Last leg of my journey

I spent the past week visiting my old host family in Ecuador (from study abroad '05), with the lovely company of Joy. I didn't do anything new, but I repeated some old favorites:

- Biking 61km from the mountains to the jungle (Baños to Puyo)
- Soaking in hot springs in Baños and in Papallacta
- Shopping at the Otavalo market
- Eating guinea pig
- Climbing well up into the clock tower of the Basilica church in Old Quito

And of course, eating lots of good food and spending quality time with my Ecuadorian family. They are fantastic and treat me like another daughter of theirs.

Tuesday I took an overnight bus to Guayaquil (not the capital, but the largest Ecuadorian city) to fly to Lima because it is so much cheaper. Being the worrier that I am, I barely slept for the 9 hours, preoccupied that we would be late. My chest literally tightened each time we stopped for no apparent reason. But of course, I arrived 4 hours before my flight left, sin problema.

I flew instead of bussed it to Peru because it is a 36 hour bus trip, plus the 22 hours that I'm doing tomorrow to Cuzco, that would be absolutely unreasonable. If I had more time before my ticket home (which I will one day, but preferably with a traveling partner), then I would take multiple days and travel by land stopping along the way. But by now, I am in a hurry to get home and see my dog! Oh yeah, my family and friends too :)

Today, after trying to catch a few ZZZs, I changed some dollars to the Nuevo Sol in the street (it was at 2.78 in the afternoon, and by the evening had fallen to 2.70!), then I went to the Museo de la Nacion. There I learned all about the internal war from 1980 - 2000. A Maoist faction began to gain strength and starting fighting the government/military. It was very gruesome, and sad. The battles weren't simply between the rebels and the military, and as it appears to me, neither side was "good". Both took turns massacaring the common people. Some 69,000 people died or were disappeared during the struggle. Is there a Latin American country that hasn't had an internal conflict in the last 50 years? (And how many of those were spurred by the U.S. CIA?)

Well, tomorrow after a run on the beach and a trip to Lima's ruins in the Miraflores area that I'm staying in, I'm off to Cuzco. Sunday my sister arrives to play for a week and a half! We're flying to San Francisco together on the 13th, then driving up to Springfield. I will be HOME on FRIDAY OCTOBER 15TH!!!!

p.s. I still need to share more about Colombia, which was amazing. I will post that when I get a chance. But note, you should NOT be afraid of Colombia. It is amazing. Just as any country (even the U.S.), you have to know where to go and where not to go.

One month left in the journey

On October 13th I fly back to the USA. Thus, I must take advantage of the month that remains which includes one more week in Colombia, one week in Ecuador and two weeks in Peru. My trip has been amazing thus far, but not without dreaming of home. But do you blame me? It has been since January 2008 since I've been living south of the border with only a few quick trips home.

So what have I done since my last post? I'll update you with the highlights:

- Went for a bike ride along the gorgeous Caribbean coast in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is not a misnomer.



- Walked across a train bridge to cross into Panamá.



- Saw the Panamá Canal in action. This was extra special for me because my paternal grandfather, while in the Merchant Marines in WWII, crossed through the canal. Because of his stories, I've always wanted to see it. Also, I discovered that George B. Squires received the Roosevelt Award for 2 years of service in its construction. Relation? Not sure, but it's possible! So, the concept of the canal is quite spectacular, as is the sight. The construction, which originally started in the late 19th century by the French but subsequently failed, was managed by the Americans in the beginning of the 20th century. The Americans also helped Panamá win its independence from Colombia in order to build the canal. Workers came from all around the world, but tens of thousands were lost (specifically the non-whites, as they were given tougher jobs and poorer living conditions) to the hard labor, accidents, and tropical diseases. The canal was inaugurated in 1914 and was run by the U.S. until 1999, when the ownership was transferred to the Panamanians. The canal works with a system of locks where gravity drops the water level in one in order to raise the level in its neighboring chamber so that the ship either rises or falls in order to continue its journey. Sadly, all the water used in this is fresh water, and it is all lost to the sea in the end. However, they are building new, larger locks where they will recycle the water and which will allow passage of a much larger percentage of the world's ships. I hope you enjoyed this small history lesson.



- Flew AIRES, which is the Colombian airline who recently had an accident. Yikes! But I was okay :)

- Discovered the colonial Caribbean city of Cartagena, Colombia where I took a mud bath inside of a volcano, went for a run on the fortress-like wall that was built to keep the pirates out, and rode a party bus called a chiva.







- Explored the paradise that is Parque Nacional Tayrona: a huge protected area in the Caribbean jungle of Colombia where the green jungle leads into snow-capped peaks. I hiked 2 hours in through the mud and on the beach to sleep in a hammock with an ocean view.





- Reunited with my Colombian friends from Yellowstone summer 2004.



And it must be said, Colombia is not the scary place that most Americans think it is. I have felt extremely safe here and the people have been wonderful. The media needs to stop picking on Colombia and actually see what it is really like. I recommend you visit!