Living with an Ecuadorian family

Soon after arriving in Quito I decided it was the kind of city I wanted to spend a little bit of time in. So, I signed up for some Spanish courses and went to live with a host family. I have to admit it was a little strange living with a family of strangers. Luckily the family was very nice and treated me like a son. They have a nice house in the historic center of Quito with beautiful views over the inspiring Spanish colonial architecture. There were a total of four other people living in the house, the mother Beatriz, the father Leonardo, the son Lucas, and another student Jugette (although Jugette was not your typical student, she was a French Canadian from Quebec and over 50). It was a nice environment with plenty of laughs, stories and discussions over cultural differences. My Spanish certainly improved quickly as I was forced to use it exclusively.

My timing in Quito worked out quite well as my final week was that of Semana Santa, the week of Easter. It is a week of holidays, events, and a lot of food. The most famous dish is called Fanesca. It is a combination of 12 grains, fish, and spices in a gigantic and incredibly filling soup. The Ecuadorians only make this dish once a year and it is a big event. The entire extended family gathers to see how much of this stuff they can put down before passing out.

The most interesting part of the week though, at least for me, was the procession of Jesus de Gran Poder. It is a parade with thousands of penitents making up for their sins over the past year. They all wear strange purple robes, imagine the Klu Klux Klan, but in purple. Many of them walk barefoot on the scorching road, others carry rediulously large crucifixes along the route, while others still whip themselves with a poisonous herb that causes intense itching and welts. One guy even had a cactus strapped to his back in the shape of a cross, and another tightly wrapped himself in barbed wire. Like I said, quite interesting and definitely not something you see every day.

Overall it was a good two weeks with plenty of Spanish and plenty of Ecuadorian culture.

The Amazon Rainforest

This past weekend I spent four days and three nights far from civilization in the Cuyabeno Reserve of Ecuador deep within the Amazon rainforest. I travelled eight hours on a night bus to Lago Agrio where I met the tour guide and my fellow Amazon adventurers. From this small town we travelled a couple of hours to the cuyabeno river. From here we loaded our packs into a long, narrow canoe with a small motor. Right off the bat I got a taste of what I was going to experience for the next four days. Within minutes of leaving the dock area we saw an enormous snake! It was about seven feet long and about the same girth as Hulk Hogan's legendary pythons. It moved through the water extremely fast for it's size and dissapeared into the thick foliage of the jungle within seconds.

The canoe ride to our lodging took about two and a half hours. Along the way we saw white beaked toucans, squirrel monkeys, cappuchin monkeys, large hairy monkeys and extremely small monkeys that I forget the names of, along with at least a dozen other types of birds.

The whole experience of being in the Amazon was amazing. You could feel the immense amount of pure life in the jungle. Everything I could see or touch was alive. There was never a quiet moment with the unending calls and songs of birds, insects, monkeys and who knows what else.

The ecosystem was the definite highlight of the trip, but we also visited some indigenous people who still live in the jungle. Honestly though, they really didn't seem too different. Sure they eat different things and speak a different language (although they speak Spanish as well) but they were also wearing modern clothes and playing volleyball when we arrived. I was glad they didn't put on a show by dressing up just when we were there.

There were too many cool things to describe them all here so I'll just make a little list. Spiders bigger than my hand, trees that can walk (albeit vey slowly), huge caimans, swimming in the lake, and pirhana fishing.

Travelling Solo

Well, my first ten days travelling alone have been exciting, contemplative and at times strange. Going through a foreign country with nobody to rely on but myself has been exhilerating and frightening. I would be lying if I said that there were not a few times when I myself questioned this entire idea. But the positive experiences quickly overcame any hesitation I had. Everything, from wandering through prisine cloud forest with only birds and animals for company to meeting fascinating people from around the world, quickly put my doubts to rest and reminded of the reason why I wanted to do this on the first place.

It has only been ten days but already I feel like I have seen more things and met more people than I would in a year at home.

My first true time alone began in the surf town of Jaco. Before that I was staying with some friends from my semester in Chile who were studying in Puntarenas. Carnavale was going on in the city while I was there and I got a good glimpse of true Costarican life. The city itself is infernally hot year round and has zero tourist attractions thus the people there are not quite as used to tourists as some other parts of Costa Rica. The vibe felt more authentic, and the food alot cheaper. After spending a few nights there, I was off to Jaco. Truly on my own for the first time.

After a sweltering bus ride down to Jaco, I walked the sun-drenched main strip a couple of times until I found a quiet secure hostel a minute's walk from the beach. I was given a bed in a small cabin meant for three, but since noone else was there I was on my own. After getting settled and walking out with the intent of grabbing lunch, I met a large, tattooed, surprisingly friendly middle aged surfer who had been in Jaco for about a month and came there almost every year since he was fifteen. It was very talking to this guy, somebody I would probably never talk to back in the states.

As for Jaco itself, it wasn't much more than beach, restaurants and bars. The waves were midsized and great for learning. I went out and felt myself getting much better. It was a lot of fun but very tiring.

After that it was off to Monteverde and then Puerto Viejo where I am right now., but I'll leave the details for another post. Typing this much on an iPhone is hard.

First Few Days in Costa Rica

Wow, the last few days have been amazing. I started out in San Jose, but only stayed there for the night. It was a nice enough city, but didn't really hold any appeal for me. From the hostel we booked a rafting on the Rio Pacuare.

So, early next morning, we boarded the bus for the river. Once there we got the usual instructions on rafting and the requisite gear. The river itself was amazing. It was everything I imagined a rain forest to be with green everywhere and calls of tropical birds filling me ears. It even rained a little during the trip which was an amazingly refreshing experience. My favorite part of the trip was a certain section that went through a canyon with waterfalls and giant trees covered in vines. At a slow section we were able to jump off the boat and float down the river. An amazing experience and my favorite so far.

After the rafting trip we took a bus to La Fortuna, a small village on the non-lava flowing side of Volcan Arenal. There we took a hike to the base of the volcano at sunset and were able to few red hot rocks tumbling down the side of the volcano. The trek back through the jungle in complete darkness was certainly interesting. We saw a gigantic spider, a poisonous frog, and a three-toed sloth (although that was during the daytime). After a day there we took a tour labeled jeep-boat-jeep. The path between La Fortuna and Monteverde is very rough so the public busses have to go a long way around. For a small price some companies arrange transfer through using vans (not jeeps unfortunately) and a boat for Lake Arenal. The trip was pleasant if a little rough on the dirt roads.

So I arrive in Monteverde, where I am right now. This area is famous because of the cloud forest here. So the first day I took a zipline canopy tour which was very fun but didn't give the best opportunities for observing the forest. So today I went on a hanging bridges hike which allowed me to truly appreciate the forest. It was incredible looking over the abundant vegetation through the everpresent mist which gives the forests their name.

Next up in Manuel Antonio. A place know for its pristine beaches and tropical rain forest.

Getting Ready for Costa Rica

Alright, it's almost time for part two of my year off travels. I will be leaving for San Jose, Costa Rica on Feb 10 at 10am. Feelings of anticipation, excitement, and yes, even a little trepidation fill my mind as the days slowly roll toward the tenth. I have everything ready to go, here is the list of things I will be taking with me:

Backpack: Kelty Beam 82, as much as I wanted, and tried, to use my 40L Osprey, it just wasn't big enough. Good thing about this pack is that it can be compressed very well, so it looks more like a 60L pack. I'll be bringing a rain cover as well.

Clothing: Everything was chosen for easy washing and drying, along with being comfortable in a rain forest but nice enough for an occasional restaurant.

• 4 shirts (quick-dry synthetics, one long sleeve, three short)
• 2 pants (both quick-dry for easy washing)
• 4 pairs of wool/synthetic socks
• 4 boxers wool/synthetic
• 1 synthetic fleece jacket
• 1 rain jacket
• 1 rain pants

Accessories:

• 1 sun hat
• small day pack
• first aid kit with enough meds for a small army (thanks mom!)
• Old school iPod
• iPhone (for wi-fi)
• Sleep sack for hostels
• 20 degree sleeping bag for when I make it down to Macchu Picchu
• Sleeping pad
• Mosquito net
• Travel towels (1 small, 1 large)
• Concealable money belt
• Sun screen, insect repellent
• Toiletries
• Duct tape
• Journal

Well, that's about it for now. The next post will be from Costa Rica, and hopefully will be more frequent than about once every couple of months ;)