Salsa, Salento, and Soufflé

Since arriving in Colombia a couple of weeks ago, we have been steadily making our way north, slowly becoming accustomed to the Colombian style of ordering food (most always without a menu), taking buses (we heard we could bargain for 75% of the quoted price), and faster Spanish. Our first stop was in Ipiales, which was everything you could imagine a border town being, then off to Popayán, a beautiful colonial city where we watched Colombia lose to Argentina in futbol and visited some nearby hotsprings.

The next stop was the city of Cali, known as one of the world´s salsa capitals. Dancing salsa in Ecuador and  Costa Rica, we usually felt we could at least hang with the local crowd without our steps looking too out of place. We were warned, however, that the dancing in Cali was an entirely new game, so we decided to take some free salsa lessons at our hostel to prepare for that weekend´s festivities. The lessons turned out to be like Zumba exercise classes--we were sweating in minutes. After an hour of attempting to follow our teacher´s fast moving feet and hips, we still were not feeling too confident (maybe even less so) about fitting in on the Cali dance floors.

The rumors we had heard about the caliber of dancers proved to be true. (See video to get an idea of how intimidated we were.) After meeting some people at the salsa club and trying to convince them of how bad of dancers we actually were, some were still generous and patient enough to walk us through the steps. Most times it was for only one song, since they complained the dance floor was getting "too crowded," even though there was plenty of space to spare...

After Cali, we headed to Salento, a greatly-needed break from the fast-paced city. In this small, adorable, cowboy-filled town, we immediately felt at home in our hostel surrounded by farms and rolling hills. The streets of Salento are lined with the most brightly painted doors and walls I have ever seen.

We also found our favorite restaurant of Colombia in Salento--"El Rincón de Lucy." The almuerzo (lunch) we got at least a few times came with soup, rice, beans, a mix of vegetables, plantains, chicken or trout, and a couple of delicious fried pieces of dough--all for the price of 6,000 pesos, or $3. The soup came with a banana on the side, which is supposed to be broken up into pieces and eaten in the soup--a surprisingly delicious use of bananas we learned after watching the local diners.

Nearby Salento is the Valle de Cocora which is the perfect environment for Colombia´s national tree, the Quindío wax palm--the tallest palm trees I have ever seen. We did some hiking in the valley on trails that required some slighlty-sketchy river crossings. We crawled along bridges (more like nailed together slippery boards) from one side of the river to the other usually on our hands and knees.

Many people traveling through Salento recommended going horseback riding. I was extremely hesitant as horses are one of my biggest fears. After some convincing from Hannah and Katie, however, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and give it a go. The trail ride started off extremely muddy down a steep hill--at that moment I swore I would never get on another horse again. The trail ended up a lot less scary, and we rode to a gorgeous waterfall. Nevertheless, I will continue to keep my distance from those powerful animals.

The entire week before Thanksgiving we were thinking about how we were going to celebrate one of our favorite holidays. In Salento, we were lucky enough to stay at a hostel that was offering a three-course Thanksgiving meal! We were excited. The owner of the hostel, who is from New York, did a fantastic job cooking the meal. He somehow made the carrot souffle taste almost exactly like pumpkin pie. Out of the 40 people in the room, we and another girl from Wyoming definitely appreciated the meal the most as we were the only people from the States.

From Salento, our plan was to go to Bogotá, but we had just found out there have been road closings around the city. The country of Colombia was in a sort of "state of emergency" because of all of the rain and road closings. Not wanting to spend 35 hours on the bus in traffic, we decided to head to Medellín. 

Once arriving in Medellín, it was obvious the success this city has had in leaving its infamous history in the past (It was once known as the world´s most dangerous city). The city has a large student population, amazing public transportation system, unique neighborhoods, cute boutiques, a great nightlife, and interesting museums. We visited the Museo de Antioquia near the center of Medellin, which houses many works by Fernando Botero, a famous artist from the city. We quickly fell in love with Botero´s style and his sense of humour that was made obvious through his paintings. 

Part of Medellín´s public transportation sytem is the Metrocable that runs from the main Metro line over the lower-income neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city to a park on top of a mountain overlooking the valley. The ride up the mountain was breathtaking. We could see the cloud of pollution hanging over Medellín behind us, and people doing laundry on their roofs directly below us. During our ride, I kept thinking about what this one tranportation line had done to change the lives of the people living in these neighborhoods.

On the way down the mountain, we met an adorable family. The boys had the most contagious laugh ever and were eager to share what they knew in English with us. We got along so well that they decided to ditch their grandparents to ride another leg of the Metro with us. No worries, they eventually met back up with their family--only after telling us to find them on Facebook.

  Ingapirca--Incan ruins in Ecuador.

Sunset in Vilcabamba where people live the longest in Ecuador.

Cascada Pailon del Diablo near Baños (photo by Oscar).

Cuyabeno National Park at sunset.

The Park again at sunset. Each night we took a boat from our lodge to a nearby lake to swim under the setting sun and rising moon.

 Fishing for piranhas! We went fishing at sunset, because that is when they bite the most. The bait was raw pieces of meat, and our fishing poles were long sticks with a string and hook. With the help of our guide, we bobbed the tempting meat up and down hoping for a bite. Hannah caught the most piranhas, but I had the biggest catch of all! To really see the strength of their jaws and sharpness of their teeth, we put a stick in the fish´s mouth which it easily snapped in half. Merely 20 minutes later we were swimming in the same body of water, constantly on the lookout for piranhas coming up from the depths of the mirky water.

 Hanging out in a tree in the Cuyabeno forest.

 Monkeys in tree (note similarity to above photo).

AN ANACONDA we spotted one day while paddling in the lake among the trees. Right before sighting this massive snake we were commenting on how the environment was eerily similar to that of the Anaconda movie...

Emerald boa--supposively a very rare spotting.
Other animal spottings include river dolphins, turtles, many birds, four types of monkeys (including the smallest in the world), piranhas, caymans, frogs, spiders, and many many more. A biologist´s paradise.

Making pan de yucca (yucca bread)--yucca was the only ingredient.

Passion flower on our hike in Vilcabamba.

Hannah and Katie enjoying one of Quito´s many many museums.

Graffiti in Cuenca. "Water is worth more than gold."

Again enjoying a museum exhibit that is made up of shirts of people from all over Ecuador.

MORE PHOTOS

¡¡Adelante, Atrás, Adentro, Alto!!

These were the words ringing in our ears throughout our entire rafting excursion on Río Verde, near Baños, Ecuador (translation: Forward, Backward, Inside, Stop!!).

Katie and I had been to Baños before, but we had not taken advantage of the many touristy excursions the town offers (I guess that depends on if you count our shocking "en chiva" experience--see older post) . But this time we were ready for an adventure, so we signed up to go rafting.

We were a little unsure of what our day on Río Verde was to hold, because immediately upon arriving at the tour ageny at 9am in the morning, we were rushed to "sign our lives away" before jumping into a lime green, rickety, 80s style-van, with mildewy red-carpeted interior. Oh yes, and it was started with a screwdriver instead of the more traditional method of key in ignition.

We arrived on the banks of Río Verde and were given our equipment for the trip--an already moist wetsuit and a pair of Keds-like sneakers for water shoes. After wiggling into the wetsuit, we were given our helmets and lifevests and told to stand behind a line to await instruction from our guide. Our rafting team was made up of Katie, Hannah, I, and three Ecuadoran tourists, all slightly nervous for what was to come.

Our guide immediately jumped into do´s and dont´s, what to do when a fellow paddler falls out of the boat, or even when the boat flips over, which he claimed had happened. Keep in mind, the entire speech was in Spanish so we were trying to catch each and every detail. The true test of our Spanish abilities, however, were following commands from the guide. When we heard "¡Adelante!" we paddled forward, "¡Atrás!" we paddled backwards, "¡Adentro!" we quickly sat in the boat, and "¡Alto!" we stopped what we were doing. It got really confusing when he told one side to do one thing, the other side was supposed to do the opposite. Additionally, the fact that all of the commands started with an "A" was a horrible coincidence, we thought.

We had to carry the heavy heavy boat on our heads to the water, careful not to twist our ankles on the rocks in our Ecuadoran-style water shoes. The river was low, so we spent the beginning of our journey trying to get over rocks, which basically meant the guide was outside the boat pushing us and yelling commands. Our reactions to these commands became quicker and quicker with the help of the pressure of the situation. For some reason, however, the most important command, "¡Adentro!" was always the most inaudible less then seconds before we hit the biggest waves. I made sure to repeat everything to Hannah and Katie who were leading us in the front.

The end came sooner than we wanted. The last stretches had gorgeous views of the forest and mountains (almost the Amazon Rainforest), and we ended our tour with a quick dip in the río.

On our way back to Baños, I gazed at the green mountains and steep cliffs while Hannah and Katie talked with one of our guides, yet another extremely friendly Ecuadoran. He offered us free rafting trips when we come back to Ecuador. They were told to walk the streets of Baños yelling his name, and he would come running.




Tonight we will spend 11 hours on a bus on our way to the Amazon to live in an indigenous community for four days. I guess there have been dolphin sightings in the river--I have already gotten my hopes up.

P.S. When we were in Cuenca last week we saw the President of Ecuador! We were eating our eggs and toast at our usual breakfast joint when the waitress yelled from outside that President Correa was driving down the street. We ran outside in just enough time to wave to him--there was definitely seconds of eye contact. We felt famous.

Pictures thanks to Katie G.

Click here!

Only in Ecuador

After picking up Hannah in Quito, we headed north to Otavalo, which has Ecuador´s biggest and best market. With only a brief walk by the market after getting off the bus, we knew we would no longer be able to resist the urge to buy souvenirs. We would have to make room in our tiny backpacks for at least one Alpaca sweater (an extremely practical purchase).

After perusing the market, we had a slice of blackberry pie at a pie shop (the first I have ever seen in Latin Amerca) while we watched the beginning of a futbol game on TV. Since futbol is to Ecuador as basically all other sports are to the US, we knew we would find a group of Ecuadorans watching the game somewhere in town. We quickly found them--a group of architecture students who had just attended a conference in Otavalo, cheering loudly at a bar. Since both the teams were from Quito, we asked the group of future architects what the difference was between the teams. They told us the jersey color...At least no one seemed too upset with the outcome of the game.

Our next stop was Ambato, where there was a reggaeton festival we had seen advertised across the country. Given our slight obsession with reggaeton (go here for an example of reggaeton), we knew we had to attend. Plus, we recently made some friends who are from Ambato, Oscar and Julio (we prefered the English translation of July).

Upon arriving in Ambato, we were picked up by Oscar, our voluntary tour guide, in a taxi and taken to a cheap, safe hostal--something which we would not have found without his help, because Ambato is definitely off of the traveler´s path and consequently is given merely sentences of descriptions in Lonely Planet. That night we were carted around by July and Oscar to buy concert tickets and get dinner at the centro comercial´s food court, which is exactly like any mall you would find in the suburban US. We also went to a reggae concert before which we received our first salsa lessons in the country. We are basically professionals now.

The highly-anticipated reggaeton concert turned out not to be the highlight of the weekend. We sat in the equator-strength sun for hours listening to amature performers before the main groups came on stage. Even after all that waiting we decided to leave the concert early to grab some pizza.¨Only in Ecuador,¨ said Oscar. A phrase we continued to use throughout the weekend and everyday after that.

We are now in Cuenca, one of the most beautiful cities in Ecuador. There are mercados and heladerias (ice cream shops) abound. Today we visited an incredible national park and tomorrow we are going to see some Incan ruins.

Pictures to come.

Realizing The Meaning of "En Chiva"

Well, the hike from village to village was a little less relaxing than anticipated but still amazing. We were on the bus to the first village when Katie, some Danish girls, and I got off early and decided to walk the rest of the way. Why? I´m not so sure, because as we were getting off the bus it began hailing and everyone on the bus were craning their necks, laughing at us poor poor gringas. It turned out to be a good hike, and we certainly needed the exercise. We were welcomed at the hostel with a massive, warm meal of quinoa soup, spaghetti, salad, and chocolate cake. That was the first time I had been full in a while.

 The next day was a little more difficult, because we got lost a few times...We blame it on the directions and poor translations...Fortunately, there was a young girl working in the field (work that I could never imagine doing as it was essentially on the side of a steep steep cliff) who was nice enough to lead us to the correct path. Just like with the people on the bus, I´m sure she was laughing at us, not with us. Fortunately, my sense of humor has grown just as much as my desire of fresh leafy greens since arriving.

 The third and final day of the hike involved climbing at least a couple of mountains. There were times when I thought I would not make it--the air was extremely thin and my legs were burning. But my guide did not seem to understand since he had lived in the area his entire life....With the help of Gingko pills we made it to Quilotoa Lake, our final destination.

 Our next stop was Baños--an Ecuadoran tourist town named after its natural hot baths (an equivalent in the US may be Florida during spring break). Katie´s and my vision of these baths was certainly idealized. We decided to go at night. I mean, what could be better than relaxing in hot baths under the stars and meeting people our age? We should have known, because it was packed full of people, shoulder to shoulder. And these people were at least twice our age, mostly men, and wearing too tight of bottoms. Needless to say, our time at the hot baths was cut short. We would have to star gaze from our room.

 While walking around Baños we kept seeing this advertisement for an after-dark trip up the mountain for a scenic view of the volcano "en chiva." We weren´t sure what "en chiva" was, but we assumed it was referring to a volcano exploding or something. I have never been more wrong in my life. "Chiva" was actually a party bus, a very popular activity in this small tourist town. So we headed up the mountain, reggaeton and salsa music blaring, in the back of a truck. When we got to the top we could see the lights of Baños but no sign of the volcano. We also were forced to sit and watch maybe the worst "magic" show of my life. In the end, I´m glad for the experience, but I won´t be upset if I´m never "en chiva" again. I still am looking for that exploding volcano...

Well, since my last post there have been two more pictures with the gringas. One was in a jewelry shop when a lady asked for our picture with her phone, although she had no real desire for any kind of conversation. The other was with a group of 15 15-year-olds. One boy asked Katie and me for a picture, and once we said yes, it seemed like boys were coming from every corner and alley of the street until there was a full classroom of them crowded around us. Let me know if you find a Facebook page full of us gringas and random Ecuadorans.

Katie and I on the (fake) equator.

Volcano Cotopaxi from the roof of our hostel.

La Basilica.

On the roof of a museum in Quito.

A magical being.

The Most Balanced Place to Be

These past few days Ecuador has been oh so good to me. Katie and I were welcomed to Quito with an international futbol game, Ecuador vs. Venezuela. We spent the game at a bar with locals cheering on the team and drinking the domestic beer (mostly water, in my opinion...). Fortunately, Ecuador won so we did not have to battle any riots on our way back to our hostel.

 Touring Quito was full of old churches, interesting museums, and beautiful plazas. As we are two blonde gringas, Katie and I recieve much attention. We were not prepared, however, when a young mother ran up to us asking us to please take a picture with her baby. We barely had time to say yes before the mom shoved her baby into my arms and told us to smile. Man I wish I had a copy of that picture. I can only imagine what the child will be told years from now about her time with those gringas.

 Yesterday we went to the equator. That's right. Latitude zero degrees. And strangely enough, I felt extremely balanced. At "La Mitad Del Mundo" there are actually two equators, one marking where explorers calculated zero degrees to be centuries ago and one marking the actually equator (they are a mere 300 meters apart!). At the actual equator, there was a museum where we learned about the indigenous tribes of the region and did things that can only be done at the equator. For example, there is no vortex to water as you pour it down a drain on the equator. Or balancing on the equator with your arms out is suprising difficult. I could feel myself being pulled to one hemisphere then the other. We also balanced an egg on a nail. Well, I attempted but could never quite get it. Maybe that is supposed to tell me something about my inner balance. Katie and Adam (a friend we made at the hostel who is a football journalist in London who knows Landon Donovan! Talk about cool jobs.) did balance the egg and their reward was a certificate stating that they were "Egg Masters." I have never been more jealous.

 The people we have met have been wonderful. Last night we experienced Quito nightlife, and, granted my Saturday nights these past few years have been spent at the only bar in Oberlin, The Feve, I have never witnessed anything like the blocks of bars and clubs in Quito. We immediatly made friends with a Colombian girl who insisted we stay at her house when we pass through Colombia. Many others throughout the evening wanted us to know that if we needed anything, they were there for us. Anytime. I have started to collect the slips of paper with phone numbers. You know, just in case I need some extra salsa lessons.

 We have only been in Ecuador a few days and have already done so much. Katie and I were talking during our (hot!) shower that this may be the most productive few months of our lives. Yet there is always more to see. Tomorrow we leave for a journey of hiking/bus riding around a loop in the Andes. We have been warned that the transportation will most likely be nonexistent on some stretches, but that makes it all the more appealing. We will go from village to village on what someone just told me today as the most beautiful walk in Ecuador.