday and force to find other accomodations. The holiday in Lima that apparently caused the influx of people made finding another room a little difficult. We were able to manage to secure a room (calling it a room is very generous...it was more of an attic that reaked of cat urine) at another hostel, but returned to El Huacachinero to sit by the pool and attempt to catch up on some sleep. We also had to say goodbye to Daniel as he was returning to Buenos Aires for a few days before leaving for Dubai where he will soon be starting a new job. That afternoon, as we were sitting by the pool, the hostel seemed awfully empty despite the claims by the administration that all the rooms were full. We decided to try our luck and asked if any space had become available. Luckily enough, there were some cancellations and we were able to return to our same triple room. In the evening, we met up again with Woody and Luke to have dinner. We found a fantastic restaurant overlooking the lagoon. While my lomo saltado was one of the best meals Ive had on my trip, the highlight of the dinner was our game of Jenga. The skills demonstrated by our dinner group cannot be matched as we finally got to the point in the game when there were literally no more pieces be moved and we were left with a precariously leaning pile of blocks towering over our glasses of wine and appetizers.

Wednesday, May 14
We arrived in Ica around 8:30am and found a taxi to take us to Huacachina, about 6km away. After some negotiations with different hostels in Huacachina, we were able to secure a room at El Huacachinero...a very nice hostel at the base of the sand dunes. Unfortunately, due to a holiday in Lima, we were told we could only stay one night. We ate breakfast at a small cafe owned by a British women named Beth. Jodi was looking hoping to find a pair of sandals and Beth offered to take us into Ica to the try to find some. So, Jodi, Jessica, and I, along with Beth and her 16 month old daughter (Jasmine) jumped in a cab and headed into Ica. After finding a pair of sandals, Beth directed us to a great little restaurant in the main plaza where we could get cheap pizza and ice cream. After returning to Huacachina, we met up with 3 guys who we had all met earlier in Chile (Woody, Luke, and Daniel) and spent the day lounging around the pool, catching up one each other's adventures. That night we had great dinner, actually running into Jessica (British girl from the Salkantay Trek) at the restaurant, and then ventured out to the local pubs and disco.

Tuesday, May 13
We got on a 6pm bus from Cusco to Ica and thought we were prepared for the 14 hour, overnight trip to the coast. With snacks and drinks in hand, we settled in and were lucky enough to be treated to a great movie...Motorcycle Diaries. It was great to watch that movie again and to recognize many of the places that are visited in the movie after just being their myself. Unfortunately, the rest of the trip was not as nice. The road from Cusco to Ica has got to be one of the windiest in the world...we all spent the night trying to fall asleep while being tossed from aisle to window. And, trying to use the restroom was quite an adventure. If you could make it down the aisle without landing on the lap of another passenger, you still had to find a way to balance yourself in the bathroom so as not to fall in.

Cusco, Peru (part II)

Monday, May 12
We again spent large portions of the day at the clinic with Lee Ann. She was improving and that was a huge relief to us all. The rest of the day was spent planning the next move. I decided I would follow Jodi and Jessica to the coast of Peru to a place called Huacachina, which is an oasis in the middle of sand dunes. We booked an overnight (14 hour) bus ride from Cusco to Ica and we should arrive Wednesday around noon.

Sunday, May 11
The members of our trek had agreed to meet Sunday morning to get together and meet with our guide to do a little shopping and exploring of the city. However, as Jodi and I were waiting for the others to arrive, Jennifer found us and told us Lee Ann was not doing well. We had to check Lee Ann into a local private clinic where they initially told us she had salmonella, a urinary infection, and a blood infection. We spent most of the day in the clinic with Lee Ann making sure she had proper care. The rest of the day was spend on the internet and phone, researching her symptoms and trying to get in touch with doctors in the US that could give us advice on what to do. When we returned to the clinic later that night, miraculously the doctors had reduced the number of problems from 3 to 1 and said Lee Ann only had a kidney infection and should be able to leave the hospital in a few days.

A side note, it was Mother's Day and just to prove what an incredible guide we had, Aquiles brought his mother down to the clinic to meet and check on Lee Ann. Seriously, if you can find a better guide or person in Peru, you better have some incredible proof to back it up.

Salkantay Trek, Peru

Let me first begin by saying that I could not have had a better group for the Salkantay Trek. There were only 5 of us and our guide - me, Jessica (England), Jennifer (Colorado), Lee Ann (Colorado), Jodi (Montreal), and Aquiles (our guide). The girls could not have been nicer and put up with me for 5 days despite having the only Y chromosome in the group.

Saturday, May 10
We woke up at 4am to have breakfast and then make our way to the ruins of Machu Picchu. We hoped to see a sunrise over the ruins, but cloud cover prevented such a site. We spent the first part of the morning walking around the ruins with our guide, Aquiles, telling us about the history and mistique of the area. Four of us (Jodi, Jennifer, Lee Ann, and myself) then made our way up Wynapicchu, the mountain overlooking Machu Picchu. From Waynapicchu we could clearly make out how the ruins of Machu Picchu form the shape of condor. We made it to the top and were disappointed to find swarms of tourists, many with their iPods and fanny packs camped out, making it nearly impossible to relax and enjoy the remarkable view. From the top of Wynapicchu we continued on to the Gran Caverna and the Templo de La Luna...which were disappointing after seeing the views from Wynapicchu and became disasterous after realizing the hike we would have to make to return to the main path to reach Machu Picchu once again. For those of you traveling to Machu Picchu, unless you are a masochist, skip the Gran Caverna and Templo de la Luna.

We returned to Aguas Calientes completely exhausted and not really looking forward to the train ride to Ollantaytambo where we would have to get off to catch a 2 hour bus back to Cusco. But, the train ride turned out to be ok. I met a guy from Arizona who is actually living in Mexico City about 6 blocks from where I lived....ridiculous, especially considering that 26 million people live there and the area where I lived was not the most popular choice for accomodations. We arrived in Ollantaytambo and hoped on our bus to Cusco. The bus had no room for luggage, despite that fact that nearly all the passengers had just hiked for 5 days or more. With our backpacks stuffed below our feet or in the aisles, we began to pull away. Just at that moment, a Canadian sitting directly behind me began projectile vomiting out the window. His girlfriend quickly got the bus to stop and asked if they could be let off to catch a cab. The bus driver agreed and she got off. Her boyfriend continued throwing up out the window as the bus once again began to pull away. With the entire bus shouting at the driver to stop, I managed to help the pale northern neighbor of the US up out of his seat and down the aisle and out the door. The remaining trip to Cusco was uneventful, other than the fact that when we returned to Cusco the hostel I was staying at had given away my room and I was forced to argue with them for 45 minutes in order to get a bed to sleep in.

Overall, the Salkantay trek was remarkable and an experience that will go down as one of my favorites in my life. The beauty of the landscape and the comraderie of the group could not have been better. And, our guide, Aquiles, was one of kind. If anyone is considering a trek to Machu Picchu, I would highly recommend contacting Aquiles and finding out what trekking company he is with. He will make sure you thoroughly enjoy your experience and will do everything he can to make your trip one that you will never forget. You can reach him at marcc20@hotmail.com.

Friday, May 9
We began Friday with another short bus ride to a place called Hidro Electrica where we would follow the train tracks into Machu Picchu. The trek along the train treks was pretty miserable as there was no real path and we were forced to walk along uneven rock piles for 4 hours. Along the way we were able to catch a few glimpses of Machu Picchu, allowing us to push on despite the pain in our legs and feet. But, we arrived in Aguas Calientes, the small town at the base of Machu Picchu, with time to climb Putukusi mountain, a towering landmass with spectacular views of the ruins. To get to the top of Putukusi we had to climb several wooden ladders that went nearly straight up the side of the mountain. The hike up Putukusi took about an hour and 40 minutes, but was well worth it. We were treated to views of Machu Picchu few other trekking groups were privelaged to see. After Putukusi, we checked into our hostel in Aguas Calientes. What a treat to sleep again in a bed and not on the hard ground. Unfortunately I received some bad news that night that my parents had to put Bailey down the day before. He had begun stuggling to breathe and was not eating. The decision was made to end any suffering Bailey was having and the vet came to the house. Bailey passed peacefully, but it has really been hard on me and my family. But, my parents were able to bury him in a flower garden on the edge of the lawn in a place that can been seen from several areas in the house. It will be strange when I finally return home and not be greeted by his wagging tail.

Thursday, May 8
Our third day we continued hikking along the river for most of the day. We passed more waterfalls and entered the rainforest portion of our journey. It was a very long day of trekking and we finally made it to La Playa for lunch around 3pm. After lunch, we hoped on a short bus to Santa Teresa where we would camp for the night. This was the first day we even had a glimpse of other trekking groups and unfortunately our campsite in Santa Teresa was filled with several other groups...severly detracting from the beauty of the area and the peacefullness of the hike. We also visited another thermal spring which was stunning, not only because the warmth and cleanliness of the pools, but because of the mountains and rivers surrounding it.

Wednesday, May 7
Despite having to sleep in below freezing temperatures, I woke up excited to continue our trek towards Machu Picchu. After thawing out with some tea and breakfast, we began our hike to Colcapampa. As we hiked, Salkantay and Humantay remained in our rearview while we passed through landscape filled with incredible flora and fauna as well as rivers, waterfalls, and small ponds. Our second campsite was in the backyard of a small farmhouse, where we were constantly bombarded with noises and attacks by pigs, chickens, and dogs. But, I can't really complain as the campsite was surrounding by stunning mountains and the sound of the two rivers merging below. The campsite was also located close to a thermal spring, so after having lunch, we hiked the 20 minutes down the cliffs to the baths. The baths themselves were not much, but the view was spectacular, being located on a small piece of land where the two rivers came together.

Tuesday, May 6
I got picked up from my hostel at 4am to begin the 3 hour drive out to Mollepata where we had our first breakfast together as a trekking group. From there we drove another few hours to Salkantay Pampa where we began our trek to our first camp site. This first day of trekking was the hardest as it brought us from about 3500 meters up to Abra Salkantay which is at 4800 meters and then back down a bit to our campsite at Huayracmachay (about 3800 meters). The views this day were unlike any I have ever seen. The entire day was spent hiking between two giant peaks, Salkantay and Humantay mountains. The pictures I took do not do justics to the beauty of the area. That night we made camp at the base of the two mountains and were treated to indescribable views of Salkantay and Humantay as the sun went down. Of all the places I have traveled to so far, this place ranks way up there in terms of beauty and inspiration. As the sun went down, the snow capped peaks of Salkantay and Humantay turned an incredible shade of blue and were lit as if there was an energy source just below the surface of the snow.