Hello everyone,
I am off to the airport very soon to meet up with my sister, Cheryl, who is flying in from Ottawa. Together we will be flying to Lima and touring around together for 10 days before I am on my own again. We are going to have very little time in Lima before taking off again for Cuzco. I promise to write when I get the chance and update you with all of our cool adventures, photos, and my progression with Spanish.
Ciao,
Liz
Hello everyone....or Ola!
Our flight to Lima was 10 hours long and was excellent. We enjoyed watching movies and catching up. The best part of the flight was when the pilot announced that we were flying over Cape Canaveral where Julie Payette would launch tonight. I whippped out my camera, zoomed, aimed and clicked just as the pilot veered the plane right to get back on course. What resulted was a lovely shot of the surrounding parking lot. Oh well. Much to our surprise, the airport in Lima is quite modern and well organized. Cheryl and I found it quite funny exiting the customs area, you have to push a large button and then wait to see if the light randomly turns green or red (we both got green thankfully).
We have discovered that driving in Lima is a very frenetic chore. It seems that commonplace driving technique involves straddling 2 lanes o traffic, honking regularly to let others know you are there (but it is hard to miss a car taking up 2 lanes) and to slam on the brakes right before every speed bump. Cheryl and I feel they do this to avoid having their cars self-destruct as we saw many people fising their cars with ahmmer os on the way to the hotel. Apparently, Peru is the safe haven for every VW Beetle and Cheryl and I called a truce on the punch buggy game or otherwise we might be black and blue for the rest of the trip.
We booked one night at our hostel called Hotel Espana which seems to be obsessed wtih Greco-Roman statuaries and paintings (the entrance hall has a bust of David that is 6 feet tall beside another twon amongst the other numerous paintings). However, we like the charm and the proximity to everything you would want to see in Lima. The hotel is nice, if noisy. We were awoken this morning to sounds of someone I swear has steel legs stomping up the spril staircase by our room. However, we took it as the perfect opportunity to enjoy a hot shower (they are rumoured to be rare around here) before embarking on our phot safari of Lima in only 3.5 hours.
Wandering the street s of Lima was great as we saw many plazas, churches, people getting their shoes shined and have many pictures of each. We stopped for brunch at this cute park on the edge of a river that overlooked the hills on the other side of Lima. My favourite view was of all the houses that were built on on the steep slope and painted every colour of the rainbow. We then went to a street vendor for our lunch and enjoyed an interesting meal that consisted of 3 things. 1) Lays Andean Chips - they are pink and purple on the inside due to the type of locl potatoes used (that was for you Tricia) 2) Boiled potatoes and egg chopped up on a plate 3) Corn on the cob with cheese. The corn was shorter than the length of your palm but twice as thick. The cheese was a salty relative of tofu I am sure and we have no idea why they are served together. But it was good nonetheless.
Our flight to Cusco was phenomenal. Immediately after take off Cheryl was glued to the window staring at and photographing the mountains below. Side note to dad: no paternity test required and you would love the landing. The landing was interesting as we overshot the runway only to circle around this large peak as we were descending. I was impressed at how well they navigated us to the airport. It seems that the airport is on the only flat strip of land in Cusco. As such, Cheryl and I have found that we are very unfit to hike at this altitude, as they 10 foot climb to our hostel left us winded and we needed 3 breaks. The hostel itself leaves little to be desired, but the view over the entire city is phenomenal. We have spent the afternoon walking around the city and looking in many cute shops.
We will write again soon and post photos at that time. At the moment, this computer keeps crashing and so I am sorry if you have received many emails saying the blog was updated (I will do better next time).
Ciao,
Liz and Cheryl
P.S. Watching Dora the Explorer does not adequately prepare you for travelling in Peru.
A month back when I went to the travel doctor to get my shots he recommended that I get altitude sickness pills as it can strike anyone at anytime and be quite incapacitating. I got a very large supply in anticipation of Cheryl being struck hard by this, as she easily gets car sick, sea sick, etc. However, upon arrival in Cusco I developed a very bad headache and many other strange side effects. I often experience tingling in my extremities, but it seems to alternate. Right now as I type this my fingers are tingly and on fire. Luckily, I haven´t felt any nausea and have been able to function very well.
Yesterday Cheryl and I decided that due to my uncertainness about how I would feel for the day, we decided to spend the day strolling and shopping around Cusco. We walked at a nice slow pace, mostly due to the fact that we were browsing all of the shops. We did quite a bit to stimulate the Peruvian economy with all of our purchases.
At lunch time yesterday, we had wandered quite a bit away from the tourist area just as our stomachs were beginning to grumble. Unfortunately, we found ourselves among car repair shops and hardware stores. Side note: Cheryl and I have noticed that streets always seem to have one common store on it. For example Mataru St sells mattresses and little else. Back to the story, as we wandered we decided to stop in one of the two ´cafes´ that we found. THe menu was set and we had no idea what we would be getting. In the end we had a lovely chicken noodle soup, beef and rice dish and the most wonderful juice (Refresco) that we are going to look for from the vendors. This cost us only one dollar Canadian for each of us. Bargain!
That evening we went to an organic restaurant in the main tourist square. We knew it was pricey (in Peruvian terms) but thought that it would balance our cheap lunch from earlier that day. The food was to die for. What a treat to have such a gourmet meal. From there we had decided to stop and have a drink somewhere and just hang out. We stopped at a bar near our hostel for happy hour...and I got very happy. Three drinks did me in. I had a Pisco Sour (Pisco, lemon juice, sugar and egg), Chilcano (Pisco and Sprite) and a mojito. In my not so lucid state I found the remaining walk to our hostel very easy, surprisingly.
I must comment on our hostel before I sign off. While the view from our hostel is lovely, both in the day and the night. The walk is very tiring after a full day and Cheryl and I plan our activities around only having to walk up to it once. The beds are rocks. Not rock hard, it must be rocks. The rooms are cold and I haven´t slept in 2 nights. I would recommend staying closer to the action and making one hike to the San Blas region for the wonderful views and shops. Although, the town might be noisier...bring earplugs. (Although, the lack of insulation in our hostel, I can see up between the floorboards to the next level, doesn´t provide much soundproofing either).
I must sign off and pray that the shower is warm. Today we are exploring 4 nearby ruins.
Ciao,
Liz and Cheryl
1) Cheryl and I are very curious about Peruvian women. They wear very short skirts (that are full in width) but surely, their legs must freeze. How on earth do they survive the cold winters and mountain climate? Also, we are desperate to know how they are able to carry their babies or products in a small piece of cloth...we intend to get lessons before we leave Peru.
2) We are also baffled by the climate here. In Lima we were hot. We were worried that we brought too many clothes for a cold climate. Cusco as well is also very hot. However, it is freezing after the sun sets or before sun rise.
3) Coca leaves are what are used to make cocaine. When made into candy or tea, they are to help altitude sickness...I haven´t seen drastic results, but will keep at it nonetheless.
4) Mate con leche (tea with milk) is actually what we gather to be goat´s milk (or llama) boiled and then you dunk your tea bag into it. Cheryl has never left a tea behind before this one...a word to the wise when visiting S.A.
5) Socks. We all know not to buy new shoes before a trip. However, the same can be said for socks. I was dying in Lima with my cute new socks and found a grocery store to buy four new pairs (which are thick and insulated)...heaven.
6) Alpaca vs. Llama. First off the difference (as we have been told) seems to be very minute. Alpacas are supposed to be more compact with softer and more luxurious wool. Llamas have longer necks and lower quality wool. But when we saw a bunch of these animals (of various colours) the bus driver said 3 llamas and 1 alpaca. The tour guide, Julio, thought it was 4 llamas. I guess it is kind of like Black vs. White Rhinos. Regardless, they are cute.
7) Cheryl is fluent in Spanish Textiles. Due to her vast knitting background she can understand what fiber is made to make the item we are touching and can translate what they say. Very handy to have around.
8) Bryce: Legend or Maniac. We overheard this group of tourists talking at great length about Bryce´s adventure to the four ruins outside of town. He did it all in 6 hours, no guide (just chatted up the local women) and hiked it all. After experiencing it today we kept thinking about this ´Bryce´and how he was legendary...Ladies´ man, Man´s man, Man About Cusco. Although, he could have been crazy just the same.
9) Peruvians are very nice. All say Ola, Buenos Dias, etc and do their best to learn about us in our broken (very broken) Spanish. Feel very safe thus far, despite news reports to the contrary.
10) PeruRail...not a fan. They have a monopoly and hold Machu Picchu hostage. No direct links. Crazy line ups to buy tickets. Everything sold out in 15 minutes (we saw it before). They close their gates on you and denied Cheryl entry (20 minutes to rectify and the claim of a helpless sister without both passports inside allowed her entry). Their schedules don´t match what the surrounding tourist economy offers and thus you are racing Amazing Race style or killing time. Argh. To be fair, had we booked earlier online we might have fared better in the long run (but, still not perfect).
Another rough start for us due to poor sleep...this time both of us didn´t sleep. However, we did have 2 HOT showers. After embarking on our day we stopped for waffles that has had Cheryl drooling since our first day here. They were thin and cake-like, similar to funnel cakes. A tasty breakfast of champions to start our day.
Immediately after breakfast we found a tourist information agent who offered us a city and ruin tour of Cusco for just 15 soles per person...a big bargain. We also booked a Sacred Valley tour for the next day at just 30 soles per person (others had been quoting us US$75). He recommended that we go book our train tickets though as he was unable to do so. That was a nightmare (see previous entry) but at least we managed to get tickets.
We started out tour on a bus with 20 Spanish speaking people and we braced ourselves for the worst. However, our duide, Julio, would always explain in English just to us at first and at great length.
First Stop: Santo Domingo Church (Church of the Sun). The original Inca treasurey with many sites of worship (sun worship room, moon worship, etc) built between 1435 and 1450. The stone masonry form this site still exists and showcases their precision cutting and use of the sturdy trapezoidal shape. Unfortunately, in the 1600s a Catholic church was built surrounding the site (one of the first Catholic churches in S.A.) and now the church, not the state or it´s people, own the ruins and all items within.
Second Stop: Saqsaywaman Ruins (pronounced Sexy Woman). Name actually means satisfied falcon. Is an Incan fortress at the base and a religious site at the top of the 3 levels. Sund worship occured frequently and still occurs every June 24th for the Solstice. Here, Julio showed us that the shape of Cusco combined with this site makes the shape of a puma (there once was a 20m circular tower as the eye). This site was the base for Incan resistance and lost against the Spanish invaders. The massive limestone (tallest was 9m high) that makes this site was moved from 7km away. The site was built wy labourers (as a way to pay their taxes and similar to Communism) using a small scale model system first.
Third Stop: Puka Pukara (Red Fortress) Part of the Incan trail, which is larger than Roman system. Cute llamas (or alpacas, there was a debate) on site here.
Fourth Stop: Tambomachay (The Baths of the Princess) Water flows from 3 spots and to this day no one knows the source. This site was used for cleansing ceremonies. Apparently the water here is magical and when consumed by women it will make them instantly fertile...I stayed away. Far away.
Fifth Stop: Q´enqo (the Labyrinth) Had an ampitheatre with a throne. Inside the weaving walls of rock is a flat sacrificial stone for llamas. However, about once a year and for special occasions women from good families that were deemed únmarriable´were sacrificed and the women felt that this was a great honour.
Hiked home and enjoyed Alpaca kebabs at a nearby restaurant. I was surprised at how tasty they were and not tought or gamey like I had anticipated.
Off to Sacred Valley and Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu city) tomorrow. Will write again soon with more news.
Buenos Noches (at least I hope for a better night´s sleep).
Liz and Cheryl
We started the morning with the best breakfast ever. We went to a place in Cusco called Jack´s Cafe. My breakfast was French toast with strawberries, bananas and maple syrup! Who knew they would have maple syrup here.
We joined our Sacred Valley tour and was again with many Spanish speaking people. It is currently the winter break in Chile, which is why there are so many Chileans here, as it is their top vacation spot. We were looking forward to stopping at the legendary Pisac market for some more shopping, but our tour guide believes in skipping the middle man and took us to a local group of people instead. It was okay, but now we´ll never know what the Pisac market will look like. Ou guide, Ebard, is an anthropologist and is very passionate about his weekend ´hobby´(not a job) and gave us a very thorough tour of the Pisac ruins (90 minutes instead of 30). At the Pisac ruins the first thing that you notice are the large terraces that take up the entire mountain slope. They were used for farming in Inca times, but are just spectacular now. The first stop on the ruins were to view the cemetary of the Incans that were actually on the other mountain that faces East so that they Incans can be reborn into the new world. They believe in 3 lives that exist in a spiral fashion. To get to the rest of the ruins you have to walk along the edge of the mountain cliff and while they have preserved the natural beauty of the place, it makes for dangerous walking at times. I wouldn´t want to tumble down the mountain here, but a railing would make it look out of place. On the other side of the ruins we came to their centre of astronomy. We found a Chacana (sp?) rock that was perfectly placed in a north-south direction and that the sun shines through the hole on June 21st and December 22nd. Very much reminded me of the opening scene of Indiana Jones.
From there our bus took us to Urubamba for a lunch stop. Cheryl and I didn´t feel like eating at that time and decided to walk up and down the street to take photos. I finally found a place to photograph the Tuk-tuk-like vehicles that I saw in Lima, but haven´t seen in other places. We hopped back on our bus (the Americans were 10 minutes late causing me even more stress) with no time to spare to catch our train from Ollyantantambo to Aguas Calientes (the town at the base of Machu Picchu). We made it to the bus stop (thank heavens for crazy bus drivers) with 5 minutes to spare.
The train ride was worth the extra money for the vistadome as the roof has many glass panels and you just stare at the mountains and glaciers around you. The guy in front of Cheryl was driving me crazy. He must have taken about 100 pictures out of the windows, but didn´t know how to aim without getting the frame or hydroline in the picture. We arrived in Aguas Calientes to be greeted by a lady from our hostel and I was so excited for a free transfer. As it turns out it was us walking uphill with our packs on our backs. Argh...everything in this country is up.
Our hostel is much nicer than Cusco. Private bathroom (that works, but hot water is sporadic...we have yet to hit the sweet spot, but apparently it worked for other tourists), duvets and a very smart concierge. We got info on Machu Picchu and went to buy our bus tickets, entrance tickets, tour guide and went to bed excited for what tomorrow brings. Cheryl kept saying,¨It´s just like Christmas Eve¨.
Ciao,
Liz
We had heard the previous night that people lined up for the bust at 4:30am and didn´t get Wayna Picchu tickets (that is the mountain in the background of most famous pictures of the site) as they only give out 400 per day. So we planned to leave around 3:30am. However, Cheryl couldn´t sleep and we heard people leaving so we left and were the first ones in line at 3:09am for the bus. However, as we sat there chatting with other people in line we were shocked at the number of people making the 6-8km trek up the mountain (263 people) in order to beat the people on the buses. The buses start departing at 5:30am and all of this chaos/craziness is just to get a coveted ticket. The sad thing is that people RUN (Cheryl and I included) acros the entire site to get the ticket and pay little attention to the amazing site before them. We did enjoy the moment afterwards, but if you could reserve them in advance, or the first 400 in line would avoid the trampling across the site. We also learned that you can hike up Montana Machu Picchu, hike to the Sun Gate or climb Putucusi for free. It was a frantic experience that should be much more serene. All in all, we did get our tickets (305 and 306 of 400) and then waited for the sun to rise...which provided many lovely shots.
Our tour guide, Pedro, was great. I wished I could have recorded everything he said, but here is what I can recall...
Hiram Bingam, an American, in 1911 started an expedition to find El Dorado, the Lost City of Gold. He paid a local man 1 soles (30 cents) who claimed to know of some nearby site, to take him there. On July 24, 1911 he met a local family (living where the current entrance is) whose 8yr old son took him around the site. Much vegetation had grown over everything, but he documented it and took photos before continuing his search for El Dorado. Upon returning home many were pleased with his Machu Picchu finding (although, no one knows the real name of the site) and he returned to excavate the site for many years after. Each worker was paid 1 soles per day and a bonus of 1soles for any mummy or artifact found. The first piece of gold was found in 1995 (NOT A TYPO). Seventy percent of the mummies found on the site were femaile as many chose to marry themselves to the Sun God and live there. The site officially opened to the public in 1948 after the Peruvian governemnt invited Hiram back for a proper ceremony. I was also astoundign by the techniques used to shape rocks for their structures. Incan would look for natural crack lines, chisel down, insert a dry stick and add water to make it expand and crack. Then they would use small rock chunks, water and llama skin to rub over the surface to smooth it down and enable them to have their perfect joints. Each terrace at the MP site was to experiment with farming. The Incans developed techniques to grow food and flowers at much higher or lower levels than they could normally sustain. The site is very well protected by the surrounding mountains, all of which mark exact cardinal points on a compass as well. I am sure there is more to write, but I am currently at a loss. The site is beautiful and an experience that is truly awe inspiring.
Here´s where the story gets painful. I have caught Cheryl´s head and chest cold, I have altitude problems and during the tour I could tell that something wasn´t right with my stomach. It was finally our 10-11 window for entrance to Wayna Picchu. Standing in line I wanted to give my ticket away at least 50 times and run for a bathroom, but was too ashamed to say it after all of the effort we had put in. Cheryl said we could go slowly for me. It was hell. I had been told that it was a 45 minute hike. When at the site, there are 2 possible mountains that it could be...I figured it was the smaller one. Wrong. It was a massive mountain. 45 minutes, yeah right. I couldn´t breathe and everything was straight up. The rocky steps were very uneven and the sporadic ropes were of little assistance (a personal sherpa would have been better). Many breaks were needed by me, but we made it to the top in 60-75 minutes (depends if you count the breaks). The view is phenomenal from the top and well worth all of the effort. You can see the entire MP site from an entirely different angle. It was gorgeous.
We came home and I was laid up in bed from about 4pm until we woke up the next morning at 8am. Cheryl went out and partied it up with a Brazilian and someone from Hong Kong. I guess I should be jealous...but I needed my bed so badly.
Till next time. Ciao
Liz and Cheryl.
We both started the day off well. I really enjoyed sleeping for about 16 hours straight to help feel better for the weeks ahead. Since I was still not ¨up to snuff´I decided to take it easy for the day (catching up in my journal beside the river) while Cheryl went to go hike up Putucusi, it looked like a cool thing to do (ladders up teh side of a mountain to see Machu Picchu from the top).
Cheryl finally returned from Putucusi quite late. Apparently, you have to hike the whole way there and then it´s worse on the way up to Wayna Picchu. When she returned we went to the hot springs, as I was desperate to make something happen for me today, and I can relax in a nice spring bath. Of course it was a hike straighyt up. Th3e springs are quite lovely and great after hiking. HOwever, the upper part of Aguas Calientes hasn´t had powers since in the middle of the night last night and the sun was setting quickly. As we were debating about getting out to change in the semi-light we were chatted up by a Peruvian named Michael. He learned all of his English through chatting with tourists. We finally said our goodbyes to go change.
I had locked my bags with my camera inside and was cold and wet trying to undo my combination lock in the dark. After about 5-10 minutes I called for Cheryl to come help me, who had a flashlight that was on it´s deathbed. We slowly made our way out to find Michael waiting for us with a fabulous flashlight. My favourite part of the day was in our conversation. Liz ¨Does the electricity go out often?¨ Michael ¨No¨. Liz ¨Then why do you have a flashlight with you?¨ Michael ¨Because¨. I get the feeling it is quite common as all he carried with him to the springs was a lunch baggy sized bag that carried his wet swim trunks and a flashlight (future travellers beware). Due to his kind nature we felt obliged to eat at the rstaurant that he works at. Before, I go any further I must say that avacadoes here are horrible (make sure you see them before you order them, as there are good ones too, but they seem to be rare in Cusco and A.C.). I had stewed guinea pig but it was still on the bones and hard to eat.
We headed back to the hotel, praying for electricity, but not expecting any miracles. I was outside the hotel all day long and no one seemed to be in any hurry to fix this problem. However, we were worried that we would be packing in the dark to catch our early train back to Ollaytantambo.
Fingers crossed...
Liz and Cheryl
It is a very busy and taxing day for us. We have to make it to Cusco airport from Aguas Calientes on a very tight schedule. Our travel agent in Ottawa told us it was impossible, but due to the Peru Rail dictatorship we were forced to play the hand we were dealt.
We did have to pack in the dark as there was still no electricity, but we did make it to our train on time with all of our belongings (or so we believe thus far). This train ride was markedly different than the one to A.C. as soon music started to play on the train and there was a man dressed in traditional dress, mask and with a toy llama dancing up and down the aisles. This is a dance that is perfromed to give thanks to the Vigin Carmen. This was immediately followed by a fashion show of Alpaca woolen goods. The woman attendant ate up the attention, but the male attendant looked very unimpressed (to be fair the only difference he came out each time was whether or not his sweater had buttons or a zipper).
Upon arriving at the trains station we found about 20 taxi drivers pressed against the gate and pawing their way through for a fare. It reminded me of the scene from Annie when the orphans are screaming at the gates. We asked for a ¨Muy Rapido¨ ride to the Cusco airport...and that is what we got. He passed about 15 vehicles, all of which were on winding mountain roads, and we made it ther in 90 minutes with tonnes of time to spare (take that Lenore!). A note to everyone, there is no security check at Cusco airport.
After a short 30 minute flight to Juliaca we joined a communal taxi to Puno (which took an hour). However, it was very weird that the streets immediately outside of the airport are just dirt. The elevation is higher here (3810m above sea level) but it has a much flatter topography. Upon arriving in Puno we were happy to be greeted wtih hot tea at our hotel (Camino Real for anyone going that way...hands down the best Cheryl and I had) and be done with our day of planes, trains and automobiles.
We booked our visit to the floating islands for tomorrow and the homestay on Amantani island. We are very excited for it.
Buenos Noches.
Liz and Cheryl
Tonight it was my turn to spend a sleepless night like a kid before Christmas. I have always wanted to see the floating islands and I couldn´t wait to start the day.
Lake Titicaca is the highest inland lake in the world at 3810m and the name actually means ¨Stone Grey Puma¨. If you turn a map of the lake upside down you will be able to see a puma (sacred to Peruvians) catching a rabbit.
You just can´t imagine the sight as your boat approaches Uros. It is amazing to see the light brown of the reeds being used everywhere (¨land¨, houses, boats, etc.) dotted by the bright fabrics that the ladies wear and their welcoming smiles. The first step onto the island was a little squishy (due to the number of tourists) but not in other areas. We sate to watch a demo about how the islands are made. There is a reed root base of 1 metre deep and then the reeds are layered on in a criss-cross pattern and our island was a total of 18m deep. They are curretnly anchored in a given area to avoid floating into Bolivian waters. Due to the decaying of the reeds it must be rebuilt every 3 months. The people of Uros are bird hunters and fishers by trade. They have lived on the islands since the 1100´s and there are about 3500 of them at this current time. There are 2 churches and 4 schools on the islands (60% are Protestant). Women are considered bright flowers to the Uros people and thus dress in wonderful textiles of every colour of the rainbow. When the ´totore´reeds are green with a white tip, this tip is good for eating and the green section is for cows (or a mother-in-law according to our guide). The reed boats that they are famous for used to have a shelf life of only 3-7 months, but now they reuse discard plastic Coca-Cola bottles and they last 3 years. Cheryl and I both jumped at the chance to take a ride on the reed boats to another island and even got to row (at least for a picture). I am glad that I had the opportunity to meet the people of Uros, as I am not sure how much longer they will be around as industrialization and the draw of the mainland lure away the younger generations.
We sailed for about 2.5 hours before arriving at the island of Amantani for our homestay. I had brought Canadian pencils and teddy bears as presents for our hosts and our guide matched us up with a lovely lady named Martina with 2 children (Sienna 5 and Annabelle 3). It seems like we were the only tourists from our boat that actually made a significant effort to interact with our family, as we chatted in our best broken Spanish and hand gestures, played catch with the kids and Cheryl and I finally learned how the Peruvian women carry their children on their backs in the woven fabrics (Annabelle was our model).
That afternoon we all left our families to climb to the top of Amantani to watch the sunset. I stopped to watch at the base of the ruins at the top and gave Cheryl my camera to go ahead and enjoy. I am told by her later that it was crowded and what she dubs ´the world´s highest shopping mall¨. We climbed back down when it was getting dark to enjjoy dinner with our family again and in waited anxiously for that evening.
Side note: there is a flowering plant that grows in teh rock crevices that is called Munia/Munja that makes the world´s best tea. Once it is harvested and exported I will be buying in bulk.
About 8pm we had a tap on our room door to find Martina with a large handful of clothes. It was dancing time! Every time tourists are on the island, they dress them up in traditional dress and then dance the night away. I was wearing a white blouse with embroidered flowers on it, a knee length flowy green skirt, a wide belt of all colours woven together and a traditional head shawl that is again embroidered with flowers. Cheryl´s outfit was very similar with one distinct exception, she got a doll with a traditional hat strapped to her back. She was the hit of the discotheque, even the local guide wanted photos. Dancing consists of see-sawing youir arms with your partner, snaking around the room in a chain and dancing under the upraised arms of your fellow dancers. It was a blast.
We headed home to bed in our little room with candlelight thankful for an awe-inspiring and memorable day.
Liz and Cheryl
In the morning I had to say goodbye to my best travelling buddy. Cheryl had to have an incredibly long and horrific journey home through almost every Peruvian town today. She left on a local boat early in the morning and I was sad to see her go (although, I am grateful she won´t be coughing on me anymore). After seeing her off, I was on my boat to the island of taquile. A very different culture exists on this island, one that is protected by UNESCO, as the men here are famous for a very distinct 5 needles knitting technique. Here, due to Spanish influene, the men wear little short vests and red (married) or red and white hats (single). Here there ae three basic rules for life: Don´t lie, Don´t be lazy and Don´t steal. They all follwo these rules for a very hard, but peaceful existence on the island. Here couples are required to live together for 1-2 years before they are allowed to marry to ensure that the family agrees with the union, as well as the couple, as there isn´t any divorce allowed in this culture.
It was great time on the island, but after about an hour of hiking and touring, plus lunch, we headed back to Puno where I met up with another Canadian from Montreal named Fraser. He and I will be travelling to Bolivia together. We met for about five minutes in the Toronto airport and chatted again for another five minutes in the Lima airport. When I saw him in Puno he was looking for travelling buddy on the exact day that I was losing one. He is a very cool guy and I am excited to travel with him (his Spanish is muy bien). When we were walking around the Puno port we stumbled upon some wet cement and we wrote our initials in it. Rather, Fraser did both, as I was afraid of getting caught by the Peruvian police. We left the scene in a hurry to come back later for some photo ops.
Ciao,
Liz
Fraser and I had an early start to catch the bus to Bolivia. We are only planning to go as far as Copacabana for the day to check out the lakeside town.
The boarder crossing is quite amusing. The bus drops you off to enter 2 different rooms to be considered out of Peru, then you walk 300m uphill, through a stone gate to enter Bolivia. Fraser found it absolutely hilarious that the entry sign said, ¨Wellcome to Bolivia¨. It wasn´t long before we were in Copacaban. We found a hostel, grabbed a quick bite and caught boat to Isla de Sol (Island of Sun). The boat ride was 90 minutes long which only left us about an hour to explore the island. Fraser was my hero when he took my camera, climbed up a tree teetering on the edge of a cliff to take a picture of the Peruvian/Incan flower. The island is quite lovely with stone steps alongside a waterfall, llamas, donkeys...all very picturesque.
We headed home for a chilled dinner and then some cards in the room before heading off to bed.
Tomorrow, La Paz.
Liz
Our bus to La Paz this morning was apparently the milk run for the enitre Bolivian countryside. We stopped everywhere to pick up passengers and the bus was cold. We had to cross over a part of Lake Titicaca and to do so we had to leave the bus to get a motorboat across. Meanwhile, our large bus was loaded onto a barge (seemingly only made of wood) and sent across as well. We made it to La Paz, but I was not immediately impressed. The bus station is at the top of the very large hill and when I got off of the bus, we were stranded in the middle of a busy street that smelled of urine and burning, but was nowhere close to where we needed to go.
We got a taxi, which turned out to be a nightmare. Fraser had negotiated a price of 6 Bolivianos and when he took us to the wrong place he wanted to charge us more. They fought in Spanish and we finally ended up at our hotel. However, the saga doesn´t end there. We then decided that the place was overpriced and that we should go to the hotel that I have booked for the following nights when I start my Amazon trip. This hotel is so much nicer and centrally located to all of the good things (Hotel Eva Palace).
After dropping off our bags we went on the longest hunt ever for 2 things. To book our mountain biking day and for bracelets that Fraser´s sister brought him from Bolivia 2 years ago that has since worn out. The biking trip was easy to book, there are literally a dozen places that will book you. The bracelets had us going all over the city in a desperate search. After 2 hours we found a lady who made bracelets behind teh counter of her store and he showed her what he wanted and then she made 8 of them on the spot for a bargain price of eight bucks Canadian. He had one made for me too for being patient with this endless hunt.
We are now catching up with families at an internet cafe and then off to dinner and bed before our big day biking down a mountain. Cross your fingers it doesn´t rain tomorrow.
Love,
Liz
One of the things that Bolivia is famous for is it´s Death Road. Due to mountainous terrain here the original road, that is often only one lane wide, was the only method to travel from the south areas that reach the Amazon bason and the northern altitudes of La Paz. However, to date I have seen one traffic light in La Paz, and Bolivia as a whole, and as such their driving is incredibly chaotic. It is the worst I have seen in all of my travels (even Vietnam has a semblance of a system). As such when travelling along this road, many trucks, cars and buses would be driving to fast on a hairpin turn and then go plunging thousands of metres into the valley below. It was the single most dangerous road in the world, until protests for a better way made the government create a new paved (semi-paved) road on an alternate route that is 2 lane. This road has been like a Mecca for mountain bikers and thrill seekers alike for many years, and with the introduction of the new road, it is still quite dangerous, but the odds of survival are far greater.
Fraser and I started our morning at 7:30 on the bus that was filled with other travellers and bike on the roof. We slowly ascended the hills surrounding La Paz, and stopped that the road checkpoint just at the start of the highway for 15 minutes...or so we were told. As luck would have it, we seemed to have chosen the first day in four years that La Paz has seen this much snow. It had shut down the entrance to the highway for hours until workers could be reached to shovel it clear. At one point, at least 90 minutes into waiting, we saw an excavator come to plow the roads. Seeing as La Paz is the second highest capital in the world, second to Tibet, and is set in the mountains they would have some contingency plans. Not the case. Most other biking groups left the ridiculously long line up and cancelled their day, whereas our group perservered. I must describe the scene for you. We were in the midst of snow capped mountains, with the longest line of traffic I have seen in a while. Each truck, when given the glimmer of hope that the line would move,would start up (after the owner came running down the hill) and emit the largest cloud of black smoke and exhaust you have ever seen. We had three false alarms like this where our van would move only a couple of inches, but inside we would be inhaling millions of toxic fumes. Although, I have never smoked, I feel from that one morning that I have already been smoking for about 5 years.
After waiting at the checkpoint for close to four hours, we were through (driving behind the excavator) and still quite a distance away from the starting point. Knowing that the sun sets early, and the ride takes about 6 hours I was curious how we would pull this off. We started about 1000m from the start (essentially missing the paved road part). I was incredibly nervous. I have done so many crazy things in the past that I couldn´t explain this irrational fear. Fraser kept reassuring me that I would be fine and that he believed in me. To which my response was, ¨that makes one of us¨.
We started at the top of the gravel section, to which our instructions were 1) use the brakes, but not to hard or you´ll go over your handle bars 2) but don´t push too weakly or you will go to fast and go over the edge 3) watch out for the first blind turn 4) ride as close as you can to the edge so that you will have less gravel and landslide rocks. I was scared!
However, after the first 5 minutes, I was feeling good and was soon overtaking many of the riders, not the boys though...they were showboating at the front of the group. I should mention here that there was a crazy Israeli person in our group named, Tamil, who was the worst of the show-offs. He would deliberately wait to be last and then see how fast he could overtake everyone and then do crazy stunts as he went by. Apparently, he was oblivious to the name of the road, as on his pass by me and another girl (passing one person is okay, but passing me while I am passing someone is lethal) he lost control of his bike, spun out and was on his side with one inch to spare before going over the cliff. Not the best representative for his country.
Every once in a while I would look around at my surroundings and be impressed by the lush, green mountains around us and how far we have come. It is really quite beautiful riding into the Amazon bason. Alternatively, sometimes I would scan the scene around me and think I was utterly nuts for being there at that moment and three more inches to the left and I would be roadkill. I guess I do all of these crazy things for the sheer thrill and the ability to say that I did it, instead of being a wallflower.
We rode through waterfalls, muddy sections, down steep inclines and over many rocky sections. Ending in the Amazon bason was amazingly beautiful. The ride is phenomenal and well worth all of the morning´s chaos and frustration. I was very proud to have finished the Death Road and now those of you back home who were worried can rest easy tonight.
Ciao,
Liz
PS I would be very remiss if I forgot to mention Fraser´s favourite part of the morning. The local people of the highway stop are used to truck traffic and set up many stalls for food and snacks. Many people were eating deep fried chicken at 8:30 in the morning. Beside the cooking station was a diesel oil bucket that had peeled potatoes inside. Only in Bolivia.
Well, it has been an eventful couple of days. But before I go any further, I have decided that if I were to write a book on Bolivia I would entitle a chapter (if not the whole book) ¨Travel in Bolivia: An Exercise in Patience¨. I have discovered that everything here is really just not on schedule and time is just a number. On the morning of the 28th I was picked up at my hotel at 6:45am to get to the airport to catch my flight to Rurrenabaque (Amazon Basin). I sat in the airport until 1pm. The landing strip in Rurrenabaque is made of grass and the slightest rain or humidity (which is a constant problem in the Amazon) causes flights to be delayed or cancelled. At least I made it out there.
I stayed on a small island community of San Miguel, which strives to provide eco-friendly tourism of the region while teaching about local customs. The scenery of the eco-lodge was phenomenal. I had my own private room, complete with mosquito net tents (brings back memories, eh Paula!) and a beautiful thatch roof. However, the main lodge, close to the water, has three hammocks overlooking the river where I spent most of my time relaxing and watching the blue butterflies and yellow birds dance about. I had a private guide, Wilman, the entire time who only wore $0.99 flip flops for everyone of our treks (2 times he had ants bite chunks of flesh out of his toes, to which he said ¨hmm...¨). I was also biten by a fire ant and would love to brag about my bravado, but that isn´t possible and it reeeeaalllyyy hurts.
The first day we went to the village of San Miguel. It is very rural and simplistic in it´s way of life. Only 3 buildings have electricity and most things are done by hand. All of the food they eat is from the land (avacado, tomato, fish, coffee, rice, etc) and is organic. In the village he took me to the sugar mill where I got to feed sugar canes into a grinder (powered by 2 guys walking it around and around) to make the brownest, but tastiest, juice you have ever seen or tasted. At the school we saw children rehearsing their band performance for Bolivian Independance Day (Aug 6) and when one kid wasn´t paying attention he was promptly whipped across the back of his legs by the teacher.
Day 2 was a big hiking day. We started the morning with a hike uphill to spot animals and birds. The guide told me to wear flip flops. Thinking he was totally nuts (as he was hiking all over the ridge in flip flops and the aforementioned ant bites), he then tell me to change into my flip flops as we were at the canyon. I am not sure what I expected of the canyon, but it felt like a private oasis that curved like ribbon through the areas leaving only room for one person to fit between the green moss-covered rock walls. It was so amazing, especially as the bats would be disturbed and fly overhead. Loved it.
In the afternoon we went to hike (uphill of course) to the waterfall called Piscina. It took about an hour, but I had the entire waterfall to myself and seeing as it was cool and refreshing and I was everything but, it was perfect. I could have stayed there all day.
Day 3 was spent at the Madidi National Park run by the people of San Miguel. The park is enormous covering all of the distance until Peru. The boat continued along the snaking river until we couldn´t go any further. Almost immediately on our trek, we heard knocking coconut sounds (here the coconuts also come in lemon-size and are rock hard for little flesh) and it was a group of 50 wild pigs eating them. While we tried to observe as closely as possible, while not scaring them away, we heard a jaguar attack the group and fail. We couldn´t see it and we were to afraid to go closer...he was looking for a meal. Along the trek we saw Howler monkeys, Madidi Titi Monkeys, Spider Monkeys, pigs, Tayra, Macaws, Eagles and many others. The boat ride hoem was even better, I got to view and film (for a long time) a family of Capibaras. Capibaras are the world´s largest rodents and can swim. I have always wanted to see one, and I saw over 10. It was great. We also saw turtles sunning themselves and 2 alligators (the one was resting where I had to walk along the shore in order for the boat to pass through...danger).
Day 4 was spent learing about traditional uses of plants and traditional trapping techniques. Essentially, almost every plant can be used to cure some sort of infection...except for one. This one tree is highly poisonous and many husbands have been known to poison their wives when they want to remarry. Most, however, mix the toxic sap with dirt and then use it to tranquilize the fish in the streams and simply pick up their dinner. The trapping was neat and pretty much every one had a trip wire. My favourite was the one with a bow and arrow rig set up. During the nature walks, Wilman kept picking up the ´pig-coconuts´and putting them in his pockets. On my last day there he hand carved me a ring in about 30minutes using only a saw and other stones for sanding and smoothing them.
My flight home (and there) was very unique. I have already mentioned the airstrip, but failed to mention the aircraft. It had two propellers and seated 19 people with an exposed cockpit and only about 4 feet high (even mom would have to crawl to her seat). It was hilarious to see us all squishe din like sardines and watching (and photographing) the pilots. At one point I watched as the pilot on the right was slumped over and napping...but I was too slow to get out my camera. It was a rougher ride due to the mountainous terrain and the aircraft, but I loved it. When I landed on the grass strip I felt like I belonged in an episode of Gilligan´s Island.
Tomorrow I start my GAP tour across Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. We are starting at the world´s highest silver mine in Potosi. Will write again soon.
Hasta Manana.
Liz
I have very little to write about the events of yesterday and today. However, I have much to write about the city as a whole.
1) Sidewalks - The sidewalks here are erratic, with holes, disappear, etc. However, there doesn´t seem to be any decorum for walking as a pedestrian in this city. In theory, they drive on the right hand side, so I walk on the right and the locals here will pretty much plow you down. I was walking uphill to my hotel with my rather large backpack and I stopped in a part that had an indent for a storefront to let the people coming down the hill pass without problem. Yet, somehow they still managed to push me and then give me a dirty look, like as if it was my fault! It is very hard to be a polit Canadian here, as there doesn´t seem to be any give and take on the streets. So, then I started to just plow people over (as I was getting very frustrated by this point). I didn´t like doing it and felt awful afterwards, but am looking forward to somewhere that people aren´t so pushy (they are polite to your face, just not on the sidewalks).
2) Traffic lights - I can´t recall if I wrote this in my blog yet, as it has appeared in my private journal many times, but I have seen maybe one traffic light so far. Much like time, traffic rules are non-existant. In Vietnam, I had to receive walking lessons from my tour leader, and from a bird´s eye persepective it seemed chaotic. I would like to ammend my thoughts about Vietnam, after having experienced La Paz for about 4 days. They are the worst drivers int he world. Vietnam is busy, but it is more like a chaotic, yet orchestrated ballet where people seamlessly weave in and out of traffic. Here, they will run you over without a second thought.
3) Collective Minibuses - Here the minivans will drive along the streets without a sign indicating where they are going. In lieu of a sign, they have a passenger lean out the right side calling (at warp speed) the route they will be taking. However, to ensure they get passengers they move very slowly at intersections, causing more pedestrian and traffic chaos.
4) Children´s Apparel - I have been hunting for a shirt for my nephew with very frustrating results. Apparently, the nice shirts only come in adult sizes. There is one shirt that is a play on the Puma logo, but with llamas. I loved it and spent one whole day looking for a kid sized one. It seems that the shirts for kids here are either a) beer b) Che Guevera, a political radical murdered in Bolivia c) Coca leaves (the main ingredient in cocaine) or d) a crazy over the top inca design that is almost blinding...and mainly comes in purple or pink. I wonder about the state of their children if this is what they consider appropriate attire.
5) Witches Market - There are about 2 streets in La Paz where you can go to buy a potion to cure any ailment you might have. There are hundreds of little medicine vials all lined up with various pictures on them. One had little people inside...not sure what that was for. The most interesting and attention getting part of the market are all of the llama fetuses that are hanging around the stalls. My limited Spanish hasn´t enabled me to figure out what they are for, but it is really quite creepy. Photos aren´t allowed here...I took 2 anyway and then got yelled at by a large woman.
6) Internet (you get what you pay for) - it is super cheap (aobut thirty cents Cdn for an hour), but if you are trying to upload photos, it takes about the entire hour.
7) Hung ¨Scarecrows¨- every once in a while you will see a scarecrow figure, obviously depicting someone in particular (but I am ignorant as to who it is) hanging from a lightpost.
Anyways, I just thought I would get all of you up to speed. I met my group that I will be travelling with on my GAP tour for the next 11 days last night. There are 7 of us in total (one guy is a pharmacist which will come in handy when I inevitably hurt myself somewhere along the line). We leave tonight on a night bus to Potosi, the world´s highest mine. I will update again sometime soon, until then I have to find a way to kill 7 more hours in this city...
Ciao,
Liz
We had a night(mare) bus to Potosi that left La Paz around 8pm. I have heard horror stories about night buses and wasn´t expecting too much. The first impressions of the bus were good as every seat had lots of leg room, a personal blanket and a leg rest. However, once we started moving we realized that Bolivian car makers don´t actually know how to seal a window and freezing cold air kept lashing at our faces and none of us could get warm. To make matters worse they played ¨White Chicks¨really loudly on the TV. Argh. We arrived in Potosi at 5:30am and were quick to jump into bed to rest a bit and attempt to warm up.
In the morning myself, and four others from the tour, decided to go into the mines at Potosi. It used to be the wealthiest silver mine in all of the world. Today, it is mainly mined for zinc and other minerals. Conditions down in the mine are deplorable. Men work without food, water or rest for over 12 hours in order to make a living. Men who use a pick and dig a hole for dynamite (which takes at least one hour) get paid 40 Bolivianos (US$5) per day. There are low ceilings, random explosions, lack of oxygen, exposure to absestos and many other hazards here. Before entering the mine we went to go buy drinks, food, and other presents for the miners. The more interesting presents consisted of 96% proof alcohol (we´re told it is put on the ground as a gift ot mother Earth) and dynamite. I stuck to candy, crackers and drinks as I could envision myself somehow detonating the equipment when I stumbled along the route. Children start working in the mine as young as 11 years old. Our guide was the most in charge woman I have ever seen. She was telling miners and policeman alike that she was in charge. She kind of reminded me of the Seinfeld Soup Nazi. Surprisingly, I made it out alive, despite some bumps to my helmet.
Once outside our guide asked us to come see one more demonstration. We climbed a hill where she and her partner created two bombs. Then she said ¨this is my half¨while motioning to the people. What happened next still has me in shock. She lit the fuse and then made us hold the live bomb while she took our photo. Up until the point of the tour she had explained everything in perfect English, but this she did not. I had my picture with the lit bomb and then she ran across the hill where it exploded with quite a bit of noise and dust. The second man´s bomb went off soon after...although, he barely made it to safety in time.
After coming back to the hotel we washed up and had a nice lunch. At lunch I had a combo that came with dessert. When she described the flavours to me, she said ¨Chicken Mint¨. I went for the chicken mint flavour, which was blue and tasted a lot like bananas and mint. We strolled around the town and went through many local merchant areas (tripe hanging from a string alongside a vendor selling underwear).
We´ll be heading out to dinner soon and then spending the morning going to the local museum before heading out to Uyuni.
Still alive...surprisingly,
Liz
At about noon today, we caught a private bus (to avoid having to deal with standing for 7 hours if luck wasn´t on our side) to Uyuni, the gateway to the Salt Flats. The road the entire way there is almost entirely dirt (except for about 50km in Potosi). The bus rattles and shakes like it will soon fall apart on these roads. It seems as if it is someone´s job to paint a rock white avery 20m with the kms travelled on it, some are a big as my torso and others as small as my palm. I have been mainly busying myself with photographing the scenery. This involves me opening the window and shoving my head out to get good pictures of alpacas. We descended into a valley that had literally hundreds of alpacas, which I have offically nicknamed ¨Alapaca Valley¨. We pulled over for a rest stop (read: trees and ditches) 2 alpacas came right up and posed for photos.
Other than arriving in Uyuni, which is very cold, not too much else happened today.
Ciao,
Liz
Again, like a kid on Christmas Eve, I couldn´t sleep due to the excitement of the Train Cemetary and the Salt Flats. Before we could go, Gail and I went to the Central Market to buy toys for funny perspective pictures. We decided on a fabulous dump truck and found that here, the sales people are opposite to everywhere else. We had to harass the lady to pay attention to us and take our money, she couldn´t have cared less.
Our 4x4 had: myself, Gail (Wales), Joaquin (Chilean tour leader) , Dale (England), Florencio (driver) and Juanita (cook). We headed to the train cemetary for some amazing photos before heading to the Salt Flats. Immediately, I was struck by the contrasting white and blue scenery...it is blinding. Long ago, the salt flats used to be an inland sea and now all of the salt has crystallized into a surface that is hard enough to drive on and construct buildings with. It is an average of 40-50com deep and in some areas you can see the water below, one jeep went through last year. Gail and I fully utilized our lunch stop to photograph and bunch of funny pictures...to be uploaded soon...promise.
Our hotel was made entirely of salt (beds, floor, bar, tables...everything but the toilet) and was off the side of the actual salt flats. Once it was dark we were surprised by a local parade-festival in the middle of our hotel in honour of tomorrow being Boliva Day. I was pulled up to dance many times (I swear the dimples can be a curse) and we were give quinoa beer (actually quite good). After dinner, we headed out for the real festivities, where the mayor was shouting things like, ¨Praise Bolivia¨ to which you reply ¨Gloria¨. Then all of the local kids sang the Sucre anthem with their red, green and yellow lanterns before going home to bed. The drinking and dancing started soon after. It was great of the locals to invite us to their party and they kept giving us loads of alcohol and coca leaves (what cocaine is made from). The drinks were made of: cinnamon, egg, pisco and milk. They were mild in flavour, but perfectly warm in the freezing cold desert. The coca leaves are to be folded up, mashed slightly between your teeth and the placed between your cheek and gums. Gail felt a numbing sensation right away...but I only slightly felt it after 20 leaves. After a night of drinking, dancing and praising Bolivia it was home to sleep in our salt beds.
Buenos Noches
Liz
After last night´s festivities, I expected a large party for the entire day. It probably was a sight to see in other cities, but out in the middle of the desert, it felt like any other day.
Our first stop was at a rock that was painted to look like Che Guevera, but it looked more like Osama Bin Laden.
Our second stop was at a tiny hamlet where a little local boy befriended me and had me playing soccer. I think I was selected out of the group as he knew that I was terrible and therefore boost his ego. He was incredibly adorable and he kept calling me his ´amigo´. I gave him the toy dump truck and was rewarded with a hug and a kiss. Even as the car was pulling away, he was blowing me kisses. It was so nice to play with Hermando, but I do feel badly that something so simple is precious to him.
It was a long drive from here to the lagoons, where there is promise of Flamingoes. I was so excited to see them. I took way too many photos, of course, but when else will I be so close to them. I got a couple of really good shots of them mid-flight and sleeping on one leg. PS The smell at the lagoon where they are is quite potent.
Another long drive to our hotel, made of normal clay bricks, and to a very cold bed.
Ciao,
Liz
We were up when it was still pitch dark out. Our cars were to leave at 5:30am, but I was up since 3am due to the extreme cold and rock hard beds. We drove as the sun was rising to find ourselves at the geysers along the border. The smell of the sulfur was quite overwhelming and the steam wasn´t as warm as I had hoped it would be. For the mere 5 minutes that I was out there, my nose was bright red and frozen.
We stopped for breakfast at the hot springs, where only Jamie was brave enough to enter. Had there been change rooms or any sort of facilities that didn´t involve changing in front of hundreds of tourists (and outdoor temperatures above zero), I might have gone in.
Right before our crossing into Chile, we stopped at the Green Lagoon right in front of a volcano. Here I climbed onto the roof of the 4x4 for a great shot.
Now, I am in the town of San Pedro De Atacama of Chile and love the warmth (lower altitude) and laidback feel of the town.
Hasta Manana
Liz
Another early start today. It was a great day to go for a horse ride around town. Claire (from Ireland) and I had decided to spend the morning riding around the nearby villages and surrounding areas. When we arrived at his ranch, Olando, had 2 horses already for us and I really liked the caramel coloured one. We put on calf protectors (or as I like to call it ´half-chaps´ and mounted our horses. I was given the caramel horse named Pan Dulce, or ¨Sweet Bread¨.
I was impressed at how calm the surrounding areas are as we headed out and around the little ´pueblo´. The houses were made of mud bricks, branches, unrolled Shell oil barrels. Everything was peaceful. That is until our gaucho (gauzo in Chile), Olando, wanted to have us trot our horses. I lost control. My stirrups were too long and I couldn´t ride properly and I pretty much just bounced around hysterically laughing. My horse really hated to be the second horse behind Olando, and detested third even more. Claire, is an experienced rider back home and kept trotting her horse, thereby causing my horse to get it´s nose out of joint. Everytime she sped up, even a little, my horse was off like a rocket. This problem was further exacerbated by the fact that my horse seemed to have depth perception problems and as we approached our second spot, we would ram right into the other horses (as the path was only wide enough for one, maybe 2 horses, not 3).
Despite my severe lack of equestrian skills, we made it back to the ranch. I really enjoyed the sand dunes and villages that we walked by. As we walked back into town, I was being pelted with grains of sand at warp speeds. The wind storm was so severe that every operator in town shut down all of the tours. So, all seven of us were in town with cancelled Valley of the Moon tour tickets and nothing to do.
That night we went to dinner as a group and found a very cold local restaurant. The doors were open and we were frozen. However, the worst part of the meal was that while we were eating the Discovery Channel was playing the story of the rugby team that resorted to cannibalism in the Andes. Not the most appetizing thing to be watching while you are eating dinner. After a our cold dinner, and lazy day, we all wanted a drink by a warm fire. So, we headed to the Export Bar. At the bar, I was enjoying our happy hour drinks. Most of the group left, and Gail, Joaquin (our leader) and I stayed back to enjoy dancing until 2am. I would say that we managed to make up for the lost day with all of the salsa dancing at the club.
Ciao,
Liz
Today was a horrible day. It seems that I am very good at catching the ¨one-off¨ weather abnormalities here in South America. Today we were to catcha bus to Salta, Argentina at 10am. There was snow in the mountains last night and we were delayed 5 HOURS. We sat at the highway checkpoint watching ¨Slumdog Millionaire¨and wandering about. We had a ten hour ride ahead of us at 3pm when we finally got moving. We sat on the bus and watched ¨Pelham 123¨ and ¨Land of the Lost¨(horrible) and a little kid cried in the seat behind us almost the entire way. I was excited to reach the hotel at 2am and sleep, even though we have to be up and ready at 6:30am. Argh!
An early start today. We started the morning with a 3 hour drive to Cafayete. We stopped along the way to take photos along the way of the mountains and canyons. When we arrived in town we went to Nanni Bodega for a brief tour and wine sampling. We learned on the tour that this was an organic winery and one of the oldest in town/Argentina. I thought it was interesting that they use 1 egg white to filter the bacter in 400L of winte. From thee we went to anothe winery taht was newer and more modern. However, everyone in the group just wanted to drink the wine and skip the tour, so I have no idea what the name is, but I like their wine.
Argentina is famous for many things: wine, steak, tango, ice cream, gauchos, etc. When I was in Cafayete I found an ice cream shop selling wine ice cream. I just had to try a scoop of Cabernet Sauvignon ice cream. It was more like a sorbet and it hurt my tongue (combo of cold and bitterness of alcohol). We wandered around town for a bit more before catching the bus back to Salta.
We had one stop on the way back that was very interesting. We stopped at a rock canyon that has formed a natural amphitheatre. The surrounding rock walls were quite impressive, but the best part were the local musicians playing their instruments in the middle. The melodic tunes carried in the air and were very soothing.
Seeing as we arrived in darkness the night before, it was nice to spend a quiet evening in the main sqaure in Salta. The main square it lined with palm trees, colonial buildings and many lovely cafes. It all looked quite lovely illuminated in the night sky. I would have liked more time in the town to soak it in.
Ciao,
Liz
PS I am so excited to have paved roads again...what a luxury!
A short 2 hour airplane ride from Salta and I was in Buenos Aires. What a difference! The streets have 8 lanes in one direction, buildings and pedestrians everywhere. I have been in the rural areas fora long time, as donkeys and llamas were a common sight. What a change.
Buenos Aires has been dubbed ¨the Paris of the Americas¨by many people due to it´s European influence in it´s architecture. Walking around the city can vary greatly depending largely on what region you are in. Gail and I walked around the city after lunch looking for her hotel. We wandered into San Telmo (that was where she swore her hotel was) and found a lot of jazz clubs and other interesting hang outs. We then wandered to where her hotel really was on the other side of town and then to my apartment. We didn´t want to see too many of the famous landmarks as we will be taking a tour tomorrow. However, the feel you get walking around town has been great.Â
In the evening, I wasn´t feeling very well but it was our last night of our tour. We had booked to go to a nice dinner and tango show in the evening as a means to celebrate. Of course, this happens to be the evening that my stomach doesn´t cooperate. Our dinner was at El Viejo Almacen which offers a lovely menu (and plenty of wine) and then a private two hour tango show at their small venue across the road. The intimate seating (and the fact that it was a Tuesday) was great. If you can I would recommend a balcony seat (then you won´t get the tops of people´s heads in your photos). The outfits dazzled as the women whirled around the stage by rather large and imposing men. One dance number was very fast paced and I was impressed at the footwork in the song. A tango show is a must do when in Buenos Aires.
The rest of the group went out drinking when the show ended at midnight, I headed home to bed. I was proud that I made it the entire night, but was looking forward to my bed (good thing I partied it up in San Pedro).
Ciao,
Liz
Hanging out in Buenos Aires and wandering within and beyond the city limits have allowed me to observe some interesting things.
1) Porteños (BA residents) love their dogs. However, they don´t love to walk their dogs themselves. They hire dog walkers, who often have about 12 large dogs surrounding them. They will buy dogs like golden labs, sheep dogs, German sheppards,etc. I have also noticed that no one stoops and scoops here. Watch where you are walking...not just parks, sidewalks too.
2) Playing ¨Spot the Tourist¨is very easy in a BA winter. It was 25 degrees celsius outside and Porteños will wear jeans, boots, sweaters, coats and scarves. Whereas, I am wandering around in lightest pants, sandals, and a t-shirt. I was boiling and they were shivering.
3) I mentioned earlier how I was excited to be back in a city with paved roads, yet failed to mention the new luxury of street signs and traffic lights. Here, in the capital city, all the streets are labelled (often with numbers on the buildings...wow) and it matches the maps given. This is the first time I have felt ´oriented´in S.A. Furthermore, the cars STOP for traffic lights. It is great. Pedestrians still jaywalk against the light if there isn´t a car coming to help alleviate sidewalk congestion (me included), but for the most part will walk with the lights.
4) Days start late here. Everywhere I have been, I tend to beat the street vendors. Furthermore, dinner also begins very late. We have been enjoying long dinners (usually about 2hours) and when we leave around 9pm, they are just getting started.
That is all that I can think of right now...
Liz
Yesterday was a bit of a write off as I was still a little ill from the day before. I had to move into my rented apartment and catch up on a lot of blog writing. So, very little can be said about the 12th, other than it was a catch up day.
I decided to make up for that today. It had been recommended to us by our tour leader before he flew home to Chile to take a city tour of BA on a hop on and hop off bus. So Gail and I planned to meet very early in the morning to catch the first bus. We sat on top of the open double decker bus photographing everything...I soon learned that there are hundreds of statues in BA and to be more selective. However, the first bus is highly recommended, as our main point of interest for the day was to walk around La Boca.
La Boca is a neighbourhood that is considered one of the first settled neighbourhoods in BA and is now unsafe for tourists. In fact every guide book map has it written across the image. Upon speaking to my friend, Shirley, who went during March Break, she said that it was okay if you were smart about it. I figured a tour bus wouldn´t drop you off there unless it was unsafe. The bus dropped us off at a very safe location and the immediate surrounding streets are designated safe for tourists. The draw of La Boca (other than soccer for the fans) is Caminito. Caminito is the house and shop area immediately off of the river where in the past locals would beg for spare paint from the ship workers to paint their houses. The remnants weren´t often enough to do they entire house, so the buildings have a very vibrant patchwork effect and are spectacular to view. I loved the colours in Stockholm, but this was even better. I could have stayed all day, had it not been for the throngs of arriving vendors and tourists. It is for this reason alone that I would highly recommend the first bus. The vendors get in the way of good photos, become increasingly pushy and the area is crowded making a good picture difficult to get. People dressed up like tango dancers will ´pose´for a photo for you in the fabulously coloured scene. Be aware: there are wood cut outs where you can poke your head through for photos...they are a tourist scam. In small lettering on the back it says photos cost 5pesos, but not up front (and no one is around). They come running the minute you pose and charge you. I got caught in this, but I like my shot, and I didn´t really mind considering all of the other photos I got before the vendors were out from their morning coffee.
After leaving La Boca we continued our tour along the water´s edge of the port to see a sport team working out on the edge of the ecological reserve before going for a run. Since it is winter the reserve was pretty lifeless in it´s plant life, but the guys made for a great view!
On to Palermo, the ritzy neighbourhood, where Gail and I wanted to wander among the swank shops. We walked up along the promenade where you can see into the zoo from the sidewalk (got some good flamingo shots here too) and wander among the parks. The ritzy area of Palermo wasquite nice with many unique shops, cobblestone streets and sidewalk cafes. We stopped for lunch to enjoy a focaccia sandwich, mesclun salad and raspberry cheesecake. It was delicious.
Venturing back towards our bus was quite the ordeal as the stop listed on the map is located on the wrong side of a major street at the end of a round about. We must have looked quite silly running after the bus, and quite possibly might end up in someone´s tour photos, but we made it.
The next stop was the Recoleta Cemetary. It is a famous part of the city, where many mausoleums and tombs have been erected of famous (and not so famous) families. The rows of 8 foot high graves are quite narrow and each one unique in some way. Yet, it is still surprisingly easy to get lost in this maze while searching for Evita´s resting place. The guidebooks tell you it is quite hard to find. It was. However, that was mainly due to the fact that the workers had put up a barricade while restoring an adjacent mausoleum´s stonework. Had we entered from the other side it would have been quite simple. A large map is in the entry (no need to buy one from the odd lady at the door).
Before heading to dinner I was insistant that we see the Woman´s Bridge. It is a pedestrian walkway that links the opposite sides of the port, but is architecturally quite unique. It was lovely to photograph as the sun was setting.
Later in the evening I had planned to fulfill my father´s one request of my trip...a fabulous steak dinner ( ¨spare no expense¨, he said). The man who is renting out his apartment was insistent that the best place in town was El Mirasol (the sunflower) in Puerto Madero (overlooking the waterway, just beyond Woman´s bridge). He was right. Gail and I both ordered the recommended tenderloin tip and the beef was so tender it practically melted in your mouth. It was delicious, as was our bottle of red malbec wine and chocolate mousse dessert. The meal was phenomenal and much cheaper than a meal out in Canada, even though this was to be expensive (I love exchange rates in our favour). Before heading home from the restaurant they gave us a cloth placemat with the cuts of meat located on the cow as a souvenir. All in all it was a busy day and a lovely night.
Buenos noches,
Liz
I had really wanted to see an Argentinian rugby game and as luck would have it there was a couple of games on Saturday. Gail had also wanted to watch a match, and coincidentally it was near the Tigre Delta that she wanted to visit...so we made a day of it.
Due to some of my friend´s comments from past travels to Argentina, I wasn´t that keen about going to the Delta. I heard that it was a let down, but it would be easier to go together than trying to meet up later (boy, was I right, but I will get to that later).
We met at the train station to catch the Coastal Train to the Tigre Delta. It was 12 pesos (which is a tourist rip-off, as the local train costs only 1 pesos). It was supposed to be along the riverside with spectacular views, but it goes within the city limits. We made it to the Delta to book a trip in and amongst the mangroves-swamp to see capibaras and other animals. The guide book made it sound like a mini-Amazon within the reaches of the city. It turns out that it is really just a cottage country for locals. The boat we took along the waterways, took us past people weekend homes. Not the best way to spend my day. Murray was right. However, as I mentioned before, had Gail and I try to meet up at the rugby stadium, it wouldn´t have happened.
We went to San Isidro to see S.I.C. play their rugby match against Alumni. This town is quite cute and has two rugby team: SIC and CASI. Apparently, the locals can´t tell the difference between the two and sent us walking towards the CASI stadium. SIC is a long way away. We wandered and when we asked for help, they kept sending us to CASI. We asked for help from a local guy, who got us a ´taxi´(read: friend´s car) to the stadium. It took us over an hour to find the stadium, but we made it.
When you buy tickets here, there isn´t any assigned seating, unless you are a club member. People fill the grounds, line the fences, walk along the streets outside the fences...chaos. We had seats at the back fo the field, but decided to join the masses along the fences. I am stubborn and was able to score us spots on the fence where we could lean over into the field. It was easily the best view of the game. SIC was leading almost the entire game, until Alumni tied it up in the last 2 minutes. Their fans were very animated and I got some good videos of their cheering.
For dinner, we headed back to the city. We ended up at a pirate bar for burgers and beer. Made for some funny photos before heading home to call it a day.
Adios,
Liz
Today didn{t turn out as planned at all. Sundays are a very important day for tourists, as all of the markets and shows seem to happen on this day. That is largely due to the fact that they take their Sundays very seriously here and pretty much everything is closed. Gail and I were going to go to San Telmo to see the tango dancing at Plaza Dorrego (a must see according to all of the books) and then the surrounding markets. We were also debating about going an hour north of the city to see a gaucho market and skills display. Both of which, only happen on Sundays. When I woke up in the morning the wind was howling and the rain was pelting my windows. I decided to spend the day organizing my Uruguay trip and resting before my three days on the go. After many hours trying to book my boat to Uruguay, I had to have Murray register me from Canada (the internet here is better than the rest of SA, but not the best) so that I could book my seats. I shouldn´t have left it so late, but at least I still get to go.
By about 1pm the rain had subsided and I decided to visit the Recoleta market. Just outside the cemetary, many artisans come and set up a stall for all of the tourists. Due to the weather conditions, only about half of the stalls were filled. Some vendors were leaving and some were setting up. I did buy myself a cute ring though. From there I headed to a cafe and had a pizza for lunch-dinner.
Not much happened today, but I have remembered some other observations for you guys.
1) Argentinians are very amourous people. It is a very common sight to see a couple kissing and embracing in public. On our train ride the other day, there were many couples snuggling into each other. They use two seats technically, but really only need one (when I had to stand). Even just walking around the city, they will almost be in a full embrace. Also, it is common here for guys to kiss hello on the cheek, or at the very least hug, when they say hello and goodbye.
2) When you need to flush a toilet here, don´t expect to be able to find the handle to flush that easily. They are often up high on a wall. The button doesn´t even need to be on the same wall.
3) When at a restaurant (that isn´t a pub) they will put a basket of bread on the table. This is added onto your bill, even if you don´t want it or eat it. So, eat it up. The bread here is the best I have had in South America...they have real croissants (medialunes).
Well, sorry there isn´t much else to say for today.
Keep well.
Liz
It is very easy to make to Uruguay from Buenos Aires and is a very easy way to get a quick sample of Uruguayan life.
I boarded the Buquebus in the morning for my 9:30am departure. The terminal in BA is quite nice and it seems brand spanking new. I went through customs and immigration really quickly. However, I do have a bone to pick with the man stamping the passports. My entry stamp for Uruguay was stamped in the middle of two pages. Who does that? I have about 15 spare pages on a passport that expires in 8 months. Give me a proper stamp!!! Argh.
The ferry ride over is what you would expect of such a ride. There is a duty free shop selling overpriced cigarettes, alcohol, perfume and chocolate. I was enjoying watching the scenery and catching up on my diary. The river dividing the two countries is called the Rio Plate (Silver River) named such to entice the foreign interests of Spain and Portugal, but it is just brown water...not silver.
I arrived in Colonia, found my hotel and started to wander around 1:30pm. By about 2:30pm I felt that I had adequately done the city. There is very little to see here. The guide books say that Colonia´s old sector is a UNESCO heritage site, but most of it is roped off with those theatre ropes. You can´t wander around it freely. If you are interested in museums, there are 7 here to show artifacts from when the town was founded by the Rio de Janiero mayor as a way to intercept goods and communications between Spain and BA. However, I didn´t quite feel like staring at old cloths and such. One highlight of the town was the lighthouse. I had to go up to see the view from there. It was a little disappointing, but at least I can cross ¨going in a working lighthouse¨ off of my life´s to do list. The artisan´s market at the north end of the city is filled with crap...don´t even bother venturing around there. On my way back to my hotel I found a bunch of shops that sell better quality items and have much more charm.
I was disappointed in Colonia. The Lonely Planet book makes it sound as a very quaint town with a romantic charm. While it is true that there are cobblestone streets and old buildings, they lack the personality that I was expecting. If you have been to a place like the old city in Talinn, Estonia, it is hard to find Colonia as picturesque.
Since I was late booking my boat tickets, I was unable to return to BA in the same day. So, I figured a nice long dinner would be good. I went to a roadside cafe to watch people go by at one of the historic intersections. Here there is a sign telling cars that pedestrians have the right of way. I was highly amused watching the drivers in this town. Here, anything is considered legal transport. I watched many vehicles pass me by: dune buggies, scooters, golf carts, bicycles with motors on them (very much reminded me of PeeWee´s Big Adventure movie) and other vehicles often missing major parts of the car. At one point I watched a car do a three-point turn in the middle of a four-way stop intersection. It was hilarious. They drive everything here...but not well.
At dinner, I ordered a large coke to drink. I saw a table beside me with a tiny class and knew that I needed far more to drink than that tiny glass would provide. When my meal came, I was given a large 1 litre bottle of coke! I had no idea that´s what they meant by large. I was determined to take my time to finish it there, since I wasn´t allowed to take it with me since the bottle was glass and they wanted the bottle deposit back. I really tried my best to finish it, but seeing as I had to be up at 3am to catch my 4:30am boat back to BA, I decided to leave it with a quarter left.
While I don´t see myself recommending Colonia to anyone in the future, it is a nice laidback atmosphere compared to BA and a very easy way to get a new stamp in your passport...just make sure they do it on one page only!
Ciao,
Liz
Not too much happened on the 18th of any interest. I caught my boat at 4:30am and made it with plenty of time to catch my flight to Iguazu. I arrived in Puerto Iguazu without any hassles at all. However, my booking with hostelworld.com didn´t go through to the hotel and the guy at Iguazu House speaks no English. In fact, his solution for someone who doesn´t understand is to speak faster. Not to point at something helpful, use an online dictionary (he was too busy with his MSN) or anything. Man, it was frustrating. I took a walk around town to get information for the next day and was interested by the man cutting his lawn with a massive machete. I didn´t take a picture, for I feared he might come after me with his machete. I had dinner out at a nice restaurant and went for another steak dinner. Man, they can do a mean steak here. However, they cannot do vegetables...especially salad. I ordered a Caesar salad, as I was ecstatic to see it on the menu (a true rarity here). It was horrific. The worst thing I have ever tasted. Man, I miss vegetables.
Early the next morning, I caught the bus to the Iguazu National Park and then immediately hopped on the first ´eco-train´ to the Devil´s Throat. This is considered the main attraction at the falls. It was great being among the first handful of people there as it was easy to get the photo that you wanted without other people blocking your way. As it is high water levels right now in Argentina, the amount of water flowing over the falls was quite high when I was there and it resembled Niagara. Although, the water flowing over Iguazu is a brown-capucchino colour. It looked a lot like they were frothing chocolate (that comparison might have something to do with the fact that I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on TV last night).
From the Devil´s Throat, I decided to go do the lower trail walk (instead of upper trail). All of the travel agents sugges doing the upper walk first, but I decided to go lower first to avoid the crowds. I was happy that I did. On the way, there were a bunch of monkeys frolicking in the trees on the path to the lower trail. They were incredibly cute and tiny. The baby monkeys (were about the size of my hand) were riding on their moms´ backs across the trail to the other set of trees. I spent close to an hour watching and photographing the monkeys before heading out to the lower trail.
On the lower trail, when you reach Salto Bossetti there is a walkway that leads you straight to the edge of the cascading waterfall. I went out there by myself and got soaked in 5 seconds. Unfortunately, I don´t have a picture of this as I was protecting my camera under my coat. I have seen so many internet pictures of the falls that seem to only have a trickle of water, and thus was not expecting this.
The upper trail is a bit disappointing. There are a couple of spots for some panoramic shots that are nice, but the view from up top is nothing compared to the lower trail. Furthermore, there were three tour groups blocking the tiny trail, making it very frustrating to pass through to the few good spots.
The flight home to BA was good. I was sitting beside an interesting couple from California and enjoyed some great laughs on our 2 hour flight. I was surprised after getting my luggage from the carousel at the length of the line for taxis. This was the first time in my entire trip where taxi people weren´t hounding you before you are out the door. Instead, the line consisted of 2 flights worth of people. It took me 50 minutes to make it to the front of the line. I was incredibly frustrated to learn that it was due to the fact that you wait for this man to help you into the taxi. Meanwhile, there were 7 taxis behind the first one just waiting for him to finish hugging the babies and talking to the people. Had we all jumped the line and then grabbed a cab, I could have been home at least 40 minutes earlier. I was so annoyed at this system that the first thing I did when I got home was start drinking my bottle of red wine.
Buenos Noches.
Liz
Well, it is my last official full day in South America. I enjoyed it by sleeping in (I blame the red wine from last night) and then wandering and shopping around the city. I walked quite a considerable distance into the different barrios of B.A. It was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining and it was about 18 degrees outside...for the locals that meant down filled jackets, boots and scarves.
I enjoyed a lovely lunch at a cafe and was surprised to find a vegetable stir-fry on the menu and it was really good. I had to have chocolate mousse for dessert...I can´t resist it when it is on the menu. Then it was home to the apartment to get ready for my football (soccer) game pick up.
If you know anything about soccer, you will know about the Boca Juniors. They are probably one of the most famous South American teams. The infamous Maradona came from this club and the blue and yellow colours are found all over the city (and even the rest of the country). I was very lucky to get tickets, as the regular season hasn´t commenced yet due to fighting with the TV networks or money and television rights. It is apparently now resolved and the season is starting this weekend...but I will already be gone. Luckily, the South American Cup is on right now. Teams from all over the continent are playing to claim the ultimate title and bragging rights. I booked tickets for the only Boca game, which happened to coincide with my last night in town. I soon learned that they were playing against Velez, a local team from Liniers (another BA barrio), who are this past year´s champions. Boca won the year before, so the rivalry promised to be good. We arrived with an hour to spare before the game even started. It was great. We were sitting in a section very close the Velez supporters. Their designated area is protected by dozens of cops, fencing and they have a separate entrance. It was a good 30 minutes to game time and the Velez supporters went nuts. Cheering, banging drums, chanting, etc. It was phenomenal. I couldn´t believe it. Of course, the Boca supporters wouldn´t be outdone and from that moment on, the rest of the game had everyone in the stands jumping and cheering. They didn´t stop once. I am sure many BA residents are going to have a hoarse voice at work on Friday.
The game started and the Bocas were quick to score a goal. I managed to get a very fuzzy video of it. I had hoped to get a better video later, but it was to be the only Boca goal. I was sitting beside Miguel from Italy and I mentined that it would be neat to see Velez score, as their supporters were incredibly passionate, I could only imagine what would happen when they score. In the second half, they did score and they went bezerk. I have a video of their cheering...but it isn´t very PG, so I didn´t post it. The game resulted in a tie. The two teams will face each other again soon, the winner will advance on to the second level of the race for the Cup. It promises to be a good game.
The crazy atmosphere of the game, the skill level of the players and finally getting to see a professional soccer game made my last night a great one. I had a smile plastered on my face the whole evening.
Now, I have mentioned before that Boca is a very unsafe neighbourhood. So, you can imagine how worried I was when we started to exit with the throngs of Boca fans into the most dangerous barrio. I was oddly more concerned about my camera, than my personal safety. However, it was really quite a tranquil walk to our waiting van. People were chatting about the game and discussing player statistics (I asked my guide what they were saying...I am not that good at Spanish). I have had worse walks out of a Maple Leafs game. I feel that perhaps the energy might have been different if we had won or lost the game, but I was grateful for the peaceful walk among some of the most dangerous areas.
A great last night in town...buenos noches.
Liz
Well, I have come to the end of my journey. I endured an unexpected 6 hours in the BA airport with only 18 pesos in my hand. My flight was delayed by two hours and still had to go to Santiago, Chile before heading home. I hope that you have enjoyed my stories along the way. Thanks to all of the great people I met during the trip...as you have all contributed to my wonderful experience. Another thanks to those who read and responded to my emails or blogs...it was nice to have a message from home.
Ciao.
Liz
Is it possible to have a trip that you have been planning for years, also be a last minute trip? Yes.
I have been planning my trip to trek with the gorillas in Uganda for over three years. Much research and information gathering has happened in that time. I booked my tours and flights this January and had a couple of things to finalize in March, but everything was paid for and I was ready to hit the road. That is, until July 5th. I got home from scoring EQAO Friday night to see that the situation in Egypt had recently gotten out of control and 50 people were killed. As a result, all trips in Egypt were cancelled. This left me with a lot of issues to resolve in a very short time frame. (I should probably mention something before I go any further: Glenn you were right and I should have listened to you!) So, my last two weeks have been spent rebooking flights and trying to find another tour to go on, which was only confirmed with 40 hours to spare. I figured that if I was going to be given a free layover on my way to Uganda, I was going to make use of it and start my trip off in Tanzania. I had booked on points, which meant that availability with one week to departure is a bit of a joke! With very few options, I cashed in the rest of my Aeroplan points to upgrade to First class...and all of a sudden there were plenty of available seats. During the last two weeks, my trip has changed quite drastically from the original plan and has truly been a last minute booking. I am looking forward to discovering Tanzania and it is where I was meant to be.
Back to today. I originally was quite upset at having to use so many more points to upgrade to first class, however, it has been quite beneficial. I was dropped off at the airport and saw the whole terminal filled with people trying to check in at the Air Canada kiosks, yet I was able to go around the corner and straight to an assistant to check my bags. Then at security, I was informed that the wait would be at least 45 minutes, I showed them my priority pass and when straight to the scanning station. I have to say that I felt a little guilty walking past so many weary-looking travellers. I have always wanted to be one of those passengers and today I was. I arrived at the Maple Leaf First Class Lounge and I am sure the attendants at the front desk were trying to decide which one of them would have to send away the scruffy looking backpacker (decked out in my yoga pants and hiking books, I am sure that I am not the look of their typical clientele). I showed them my booking pass and was heartily welcomed. I must say the lounge is quite nice, but I felt a little overwhelmed at first. I headed to the food area and dined on ravioli, chick pea salad, chicken stew, and fresh baked cookies for dessert. To make the most of my time here, I made sure to enjoy a double Crown Royal and coke (that should make dad proud). I then found a lovely leather recliner chair by the window and watched the planes go by. I was determined to enjoy the lounge as much as possible before I had to board, as I was already told at the time of booking that I would be standby for executive class on this flight and I would be in economy.
My flight path to my first stop, Tanzania, is a lengthy one. I will be flying to: Venice, Istanbul, and then to Kilimanjaro. I have quite a few layovers and connections to make in the next few days and will not land until early Friday morning. I hope to send you more news later on today, but thought that I would send an early entry to give my mom something to read when she gets home from work!
Cheers.
Liz
Flights 1, 2, and 3.
When I boarded the flight, I was told that despite my First Class ticket, that I would be riding in economy. I am normally seated right by the toilets, I wasn't quite that far back, but was pretty close. When I sat down in my seat, I found myself beside a very cute couple from Toronto, originally from Italy, on their way to Venice for a family wedding. She instantly pulled out her ipad and started to show me about 200 family photos and tell me in depth stories of all of her children and grandchildren. She and her husband were incredibly cute and chatted with me for the majority of the flight. Our flight didn't have the personal TV screens like most flights do these days. They are now encouraging people to bring their own ipads and to download their Air Canada app for in-flight entertainment. I am told this is relatively new and as such there were many people who kept getting disconnected and asking for help. Then they made an announcement that they would be handing out ipads to anyone who requested one. Which resulted in many more people needing one-on-one tech support and dinner was quite delayed. I couldn't be bothered with all of the ipad nonsense and decided to watch what was being offered on the screens and watched G.I. Joe. I can't say that it was an amazing movie, but it passed the time.
Before you know it, it wasalready time to wake up and land in Venice. I looked out the window as we were landing in Venice to see a boat, about 100 metres from the runway, towing a water skiier behind it. It was impressive and I am sure that my father will love that fact (similar to St Maarten beaches). It was quite hot in the small little terminal. I arrived at the deserted Transfers Desk and was told to go straight through so the lady could look at my ticket, then she sent me back through the detectors again. It was incredibly laidback. I spent my 3 hour layover chatting with a woman from Toronto who was also going to Istanbul, but her husband and 23 year old child were sailing across the Atlantic and then are going to live there for a year. She had a lot of interesting stories to share. I was so exhausted from the lack of sleep and heat that I vowed that I was going to sleep on my flight to Istanbul...
...that didn't happen! I was enjoying the First Class pampering far too much to miss out on that. I sat in my seat and was instantly greeted with a cool glass of Turkish Lemon Tea and a hot refreshing towel. In the whole section there were 4 guests (one British couple, a business man from Europe, and myself) with 2 attendants just for us. I was loving the roomy leather seats with 4 reclining positions, personal TVs (I watched "Identity Thief"), and constant assistance. I had the whole right side to myself and enjoyed the views over Eastern Europe. Almost instantly, our meal was to be served (I will attach a really poor video later...I didn't want to seem like a newby to First Class, so it is rushed). Our meal consisted of a cheese course, breads, salads, mediterranean prawns, chocolate profiterole (the best I have ever tasted), and Turkish wine. I really could get used to this! My dilemma for flight #3 is to sleep (to be alert for my tour that starts almost immediately upon arrival) or soak up the First Class experience.
In the terminal, before boarding my flight to Kilimanjaro, there was a group of high school or university students that sat in a circle and sang many songs from different languages and even did clapping and dancing routines. I have a feeling that they were on their way to do volunteer work in Africa and perhaps had been there before since some songs sounded like they might have been from Tanzania. It was really quite lovely to experience.
I again was in love with theFirst Class ammenities on my third flight of the day. Since this last leg was an overnight trip, we were given a toiletries bag with so many goodies inside: socks, eye mask, hairbrush, toothbrush kit, lotion, lip balm (personal favourite), and a sticker to put on our seat for if we want to be disturbed or not. I again enjoyed the lovely 5 course meal with grilled lamb chops. During dinner, I watched 2 episodes of "New Girl" and I thought that I had done a good job of giggling quietly to myself, but the very nice American couple beside me kept asking what show was so funny. I think that they watched them after I went to bed. The roomy leather seats were amazing. I could almost recline to a perfect horizontal position which allowed me to have a very nice sleep, so that I can stay awake on my game drives in the morning.
An interesting note, on the in flight magazines on Turkish Airlines, there was an article about the crisis of wasted bread in Turkey. j It is considered rude to not be offered bread repeatedly throughout your meal. As a result, people often make far too much and it then becomes wasted. They have launched a Don't Waste Your Bread Campaign so that 12% of the bread doesn't end up in the garbage when agriculture and economy are weakened. It is considered a blessing to receive bread and a great honour, and all types I have sampled today have been quite yummy! I will make sure not to waste my bread.
Dad's Details:
Flight to Venice Air Canada Boeing 767 300 series
Flight to Istanbul Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 800 series
Flight to Kilimanjaro Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 900 series
I should warn you before I start, that this will be a long entry. So get yourself a drink and settle in.
I arrived at the Kilimanjaro Airport at 3:30am and was pleasantly surprised at how fast everything was. I had my luggage and was on my way to find a taxi driver, or rather he found me. It took about 45 minutes to get to Arusha Town and was dropped off at my tour start hotel. I didn't anticipate such a speedy process at the airport and for the drive, as such this left me with 4 hours to kill in the hotel lobby. I needn't have worried, as the night crew enjoyed asking me questions about my trip so far and for the rest of my stay and they taught me my first seven Swahili words (they will be added at the end. I was starting to get a very heavy head and was worried that I might not be able to stay awake for the duration of my day on the game drive.
I was excited when my tour guide, Eric, came to get me at 8am. I needed a change of pace and scenery to keep me awake. By this time, the city was bustling with activity. There were vendors along the streets, students in their uniforms heading to school, and traffic chaos. I really didwant to take some pictures or videos of the scene, but wasn't quite comfortable to do so (perhaps on the way back through Arusha). On our drive to Tarangire National Park, the roads were quite bumpy. Close to Arusha the roads were paved, but once you hit the city limits they were quite bumpy. They are currently created a paved highway teh whole way to the national park areas, and we did get to drive some small sections of it, but the repairs are under way and we kept having to drive on the diversions. These sections were so much fun, as I felt like wewere offraoding the whole time. I did take some funny videos of the bumpy sections.
On the way there, I kept grilling my tour guide with questions about the area and would love to share some facts with you.
~Tanzania prior to 1961 was comprised of the mainland section called Tanganikye and the island of Zanzibar. They were given one name that combined both of them to be a united country.
~120 tribes are found in Tanzania and they belong to 4 main groups: 1) Bantu speakers (95%), 2) Clacs (1%) these are the tribes with the cliking noises 3) Kushties (1%) from Ethiopia,and lastly 4) the Nilotics (3%) groups that came from the Nile River in Egypt long ago...this is the group that the Masai belong to.
It was at this point that I felt completely ignorant. I had done quite a bit of research for my orignial trip, which didn't include Tanzania. I was looking forward to seeing the masai people in kenya, but was oblivious to the fact that they would be in Tanzania too. I would love to blame it on the almost 3 day commute from Toronto and tiredness, but I just didn't even think about it.
The Masai people are nomadic tribes that believe all livestock are theirs to maintain. Their patriarchal society is evident by men having many wives and the women doing the bulk of the work (caring for the animals, gathering food, laundry, and even making their own houses from a twic frame and covering it in a mixture of cow dung and soil). The Masai love to wear fabrics that are deep blue or purple with a red on top. They will either braid their hair or shave it off completely. There was one man who had so many children, 108 to be exact, that the government created a school for his family alone.
Once at the park, I was incredibly invigorated to be on a game drive again. Initially, I was worried that I might compare it to when I was in South Africa, but that was not the case at all. I honestly feel like I could go on game drives every day and never tire from it. I find it to be quite a rush to spend a long time looking at the horizon, up trees, and in long grass to finally find an animal that I was able to spot in spite of its camouflage. I will include a list of animal found at the bottom as well, for those wishing a Cliff Notes version. I will not bore you with the stories of how each animal was found, however, I do have some stories to share.
Eric's Land Rover (another Landie, Howard) has a roof top, that will pop up to create a wonderful canopy for shade, but will offer you a nice 360 degree view and plenty of wind while driving. Furthermore, the bumpy roads in the park, make it quite a thrill ride at times. I am giggling so much, that Eric might think that I am a little crazy!
I have noticed that the giraffes in Tanzania are quite dark in colour, almost a coffee black colour for their markings. It is quite striking.
I learned that when spotting zebras, it will be very common to find wildebeasts close by, if not even intermingled. This is because of their symbiotic relationship whereby the zebras will eat the high grasses, whereas the wildebeast eat the lower grasses. This makes it hard to get a good shot of the wildebeasts! In addition to this, the zebras are far better at sensing the approaching predators and the wildebeasts have learned to follow suit.
A week ago, an elephant died from natural causes in the park. Eric drove me there to see what might still be there. Amazingly, despite lions, hyenas, and vultures regularly feasting on the carcas, quite a bit was left. I had never seen so many vultures before in my life. It was incredible to witness them fighting over such a large animal and then speading their wings to sunbathe, once they had had their fill.
To see a Kirk's Dik Dik is quite a phenomenal feat. However, to see 4 in one day is amazing. These little antelopes can only reach a maximum height of 39 cm. They seem so light on their feet, and seem to spring around like a rabbit. The males will have horns, where the females will not. My favourite thing about them is the tiny markings by their eyes that make them resemble a cartoon character from Japanese Anime. Their hooves are so sharp, that if they happen to kick you that you would be cut quite badly.
At our hotel, Maramboi Tented Lodge, I was greeted with a spectacular view of Lake Manyara and a herd of zebras and wildebeast walking by. I relished the view while I sipped my drink under the thatched roof lodge. I am in love with my tented hut, I am also so impressed with beds with mosquito netting around them. It makes me feel like I am in a special retreat just for me. After a long day on the road in the dust, I was so excited to have a nice shower and was a complete fool and couldn't figure out how to work the shower. So, I sat on the floor. To my dismay, when I went to turn off the taps, the handle would turn in the other direction and start the overhead shower. Not my brightest moment.
Dinner under a palm tree in the dark African sky and then off to bed under the mosquito net.Good night.
Kwaheri,
Goodbye
Swahili Dictionary
Jambo/Mambo = hello
Habari Yako = How are you?
Samahani = Please or excuse me
Asante = Thank you
Karibu = Welcome or You're welcome
Kwaheri = goodbye
Hapana = no
Ndio = yes
Animals Seen Today
Impala
Kirk's Dik Dik
Elephant
Waterbuck
Baboons
Vervet Monkeys
Slender Mongoose
Masai Girffe
Lionness
Warthogs
Vultures
Verreaux's Eagle Owl
Guinea Fowls
Wildebeast
Hornbill (think Zaszu in the Lion King)
Marabou Stork
My first night under the Tanzanian sky was fabulous. I enjoyed listening to the noises the animals make. I could swear that I heard larger animals outside my cabin last night, but it was hard to be sure. In the morning I told one of the workers here about it and he said that there were zebras, wildebeasts, and warthogs all around the cabins last night! I had left the outside light on, but the problem with that is, that the switch was at the end of the lane, and I couldn't be sure if it was animals outside or other workers, I was happy that I stayed in bed.
In the morning, I went to breakfast to find herds of zebras and wildebeasts (again, they like to stick together) roaming just outside the breakfast veranda. In addition to this, there was a flock of flamingoes close to the edge of Lake Manyara. It is the most picturesque breakfast that I have ever had. I had forgotten my camera in my room, so I have my fingers crossed that I can be so lucky again tomorrow morning.
Today's drive through Tarangire National Park (pronounced Tair-an-gear-ay) was started much earlier since we didn't have to drive 3 hours from Arusha. We spent most of the day driving without seeing any other Land Rovers, which is amazing because it does make it seem like it is just you and the animals. Yesterday, I was able to spot one or two giraffes at a distance, but today was quite the opposite. We came upon a group of 14 giraffes that were right at the edge of the road and were crossing in front of our car. I learned that when giraffes walk, they will use their left and right sides alternatively, yet, when they run, they use their front legs and back legs separately to gallop.
While I was still in awe of the giraffes, we were surrounded by baboons (much smaller in size than in Zimbabwe...and a lot less frightening). We followed them in the car to try to get a good picture of the mom with a baby clinging to her underside. In doing so, they all raced towards an enormous Baobab tree (Le Petit Prince fans will know this tree) and climbed to eat all of the ubuyu fruit and to throw some down for the mothers and babies. The noises of the baboons fighting over the fruit, and the sounds they made when they were cracking their tough coconut-like shell with their teeth was much louder than I would have anticipated. I took some movies to capture the sound. I stayed much longer than you would have imagined someone who hates monkeys/baboons to stay, but I think I might be getting over that aversion. With so many positive monkey experiences lately I think that I might have to change my thinking on that one.
The Baobab is a very large tree, a species believed to be the oldest in existence by many. I have always wanted to see this tree in person. Firstly, I was aware of their size before coming, but was still impressed by them. One tree in particular was as wide as my parents' house at the trunk, but the branches created an umbrella with the diameter almost equivalent to 3 of my parents' houses. They are grey in colour and resemble a system of twisted roots. One of my favourite stories of the baobab goes like this: One day god gave 5 animals the trees that he created for their land. All of the animals followed god's instruction perfectly as a way to thank him, except for the hyena. He always loves to laugh and thought that it would be a great joke to plant the leaves in the ground and the roots above ground. God didn't find the joke funny and refused to change it, and that is why we have baobab trees today. After watching the baboons eating the ubuyus, I had to admit that I really wanted to try one. As you exit the park, there were 2 Masai boys selling them to tourists. We bought 3 of them and after many attempts to crack them, I finally got to try them. The pieces that you pull out resemble white chalk, and the texture is much like that. If you suck on it a bit you can enjoy a taste of a bittersweet mango (more sour than sweet, as a precaution). They are great, but watch out for the seed in the middle!
Lions tend to be tricky to find to photograph. While I say that I saw one yesterday, it is not like the other animals that will wander in front of your car. Typically they are lying in the shade of a tree and not very visible over the tall grass. After one 'sighting' yesterday, one this morning, the pay off happened later in the day. Eric and I found 2 lions that were mating. The interesting facts about mating lions is that the act of 'honeymooning' (as Eric calls it) lasts 10 seconds...I should know, I videotaped it and counted the seconds. However, this process will continue solidly for 7 days! The male will rest for about 15-30 minutes before walking over and biting her neck to keep her close. Ten seconds later, she will usually swat him away and he roars and lies down for a nap. We waited for two rounds, as I wanted both video and photos.
On our way back to the gate before closing at 6pm (you have to be out for your safety and the safety of the animals...you shouldn't drive in the dark) we were flagged down by another tour with a broken down Land Rover. Eric and him tried to tow the car to the gate five times, but the chain kept breaking apart. We never made it to the gate though, after the last attempt he told us to go on and that he had called gate security for assistance after the park closes.
Usiku Mwema (good night),
Liz
Animal Seen Today
Impala
Kirk's Dik Dik
Waterbuck
Buffalo (didn't see any yesterday)
Banded Mongoose
Small Mongoose
Gazelle
Elephants
Giraffes
Zebras
Wildebeasts
Warthogs
Ostriches
Heron
New Swahili Words and Phrases
*Last night at dinner I asked how to say the word mango (emba), but if it is plural, it becomes ma emba. Then I asked if that could translate to other things like animals ex. ma tembo (elephants) and Eric found this to be incredibly hilarious. So at many times today when we spotted animals, we added 'ma' in front of it to signal how many animals one of us had spotted.*
Tembo = elephants
Punda = zebras
Ngiri = warthogs
Simba = Lion
Twiga = giraffe
Pula = Ostrich
Mzungu = White person (this one I found hilarious)
Uziku Mwema = goodnight
Mtoto =baby (the M is pronounced like mmm) ex. Mtoto wa punda = zebra baby
Familia = Family ex. Familia ya temob = elephant family
Tosha = enough
Ninatania = I'm joking
As is always the case, I get very involved in maximizing each travel moment, that I often miss things from my blog when I find the time to write. Firstly, Eric spent a long time explaining about termite mounds to me and I should make sure to pass that along. Each termite mound has: 1 queen, 1 king, workers, soldiers, and babysitters. The mound itself is made into two separate chambers, one for the king and queen respectively. The female will lay 2.5 million eggs a day (hence the need for babysitters) that the man will fertilize later. The coolest thing about the mounds are that their height above the ground is directly proportional to how deep the termites will dig to reach the water table underground. In the dry seasons, the termites will create vent holes and close them up during each rainy season.
Secondly, I was also very curious about the Tanzanian flag. It has blue and green in the corners and a black and yellow diagonal stripe down the middle. The green is to represent their natural resources, the black is to represent the people, and the blue represents peace. I like that the blue represents peace.
Lastly, I learned on an in-flight magazine, thatthe precious gem Tanzanite is found in only 14 square kilometeres under the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. The gem will look red, purple, and blue (blue is the main colour) when held from various angles. The Masai people believe that blue represents a new beginning and women only wear it after giving birth to their first baby. Some of these women are now getting a tanzanite gem as well.
Back to my regular entries.
This morning I was very eager to get caught up on my blog and since I was awakened by the lovely bird songs at 6:30am, I thought that it was a perfect time to enjoy a morning coffee on the veranda while looking for zebras and flamingoes...and this time I would have my camera ready. The air was very chilly this morning and my coffee was cooling off faster than it could warm me up. I was very productive, but no animals came to visit me this morning when I finally had my camera ready.
Eric finally arrived, we had agreed to meet for breakfast at 8:15am and he was shocked to see me there already. We had a lovely breakfast under a palm tree and soon we would be heading back to Arusha to catch my flight to Zanzibar. It is always exciting to start a new adventure, but hard to leave one behind as well. I had an amazing time in Tarangire with Eric. I loved searching for animals, the feeling of the cool breeze while I held on to the Land Rover (almost like I was surfing) when going over the bumpy sections of road, and learning Swahili. I will always remember it fondly. As such, the ride to the airport was a little bittersweet. I still did not have the courage to take photos in and around Arusha or of the Masai people herding their cattle alongside the highway. I might feel more comfortable with this towards the end of my trip (hopefully).
The airport in Arusha is situated right beside a prison. Eric and I sat beside the prison fence and had our lunch there. It was quite funny, I thought it would be neat to eat watching the planes land and take off (dad's upbringing has taught me well) and out of curiosity asked what was behind the fence. I nearly choked on my food when Eric told me it was prison. I thought that he was joking, as he likes to do. After we finished lunch it was time to say goodbye and check in for my flight. The airport in Arusha reminds me of some other airports I have seen (ex. Bolivian Amazon Rainforest). It is a very small and simple building with a room to enter, you place your bags on the floor and then the workers will pick it up and place it on a cart to load it on the tarmac which is a couple of feet away. I love these kinds of airports, so laidback and fun to experience. I couldn't say the same for a British woman behind me who was stressed about the lack of intensity. Listening to her comments made me silently chuckle and the time just slip away.
I boarded my flight to Zanzibar and was happy to get a window seat. It was a small plane and as it was a domestic flight, I knew that we would be flying low enough to enjoy the scenery (Cheryl would have loved this flight, it was just like the one we took in Peru). Landing in Zanzibar has a very different feel about it, beside being much warmer, the people are less boisterous than in Arusha. My taxi driver in Arusha was a wonderful man, and full of a lot of joy at 3am. In Zanzibar, everyone seems to be a lot more reserved. I am not sure if that is due to a laidback coastal lifestyle, a more muslim influence, or just the warmer weather. Seeing as I am only here for 18 hours, I doubt I will find out.
My hotel, Mbweni Ruins Hotel, is amazing. I spent the first 3 hours here just wandering the grounds and taking photos. The ruins were originally thought to be a coastal retreat for a rich Arabic man and his family. Some additions were added not long after when another owner bought it and made it into a home and school of recently freed slave girls. The hotel is built right beside the ruins and the run yoga classes in the middle of the ruins each day, in addition to a wellness spa. I won't be here long enough to enjoy these amenities, but maybe I will have inspired one of my readers. I am not sure if I mentioned this in an earlier post, but the sun sets so much faster in Africa. I have learned that you can't look away for too long, and around 6pm, you had better have your camera ready. I did have mine ready this time and loved photographing the sun setting over some mangroves just off of the beach and from the hotel's pier. Lovely!
For dinner that evening I went to the hotel restaurant and bar. The restaurant here has a large thatched roof and each table overlooks the water. Surprisingly, many people weren't here for dinner at that time and I had the place almost entirely to myself. I had a three course meal of soup, prawns, and ice cream. It was a lovely meal. At the start of my time in Tanzania I converted some US dollars into Tanzanian Shillings and I need to use them up (most people charge mzungus in US dollars, and I hope this isn't the case for the remainder of my trip). This meal was being price in Shillings, so I wanted to try an alcoholic beverage called a Zanzibar Donkey (that was for you, Murray). It had vodka and another type of alcohol that I can't recall right now and Tangawizi in it. Tangawizi at first sip tastes like a citrus lemon/lime type drink, but it has almost a bit of a kick like a ginger drink would have. It was very tasty. During dinner it was so quiet that I could hear the locals chanting their prayers. The sounds were incredibly beautiful and I wished that it could have lasted longer.
Back to bed under my exotic mosquito net.
Usiku Mwema,
Liz
Dad's Details
Flight from Arusha to Zanzibar Precision Airways ATR 72 (I hope you know what kind of aircraft that is, as it was all of the information I could get). The plane had about 20-25 rows with 4 seats in each aisle. I sat in a window seat beside the engine which had external propellers.
Habari za asubuhi (good morning),
I knew that today was going to be another long travel day, 3 flights to get to Uganda to meet Katie, so i started the morning on my private balcony with a cup of tea. I really enjoyed the swaying of the palm trees beside my balcony and the sounds of the water just metres away. My travel agent, Ashley, was right...if you are going to spend a night in a hotel while in transit, wouldn't you rather wake up beside the ocean? I hadn't even considered Zanzibar when I was trying to arrange so many things last week and I am glad that I had her to give me advice.
I went to the front desk to do a 'required errand' for my father. He wanted me to photograph Mercury's Restaurant which was located right by my hotel. The previous day at the airport, I failed to make the connection, that there are TWO hotels by the same name in Zanzibar, mine is located by the airport, the other in Stone Town. Guess where Mercury's restauarant is? The guy at the front desk told me that I could make the shuttle and get a free ride for photos and then come back for a taxi. This was fabulous! I ran to my room, packed in a flurry, and ran back (carrying all three bags) to be told that it left one minute before. Argh. So, with a bit of extra crash (my last Tanzanian Shillings) I got the taxi to drive me to Stone Town to photograph Mercury's Restaurant (named for the lead singer of Queen) for my dad. If ever there was a test of love, this was it. Then I raced in the cab to get to my flight on time.
Kwaheri,
Liz
PS A word of advice, everyone in Tanzania seems to love collecting email addresses to become your friend. Since I have 4 of them, I usually give out the one that I access once a year to people I barely know (in fact, I might not even be able to acess that account anymore). I was reminded of this when I thought of my taxi ride to the airport, where I got chastized for not already having childrena t my age, that I was welcome to come back and have babies with an good African man (he was implying himself), and said that my job was not important. To top it off, he wanted my email address, but I wanted my bags, so he got the bad account and left happy!
I arrived at the airport in a hurry to be there for my required arrival time. I found out that I had to pay a departure tax $9 US to go to Dar Es Salaam. No problem. Went through security screening twice. No problem. I then sat and started to enjoy my book in the lounge, which again consisted of one room where unlocked doors could take you right on to the tarmac and lacked any organization. No problem.
All flights are announced by a man saying in a regular talking voice "Flight to Dar with Coastal Airlines". No microphone, no board to announce flights. No problem. I just sat really close to the main 'gate' a.k.a. a door with the number 3 on it. Then on the speakers, which I don't understand why they don't use them on a regular basis, announces that my flight is delayed by one hour due to technical difficulties. No problem.
A British lady went to the counter at our supposed boarding time and the man quiety tells her that it will be another 3 hours! What? BIG PROBLEM!!! Wind of this conversation sweep across the room and the only person who seems willing to help and competent is being swarmed by so many people. Luckily, since I was sitting close I was able to hear things and Sue, the British woman who asked the question in the first place, realizes that our situations are similar and makes the man handle my problem as well.
However, the more intense passengers got served first and our passports and tickets were handed to a woman who was going to work out our problem. There I sat with no information, no passport, no ticket, and not much hope! Sue and her daughter, Lucy, became my instant support group. Lucy is a travel agent in England and was able to answer so many of our questions. I was concerned that my hotel tonight was booked under my name and Katie wouldn't be able to get in without me, but that isn't how it is arranged when travelling on a tour. So, one fear was pushed aside.
At this point, I realized that they knew that I need to connect to Nairobi, but not Entebbe and the flight they were trying to book me on wouldn't leave enough connection time. I asked the same nice man in the purple shirt (I am sorry that I didn't get your name) for help and he said he would be right back. I tried so hard, I really did, but this is when the tears came. They were brief, but embarassing. Sue and Lucy again answered my questions and we were all in the same situation, so it was reassuring that I wasn't alone!
My purple shirt man came back with tickets (he changed my Entebbe flight) and passports. BUT, now we needed to pay an international departure tax. He head backwards through security and try to pay the difference in the taxes. The lady behind the desk refused to give me my change (always travel with PLENTY of small bills) and the purple man was again missing. Then, the lady tried to rip off Sue and Lucy. We stood there arguing for so long that my purple shirt man showed back up and fixed the situation. We headed back through security for a third time and sat by the doors again, as we wanted the information as soon as it was available!
Later, the purple shirt man walks up to Sue and they quickly chat and I hear the words delayed. I am panicking across the aisle. It turns out that he wanted to apologize for that worker and let us know it will be 5 inutes to boarding. Phew! Yet, I kew that I wouldn't believe it until that plane was in the sky.
Miraculously, I was soon on a flight to Nairobi, sitting beside a nice Kenyan man who runs hotel chains. He will be in Masai Mara at the same time as I am and I hope to chat with him again soon. It was fun hearing his stories, it kept my mind away from connections, hotels, etc.
SILVER LINING: Mom told me that I have to be positive in my blog...so here it is. Despite, all of today's chaos my flight today flew right past Mount Kilimanjaro. It was a great sight (on the other side of the plane). I got up and leaned over the sleepiing people to take some pictures. There isn't much snow on top and it keeps decreasing each year, but it was encircled by some beautiful clouds. A nice way to end my Precision NightmAir experience.
Kwaheri,
Liz
PS There are so many tiny airlines that fly around Tanzania (Coastal, Flight Link, Shine, ZanAir)...take them! 95% of the flights out of Zanzibar were to Dar Es Salaam and every other airline had no problems leaving on time. The in flight magazine on this flight had a letter from the new CEO who says that she is "proud of the new changes and on time improvements, it has never been better!" Ha!
Dad's Details
Flight from Zanzibar to Nairobi Precision Air AKR 72
After a long layover in Nairobi, I was finally airborn again and much, much happier. I was on my way to Uganda where I would be starting my Gorilla Trek tour very soon after landing. Landing in Uganda was easy, I breezed through immigration, picked up my luggage, and headed off in search of an ATM. This brought me such joy, when my receipt printed it showed that I had over 700 million in Ugandan Shillings. I am a millionaire! Love it.
I got in a taxi with Matthew who told me so many stories on the 40 minute drive to Kampala. I was driven past the president's palace in Entebbe, which was white and illuminated quite nicely at 1am. He told me that the main language in Uganda is English with many other tribal languages. I was saddened to hear that Swahili wasn't really spoken here, all of my practise with Eric would not be that useful here. Matthew, the taxi driver, told me that when Swahili was to be implemented among the Afrian nations, there was a lot of political unrest in the nation and it didn't exactly catch on. At 1am in the morning, we arrived at my hotel much later than I had originally anticipated, but at least I made it. I was greeted at the door by a very exuberant Katie, who had been very worried about me since she arrived about 3-4 hours before. Apparently, the hotel didn't check the email I sent them from the airport (using my British friend's phone) and the whole staff was worried about me. So sweet, but I feel bad that I caused them distress. After putting down my luggage, Katie and I swapped a few travel stories and headed to bed seeing as we only have about 4.5 hours to sleep before our gorilla trip starts!
Katie shot out of bed when my alarm went off this morning and was first in the shower. She clicked the light switch on and then asked what the other switch did. I wasn't sure. She was out of the bathroom at 6:03am. No hot water. She tried the light switch. Still no luck. I took my turn and was pleasantly surprised to get warm water. Another travel lesson learned.
We headed downstairs for a nice breakfast and waited for our tour guide to pick us up. Dan came in soon after with a big smile, we loaded our bags and were off. Traffic in the city, seems to be much the same as all other cities, crazy starts and stops. Here, and in Tanzania, there are minibus taxis trying to get passengers to come into their taxi. Usually, there is one guy leaning out the window all the way past their waist trying to flag down pedestrians and whistling as loudly as they can. I loved these in Tanzania, there they were painted with words to attract your attention across the top of the windshield. My favourites were Jesus Power and Led Zepplin. The words were pretty subdued here in Uganda, but I wanted to write about it earlier, so I had to use this opportunity. We made it out to the highway and I was surprised at how nice the roads are. The pavement is consistent for the first seven hours to Bwindi National Park. There are still of course speed bumps of varying size, but nothing like Tanzania. Since our drive today is supposed to take 10 hours, I am glad for the pavement, but I do still love my Tanzanian off-roading.
Our first stop on our 10 hour ride was at the equator. Katie and I hopped out of the car to get a picture which nearly blinded us. We didn't realize in the shade of the car how bright it would be staring into the sun. The photos didn't turn out well at all, but they are hilarious. I don't think that in all of my travels I have ever seen the exact spot of the equator. I must say it was quite neat and the line even crosses the road.
Further down the road, I asked Dan if the people on the side were selling fish, of all things. Indeed, they were. He said that he actually was stopping to get one for his friend that lives in the park. I joked that it would stink up the car, he said, "no, it goes here" and he pointed to the front passenger seat. I gawked when I saw the man tying the fish to the side view mirror. I jumped out and photographed this funny event! I said, "when we drive it will float and sway like it is flying." He chuckled, but it does...I took a video. Later on in the day, we stopped for gas and water to douse the fish down to keep it from cooking. I can't help but smiling about our fish transportation. Towards the end of our ride, it was looking pretty bad and kids walking home from school at 5:30pm were pointing and shouting at our car. Katie and I couldn't figure it out at first, but she brilliantly deducted that it was the fish...there were some marks on the car that I gather were meant to be on the inside of the fish. I am willing to bet that the fish was eaten for dinner tonight. Ugh.
Dan is a tour guide during the busy seasons, but in the off times he is a beekeeper. I think that is incredibly cool and told him that he should have brought some for us to buy. I then stated to ask him about the languages, and the most common language after English is Ruganda (a dictionary to follow). After about anhour or two on the road, we were flagged by the traffic police to stop. It turns out they they wanted to hitchhike and catch a ride with us somewhere down the highway. I was surprised that they didn't have their own vehicle, but when they saw two mzungus (white people) in the back, they said they would wait for the next car. We stopped at a place for lunch that has marabou storks wandering the property. When they were up in the trees or on the dead elephant I couldn't tell just how tall they were, easily between 3 and 4 feet.
Katie just travelled from Canada yesterday and was asleep in the car beside me for over half of the ride. I photographed the people on the streets, vendors, animals for the whole time today. I feel much better about it taking photographs today since I am sitting in the back seat and zooming as far as I can go. Some shots are great! Tanzania had a very yellow soil and grasses with a sparse amount of trees, whereas Uganda seems to have a more red soil, and plenty of green trees, grasses, and shrubbery. The vegetation seemed to change quite a bit along our journey, some sections have skinny and leafy trees, or banana and other palms, or rough looking grasses and shrubs. Along the way, I saw some tea plantations (really pretty), coffee plantations (not as large as I thought they would be), and the local water station. All day long I had seen people carrying or strapping jerry cans to their bikes along the roads. At first, I assumed that it was gasoline, but then I learned that it was water. From little kids of about 4 years in age to elderly people walking with crutches were found along the roadside with jerry cans of water on their heads or bikes. It takes them the majority of the day to get the water they need. Some kids were coming home from school to then walk to get water for an hour or two (I am at least grateful that they are able to go to school too). I am really grateful for all I have. I think that we often forget the little things that we take for granted.
Dan asked me if I wanted to take a road that went near Queen Elizabeth National Park, or another road that didn't go by the game park. I easily chose the game park. When I started researching this trip 3 years ago, I almost booked a trip that included a game drive through this park. The feature of this park is that it is the one place in the world with Tree Climbing Lions. I didn't have very high hopes at the shrubbery and grasses are very high, green, and lush...and we weren't even in the park. We did spot some new animals for me: the Ugandan Kobs (impala looking animals with different markings), Topis (bucks with a dark brown colouring) and Tree Climbing Lions!!! I can't even begin to express how cool it was that I got to see that. There were about 4 or 5 lions in the tree, all lying in a very relaxed position. The minute that we were close enough, I lept forward to rest on the arm rest and take photos out of the passenger window because it isn't tinted, which then also allowed katie to take pictures without me in her way, as the lions were on my side. The photos are amazing. I haven't heard of tree climbing lions anywhere else in the world (could be just a bit of ignorance), but it was so incredible to see them lounging without a care in the world. The lionnesses in the higher trees branches were chilling out in the tree, but the male lion seemed a lot more alert and we was near the lower part of the trunk. Afterwards, we realized that he probably could smell the fish. I am glad he didn't come charging...although,, those photos would have been even better!
After about 11.5 hours in the car (due to construction delays, impromptu photo safaris, bumpy roads, etc.) we made it to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. We were met at our car by 2 ladies who prodceeded to carry our luggage on their heads to our cabins all the way down at the bottom edge of the park. They were wearing skirts and flip flops and just balanced my big backpack on top of her head and started off down the rocky path. Oh boy, were these women impressive. I am going to have to harness their strength and endurance on tomorrow's hike.
One thing that both Eric in Tanzania and Dan in Uganda have told me is that most citizens of these amazing countries never get to see what I am seeing. Most people can't afford the cost of the entrance fees. These fees are considerably reduced for locals, but it still isn't enough. What a shame that the people of these great countries don't get to experience all of the beauty that it has to offer. Imagine never getting to see the elephants when you live just a couple of kilometres down the road? I wonder if I am making sure that I am taking the time to appreciate all of the things that make Canada so great when I am back at home...something to think about.
It is bedtime and I am looking out at the high mountain wall in front of me covered in thick, dense bush. I am so nervous about how everything will go tomorrow. I have such a nervous energy building up inside of me. I feel like I could jump out of my skin in excitement for tomorrow...it feels like the night before Christmas. I am not sure that I will be able to sleep at all. But for now, I will crawl into my tented cabin (it reminds me of M.A.S.H. more utilitarian than exotic) and lay on my cot under my mosquito net and dream of gorillas.
Sura Boobongee (good night),
Liz
Animals Seen today
Topis
Ugandan Kobs
Buffalo
Herons
Marabou storks
Tree Climbing Lions
Waterbuck
Warthog
Vervet Monkeys
Baboons
Impalas
Eagles
Ruganda
(Please note that all spellings will be phonetic as I wanted Dan to keep his eyes on the road)
Reta = yes
Neta = no
Ombagatchi = hello
Weybari = thank you
Mbi = Please
Sura Boobongee = good night
Wazu ze orda = good morning
I am good = Ki boorongee
Dad's Details
Flight from Nairobi to Entebbe Kenyan Airways on an Embraer 190
Here it was, my gorilla trekking day! I woke up excited and incredibly nervous. So much anticipation and planning had gone into this one day. This was my only chance to see them...my permit is only valid for this day. If you are sick, you aren't allowed to trek (I have been taking so much oregano oil every time I felt a sniffle, I can be sick tomorrow, but not today). What if this is the day that falls under the 2% of treks that are unsuccessful as the gorillas are hiding? I could barely keep my mind straight and my nerves in check.
We woke up in our beds in the fetal position trying to keep warm. It is really cold in the forest at night. When Dan came to breakfast he sat down hovering over his hot coffee and the first words out of his mouth were, "It's F***ing freezing the forest!" The bluntness of that comment made me chuckle and made me stop thinking about all of the 'what ifs' for today. I was feeling pretty prepared for the trek. I had: a black long-sleeved moisture wicking shirt, green safari pants tucked into my blister reducing socks (to avoid insects crawling up your pant legs), hiking boots, leather gloves in case you have to touch some of the thistle or thorn bushes while trekking, sunscreen, bug spray, water (1 litre, they wanted me to take 4L), granola bars, and my cameras. Then we went to the briefing. Everyone in our group thought that we were crazy for not wanting to bring a hiking stick. After the quizzical looks of others and some arm twisting, I rented one for US$5. Then they asked if we wanted a porter. Really? For 1L of water and my camera? Again, some arm twisting and explaining that it helps the local villagers make their montly wages (more on this later) and before I knew it, I also had a porter.
There are only 880 mountain gorillas left in Africa. 400 of them are in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, the rest are in Rwanda. Of those 400 gorillas, they are about 30 families, but only 10 of those families have been habituated. Many wild groups are in the mountains and as such all trekkers are accompanied by 2 armed policemen to shoot warnings in the air, if they get too close. Furthermore, the national park is not fenced in at all, so there are many police troops who keep watch for poachers all day and night. Some gorillas families will even come down the mountain into the lodging areas. That would have been amazing to see a gorilla a few feet from my tented cabin door.
Before we could depart, we were given a safety briefing from our guide, Zepora. The family we would be tracking is called Rushegura and consists of about 15 family members (it can flucctuate if another male comes to take a female, or challenges the silveback and is forced to leave). One person in our restaurant/bar said that there were 19 members, but I will go with what Zepora said. We are to stay at least 7 metres back from all gorillas. If a gorilla grunts and pounds their chest, we are to look away. If a gorilla comes charging at you, look away and cover yourself. No flash photography, they will either leave or charge. We are only allowed exactly one hour with them, so that they don't become too accustomed to humans for fear of them leaving their safe forest (car encounters or poachers). Each family of gorillas is only allowed to be viewed by 10 people for that hour each day (2 guides, 8 tourists). Being a mathematician, this means that in all of Uganda only 80 tourists can see gorillas each day. From our location, there are only 4 groups that trek each day(32 people from our location each day). When I had read blogs and Ugandan websites three years ago, they mentioned wearing green and black only (see my description above) to help blend yourself in with the foliage. No mention was made of that here today, which is good because Katie was wearing a light pink top and pink and purple socks.
All day yesterday, I prayed for my gorillas to be at the base of the mountain. I was hoping for a 30 minute trek to find them. Our guide, Dan, told us not to worry, we had the easy group. Score! The Rushegura group is normally the family that comes down to camp. We were told that our second guide was sent up the mountain one hour ahead of us to start at yesterday's last known location and then to track them from there using broken branches, available food sources, and droppings. She did not tell us where they were yesterday but I was excited to go find them.
My porter, Emmy (short for Emmanuel) came to my side and took my little bag, and we were off! The 19 of us (8 porters, 8 tourists, 2 armed policemen, and 1 guide) headed up the mountain underneath the thick canopy of the rainforest. Katie and I soon made friends with 2 other solo girls (Hayley from England and Leslie from US). The most notable in our trekking group was a son and mother from Colorado, where the mom looked like Jane Goodall in her 70s. She asked to be our pace setter at the front and I was relieved to not be the weakest member of the group. However, upon reflection, she had to be the best trekker among us (she did use two porters: one to pull from in front, and one to push from behind) but she did it and kept the pace much faster than I would have...she kept me huffing and puffing!
The porters are that they are dressed in head to toe grey clothes made of a thick cotton and 90% of them trek the mountain in calf height black rubber boots. I had no idea how Emmy made it up the mountain in black rubber boots. Most porters were brought along to be a way to help the community and left the tourists alone (other than my Jane Goodall friend). This was not the case with mine. He was regularly offering assistance to the trekkers and was greatly concerned about me. Any time there was a slight incline, he would place his hands on my waist and give a little nudge (even at times where I was already up). He walked behind me for the first 90 minutes doing this. Then when we reached a large incline, he ran in front of me and walked sideway up holding my hand. Again, I often didn't even need it and there wasn't much tension at all (it was kind of like a grip that you would offer the queen of England), but he wanted to be helpful. Emmy was incredibly kind. He told me that there is a rotation system for the porters, to ensure that it is fair for everyone in the surrounding villages. They can make US$15 each trekking day (unless you tip more) and it is an important source of income for them and they are only allowed to trek once per month. On his off days, he runs a shop in town where all of the proceeds go to a foundation to help children.
After 2.5 hours we reached the summit of the mountain (2670 metres and we started around the 1000 metre mark). The gorillas were less than 10 minutes away. We had to leave our hiking sticks (as the gorillas will assume we are poachers as they remember being hunted with spears) and bags with our porters. Five steps later, we hear some juvenile gorillas right beside us. We walked under a tree with a large umbrella top and there were about 5 gorillas up top. One was farting quite a bit, one was swining on a branch. I was so excited, but we were not 7 metres away, more like 1 metre. Godfred, our second guide who went ahead earlier, kept slashing through the bush with his machete so we could get a good view and encouraged me to follow him. He let us get really close. There was a mom and her baby breastfeeding (I didn't get a shot) and another who kept rolling around with his older siblings and was play fighting. It was so incredibly cute, but where they were made it hard for me to get a good shot (Katie has some good videos). My favourite was this juvenile male who was ounging off to the side and munching on all of the branches. He was so incredibly relaxed and stayed still long enough for me to get some amazing shots.
Godfred kept motioning me over with his hands, so I followed. The only silverback of the group (they turn silver at 15 years old), Mwirima (Black Face), was nearby munching. However, every time Godfred cleared the brush for a photo, he would leave. I can't really blame him. While trying to get that photo, a gorilla in a tree above Katie decided to let go of his or her grip and tumble down landed about 2 feet away from her. I am so upset that we didn't get that on video, it was shocking and hilarious. It felt like we had only been with the gorillas for about 15 minutes when Zepora announced that we had 4 minutes left. It was at this time that the silverback decided to make a spectacular appearance. We could hear the bush rustling, and he appeared right in front of me. Zepora kept telling us to move, but Hayley was busy photographing another gorilla beside me, unaware, and trapping me. So, I pushed her aside and we got amazing shots of Mwirima walking right by our feet. The last four minutes he sat there posing for us with his ladies on either side of him. It was so inspiring. I feel like he purposefully waited until the end to be the main attraction! My hour with the gorillas was over much too fast. However, my heart was so full of joy with a lifetime of memories.
After a quick break to hydrate and find our porters, we headed back down the mountain. Again, I had a very attentive Emmy by my side and holding my hand like a member of the royal family. I am not sure I have ever been so spoiled. It took us about an hour and a half to hike back down the mountain. We took a bunch of 'after' photos with our porters and guides. It was sad to be done. I am so glad that we trekked to the very top of the mountain (and a bit over the ridge) to have a longer experience, and this morning I only wanted a 30 minute trek!
Katie and I headed to the bar for a celebratory drink. Beer for her, rum and coke for me! We made a cheers in honour of our trek and gorillas. We were very much looking forward to a nice shower in our cabin. A phenomenal day!
On our way down to our cabin we heard someone calling our names. It was our trekking friend, Hayley, who was supposed to meet us for drinks. There was a mix up and Lesley and Hayley thought we were meeting at 4pm. I will be honest, I wasn't sure that I could handle more drinks after that trek. We quickly went to our cabin to shower and change and come back for drinks, I had a coke.
We again celebrated a phenomenal day and shared email addresses and photos. Hayley had arrived much earlier the day before and told us about her experiences at an orphanage just 4 buildings down the path. We could hear the drumming around us, they were getting ready to perform. We hurried with our drinks and headed over. What we saw there made my heart swell even more than it had with the gorillas (I felt like the Grinch at the end of the movie where the xray of his heart grows so big that it is too big for the frame). I thought that my heart couldn't get any bigger, but there is always room for more.
We came halfway through the first dance. About 40 children were in a big circle drumming, clapping, playing a handmade recorder and dancing traditional Ugandan dances. We sat in a bench in the front row and I instantly had a smile from ear to ear. The joy on the faces of these kids dancing for us was amazing. When I think back to my car ride to Bwindi when I see boys and girls carrying gallons of water on their heads uphill for such a long time, I am humbled by pleasure in then smallest joys in life.
The dancing lasted about 30-45 minutes. In that time we saw so many special dances to their culture: a wedding dance, a circumcision dance, a harvest dance, and a surprise dance (more on this later). There was one young girl who was about 7 years old who stole the show for the girls. She really liked to get her groove on, and could stomp and shake anyone off the dance floor. She wore the traditional purple of the organization and a special belt made out of cow hide. Some dances like the courtship and wedding dances, other men would try to out dance her 'fiance' and he would have to defend his power and strength to make the girl choose him. The suprise dance was so amazing. These 3 children dressed as gorillas came crawling with their their leafy branches and played like the baby we saw earlier in the day. They were curious about our toes (my purple pedicure was a big hit) and even made gorilla noises. I loved it! While the dancers in the middle did rotate, it was obvious that some kids liked to dance more than others. The rest helped to provide the rhythm and the melody. Boys took turns drumming on the massive drums, playing the recorder made out of pvc pipe, clapping, or chanting and singing the songs.
In between dances we would learn about the kids and the cultures of Uganda. The kids at this orphange fall into three categories. Firstly, there are the kids who have lost both parents. Secondly, there are the kids who have lost one parent. The first two categories is largely due to the spread of HIV and AIDS. There were 3 kids at this orphanage with HIV, but luckily due to donations and sponsorhip, these 3 kids have access to the retroviral drugs they need. The last category of this at this school aren't technically orphans, they have both parents, but live in conditions that are far below the Ugandan poverty line and are 'at risk'.
How this orphanage works is that the students will come at sunrise from their houses (if they have some family) or from the orphanage house to work on their art skills. There is a teacher there who teaches them the skills they will need when they are out on their own later in life (or if they dropout early). they learn to makde amazing artwork, that I doubt that I could ever replicate. By 8am they have to attend school for the full day, which ends at 5pm. At this time, they return to the orphanage centre to perform dances for any visitors who might be there. If no one is there, they continue working on their art. Many kids also wouldn't be able to go to school without the centre's support. However, this centre isn't just for skill development, they have taught them manners and social skills. Many of the students were originally told by their families to beg for money from tourists and were in the organizer's words "not very polite or civilized". They have learned their manners, cultural dances, and music. They have learned that there is somewhere for them to go at night and in the mornings and that someone loves them. Many of the workers at this orphanage will teach them new skills: Will taught them art, one lady taught music, Angela is the coordinator and the 'grandmother' teaches them manners. I would say that the 'grandmother' is in her fifties, and boy oh boy, you can tell that no one messes with her! She was great. There was another man there, who came to get us from the bar, who used to be an orphan at this centre. He finishes up his work every day in the village and then comes to get visitors to help pay back for all of the support they gave him over the years. This centre does a lot.
This orphanage relies heavily on the donations of visitors. After all of the dancing we were very happy to donate some of our US dollars to this school, to help them get the things that they need. Katie and I had both brought school supplies to give to kids we were hoping to see. I brought a bunch of pencils and she gave a whole bag full of goodies (stickers, cards, paper). It felt like such an insignificant donation. However, the best part was yet to come.
After the dancing and information, all of the students place all of the art they have made around the centre for you to see and buy. Each item has the name of the student who made it on the back. Any item that we chose to buy, all of the money went directly to that orphan. All younger students learn how to draw. As they age, the girls are taught how to weave and the boys are taught carving. I bought a lovely gorilla carving that I have already mentally pictured on my mantel that was made by a boy in high school hoping to earn enough money to do some post secondary education. I bought one black and white woven plate that will be going on my coffee table made by Laban, a very shy girl. I also bought on of her gorilla pictures done with blue pen. It is of a mom gorilla with a baby riding on her back. My last picture was done with a black pen and in incredibly realistic, and it was done by one of my favourite dancers. If I had more notice and money, I would have bought one picture from every kid! I would love to go back one day and do just that. Now before you start thinking that it is unfair that I picked the items from those kids only, none of the kids are allowed to tell you what they made, as it would be unfair. They all stand really quietly along the side while we shopped freely. I was impressed with their manners. They did eagerly look on as we paid for our purchases. I wanted to know which kids had made the items and held each one up and they would raise their hands with big toothy smiles on their faces, and their friends would pat them on the back. My little Laban would shyly smile while shrugging one shoulder. I wanted photos of each kid who had made my items, so they came and posed with me for some pictures. After all of the purchasing was done, they were allowed to come see us and Katie and I greedily snapped so many pictures of the kids. They loved seeing their faces after each picture (it reminded me of my cute kids in Laos in 2004). So humbling. They are happy to see a picture of themselves, they don't even have a copy yet. I will be printing so many and sending to them.
By this point, our friends had already headed to the bar, but Katie and I could have stayed for hours. The 'grandmother' of the kids had said a couple of words and they all ran to line up. She and Angela then proceeded to hand out my pencils to the students. One pencil for each kid. Their faces illuminated with such happiness and they clutched that pencil with all of their might. It makes me sad to think of how many pencils my students lose in a typical year, when one pencil here will be cherished and used until no lead is left.
Unfortunately, we did have to leave soon after, we pleaded to stay. We could have spent all day hugging, photographing, and dancing with these kids. They would have loved it too. However, they had to hurry home or to the orphanage house before dark. They quietly picked up all of their pieces of artwork and headed home. They are so organized and responsible with their belongings, as for many of them it is their livelihood. They will use the funds from their art to buy food, clothes, medicines, and more supplies. As I already mentioned, the older boy whose carvings I bought is saving his money in an attempt to get to university.
I was sad that it had to end, but was even more upset that I still had more school supplies in my cabin. I promised to visit again tomorrow morning before leaving, and hugged Angela goodbye.
Katie and I went to find Lesley and Hayley in a local bar. It was a tiny shack with only 2 lights: one over the bar, and one over the pool table. It was quite funny to see how many shims were under the pool table to get it level....a precarious balance and tower of wood shavings, but it is all about priorities, right? Son it was time for dinner and bed. I could have imagined a more perfect day!
Sura boobongee,
Liz
Animals Seen Today
Silverback Mountain Gorillas!
I woke up under my mosquito net much warmer today (I was smart and wore socks to bed). It is my last day at Bwindi, sigh. I was not looking forward to leaving. With more money and time I would spend all my days with the gorillas and orphans.
I packed all of my stuff and had to carry it up the big hill. This normally would not be a problem, except that I became very anal over my gorilla trek certificate and art from the orphanage. I clipped all of my bags to my backpack (I was a true pack mule on this climb up, where was Emmy now?) and gingerly walked up to the reception and restaurant.
We packed our bags in the car after breakfast and I asked to stop at the orphanage. I told Dan to be very careful with my gorilla certificate. I told Katie that she should be in charge of it since she is hyper cautious about her things. I told her to put it with her ipad. She shrieked and hopped out of the car and ran back to the lodge where it was resting on the charging table. If you knew Katie as a traveller you would have also found it hilarious to watch her running away from our car for a lost item (they are always at an arm's length).
Then Dan realized that he left his phone charger behind too. This gave me plenty of time to go back to the orphanage. I ran down the stairs to find the music teacher, Angela, and the man who volunteers now that he is an adult there. I gave them everything I could. From the 3 of them I received about 50 hugs! They wished me a safe journey and that the kids could have been there for me. They gave me 2 Ugandan post cards as a thank you present for all of my donations. Again, I wished that I could give more.
By the time I was back at the car, so was Katie and Dan with their electronics and it was off for another 3 hours on the bumpy roads. Dan likes to say it provides a free 'African Massage'. This time we didn't go by Queen Elizabeth National Park and took a shorter, but more bumpy road. After 3 hours, we hit pavement and will soon be back in Kampala for one night of internet access before we are off to Kenya!
Liz
PS Katie and I spent a good portion of the time in the car catching up on typing our blogs to be ready to send once we hit the free wifi back in Kampala. However, my computer saved the wrong password and wouldn't let me connect. A trip to the reception, Katie googling some how to stuff online, and some luck onour side, it finally worked. I would have been very lost without Katie! Thanks Katie!
PPS I plan on spending the rest of the night in the hotel trying to catch up on stuff online. It will be fun to relax and catch up.
Randoms
I constantly feel like I am playing catch with my blog. As such, some things seem to get left behind. So, this entry will include a variety of places and a variety of topics.
Driving
- driving here is pretty much what I expected, some road lines seem to be painted purely as a decoration, you can criss cross anywhere you like (although, to be fair, a lot of this seems to be due to road conditions)
- I expected bumpy roads, but the odd thing is how many highway sections have a variety of speed bumps on them. In the rural/country areas, there will be wide and high bumps, or many consecutive little bumps. I thought that these would only be found in areas with villages. I guess in Tanzania it is important to go slowly for the cattle herds of the Masai, but you should see how well trained they are. A little Masai child will stand in front of them and they all obediently wait.
- drivers will signal which way is safe for you to go. Example, when a car is in our lane (left side of the road here) they will put on their signal to let us know which way they won't be going to avoid a collision (how polite).
- honking is prevalent here. All cars will honk when they come up behind or beside any other vehicle/bicycle/person, so you can imagine the honking. Although, it is nowhere near the amount of honking as in Asia
Uganda
- Uganda is made of many kingdoms (approximately 40), the largest being the Buganda kingdom. The king here has a large palace in the Kampala region, among other palaces around the country.
- once Uganda attained its independence in 1962, the president 'trumped' the power of these kingdoms. The hierarchy was compared to that of our prime minister and our queen (one being ceremonial).
Dust
- there is a lot of dust in Tanzania, however, it is far worse in Uganda. The rust red dust seems to coat everything.
- be prepared for when you blow your nose...it is almost black!
- I can't imagine how many people must fight respiratory problems in addition to so many other things. I would expect to see more people covering their faces with cloths or masks (like I saw in Asia).
African Women
- these women are amazingly strong! They can easily balance a 20 kg bag of product on their head (or my 11 kg travelling backpack) with a baby swaddled in a cloth on their back, and using their hands to carry other items.
- many women have amazing features that would easily make them models , yet they are so underrated here. I have been told many times that I was beautiful (nice stroking of the ego) to then be told by my taxi driver today that a lot of that is due to the fact that I am white (ego deflated). These women are not that respected, but are amazingly beautiful and kind.
Today our plan was to wake up, enjoy our morning before heading to Nairobi. We did just that. We knew today would be a day of mainly travelling, but not to the extent at which it happened, but I am getting ahead of myself.
This morning after breakfast in Kampala, there was a driver already waiting for us before we checked out. We had never even booked it, either they really wanted us out or they are really efficient. The man who booked our taxi was named Sunday Fred and our driver was named Henry. Which is another thing I have noticed, many people here in Tanzania and in Uganda, only receive English names, nothing in their tribe's language. I think that is a shame. I have also noticed that many people will add the day on which they were born to their names, ex. Sunday Fred. However, they rarely tell you this first name, but it will appear on their business cards.
Henry was very informative on the way to Entebbe airport, much more so than our tour guide for the last three days. However, the one thing that shocked me was what he told me about his job. He is at the airport every day and he sees a large number of white males who come and are picked up by young, almost teenage-aged girls. I will allow you to connect the dots yourselves. He wanted to know why this is the case, from my point of view, and I didn't really have an answer for him. I knew that this was an issue in Thailand and some other places, but was unaware that it happens here too.
There were many markets along the road to the airport selling clothes. I have seen many on this journey, but a couple of things today sparked my interest. All the vendors sell a variety of random items, but this one had an Aeropostale NY shirt. It made me wonder if these items are new or used. Could they be items left behind by tourists? I am not sure.
Today at the airport at Entebbe I was impressed with the level of security. In all of my flights thus far I have not had to remove my shoes. Here, I had to take off my rubber flip flops. I had not set off any scanners to date, today I did. I had to get a pat down. I was surprised. They were the most intense about security measures to date. However, they really need to invest in some chairs, twenty does not accommodate the 100 or so passengers for my flight alone.
We arrived in Nairobi, Kenya and again had no problem with immigration. We got Ugandan Shillings from the ATM (I had to do it twice, because I originally pushed the wrong amount and only had about 40 dollars worth) and headed off to meet our G Adventures transfer. Felix and Robert were incredibly nice and we were off to our hotel. Or so we thought. I had been warned about the traffic in Nairobi, but I wasn't prepared for it. What should take about 20-30 minutes to get from the airport to our hotel, took 2 hours! We spent the majority of our time parked in bumper to bumper traffic. But not like Canadian bumper to bumper traffic, people were trying to create their own lanes, so there was literally an inch of 'free space' surrounding our entire car. The matatus (the mini van buses I mentioned earlier) are incredibly aggressive in Kenya and seem to ignore all of the rules. We finally made it to our hotel after 6pm and were eager to check in and head out to the Carnivore Restaurant.
I felt like I was back in South Africa today when I saw all of the vendors at car windows tryiing to sell you fruits, hats, posters, etc. This didn't happen in Tanzania or in Uganda, so I was little surprised, and yet, a little homesick for RSA.
We had 2 guys, Felix and Robert, with us all evening long. They say that it is safer to have 2 people, one to drive and one for extra protection. Before you freak out, I have yet to feel uncomfortable, let alone unsafe. I think that just might be part of our tour company's motto since we are on a comfort style trip (I normally take basic level trips).
Again, it took at least one hour to get to the Carnivore Restaurant. On the way there we passed by the presidential palace. Felix and Robert told us that the current president isn't necessarily well-liked. He stole votes during the election and made some silly promises. Their favourite was that he wanted to give every child in first grade a laptop to make Kenya enter the 'digital age'. We talked at length how this was crazy. No other age would get one, it would only be one year of kids, so siblings and other kids would be without. Furthermore, by the time the child can make real use of the laptop, it will be obsolete. Apparently, he did also promise free education to all. He should have just stuck with that promise and worked to follow through on it.
During the drive to the restaurant, Katie kept remarking on the different car names. She would point them out and say, "look, isn't that funny, a Toyota Prado?" If you know me (Jenn C. can attest to this) I am useless when it comes to cars. I know how many doors, colours, and basic categories (ex. truck, van, car, station wagon). This was lost on me, but she liked it.
At the Carnivore Restaurant, you enter into a lovely place with open air sections, and very 'African' decor. We had the set menu, everyone does. They bring you a lovely starter soup and then a rotating sauce platter (with salad options underneath) for your table. Then, they put up your table flag. At this point, men dressed in animal print (possibly skins?) clothes cokme to your table with a variety of meats on a masai sword and with a large machete carve off some meat for you to eat. There were about 15 or so different meats on the menu that night, I had them all. Disclaimer: when I was in South Africa in 1997, I went to their sister restaurant and had all types of game meat, however, in 2004, Kenya banned the sale of game meat to avoid increased levels of poaching. Now, they sell everyday meats, but have increased the experience level (dad, this place is for you). I did have ostrich meat (my favourite) and ox balls (the worst...DISGUSTING)! Seriously...disgusting!
Our drive home, after traffic from the commuters going home on Friday night had cleared, was only 15 minutes. I really suggest doing everything off peak times.
There was clearly some type of party outside our hotel. That coupled with loud employees in the hall, a hot room, and a belly full of meat did not make for a restful sleep! Neither Katie, nor I, slept much at all.
Usiku Mwema (back in the land of Swahili),
Liz
Swahili Dictionary
Pole (polay) = sorry
Rice (sp?) = President (Rice wa Kenya = Kenyan President))
Dad's Details
Flight to Nairobi on Kenyan Airlines Boeing 737 300 series
We woke up this morning incredibly excited for the busy day ahead of us in Nairobi. We couldn't wait to see the animals and kids...Katie wanted to hug all of them. However, when we met Felix downstairs in the lobby he told us that we were out of luck for our slum tour (drive through the slums, visit a local school, and then we go home to a local kid's house) as it was a Saturday! The worst part, is that when we return from our tours, it will also be a Saturday. I don't think I have ever been so upset to be 'off' from school. Instead we decided to tackle every other thing on our wish list in hopes that Felix might able to arrange something for us on our last Saturday.
Our first stop of the day was to the Giraffe Centre. Here you can climb up to the top of a little lodge (at giraffe height, obviously) and feed the giraffes. They give you a handful of food pellets and you are free to feed them at will. People were holding the pellets in their fingers and looked hesitantly as the long, black tongue would come searching for food and then they would squeal in delight. I, also, squealed with delight, but held the pellet in my palm. I later learned that this is wrong (no instructions were given) as the giraffe has quite a few teeth right at the edge of it's jaw. The first giraffe, Daisy, took my whole hand in her mouth and I could feel her lower teeth, her hairs on her lips (like a really strong stubble, and her big tongue. It was shocking (I know I should have been prepared, but I wasn't). It was great. She was a bit aggressive and 'cheeky' and we were told to be careful, and to not use your palm, oops.
They asked us to come learn a bit more about the giraffes and the centre. In Kenya, there are 3 types of giraffes: reticulated, masai, and the Rothschild. This centre had the Rothschild giraffe. What makes them distinct is that the pattern doesn't extend down their legs and it looks like they are wearing socks. Reticulated giraffes have a more distinctive pattern, masai are darker and with an irregular pattern. This centre is aimed at preservation of the giraffes and to educate the youth. They offer field trips here for schools and some of this is largely due to donations from visitors. Without donations, they can't feed the animals or teach the youth what a valuable resource they have!
We heard that another giraffe was outside that was much more gentle. Stacey, a cute baby, who could barely reach over the edge, came to visit. The lady there had us put a pellet in between our lips and she kisses you on the lips to get it. I did it twice, in order to get a good shot and some video. It was incredibly funny and we were told that giraffe saliva is antiseptic. A great time at the giraffe centre, but we were off to our next spot.
Next was the elephant orphanage. Elephants are my favourite and my heart breaks for these cute little orphans. We arrived just as all of the babies were called in from the bush. They came running for their bottles of milk. They were adorable. I reached out (with permission) to pat one on the back. They then entertained the throngs of visitors for the hour we were there. At night they sleep with beautifully coloured blankets on them with their workers sleeping in bunks above them. Unfortunately, the stories of these animals are very sad. But you can adopt them to get them the care they need. However, we were more interested in the gift shop. There were these amazing colourful elephants there that were made out of flip flops that were originally littering the world's oceans. The company is called Ocean Sole and I love their premise (saving the environment, providing training to those in need of an income, and beautiful art). We are currently on the lookout for more.
Next, was the animal orphanage in Nairobi game park. I am normally not someone who likes zoos. Caging animals for my viewing pleasure seems cruel. In fact, unless they are running a rehabilitation or breeding program, I might even go as far to say that I detest them. These animals all had stories that would break your heart. Many due to negative human interactions (poaching) and were brought her by rangers in order to give these young animals a chance at survival (for my friends that know Katie, please check her blog for their back stories, she took pictures of each story). I have some highlights to share:
- the lions have large balls made of reinforced materials (I was told cement, but they looked like fiberglass) to play with and entertain themselves
- if you face backwards, the lions will perk up and act as if they are about to attack, since they hunt from behind (handy for when you want a good photo op)
- vervet monkeys and yellow monkeys have colourful hindquarters. The expression 'blue balls' apply to these primates
- Sharon, the cheetah, was the most docile of all of the animals that you used to be able to pet her. She became an ambassador for conservation and would travel in cars (the pictures are amazing) to schools and various functions. She no longer does this (pity for me) but enjoys daily brushings and cuddles from the orphanage workers.
- the one leopard there was very sleepy and wouldn't open his eyes for my photos. I tried my best to zoom enough to avoid the chain link fence appearing in my photos, but it was not the best. Fingers are crossed for a better view on a game drive later.
Our last stop of the day was the Bomas of Kenya. This natural area in Nairobi has little villages from each tribe made on site here. Here you can see the differences i the houses from the 43 national tribes (Barack Obama is a Lua). Most houses are shorter than I am (as the women will only build as high as they can reach) and have almost the same area as my queen size bed at home...and this would house 3 to 4 people. After walking though the villages, we went to the main centre for a dancing show. I stood up for their anthem and unbeknownst to me, my video camera slid off of my lap and down behind the seats in front of me (30 minutes of packing and frantic searching to feel relieved later, embarrassed, but relieved). We saw a total fifteen dances from the different tribes. The movements were amazing (there was one male dancer that Shawn Cheeseman on SYTYCD would love in his routines). At one point, an acrobatics teams came to put on a show that included: an assortment of human pyramids, fire limbo, fire torches in their pants (don't ask), and some amazing tumbling. At the end the masai dance happened with the male warrior doing the jumping (Katie got an amazing video as I fumbled with my camera).
We rushed back to our hotel to meet with our G Adventures guide and the other couple on our tour, Leila and Christian. We are a tiny group of four and it looks like it will be fun. After all of the business matters were done Katie and I headed for take out pizzas from a place three buildings down (surprisingly it started to pour on our way home) and enjoyed pizza in our room and got caught up on our blog.
Usiku Mwema,
Liz
Swahili Dictionary
Boma = homestead or village
Busu = kiss (ex. busu wa twiga = giraffe kiss)
Yatima = orphan (Katie and I both named our flip flop elephants Yatima, but mine is boy)
Mrembo = cute
Chui = leopard
Duma = cheetah
Nyati= baboon
Tumbili= monkey
Fisi = buffalo
Barra Barra = road
Swara = impala
Dawa = medicine (also an excellent drink at the Carnivore restaurant of honey, lemon, water, and vodka...medicineto make you 'happy')
We started our morning bright and early, but not that bright I guess, as it was still raining. The six of us hopped in the Land Rover: Katie, Myself, Patricia (our guide), Joseph (our driver), Leila (from Finland), and Christian (from Denmark). We instantly got to talking and spent all of the morning drive talking. Both of them are incredibly interesting and kind...it is going to be a great tour.
I have been meaning to mention this in many blog entries, but today is a perfect time. I have noticed how so many tourists wear almost all beige (long pants, long-sleeved shirts). I do have some natural colours with me, but I am far from monotone. Katie and I have been colourful in our outfits and hanging out in flip flops! It is very easy to stand out here. The reason that I bring this up today (although, I feel like I have mentioned it to Katie daily) is that Leila is also wearing bright colours (a beautiful orange and raspberry).
After about 4 hours in the car we arrived at Sweetwaters Tented Camp. It used to be a ranch long ago and has been converted to a conservation area to help preserve animal habitat. It is amazing here. It is a very high end place to be, in fact Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton here (what is good enough for the future king, is good enough for me)! We quickly put our things in our bags and hung out at the bar/lounge right beside the watering hole and watched the animals frolick by the water. Lunch was amazing, I couldn't believe the spread that was put out for us. I am one lucky (and possibly larger) girl.
We were about to head out for a game drive, after a quick stop to the Chimpanzee Sanctuary. What an amazing place. Jane Goodall set up the sanctuary in the early eighties to help the chimps that were being sold in markets, chained at roadsides, or even injured by humans or animals. The first family we saw had about 15 members in it. My favourite was the old grandmother named Sultana. She had some grey fur and enjoyed playing with her grandchildren, Angela and Ajabu. However, their mom, Mwanzo, was also jealous and kept dragging the babies away by their limbs (again, Katie got some amazing video footage of this). I tried so hard to get some videos of when they were communicating with each other, but was always about 15 seconds too late. We then went down by the river to see a member of a different 'family' of orphaned chimps. This old guy was so adorable. Umahuna has cataracts in his eyes and kept shielding his face from the sun. He munched on some sugar cane and again I felt like I could have stayed for hours. I was hopeful for a good game drive, but wasn't sure that this could be topped.
Apparently, Christian has excellent animal karma and I believe it. After all of the game drives I have done, I have never experienced what happened today. Joseph, our driver, spotted some lions (and I was happy), but he knew it would get better. He drove around to where he knew they would come out...and they walked right in front of my face less than a foot away! Some amazing photos. We later saw them at the end of the drive and they were stalking a bunch of animals (buffalo, zebras, impalas, etc.). We did see a failed attempt at hunting a warthog. That was a first for me. Now, I just need Christian to work some more of his magic so I can see an actual kill tomorrow.
Leila and Christian are incredibly interesting. She is a well-travelled girl just like me. She has been to some phenomenal countries (ex. Costa Rica, Galapagos, etc.). It has been fun listening to all of her stories. The best part is that she is also a photographer and it has been great talking about the art form and cameras. I am learning a lot from her. Christian is a big fan of books and it has been great chatting about different genres and authors. They are an incredibly sweet couple and we are getting along fabulously.
We saw some ostriches before coming back to our camp. We were in stitches over our running commentary of what we thought was going on. We made up story lines that had the females fighting over the males...at that point we were the rowdy Land Rover among all of those on safari (yes, mom, I know I need to write these things down)!
After another lovely meal, Katie and I were pleasantly surprised to find out that our turn down service included hot water bottles in our beds. Oh my goodness, it was heavenly. Katie has been really cold here and decided to sleep in her white robe that they provided us, I was lame and copied her (more for the luxury factor). An amazing day that we topped off with watching The Bachelorette (on Katie's ipad) in our beds before falling asleep to baboons jumping around outside.
Lala Salama,
Liz
Animals Seen Today
Chimps
Elephant
Zebra (Grevy, lines stop at belly and common)
Rhino
Waterbuck
Thompson's Gazelle
Grant's Gazelle
Warthogs
Impala
Cape Buffalo
Lion
Swahili Dictionary
Napenda = fun/enjoy
Mrembo = cute
Barra Barra = road
Tafadhali = please
Ajabu = surprise
Mwanzo = first
Sawa = okay
Faru = rhino
My morning started really rough today...I know that this is an exaggeration, but it felt frustrating at the time. At the watering hole at Ol' Pejeta a rhino was peacefully drinking water and made for a perfect photo. Our waitress told us while we were at breakfast and we stealthily walked out with our cameras. Mine wouldn't work. I switched batteries. Still nothing. I was getting incredibly frustrated at the error message that I couldn't figure out. I sat in the car reading the manual. Nothing. I was worried that by the time we reached the rhino sanctuary that I would be out of luck. The manual had nothing helpful, so I played around to discover that I left my memory card in dad's laptop last night when I was uploading photos. Easy solution to fix my mood. I was excited to restart the day.
Our next stop in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy was the Rhino Sanctuary. Here we were immediately taken to a platform to see Baraka, a blind black rhino. He was born with cataracts in his left eye and in the wild, this made him and easy target for other rhinos trying to prove their dominance. He was soon in another battle and lost his right eye too. He could no longer survive alone. He is wonderfully cute...who doesn't love old men! We were encouraged to feed him grasses over and over. He will raise his head to the smell of the grass and sound of his name. I wanted to stay there all day. We headed in to the information centre and learned some horrific and shocking details. Rhinos are being hunted for their horns which are believe to be a special medicine for men in Asia (this of course is false). In 1970 there were 20,000 rhinos in Kenya, but 1990 it had dropped to only 800. That was over 25 years ago and it makes me sad to think that my nephews might not have the opportunity to see them in the wild...only zoos.
Our next stop, was an unofficial one. The couple we are travelling with (have I already mentioned that they are super cool people?) are most likely going to buy a house on the edge of the conservancy and move here. She wants to work on her photos (can't think of a better place) and he just needs internet connections to be albe to do his work. The houses they might buy are stunning. They are required to match the scenery to ensure they are do not detract from the beauty of nature (or upset the animals...some colours can set off certain animals).
As we drove out of Ol' Pejeta, we saw some zebras and I was trying to show off my knowledge of Swahili and called out "Mtoto wa punda" (baby zebra) and I was quickly informed that punda means donkey! Lies! I was cheated all of this time and I am sure that I looked like an idiot tourist who brags about wrong information. The real name is punda milia (striped donkey). So, then I double checked the rest of my words. The rest were good (maybe a few spelling errors). I then asked why some names in the Lion King had meaning, but Pumba didn't. They said that they didn't want to give the full name to tourists...Pumbafu (this means idiot, which explains his personality). As a result, I will be updating my Swahili dictionary at the bottom...future travellers to Kenya and Tanzania, don't call them Pundas.
We were driving to Nakuru and stopped just outside the edge of the region. Here we stopped at a curio shop for a quick bathroom break and Equator lesson. (The best part being that Katie and I were able to improve upon our Ugandan Equator pictures where we almost lost both eyeballs to sun damage). At the equator water will not flow in any circular direction, whereas is spins clockwise in the north and counterclockwise in the south. Fun to see, but on to the animals.
In Nakuru National Park there has been extensive flooding and the majority of the roads are flooded (it was an exceptionally wet, wet season this year). Here we saw some flamingoes eating along the banks of the river. We also saw a very sick buffalo (that probably didn't make the night) due to sulphur water of lake. Our driver, Joseph, took us to a lovely picnic spot, called Baboon Picnic Area. Since most things are named after animals here, I didn't really think much of it, until Patricia told us to close the windows and get out of the car. Those close to me know I have a monkey/baboon fear. I got out, trying to look brave, to take photos. I was stressed when certain baboons got close, but it was Katie that got chased (again, I can't wait to see that video). The cutest thing are the baboon babies. When they are very young, they are black with very pink skin. Katie and I were obsessing over this one baby and almost at the same time, I said, "Doesn't he look like Gollum from Lord of the Rings?" Her reply, "I was thinking Smeagol." We loved him. He was very cheeky, jumping all over the place and swinging in the trees. It was really great to see, but even better to get back in the car! Nakuru is known for leopards and I was not going to be that lucky today. Maybe later in my African journey...
It was a short distance to Soysambu for our lodge and night drive at Sleeping Warrior Camp. A lovely dinner and we were in the car ready to go. Katie, who has been cold the whole time here, was extremely bundled up (she looked like a Russian Babushka...please look on her blog for the photo, it is hilarious)! On the drive we saw an African Kangaroo (almost like an upright jumping squirrel), white-tailed mongoose, and a baby zebra. This baby was probably only a couple of hours old. He was very tiny and unstable on his legs. It was the definition of pure cuteness. It was after this that the four of us had an incredibly hard time staying awake. Our drive ended without any 'big' finds and we headed off to bed.
Usiku Mwema,
Liz
Animals Seen Today
Zebra
Donkey
Black Rhino
White Rhino
Warthog
Flamingoes
Hyraxes
Buffalo
Lion
Herons
Stork
Vervet Monkeys
African Kangaroo
White Tail Mongoose
Impala
Thompson Gazelle
Swahili Dictionary
Kipiko = hippo
Kipiko yao = awesome
Punda = donkey (Note: I was misinformed for my previous entry with this word)
Punda Milia = zebra (Note: striped donkey)
Pumbafu = dumb
I set my alarm this morning for 4:45am. Although, just like with Machu Picchu and the Gorillas, I could barely sleep for the excitement of going on my first ever hot air balloon ride! I tossed and turned all night fearing that I wouldn't wake up. I ordered a wake up call last night at reception for 5am and when we got back to our tent Katie said, "Um, Liz, we don't have a phone!" We laughed at the prospect of how our wake up call would work. Would they unzip the tent and shake our shoulders, bang on the edges of our tent, or maybe a local woman's high-pitched scream. I wanted to see what it would be, which is why I set my alarm earlier. Before 5am, we got a knock on the tent and a "Jambo, wake up call".
Unfortunately, I was in the bathroom and Katie was sleeping right by the door.
I hurried to the reception at 5am (we had to be there by 5:15am) and was the first one there (good punctual German genes) and the staff looked shocked to see me! I kept trying to pay and sign in, but we were with another company. Leila, Christian, and I were trying keep our calm (more so Leila and I) as we watched throngs of tourists from other hotels come sign up for a balloon ride and sunrise was getting closer, yet there was still no sign of this 'other company'. With minutes to spare to sunrise we were driven to the balloon site (after a crazy parking lot situation in our lodge) and we were assigned to a 16 person balloon. Waivers signed, landing position achieved and we were soon upright floating above the Kenyan savannah. It was spectacular! The clouds prevented a good sunrise photo, but backlit the distant mountains quite nicely (some great shots with other balloons in front). Our pilot was a lady from Australia, Ellie, who has been ballooning for 20 years. She helped to point out some neat animals, the highlights of what we saw: a male protecting the 8 eggs in his nest, 2 fully grown male lions, and parts of the wildebeest migration (they run in lines).
After a gentle landing, we were driven to our champagne breakfast. Once there, the heavens opened up and it rained A LOT. Ellie told us to quickly eat while it was hot. We sat on the chairs without thinking, and were treated with soaked bottoms. We figured it couldn't get much worse than that, so we sat in the rain drinking champagne and eating our wonderfully delicious (and progressively wet) breakfast (I loved the croissants and bacon quiche). Many people grabbed food and ran to the cars, the three of us then surrounded the champagne table, clearing every single glass. The man there kept opening new bottles...so we HAD to drink it! When all was said and done, I was given my eighth glass of champagne (this one from Ellie) for the ride home.
We were definitely rowdy. Giggly and rowdy. It seemed like the other tourists were eager to leave and get going, so our drivers kept changing. Although, I am sure that it was the drivers doing their best to not have to drive the 3 drunken fools (Mlevi mpumbafu). After a couple of car switches we were with a man (no clue what his name was...I asked twice and then finally said, 'awesome'...Christian and Leila tried to hold their laughter in at my failed attempt) who didn't exactly follow the game drive rules. He went off the roads a lot. On this game drive we saw two cheetahs looking across the land from some easy prey. Up until this point, we were in hysterics over our jokes, however, this sighting sobered us up really quickly. We were instantly focused on this rare sight and it was so much better than the three distant cheetahs from the day before. The only thing that would have made it better, was having Katie get to experience it too.
I also learned on this drunken ride that the word I learned yesterday as 'awesome' is incredibly wrong. After seeing the cheetahs, I kept saying "kipiko yao", I even said it slowly for him and spelled it for him, as if he was the one learning Swahili for the first time. I told him the reasoning, one word meant 'hippo' but with the yao on the end, it meant awesome. He stared at me in confusion mixed with a healthy dose of disgrace. I asked about this later in the day, (clearly the drunk girl can't be wrong, right?) and I was way off base. Hippo isn't even Kipiko...it is close to that in sound (in the sense that it starts with a 'k' and ends in an 'o'). The story is so good, that my group and I have decided to declare it a new Swahili Slang word "hippo awesome".
Phone contact was finally made between our car and our G Adventures group and we were reunited with Katie. I, giggly again, get in the car and loudly proclaim, "I paid for champagne and got a free balloon ride!" We told Joseph the area in which we saw the cheetahs and were off to find them. Luckily, they hadn't moved far and Katie got to have a good look. A little while later we even saw two cheetahs eating a recently killed impala.
When we returned to have lunch at our lodge, another security guard came up to tell me about a crocodile, and I was gone. Ironically, the crocodile was right outside our tent (on the other side of the riverbank). He was about 3 metres long and enjoying the sun.
I will write again soon.
Liz
Animals Seen Today
Jackals (finally)
Dik Dik
Elephants
Lions
Cheetahs
Wildebeest
Vultures
Giraffes
Ostriches
Zebras
Warthogs
Hyenas (also finally...seen from above)
Parental Disclaimer: I should mention right now that I will be mentioning things that are less than pleasant, should you be reading with kids, you might only want to read the first paragraph. However, I do feel that I should represent the whole picture of Masai life and that will be included at the bottom. All of these facts have been obtained over many conversations with guides, locals, and on my village tour today. Enjoy.
The Good
The Masai people are the one tribe in Kenya that have managed to maintain their culture, even in these changing times. Many Masai will seek out employment in other areas (for example there are many Masai working in my hotel on the reserve), yet still wear their traditional clothes. Their clothes are gorgeous. The bright reds (blues and purples to a lesser extent) are a lovely contrast to the scenery. In fact, the image of the Masai walking with their cattle along the roadside is my favourite. I love the yellow grasses, green acacia trees (a few of them), beautifully dark skin, red clothes, and multicoloured beads. I still struggle to successfully take this photo, but it will be a great memory for me. The male warrior dance is enchanting. The men sing a chant interspersed with some higher-pitched words and jump as high as they can (from a standing position) to show their virility. Their athletic ability was very impressive. They have very long and lean bodies. Most of the Masai men in Kenya are easily identifiable, purely due to their height alone (6 feet tall and higher). Masai men will also braid their hair very closely together and will add a red pigment to it. The women wear stunning jewellery that they hand craft themselves. The Tanzanian Masai tend to wear more white beads in comparison to Kenyan Masai women. You will find a lot of red and blue beadwork in large disk-like necklaces. Ears are pierced on men and women, at both the top and the bottom.
The Bad
The scene of Masai men herding their cattle that I described above is my favourite, but apparently, is also a front for poachers in game parks. On our way in to our lodge in Masai Mara we saw two Masai men herding their cattle with spears. Most Masai use only a club made of wood to control their cattle (I have never seen it used). Since they are a nomadic group, they are allowed to wander freely and people (either dressed as Masai, or the Masai themselves) use this freedom to hunt big game animals. This made me incredibly sad and now I seem to intently watch each of them, trying to decipher if they are murderous poachers or not. I realize this isn't the norm, but I feel that these cattle drives should be more closely monitored to clear the Masai name and save the endangered animals.
The Masai still practise male circumcision and the ceremonly is performed when a boy reaches ten years of age. There is a large celebration in the community for this event, but it seems to be not the most sanitary of situations.
Also, being a patriarchal society, women seem to have very little status. The interactions of the women in the village we visited were often limited by the men. Christian and Leila had the best tour with the one English speaking female. Being alone with her, they were able to ask some good questions that would otherwise not be allowed. A male warrior selects his wife, and technically the woman has the right to say no, but I am sure that would not be well received among the community unless she was born to a high-ranking male. The women are the workers of the villages: making the houses, tending to children, cooking the food, making their beadwork, laundry, and much more. Whereas, the male children will be sent to a school (if there is one close by and they have enough money to fund the schooling) and girls stay home. The only children to speak to us were boys. I spoke in Swahili to girls, but they were too shy to answer (and some dads came in between us and lectured the girls). I always love talking to kids and was saddened by this.
We were ushered to an area to buy crafts the women had made. I had been very excited to buy directly from a woman. However, our self-imposed guide, John, wouldn't leave our side to look freely and talk to the women. We weren't even allowed to start on the left (where Christian and Leila were...there was nice stuff on that side). They price their wares incredibly high in my opinion. Katie and I did the math and that village received US$80 for the entry fees for the four of us and our purchases (Katie got nothing, Leila and Christian bought 4 items, and I got 2 small things). However, in the short amount of time we were there (45 minutes to an hour) another 2 groups came and who knows how many more would show up in total that day. To put it in perspective, a teacher that manages many classrooms with over 40 kids in each one makes anywhere from US$70 to US$300 each month. I feel badly about that math!
The Ugly
The practise of female circumcision is still widely performed and celebrated. All girls who reach 8 years old are required to be subjected to this. Now, I will spare the details of how it is performed on my blog (I did a research project on this during my international and development studies degree), but the effects on a woman can be devastating. Most women suffer extreme health issues afterwards and struggle to conceive and carry a baby to term (the two issues it is suppose to help). Many women can't escape this, if they were to choose not to do it they might be disowned by their families.
At the end of our visit, the kind girl, Dorkus, who had toured Christian and Leila, was being hit by a man of the tribe. I only saw him pulling her hair, but she did look quite distressed. We all left in a sombre mood after witnessing that. We have no clue what transpired to cause this.
P.S. A word to the wise, when visiting a Masai village, don't wear flip flops. First reason being, that when you get pulled up to do the female dance and song in the middle of the village, you are essentially standing in the middle of cow dung. Secondly, the flies and bugs there made a buffet out of my exposed feet (it hadn't been a problem up until today).
Today's plan was to do an all day game drive. We started out quite early in the morning (Katie likes to be the first one at the meals...which is quite smart based on how quickly some tourists will greedily hog all of the food). I have been a little disoriented on these drives since so many of these areas have similar features, but I think we started the morning around the area where we saw the cheetahs yesterday. Christian was standing for the drive and quickly spotted a cheetah sleeping in the grass right beside our car, we reversed and were so impressed by his spotting skills (a couple of other cars drove past). We stayed for a while, but could tell that he wasn't going to hunt and moved on. This time we saw a grouping of cars surrounding a mother cheetah and her two juvenile cubs. They were slowly moving towards a couple of gazelles, but they still had a long way to go and so did we. We left them to head for the river where you are likely to see wildebeest crossing.
Lounging by a tree, Joseph saw a spotted hyena trying to take a nap in the shade of a small bush. We were right beside him. He lounged without even being bothered by our snapping cameras. He got up to stretch and I was hopeful that he would walk a bit or yawn for a great photo, but he wanted to sleep and curled right back up under that bush.
Again, Christian spotted a large hippo wandering among the trees in the daylight. I spent my year in South Africa trying to see a hippo out of the water. I did see one on my second visit, but it was at night. These pictures are fantastic. I couldn't believe our luck. Kipiko yao...hippo awesome!
We finally made it to the edge of the river and found a hippo family swimming in the river Half of their bodies were out of the water and, one large female yawned nice and big for us. I couldn't believe how many hippos we were seeing. But it got better. We saw about another 4 families in the river at different spots and even a young juvenile on the rocks slowly wading into the water. each hippo family is led by one dominant male and many females. The female babies are al;lowed to stay close to the male, but male babies are to be kept as far away as possible. I just love hippos.
Katie and I have really lucked out with our travelling partners. I also think it is kind of funny how our pairings have worked out. Leila and myself are very intent on getting the perfect picture, whereas Christian and Katie are quite good at catching amazing moments on video. We have a videographer and photographer in each pair. The four of us have promised to switch photos and videos when we get back. Christian will often even give up a good viewing spot in the car to let me get a better angle. Very kind. With all that being said, there are going to be quite a few unfavourable movie clips of me. I seem to never learn lessons quickly, Katie has a knack for capturing embarrassing conversations on video. Leila and Christian have learned to check if she is filming before they speak, whereas I go on and on like a moron. Christian now finds it funny to watch Katie catch the whole thing without giving me a heads up (I had given him cool points earlier in the day for his animal spotting and promptly took them away again)!
On our way back to camp we saw a female ostrich protecting her nest right by the edge of the road. She looked very worried about us being so close, so we snapped a couple of quick shots and were back on our way. At camp, we were back before the electricity was on (and therefore the wifi) so I got up on some diary entries for my blog while everyone did their own thing.
Lala salama,
Liz
Animals Seen Today
Hippo
Crocodile
Ostrich
Cheetahs
Zebras
Elephants
Wildebeests
Spotted Hyena
Our last morning in Masai Mara. My last game drive of the trip. I was incredibly sad to see the end of it. I feel like I could do a couple more national parks before being satisfied...but who am I kidding, I would always want more. We have been very fortunate in witnessing some amazing things on this eight day trip: lion mating, a lion hunting warthog, cheetahs, and cheetahs eating their kill. I have never had this much luck with a cheetah before. We saw them every day n Masai Mara national park and they were so close to us that it almost makes the pictures look fake. However, we had yet to see a cheetah! In the car, I told Joseph that we had to see a leopard on this game drive and Katie excitedly proclaims , "I even put on my leopard undies for good luck today!" Alas, as much as we tried, we couldn't find the elusive leopard!
During the course of our tour, our guide, Patricia, has likened us to various tribes and animals. She feels that I would be a part of the Lua tribe. I know very little about this tribe other than what I learned during the dances at the Bomas (they can move their behind in many crazy directions at once). She told me that Lua women like to drive fancy cars and have the finest, flashy 'things'. However, they will drive their amazing car to a shack of a house and live in near squalor. I am thinking this might be somewhat true...lavish trips around the world, but a tiny house back home. Patricia then said that I was an elephant because of my incredible memory. I can still recall the Masai song lyrics that I chanted 2-3 days ago (hay-yay-o day-o day-dee) and other random facts she has shared. I love elephants, so I was very happy with this assessment. It is also a matriarchal society, so I love that too! I can't remember Katie's tribe, but I do know that Patricia thought she should be an impala.
Leaving the game park , there are so many Masai villages along the roadside l.. I tried to get that photo that I have been describing for so many entries. I possibly did. I kept groaning in exasperation, that Patricia just said, "How about we pull over and ask to take their pictures for money?" Leila and I were in. About 6 or 7 men , who weren't expecting this, were dressed in the most amazing reds and jewellery bargained with Patricia to a price of US$8 for a photo shoot. I got one shot that I just love of two men not paying attention to the camera. I can't wait to post it. Katie was busy playing with the kids and when we were done we went over to join her in high fiving every kid in the village. Incredibly sweet kids. They were happy that I knew some basic Swahili and giggled. This was a much better experience than the village tour yesterday. Anyone wanting a good picture, should just consider stopping along a random road to visit with them briefly. It also helps to give other communities a little pocket change too.
We made it to our hotel and had to say goodbye to Joseph. He was very much looking forward to seeing his daughter and wouldn't be staying around for dinner. Many big hugs all around. He was a fabulous driver. Luckily, the rest of us would be going to a lovely Kenyan dinner together for our last hurrah! Patricia took us to Amaica and we sampled a lot of local cuisine (Katie had cowpea curry, I had peanut sauce beef and we split them). Patricia was a great tour guide. She is fun, sassy (waving her finger in the faces of men who would try to tell her that she can't be the boss), and knowledgeable. She is coming to Toronto in September and I can't wait to see her then.
Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our dear friends, Christian and Leila. They have made the trip so enjoyable. I have found myself laughing so much each day. I can't wait to meet up with them again soon! For some more champagne! Love you guys...
Lala Salama,
Liz
Animals Seen Today
Zebras
Wildebeests
Elephants
Giraffes
Eland
Is there a Swahili word for Montezuma's Revenge? If so, I need to learn it.
The day after our tour, Katie woke up feeling extremely under the weather. She was a complete trooper and went to breakfast. She ate very little, but since I knew this was my last free meal for a while, I ate a good amount. The minute we open our hotel room door, Katie ran for the bathroom and lost her breakfast. I was concerned about her. She spent most of the morning napping in the room, and then the lobby after we checked out. I kept watch over her and our things while we waited for our pick up to go shopping and then to our hotel.
She was doing very well at keeping herself together. When we arrived at Kazuri, she asked to not participate in the tour and go lie down. So, I did the tour alone. On the tour, I learned that the word Kazuri means small and beautiful in Swahili. A woman started this company as a way to help out 2 single mothers. They handcraft and paint all of the beads and pottery. Soon the founder realized that there was an even greater need for assistance for single mothers and it has now expanded to include over 300 single mothers. Being a Saturday afternoon, many of the mothers has left and gone home at 1pm, so I didn't get to see any of the work being created, but I was happy that they had the time off to be with their families. They work in a very simple building with little supplies, and create some amazing pieces. I bought quite a bit, so did Katie! We have really made a concerted effort to only buy items that helps support such initiatives and you can see directly who will benefit from our purchases.
This workshop and studio are located in the Karen District (I forgot to mention this before as quite a bit is located here: Bomas, Giraffes, Elephants, Orphanage, all the places we visited on our first day in Nairobi). This district is in direct contrast to Nairobi city centre. the large properties are surrounded by lush, green trees that filter out the traffic noises. It is very serene here, which is why many Europeans buy property in this area.
Just 2 streets over from Kazuri was Marula Studios and FFRC (Flip Flop Recycling Company) where we could buy some Ocean Sole elephants again. Again, the workers at the FFRC were off, being a Saturday, but the store was open. This shop included a lot of high end crafts that were produced to support local artisans. We could have bought a lot, but only got an elephant each (I used to be obsessed with elephants and since Patricia declared that it is my animal, I had to get another bigger one)! I named my little elephant from the orphanage Yatima (Swahili for elephant) and am naming my big one Champali (Swahili for Flip Flop).
I have been obsessed with the red Masai blankets (aka Shuka) since I landed in Tanzania. I regretted not buying one there. So, I asked our driver John to stop at a curio stand that had many. Now here is something that you probably need to know about me, I am an incredibly picky shopper! My mom gets the brunt of that character flaw when we shop. I loved this one blanket that I saw on a couple of Masai men, but apparently, this pattern isn't regularly sold to tourists. John was insistent on helping me and took me to the Masai Market in the city centre that is open on weekends only. Man, did I feel like I was back in Jo'burg bargaining at the market near Eastgate Mall! The minute I approached the gates, I had 2 men insist to be my helpers. Being in a rush, I didn't shoo them away, after all Katie was in the car trying her best to pull herself together. Well, I walked with them around the market probably 3 times, and many of their 'friends' were sent running to check every stall...no luck! My helper friends were saying, "boy, you are picky!" to which I happily replied, "yes, I am." Back in the car, John wanted to take me to the fabric shops, where I would have had greater success, but I declined as I was worried about Katie (he already talked me into the market) and now I wasn't feeling so hot either.
Once we were at the hotel and checked in, I was a mess. The food poisoning had finally reached me. Katie was doing much better, and I was in direct opposition to her state of health. It is funny, how you often lack the power to sit up when you are sick, yet you can find the strength to run full speed to the bathroom when you are about to throw up. We tried everything on me, since I wasn't bouncing back like Katie did. We tried, Tums, herbal gravol, immodium, and Coke (which Katie so kindly went to get...she is my hero). Katie, still needing to fully recover too, and I got under the covers and tried to sleep for what was left of the 8 hours before I had to leave for the airport. At midnight, I managed to make myself presentable again, say goodbye to an AMAZING travel partner, and lug my bags down to reception. Reception was closed (Katie, be prepared for this) and there was a barred gate blocking it off. They said it was 24 hours, but the lights were on and everything locked. I sat on the step, not caring to use my last energy to remedy this and waited for John.
I made it to the airport and am amazed at the traffic differences in Africa. Trust me on this one, it is better to arrive and leave at crazy hours in the morning than to be stuck in insane traffic.
Travelling seems to involve a lot of 'hurry up and wait' moments. They expect you to be at the airports 3 hours early for check in, yet make you stand there in line for over an hour while they socialize. Needless to say, I was trying my best to look healthy enough to fly and this didn't help matters. I check in to find out that my flight to Cairo is already delayed! Seriously. Ugh. At least this shortens my crazy long layover in Cairo when Air Canada decided to change my flights this week. I want to get to my hotel and die or recover (which ever comes first), but now I will be in the terminal trying to look alert enough to watch my possessions.
Right now I am in the Nairobi First Class Lounge (the only saving grace of this day) and am sipping very sweet peppermint tea, water, and eyeing some bread (I should eat something, right?).
Silver Lining: Again, mom says I have to be positive. I am happy that I wasn't sick on Gorilla Day, Hot Air Balloon Day, or any Safari Day. At least I am not missing out on any great experiences and the free food and drink in the First Class Lounge is there when I can manage it. Also, the seats are comfortable...almost enough to sleep, but I have to watch my things.
Missed Comments From Before:
I am not sure if I mentioned this in my previous blogs, but when Katie and I arrived in Uganda and Kenya everyone kept asking us if it was our first time. I explained my trips in the southern areas and Katie described hers in the north. To which they say, "Katie, unless it is a country with black people, it is not Africa!" I found this to be funny, her many trips around the north (Egypt, Morocco, etc.) don't count in their minds here. I wonder where they have drawn the imaginary line in the sand...I am guessing the Sahara Desert.
We have been surprised to not find any McDonald's restaurants here. I am happy about this, but surprised. KFC came a year ago, but no McDonald's. I have to say that I hate when their signs wreck the landscape (most notable being Tallinn, Estonia) so no real loss here, Kenya! Although, I wonder if their fries would go down well right now?
Liz
Swahili Dictionary
Kazuri = small and beautiful (love this!)
Shuka = Masai blanket
Champali = Flip Flop
I am feeling a little better. I managed to eat some rice and bread today. It stayed down and I actually started to feel a little hungry. I am weak and tired, but on the mend.
I started the day with my flight to Cairo being delayed. I also mentioned that Air Canada decided to change my connecting flight earlier in the week to a much later flight in the day. I was not relishing another long layover, but I have learned that travel in Africa often takes long than one might think. My 6 hour layover was spent in the first class lounge in Cairo's airport, while my connecting flight to Istanbul was also delayed. I really dislike long waiting periods at airports, I would rather feel like I am moving somewhere or gaining some ground. I set my alarm clock, for I feared that I might fall asleep. I did. I slept on the end table beside my seat and was a little embarrassed when I woke up later and was surrounded by people, but was happy to get some sleep.
I was so happy to land in Istanbul and get to my hotel room. However, I have never encountered anything like their passport control before. All of a sudden, it felt like as if I would never make it there. The lines snaked back and forth for an eternity. I kept trying to count how many more lengths I had to do, and it seemed like the number kept growing. Then once you reach the end of the barricaded area, it was a crazy free-for-all lining up in front of a passport officer. When I finally made it to the front of the line, 2 hours later, he stamped my passport and I was on my way in 5 seconds. If it was that fast for everyone (with 16 non-Turkish citizen lines) how many people were in line?
I quickly found my bag and headed for a taxi. I have become accustomed to the extroverted mannerisms and helpful nature of Africans, that I was surprised at how much effort I had to put in to finding a taxi driver. On the rest of my trip, they fight each other to be the one to help you...here, I felt like I was bothering people. It was weird. I also found it weird to be driving on the right side of the road again. I have been surrounded by dirt and dust for so long, that I am surprised at how lush Istanbul seems to be on the drive to the hotel. So many lawns and flowers line the streets here.
It is Ramadan here right now. I will be learning more about that soon. I am not sure if this is related or not, but on Sunday nights it seems that the best thing to do is to bring your family to the seaside and barbecue some food, fish off the pier, and play Frisbee. It looks like a fun way to spend the evening.
I will be attaching a photo to best illustrate my next point. My hotel room is very small in size (although, it has very high ceilings). In fact, I have one inch clearance to open my safe...not sure how I will be able to put my stuff in there. Despite the tiny size, it is so lovely. The view from my window is even more spectacular (see photo).
I couldn't wait to shower and then head to bed. I am used to semi warm showers with low water pressure. That is not the case here. I had to put the shower in the cold to get it to a temperature that could actually touch the skin safely. Furthermore, I feel like I have peeled off a layer of skin. The water pressure was so great that I actually lost hold of the shower head and it self-propelled itself around the tub enclosure. I really needed a nice shower today...and this fit the bill nicely.
Right now there is chanting going on outside my window. It is quite beautiful.
Off to bed soon,
Liz
Dad's Details
Flight to Cairo EgyptAir Airbus 321 200 series
Flight to Istanbul EgyptAir Airbus 321 200 series
I woke up this morning in my tiny, but elegant room watching the daylight add colour to Hagia Sofia (I am so close to everything here).
I tried to get ready for the day (wasn't very productive last night after my aggressive shower...see yesterday's post) and couldn't figure out how to work the safe. It took me about a minute to wrestle my way into the areas where the safe was (see photos) and then I kept getting error messages. The guy at reception came and told me that he would come up. He was perplexed. He called a guy. He unscrewed the little name plate and could easily unlock and relock the door (these hotel safes aren't that safe if you have the right tools)! He tried and then said, "It's okay"! I then pointed out that it still doesn't work...he said to not worry just to leave my things in there in the open. Ha! Katie would be throwing a fit right now. I put all of my important things in my backpack and locked it up with all of my extra luggage locks (thanks mom) and left for the day.
Sammy was my tour guide this morning. He did not hold back. He clearly knows a lot of history (whereas I might scrape by with a D - if I took a test right now). He hit me with so many facts at 8:30am that I fear that most are already lost in a scramble in my head. He told me that last night was a very important night for Turkish people (the celebration of the birth of Mohammed...please be right on that one) and so most people were out late and that I was lucky to come when I did. A combination of this celebration and no cruise ships, due to Hagia Sofia being closed on Mondays, meant no swarms of tourists. In fact, our first stop, the Blue Mosque, was almost entirely empty. He was so shocked. I guess I am a lucky girl.
The Blue Mosque is important due to it's historical significance. The architect who built it was told to create gold minarets (the skinny pillars you see on mosques), but knew that couldn't be afforded very easily at this time. In Turkish, the word 'gold' and 'six' sound very similar so he made six minarets. Up until this point in time, 5 minarets was the largest number. This wasn't in the construction plan, but it showed their power over others, and started a bit of a 'minaret battle' where all countries started to add extra minarets to their mosques.
Before going inside, Sammy taught me how everyone who is coming to pray must do ablutions at the faucets on the exterior of the building. It is quite a complicated ritual involving almost all body parts (including hair, neck, nose and ears) using specific fingers for each step (I got him explaining it on film). Then you enter and must take off your shoes. I dressed with long capris and a short-sleeved shirt was still made to wear a loaner gown with an attached scarf to cover my hair. They are very serious at the Blue Mosque about dress code. Here, the men have a large open area in which to pray. They must always face Mecca when praying. There are some stained glass windows in the mosque, but only on the side where your back should be facing, as there shouldn't be any distractions when you are praying (some mosques don't follow these rules, more on this later). The women in the Sultan's favour have an area with golden gates to pray behind. Those not in the Sultan's favour, have a marked off area at the back of the mosque. Each mosque should have 8 calligraphy medallions up on the roof to symbolize the important people in the religion, but again no pictures as they are considered a distraction.
From here we went to the Hipodrome to discuss more history (dad and Amy would love Sammy) and I realized how proud Turkish people are. Their history isn't often told to the masses (or I could be ignorant) but many things from Turkey have been taken by other countries (serpent heads from the bronze statue in London, Germany, and one is unknown) and they refuse to give them back. The Hipodrome was an area for chariot racing and the two main obelisks here have depictions of such times on them (the one with hieroglyphics is considered to be the first comic book in the world). However, the one covered in bronze was stripped of all its precious metal and now looks a little sad.
Off to the market! We started in the Grand Bazaar (also known as the first shopping mall in the world) which was an agora in earlier times, but they needed cover from rain and weather. Here there are stalls upon stalls of vendors selling anything you could imagine: lamps, jewellery, shirts, textiles, hats, pottery, etc. We only did a little section, as even Sammy gets lost in there, but it did allow me to get some good pictures.
We went to a second mosque, Sulemaniye Mosque, where I learned about the importance of spiders and ostrich eggs in their mosques. There were ornamental ostrich eggs hung everywhere in the mosque and they are there to protect the mosque from spiders, which they highly revere. It sounds contradictory, so I will explain further. The people were under attack and they were hiding inside the mosque praying for assistance. The people hunting them came to the mosque doors and saw them covered in spider webs and knew that there couldn't be people inside, or they would have been broken, and left to continue looking for everyone. The people were eternally grateful for this help and as such love spiders and their webs. It is a sin to break a spider web, but a 'double sin' to break one in a mosque. However, they also don't want people to avoid coming in to pray, from spider webs in the doors, so they hang ostrich eggs (believed to keep away spiders) inside the mosque.
We had a Turkish tea break on the rooftop cafe watching over the banks of the Bosporus River and I loved the views. It was incredible. Here Sammy told me about the Oracle telling his people to live across from the 'Blind People' which they realized meant the Asian side of Istanbul. Also when the houses were made of wood and they were burning the Asian side was called the Girl Side and the European side often didn't help as the Boy Side. A little bit of rivalry going on here for sure.
Being the only person on this two day tour (gotta love it) Sammy has been trying to cater to my interests and he could tell how much I loved the tile work in the mosques. He took me to another mosque which is very decorated (eventhough it should be very plain). Rustempasa Mosque is covered with ornate blue tiles from floor to ceiling. It is incredibly beautiful. I took so many close up shots of tiles! At the exit there was an old man selling little fridge magnets of these tiles for only 3 lira, so I bought one to remember this cute little mosque (and was given 2 free English versions of the Qu'ran). Most tile work here also depicts something else that is very Turkish, but 'stolen' by other countries. Red tulips are everywhere among the blue tile work. Although, the Dutch are known for their tulips, apparently, they came from here originally. True or not, they are stunning.
We stopped in at the spice market, where I was excited to take some picture and try some foods. When I explained to Sammy that I had Turkish Delight on the airplane, he proclaimed, "That's the cheap stuff, not the good stuff!" Boy was he right. The square Turkish Delights covered in white powder are called "Mother-in-law Turkish Delight" because she shouldn't get the good stuff. The best samples I had were pomegranate and pistachio and a similar sour version. I bought them both. I also bought pomegranate tea! Delightful! Some roasted pistachio nuts also found their way into my bag...they had my number. Ido who kept giving me samples was hilarious and a great salesman as is evidenced by my heavy bag of goodies. However, I feel like I ate a whole stock of samples. A lot of fun in there and I know that dad would have a field day sampling all of the goodies and smelling the curries. Ooh, they also had a "Mother-in-law Curry" and I asked it was really hot to hurt her and they said, "No, it is many colours to represent her many personalities and moods!" These guys were hilarious...and apparently, are not fans of their relatives.
We went to the Intrepid office where I had to say goodbye to Sammy until later in the evening and Shuku took me to the Topkapi Palace. Here he told me a couple of facts and the gates, made sure I was through, and then left me to explore for as long as I wanted. It was kind of funny to transfer for such a short walk. I wandered among the displays of royal jewels and thrones. The Armour room had some swords that were six feet long (Christian...you can't fit that in your luggage), but my favourite item in there were the gold horse armour. They had gold masks for horses in battle to protect them. I had never seen this before and my sister, Cheryl, knows how upset I get when animals get injured in movie battles (yes, I realize the depiction is fake). Again, I wandered taking many photos of tile work, ornate latches and many other items. I kept hearing about the Harem section of the palace, so I purchased a ticket and headed in. Now, I am not sure if it was because I didn't get an audio guide, but I wasn't sure that it was worth the money. There were some beautiful rooms where women could sleep or lounge. But, I feel that a lot of the detail was lost on me. Shuku, before dropping me off, stressed that there are many misconceptions about harems. They were actually a social hierarchy system and man women were educated as a result of this system. However, I did also hear him say that your status would be higher if the sultan chose you to have a baby with him...and if it was a boy (not sure what the status would be if the child was a girl).
In Turkey I noticed many stray cats and some dogs. There weren't that many compared to other countries, but they are common in Turkey. Sammy said that all people do look after them. All shopkeepers and home owners will leave bowls of water or food out for them at random times in the day (I saw some on my walk home at night). I think it is great that the whole community cares for them. I saw a stray dog at the Hipodrome with a red plastic circle on its ear. It is to show it has been vaccinated (I am still unclear if that was organized by the government or it did have an owner at one point).
I had a quick break at my hotel (time to cool off in some much needed A/C) before heading back out for dinner with a local family. However, due to Ramadan we couldn't go to dinner until at least 8pm (after sunset). Sammy and I went to an amazing Turkish cafe (complete with mosaic lamps and rugs hung all over the wall). here we had more tea and played backgammon. I was helped quite a bit by Sammy seeing as I hadn't played since grade 5 and was able to win a couple of games. Here is where I did something that shocked me, I smoked a hookah pipe. I made it all these years without even trying a cigarette. Sammy picked apple and mint as our flavours and I will admit that I felt a bit like the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland.
One of the major appeals of this tour was the local dinner hosted in a family's home. I read the rules for this meal and was worried that I might mess up. I should not have worried, this family is very welcoming and kind. I was warned by Sammy that there would be many kids at dinner, and he wasn't kidding. A large part of socializing in Turkey is eating together with your neighbours and visiting with them. There were so many people in and out of the house that it was hard to keep track of all of them, but I had dinner with 2 moms and three of their kids, and Sammy of course. The two girls were 9 and 11 and they were incredibly kind trying to give me their hairbands and bracelets as gifts. The young boy, Mohammed, was 3 years old and was shy at first, but soon warmed up to having me there. In fact it was handy having him there, as they were trying to teach him the difference of the Turkish names for fork and spoon, so I got to learn along with him. For a typical Turkish meal, you eat on cushions on the floor and tablecloths are spread on the floor. We had lentil soup, rice pilaf, veggies in a tomato sauce, and Tzatziki soup (all of the traditional ingredients but water down to be a refreshing cold soup). You can imagine that with excited kids milling around there were some spills, again all taken in stride. I had purchased some Turkish baklava to bring as a thank you and that was our desert along with more Turkish tea, in the cute tulip shaped cups. After dinner, the girls taught me a clapping game (like Stella Ella Ola) except I couldn't understand the language and therefore when I needed to pull my hand away. By some sort of fluke, I won the first game, but kept losing thereafter. So, then we played Rock, Paper, Scissors. I swear that we played for an hour. These girls were hilarious. We took a couple of group photos before we headed off just before 10pm...these kids showed no signs of getting tired!
Along the walk home I was surprised at the sheer number of people wandering the streets so late. Kids were playing with these glow-in-the-dark sling rocket things and parents were setting up picnics on the grasses. Sammy explained that each night of Ramadan everyone gets together at sunset to eat together and socialize. They will sleep on the grass here and someone will bang a drum and sing a song as the one hour warning before sunrise, to ensure they have time for breakfast. The whole thing felt like a Canada Day celebration at the fairgrounds, but with a sleepover. I will admit that once I reached my hotel room, I was excited to sleep as well.
Goodnight,
Liz
I feel like I need to start this entry with a couple of apologies. Firstly, I went on and on yesterday about my tour guide, Sammy, when in fact his name is spelled Semih. My apologies. You would think that I would have learned my lessons about getting the correct spelling in Kenya! I guess I am a slow learner. Secondly, my favourite part of the mosque experience, I managed to leave out of my explanation, the fountains. In the middle of the grounds in the Blue Mosque, there is a beautiful structure that houses a fountain for worshippers to listen to before entering in order to calm their soul. I love this part of the mosque. I imagine that I would spend a greater amount of time there, it seems peaceful and a lovely way to pay respect to your god. Lastly, I called the Aya Sofya yesterday by the Greek name, Hagia Sofya, which I am gathering is a no-no. Ignorant tourist.
Back to today. I started with a tour of Aya Sofya and was instantly amazed at how beautiful it is. The three Imperial Doors alone took my breath away. The sheer size of them was astounding. The designs on the ceilings and walls far surpasses everything I saw yesterday. A bit of background knowledge is in order. Aya Sofya was a church (the one that stands today is the third one, as the first two burned in riots). When the city was defeated by the Turks in the 1500's the Sultan immediately converted it to a mosque by plastering over some amazing mosaic works, erecting minarets, and placing the calligraphy symbols I discussed yesterday. In the 1900's it was converted to a museum and the mosaics were uncovered (surprisingly the plaster preserved them) and the building now shows a unique balance of two religions. The marble work, mosaics, paint work, etc. all were so beautiful that it would be very hard to not be moved by the sight of it all. As this was the third building constructed, it is noteworthy to mention that the unskilled workers used only bricks and cement to create the largest unsupported dome (at the moment some scaffolding blocks the entire view). Again, Semih, showed a great knowledge of history outlining the significance of the mosaics (my favourite being of the one Empress who married three Emperors in a row, all who died within a decade of marrying her, and they changed the mosaic 3 times to reflect the proper name and facial features). Aya Sofya is a must see for anyone going to Turkey.
Next stop was to a Hamam, a traditional Turkish Bath. I should explain here that I am a big prude. In fact, my mom loves telling the story of our family trip to a public swimming pool in Germany. Hundreds of women, one private change room...occupied by 7 year old me! So, I was very excited about this bath, but worried about how to follow proper customs. I changed into my bikini bottoms and wore the required sarong to cover myself. I was led into a very, very hot room and was told to lie on the marble bed and relax. It was so hot. I was hoping for other people to be there, so that I would be able to follow the lead of other Turkish women, but I was alone (con). But I was alone, and therefore no one could see if I messed up (pro). I got water from the ornate stone basin and rinsed the marble (many times) to 'cool' it down from scorching to almost scorching. Did I mention it was hot? Lying on the marble with my head on a pillow I finally had a chance to admire the beauty of the room. Above me was a beautiful white domed ceiling with many small skylights that created a nice ambient light (I actually would have liked a picture in here). A lady appeared by my side in a flowing gown and told me to follow her. She quickly undid my sarong (you can imagine my surprise) and had me lie down. Using a loofah mitt she scrubbed every inch of me and removed so much dead skin. It was quite invigorating and needed after all of this travel. I was rinsed with warm bowls of water dumped over my head and told to lie back down. This next part was amazing. She covered me in soap suds in a way that felt like I was being hugged by clouds (cheesy, but true). My goodness it was amazing. Again, warm water was thrown all over me and then she washed my hair. I haven't been this pampered in ages. I was escorted back to my changing room, so I started to change, but was asked to stop as I still had a massage ahead! Yay! I was then led to the massaging area for another 30 minutes of bliss. After which I changed and was given a nice Turkish tea (served in the traditional tulip glass). If only all of this could happen again tomorrow morning before my flight...or after...or both!
I could have just relaxed all day, but there was more to see. Yesterday focussed on the traditional and old sights of Istanbul, but today was more modern. We went to Taksim which was the location of the protests in June. I must say that I agree with the protest, it was to boycott the building of yet another mall (there are 300 in Istanbul alone) on top of some remaining green space (not much here for residents). This section of the city has some very interesting architecture tucked in some small corners of the city. Regrettably, some beautiful areas are being demolished for newer buildings of little character (some stores or the now Turkish government offices). One section, all residents were evicted due to them being all Greek and it left a large number of buildings abandoned which resulted in homeless and other 'undesirable' people to squat in them. Taksim has a vintage cable car that runs the gamut of areas here amongst all of the shopping (many similar stores to what we have at home). There are many passages (passajis) where vendors of different types (depending on the passage) set up store. We stopped at one lamp vendor to inquire about mosaic lamps. When Semih explained what I was looking for the man said it didn't exist. When I said, that is what I wanted his reply was, "Well you are one in a million!" I loved this comment! It was nicer than the Masai Market men calling me picky (I am).
Part of the tour is to have your fortune told. I hope that I do this next description the proper justice it deserves (I am sure I won't). We arrived down a side street to the entrance to a Transvestite Bar...complete with rhinestone banisters, disco balls, and feather boas. "Don't worry, this is just the first floor" says Semih. The second floor was a gay bar as well, golden gates, mirrors, and more disco balls. The third floor is where our fortune teller was. This floor was quite plain. Wooden floors, tables and chair, and absolutely no decorations to indicate that you could learn about your future here. I drank a Turkish coffee with many coffee grounds (I tell Murray this is thick coffee) so that they can be read later. I easily drink it all (all of those days with the Hendersons prepared me well) and Semih is surprised that I didn't need the provided water. I place the cup upside down with a coin on top as a tip. The grounds get read, as do tarot cards in response to 3 questions I got to ask. I won't share what my fortune was (you can ask later if you like) but I thought it was hilarious that the first things my coffee grounds told about me was that I am a very sensitive and emotional person. True!
We went into a contemporary art exhibition. Weird. Disturbing. In fact most of the art was incredibly controversial and we covered our eyes for most of them. Probably my fastest art gallery or museum visit ever. I hope this exhibition is moved soon.
Semih showed me the bar and restaurant he called the "Temple for Hipsters". I loved this comment. The best part was the looks of the people in the place (I don't think they spoke English, but it was perfect timing).
We heard Norah Jones coming from a restaurant. I told him that I love her music and he told me that before she was officially discovered she was playing in bars and venues here. Again, another first for Turkey!
Semih's phone rang a couple of times today and his ring tone was "Tubthumping" by Chumbawumba. Hilarious. He claims that last week it was The Smiths...not sure I buy it!
I got a freshly squeezed pomegranate juice here. It was very sour. I probably should have asked for it to be combined with another fruit, but when would I ever get this in Canada?
Semih left me late in the afternoon after kindly helping me to get a cheap river cruise of the Bosporus River (not the 4 hour tour for 30 euros). It was quite nice to sit and relax in the shade and breeze after a hot day walking around. The sights along the riverbanks were fun to photograph. When back on land, I walked and wandered to find my hotel. This took me down one road of restaurants with very assertive men trying to get you to eat at their establishment, most were friendly except one (definitely would never eat there). I found my way back to my hotel to relax in my room before another long day of travel back home.
Thank you to all of my readers these past three weeks. It has been great sharing my stories with you. To those I have met along the way, thank you for all of the great memories!
Love,
Liz
After three weeks of travelling, it feels as if time has flown by. Yet, there I was packing my suitcase for the last time this summer and getting ready to head home.
I have a few things to say about the Istanbul International Airport. Firstly, it seems that passport control is an issue if you are coming or going. I am aware that that Istanbul is becoming a large hub for airlines and European travel. I would like to give them a tip...hire more passport control workers! The terminal is quite nice, but when I saw the line at passport control (and seemingly nice stores beyond that point) I headed in line for my long wait. Once through, I looked for a store that sold medicines. None. Just Duty Free. In fact, there were 9 beautifully large Duty Free shops in the sections A-H (I couldn't go any further), plus the smaller duty free stores. I asked someone in the perfume section about where I could buy medicine and their response was "before passport control". If I needed 20 locations to buy the same stinky perfume, I know where to go. But lord help you if you need to buy aspirin, water, magazines, or anything else! If you can't beat them, join them...I bought some Haribo gummy bears and an exorbitantly large Milka chocolate bar to ease my pain (I wanted to spend my last Liras, not realizing the prices were in Euros which made for more embarrassment at the checkout). I read some of my book that I was intending to already have done by now, but I was having too much fun on my trip, while I waited for my plane to board.
They called for my flight and I noticed that we were at the end of the airport in a roped off section of the terminal. It was only for the Canadian flight, the extra security check. I wonder what that was all about.
I have discovered that it is a very small world. The world is an interesting place sometimes. On my flight, I sat beside a boy from Hamilton who was in the high school production of Les Miserables that i saw with Elaine Quesnel last year. He reminds me of my student Colin, being an actor and aspiring director and informed me on the little TV screens on the seat in front of us) which movies should be watched for my cinematic education and experience. Surprisingly, he wasn't mad when I chose TV shows, I just needed something fast and light for now (but I will watch the rest of his suggestions later). In fact, he started to watch some of my shows later two and the two of us tried our best to contain our laughter, since many people were trying to sleep. He was a lot of fun to talk with for the plane ride, as no one was going to get any sleep with a screaming infant for 9 hours (2 of them were quiet...the landing)!
I debated for quite some time on the plane about being honest or not on my declaration form. I chose to be honest, of course I have food to bring back...Ido from the Spice Bazaar made sure of that! When we landed, I was impressed with the new changes in the Toronto airport. They have automated their passport control area (Istanbul take note here, please) and I breezed through in 2 minutes. I had to wait for about 10 minutes to get my luggage and then my final chat at the doors to the terminal about what I declared on the form was met with a grin and 'have a good day' (I think that they might have been surprised that I bothered to declare my Turkish Delights).
I headed out to the road to wait for my parents to pick me up and was surprised at how hot and humid it was. It was this hot when I left, but I guess I had forgotten after all of this time. I waited for an hour and headed back in the terminal to find my dad leaning against a post. He came inside (which he never does, but claims he does...maybe for non-family members)! Regardless, I was safely on my way home to chat and catch up with family.
As I reflect on my trip this summer, I have been collecting some deeper thoughts along the way that I have kept to myself. There is one thing that I have noticed about myself. I really like who I am when I travel. I am adventurous, outgoing, inquisitive, and more positive. The minute of my first game drive in Tarangire National Park in Tanzania I instantly felt refreshed and like my soul was awakened. Even as my body grew weary from extended travel, my heart felt light and happy. Each new experience brought me more joy. I really need these moments to rejuvenate. My time with the school kids, orphans, animals, and friends along the way have impacted me and they all hold a special place in my heart.
Thanks for sharing my adventures with me on this trip. Until next time!
Liz
I posted videos yesterday for anyone who is interested. They are small little clips (easier to upload) to give you a quick idea of some of the adventures.
Just click on the 'Videos' Tab
yes mom, there are other tabs that do things ;)
Liz
Saturday August 16
I barely slept at all last night. It is always hard before a trip, excitement, nerves, unfinished to do lists. I remember looking at the clock on several occasions and was thinking that this was the time to sleep right now, because soon I would have to be up and that wouild make for a long day. Needless to say, when my alarm went off at 4:30am it felt like I had just closed my eyes.
The ride to the airport was a breeze (mom drives fast) and dad and I were ready to start our Caribbean cruise. Or so we thought. The US Customs at the airport was a gong show. The line up was almost the length of the terminal. They were ushering people with earlier flights out of the line up...maybe they should have someone like mom to drive them to the airport to make sure they arrive on time. I was elated to make it to the entry to customs, only to see more zig zagging lines and more waiting ahead. Mom laughed at me when I told her the time that I wanted to be at the airport, but as it was we made it through and then immediately boarded our flight (of which, dad slept for the majority).
Landing in Fort Lauderdale was very odd for us. I was surprised that when you land, you are funnelled into the waiting area with those waiting to board. It was a little crowded and while a number of airports do it this way, I still find it odd for a major airport. Down in baggage claim, the doors to the street and garage kept a flow of pedestrians coming in...didn't seem so secure considering the hoops we jumped through to get on the plane. Dad was highly amused by the decor in baggage claim that was straight out of the early eighties. I can picture big hair bands and jelly shoes were in style when this decor also was.
We got our luggage and boarded the bus transfer to Miami (only about 35 minutes) and were dropped off to a sea of people waiting to board three cruise ships. The lines were crazy. Crazy. We again waiting over two and a hald hours to get on the ship. Ugh. All in all we waited in lines for almost four hours today.
I was here on the ship and that was all that mattered. It was incredibly fun to explore for the first day. Dad and I went to the safety demo (couldn't hear a thing over the air vents we were in front of), shopped in the stores, watched some dancing, and generally oriented ourselves to where everthyhing was.
Dinner was absolutely lovely. Dad enjoyed a surf and turf dinner, while I had alligator fritter appetizer and a lovely steak. The Melting Chocolate cake for dessert was incredibly decadent and sinful. Afterwards we enjoyed watching our cruise director lead motown trivia, which became a hilarious dance and singalong. I was excited to play bingo and found that I lost when I was only one number away. Sad face. By this point it was already around 11pm and since I didn't sleep the night before, we headed back for some zzzs.
Sunday August 17, 2014
Today is a sailing day. A whole day of cruising on the water. I am sure that I would get to know the boat a lot better today. We started with breakfast on the Lido Deck. If you have never cruised before, the Lido Deck is where you can find non-stop food of all kinds: roast beef, fish and chips, salads, breads, desserts, cheese, etc. They even have a self-serve ice cream place. For breakfast we enjoyed omelettes and fruit before heading off to our first show.
We again were entertained by our cruise director, Everson, during a show about the excursions available on the cruise. I couldn't believe the number of prizes given away at the show, we were never picked by a little girl who sat on the stage sorting through the ballots.
Immediately after this show, was another one for information on the ports of call. We knew that local maps would be handed out here, so of course we were going. However, we weren't fully aware that it was to be about the shopping at each port and also had to listen to many facts about gemstones (my nephews would have enjoyed it).
After a quick lunch we headed out to the Serenity Lounge Deck for adults to bask in the sun. I always seem to forget how bored I get just sitting in the sun. I brought a book along, but it was hard to focus on that in the intense heat. I remember a trip to Cuba with Murray in 2002, where I claimed, "All I want to do is sit in sun and relax," we did everything but that.
Tonight was "Elegant Night" which meant that everyone had to dress in their fancy clothes. I had just bought a new dress in the States that I was excited to wear. Another elegant and decadent dinner at the restaurant. Today I ordered the lobster tail and ordered a white wine with my meal. In true Cook fashion, I was feeling it immediately. I kept asking dad if the ship was rocky or if I was drunk, he said I was drunk.
When we went to the Motown Show I could feel the ship rocking. I was sure of it. The show was amazing. So many great songs and the eight performers were incredible singers. The costumes and dance choreography was far better than I ever expected.
We dashed off to see dad's favourite person, Cruise Director Everson, operate 70s and 80s trivia again. I am pretty sure that if we could find his schedule, we would follow him around as he is very entertaining. While there, I told dad we had to do a photo together and the poses Juan had us do were ridiculous and I kept laughing. I told him that we were father and daughter and not a couple...yet the poses were still equally awkward. I am not sure he understood me.
We finished the night with another show, Epic Rock with music of the 70s and 80s. Dad was so excited for every Queen song. Again, the singers, costumes, and dances were amazing. However, for this show they had some cool computer generated images/graphics that creating so many illusions for solo numbers.
Off to bed. I am excited for Mexico tomorrow morning.
Monday August 18th, 2014 Cozumel, Mexico
I woke up early, excited for the day ahead of me. Sting Rays!
We docked in Cozumel, Mexico and walked out to dozens of people dressed up in 'traditional' outfits and the cruise photographers snap your picture for later. We posed for about five or six photos and then continued on our way down the pier. We met up with a guide who arranged our taxis and we were off to see the rays.
Our whole group consisted of only six people, which was excellent as it allowed for a more personal experience with the rays. We changed into our swimsuits and were fitted for water shoes and snorkel gear. We then waded into the water and were instantly greeted by sting rays. Our guide, Pedro, called them all adoringly by name: Emmanuel, Lupita, Patricia, and Tronquita (among many others). All of the rays stay close to him, after all he is the guy with the bucket of fish! All kidding aside, you could clearly see how much he loved the rays and felt quite at home with them. The rays would swim up to you, and on you, you could feel their soft underbellies on your calves. The sting rays are dark in colour with a white belly. Their barbs have been clipped and it is located at the base of the main body, not at the end of the tail like everyone believes. Other than the barb, the only part of a ray that isn't smooth, is the spine that you can feel almost portruding along their back. I can't remember the main type of ray that was there, but there was one Caribbean ray that was a light grey and felt like sand paper to the touch. She was also quite large, almost five to six feet in diameter. The large rays are all female and can grow to 6 to 8 feet in diameter, while males only reach about 2 to 3 feet in diameter.
Feeding the sting rays fish was a lot of fun. You hold a piece of fish up from your fist, making sure that your thumb is tucked inside your fingers, and hold it under their body (wings?) and let go, they will suck it up and eat it. Sting rays were bumping into the back of us and the front of us. I did squeal the first time one surprised me from behind. They wanted their fish!
Many people in Mexico eat sting rays, apparently they make great scallops, and their flesh is highly valued. One sting ray like Lupita (around seven feet in diameter) can get a fisher man up to $900 for one single ray. I am guessing that they will soon be endangered, if they aren't already. Pedro told us that every day he has to swim around the compound checking for fisherman hooks or other dangers to their health. In fact, tiny Emmanuel that we held for photos, had two injuries on his head from when a tourist stepped on him. Poor guy.
Pedro then took us into deeper water where we got to hold Emmanuel for photos. We all had a turn petting his back, holding the barb, and kissing him. When he asked for a volunteer, I instantly raised my hand and he show me how to lift him out of the water to see his underside. It is so cute, as it looks like a little smiley face underneath. His gills are on the bottom and are used for tasting. Just behind his eyes on the top of his head are 'spreckles' (spelling?) which are used for breathing. However, when pulled from the water, either one can be used for breathing.
Again, Pedro asked for a volunteer, I again volunteered (beauty of a small group), he asked me to hold Emmanuel while he went to get us a large female, Lupita. Since we were such a small group we got to also hold her and take photos with her. It was great. She was massive!
Our Encounter time was over, and now were got our snorkel gear on to swim amongst them. Only myself and another girl were comfortable in the water, so we stayed close to Pedro, who had a new supply of fish. We snorkelled around the compound being followed by all of the rays. I was the only one with an underwater camera, so Pedro took it a couple of times and dove deep to film baby sting rays and lobsters while I watched from above. It was lovely. I did go back to the entry stairs a couple of times to check on dad who was getting the hang of snorkelling. He kept sending me away to get videos.
After a shower to freshen up we had hermit crab races. We had to pick our crab and give it a Mexican name. I chose Lillianna. Dad's crab was hiding in the shell and despite his best attempts to get him to come out, he stayed hidden. Dad insisted he was dead, so I named him Muerte (aka Morty) which is Spanish for death. My crab was hell bent on leaving the ring first, it was only one moving for quite a while, then out of nowhere two little crabs woke up and bolted out of the ring. I came in third. Morty, never left the ring....maybe dad was right and a funeral would have been a more appropriate event for Morty.
Pedro took a liking to our group and brought out their two parrots and iguana which were all placed on our hands, shoulders, heads, or wherever the animals wandered. This made for some great photo ops.
We headed back to the pier to shop a bit before boarding the ship. I went to Del Sol to buy some of their colour-changing merchandise. I loved the nail polish that changes colours in the sunlight, so I bought four and was given a free colour changing tote (which I think is quite cute). Dad followed behind me while I shopped for a ring, the one souvenir I like to get myself in every country (when I can find something I like). I found a lovely silver ring that looks like and abstract sting ray and will remind me of my day with the rays.
Dad and I found a cantina on the water and had margaritas (that were complimentary from our trip) and ordered some guacamole (Karen, yours is still better) and tortilla chips.
We walked the pier and boarded the ship to find out that customs people will give stamps at the end of the pier. *Note: I had been questioning everyone who took cruises for a week before my trip about stamps in the passport. Every time people said that it just isn't done.* So, I asked if I was allowed to leave again and they said yes, but to check at customer service desk if they are there. I wasn't sure what this meant, but I headed straight there and the manager said she would ask the customs officials to stamp it when they came to release the boat. She was clearly surprised by my request and kept telling me that it would only MAYBE happen. I crossed my fingers and agreed to come back after sailing.
Another lovely dinner in the dining room, with a window seat (see what happens when you speak up). I enjoyed my meal, but the dessert was the highlight. I just had to have the melting chocolate cake again. It is ever so delicious. Mmmm. After dinner I headed back to Guest Services to retrieve my passport, which contained a stamp from Mexico! I have learned that there is no harm in asking...the worst that can happen is that people say no.
The entertainment tonight was a version of the Newlywed Game. Everson (dad's favourite MC) selected a newly married couple, an experienced couple (married 49 years) and an unhappily married couple from the audience. It was the selection of the unhappy couple that made dad and I double over in hysterics. At dinner, they were seated near us and were griping non-stop to every waiter that came that they were hungover and having a rough day. We could only imagine how dramatic their answers would be...and they didn't disappoint (naked snowmen somehow came up).
Another great day boat the Carnival Glory.
Tuesday August 19th, 2014 Belize City, Belize
Dad and I had been quite taken aback by everyone's descriptions of Belize. Many references were made about how it is a Third World country. Most of the places I travel are off the beaten path, which is most of the appeal for me. According to everyone on board, their level of development can be symbolized by the fact that we would have to drop anchor a ways out from land and be tendered on small speed boats to reach the shore. They say this with a certain tone that indicates that this was some level of inhumane treatment, but I quite enjoyed it and I felt it gave the country a unique feel (one that isn't overrun by picky tourist demands).
Once on the dock we boarded a large air-conditioned coach bus and were driven out of town to the Airboat location. Along the way, many facts were given about the town, weather, government, etc. One noticeable thing was the lack of Western fast food locations. When our tour guid made note of this, dad and I were the only ones to declare that it was a good thing and not needed. All of the Americans on board looked at us like we had three heads, "who wouldn't want a Burger King or McDonald's in every country?" Yvette then told us how Subway tried to open up shop here, but due to import laws, duties, etc. the prices were too high and that no one could afford the food so it was sometimes purchased as a treat and nothing more. It soon left the country. We paused outside one building to photograph an iguana and she told us that many people eat the green lizards, not iguanas, and they are tasty with coconut rice. On menus here they are called "Bamboo Chicken". I surely would have tried some, had I seen any. After all, I did eat similar things in Honduras in 2005. (Maybe I will again tomorrow)
At the Airboat location we were given a choreographed briefing on the ride and then were ushered on to the boat where we donned protective ear muffs and sped off down the marsh. There were did hairpin turns at incredible speeds, wove our way between mangrove trees, and spotted birds. We navigated our way into a covered spot where we watched catfish and birds gobble up every morcel of food she tossed in the water (turns out it was dog food kibble) and hoped to see the crocodile that had recently laid eggs nearby (she stayed hidden). At our next stop they found termites for us to see and jokingly asked us if we would eat them. I, again, raised my hands and took about 5 off of the branch. When asked to compare flavours, I said it tasted like leaves (or some rooiboos tea). Some peoples expressions turned from horrified to curious and one other man (the one who had been in the show last night that was married for 49 years) tried some. They really were quite good, and another great source of protein.
We headed back to the pier to shop and drink, again. Outside the pier, dad and I bought fresh coconuts to drink and eat the flesh (my favourite thing in tropical climates). We shopped the vendors outside, but I couldn't find a ring, and dad didn't like any of the shirts. We headed in the pier and I asked the security guards where I could get a stamp in my passport. We head to the far reaches of the pier, through a construction area, and out into a tiny building that was no more than three feet by three feet wide, without windows. There sat a lovely, yet bored, lady who gladly stamped our passports with her long, multi-coloured fingernails. Ha, all the doubters out there, you can get stamps even on a cruise!
I had been eagerly anticipating going to a place called the Wet Lizard which was known for it's conch ceviche or fried conch meals. Dad and I wandered there next and got a seat next to the water again. Dad sampled a local Belikin beer and I had a mango daiquiri. However, when I ordered conch, I was sad to find out that they are out of season (only from October to June). Argh! Next time. This time we settled for nachos...nowhere near the cool experience of eating conch, but it was the best we could do.
Dad found his manadatory t-shirt to represent his travel log (his version of a passport stamp) and I found another silver ring before heading back to the boat.
Dinner tonight was very amusing, as we were seated next to two men who were quite hilarious. They told us tales of spending so much money in the casino that they were often followed back to their room and offered champagne and such. We said their print out on the last day was going to be shocking and they agreed as they have also been drinking quite a bit. They ordered from the items on the menu that cost money and we even told them that the water in the room wasn't free. One man had never had lobster before and sampled it off of the other's plate. Then he requested one from the menu, again at a charge, and after eating what was one of the largest steaks I have seen. They were fun to talk with and provided us with great entertainment, but they made me curious about our ship account. Hmm.
At night, we watched the "Divas" show. When we got back to the room dad said their was only one song that was good and that was a Celine Dion song. He then said that he didn't know many of the rest of them. I explained that there are many newer divas now and that the music was quite good. Off to bed, dolphins tomorrow.
Wednesday August 20, 2014 Roatan, Honduras
Typically, I only like venturing to new countries unless I have friends or family there (South Africa, England). Having been to Honduras with my family in 2005, I wasn't feeling the need to explore much and wasn't sure if coming back to a country I have 'done' was going to be good or not. It was great. I really enjoyed seeing what has changed (roads are better, fewer potholes), what is the same (beautiful scenery, the same shipwreck landmark).
This morning, when dad and I munched on our omelettes, we gazed out over the beautiful waters of Mahogany Bay which also happened to be the exact spot of an old rusted out tanker ship that bottomed out on a sand bar years ago and has served as a beautiful landmark since. I felt like I was home when I saw that in the morning and it just felt like it was going to be a good day.
The pier at Mahogany Bay, Roatan is newly built and quite lovely. You walk up a gently curved ramp to find yourself in a spacious plaza painted all sorts of pastel colours. Local women were dancing traditional Carifuna dances in white dresses (not over the top stuff from other ports). Everything here felt more relaxed and laid back.
We boarded our bus to head to Anthony's Key Resort on the other side of the island (only fifteen minutes away). We drove past the airport, still looks quite simplistic, and headed past many brightly coloured houses on stilts while the locals waited along the roads for a lift somewhere or were already hard at work.
At Anthony's Key, we boarded a boat for a two minute ride (if that) to the dolphin enclosure. Once on the docks, you could see the dolphins swimming around you and jumping out of the water and doing tricks. We quickly changed and headed out for our experience. We were instructed repeatedly to stand shoulder to shoulder so that the dolphins don't make a game out of swimming between people, and as a result, knocking people over. We made a straight line where were introduced to our three year old female dolphin, Tilli. Her mother, Gracie kept swimming over to check on her as their bond is still very strong. Tilli would swim by letting us pet her belly or back. She performed tricks like lifting herself 80 percent of the water while propelling herself backwards, she did jumps, speed runs, clapping, etc. She was quite talented for a young girl. We had turns to take photos of Tilli kissing us on the cheek and lifting her out of the water. The encounter time was great as we learned so many things and had a guaranteed encounter with dolphins.
Next it was time to snorkel. We were told to pick sea grass from the bottom and to dive down and blow bubbles to attract dolphins who are naturally social and fun animals. I instantly dove down to get grass. Right after the encounter time, not many dolphins were swimming about, so I enjoyed diving down and getting a close up view of the coral reef that was in the cordoned off section of the ocean. I saw so many amazing fish and sea life that I felt like I was in Finding Nemo. Soon, I saw Tilli swim by in a formation that reminded me of nesting tables with her mom, Gracie, and older sister, Mauri. I kept offering grass and blowing bubbles and soon had many encounters with the dolphins. One older dolphin, loved coming up from behind me and eating the grass that I was holding in my hand. In total, I fed about four dolphins, pet about nine of them, swam along side with ten or so. At one point, I had found myself at the edge of the group and one spotter had dropped his stick in to the water. I offered to get it for him, but the splashing noise attracted all of the dolphins (might have originally been a signal to meet for a trick or reward) so I found myself surrounded by all 16 dolphins. I was petting each and every one until he asked for his stick to send them out to the others. However, I am pretty sure this made me popular with the dolphins and I had them around me for the rest of the snorkel time. Such an amazing experience! Dolphins are inquisitive, fun, playful, and really docile creatures. Seeing them interact relatively naturally is beyond compare. I am glad to have the guaranteed encounter that most dolphin places offer, but it was the snorkel time that was listed in the excursions guide that appealed to me...and I wasn't wrong. I highly recommend this experience to anyone and everyone. Even my father, who was struggling with his snorkelling at the sting rays, donned a life jacket today and was so happy swimming with the dolphins. So, it is great for beginners and *cough* experts like me.
Back on the pier, we did what we do best here, shopping. I found another ring (plus one at Anthony's Key that I forgot to mention), so that is four rings! We found another coconut vendor and enjoyed cold coconut water and then ate all of the meat while we lounged under the shad of an umbrella. We agree that the party atmospheres of Cozumel and Belize City piers weren't our style for travel and enjoyed the lush hillsides and mangrove scenery listening only to the breeze and bird calls, not Enrique Iglesias songs or the Cha Cha Slide while being egged on by a DJ to 'make some noise'. Relaxing, blissful, and fun day.
Thursday August 21, 2014 Costa Maya, Mexico
Today is Ruins Day! I have always wanted to go to a Mayan Ruin, be it Chichen Itza, Tulum, or Chacchoben, to help my classroom instruction. I taught this unit last year, and won't be next year...go figure. Luckily, I am also a naturally curious person and it has been on my list of things to do for myself too. We missed out on Tulum when in Cozumel and had heard great things about Chacchoben.
We boarded a bus that was being led by Manuel "The Silver Fox" who is 75 years young. In his life he has been a school teacher, guide, and a painter of Mayan art pieces. He was incredibly interesting to talk to as he is passionate about what he does. Due to an onslaught of tropical storms in the last decade (3 big ones, plus smaller ones) many people have left Majahual area outside of the Costa Maya pier. In fact, Manuel travels from near the Belizean border for three hours every morning to get to work (which starts at 6:30am) to ensure that his home isn't wrecked again. As such, many businesses and homes around the pier were empty or for sale.
At the site, we learned that Chacchoben is only partially excavated. Their landscape here is incredibly flat and most prominent 'hills' are actually sites that are awaiting further professional excavation. Apparently (I want to check this fact) Charles Lindberg discovered the ruins when he spotted them from his plane and wondered what the hills covered in trees and plants were. Thus started the 'discovery' of many Mayan Ruins in Mexico.
Some tidbits about Mayans that I found interesting in no particular order:
1) Playing ball (made from the rubber from the trees) was incredibly important to them. It was used to settle disputes (similar to lacrosse and First Nation groups in Canada). However, at the end of some battles, the captain on the WINNING team would be sacrificed to the gods in hopes of bringing good fortune for those on earth (crops, rain) and as a way to ensure passage to heaven.
2) Mayan heaven had 7 levels. Often depicted as different branches of a tree, royalty receiving the highest levels. Earth was supported on the back of a crocodile and hell did exist.
3) Mayan traded cocoa beans, shells, etc. Kind of obvious, but I know some readers would also value chocolate as valuable as some precious gemstones. (Joan, I am thinking of you).
4) Women would tear the leaves of the peppercorn tree to wear as perfume.
5) There are 2 Mayan calendars that are circular and are to be used in an ever rotating cycle. All possible combinations can only happen once every couple of thousand years. Therefore, when the Mayans said the 'world would end Dec 21, 2012' it was actually the end of a full calendar rotation of every possible combination, and the next day represented a new start.
All of the Mayan ruins here have been roped off to prevent tourists from climbing all the way up them. They do have ropes about one quarter of the way up so that you can see certain parts, and have the typical tourist photo (guilty).
Dad and I were both happy to see and experience the ruins. Here at Chacchoben, the ruins are located in a forest and offer a lot of shade which was a great blessing on a hot and humid August day.
I received another stamp in my passport and boarded the ship. No ring today, as I already have a Mexican ring and my ring budget (while I only buy cheap silver rings) is much higher than I would have anticipated.
Friday August 22, 2014 Sea Day
Not too much to say here today. Dad and I tried to chill out for the day doing whatever interested us: eating, trivia, shows, watching the blue horizon from our balcony, and playing Bingo (just me).
In regards to trivia, being that dad couldn't hear some of the songs or questions from the background noise of the casino, I was playing as a team of one. There was this one family of about 10 people that kept pooling answers and beating me by one point. Argh. However, I have no need for a trophy of a cruise ship since I keep purging clutter.
Saturday August 23 Homeward Bound
Good Luck. Bad Luck.
Reflecting on the week, dad and I came up with a list of good and bad luck items.
Good Luck
1) Great Food - Everything from luxury meals onboard to coconut water and meat from a cart vendor who is skilled with a machete
2) Great Excursions - Every one a winner
3) Right Place, Right Time - This refers to snorkelling near a trainer when dropped his stick and being surrounded by 16 dolphins...phenomenal
4) Great Weather - rain clouds followed us the whole trip, but we managed to speed away every time
5) Great Service - I always love seeing which towel animal greets me when I come in at night and being called Miss Elizabeth in the dining room
6) Great People - workers, tourists, locals...all of them
7) Great Countries
8) Great Shopping Deals - Dad said, "I have never shopped so much in my life!" Haha, I don't normally shop much either, but we looked around all of the unique shops
9) Passport Stamps - One in every country, most people didn't know you could get them and were sad on the last sea day
10) Rings - Never, have I ever, found so many rings in one week!
11) Being 1st in Line to Debark - woke up early for it, but it helped us be stress free
12) Miami Transfer - Waiting in line at 6:30am due to stress from Toronto wait times, met a man who runs a cheap transfer company SAS and MJS. So fast and the guy is from Georgetown, Ontario
13) Got 1 Good Photo Together - Man, there is a camera in your face every time you turn around...and I only liked one. But seeing as that was my goal, success.
14) Good Flights - Don't ask dad, he slept through most of both flights
15) TV on the Last Day - I didn't watch TV during the week, but I found a Shark Week episode being played while dad got ready for dinner. Fabulous!
Bad Luck
1) Bingo - No Newfie luck here. :( Bingo is one game only, no stampers, punch holes that didn't really work and if you gather everyone for 10minutes of play, I am sure they would play more games.
2) Toronto Airport US Customs Line Departing from Terminal 3 on our 1st Day- RIDICULOUS. A better system is needed (Silver lining, we made our flight by the narrowest of margins)
3) Never Got Picked - Refers to prizes or interactive shows. Silver lining, most people were made to act like morons to be picked...and these people went all out. I wasn't going to attempt to top that.
4) Trivia Losses - Silver Lining, I was one point away most times and I was solo. Also, plastic trophies just take up space.
Odd News
Since debarking, I have still felt the motion of the boat that I felt on the second day. I thought that it might be better after a good night's sleep. I am still feeling it after almost two full days off the boat. I never have had issues with jet lag, sea sickness, car sickness, etc. Is there such a thing as 'Sea Lag'?
Packing up and leaving your house in perfect shape before you leave is a must in the Cook household (although, some of us are more intense about this than others). I was left alone in an immaculate house and ready to go to bed to sleep for as long as I can when I hear a dreaded dripping noise from inside the house. It had been raining for two days now and the rain caused a slow drip from under the dining room window. I pulled off the trim just as the rain was stopping and dried everything up and called my sister with a contractor friend. If I had heard anymore rain tonight, I knew I would be busy cleaning up a mess...and not sleeping.
For those of you who know me well, know that I have odd dreams. If I ever have a nightmare, it is usually about my students not behaving, or arriving at the airport for a big trip and not having everything that I need...usually my passport. The other day I drove two good friends of mine to the airport and giggled to myself about the back and forth questions such as, "Did you remember to pack ______?" My first thought was that this was humourous and the second was that I had been there before.
I tell you this, because I sat waiting for about 40 minutes for my sister to arrive to pick me up to take me to the airport. Slightly anxious and waiting to get started. The moment she walks in, that is when my brain realized that I hadn't printed my passport copies and everything was unplugged. I got that sorted. We are in the car backing out of the driveway when I realize that I had forgotten my luggage strap. She pulls back in and I run up to grab it from where I left it. That should be it, right? No. As my plane is landing at Gatwick through an ominous-looking grey cloud, I realize that I haven't packed a single thing to shield me from rain for 9 days in the UK. It looks like if I do meet with some British rain, it will be a great opportunity to buy a umbrella souvenir for myself. Not my best packing job.
Liz
I landed and breezed through customs at the airport. I went off to catch a train to London from Gatwick with ease. The transportation into the city is quite easy, granted you know how to read a map. I navigated the Underground in London really easily and lugged my suitcase up the stairs and stood out in the humid London weather (in yoga pants and a long-sleeved shirt) to read the map for tourists. I needed to go to the right for a couple of blocks where the road curves off and find apartment number 53. I walked for about 20 minutes and couldn't find this curve. I asked a lady on her iPhone for directions and she told me I was very far away. She mapped it on her phone...I should have gone left, not right. I walked another 20 minutes back, boiling by this point. I arrive at the Underground station again, check another map and I have it. I walk to the left for not even a block and see the curve...but there are about 6 roads that curve off that street. Not all of them have signs. I ask another lady for help. She didn't know the names either. Again, she mapped it, but wasn't sure. I thanked her and decided to go down the closest curved road without a sign. The numbers were in the right range, if I found 53 with a buzzer, I would definitely have to be on the right road. I found a buzzer and pushed it. Down came James to save me from my incredibly long walk that should have been around 5 minutes.
Poor James. His first introduction to me is beet-red faced and sweaty girl who arrived much later than anticipated. However, we continued to have a lovely day together. He and I chatted and got to know each other while he baked cupcakes for the barbecue tomorrow. He is very funny and kind.
We later set out on foot to go to Bronwyn's dance performance in Chelsea. We walked for quite some time through many lovely areas of London and I was quite surprised at how empty it seemed. Apparently, certain districts (except Covent Garden and other tourist hot spots) are quite sparse on weekends and it made for a lovely walk with amazing architecture. We arrived at Bronwyn's show and I was so excited. When she was my little host sister in South Africa, she told me her dream was to either be a professional actress or dancer. It was great to see her live out her dream. Her contemporary dances were engaging and lovely to watch. The movements were so fluid and peaceful that it was clear to see how much she loves it.
Seeing theatre in London is very different than what I am used to in Canada. We got drinks before the show and brought them to our seats. Everyone in the audience was animated and reuniting with friends. The atmosphere at home feels a lot more hushed and quiet. At intermission, we were encouraged to go get more drinks for the next half. It was a lot of fun to watch Bronwyn perform and be a part of a lively audience.
We got to briefly see Bronwyn after the show before she had to get ready for the next show. Then James and I went to have dinner at a lovely restaurant. I had an enormous salad with more delicious ingredients than I could handle. James ordered steak and truffle oil fries (which were delicious). We meandered home and made a comment about an overhead camera in a tube station, which resulted in a game of count the cameras and I was shocked that we were at five cameras only a couple of steps later. There are cameras everywhere. James and I continued to chat and laugh our way home. A quick blog entry or two later and I am heading to bed.
Good night.
Liz
For Dad:
YYZ-LGW 767-300
I forgot two stories from yesterday that I managed to remember today. I just felt the need to write them for future reminiscing.
1) On the train from the airport there were these two guys going back and forth through the carriages and they looked like a cross between Kenicke from "Grease" and the leading man in "the Full Monty". They walked by a couple of times but were eager to stop after two women got on at one station. Now, these women were hilarious. They came on the train in teased/permed hair with large bows or cat ear headbands, neon eye makeup, lightning bolt earrings, leopard print jumpers that were very short, high heels, and fingerless fishnet gloves. Everyone in the carriage was looking in our direction as they stood in the doorway with me. However, the two men stopped on their third pass through our carriage and tried so hard to pick up these women. It was quite hilarious to watch, but awkward to be so near. I found out through their conversations that there was some sort of eighties event going on nearby...and was thankful it wasn't their normal attire. Although, did they have this clothes saved in their closets for this event, or did they have to go buy this stuff, and if so, where?
2) I am well mocked for my lack of knowledge about cars. That is an established fact. However, on my walk through the Chelsea area of London I noticed a 'sports car' and said to James, "Is that a Porsche?" To which he replied which one and started to point out the ridiculous number of fancy cars down just one stretch of road: Maserati, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, etc. There were multiples of each car and for the whole neighbourhood to have them lined up on each side of the street it was quite impressive. Although, James also pointed out that it is quite useless being at the speed limit in the area is 30 mph. A waste of a fast car's abilities. I should also mention before I sign off that all of them were spotless! Apparently there is a polishing service that shines them and details them daily.
I was really excited for today for two reasons: 1) I am going to a Braai and 2) I get to see Kathleen.
I was worried that I might not get to see Kathleen as she is a surgeon with a busy schedule. My experience (from TV medical shows) seem to demonstrate a crazy schedule for anyone doing emergency surgeries. I wasn't necessarily wrong, but our timetables did align for a special day today. She was throwing a Braai.
A Braai is a South African barbecue. Kathleen invited me to join in on the fun. Bronwyn, James, and I headed out on the train to the quaint village of Barrington. The best way to describe it would be to say that it seems to the be the quintessential English countryside. It has small winding roads that are lined with green gardens of houses with thatched roofs. The old beautiful little church in town looks beautiful with it's stone work in the distance.
At the Braai, Kathleen went all out. She had boerewors, springbok shots, melk tart, Amarula, peppermint crisp dessert and the carrot salad (carrot and pineapple) that reminds me of every Rotary Club meeting from my year in Kensington! I must make this when I get home. I had a lot of fun chatting with many people at the Braai and playing with the children. Somehow, I got roped by some girls into doing cartwheels. The first time I had done one in at least fifteen years. After my first cartwheel, I saw little gold flecks in my vision. Yet, I still managed to get roped into doing another one. This time, I hear my bones making odd clicking noises. I am clearly not as young as I used to be.
As the party wound down, I got to talk a bit more with Kathleen and her husband, James. It was lovely to see them both and talk with them about how they are doing. I spent quite a bit of the party playing with their two year old son, Alexander. He is adorable and enjoyed making us 'apple pie' with items from the garden.
Soon it was time to run to catch one of the last trains home. I am always thankful for the time I have with my South African family. I am a lucky girl.
Goodnight.
Liz
Today I woke up and chatted with Bronwyn in the morning. We had such a great time catching up and talking that we almost spent the entire day in our pj's. In fact, James came home for lunch and we were still chatting where he had left us. It was a perfect start to the day as I always enjoy time with friends and family.
At about three o'clock, I headed out the door for some much needed tourist duty. I headed off on the tube to Covent Garden for some shopping. Of course, I was hunting down a ring for this leg of my journey. The proper stores within Covent Carden were lovely, but too expensive for my little souvenir ring. However, the Jubilee Market just across the road is a flea market and the vendors were packing up as I got there and I quickly spotted a perfect ring, at a very good deal. With that important task done, I had to set out to find the Moomin Store. My sister introduced me to Moomins from her time in Finland. They are a story book character that look like hippos (sort of) and are just adorable. I have been dying to see this store. The store is incredibly small, but lovely. It took a lot of self-restraint not to buy a few things that I loved. I was happy to see the store and take some photos.
From Covent Garden I took the tube again to London Bridge to walk to find Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. On the way, I found myself in the Burrough Market which was a lovely little food vendor area and I bought myself a falafel to eat in front of the Sir Francis Drake boat (and I fear there are some unflattering eating moments captured in some tourist's photos). I finished my falafel and quickly headed to the Globe and it was a good thing I did...I got the last spot on the last tour for the day. Our tour guide Canice was amazing. He was an actor by trade (in different play houses where he can enjoy air conditioning) and just did this for fun. It definitely was fun. He dramatically shared facts while reenacting death scenes, engaged in sword play with the tourists, and wove in current events. I would have enjoyed a longer tour with him telling us more, but they had to get ready for the show.
Some facts from the tour.
The original Globe Theatre site is located 250 metres away and is now a car park. It took over twenty years of fundraising to get the Globe Theatre to be a reality and the American, Sam Wannamaker, who spearheaded the project died before seeing it come to fruition. With a few minor exceptions (more fire exits, fire extinguishers) the theatre is built in the same manner as it would have been in the 1600s. However, to watch a play here now, the number of people allowed to watch is about half of what it was due to fire code regulations. If you stood at the base of the stage you were a groundling or penny stinkard due to your lower class in society, general level of cleanliness, and the cost of your ticket. Ale was largely consumed at the plays and if you needed to go to the bathroom as a groundling, you went where you were. The wealthier members of society sat up in the seats (cushions were an extra charge) and if you were an important nobleman you would sit on stage behind the actors so that everyone could see you. Shakespeare loved using effects and on the first performance of Henry VII, he shot a real canon to create an authentic noise, which ultimately caused the first Globe to burn down.
While I was on my tour, I heard my name being called out. It was Bronwyn. She knew where I was going to be and came to find me on my tour. She waited for me outside until I was finished so that we could have a small meal and a drink or two. We went to a lovely pub and had real lemonade (Katie P. That is for you) and chips before I had to head back for my play. I came prepared with three bottles of water for the show. I rented a cushion and had a seat. I can't express how great it was to be there. I have always wanted to go to a play at the Globe on my travels, but tickets were always sold out. It is such a fabulous way to experience theatre. The actors look you directly in the eye since the audience isn't sitting in the dark and you feel like you are a part of the show. I was happy to not be a groundling as the audience interaction was much heavier than I have ever seen in a Shakespeare play and one gentleman was put in some compromising positions (I won't say more due to some young readers). This performance of the Taming of the Shew was set in early 1900s Ireland. It opened with a beautiful musical number by a man on a traditional drum and a flute. They played songs to get the audience energy level up and one to set a more subdued mood. The actors were excellent, I found Petruchio captivating and well acted (much better than our Grade 12 efforts in Mrs. Rubinoff's class). At interval, all of the groundlings sat down to hold their spots and had picnics with sandwiches, ice creams from the vendors, fruit, chips, and drinks. The ladies beside me even pulled out sandwiches and crackers and dip. I haven't ever seen anything like this back home. I have failed to mention that I managed to get a seat right along the railing on the first level. As such, I spent most of my time leaning forward on the railing to further enjoy the show. I was a little sad when it ended, however my back was happy to move and stretch.
I headed home to meet Bronwyn and James. We had some late night snacks and chatted before heading to bed.
A lovely day!
Liz
I woke up this morning and hurried to finish my blog that I didn't have time for the previous night. I showered and repacked my belongings into my collapsible carry bag (Bronwyn graciously agreed to hold my suitcase for a couple of days) as I was heading to Wales.
When I originally planned my trip to Europe I hadn't thought of going to Wales. I was planning on going to Poland to visit Auschwitz, except it is closed for two weeks for World Youth Day and I just knew that visiting there would be overrun with tourists and last minute bookings in hotels might be a challenge. Therefore, I started looking at a map and was surprised that I had missed the obvious choice, Wales. Being only a two hour train ride from the Paddington station in downtown London, it was an easy choice.
I have been told that I am going to the land of missing vowels (if you read a map with city names, you will understand). However, I had no other real expectations for this side trip (other than a ring and trying to get a firefighter's shirt for Jay). I look forward to see what it holds.
Right now on the train, I am being a bit of a jerk. I found a table with four seats around it. It has a charging station for my iPad (handy and using it right now) and I wasn't sure which direction the train would be heading in (we already know that I have a propensity for going the wrong way out of stations) so I wanted to hedge my bets. Of course I was wrong. So, I have changed to the other side so that I can take in the glorious English countryside. I also moved all of my stuff to one side to not be a complete hog.
*****
I arrived in Cardiff and found my hotel right outside of the train station. The Sleeperz Hotel is a great place. The minute you walk in, you are greeted by a massive bowl of candies, six inch chocolate cookies, apples, and lemon-mint water. My room has two cute bunk beds and they gave extra bottles of water out in the room due to the extreme heat (no kidding).
I quickly headed out the door (grabbing an apple for the walk) and walked in the direction of the fire station. I arrived at the station to get a shirt for my friend, Jay, and it was closed. I tried the buzzer on the side without luck. I might try earlier in the day tomorrow.
I started to meander in the direction of tourist attractions and found myself in the open air shopping plaza. There was a beautiful merry-go-round in the plaza. I went into the Marks and Spencer's and found Flapjacks for Andrea. I also found some lovely side street stores and found a cute ring for myself. I walked along and found the Cardiff Castle (which I might visit tomorrow). On my way back to the hotel, I saw people eating out of the stereotypical Chinese take out boxes and I have always wanted to do that, so I ordered a delicious peanut shrimp stir fry and fulfilled a silly little dream. Haha.
I wandered back to the hotel and did some laundry in the sink and relaxed in the evening. I watched some British television and completed my blog.
It was George who called this the land without vowels, and he was right. I have seen ten letter words with only one vowel. I mean why use only one 'L' or 'D' when you can use two of each! It is amusing and I wonder how to pronounce things.
Goodnight. (GGoddnnigghhtt)
Liz
This morning I slept in far longer than I had intended. However, it was so lovely to relax and take my time getting up. I made coffee in my room and sipped it while watching a TV show. I grabbed an apple to much on while I walked and was greeted by a lovely cool breeze. The weather is significantly cooler today and I love it. I see people wearing pants and sweaters, and I chuckle as I am still a little warm.
I was meant to sleep in today. I was on my walk to the fire station for try number two, I saw a fire truck drive past me heading back towards the station. I quickened my pace, as I didn't want to miss the firefighters a second day in a row. I rang the bell and waited. Longer than would be considered normal, but it worked a lovely man named Paul came to the door. He took me upstairs to meet everyone and got the man in charge to get me a shirt. Not only did he refuse payment and a swap, but he gave me a very lovely button down shirt for free. My day was starting off right.
Cardiff Castle
I had a little spring in my step today. I walk across town to the Cardiff Castle and the grey clouds are gathering. This is how I feel a UK day should look; a beautiful old castle with grey clouds and a flag flapping in the wind. I grabbed an audio guide and started walking around the castle walls. I took so many photos of the keep which was on a hill and surrounded by a moat within the grounds. It is older than the castle house and has lovely stone work. This castle was originally created by Romans and underwent many changes throughout the years. The castle walls were also used to act as an air raid shelter for the citizens in the Second World War. On top of the castle wall was a beautiful sculpture called the 'Abandoned Soldier' that brings to light how veterans should not be forgotten upon their return. I really liked this sculpture, it was touching and heart-breaking.
The castle house has some lovely stained glass windows and ornate rooms. Each room had a distinct feel and showed when they were renovated by one of the previous owners (medieval, Tudors, etc.). The library in the house had books from the 1700s and a whole collection of Charles Dickens (I imagine that they are all first editions).
The Cardiff Castle has it's own falconry squad. There were so many birds of many types and sizes (a great horned owl, a small Harry Potter Pigwidgeon, falcons, etc.) and I was hoping to see some fly, but not today.
Along the south wall was a covered walkway that definitely looked medieval, however the part I loved were the rain spouts. The rain spouts were shaped like animals: goat, chicken, lion, etc.. Again, I took many photos.
In the basement, there is a display called the Firing Line about the Welsh involvement in wars. Dad would have loved this. My favourite part was the goat. Apparently, many troops had mascots, but there was a goat that bleated to alert the troops of an impending attack by Russians and it became their mascot. In fact, there were many noted cases of Major Goat (obviously a variety of goats were used) helping in wars (with a beautiful red coat, of course).
In the gift shop, I saw many gifts to buy with the word "Cwtch" on it. I loved it because it didn't have any vowels. I asked an associate what it meant and it is pronounced "Cutch" (rhymes with butch) and it is Welsh for a hug or cuddle. How adorable is that? I loved it since it didn't have vowels, but it sounds cute and has an even more adorable meaning.
I was leaving the castle grounds and I saw another wall that didn't seem to be a part of the castle, but it had animal statues climbing over the side that reminded me of the water spouts from inside. I photographed each one and then discovered a sign that indicated it was a part of the castle originally, but had to be moved due to road widening and animals getting damaged from the traffic. It is just beside the castle, but that section of the road is marginally less busy.
Bute Park
The Animal Wall was moved to the side and connects to Bute Park. A lovely garden area that is serene and picturesque. The River Taff runs along the one side of the park and was home to three beautiful swans that were kind enough to pose for many photos. I saw signs for the 'Blackfriar Friary" and I had to go. I loved that it was called a 'friary'. It sounds like something one of my students would make up. I was secretly hoping to see a Friar Tuck or two. Then I see a sign post that I had missed it. I doubled back to see a little sunken platform with a couple of tiny posts, it was the Friary. What the signs fail to mention is that that Friary is the remnants of what is left of the Friary and was rebuilt relatively recently. I was sad. It would have been the perfect end to my day to see a Friar in a Friary. Still, it was a lovely walk and a peaceful break in the city.
The Goat Major
I saw this pub yesterday and chuckled. However, after learning the story of the Goat Major, I had to go! I was a little sad that there wasn't a menu with the story of the Goat Major, or a cute sign to inform tourists. Luckily, I was already 'in the know'. Haha. I ordered a cottage pie in the pub and felt very British (I should have found the Welsh restaurant around the corner sooner).
A perfect Welsh day.
Liz
Welsh Basics
Croeso (Kroyso) = Welcome
Diolch (Deeolk) = Thank You
Iechyd Da! (Yekeed Dah) = Cheers!
Hwyl Fawr (Hoil Vaawr) = Goodbye
Bore Da (Borer Dah) = Good morning
Nos Da (Noss Dah) = Good night
Caerdydd (Kair-deethe) = Cardiff
...and my favourite...
Cwtch (Kootch) = Hug or Cuddle
It seems that no matter how hard I try I always seem to leave out details from some of my blog entries. If you happen to be a fan of Dr. Who, then you should visit Cardiff, Wales. Many scenes have been shot here in Cardiff. The Cardiff Castle, Bute Park, and the waterfront are all popular filming locations. In fact, there are many Dr. Who tours and there was a 'Dr. Who Experience' listed on my tourist map.
At the Cardiff Castle, they were setting up a stage at the end of the day to have an open air production of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing". I think that would be a lovely location for a play. With the ornate castle house to the left of the state and the imposing stone keep up to the right, it would be such a lovely setting. Also, with such a large a large lawn, you could fit on many visitors. I was tempted to buy a ticket, but with the grey clouds looming (and I didn't have any rain gear, or blankets to sit on) I decided to leave without purchasing.
Welsh Love Spoons. I had seen these ornate spoons all over the place in Wales and it seems that long ago me. Would carve out a wooden spoon to give to someone he wanted to court. The symbols he chose to carve into the spoon indicated his intentions (e.g., number of children, marriage). Now they are given at birthdays, weddings, and are a popular gift item. I thought they were lovely and a great tradition. In one shop, I saw an older man carving them himself. He was quite talented at this craft.
The Welsh love their dragons from the flag. There are so many items referencing the dragon. What a great emblem to represent your country, a fighting dragon. I saw beautiful dragon stained glass windows, toys for children, clothes, and household items.
Now for today. Again, I enjoyed a lazy morning with coffee in my bed. Being that I slept in the bottom bunk, it felt like a cozy little fort. I checked out at the given time and grabbed my last apple from the hotel front desk and headed out to have my noodles again. The weather today is nice and cool again (I should note that it was 40 degrees Celsius when I left Canada, but it is the humidity here that is making all of the difference). I love the cool weather and breezes, however it seems that all of the locals are still in pants and sweaters. I made it to the noodle place however, they weren't open for another forty minutes and I didn't particularly feel like lugging around my bags, so I opted to catch a train back. Again, I tried to estimate which way the train would be moving and I realized that I was sitting on the same side (or so I thought), but I was in the right seat to watch the beautiful countryside approaching.
I have realized that every five minutes, the train passes by one lovely old stone church. The architecture here in the UK is so lovely and old, something that I wish we had more of in Canada.
On the train, I had a little picnic for myself from the food carriage right next to me. I had a hot chicken pesto sandwich, lemonade (another excellent one, Katie P.), my apple from the hotel, and Marks and Spencer pistachio cookies that I had purchased the other day.
After arriving back in London I took some time to quickly update photos to my blog (not very iPad user friendly the uploading program). Once done, I decided that I might as well head to Welwyn Garden City to see Mark's play. According to the map, there is a large park and if I am incredibly early I can sit in the park.
I hopped on the train and was off. I bought an off-peak ticket and crossed my fingers that it wasn't peak hour, being that it was 5 pm on a weekday I figured I would have to wait. I double checked with a worker and he said that it wasn't peak time! I was shocked as the station was filling with workers and this would be rush hour back home. However, I was happy for the cheaper date and I was on my way.
I got off the train at Welwyn Garden City and instantly found a sweet restaurant called Bill's. It sells some made jams and products and it felt like I was at a garden party more so than a restaurant. I ordered a bacon and avocado spinach salad to start. It felt necessary to have steak, eggs, and chips (Shirley Valentine movie memories) for dinner. It was delicious and I was full. I was glad to have the walk to the theatre to help work off my meal.
Walking to the theatre in this city is like walking in an old British storybook. The beautiful gardens in full bloom line the streets. Each house has a green hedge lining the streets and the trees' sweeping branches hang over you creating a nice canopy. Not a sound can be heard other than a bird cooing in the trees. A tuxedo cat came out and laid in front of me on the walk for a couple of scratches. This town is absolutely a thing of beauty! (Carly, I saw a beautiful blue thistle-like flower that was spherical and I bet you would know the name).
I arrived earlier than expected at the Barn Theatre. Almost an hour early. This afforded me a lovely opportunity to see Mark before the play. I was greeted with a great big bear hug. We had a quick fifteen minute catch up before he had to go get ready.
The tiny room about the size of my classroom but it is decorated like an English pub (except the stage items, of course). The stage was tiny and took place right where we were sitting in a space of about ten by five feet. Chairs were surrounding the 'stage' and I have never felt so close to a play. There were tables for the audience, in order to have somewhere to rest their drinks. (Talking with Mark after the show he commented that if you didn't let Brits drink at the theatre, the whole West End would collapse. Haha. Makes sense now.)
The play was about the creation of the western railroad in the USA. Mark was the sherif and found himself in a precarious situation. At the end, it turns out that Mark isn't such a nice guy... but I won't say more due to the children readers. Their accents were amazing! I thought it was funny that I came from North America to England to watch a play about the West. I wasn't even sure if they would do accents, but they were excellent. What I liked most about the play was the really intense opening scene. I was hooked right away and wanted to see how it worked out. My third phenomenal theatre piece this week.
Again, I got to have some quality time with Mark before he had to go back on after the next play for a grand finale. With an hour to go, we reminisced and shared what was new in our lives. He kindly offered to drive me back to the station to make sure I got on the train safely.
I am feeling very blessed today. I have seen so many of my loved ones here in England. We might not get to see each other regularly, but I do still hold all of you so closely in my heart. Even better news, I get to see George and Brenda tomorrow!
I slept in this morning which was lovely. I had very little planned other than going to see George and Brenda later in day, therefore it was nice to take a little extra time to sleep. Again, Bronwyn and I spent a lot of the time lounging around the apartment and talking. It was great. Bronwyn was going on a trip the following week and needed her passport and couldn't find it in the regular location. She started to search while we chatted. I kept offering to help, when finally Bronwyn accepted my offer. We essentially ripped her place apart looking for her passport. I made a joke about searching the bathroom, and we went in to ironically find it there. The story of how it got there makes sense, but it is not somewhere you think to look. We laughed at our situation and started to reassemble the apartment before James came home for lunch. We didn't quite achieve our goal, as he came home before we were finished, and it would have to be done after lunch.
Bronwyn and I later set out in the afternoon to meet George at the train station before Bronwyn went to the theatre later that evening. George and I quickly hopped onto our train and took off for home. However, the train stopped soon after it started and we were stuck sitting on the tracks multiple time for long periods of time. Bronwyn and George had both warned me that the Southern trains were notoriously bad for keeping a schedule and they were right. Finally enough people got off a stop and George and I switched seats to be together. It was great to catch up. George was as funny as ever. At one point a woman had to step around my suitcase and he said, "I am sorry but I must travel with my makeup at all times." I am not entirely sure if the woman understood that he was joking, but it was quite funny.
At the train station, Brenda picked us up and we headed to a lovely pub in town. In fact it seemed incredibly upscale with fancy dining chairs, a light interior, and a delicious menu (I had a pea and shrimp risotto with sea bass and scallops, yum). I quite enjoyed this pub, more so for the conversation with my British parents.
We headed home after dessert (salted caramel brownie cheesecake sundae) and continued to talk until midnight before heading to bed.
Goodnight.
Liz
Today we left the house early to head off to a barbecue at an airbase for the RAF. We got on to the motorway as quickly as possible in attempt to avoid traffic. Luckily, in the direction we were heading traffic was pretty good except for a few spots. However, in the opposite direction it was a disaster. Due to the recent events in Nice, France, the French had set up stricter border patrols. With all of the schools finally finishing their final term, many families were heading towards Dover for holidays. **By the time we watched the news at 11pm this day, many people had been stuck on the road for over 12 hours and moved only 2 miles. British police were dispatched to carry water to cars as all the nearest service stations were out of supplies and many families were stuck on the road. It seems that there might only have been one border crew working and they didn't dispatch any extra help. Reports suggested that the problem might still be an issue well into Monday.**
Soon enough we made it to the airbase for the barbecue. We all got a chance to sit in a plane and have an impromptu photo shoot. I learned quite a bit about the plane and even was able to answer questions about things such as the pitot tube from all that I have learned from my time teaching flight. The barbecue had bouncy castles for the kids, a band for the adults, and good food. At one point the fire crew for the base brought their truck out for the kids to climb all over. I had a great chat with them (Jay knows how many questions I ask) and learned about how their job differs by being on a base. In fact, they are RAF members, but I am unsure if they are first firemen that apply to be a part of the RAF or in reverse.
Sadly, the barbecue had to end and we headed back home. Luckily, our part of the motorway was unaffected by the holiday traffic and we made it home safely to enjoy a late dinner and more conversation before heading off to bed.
Goodnight.
Liz
Today was a day of farewells and hellos.
I woke up and spent the morning chatting with George and Brenda. Later in the morning, Bronwyn and James came down from London again to quickly visit before I had to go to the airport. Bronwyn is like the Energizer Bunny, constantly n the go and seems to have ceaseless energy.
Brenda and George drove me to the airport and I was sad to leave them. It had been twenty years since I was their Canadian Exchange Daughter and twelve since my last visit. We have vowed to visit again soon and hopefully they come to Canada so that I may finally host them and show them around Ontario.
Easy Jet is an affordable way to travel. However, you must account for it not being easy. I paid to transport my one piece of luggage and all I had to do was tag and drop my bag. Easy, right? Wrong. The line was enormous! I somehow followed bad directions and when I tried to get back into the line, I ended up in between a student tour group of about 30 students. I finally make it to the bag drop and am next in line when a red light start flashing and a buzzers buzzing. All terminals then displayed that bag drop was unavailable. They reset the system and I made it to the front. I tagged my bag and it moved twelve inches and then the sirens and lights went off again for the whole section. All the workers and passengers looked incredibly frazzled. When it did finally start about ten minutes later I was told I wouldn't have a receipt and that "hopefully it was registered. Please move along and let other passengers register their bags." At this point, all I could do was cross my fingers. I headed through security and found my gate. It was there that I found the greatest thing, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream vending machines. Amazing! We need these in Canada and I later regretted not buying one for myself.
We boarded the plane and were delayed due to high traffic at this time. I was sandwiched between two men and none of us spoke the entire flight. It was weird. It did give me time to read both magazines I had been toting around.
Once I landed I rushed to passport control as my parents would have been already sitting the the terminal for over an hour waiting for me. Without a single question, my passport was stamped and I was on my way. My suitcase was off within five minutes and I headed out to the terminal, excited to see my parents. I got out and turned on wifi to receive a message that they were waiting at the baggage carousel! Argh. I can't go back in. I was stressed. I had messed up the plan! I sent so many messages in hopes that mom still had the wifi on. Nothing. About ten minutes later mom appeared by side explaining that their flight was late and they landed at a different terminal. All in all, the timing (and mistakes) worked out well. We hopped in a taxi and headed off to our hotel in downtown Prague. We shared our travel stories from the last week before heading off to bed.
For Dad:
YGW-PRG = A319
We started the morning with breakfast in our hotel. I really enjoyed the cappuccino machine and meats and cheeses. Yum.
We walked to the hop on and hop off tour bus station not too far from the hotel and started to learn all about Prague. The first thing that I learned is that Prague is an incredibly beautiful city filled with amazing architecture. Prague managed to avoid all of the bomb in in WWII and as such the buildings are incredible and well preserved. During the tour, they kept pointing out different styles of structures (e.g., baroque, Renaissance, gothic). I can't necessarily tell them apart if asked, but I loved them all. The city as a whole has a beautiful array of pastel coloured buildings, all with ornate detailing on the facade. The buildings have carved figures on the walls, intricate wrought iron detail work, carved crests, sculpted ivy detail, and so much more. I could photograph buildings all day.
We completed both the green line and red line tours to listen to the history and understand the layout of the city before venturing out on our own. Luckily, the hour wait for a red line bus gave us plenty of time to get a fire shirt for Jay (traded with a friendly guy named Martin). Continuing the tour again, we got off at the river to enjoy our complimentary river cruise. Our first mission was to find a bathroom. Mom decided that the hospital would have bathrooms since there was nothing else around. We were still a little early, so we found a curb to sit on, eat a handful of cashews (we were hoping for ice cream along the river) and wait for the boat. At this time, three local boys thought it would be hilarious to dare one boy to pee into the river right in front of us. I am pretty sure that we were filmed, but I dared not look up.
The river boat cruise was lovely. We got a nice table under a canopy and ordered ourselves ice cream sundaes and beer (I was a schmuck and ordered iced tea). We were so pleased to finally have our ice cream. The view of the Prague architecture from the river was a lovely sight and an excellent spot for pictures.
We headed back to our hop off locations near our hotel and walked to find an 'authentic' place to have dinner. We ended up in a pub/restaurant with authentic cuisine (I had schnitzel) and enjoyed the rowdy serenade of about twenty drain men after a long day at work. They were singing local songs at the top of their lungs, as drunk people do. It really was quite amusing...and authentic.
It was an informative day in the beautiful city of 100 spires, Prague.
Goodnight.
Liz
I was recently telling someone about how if you add the phrase, "life is too short for..." in front of what you want people seldom lay disagree. This was put to use this morning when I got up after an incredibly hot night in our hotel and proclaimed that life was too short have a room without air conditioning in very hot Europe (and it will get worse the further we travel). My parents felt this was reasonable (I love my magic phrase). Seeing as I am booking all of the hotels as we go, it really is up to me anyway.
We enjoyed another breakfast before heading out for our second day around Prague. We had a game plan in mind and it worked out really well. We started at the top of the castle compound. Prague Castle is the largest compound at 45 hectares. It does house the president at times, but the current president prefers his personal residence. Throughout history the large grounds housed many different animals such as lions and bears (just needed tigers, I dare say). Due to the size of the castle, there is much to see. However, you can get a good idea by touring all of the free areas. Along the outer walls, gives you many great photo opportunities of a slight aerial view of Prague. We walked down the castle steps and hopped on another bus.
The next stop was a hit and a miss. We stopped at the Old Town Square to photograph statues, town hall, architecture, and the astronomical clock. The first three happened quite easily and were lovely. The astronomical clock, on the other hand, was a let down. My advice to you is 1) it is around the corner from the main square 2) take a photo and leave. We waited to see what it did and it became ridiculous. The beautiful hands look as if they are in position to ring, but it is a lie. On the hour of a regular clock it will ring...but we waited a crazy 45 minutes at least. In for a penny, in for a pound. When the regular clock struck one, two doors opened and religious figures circled behind the tower wall. I expected something more. Not worth the wait, if you time it right, it would be fine.
In the square, we saw a variety of your types: Segway, bike, old time cars, horse drawn carriage, personal, groups, etc.. However, there are very specialized groups as well. We saw a Mexican mariachi band your where everyone wears sombreros and are serenaded as they walk. We saw many religious groups that all hold an ornate gold chalice (or something else) high above their heads and sing Hallelujah the entire time. We saw a Canadian your where everyone was covered in flags (capes, hair decoration). However, the surprising one was the running tour. The leaders run in front with squirt guns and run the entire city and I am assuming shoot everyone with water while talking at a monument. That seemed like torture on these hot days.
Before leaving the square, we enjoyed some delicious gelato and I also had a special pastry. It was called 'trdelnik'. A dough is wound around a pipe and it is spun rotisserie style over charcoal embers to cook. It is covered in sugar and unwinds in a spiral. A very tasty local treat.
We hopped back on a bus and headed for our last stop, ring shopping. Mom and dad went to a place that I spotted from the bus "A Typical Czech Restaurant" (mom hunted for an authentic place yesterday). They were going to enjoy a local beer while I shopped. The first place I stopped was perfect. In fact, I had a hard time picking which ring was the best. I decided on a swirly ring and heard to join my parents. I ordered a lemonade and it came in a full sized jug with a straw! It was fabulous. It quenched my thirst perfectly and was homemade from squeezed lemons, orange slices, and mint. We had dinner and just after it arrived the heavens opened up! It poured. It poured more. We kept eating under the canopy and enjoyed watching people dash all over for cover, or brave the rain in whatever gear they could muster (many garbage bags were worn). We enjoyed this people watching for quite some time, close to two hours, and then headed in to pay our bill. The man on duty said, "ah, you are the crazy family!" When we asked why, he said it was because we calmly stayed in the rain and just enjoyed it. Everyone else freaked out or switched to a table inside. He then brought us watermelon slices and lollipops for being fun and crazy while we waited for our cab.
After heading back to our room we decided to watch tv since it was early. We ended up with "Murder She Wrote" dubbed into Czech. It was hilarious. The three of us watched, knew who the culprits were, but could figure out what they had done or how it was solved. Oh well.
I am off to bed. Off to Slovakia tomorrow.
Goodnight.
Liz
The most useful thing that I have learned about on this trip was on my flight from Toronto to London. The man beside me talked on and on, but he did tell me about the website called "the man in seat 61". This website is a gem. It started as a pet project and has ballooned into the most invaluable travel resource. It gives you train and ferry information (and more) for around the world. Moreover, it gives you insider tips on everything: how to use each country's booking website, pictures of the train and seats, where to sit, etc.. I am not sure how long this took to create, but it is fabulous. I logged in and found the suggested cheap fare for the three of us in under ten minutes (including reading the research and tips). I was sent a pdf file for my ticket and all was sorted.
This morning we took a taxi to the train station for $3. The train station is amazing. At street level it is boring and plain, but there are three levels of shopping and cafes below. I bought some water for the journey and we caught our train. Right now we are in an air conditioned carriage (awesome) with wifi and are enjoying the Czech Republic's countryside. I have noticed many herons/storks/cranes (or as mom joked, big pigeons). They are quite beautiful amidst the tall grasses and ponds. The closer we get to Bratislava on the train, the more fields of sunflowers there are. Unfortunately, they aren't yet fully grown and I imagine in a week or two the train ride would be decorated with many yellow fields of sunflowers. What a sight that would be.
***
We arrived in Bratislava and hopped in a taxi to our hotel. It was 20 Euros. We were shocked. At reception they explained that taxis here rip off tourists. They charge you a luggage fee and over six euros just to get in. We were feeling pretty annoyed, but with three great taxi deals in Prague we figured it evened out. The reception booked us a taxi to the Old Town which only cost five euros and we were much happier. It was a company called Fun Taxi. Great service and fares, even when not called by a hotel (more on that later).
In the Old Town we had have shopping at the little kiosks all around. I found a cute ring that related to my Czech ring in appearance, but sums up their history quite well. I will do a mini show-and-tell for anyone interest (or anyone who makes the mistake of commenting on one of my rings...Scott). We also bought ourselves an afternoon gelato and strolled through the lovely buildings until it was time to start our tour.
We booked ourselves on an 'old timers tour'. It was an old fashioned train/trolley that took us around the old town and up to the beautiful castle. We enjoyed our hour long tour and found the town to be quite surprising. I enjoyed the size of the crowds here, much less oppressive than in certain parts of Prague. A quaint Old Town that felt laid back.
For dinner we went to the 'Original Slovak Restaurant' for mom. We have enjoyed this little joke quite a bit. I ordered a lemonade which was smaller than yesterday, but still refreshing. Katie P., is it your travels last year that brought about your 'lemonade thing'? If so, I completely get it now. You just can't beat the lemonade here! We had a lovely Slovakian meal and went to catch a taxi home. Again, he tried to charge us over six euros just to sit. I told him to take me back and that we were getting out. He laughed at us, but it was a matter of principle! The tour operator suggest that we walk towards the river to catch one there away from the tourist spots. Here, we got lovely castle photos, views of the river, and saw a dining in the sky experience (they suspend you in the air about fifty feet or so and cook a meal for you while you are strapped in). If I had known that this service was here, I would have booked in advance! We kept walking and stood where there was a line of taxis. Of course, it ran out as it was our turn, but we figured another would be here soon. Nope. However, when one did come, it was a Fun Taxi and our trip home cost four euros! If you travel to Slovakia have your hotel arrange all of your taxis!
At the hotel room, I was excited to come back to turn on the AC and sleep well tonight. Not so. It seems to be broken. I tried setting it to five degrees celsius and it still wouldn't come on. Now, I really dislike confrontation, but it was necessary today. I have been looking forward to a nice cold sleep. I talked about it on the train. I wouldn't have booked here if it wasn't for the AC. The front desk said they were fully booked and she couldn't fix it until tomorrow when we are gone. She gave me a fan instead. Seeing as we are on the third floor with no ladders or balconies, it is window open tonight! I sincerely hope our hotel in Budapest isn't another AC let down. Fingers crossed.
Goodnight.
Liz
This morning we enjoyed waking up in a cool room. Not due to the promised air conditioning, but due to a fan and leaving a massive window open all night long. This was possible due to the lack of escape ladders etc. (Paranoid since my robbery in 2004) and the rain storm that cooled everything down. After breakfast and another ride Ina Fun Taxi we were at the Bratislava train station. On the platform we saw two huge policemen with a gun strapped to their thighs and another automatic rifle or gym of sorts in their hands walking up and down the platform. We bought our tickets and found seats with far more ease than I had imagined (luckily enough people left the carriage we randomly selected). Another two and a half hours on the train and dad would be staring at the scenery the whole time. At another Slovakian stop another two policeman walked through the train, no automatic weapon this time. Police seem to be a regular presence on train routes.
During the train ride I had time to reflect on a couple of things. Firstly, I always seem to forget how prevalent smoking is in other countries. I forget how lucky I am sometimes for the small things. Also, this I know to be true of most countries, but I always seem to pay attention to graffiti more during my travel. I find graffiti on barricade walls around train stations interesting, if done well. In fact, if you are going to scribble initials...don't bother and a real artist should work over top of it. However, I have seen some of the most gorgeous buildings in my life ruined by graffiti here in Europe. A beautifully carved wooden door with an intricate design covered in paint and stickers. What a shame! I realize graffiti is everywhere, but it has caught my attention many times on this trip.
You could almost sense when the train passed from Slovakia to Hungary as the scenery changed from flat farmlands to mountains. Well, small mountains or really large hills. Regardless, it was a welcome sight. The gathering rain clouds above, castles, and lakes in front of the mountains made for some postcard views. Among the scenery here there were many unique houses. Many were A Frame houses and I imagine they were built by a member of the family a few generations before.
We arrived in Budapest and happened to find a lovely taxi driver who made it his mission to ensure that tourists didn't get ripped off by the "robber" cab drivers. After Slovakia, we were thankful for this assistance. We got a lovely cab and were impressed when he drove down a tiny one way street surrounded by gorgeous buildings and stopped at the dead end for a pedestrian walkway. He told us our hotel was just around the corner. We were amazed at how our hotel could be in such a nice place, but it was. We were surrounded by two old churches and stunning buildings. We it the jackpot here at Erzsebet Hotel. Which ironically, means Elizabeth in Hungarian. We are near Elizabeth bridge and Elizabeth Street. I was meant to stay here. When we arrived in the hotel a porter took our bags and we were just in awe of the hotel and our surroundings. I got to the room and could feel the AC and was in heaven.
We ventured out into the streets and couldn't stop taking pictures...even before any tours tomorrow. We meandered and found ourselves oriented right near the river between Buda and Pest (we are on the Pest side). Somehow we ended up wandering in a pedestrian mall area and I found my Hungarian ring almost instantly. I love it, but not as much as my mom. She declares that it is her favourite of my five rings so far. St this exact moment it started to rain and we headed to dinner under a canopy on a patio again. Our waiter was a real treat. He spoke 12 languages and is currently learning two more (that is my secret super power wish, fluent in every language). He then had a treat for the French couple beside us who were here for classical concerts, he brought out his violin and serenaded us with three songs. The third song was played by my father and him. Dad held the bow upright off the table and he loved the violin up and down for a wonderful piece. I would have been impressed if he had done Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in that manner! Amazing...and to think he is a waiter since he can't get enough hours as a music professor and performer.
Before the next rainstorm got underway, we walked back to the hotel and relaxed for the evening.
Goodnight.
Liz
Today I woke up huddled under my blankets and so thankful for a deep sleep last night. I love my AC here. I have never been this hot, even when I was in Thailand, there wasn't as much humidity, and their buildings are built for warmer temperatures. I got ready to go and enjoyed a nice cappuccino and croissant for free in the wine bar attached to our lobby. We headed out to the streets, with mom as the navigator, and got a red line hop on hop off bus right away. We thought we were incredibly fortunate. However, I quickly realized that we had done the same section twice. Mom and dad hasn't noticed yet, as they were busy trying to figure out a headphone malfunction. The tour has to double back over some sections due to one way streets, construction, etc.. We ended up almost right where we started and the tour 'officially' began. We did the Pest section first. The hop on and off tours here pause at places of interest, which I don't prefer because of you just run continuous buses, you can hop off for however long you want or keep going to your point of interest faster if you stay on. At times today, the sun was brutal and we sat in the top deck frying while the buses driver had his fourth espresso from a local shop. (Prague was much better in this respect). Nevertheless, we enjoyed the tour and the beautiful sights of Buda and Pest.
Buda is the older and royal side of the Danube River. At this time, the area near the castle is closed for repairs and we didn't get as close as we would like to the castle. Buda has lovely green hills and the architecture is older. Here you will find the Gellert Baths and Spa which is one of the many spas operated due to the thermal springs of the area. You would be hard pressed to find better architecture and scenery at a thermal spa. Atop one green hill is a Statue of Liberty of a woman holding and olive branch. It was erected after WWII to symbolize Hungary's desire for everlasting peace.
Pest is more flat in comparison and was has 'newer' architecture (by European standards). pest was where the rich merchants lived and conducted trading. I loved the buildings here. While we were touring, I couldn't help but wonder what Europeans must think when they come to North America. We don't have a history of the same magnitude that they have here. We theorized that it was the wide open spaces, perhaps.
We did another boat cruise. Sailing the Danube is lovely. We circles all around Margaret Island which looks incredibly peaceful. It is a wonderful park in the middle of the Danube with bicycles built for two or four (I have always wanted to do one of these). Of course, there is also a thermal spa on the island. On the cruise we were boiling (even with the stylish green straw hats they proved). We learned that Buda is a word that means water. Pest came from the word for kiln or oven (largely due to the pottery craftsmen kilns that were here long ago).
After a long day out in the sun, we headed back to the hotel for a short air conditioned break. We later had a nice dinner and gelato. It was a long day and it necessary to head in early to recuperate before another hot day tomorrow.
Goodnight.
Liz
We started the day by hunting down a fire station to get a shirt for my friend, Jay. Originally when I asked at my hotel reception I got a Luke warm response and they made it seem like the fire station was so far away. It was nice and close and I happened to catch a fireman on a smoke break. I had downloaded the Google translate app and had pre-translated a couple of key phrases for myself. He got another fireman, Peter, who spoke English. They brought me in and got a shirt for Jay. Simple.
We hopped on another bus (this one air conditioned) to go visit the castle and fisherman's bastion. I noticed that our bus seems to be taking an odd route and there was a comment made about a sporting event. As we approached Buda we saw hundreds of cyclists along the banks of the river. We were let off as close as possible to the castle and when we tried to pass the bikes, I saw a sign that said Ironman. How exciting! We were able to see snapshots of the Budapest Ironman. We wandered around the castle courtyard, by the national gallery, and the fisherman's bastion. Here at the bastion the church is pure white with ornate carvings on every square inch. The roof had orange and green tiles arranged in a lovely pattern that mom loves so much. We decided that walking the incredible distance back might be too much, so we hopped on a city bus, not knowing where it was going. However, we knew our hop on and off buses were heavily restricted today due to the Ironman. We went one stop and the bus ended. Mom figured out that we were beside a metro station and we hopped on the subway and ended up right at parliament.
The parliament buildings are stunning. There was a competition for the design. The winning design is the beautiful white building on the Danube River. The second and third place buildings were still constructed further back for various ministry departments (both of which were picturesque as well). Along the banks of the Danube, right near the parliament buildings is a touching Holocaust tribute. Here you can find sixty pairs of shoes to remember those shot into the river during WWII. People will come by and leave items in the shoes. One pair of small shoes had a toy car inside. Many people leave flowers, candles, and ribbons.
It was a good, albeit hot, day in Budapest. We have really enjoyed our time in this gorgeous city.
Soon it will be off to Slovenia.
Goodnight.
Liz
Today was a travel day. Which are usually quite uneventful and a great time to reflect on your travels.
A few observations that I have missed...
It seems that both Prague and Budapest are popular destinations for bridal parties to have their Bachelorette parties. We have seen groups of girls come on the weekend and go pub crawling through town having a raucously good time. Which makes me wonder if there is a phrase that says, "What happens in Prague/Budapest, stays in Prague/Budapest!"
We started our morning with breakfast in our hotel. They have a wine bar and steakhouse restaurant that is used for the breakfast in the mornings. On the wall was an art piece that shows the cuts of meat. I found it hilarious that the Hungarian word for rump steak is 'Farto'.
We finished our breakfast and headed to checkout of the hotel to catch our train. I asked the bellhop to get a taxi to catch our train. He asked where we were going, I told him Ljubljana. He said, "aah, Keleti Station". Off we headed to Keleti Station to buy tickets, to which we were told that we should be at the Deli station in Buda. We had thirty minutes to make it on to our train across town and with yesterday's traffic, it didn't look good. It turns out that the iron man competition is done and the road closures were finished. Our taxi driver ran a few red lights and we made it with time to spare. I tipped him well.
We got in a carriage, sat in a room with six seats and felt so relieved. It was short lived. They were reserved seats. We moved to the next carriage and found new seats. We were sharing a carriage with a man from Mexico who is a free lance engineer on holiday. He was a lot of fun to chat with about travel plans to various countries. Before we could leave the station, we saw two police officers walk past is and look inside our carriage. I guess we seemed agreeable, as they quickly moved on.
We were on the train for about thirty minutes when two girls who were backpacking came in and climbed all over the seats trying to get their packs up to the luggage racks. When I say climbed all over the seats, I mean with us still seated in them. They were a little crazy and hungover, for they spent a good part of the eight hour train ride sleeping it off.
Speaking with these girls from London made me a little jealous. In a quick (and cheap) three week trip, they are able to visit about six countries. Europeans have a very convenient location for travel and it is easy to move around between countries.
On trains in Hungary, a chime sounds at each station that reminds me of an ice cream truck. I will admit that I did look for ice cream each time I heard the chime.
This train to Slovenia was not air conditioned and it made for an incredibly hot journey. Also due to our sleeping party animals, we felt the need to remain quiet for them. Mom and I didn't enjoy the trip being incredibly hot, bored, and not really able to speak. Dad, on the other hand, loved the train ride. He spent all of his eight hours staring out the window in awe of the crops, landscape, and buildings. Being that he had the best view, I am glad he enjoyed it.
I should mention that the train ride was odd. We travelled in one direction for about two or three hours. Stopped. Switched directions and travelled for an hour back the way we came. We stopped. Switched directions and continued in our original direction for the remainder of the trip. We passed into Slovenia for another inspection by the police. We heard them go from carriage to carriage asking people where they were from and quickly moving on. They got to our door and said, "Where from?" When I told him Canada, he demanded to see all of our passports we were surprised and all started going through our bags to pull out our passports. I was the fastest. He held it and fanned the pages for a total of two seconds and proclaimed, "Okay". He handed back my passport and left. Everyone else had theirs out by this time and we were all puzzled as to why these events occurred. Did he just not believe a Canadian would be aboard? Had he never seen a Canadian passport? Were we one of the random checks? If so, why not actually look at my passport, or everyone else's? It is better to not ask questions, but to take it as a win and move on.
We couldn't have been happier to get off that train in Ljubljana (mom and I, dad is debatable). We got a taxi to our hotel, Hotel Allegro, and were amazed. It is gorgeous. The lobby looks like a Victorian tea room. When I made it up to the room I was impressed. It has a chaise lounge at the door, a dressing room area, and a chandelier in the bathroom. Once you make it in to the full room, you see another beautiful chandelier and tufted chairs and foot stools to match. It is incredibly opulent for me. However, I love it!
We headed out to dinner at a restaurant recommended to us and it was lovely. I have a steak Ina red wine reduction with mushrooms and 'strulkje' (sp?). The strulkje is a Slovenian dumpling that doesn't seem like a dumpling at all. It is more like a cream cheese roll up of a very fine pasta and cut up in sushi roll pieces. I hope that describes it for you. They are delicious. If you see them on the menu, be sure to order them. We enjoyed our meal and then meandered through the old city, admiring the buildings as we went. We stopped for ice cream before heading home to bed.
**Before I forget, the train ride from Budapest to Ljubljana spends the last two hours winding amongst beautiful mountains and the views are stunning, if you have a good seat. I feel it is the reward for enduring a zigzagging hot six hours on the train. **
Good night.
Liz
Our lavish hotel keeps surprising us. Breakfast this morning is down in a 'basement' and it looks like a regal escape room of a castle. Breakfast was excellent. The pain au chocolat was my personal favourite. I am also enjoying my morning cappuccinos.
In Ljubljana they have a special Kavalir service for older residents and tourists where a golf cart will pick you up and take you anywhere within the city that you would like to go. This is a smaller city, by recent comparisons, but any free service that saves my mom's knees for a day, is a good service. We hopped on to a covered golf cart and were whisked away down the pedestrian streets. Sasha, our driver, pointed out places of interest and put us right at the bottom of the castle funicular. We started our day at the castle and enjoyed touring around listening to our audio guide. My father and I climbed to the top of the highest tower and were rewarded with spectacular views of Ljubljana. The steps up the tower were a spiral staircase and there were two: up and down (handy). However, the part I liked was that each step had a dragon atop of the castle design within the iron. The dragon is the symbol of Ljubljana and there is a famous dragon bridge just beyond the castle walls.
Walking along the river is a picturesque scene. The river is bordered by pedestrian streets lined with cafes and shops. It is a nice and peaceful change from the rivers lined by busy streets of other streets. We enjoyed shopping in the markets, eating gelato, and finding my Ljubljana ring.
Rain had been threatening all morning (which was nice and cool for a change). As it seemed to be the pattern: I buy a ring and dad wears his blue shirt, rain will fall, so we retreated to a cafe under an umbrella for a snack. Being that it was my parents' 46th wedding anniversary, mom ordered a huge sundae to celebrate. We say right along the river about ten feet below in a canal. There are many weeping willow trees that line the river and their branches line the edges of the river so nicely. It actually reminded my mom and I of the pattern in my ring. Dad felt it was symbolic of the crops from the train ride.
We headed back to the hotel for a little break before heading back out for dinner later. I enjoyed a meal of wild boar and more 'strulkje' which are so delicious. Mom and dad had a lovely anniversary dinner and we realized there were many anniversaries this year. It was mom's 60th anniversary of when she moved to Canada, 30 years since when we visited Europe in 1986, 20 years since I was an exchange student with the Elliotts in South Africa, and their 46th wedding anniversary (shame they didn't coincide with the multiples of ten).
We picked out a Ljubljana magnet for dad after dinner (I wanted one with a dragon, but they were cheesy). We had to also find a gelato shop, as we can't go a single day without a gelato...aren't we decadent! On our stroll back to the hotel we crossed over a bridge (there are so many) that regularly has entertainment. Last night it was a breakdancing group of men. They performed stunts that pleased the crowd. We didn't stay long, as to me it seemed like a lot of preparing to do a cool move for five minutes, then a five second move. However, tonight was a real treat. There were four men (handsome to boot) who were playing cellos. They played waltzes and other classical pieces that really added to the overall atmosphere. It was quite magical. A perfect way to celebrate our last night in Slovenia!
I learned from our Kavalir driver today that Ljublj means 'beloved' and Ljubljana means to love this city. I do I am completely charmed by the quaint and romantic old city.
Goodnight.
Liz
Notes that I have missed...
In Europe it seems that everyone travels with their dogs. Dogs are regularly walking through the old towns with their owners and are remarkably well behaved. In some cities, dogs aren't even on a leash, but never walk more than a foot away from their owner. I am not used to seeing pet dogs in big cities. In North America, people tend not to bring their dogs to the main areas, only in residential neighbourhoods and in other cities in the world the dogs there are usually homeless. People will bring their dogs to the outdoor arcade areas and the dog will gladly sit right beside them all night long while they enjoy their drinks out with friends. Cute.
This morning, after breakfast, we took the Kavalir into town again (mostly for another photo op) and went to Dragon Bridge. There mom and dad were going to wait while I walked to the fire station. I walked along the Ljubljanika River for another fifteen minutes until I found the station. I rang the bell quite a few times and walked around back. I finally found a man outside who said that it was closed. It looked like a station that isn't manned regularly, but if Jay were and EMT, the building across the river had many of them sitting around outside. No shirt this time, I guess.
I walked back to find mom and dad, which proved to be harder than expected. It sounds like I just missed them when they chose to leave the Lock Bridge. The Lock Bridge, I should have mentioned before, is a place where you can add a lock on to the wires of the bridge to hold a memory there. It is similar to the Lock Bridge in France. I walked quite a distance to find them and circled back, where I eventually found them. We all agreed that mom's ice cream sundae looked amazing and that it would be our lunch today. We enjoyed eating our ice cream by the river and watching the people go by.
We went to the train station to catch our train to Zagreb, Croatia. When the train arrived two maintenance workers told us to get on the train in first class. So, we did. It had curtains and headrest covers. We were in our compartment for all of five minutes when the ticket inspector told us we had to change. We went three compartments over, which was second class, and sat down there. Here we still had curtains, but no headrest covers. That didn't seem like much of a difference. There was only one other person in our compartment and he was a local Slovenian. He gave us a little tour of the sights out of the world does and gave a dad a beer. They clinked cans and chatted about the scenery. One thing he mentioned was that the Russian president is in Slovenia and heading to Ljubljana soon (just missed him). Our friend got off at his stop and mom said, "Slovenians are like newfies...they are just so nice." I agree. They are incredibly kind. Now we were alone in the compartment and we soon arrived at a stop where police came by. We were asked for our passports and we were stamped out of Slovenia. Another five minutes later, we were asked for our passports again and we were stamped into Croatia. I was elated. I really didn't think I would get that many stamps on this trip other than one in for London and one out of Albania.
We arrived after a short 2.5 hour trip and went to the tourist information at the train station. They were on a break and we waited. When the lady came I asked her if there were airport shuttles? No. Is there local transit? No. Bus? No. Metro? No. Mom went to the tourist information desk right beside and was given a city map and highlighted the bus station that had cheap airport shuttles that left every thirty minutes. I guess life is all about who you know...and always get a second opinion.
My parents are champs! They walked twenty-thirty minutes in the Croatian sun toting all of our luggage to the bus station. They are incredibly cool travel partners. We hopped on a luxury bus shuttle to the airport and enjoyed the air conditioning on our way to the airport.
We had an impromptu picnic at the airport of all of our goodies collected at various times. We bought a sandwich and a pop from the cafe and munched on: crackers and laughing cow cheese I bought in Budapest, chocolates from Germany, and fruit from our hotel in Ljubljana. With our bags now empty of food items we headed through security to shop and explore the stores near our gate. What happened was entirely different. There were ten international gates crammed into one little area. No shops (other than duty free) and no seats. Everyone talked loudly and clamoured to get seats if be became available. When a plane was called for boarding, hoards of people crammed at the doors to be boarded on to buses, but with only one person checking passports, it was a slow and chaotic system. When our turn finally came, the bus moved twenty metres and we got off to board our plane. It hardly seemed necessary for the bus.
We landed at Alexander The Great Airport in Skopje, Macedonia and quickly got our passports stamped and our luggage. We were quickly 'adopted' by a taxi driver and were off in a car with no signage. Yikes. However, he did his best to show us the sights in the darkness of midnight and got us to our Marriott hotel. "Fancy. New hotel." He told us. He wasn't kidding. It was stunning. Built with an older facade to fit in with the architecture, it's white walls and ornate wrought iron are a sight to be seen. We walked inside to a modern lobby to which mom proclaimed, "Liz, you get to book all of the hotels from now on!" We checked in and headed for our room. Lovely and modern, but missing a bed. We called downstairs and they sent up two security workers thirty minutes later with my bed and set it up. It was about 1am when we got to go to bed. It was a long day, but we achieved a lot and we're thankful for a place to rest our heads (in luxury to boot).
Goodnight.
Liz
Due to our late night last night, I woke up at ten am. The good news is that this swanky hotel has breakfast until eleven. Phew. We went down to a full spread that would impress anyone. Everything you could imagine was available from local cuisine to North American staple foods. I had an omelet, fruit, pastries, and prosciutto. A lovely meal.
We headed out for the day with very little information (one map available at the front desk) and decided to wander the area. When we came in it was dark and had no real clue where we were. However, when I booked the hotel I tried to pick a location close to items of interest to spare my parents having to walk far. This Marriott hotel said items were within a ten minute walking distance. However, we are in fact in the main square. Right outside our hotel and to the right, if we had looked last night, we would have seen a huge square with massive imposing statues and fountains. The largest fountain I have seen with lions, soldiers, and a man galloping on horseback ready to fight all in this eighty feet tall fountain which was also the estimated width. It was built to be impressive, imposing, and proving that they mean business. Sadly, some citizens have splashed paint on the fountain and it is such a shame. The fountain is also surrounded by gilded gold street lights that are incredibly ornate, a large square of fountains that spring up at regular intervals to cool down the local children. Around the square you can easily find another twelve statues of prominent Macedonians without having to walk far at all. Macedonians are incredibly patriotic and enjoy showing the world their famous citizens.
We then walked across one of the ped strain bridges (again a statue every three metres and ornate) to the old side of town. Here the fountains and statues have not been touched by vandalism. Which made me wonder if perhaps the vandalism of the monuments on the new side was politically motivated or purposeful in some way. Not sure.
Beyond the old town square of monuments was the bazaar. A maze of stores and vendors selling a variety of goods. We all had our favourites. Dad found a magnet. Mom enjoyed the fabric and dress stores here. There are so many fabrics that are hand beaded and make such beautiful gowns. I enjoyed the antique stores. There was one in particular that sold old uniforms and folk dresses. It seemed like a neat place for props and costumes. I found my ring Ina store here. It reminds me of the national flag.
I knew we hadn't finished the entire bazaar, but with our necessary purchases made, we headed to the fortress. The old stone fortress from Turkish days (according to our taxi driver last night) is free of charge and under repair. The walls overlooking the new city are in great shape and o matched the entire length of them taking photos. Mom and dad had been seated on some steps when's your group came by. They received a free tour. They learned that the Millennium Cross on top of the hill is one metre short (only 63m) of being double the size of the Rio Redeemer statue. The brand new 33 million dollar soccer stadium is lovely, but since it was built the national team keeps getting worse. Lastly, on the other side of the hills surrounding Skopje they are going to do what they do best, "copy and paste", and build a CN Tower like Canada (but taller of course).
We headed back towards the hotel for a break as the midday sun was getting hot. I volunteered to go to the one visitor centre to get brochures for dad, while they rested. It should only take about five minutes, right? Haha. No. I circled the place it was and needed redirection from the Holiday Inn staff. When I get there, it is closed. I had walked in a side door to the main building and was greeted by two people in a sparse room. I just kept repeating 'tourist information' until one of them took pity on me and let me into the room. She unlocked it and pointed to a row of brochures on top of a desk and said 'free'. I took one of each and left. I feel that a capital city should have either better hours for tourists, more locations, or at least a more central location. It wasn't a total loss as I enjoyed discovering the freedom bridge (which I will show mom and dad tomorrow).
I finally made it back to the room to cool down and blog. We researched a little to get some information for dinner. We picked the #1 restaurant on trip advisor for the reviews and description. I mapped it and told my parents it was a 17 minute walk. However, we discovered that it would be that amount of time if you knew where you are going. Tourist maps in English have English-lettered street names, but the street names on the signs are all Macedonian. Therefore, you get no help from locals as they are confused as well. We figured out our general direction after looking at the map many times and walked along the main road for quite some time. At one point dad stopped and said, "that is it. We don't go any farther." As he was convinced we were lost, which was only partially true. We were in the right location, but now we needed to know which side street to take which was problematic. Essentially we circled it, on the advice of locals when I showed the a screenshot of the restaurant sign, until we found one man who spoke English and directed us to it. Once seated in the outdoor courtyard dad was pleased and we ordered our meals. This restaurant had a wood oven and we all selected from the traditional Macedonian menu selections. Mom and I both ordered small carrot/cabbage/beet salads which arrived before the meal and they were HUGE. A heaping large bowl full of yummy goodness, but it could have been the meal itself. Moments later our meal arrived and they were these large shish kebab skewers of meat. However, each piece of meat could have been a proper steak or chicken dinner on its own. I am not sure how to w the three of us managed to eat it all (probably due to how delicious it was), but we did it. We think the waiters had fun watching us and rewarded us with a shot of Dunja liquor. It was sweet and refreshing. We asked for a taxi home to avoid more confusion.
At this point, mom and I thought it would be prudent to check out the spa. What a lovely place. You would pay big money in Canada to use a place like this. It had cream tiles everywhere with relaxing music playing. It had large cream coloured loungers and lemon water to sip. You had a choice of three showers: standard, tropical rainforest with sound effects and light displays, or a chain that pills a bucket of water on top of you. I am assuming that last one is popular with people exiting one of the three saunas: infrared, herbal, and Finnish. There were heated stone loungers in the relaxation area. I tried every shower and surprisingly loved the bucket one (it is a fabulous way to cool down after a day in the heat). We went in the pools, relaxation area, and I went to the saunas. It was glorious. We looked through the prices and found a green tea and cucumber body polish that is really cheap and booked them for tomorrow night. I had wanted to go to a bath/spa in Budapest (the city of baths) but the entry fee just covered pools and the treatments were more expensive. This, I am sure, will make up for it.
Goodnight.
Liz
For our second day in Skopje we started with another lovely breakfast in our hotel. Omelettes and cappuccinos here are spoiling me. It is a 'self-serve' breakfast, but every time you turn around or pause there is a staff member looking to assist you in some way.
We headed out to see the Macedonian Gate. It is beautiful like the arc de triumph in Paris, but the outer side is covered in splatters of paint of all colours of paint. While I enjoy the look of the paint, it saddens be to see a monument defaced in such a way.
Not too far away was the house of Mother Theresa. I didn't know that she was born in Macedonia in 1910 before leaving for India in her late teens to do her work with the poor where she gained her fame. The house we visited had a few items from her original home and is the location of where she was baptized. The exterior of the house was beautiful with Escher-like doves covering the plaster.
We continued to Freedom bridge, which I had seen yesterday, but didn't have my camera. It is made to look like bronze and commemorates the people who fought in the name of Macedonian independence and liberty. Again, some sections are covered in paint. I feel like it breaks my heart to see such idiocy taking place. I hope that those who did it were caught and punished.
We walked on towards the museum and were again overwhelmed by the statues. Mom commented, "You can't walk five feet without seeing a new statue of some sort!" Again, they are very proud people and any person of significance is celebrated.
At the museum of Macedonian Archeology (dad's choice) we saw many artifacts discovered from as early as 5 000 BC. It was an impressive display. We silently wandered around examining items. I enjoyed comparing the jewellery designs through the eras. At the last level, I finally saw a bathroom. I took one step in and was yelled at in Macedonian from across the museum. I was quite embarrassed. The tourists who took photos, despite the numerous signs prohibiting it, only got a few words and a disproving look. I just didn't get why if there is a large bathroom area, no one in it, not under construction, nor being cleaned, in a main tourist area, no toilets anywhere else in the building, why it can't be used! Close the doors then, with the black walls, it would not be visible and you wouldn't need to yell at me. I was a little upset by this for a little while (I am writing after a spa visit which is why it isn't as grumpy as it could have been).
We needed gelato at this point in time to improve my mood. Then mom and I headed to the spa to further relax. It was lovely! A nice swim, lemon water, heated loungers, and mist showers really did change my mood.
We changed and went to dinner on the main square in this cute restaurant with many table outside under a large canopy covered in iron designs of vines and baskets of bright flowers growing in every open space. This menu had pictures and we ordered conservatively this time. However, it is still a lot of food. Important note: when ordering food in a restaurant in Macedonia, order one dish and a salad (ones with beets are phenomenal) to share with another person...the portions are huge! You can always order another dish if you are still hungry afterwards and enjoy people watching while your second course is made. I had chocolate ice cream for dessert, which was made from real chocolate and had little chocolate flakes in it. It was so creamy and delightful. I left mom and dad to relax outside while I went back to the hotel for my spa treatment.
Bliss. I am not sure why I don't do this more often. The last time I had any sort of spa treatment was in Istanbul three years ago. I feel like one small treatment each year would be rejuvenating, but not over indulgent. I had a green tea and cucumber scrub for an hour. It was so lovely and after so many days in the sun, despite my sunscreen use, I am sure my skin needed a little TLC. I headed back to the room in my robe and slippers. I quickly photographed the Millennium Cross that is illuminated in the mountain surrounding Skopje and headed off to bed a much more relaxed gal.
Goodnight.
Liz
Transit day. Not too much happened this morning.
We woke up and had breakfast and went back to our room to enjoy the luxury before we had to sign out.
We were picked up for the airport by the man who drove us home from our dinner at Skopski Merak on our first day here. He is Macedonia. Who lived in Detroit for six years. He was sponsored for a green card, but during the recession his boss didn't make enough money to qualify him to stay. He was a tool and die maker in the US and is now driving cabs to make ends meet. He offered us a ride to the airport for only 40% of what it cost us that first night. Of course we called him. He has such a peaceful nature and knew quite bit about the world. I used this chance to ask some of the questions that had been in my mind since touring around Skopje. When I inquired about the splatters of paint on the monuments, he told me that it only happened in the last few months as supporters of the opposition tried to protest and show displeasure. Apparently, they are a small minority and after the election in December (where the current government is slated to win with much domestic and international favour) things should return to normal. He did mention that they target certain buildings and areas as a way to signal what has caused them to be unhappy. Which is why most of the old town was unharmed, including the fountain honouring mothers. The Alexander the Great statue is 92 feet tall and there is a smaller replica in the airport (Yarnaby posed there like a tourist). Our driver also told us that our hotel was only about two weeks old and had just opened. You could tell that they were incredibly keen to serve and there were a few hiccups that they were working out. It was so lovely at the hotel and we were one of their first guests.
At the airport, I went to the currency exchange booth and tried to change my Macedonian Denars into Croation Kunas. She said that the entire do that there. It seemed like there was only the option of about five currencies to pick from. I figured that I might have better luck in Zagreb, Croatia.
We checked in for our flight and headed to security. Coincidentally, we had the same passport control man as we did when we entered. He remembered us from afar and said, "Oh, it's you three again!" He asked us if we enjoyed our time and we had a few good laughs. It was probably the kindest passport control experience I have ever had. I was surprised to be remembered and it seems that the three of us keep leaving lasting impressions wherever we go (e.g., the crazy family in Prague).
We landed in Zagreb and before leaving the airport, I headed to the currency exchange booth. I waited in line to be told that they don't accept Macedonian Denars. I am not sure if there are s long standing animosity between these two countries that they refuse to accept the other's currency. Or if it is simply a case of the airports being small, but I was shocked. You would assume that the countries that don't utilize the Euro would have better currency exchange booths. I have determined that my best bet is at a larger airport, such as Rome on our way home.
We left the terminal and went outside to meet our hotel shuttle. It wasn't there. I walked the length of the airport looking for the white van with the hotel logo. There are a lot of white vans at an airport (e.g., taxis and shuttles). Nothing. It was 6pm by this page I t and the temperature was still 37 degrees Celsius and incredibly humid. We waited an hour while I became more and more frustrated. I thought that I had planned things so well that we wouldn't have to be screwed over y another taxi driver. I went into the airport looking for a phone (they don't seem to exist anymore in the days of technology) and after over an hour we relinquished ourselves to yet another taxi driver that gouged is on our date. Our hotel was only about a five minute ride, but ended up being ten because despite the fact that I tried to show him the address and name the taxi driver waved me off and go the location wrong and had to circle around to find it! I have said this to mom before, but I feel that if you are a taxi driver sitting at an airport, bus terminal, or train station, you really should know your hotels! I can't believe how many times they haven't known. In Ljubljana our hotel was on THE MAIN STREET! Even if you didn't know the hotel name, you should know the street. I digress.
We got to the hotel and I was determined to express my displeasure about the lack of service. If you know me personally, you know that I am horrible at confrontation. Horrible. On numerous occasions mom and dad have asked to get the waiter's attention for the bill. Which ends up being a long process due to my unwillingness to be a 'demanding' customer. I struggle to reconcile how to seek out what I need or bring up a topic I need to discuss without feeling inherently guilty about it. I did bring up the air conditioning in Bratislava and was motivated to discuss the shuttle upon arrival. We arrived to no one at the desk and a staff member came and said that the room we booked was for one person, not three! I calmly expressed what we had just been through when the real reception worker appeared. I started over again. We had a room for three people, but the extra bed wasn't set up. Mom had my back here and helped me ask for some sort of compensation. She called her manager and they gave us 30% off at the restaurant. We ordered well! We had steaks, salads, side dishes, and a lovely chocolate mousse cake.
We returned to the room to relax before bed. We watched NCIS and tried to get the AC to work. It didn't. I put in my earplugs and went to bed, hoping to wake up in a better mood.
Goodnight.
Liz
I didn't wake up in a better mood.
During the night, I tried to sleep as close to the cement wall as I could to get some relief for the heat. Which did work for a little while. When I got up in the morning one of my earplugs was missing. We ripped the room apart many time. I have no idea what I did in the night for it to disappear out of my ear ( we even theorized about an earplug fairy haha).
We enjoyed breakfast and used the hotel shuttle to get to the airport. There we caught the town shuttle to wait at the bus station to catch our bus to Zadar.
I am surprised by the lack of information in Croatia for tourists (especially websites). I feel like I am part tour guide, partly due to the fact that I have been booking the hotels) and I can't answer my parents' questions here. At least with my fabulous website (seat61 mentioned earlier) I could find the facts they requested, but not here. Croatia had been a hot travel spot for the past decade and it is peak tourist season, so I did anticipate more information.
Our bus ride to Zadar went through some beautiful scenery. We started driving along nicely the highway with lovely green fields surrounding us and mountains in the distance. That changed into us driving along the curves of the base of the mountain and over. We snaked our way along some rocky paths. We kept passing signs for Zadar that pointed in one direction and going the other way. I was befuddled. We continued along scenery that dad described as 'New New Mexico' and finally crossed over the peak and headed towards the water. Yay! However, we then drive back up in the direction of the maintains. Our three and a half hour bus ride ended up being another ninety minutes before we got into Zadar.
We got a taxi to our apartment which was out of the way of the main tourist area and took an interesting path where the taxi's road ran out and we off-roared temporally. We finally found it and got inside. We met Goran, the owner of the apartment, who was very helpful. He helped us find boat tickets to Ist (searching catamaran cs ferry makes a big difference). He suggested a traditional meat place for dinner called Taramis. He drove us to the restaurant, which consisted of pulling out of his driveway, moving about one hundred metres around the grocery store and parking. We were in the car for one minute. Seemed silly, but I think he wanted to help us but not let us get lost if he could direct us properly. At Taramis, they roasted pigs on a spit in traditional wood fired barbecues. We were hungry from not having lunch and ordered more than we should have. We had so much meat! All delicious, but there was enough to feed four people.
We headed home via the grocery store and bought snacks to have in the next couple of days and laundry detergent. Mom and I did almost all of our laundry (3 loads) and hung it in various places around the apartment. It is a good thing no one came by as we had our clothes hanging in the bathroom, kitchen, and bedrooms.
We turned on the apartment air conditioner and I quickly realized that the location of my room would be the hottest. So I moved to sleep in the family room on the sofa bed and enjoyed a cool room again.
Goodnight
Liz
This morning was an early start. In order to catch our 8am catamaran we had to leave the house by seven to give ourselves time to buy tickets, find the boat, and make sure we avoided traffic. Goran, our landlord, drove us there and arranged our tickets to the island of Ist for us. My student has family members that run a restaurant on Ist and for the three years that I have taught her, she keeps asking me to visit if I happen to be in Croatia.
On the boat, dad and I ordered a coffee to start our day. This coffee could cut through steel! It was a cappuccino and it was so strong that I felt like it was going to destroy my stomach lining. Yikes. I saw men down two or three on the ride over and I can't help but wonder how their digestive system is and if they are able to sleep at night.
The ride through the islands were lovely. Each little island seemed to have a distinguishing characteristic, but still have the Mediterranean charm of white cement buildings with terracotta clay tile roofs. As I stated out the window I could t help but wonder if I was going too far again. Some of my friends often comment that I need to reign it in at times as I do too much. Travelling to a semi-isolated island in the middle of the Adriatic Sea with no arrangements made would probably qualify as going too far. I figure that if worse come to worse and no one recognizes us, it is lovely day on the sea and putting our feet in the water is a lovely way to spend the day. Would it all be worth it?
It was worth it. With great risk often comes great reward. We disembarked and I was in the middle of taking photos of the boat when I was met by Alyssa's dad, Danilo. I introduced him to my parents and our special day had really begun.
We got a brief overview of the island as we walked back from the boat. The island has only about 60 permanent residents during the winter months. Therefore, the island has no need for cars. There are cute little paths connecting the houses. Every building here has a story from Danilo's past that is heartwarming and reminds me of an era long gone. As we walked the streets we stopped and waved at each of the neighbours who were having coffee under the shade of a canopy (sometimes made of wine grapes) in their yard. Everyone knew each other and stopped to chat with us. Even though it had been decades since he moved to Canada and almost a decade since his last visit, everyone stopped to talk to us and give a cheek kiss hello.
He asked us if we wanted to wander the island or come to the Sunday morning church service with him. We all chose church. We sat in the back the back while Danilo say with his mother in her usual spot. At this check everyone has a designated spot and we hoped we weren't taking someone's special spot. There were many people standing in the church, as the pews were full with parishioners. (This is in stark contrast to Prague where they have numerous churches that remain empty due to 70% being atheist). The service was in Croatian and was lovely. Once a month the congregation circles around the outside of the church while they sing and this Sunday happened to be the day. It was really quite special.
After church, we went to a nearby cafe with his mom and sister to get to know each other better (obviously with a lot of translation support from Danilo). During this conversation I learned that two times a year the village climbs to the top of the mountain to have a special church service to celebrate a special day. This service was just a couple of days before. I looked up to see a lone church up quite a large hill. I asked how long it would take for someone to get up there and he said it only took him twenty-five minutes. I am sure I would need triple that time. Ten times that amount of I brought my camera along. Later in the week he will also be participating in a swimming marathon. I was (and still am) impressed.
We then went to his sister's and Brother-in-law's restaurant called Carruba. The restaurant was closed for the public at this time and we had a four course meal. We had prosciutto and melon, homemade gnocchi, chicken goulash, strudel, and dessert squares. The food was amazing. We also learned that Croatians mix their water other wine. Mom and I both tried and enjoyed it. It is nice in the hot sun.
After lunch, his family went to have a siesta while we wandered. Mom chose to put her feet in the water and sad and I did the tour of the island. He told us that went he was little every family had at least two sheep. Since the island was isolated and there aren't cars, the sheep would run wild in the hills until February when they needed to be caught. He would run with his friends through the hills trying to catch the sheep to return to the owners for a monetary reward. I just love this story. I can imagine local children running after sheep in the green hills and the sheep winning for quite some time. This pass time explains how he made it up the mountain in 25 minutes and is swimming a marathon later this week. We saw the only school on the island that used to have four grades in each class with two classes. It closed ten years ago due to low enrolment. He also talked about some of the surrounding islands that aren't inhabited. There are about fifteen close islands and if you take a boat there you can have the island to yourself for the day. If the locals see a boat docked, they just go to the next private island. This would be such a treat here with the clear turquoise waters, warm sun, and no one to disturb you.
Everyone in the family walked us to the pier to see us off. Being that it was Sunday night of a long weekend the boat was considerably more full than on the way over and they wanted to make sure we had seats. We haves goodbye to our gracious hosts as we pulled away for the dock. As we sat in our seats, everyone was talking about us and knew who we were. We were somewhat like celebrities.
On the television on the boat there was an interesting jousting tournament with rings. The Knights were dressed in traditionally sewn vests and hats and rode their horses along the narrow stone walled streets. There was a tiny ring suspended on a wire that they had to spear and lift off for points. Note to Andrea and Cheryl: doesn't this remind you of the Merry-Go-Round we were obsessed with in Paris? The Croatians have this tournament each year as it was this method of fighting in their history that held back enemies and kept Croatia free from their rule.
We landed at the pier and headed towards the Sea Organ. Mom and I had seen this online and we were so excited to hear it. In a nutshell they built organ pipes into the steps at the pier. You sit on the steps and listen to the air being pushed by the waves out little holes creating a calming and almost haunting song. I suggest you look it up on YouTube, as the reality is quite different. There were hoards of people loudly talking and streets performers with boom boxes for their dances and a musician with a synthesizer. We were so disappointed! There shouldn't be any performers allowed in the area and a couple of signs requesting silent observation would do wonders for this place.
We headed home to bed.
Goodnight.
Liz
We were leaving for Dubrovnik today. Many people stop at Split along the way, but we realized that wouldn't leave us enough time in Dubrovnik.
We checked out of our apartment and headed to the mall for breakfast. We sat at a cafe called Biberon Cakes. We thought they they would sell pastries in addition to cake. Wrong. They don't even sell cake. Just gelato and coffee. As much as we have enjoyed gelato for lunch, we knew we needed something more substantial to ride us over for the long bus ride ahead of us. We ended up going to the bus station with many cafes and all they would serve us for food was burgers and fries. After three attempts we resigned to having burgers for breakfast. Our burgers arrived and they were as big as my head. I held one up to pose for a picture and I had to hold it low enough to see some of my face. It was a great burger, but I was stuffed!
We got on our bus for Dubrovnik and settled in for our six hour bus ride (we had our fingers crossed that this one would adhere to timetables). At the first stop we had to get off and switch buses. They transferred our luggage and we were off again. We got to Split (which looks lovely for anyone wanting to travel there) and I noticed they had Popeye and Smurf fast food restaurants. I had a nice chuckle at that. At Split we had to switch buses again. We were pretty sure this was our last bus that would take us to the end...but you never know.
One thing that I was woefully unaware of was the mountainous landscape of Croatia. We were winding all around the base of the mountains again. The scenery was stunning with blue sea on my right and rocky and green mountains on my left.
Suddenly, our driver turned on the interior lights and made an announcement in Croatian. I swear I heard the word passport. Mom took out our passports and a policeman boarded our bus. He walked down the aisle and left. We were cool nd used about a police check in the middle of a highway, but we were motoring along and that was all that mattered. Then it happened again. This time we checked the shirt of the policeman and it said Croatia. We were confused but again, he glanced to see that we had passports and then simply got off the bus. It was at this point that I decided to try our free wifi (they never seem to work) and googled what that was. It was a small section of land that connects Bosnia and Herzogovina to the coast. One more country I have 'visited'. Haha
One thing I have failed to mention is that I am enjoying the retro cars here in Croatia. I am ignorant to car models (just ask Jenn) but there are so many from the 70's and 80's.
We got off our bus and hopped into a taxi. He drove us to the edge of the old town and pointed and said, "hotel. 100 metres." Off we walked lugging our bags through massive crowds of people. I felt like a salmon. To say that this place is busy would be the greatest understatement of the year. However our surroundings were stunning. As mom put it, "it is magical here!" The old Town is surrounded by beautiful stone walls. Everything in the old section is the same colour of light sand stone and is illuminated at night. I felt like I was on a movie set or something in Vegas (too good to be real). Dubrovnik at night is spectacular.
It took a while to find our hotel, but we did. Dora showed us to our room and explained a few things to us. One question I had was if there are always that many people in Dubrovnik. It is crowded! She said that on cruise ship days it is worse with an extra ten thousand people coming in. Yikes.
We had a little picnic at the bistro table at the end of the beds with our food we bought this morning and headed off to bed.
Goodnight.
Liz
This morning we continued our picnic in our room from last night for a light breakfast and headed out to explore the old town. We wandered around taking photos of everything. The city walls are beautiful. The Onofrio fountain in the square dates back to the 1400s when they attempted to bring fresh water to the people. It has faces with spouts of water coming out of them. The water is nice and cold and ready to drink (which is a bonus in the Croatian summer sun). We filled up our bottles a couple of times.
On our way up some beautiful steps my parents say last night while I was hunting down the tiny entrance to our hotel, I saw some hand painted artwork. They had some lovely magnets and dad agreed that it should be his Croatia souvenir.
There is so much jewellery here in Dubrovnik. Every souvenir shop sells jewellery. So, naturally I thought finding a ring would be simple. Not so. The rings here are either forged to look medieval or are incredibly ornate. Neither of which suit what I am looking for. I feel like I went into over half of the shops today, which is saying a lot. Many people say, "No. No simple rings" when I inquire.
Within the small old town there are many churches. All of which are exquisite. The Croatians take a lot of pride in their religion and it shows in their churches. Beautiful artwork decorate the walls. We visited a couple of churches and mom lit candles for people back home.
We stopped for lunch back near Onofrio's fountain and dad enjoyed muddles and fries. Mom and I had fries and gelato for lunch. The fries were so good that we ordered another basket for the table. Calories don't count on vacation, I am told.
After lunch we joined a bus tour of the city. This bus tour had no running commentary, just transportation to some lovely locations. We drove to the top of the mountain near the water's edge for a beautiful photo opportunity of the old town. We drove to the bridge and around the marina. It was a great little tour and made for some fantastic viewing.
We were tired at this point. The sun was rather draining today. We headed back to the room to cool off and I ended up having a siesta. Delightful (and necessary).
We noticed that when we were waking around yesterday the crowds weren't so bad as they were on the first day. We asked the bus tour man about that and he said that there was only one little cruise ship today. On Thursday (they day we are leaving) another three cruise ships are coming with 10,000 people. Wow! We have good timing.
A very popular tour here is the Game of Thrones tour. Apparently a large portion of the filming happens here and thousands of people come just for that. I have never watched the show, but I can see why it films here. It is stunning.
We took the cable car up to the top of the mountain for dinner at the Panorama Restaurant. We hadn't made a reservation, so we didn't get a seat at the edge, but the other side was perfect. We had fantastic views of the mountains and the Adriatic Sea. We couldn't see the old town without being right on the edge, but the cable car structures actually block that view. Our dinner was incredibly fancy. We had drinks (beers for them and a mojito for me) before our meal arrived. Our meal was great. I have a rib eye steak with masked potatoes and veggies, dad had the sea bass, but mom's dinner was hilarious. She ordered the King prawns and they were massive! Her meal was labour intensive and messy. I will try to post photos later. It makes for a good story to tell later.
We rode the cable car down after the sun had set and Dubrovnik was again illuminated. It was a beautiful view and many photos were snapped. You could tell that people had the same idea as we did. Come up before sunset, eat a meal while the sun sets, linger, and go down in darkness. It truly is the best way to see the city from above.
On the way down, I needed to revisit a store on the way up the alley with many steps to see a ring that was still in my mind. Mom and dad went along the road (to take photos and save her knees). At the store I found a ring that reminded me of all the winding roads that we have travelled. It was perfect. I also bought myself a lovely Murano glass necklace pendant as an unexpected surprise. We met back at the hotel and headed off to bed.
Goodnight.
Liz
This morning I started my day early to hike up to the fire station. I am not sure if I mentioned that I went yesterday and was told to come back at 9am. Off I trekked up the hill and was surprised that when I reached the top to see all of them outside smoking. I held up my phone with my translated sentence to them up in the staircase and I heard, "no." I was devastated. I started making motions and trying to translate random words. One man, with the best, but limited, English, seems to take pity on me. It looked like he spoke with his superior and said, "change" and walked away. I waited in a very awkward silence. All of them above me on the stairs and none of us dating to speak. I was happy when my other fireman came back and switched shorts with me. I decided to hightail it out of there after many "hvalas" to make sure they didn't change their minds.
When I got back to the room, mom had also returned from buying pastries for our breakfast and we had another bedroom picnic. Chocolate croissants always make my day better. Yum.
We went to Tourist info to figure out our travel to Montenegro and quickly realized we would get more information online. Therefore we decided to wander through the Old town to find Buza Bar. It is a bar on the edge of the old fort cliff where you can sit under a canopy and watch the sea. It was delightful. We saw submarines, kayakers, pirate ships, yachts, and sailboats. You probably have seen photos of this bar online without realizing it, I have seen it on my Facebook feed many times.
It was time for lunch. Of course that means more gelato. We loved our gelato so much yesterday that we walked back there to enjoy more. The girls there scoop extra large double scoops and count it as one scoop. The forest berry gelato was amazing and I got a full cup of it. Yum.
I have been meaning to comment on how many tall people we have seen in Croatia. There are a large number of tall people that seem to tower over everyone else. Minimum 6'5" and over. They are tall bean poles and there are so many of them. I am wondering if it is something in the water here. Haha
We went to the room to cool off before going out again later for dinner. Alfor dinner we went to the restaurant the owns our rooms in the old town. I had a fish plate and I couldn't believe what I received. Again, massive portions of fish, calamari, and shrimp. I was incredibly stuffed at the end. We walked to the old port to see a new sight and enjoy people watching until sunset. You see, Dubrovnik is a spectacular sight at night all illuminated. The old stone work is so beautiful at night, as mom said on the first night, "it is magical here!" We strolled in the old city for quite some time, as it was our last night here.
Tomorrow is Montenegro and I need some rest before then.
Goodnight.
Liz
Dubrovnik is quite an extraordinary place to visit. All three of us enjoyed our time here.
Before we left the old town we made sure to run the heads on the Onofrio Fountain for good luck. Something we learned about last night. Everyone needs a little luck on their side.
On our way out the gate, we saw ropes directing which way you can walk through. Which means the city is going to be packed because our first night was ridiculous and there wasn't a rope that day. We were told that often there are 10,000 extra from that amount on Monday night, so I can imagine that today will be a swarm of crowds and you won't be able to move. One guy selling boat tours suggested that we take a boat on Thursday to avoid the city since it will be "so full of tourists". We have t med so many things well on this trip. We have been very lucky (we missed the Skopje flooding by about ten days) and we enjoyed an almost empty old town as we said farewell, knowing it was about to be hectic.
We caught a cab this morning with some hesitation. We had only 87.40 Kunas left. I couldn't remember how much I paid for the taxi ride on the first night, but I knew it would be close. Unfortunately, the traffic around the fresh fruit market caused some delays that put us over our amount. The taxi was 100 Kunas. Luckily, our taxi driver was happy to accept Euros to make up the difference and get a nice tip in the process. Phew. Our taxi driver asked on us on the way to the bus station if we had tickets because "too busy...a lot are sold out". Luckily, we did purchase online last night and then it was just a matter of waiting for our bus to arrive.
At the bus terminal we experienced something that seems to be common here in Croatia... no departures board to let you know which platform your bus will be parked in. I asked at information and they told me platform three. When it was time to load the bus, there were two buses there. This has been driving mom crazy. It does make it hard t know which bus is yours, especially without any other signs posted. At the one bus stop (in Split, I believe) we were told to go to platform 3...and there were three of them with that label. Mom was not impressed. We made it on to the bus, but not before she had to hand write our tickets again because they aren't equipped to handle e-tickets. When we tried to load our luggage, they charged us a fee...except we had already given all of our Kunasto the taxi driver and he wasn't impress with a twenty Euro bill. He said we could pay later.
As the bus pulled out of Dubrovnik we saw four large cruise ships (plus ferries and yachts) docked in town and we were very happy with our timing. The ships blocked so many wonderful photo opportunities that would have spoiled our bus tour the other day.
After fifty minutes we arrived at the Croatian border. The police man boarded the bus and checked each passport. If you aren't from an EU country, he took them with him off the bus. Our bus driver got back on the bus and started to drive away. A number of passengers were concerned. One man from Australia went up to the driver and then was tasked with handing out all of our passports. Whereas at the Montenegrin border, the police man had a machine strapped to his forearm and swiped and stamped our passports on the spot. I liked that. Two stamps today. It is a good day.
If you travel in Croatia by bus, which you are almost forced to do (rare ferries, no trains) be sure to add about two hours on to the scheduled arrival time. We have consistently been on the bus for at least ninety minutes extra each time. Just a friendly heads up.
All Montenegrins love the beach. It is Thursday around noon and everyone seems to be on the beach.
We finally arrive in Kotor after a picturesque bus ride around the bay of Kotor. We thought it would be wise to book our bus on to Budva before we went exploring. The lady at the bus station got made at us for not having 0.50 in Euros because now she had to make change. We told here we only had bills and she could keep the change. "No!" she barked at us. Okay. She then asked us to see if anyone else had it, so we asked people in line behind us and they said they didn't have any either. She then got mad because if we are buying tickets for three people, why didn't we ask the third person. We told her that he doesn't carry the money, that is why we didn't ask him. She literally threw her arms up in the air and continued to huff and puff. She gave us as much small change as she could. Mom's purse would have sent someone to the ER if they collided with it.
We marched into town with our luggage and raindrops started to fall. We had seen the clouds growing on our way around the bay. We took our usual position, drinks and a meal under a canopy to watch people go by. After another burger for breakfast (due to no Kunas in Dubrovnik), I marched down to the Kotor Old Town. It was adorable! My favourite old town to date and I forgot my camera! I was so focused on getting a ring that I stupidly forgot my camera. Oh how I loved this old town. The clock tower, church, and quaint alleys made for some phenomenal photo opportunities...for everyone else. I bought a ring that is pretty different from my other ones and headed back to my parents.
We decided to catch an earlier bus and as we did the rain stopped again. Of course.
We arrived in Budva and caught a taxi. I am currently cursing this driver and hopes karma gets him. He says he knows the hotel, which was partly correct. Drive to a street and says, "that way straight and left. Left then straight. Straight left." We walked up a steep hill for quite some time. More than we should have. I was irate when I saw a different taxi coming down the hill that he refused to drive up! He could have brought us closer. I go up the street which curves left a few times and arrive at a dead end. Nothing around! No one in sight. Luckily, a dog started to bark at mom which brought out a man who saw us and turned around. He continued to bark which brought out a second man who gave us directions. However, these directions were to go down MANY steps down a steep hill. Mom and dad asked me to check it out before they ventured down. So, I went down and hiked back up. Then holed back down with luggage. When we got to the bottom there was a lovely road with a roundabout and a taxi was dropping a customer off at our hotel. Oooh, we are so mad at our driver!
We got to our room and we all needed showers. I needed to cool down literally and figuratively. Once I was clean and cool, we headed out to the town.
We are near the old town and the port and thought it would be great to eat by the water at the Old Fisherman's Pub. I ordered a Caesar salad with shrimp on top. What I got was a soup of watered down Caesar sauce and tiny shrimp the size of my pinky nail that were mushy (not fully cooked I predict). The salad was all soggy and terrible. I feel like I will pay for this meal later tonight. Luckily, the large platter that my parents ordered had enough food to fee four people and I ate some of their shrimp and calamari.
We explored the old town and shopped. Dad found a magnet. I found so many rings, but six rigs from Montenegro would break so many self-imposed rules. We had some gelato before heading home to bed.
Goodnight.
Liz
We woke up this morning and decided that we wanted to see the old town again in the daylight. It was a good opportunity for us to see it in a different light and take pictures. We roamed the streets and did some photo shoots before heading to a beach club to sit under the shade of the canopy and have drinks. This was a perfect spot because you could see the old town walls, the beach, the water, and a beautiful island just off the coast.
Before heading back to the hotel we had lunch. Gelato. Of course.
Back at the hotel I asked our receptionist to call us a taxi. She said it would arrive in ten minutes. One came instantly for a guest of the hotel beside us. We waited fifteen minutes (dad was getting impatient) and asked reception again. In the time, a taxi came and was stolen by a guest from the other hotel again. This time the reception told the cab driver to ask for our names and he arrived one minute later. Mom hopped in the cab and said, "Liz, this cab will take you straight to Bar for a flat fee!" We asked him if he could take us there and he did. Calculating the fact that we would need a cab to the bus, the bus, a cab to the new hotel, and an indeterminable amount of waiting...this was a great choice. We actually think it was cheaper for the three of us and the nice air conditioned car was lovely. However, not as picturesque as the view on our ride there. We passed many beaches and islands at which you could easily spend a couple of days relaxing. In Montenegro, the taxi drivers honk quite a bit. If they wait for a second because of someone else's bad driving, they honk.
At our hotel in Bar we had the most interesting check in process ever. We were greeted by three family members. They saw my name in the book and they walked us upstairs to our room. At first, we all stood in the room not knowing what to say or what happens next. However, the one member who spoke English welcomed us and sent someone for our key and we were left to settle in.
We soon went for a walk to the nearby beach and had more patio drinks. The water here is the most beautiful shade of blue. As it washes up on the shore it lightens in colour and looks like a beautiful painting. There beaches here are full of people. The Montenegrins love being on a beach!
On our way home we stopped at a nearby restaurant and had one of our cheapest dinners yet. The food was good and reasonably priced in a tourist area, which you wouldn't think is possible. Maybe Bar isn't a tourist hot spot yet?
We headed home and watched some Olympics before heading to bed.
Oh my goodness. I almost forgot to describe my hotel room. I think the best way to describe it is 'Oma Chic'. Every type of floral pattern and colour has been used on a sheet, blanket, or throw pillow. It is quite hilarious and reminds me of so many visits to Algoma Mills.
Goodnight.
Liz
We didn't have breakfast included in our hotel stay today. Our plan was to wander and see what was open. However, the family was outside in the courtyard to free us and we told them we were looking for breakfast and they jumped out of their seats to start cooking. We were just being social, but it was very nice of them.
We sat in the courtyard waiting for Ilir to come get us from Albania. As of this point in the trip, I was no longer in charge. It will be a nice change of pace to not have to do logistics. We made an estimate on when Ilir would arrive at breakfast and dad won the bet, which made his day!
Ilir came to pick us up at our hotel after he managed to get through the crazy lunch time traffic that appeared rather suddenly. Mom, dad, and I hopped in the back of the car to enjoy the scenery (and not have to second guess if we are on the correct bus to where we want to go). Ilir told us many interesting facts about the region. He kept pointing out fruit trees that I am sure we had driven by many times before and didn't notice. There were: fig, pomegranate, lemon, orange, kiwi, tangerine, dates, persimmon, and more that I possibly have forgotten.
We finally arrived at the Montenegrin and Albanian border. The line up was pretty significant in size, but we were told it was worse this morning coming in the other direction. Dad was mentioning that he was mentally preparing himself for an intense border check. Ilir quickly corrected him and told him that they are very relaxed. He wasn't kidding. We drove up to our designated person and they handed them one ID card, as the other had fallen. She waved us through, even with five people in the car. We pulled over and the driver got out with our passports in hand. I asked if we need to follow and was told, "No. He is going to go stamp your passport both out and in himself, since you mentioned that you wanted a stamp earlier." That is what he did. He walked into the rooms of both countries and stamped our passports himself. This was unbelievable and hands down the easiest border crossing I have ever experienced.
We arrived at his house and I got to meet his lovely wife, Azra. The five of us had a large lunch. Azra kept bringing out dish after dish of traditional foods. We had the local varieties of: cornbread, cheeses, meat patties, whey (yoghurt milk after cheese curd is made), and so much more. We had halva, a sesame seed based desert-like merengue. We also had figs. The figs in this country are phenomenal and most Albanians in Canada won't eat them as they are so disappointing after having grown up with these local figs.
Off we went with a different driver to Fort Rozava that sits atop a hill in the middle of town. The legend has it that the three brothers trying to build it had problems and found every day's work destroyed when they woke up every morning. They went to a wise man who told them that a human sacrifice would fix their problems. The three brothers agreed to ask their wives to come bring them lunch and the wife that showed up would be sacrificed. However, the two older brothers told their wives what was going to happen and the youngest wife was told she would be sacrificed. She agreed to it as long as they allowed her to nurse her baby at the same time and to only stone her one side. Now there are walls inside the Fort that seem to drip a milky white substance in the area that she was stoned. This Fort offers many great views of Lake Shkoder and the city. I was quite content photographing many different areas of the Fort itself as well. There are three rivers that meet in Shkoder, that also make for some beautiful vistas.
We went to leave the Fort, but someone had blocked our car in. We waited for probably and hour for them to come out of the Fort. In that hour, Ilir and his friend tried to lift the car blocking us to shift it over a little. They also tried to do a series of turns to get the car out. None of it worked, but I did find their efforts impressive.
We drove to Lake Shkoder to have drinks on the Shore at a bar. There were many turkeys, chickens, and ducks at this place. The turkey did not like the look of us at all. He kept lurking around us and subtly moving closer and closer. Luckily, a. Ramen little girl enjoyed chasing this turkey and he was so scared of her that he went back into his pen. The sunset over the lake was quite gorgeous and I enjoyed snapping more photos while I sipped my peach juice.
We the headed home and found a house full of people. We shook hands with everyone and sat amongst them. They all wanted to see Ilir as it was his first time back in eight years. There seemed to be more people arriving regularly. Having come from a small family, it was a new experience for me to have so many people visiting your home. Eventually, the family members left and we thought we would get ready for bed. Instead Azra brought out dinner for us. We weren't really that hungry, but we wanted to be polite. Then it was off to bed.
My bed was an old fashioned wool bed. My bed has a metal spring frame and on to sits a wool cushion that zips open to hold wool. Every night, you fluff the mattress to make it fluffy after it gets compacted the night before. I was excited to try it out.
Goodnight.
Liz
My sleep last night in my wool bed was much better than I thought it would be. The wool does compact under your body which helps keep your position. I woke up and almost had a perfect imprint from the night before.
This morning, we were served another large breakfast, even though we were still quite full from before. We them got in the car again for a car ride to a beautiful area with mountains and rivers. On the way there, we stopped to see a 2400 year old bridge. It was made with hand placed stones and curved quite beautifully. While we were there we saw children herding cows, goats, and sheep along the roads creating their own sort of traffic jams.
We drove a little further along the base of the winding roads until we reached a perfect spot to stop. We were at the base of the mountains an the stream was a variety of teal blues to indicate the depths of the water. There were many good spots to swim and a couple of locals were there for the day to cool off in the water. This made for some great photo opportunities.
We headed back towards home when we were done and found a cafe on the river for some cool drinks. Here we enjoyed watching the local men trying to catch the fish that repeatedly jump out of the water. It was as if the fish were taunting the fishermen with they rods, but one man was fortunate to catch a good sized fish. We enjoyed wood oven baked pizzas and some drinks before heading home.
It was siesta time for everyone. I didn't quite feel like it and opted to work on my blog (I was almost two days behind) on the front house steps in the shade of the many fruit trees. Azra came to join me after about one paragraph and I quickly put my phone away to spend some time with her. She is such a kind person. Some family friends came by to visit and soon I was enjoying listening for the few words I knew in Albanian. The three ladies decided to have espresso and went to the side fence to meet with a teenaged girl who brought them a tray with three espressos later. I was amazed. I found out later that the one house offers a cafe type of service to the neighbourhood and it just so happens to be adjacent to Azra's house.
After everyone had woken up from their siestas, we all walked into town to see a photography museum exhibit. However, we arrived at the closing time and decided it would be postponed until tomorrow. Instead we did some of my favourite things: ice cream and ring shopping. We went for traditional Albanian ice cream which is made with just milk (it was sweet which makes me think it was condensed milk). It was incredibly creamy and delicious. Yum. Then Azra and I kept popping into the few jewellery stores that were still open and on the third try we found my ring. I had a lot of fun walking with Azra as I got to learn a lot about certain Albanian traditions. I was very interested in their marriage ceremonies. There is the legal marriage and then the ceremony. Which differs based on religion in Albania. Being that they are Muslim, I learned about their two engagement/wedding ceremonies called "coffees" (I really should have double checked the spelling). The little "coffee" ceremony is like an engagement where the little ring is given and the big "coffee" is when they are considered married after the exchanging of wedding rings. There was a lot more to describe about who attends and expectations and present exchanges that was interesting to learn.
We walked along the piazza and found a cafe for a nighttime drink and meet Azra's sister-law before heading home to bed.
Or so I thought.
When we got home at ten pm, Azra brought out dinner for us! We are so completely full from this trip. However, it is impolite to say no. We had Burek and yoghurt. Burek is a traditional meat and onion dish that is cooked and rolled up into a phyllo pastry dough. It is delicious and you pair it with yoghurt.
Now it really was bedtime. I went to sleep on my wool bed.
Goodnight.
Liz
Today was a shortened day in order to get to bed early for our crazy flight time.
We had breakfast this morning and walked into town again. We stopped at the Old Albanian House museum which showed many historical artifacts thousands of years old. The intricacies of the outfits worn throughout history for various regions were impressive and quite unique. The furniture of the house was delicately carved and beautiful.
Then we proceeded to the Photography museum to see the exhibit of Albanians from the 19th century onwards. The photography was striking and the camera equipment was interesting to see.
We stopped at another cafe for drinks. Today the sun seems to feel extraordinarily hot. We sipped our drinks for quite some time to avoid the oppressive sun. As much as we tried, that just isn't quite possible. We bought dad's magnet and headed home for lunch.
After another delicious and filling meal, we all showered, packed, and got ready for bed around six pm. As we need to be up at two am for our taxi to the airport.
Goodnight.
Liz
Today was a jam packed day!
We woke up at 2am to get ready to go to the airport. Ilir kindly arranged a ride for us and we were on our way at 2:30am. The drive to Tirana airport was traffic free at that time and took about an hour. We passed so many gas stations along the way that dad thinks they might have the highest number of gas stations per capita. I am not sure if these types of facts are recorded, but I might have to research that.
We arrived at the airport and we're ready to check in with three hours to spare. It was a good thing too because AlItalia Airlines was quite slow. We couldn't believe how slow their check in was. It made me miss the Easy Jet check in debacle from England. Three workers for the whole flight is a good number, but only if they actually work. The lady running our line processed one person in half an hour. The manager was there and he was watching the other lady. Therefore, I presume that she didn't have a technical issue or he would have been called. Regardless, British Airways personnel were forced to the I in passengers otherwise we wouldn't have made the flight. Gross incompetence.
Regardless of how we started, we boarded the plane and landed in Rome for our day your. The line at customs was long and not moving very well. This didn't help ease our frustrations from the morning. I lamented that booth was for "All Passports" but they seemed to only be taking EU people. As I said that an airport worker came and opened the barrier for a large section of people and the line moved a bit. It happened again and I was thinking we were in the perfect spot to get the third round for number five (who processed more people than anyone else there). I hovered at the area where you get taken to five, when I really should have moved on when (dad and mom had) and he waved us over. I crawled under the rope and we were next in line. Success! Our moods greatly improved at skipping an hour long line.
We were met at the gate for our tour by an older gentleman holding a sign with mom's name. It was really cool. I have always wanted to have that happen. It makes you feel quite special. We hopped in his car and headed for Vatican City. It was important to me to get there first as many blogs talk of the insane number of people there. Vatican City is a separate country, but try as you might you can't get a passport stamp there. Instead, I got a couple of pictures in front of St. Peter's Basilica. We drove past the line for the Vatican Tour which was already a kilometre long and he told me that from that point it is a four hour wait to get in! Wow!
We headed back to Rome and went to many sights. The thing about our driver was that since we were just in a car, he pulled up to many great places and his by other vehicles and parked illegally where your buses can't fit. We got up close to so many monuments and parked. It really was quite impressive as many other cars weren't able to go where we went. Our first main stop was Trevi Fountain. I couldn't believe how few people were there. It was early in the morning, so only a handful of people were there, which made photographs quite easy to do. There were workers cleaning the fountain in the corner (didn't appear in any photos) which meant that the fountains were off. I was okay with that, but I think my parents were slightly disappointed. Our next main stop was the Spanish Steps. I didn't know this, but they have operating hours! Again, because we were early they were empty. There was plexi glass that kept people at bay and helped make photos easy to take. The last main stop was the Colosseum. What a sight! It is beautiful. I was expecting it to be hard to photograph with other holdings in the way and being less than what I expected. This was not the case. I enjoyed walking around the outside and taking pictures. It really is quite impressive to see. We ended our tour after seeing all of the places we wanted (I only mentioned a few) and were dropped back off at the airport.
At the airport we needed lunch...the gelato a we had at Teevi Fountain weren't enough to be our breakfast and lunch for the day. We sat at a cafe and had lunch. What a production! It was one of the most inefficient systems I have ever seen. Two lines. Different purposes. I went to the wrong line initially (but no sign to indicate their respective purposes). Went to the right line and ordered sandwiches for two of us, croissant, coffee, and water. They all had to come from different areas. I had to get the sandwich around the corner where you hand in your receipt (only after a local informed me on how to work the system). I finally got the sandwiches and I had to go back in and get water. Then I had to line up for coffee and even though the croissant was right in front of the coffee man, I had to go line up and get someone else to get it. There has to be a better way.
We headed off to our gate in the G section of gates after being disappointed that I couldn't find any good stores for a ring to discover that G Gates are where it is at. I found some lovely shops and got my final ring (13 countries 11 rings - none from Bosnia/Herzogovina or Vatican City). Here they have smoking rooms in the terminal. The ventilation must be quite good in there as I never smelled it when the doors opened.
We boarded the plane and found two girls sitting in our seats. I ask d if their tickets said row 37 and they said yes. They pulled them out and their seats were D and E, not J and K. They asked if they could just stay because they were settled. No! These princesses were obviously not used to the word no and huffed about it for quite some time. However, they then sat in seats F and G while trying to locate other window seats to steal. They attempted two more times and then just stayed where they were, in the wrong seats. The importance of me explaining this is that these two girls then complained that they didn't get their kosher meal...which was delivered to their correct seats D and E. Karma. Haha. These divas weren't having it and let everyone know they were starving and it was the airlines fault. Ugh. Someone found a couple extra kosher meals and they finally stopped making noise. I felt so badly for the airline attendants. We were happy to be off the plane and away from them after a nine hour flight. Customs and baggage were a breeze and my sister picked us up right as we stepped out of the terminal doors.
It truly was an amazing trip and I appreciate how lucky I am to see so many wonderful places. Thank you to everyone who followed along my journey and I hoped you enjoyed it.
Goodnight.
Liz
It seems that as every trip nears, I get a nervous, stressful excitement surging through my body. I can't tell you how many departing for a flight without luggage dreams I have had. However, as this trip neared, I thought that things were going well. Working and preparing to leave kept me quite busy and distracted. That is, until Saturday morning.
On Saturday morning, I was enjoying homemade egg McMuffins (thanks dad) after a small sleep in and I decided to check our cruise website to double check the packing suggestions when I come across a line that makes my heart sink..."any passengers without a signed medical form from their doctor will not be allowed on the cruise to Antarctica." Full out panic. I called our booking agent and indeed we needed the form that they had neglected to give us in the nine months since we booked! By the time this was all said and done and we were emailed a copy of the forms, our doctor's after hours clinic was closed. Mom and I were committed to wrap presents int he mall to raise money for the hospital and prayed that our fax to him (thanks Larry) would be answered. No luck. This all meant that Sunday was going to be chaotic and a real test for us.
Poor stressed out mom didn't sleep at all. Our game plan was to head out to the first available walk-in clinic, before our next wrapping session and finishing our packing. We tried out doctor's clinic and even drove around back to find an open door in hopes that he would see us and take pity on our dire situation. No luck. Went to the walk-in clinic at the grocery store. In getting out of the van, my travel wallet with my two credit cards, health card, insurance card, bank card, and driver's licence fell out, which was discovered as I went to check in at the clinic. I ran to the parking lot and in the door entrance I found a lovely man who seemed to recognize my face from the cards...or maybe it was the mix of sheer terror and then relief on my face that he recognized! I hugged him twice and he seemed overwhelmed by this, but I couldn't even to begin to imagine the horror show that would have transpired if there weren't good, honest people out there. My thanks to him, I know that good karma is coming your way.
I registered at the clinic with my wallet clutched firmly in my fist and awaited our turn. Finally, some luck! The doctor there was happy to help out after he checked out our vitals (two of the three of us had high blood pressure from stress, feel free to guess which two). We had signed medical forms in hand and headed out to home. Mom and I dropped of dad and were headed straight back out to wrap presents for three hours. During this time, the annoying tickle in my throat that I had been battling, because a raspy whisper of a voice. (I have been trying to preserve what I have left and am drinking copious amounts of tea).
After wrapping, mom announced that we were getting our trip pedicures. To be honest, I just assumed that it wasn't going to happen. However, where there is a will, there is a way. We had dad drop off flip flops for us and with lovely blue sparkly toes, I went home with a new "I can do anything" feeling. I quickly packed the remaining items I had and was ready to go...but not our plane. Our flight was delayed three hours.
My sister drove us at our original time despite the delay, as who really wants to get someone to the airport for 3am. We said our goodbyes and breezed through check-in and security. Just past security was a passenger requiring assistance and mom asked if we could hop on the sup'ed up golf cart for a ride with them. This cart was lovely with eight leather seats and we smiled as we cruised past everyone walking with their carry-ons.
The new waiting area at Pearson airport is quite lovely. Really comfy chairs around a private table with ipads, charging stations, wifi, and table service (should you choose, not required to sit in the seats). I settled in with a coffee, tea, and water (all for my throat) and started to blog.
Needless to say, it has been a hectic two days. I am proud of how much we achieved and handled our 'bumps in the road'.
I hope that our flight does leave at 3am. Stay tuned.
I will write again soon.
Liz
PS Please note that due to the lack of internet in the Antarctic, most blog entries will be posted at random times and all at once.
After being delayed three and a half hours at the Toronto airport, I was having an excruciatingly hard time keeping my eyes open. Normally, I like to give my full attention to the safety demo given by the flight attendants, not because I am worried, but because I feel they might appreciate an attentive audience. However, today, I quickly put on my eye mask and was out for the count. When I awoke, I was surprised how much longer there was left in the flight. I was able to fit in a couple of TV shows and a movie before landing.
Chilean customs was quite well organized and we didn't have to wait too long until on our way to get our bags. After some of our taxi ride in incidents in Europe this past summer, I decided to prepay at a taxi stand in the airport before meeting the throngs of people at the gate all wanting to give you a ride. We were greeted with a fancy black car (with AC) and had a smooth ride to our hotel. At one point on the ride, we had to go through a tunnel that was over 20kms long, presumably to get to the other side of one of the large hills. I was surprised by the traffic in Santiago. In many other countries I have visited, people barely take note of painted road lines, yet it was very civilized here. We pulled up to a very large and modern Sheraton hotel that is to be our home for the next two days.
I entered my room to see a king sized bed! I don't think I have ever slept in one before. I will have so much space all to myself. My bedroom window looks over the hotel pool and cabana area. I enjoyed taking in all of the greenery in the hillside that surrounds our pool area. It has been a while since I have seen palm trees and it look like quite the secluded place back there.
We decided to explore the hotel quickly before dinner. We checked out the hotel indoor pool, spa, and gift shop before settling in at the lobby bar and restaurant. There we enjoyed a nice meal. I was surprised that when we finished it was already 8pm. The lack of sleep and long transit day quickly caught up to all of us and we were looking forward to going to bed. I changed in to my pjs and had intentions of writing my blog. What happened was that once I laid down in one of the softest beds ever, I couldn't keep my eyes open. The duvets here are so fluffy that it felt like I was nestled in a cloud and I was fast asleep.
Keep well,
Liz
Unlike our European tour, my parents and I got separate rooms this trip (hooray, no single supplement). We arranged a time to meet for breakfast in the morning. At that time, I knocked on the door and the room was in total darkness when mom answered the door, she thought it was earlier than it was and they would be late. They asked me to go save a seat for them. I headed down to the poolside lounge area where they serve breakfast. I waited in line to get in, but then couldn't find any tables. As I approached many that looked deserted, I would see a handbag or something holding a spot. This is when I realized that I would not be able to save a spot. I left the breakfast area as I didn't want to stand around looking like a fool...and I think coffee cups only came when you were at a table (I really wanted a coffee). When they finally came down, the line up was enormous, but he lady recognized me and we were able to cut the line. Sweet.
We had decided that we would do what dad affectionately calls a 'HO HO' tour (hop on hop off). We enjoyed circling the many barrios (sections or towns) within Santiago while listening to the the information on the headphones. The first barrio was Bellavista and it is known for its bohemian vibe with many restaurants and bars. What.
I liked about it was the street art on the buildings. Almost every building had beautiful sceneries or fun vignettes on the side walls that were colourful, told a story, or represented the shop. I took as many photos as I could of see while zooming by on the bus.
The audio guide on the bus told an interesting story of how Chile got it's name. Depending on who you ask, you could get very different answers. However, each story is rooted in something appropriate in some way. Chile could come from the name for one of the local flowers that represents the nation. It also could come from the names of the butterflies of the nation. Alternatively, it could also come from the meaning of 'the end of the world' (where Chile is appropriately located). I am not sure who to believe, but I really quite like them all.
At one stop light between then barrios, was a teenage boy showing his soccer skills to the cars stopped at the light. He was quite entertaining and making quite a bit more money than the street vendors. I liked his ingenuity. After completing the route once, we decided to catch the funicular up to the top of the hill where you can see 360 degree views of the city. Being hazy from smog and construction dust, didn't allow for great pictures, but we did enjoy the view. Up top we noticed that the neighbouring cable cars up the hill also take their path right up beside the pool area of our hotel. Also, at the top is a religious are dedicated to the Virginia Mary. The entire walk towards it is surrounded by large, decorated crosses while gyms serenade you over the speakers. We went into the chapel at the top of the hill. Mom likes to light a candle for her family members in Catholic Churches and here they had a mechanized one that resembled a vending machine. You put in 100 pesos and a candle flickers on and the stays lit. Mom loved how she didn't have to mess with dripping wax and heat, I enjoyed the humour in the situation.
We headed back down to the funicular and just missed our bus. It was lunch time, so of course that meant Ice Cream! We enjoyed our double scoop cones at a nearby cafe and timed it perfectly to the arrival of our next bus. We got off at Plaza des Armas to view the nativity scene and shop for a ring. My students are regularly telling me that my rings are too small and they like the bigger ones. This ring is big, the largest I own. It is really quite cute though.
Back on the bus, I had a chance to photograph the benches along one street called Goyenchida (sp?). Each one was painted in a unique style and were quite lovely, if they hadn't faded from regular wear and tear.
At times during the day, I have been very proud of how my extremely rudimentary Spanish has come in handy. Locals love when you try to speak their language and it does make them smile (it could also be that I am butchering simple phrases, but at least I am trying. Although, a couple of times today my attempts at Spanish have been so good that the Chilean responds with a long and complicated phrase and I simply stare blankly and smile. The funicular operator was surprised that I wasn't a local and then spoke slowly in English for me. It was humourous. Perhaps, my interests in languages should be fully immersed and attempted...
Once we got back to the hotel, we enjoyed another meal at the hotel lobby bar and found our Hurtigruten people. I should mention here that our hotel is the stop over point for all cruises. At least two Holland America and two Princess cruises departed in under two days. When we read our Hurtigruten package, we read that our bus to our flight departed at 4 am! Packed bags labelled with tags were to be outside your door by 8pm, which was less than an hour away.
I headed to the room and then learned I had to check out that evening and managed to lock myself out of the room. Luckily, a staff member walked by at the right time with towels and I was able to get in. I quickly hustled to shower and pack. I somehow managed to get it all done. Not sure how, but I did.
I headed off to bed as 3am comes much earlier than expected.
Goodnight
Liz
As I am sure anyone could have predicted, I got very little sleep last night. I found it very hard to sleep when you know that it is possible to miss your whole journey due to an alarm failure or sleeping in. I went to be around 11pm and was already checking my alarm on my phone by 12:30am. After that, it was a routine of sleeping for 20 minutes and then checking the time. I was almost glad when it was 3am, as it was less stressful to finally get up. In addition to all of this, I had the added pressure of waking up my parents as well (who also had a similar night of clock checking and not sleeping).
We headed downstairs for pastries and coffee. I beelined for the coffee stations (I was in desperate need and I know what dad is like before caffeine). While I was in line, mom and dad had some pastries, but didn't get me any before they ran out. Ooh, I was grumpy. Luckily, more came out a while later and I had warm pain au chocolat. We waited for the bus to arrive and when it did, hordes of people started towards the doors. We weren't as fussed as everyone else, as we knew we all had assigned seating and would get on the same plane as everyone else. In this mass of people, I met what was to be my new best friend for this trip, Brian. He is Australian, an amateur (although, I told him to start selling prints) photographer, and a firefighter. He has two sons, one of whom is a professional surf photographer and the two of them take photos vacations together.
At the airport, I was directly behind a young mother at security. She was cradling her child in her arms, and had open plastic shopping bags on the scanner belt. She then threw a handful of change into the bag which fell over as it transitions from the rollers to the belt and the money scattered everywhere. She was trying to pick it up, as were the 2 security people! The part that was mind boggling to me was, her bags went through the scanner and he was on his hands and knees on the ground and not even looking at the bags. By the time our bags were going through, he was trying to dust off his pants and simply waved us through. I was shocked by the whole thing. Security measures at each airport really do greatly differ.
On the flight to Punta Arenas, I could barely keep my eyes open after two days without real sleep. Somehow I managed to stay awake for most of the flight, but I think there were about 30 minutes unaccounted for somewhere in the middle.
At the airport we boarded a bus with Erick, the tour guide, who gave great stories on the way to the pier. He knew so much about the Chilean history and told it in such a way, that I was completely engaged. Typically, I don't enjoy history at all (much to my father's chagrin), but his stories were excellent. He saved newspaper articles from so many years ago to accompany his stories and the images alone were captivating. I really seem to enjoy history when it is in front of me, but never from a class textbook.
On the bus, I was sitting beside a woman who had no luggage. The airline didn't put it on the flight. I felt so badly for her. On any trip it would be bad to not have luggage, but to Antarctica, it would be devastating. All she has is the clothes on her back and whatever was in her tiny handbag. I offered her my spare mittens and sweaters. She told me that the airline was searching for her bags and that they might be coming in on the next flights.
Before the pier, we stopped for an aerial photo of Punta Arenas at a lookout point. It was mighty windy, but it was great to see our boat waiting for us in the distance. We also stopped in Plaza des Armas for photo of the Magellan statue. I did my obligatory shot, but was more excited about themany vendors that surrounded the town square and I bought a ring! I figure that if there aren't any on the ship, I am covered. If there are rings on the ship, I now have two to represent my two trips to Chile (the Atacama Desert in 2009 wasn't exactly a shopping mecca in a two day blackout from a sandstorm). When we returned to the bus, mom commented that the mixture of European influenced buildings and the simple buildings intermixed together reminded her of Cuba. To which I replied, "A Cold Cuba". While the air temperature is around ten degrees celsius, the wind whipping off the water brings a chill with it.
Finally made it on to the boat. We checked in, had lunch, and explored around. I was excited to organize my room. After living out of my suitcase all summer and never really unpacking thus far, I loved putting everything from my suitcase away. Since, I have a room to myself, I have used every inch of cupboard space. My bedroom is a cozy little hideaway. I have a little bed and a couch all crammed into a tiny space. It is very reminiscent of the kids' room at grandma's house, as my bed is under a little shelf and I have a little nightlight just above my head. I should mention that my room was set to a nice temperature to welcome visitors...however, I am guessing that they were anticipating visitors that had never experienced cold. My room was set at a temperature that was hotter than Hades. I am always cold at home...not the case here. I read the manual and all rooms must have their heating/AC running at all times. Therefore, I wound the dial all the way to zero hoping that will help. Otherwise, I am turning on the A/C at the south pole.
I was excited to collect my free parka. Which turned out to be a coat, not a parka. It is wind and water proof, but not insulated at all. I am glad that I packed my other down coat to wear underneath.
We all attended the mandatory safety drill. It is quite interesting in comparison to the Caribbean safety drill. Here, due to the icy waters, we have to put on an orange plastic suit before going into the lifeboats. Which is smart, of course, but everyone looks like a Teletubby. It was hard not to laugh. We went straight to dinner after the drill to avoid line ups (it was open seating on the first night). Brian joined us for dinner and the four of us hung out afterwards waiting for the welcome meetings after we set sail. All of which kept getting delayed in hopes that the luggage would arrive. We were supposed to sail at 6pm, then 8pm, then 9pm (mom and dad went to bed somewhere around this time), and then finally 10pm. We found out at the welcome talk, that the airlines lost 25 people's luggage and they were sent in town to go on a shopping spree. That would be both fun and miserable.
Brian and I used the time after dinner to take photos during the 'sunset'. Being that it is the summer solstice here, it will be 24 hours of daylight and all it means is that when the sun set it created beautiful pinks and oranges and the sun seemed to dip below the horizon. During mid-day it can be hard to get nice photos with saturated colours, but I do have 24 hours to do so. After taking photos, Brian also showed me some of his photography that he took on a recent trip to New Zealand. They are stunning! I asked if he was selling his photos and he said he wasn't. I am shocked as he is phenomenal and his pictures could easily sell for quite a bit of money. He also talked to me about how he uses Lightroom and we talked about some ways to help with some of my photos taken in Santiago. Brian and I stayed up talking past ten pm and then the long travel of the day caught up with us. When I went to bed, 25 people were still missing their luggage.
Goodnight,
Liz
You would think that after two rough travel days (almost in a row) that I would sleep as long as possible. I didn't. I woke up a couple of times in the night, which I later discovered was probably due to the engines starting and stopping. Also, I set my alarm for 6:30am. I was worried that the 1970s hair dryer in my bathroom wouldn't work well and I don't want to go out with wet hair in the cold air. The hotel dryer at the Sheraton was weak and it took forever to dry my hair (which is extremely long and I am eager to donate when I return). However, my 1970s dryer was very powerful. The air was incredibly hot. In fact I had to wrap my hand with the hand towel to avoid scorching myself from holding the hose. A couple of times the plastic nozzle at the end came off and the hose wriggled out of control blowing hot air all around. It was a fun adventure using this contraption, but it took less time than my dryer at home. I count that as a win.
On our voyage weather will be dictating our schedule quite a bit. This combined with our late departure changed our schedule for the day already. The boat decided to wait just off the pier to shuttle in 11 people's luggage on zodiac boats. However, I am told that 5 people are still without theirs will be flown to Port William tomorrow (so long at the airline can mange to keep track of them this time). As such, we were going to arrive to the Garibaldi glacier around noon or 1pm which adjusted our zodiac times to be afternoon trips. This left us the morning to wander around the ship.
Our first order of business was to get our nationality changed on the boat's register to Canadian. We were listed as American and we were worried that might cause passport problems later in the trip at Port Stanley. Also, we surrendered our passports at check-in and when customs and immigration boards the boat, the records might not match. Secondly, we went to try on our boots that are given to us for the voyage. They are very warm and waterproof. The next stop for me was to go to the gift shop the second it opened to look for a ring. I found one! It is in my bag for after we land on Antarctica. Lastly, we attended the mandatory safety briefing on how to enter and exit boats.
We then had lunch and Brian came to find us to tell us that we were successful at getting him to join us for our assigned meal times. We were excited to have him join us at our table. We then went to sit at the bow of the boat and watch everyone in the first 6 groups board their zodiacs and leave for their cruise to the glacier.
We got ready to go for when it was finally our turn. They called all of the whale groups at once and we ended up on the boat with the one person on the cruise I didn't want. She was incredibly loud and perhaps a few cards short of a deck. There were many ice blocks in the water to which she pointed and screamed, "My first penguin!" over and over. We all told her they weren't penguins and she then said, "Oh, I think I must have been hallucinating then." She was incredibly loud the entire time and squawked at the seals when we saw them lazing around the the rocky shore. If she had read any of the posters about the seals, she would know not to do that as it could encourage aggressive behaviour and even have them charge the boat. Should our schedules better align in the future, she is a different whale and I should be safe (touch wood).
Otherwise, the zodiac ride was quite lovely. We navigated around the 'buskers' (floating ice blocks that are smaller than a VW beetle) and turned around the bend to see the Garibaldi glacier in front of us. It was stunning. The blue snow and ice provided a lovely serene landscape among the impressive mountainous landscape. As mentioned earlier, we happened to encounter a little family of seals. One younger seal dove into the water upon seeing us and would only pop up it's head sporadically. I am not sure how those shots turned out. Amongst the family of seals were two large turkey vultures who enjoyed being photographed quite a bit. The ride back to the boat had fewer 'buskers' in our path and the one lady told our boat driver to go faster and faster. We passed many boats as she squealed, cheered, and screamed with delight. I kept my head low to avoid some of the death glares coming from other boats in hopes to not be associated with her in the future. As we arrived back at the boat, we were all soaked from the rain that had been falling on us since we left on the zodiac. Our coats did a pretty good job at keeping us dry and we hurried off to our rooms to peel off the wet layers and get ready for dinner which was a set menu today of many Norwegian specialties. My personal favourites included 'Snert' a chickpea soup and a pork belly main dish.
After dinner, there was an excursion briefing for the landing the next day in Port Williams and all of the excursions being offered by the cruise line. Originally, I was incredibly excited to do the photography course. However, it is quite pricey at around $1000 and I have just finished my course at Sheridan College, which makes it hard to justify. However, I imagine that those on the course get zodiacs going to the prime photography spots away from the hordes of other tourists. That alone might be worth it, but again, I couldn't justify it. Due to our late sailing times and schedule from today, the scheduled lecture on tall ship sailing began immediately afterwards. The lecture itself was quite informative and well done. If you are into sailing history and the significance of Cape Horn, it was very interesting. Due to many days of little or interrupted sleep, dad slept through most of it. At the start the lecturer explained why he chose to learn German in school by narrating a funny story he read as a kid. Essentially, it explains how the German language has such long words as adjectives get thrown on to the word and the final word was almost two full lines typed. I will have to ask mom to see if she can remember the word to add in here afterwards. Once the lecture was done, we were quickly off to bed in hopes of some solid sleep.
Goodnight,
Liz
I woke up after a very warm sleep. I have read on my thermostat, that it can't be turned off, only heat or AC can be adjusted. So, I turned it down again. I got ready and headed off to meet mom and dad at breakfast. I waited at the table with my camera bag while my parents went first. Mom came back and told me to look to the right of the gingerbread house. I did. I came back to the table and commented that I noticed the Nutella, to which she replied that I had looked to the wrong rig hand side, as she had found my hot chocolate. Yum.
Today we dedicated to leave the boat around 10:30am since they would be turning it around to paint the port side at 11am. We left to wander around the town, but had forgotten to get a map. This left us aimlessly wandering in directions that we thought to be correct. We first happened upon the Yelcho, the bow of the ship that was sent to the rescue of the Shackleton. At each intersection, we had to decide to turn or go straight, dad picked straight instead of heading towards what we thought would be the 'shopping' centre. Considering our primary goal was to get dad a Port Williams t-shirt to wear under items when out on tender boats, heading away from shopping was an odd, but fortuitous choice. As we went a little further, dad saw a fire station. There was a pumper out on the driveway of the fire station and it made a great photo. I went in a door and found two ladies preparing Christmas goodie bags. I used my Google Translate app (it is incredibly handy as a traveller) and asked for a t-shirt for Jay. The woman making the goodie bags said no, but I waited until the other lady was off the phone and she said yes, if I didn't tell anyone else! This was going to be a problem for me as I had to tell Brian. For most of the rest of the time in port I had the three of us on the lookout for Brian and I stressed about whether or not he had found the fire station.
We found the shopping area of town which consisted of small little buildings selling a variety of wares. I took photos of the local dogs that wait outside the shops for kind locals who will give them a treat or some affection. As I was doing this, a tiny dog ambled by wearing a jean mini-skirt and a purple ruffled t-shirt. I followed it trying to get a photo to remember this humourous sight. Luckily, I later went into a store where I found a little lady and the dog. Using my limited Spanish, I learned that the dog's name is Negrita (for black) and is 16 years old. I asked if I could take her photo and she said I could, but she kept wanting to cuddle. Negrita kept trying to sit in my lap to get more petting and scratches.
We had some difficulty finding the king crab lunch and dances since we didn't take a map. When we finally did find it, it was delicious. All three of us loved the dish, the best way to describe it was a crab au gratin. There were four little children from the Yagan tribe that performed a dance traditionally done as they grow into adults that symbolizes the importance of fire and the water.
Soon after our crab lunch, mom and dad headed back to the boat and I went wandering around town to take photos. I really enjoyed wandering the town and examining the houses as they were all quite varied. There is a navy base here at Port Williams (being the most southerly settlement on the planet) and the housing is quite uniform and white. Whereas some local houses have unique paint colours of teals, greens, and purples, all at various stages of peeling to show a different tone underneath. One house was almost comical in all of its elements. They best way I can describe it is that it was shaped like a locomotive engine with three different pain colours or even materials constructing the rounding front and tall rectangular back. It had an upturned wheelbarrow on the roof of the adjoining building with a sign that read, 'Salon de Cool' and a "Hello Kitty" sheet acting as drapes in the top windows. I am sure if I had more time to investigate, more interesting elements would reveal themselves to me.
I came across what I thought was a playground for children, but when I translated part of the sign, it read that this was an open air gym. The metal structures were elliptical machines (not see saws) and chin up bars (not monkey bars). I marvel at this gym as I stood there on one of their warmest days in their summer at a balmy five degrees Celsius (as there wasn't much wind) and wondered how much uses this gym gets during the extremely cold and harsh climate here. The sign also said that the park should be utilized forty minutes every day and that citizens should eat fruit with each meal in order to stay healthy.
On the pier, I spent about forty-five minutes photographing a mother bird on her nest. I waited for the right shot and got the transition between parents when the chirping chick s were easily seen. I am proud of those pictures.
I finally came back to the boat to see if Brian also found the fire station. I called his room. No answer. I asked my parents if they had seen him all day. They hadn't. Once he finally came to the panorama room I pretty much questioned him on the spot, hopefully he had seized the opportunity. It turned pout that while I had spent most of the day on the west side of the village, he had been on the east. Of course this meant that we were heading right back out. This time two trucks were out on the driveway and a fire fighter was talking to someone else. He took the third truck out and went on a drive it's it. Brian says, that he had regulations on how manny kilometres the truck should be run in a week and it didn't look like a fire call. We waited in the middle of the station with two trucks running in the driveway until the fire fighter came back. We again used my broken Spanish and my Google Translate app to communicate. We got Brian a fire hood and stayed to talk for quite some time. This man was the captain and he used the station fire pole three times in thee duration of our visit. We also met the second lieutenant, the superintendent, and another fire fighter (I can't remember the rank). After asking many questions, we left feeling exhilarated. I had so much fun there with Brian and am relieved that he also got to have a great fire experience in Port Williams , Chile (the only fire station at the bottom of the world...next fire station is Punta Arenas, a 3.5 hour flight away).
We enjoyed a lovely buffet dinner after our fire tour. The best part was the chocolate mouse cake for dessert. We had a delivery system in place, where anyone who got up, returned with enough for the table! A delicious system.
After dinner we taught Brian how to play Hand n' Foot. He and I narrowly squeaked out a win, as each round the score seemed to fluctuate up and down by a thousand.
We headed off to bed after a pleasant day.
Goodnight,
Liz
A Rare Day on Cape Horn
We arrived at Cape Horn this morning to a very rare situation, no wind. Maurice, who is an expedition leader from Port Williams, says this is the first time in his entire life where there hasn't been any wind on Cape Horn. In fact, often the wind is so severe that boat landings aren't safe. They rearranged the boat order for today's operations and we were the second boat to go. Due to the nearly 200 steps up a rocky cliff (even with wooden steps) it was too much for mom's knees, so she stayed on the platform on the beach to say that she had landed at Cape Horn. Brian had asked us to wait for him at the top of the stairs. This resulted in dad and I becoming the unofficial photographer of almost 50 people, all wanting a photo of themselves with he boat in the background. We moved around to the side to wait for Brian and continued on to the Albatross Monument. At the most southerly point of the island, is a beautiful metal statue of a diamond with an albatross cut out of the centre to honour all of the lives of the seamen lost at this treacherous location. It is said that they live on the wings of the mighty albatross to fly above the waters forever. It was here that waiting for a photo without tourists became a bit of a nightmare. Usually people hand out on the periphery and only move forward when it is their turn, not the case here. If I am being nice, I would say it was due to the inability to step on the grass. However, some people arrange a ten minute photo shoot when a hundred people are clearly waiting. It was also at this point that I somehow managed to change some settings on my camera and overexposed so many pictures.
At the lighthouse there was a little chapel that I knew mom would want to see. It was made of the outer slabs of logs and have rounded edges. Brian and I both tried for quite some time to fix the camera settings, but were too excited with our surroundings to bother. I went back to no-flash and would worry about it later. As we came around the front of the lighthouse, we saw Maurice who informed us that a plane was about to fly by and that we should stay for that. I was late for my boat and he told us that it wasn't a big deal. We waited for the plane and were so impressed. If no wind at Cape Horn is rare, a fly by at Cape Horn is even more rare. One family of five lives permanently at Cape Horn to monitor the lighthouse and they were happy to receive visitors on Christmas even and even the navy popped by with presents for them.
We headed back down to the boat and on the way I slipped down two or three stairs. Of course everyone else looked alarmed, but for me that is par for the course. Luckily, I wasn't injured as that could be disastrous at this point.
I boarded the zodiac about an hour late. By this time some of the expedition leaders had found seals along the rocks and took our zodiac to see them. They were howling and barking at us. Brian got some amazing photos (as my camera was still not the best).
Back on the boat, we had planned to have lunch in 20 minutes. I had the fastest shower and was able to dry my hair in time for lunch. I wanted to be ready for our Christmas Eve festivities later tonight and didn't know if the four of us would have a proper break to do so later.
Brian offered to teach me some Lightroom tricks today. He has been so kind to offer to help me. We downloaded my photos that I had taken thus far and I had one-on-one help that went a slower pace than in my photography classes. It was amazing to see that we could 'save' some photos that I felt were ruined by shadows from up on the bus in Santiago. Other pictures of sunset in Punta Arenas were adjusted. My favourite picture of the sunset captured a sea bird and the colourful sunset in the middle of the orange life preserver ring that says the name, Midnatsol. It looks so pretty. All thanks to Brian. Brian has become quite popular among the passengers and instantly we were surrounded by people asking him for camera advice, editing, setting help, etc.. I felt sorry for him as I was already taking up his time and everyone was trying to consume his free time on his vacation. We suggested that Brian should hold his own photography lessons to charge money and pay off his trip since he was already helping so many people.
Around 5pm, people were gathering for Christmas Eve carols and I knew I had to look for mom. I went on two levels to find her, but didn't have much luck. I stayed nearby and smiled and clapped at the appropriate times. I didn't feel the need to sing alone, but enjoyed being there. Mom appeared and had thoroughly enjoyed the carols. Somehow, I had just missed her when I looked around.
At dinner, we were welcomed by the entire crew and they read a Christmas story in English and German before we toasted the occasion with champagne. Brian then raised his glass to propose a toast for being thankful for being able to spend Christmas with such a lovely family. I was thinking the same thing. We have really lucked out to have such a great travel companion. He is easy going, funny, and really kind. I guess we got our Christmas present, in the form of Brian. The Christmas dinner was a buffet with a combination of Norwegian delicacies and other traditional items you would find in North America. I enjoyed some turkey, lobster, and Norwegian pork dishes.
After dinner we found a rare spot with a double table and taught Brian how to play Euchre. Again, we managed to beat mom and dad with three games to two. We had a lot of fun. Brian is quite quick at picking up new games. We played in the bar tonight and observed how much some people drink. We were trying to estimate what their onboard tab will be at then end of sixteen days. Yikes.
We had to end Euchre at that point (extra bonus that we were winning) because Santa was coming to wish us a Merry Christmas at the front of the boat. He came in the long traditional coat and was jolly. He said he would be right back as he was hot. He then came back wearing a surf shirt and shorts. He sang more carols accompanied by his trusted accordion. We enjoyed some Christmas Eve cakes and then headed off to bed.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Liz
Last night as we rounded the corner to our cabins, mom and dad said, "See you for breakfast at 8am." I agreed, while in my head I was thinking that it was great that I got to sleep until 8am. Clearly, I was doomed not to make it for breakfast. I woke up at 8am, a luxury I had been looking forward to, and then slowly got ready for the day. At 8:25am there was a knock at the door and mom stood there wondering where I was at breakfast this morning. Oops!
This sea day was to be quite busy on our daily program with many briefings about expectations for landing in Antarctica set by IAATO. At the safety briefing we learned about our sanitizing procedures for when we board the boat (a mini car wash for our boots and pants) and that we had to be vacuumed later today. Much like when I visited Australia, they are ever vigilant about introduced species here as it can severely impact the ecosystem. (I forgot to mention yesterday that mink and beaver were introduced to Chile and the beaver is decimating the small forest areas and the mink is wrecking some bird populations).
We enjoyed lunch and then headed out to be vacuumed. We had to bring all of our outer wear: coats, pants, boots, hats, mitts, and camera bag. I think I was expecting a scene from a movie with high tech sanitizing vacuums with people dressed in biohazard protective gear, instead it simply was some run of the mill vacuums and they quickly went over our clothes, paying close attention to our pockets and areas with velcro.
Today Brian and I hid away in the front corner of the boat where few people wander to do our photos editing in hopes of having uninterrupted work time to really get into more specific lessons on Lightroom. We have finished most of the photos I initially liked...and I feel like I am getting more proficient. Today we edited some of my Port Williams photos with the uniquely coloured houses. My favourite is the house with three shades of green and a lilac panel at the end. The way the paint is peeling creates colours and texture that I just love. I am not sure that anyone else will like them, but they caught my eye.
After our private photo editing lesson, we went to the photography lecture by Camille on the boat. She reinforced many of the things we already knew (composition of the picture, shoot in RAW, etc). However, one key element stood out and that was to over expose snow pictures. It seems contradictory to me. I will probably do multiple shots of varying exposures just to be safe. Her most important lesson was to have fun and if that means shooting in auto to catch a moment, or not to shoot at all in order to enjoy the scenery, you should do what makes you happy. A good lesson to remember.
After the lecture, Brian and I chatted before dinner and he mentioned that he wanted some of my photos. I was incredibly flattered that someone as talented as him would want any of my photos. He proposed that any photo he took, I could have and vice versa. I loved the idea. Him and I often get different shots of the same element due to lenses or angles and it will be great to have different pictures to share.
For Christmas day dinner we had a set meal that had British elements. We had roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, oxtail mushroom ravioli soup and a Manchester tart for dessert. The tart was a lovely surprise and I will have to try to find some again somewhere.
Fritz the resident biologist was putting on a sea mammal talk this evening. Being German, Fritz started off by talking about how people confuse seals and sea lions which probably stems from the one German word, Sea Hund (sea dog). Instead he focused on the 34 species of seals, explaining the main differences in the different genus of seals, specifically, there are eared seals and 'true' seals. Eared seals use front flippers to swim and true seals use their back flippers. The shocking discovery in this lecture was the breeding cycle of seals. Female seals are often impregnated right after giving birth and spend most of their life pregnant. Baby seals are weaned after five days and at this time the mothers are impregnated again, but her body will delay the embryo implantation until it coincides with the end of summer. Crab-eater seals actually eat krill and have teeth like nets that filter out the water after they get a mouthful of krill. They have the most unique tweets of the animal kingdom. Male elephant seals can weigh up to five tons! I was flabbergasted at this statistic and I can't wait to tell my students. Whereas, female elephant seals can weigh up to half a ton. A female elephant seal will pick a mate based on who has the best 'house' or territory (I guess she is superficial and likes to have nice things, haha).
We were in Antarctic waters (60 degrees south latitude) this afternoon and would wake up to land and possibly some icebergs in the morning. Tomorrow was our first official Antarctic landing day, a big day for me...so I should head off to bed.
Goodnight.
Liz
Last night before bed, Brian and I were excited about finally making it into Antarctic waters and predicted that there would be icebergs tomorrow. He warned me that he would be up early (he has a light room due to his outside cabin window) and would be photographing icebergs. I said he could call and I would jump right up and join him. True to his word, at 5am, my phone rang and I threw on my jacket and ran to meet him on deck six. Had I thought more about this, I would have worn more than my thin pjs and outer shell jacket to stand on the bow of a moving boat in the Antarctic...not my brightest moment. Right as I got there, we got the money shot of a beautiful iceberg with a pink glow sitting on where the dark blue water meets the blue sky. Lovely. After we took more photos and were chilled to the bone, we went in for some warm tea and talked with Fritz about seals and penguins that we would see today. He likes the leopard seal that is diffrently adapted to kill large sea life, like penguins. I prefer the fat, role-poly Weddell seal that likes to sleep and cuddle in cute positions. Although, they're rather large and a cuddle with them could definitely be painful. We headed into breakfast and I felt slightly awkward in my pyjamas, but I have been known to do more foolish things.
I went to the panorama lounge to catch up on my blog, when I was late joined by Brian and my parents. We sat for a long time watching the first tenders enjoy their time at Half Moon island. I was watching to see where the 'blue penguins' (Hurtigruten jackets) gathered to know where the points of interest would be. This first snowshoeing group were called to go and I was wondering where they would trek. Half Moon Bay is exposed rock and the only snow I see is one little strip of snow. I imagine a group of 30 people walking in little circles on that patch. (After asking around later in the day, I discovered that the tender boats dropped them off just a little further over on the island where there was snow.). Mom and dad decided to leave to go get ready and that is when an Aussie in the lounge spotted whales breeching in the distance. They were quite far, on the other side of HalfMoon island, but they put on quite the show of regularly breeching for us. I could only hope to see such a delightful display closer up...and with my camera at the ready.
We left for our tender boat and it was quite weird not to have Brian with us. Especially, when I saw other patches that weren't whales in our boat, he could have joined us! I left mom and dad on the island to wander at a slower pace for mom's knees, while I trekked off to find the large rookery. On the way there, many people were blocking the path of the penguins and after such hard work of jumping up the rocks on a pretty steep hill, they would turnaround and go back. It was such a shame. Some people also talked constantly. It is something I notice quite a bit due to travelling solo so many times. Upon arrival, I was greeted by some Gentoo peninsula. They are adorable black penguins with red beaks. I was told that some of the penguins in the distance were Adelie penguins, but I didn't get a close enough shot to be sure. Instead, I was surrounded by Chinstrap penguins. These were my least favourite of the peninsula we learned about, I felt they looked funny (with an old man beard that rims around their jaw line). However, after I saw my first Chinstrap penguin work so hard to jump up on to a rock, I liked them. It is adorable to watch penguins jump. They spend so long trying to build up the power to jump high. They put their whole body into it and only move a fraction of an inch off the ground. It is adorable.
I finally made it through the loose rock slopes and climbing over boulders to get to the large rookery. I had heard a rumour along the way that there was a stray Macaroni penguin there, and he was. Macaroni penguins have the yellow feathers that are long and thin like hair that adorn the top of their heads. He was feeling rly out of place and was hiding behind a rock for my entire visit to the rookery. I could believe how close we were allowed to stand, being that the rookery was atop of a steep hill, we had to get to a semi-flat surface at the top which placed us adjacent to their nests. I stood near Fritz to ask him some questions and was happy I did. Every time a mother penguin stood up to expose her chicks, he pointed it it to me. I got so many good shots of mom's and babies. The best photo I got was a mo. Feeding a baby and a string of regurgitated food was still connected between heir two mouths. Awesome. The white sheathbill birds kept trying to swoop down and baby penguins no would be instantly pecked by all of the penguins.
I walked back alone and in peace (I somehow managed to separate myself from the mass of people). I chose to go to the far side of the island to see the seal lying on the beach. He was facing the exact wrong direction and just looks like a log in my photo. I saw some peninsula sliding down the snowy hills on their belly. Adorable. I had taken as much time as possible to try and see Brian arrive, but I felt obliged to leave so that they could load more people on the island (only 100 allowed ashore at a time). As I left on my boat with only one other person, I saw him approaching on is tender boat. I hoped that he would have a good experience too.
I went back to the room to shower and do laundry. They have a laundry line in the shower which came in very handy. I covered my whole bathroom with wet clothes and turned on the floor heaters and left, hoping it would dry more quickly with the heat.
I continued to blog before the briefing for the landing the next day. I am trying to catch up, but I fear that this trip will be too jam packed with new and exciting things that I will be perpetually behind (for the record...I was usually about 3 days behind). Dad was anxiously awaiting the briefing for Deception Island, as it is considered an active volcano and he is interested in volcanoes and minerals.
After the briefing, we enjoyed dinner together. I had originally intended on drinking the first night I landed on Antarctica, but seeing as I had a growing headache (due to lack of water during the day...my fault) I decided not to drink. I clinked glasses to an amazing first day on Antarctica with my glass of water!
After dinner we went to a penguin talk with Fritz. I just love talking with biologists and listening to what they can teach me. His lecture focused on the penguins we are more likely to see on this trip. Most of the information I already knew from my time in South Africa. However, I was surprised to learn that the mighty Emperor penguin are the third largest bird at 40kg (ostrich and emu being 1st and 2nd place respectively). I am sure if I had ever paused to think about bird sizes, I could have figured it out, but I was still was taken aback. After 40 minutes of the talk, my headache was getting worse and I started to feel nauseated and worried that I might throw up in the amphitheatre. I quickly lefty for my room. I moved the garbage can to beside my bed and laid down immediately to help feel better. I drifted off to sleep quickly and had a good night's rest. (I think the 5am wake up and the excitement of the first day on Antarctica was the cause of my brief state of being unwell.)
Goodnight from the South Pole.
Liz
After going to bed at 9:30pm in a rough state, I was somehow surprised to find myself awake and ready to tackle another Antarctic day at 6:30am. Being summer here in the southern hemisphere, it is 24 hour sunlight and I have enjoyed sleeping in my inside cabin without a porthole. The first thing I do every morning in my pitch black room is turn on my TV to see the view from the bow camera. I saw the much anticipate approach of Deception Island and worried that Brian and I might miss it. I took a chance and went an knocked on his door. He was up and ready to go as well. We were out on deck shooting the crescent of Deception Island in the 'morning' sun. We managed to get a good spot on the bow (which is normally crowded with people) and were able hold our spot to get some great photos. This took quite some time because we think the captain slowed the boat down for the people who wanted to see the arrival into the narrow entrance of the ring. We were prepared for the weather, but waiting in the windy weather today was colder than we have been used to. I was incredibly excited to see Whaler's Bay. In the briefing yesterday, the photos of the abandoned whaler's station had pictures of worn buildings that just looked incredibly amazing. I couldn't wait to recreate these on my camera. I love old buildings and worn textures. Yet, as we passed by the tall cliffs on each side of the boat we saw a scientific boat anchored right in front of all of the buildings Iwanted to shoot. Also, this meant that our boat couldn't sail closer into the shore for a better view. I was disappointed, but looked forward to the sailing out of the Deception Island ring for a chance to catch that photo.
After our photos of the Deception Island entrance we had a quick breakfast and then got ready for our tender boat. As we stood in line to get on the zodiacs, I tried to read the biographies of the famous sailors to Antarctica. However, the line moved more quickly than I had anticipated and as such I read the last line of each one as I walked by. The sentences on each one varied greatly from disastrous ends (abandoned at sea by the crew and left to die, statues erected in their honour, and receiving medals of distinction in their home countries). I always tell my students to have a strong finish to their writing and these surely have that. The last line has made me want to read the read of the biography of each one when the tender lines aren't going as quickly.
Deception Island is an active volcano (best activity was in 1800 and 1970s) and at one point the water from the sea was able to get in the volcano. I must admit that I am forgetting all of the details from the briefing about how it came to be that we can sail around the top of the interior of the volcano and that a whaling station was constructed on the shores (before the 1970s eruptions caused them to permanently evacuate the site). I imagine an eruption caused an earthquake vibration that created the crack/opening that allowed the water in and we sailed through today. I am clearly going to have to read up on this with one of the library books, or ask dad to explain it to me again. I digress, there was a crater at the location of our landing and an enormous hill to climb. Brian wanted to climb to the top.
When we arrived on the shores they explained that there were two ways to get to the top, an easy way with more slopes ,or the hard way, directly up a steep ascent. Of course Brian wanted to go the hard way. Being that I am much younger than Brian, I felt like I couldn't embarrass myself and pick the easy route. The beach was made of coarse black sand/pebbles from the volcano and we had to climb up a steep bank of compacted sand to get to the plateau to see the crater. It was harder to climb than I imagined due to how loose parts were. I thought the cold weather of the continent would keep it more solid. The vibrant blue waters in the crater were quite the sight to see at the first plateau. At certain points you could see steam rising from the sulphur activity below the surface, but you couldn't smell it today.
As I stood overlooking the bright blue water of the crater, I turned to see the routes to the top of the peak. I was sure that dad had gone the easy way and a small part of me was jealous. Up we headed up the steep slope. The first section was covered in snow. At the bottom of the snow section, a woman had fallen and was struggling to get up. I offered to help her, but she insisted on doing it on her own. Once I knew she was safe on her way, we genuinely started our climb. I was huffing and puffing almost instantly. We regularly paused to catch our breath, adjust our outer layers, and enjoy the views. We tended to stop on the thin trail near larger rocks. At one point, I was ahead of Brian and felt that I needed to prove myself as the younger one and had quite a good pace going. I turned around to see if Brian was still beside me and he mentioned that he needed to stop for a minute. This was when I lost my momentum. We plotted out which big rocks we would pause at and nicknamed them our base camps 3, 4, and 5. I trekked the rest of the way up behind Brian and once I was out of his sight line, I found myself justifying more little stops along the way. I am not necessarily proud of this, but at the time I enjoyed my breaks. The steep incline was quite hard to manage at times due to the the loose rocks and sand. I was so proud of myself once I was at the top! (Brian beat me there of course).
At the top, the wind was unbelievable. It was incredibly windy, but then there would be an enormous gust of wind. I will be honest, I thought many times that I would be sent flying over the edge and rolling to the bottom to be medically evacuated out. My clumsy nature had me worried about my safety up there. Being a natural environment, there are no warning signs, railings, etc.. We walked across the top ridge and after about ten steps and suffering some wind equilibrium issues, I chose to step downwards and walk on an incline a foot or so down, so that if a gust of wind came I would have a greater chance of not dying! To go down the other side the descent was a much thinner walking strip and very loose rocks. Again, I chose to go one foot to the left and made it down to the first small plateau. Brian and I both figure that the easy route was actually harder due to the increased wind from the bay and the narrow walking path. Along the way down we often paused to photograph the rocks for dad (Daughter of the Year Award) and found many types (lava, metamorphic, some that looked like fake tin from the way it had been smoothed from glacial movement). When we originally landed on the shore, we were given 90 minutes to complete the trek and to explore the area, we were safe and took almost three hours. Thus far in the trip, I have yet to stick to a landing time frame. Most people seem to head back to the boat quickly due to mobility issues and not wanting to capture the perfect picture (us photographers will crouch in one area for 30 minutes just waiting for the perfect iceberg, penguin, seal, etc. moment).
We were about to board our zodiac back to the cruise ship when we saw a couple jumping up and down on the shore and they were about to go swimming. An option that is appealing to me, if it meant that over 300 tourists weren't photographing me during the entire time. We watched them brave the waters and quickly retreat to a small towel and shiver until they got dry enough to dress. The trip back to the ship was surprisingly rough and we got wet. Brian, of course loved it because he wants the rough waters. I also enjoyed it, but there were other tourists who were not amused.
One thing that I forgot to mention yesterday is that another environmental protection system put in place is that after every landing each passenger MUST be sanitized or scrubbed. You have to stand in a miniature car wash contraption that fits your boots and lower legs. You push a button and move you legs forwards and backwards to scrub all of the pebbles, dirt, and penguin poo off of you to avoid cross contamination from site to site. Once you are scrubbed, you have to walk into a metal tray that has a large sponge with a sanitizing foam on it for your boots. This will kill any bacteria that might have gotten into the treads of the soles of the boots. After all of this procedure, you walk to your room over the carpets of the ship, which should have caught all of the possible sediment...not today. When I got to my room and tried to take off my outer gear, there was sand and pebbles all up in the folds of my pants and boots.
We did our regular routine of showering, eating lunch, and then working on our photos from the day. This is when the cruise director announced that we were about to pass by Whaler's Bay. This was my chance! Brian and I ran out on to deck 6 to take photos before we quickly sailed by. It was freezing! I ran back to my room and got my coats for us. They didn't quite cut it. The wind tore through us and we froze. The captain, again wanted to go slowly to allow as many people as possible to see it. This was not good for us. There were many utterances that were not so polite as we imagined our fingers freezing to our cameras. As we neared, there was another boat in the way and we couldn't get close again. I took photos in order to document the moment...and they will forever remind me of how long I froze in the Antarctic winds for these blasé pictures. (After freezing for what seemed like an eternity, Brian can't locate his photos on his camera. He is welcome to mine, but again, it seems like a lot of effort and toil went into something so fruitless.)
Our evening was pretty standard to how things have been going lately. We went to a briefing about the next day and then went to dinner. Tonight dinner had an Asian theme (sushi, egg noodles, curry soup). Yum.
After dinner we played more Hand and Foot. We won again. I think Brian is a card shark and I am glad I am his partner. We played two games of Hand and Foot which took quite some time because we kept seeing whales! We saw them blow spray out their blow holes, they would surface, and display their flukes. It was amazing. I kept calling out every time I saw one and our game would be on hold. I have tried to see whales on so many of my trips, and have never been successful (not unless you count a small spray far away that you have to squint to see...I don't). Now, I can say that I have been whale watching. What an amazing end to the day!
Goodnight.
Liz
It was complete darkness in my cabin when I heard the familiar chime of my phone ringing. I knew it was Brian and that he had found something amazing to photograph. I jumped straight out of bed to grab the phone off the wall, but in my haste I nearly fell over. I was standing on one foot with one leg swinging upwards and both hands bracing the two corner walls of the cabin. I miraculously managed to not fall or hit any part of my body. I answered the call to hear there were great icebergs on the water and this time I took the extra three minutes to get proper pants and a sweater on...it is Antarctica after all! Once I was outside, my camera was busy trying to capture the beauty of the scenery and the icebergs. Today's location felt like a 'real' start to the Antarctic with the striking blue landscape, icebergs, and endless sky. Everyone on the boat kept referring to how hard it will be to describe these views to those at home. It seems like whatever I will write will pale in comparison to the breathtaking scenery here, but I will try my best.
At breakfast, I was late joining everyone. Oops. However, I feel that it was meant to happen this way because as everyone sat around waiting for me to finish breakfast a humpback whale started surfacing right outside our window view. We managed to get some excellent fluke photographs. Even through the spray covered windows, the white snow and the blue waters with the fluke is a stunning shot. Even if we don't see another whale on our visit to the harbour today, we have feel quite satisfied. The only thing that would top this is a proper breech photograph (Brian and I put in our request to the universe and crossed our fingers for this.) I made a comment that I would love for a whale to come up beside our boat and mom gasped. She put her hand to her chest and stated that she would prefer the whales stay a safe distance away. Brian and I would prefer the opposite (and I think dad would agree with us). What a great start to the day and it is barely even 9am.
Neko Harbour today has lovely weather. It is a little cold, but the sky is a bright blue with only a few fluffy clouds. Mom said that the landscape here looks like a Bob Ross painting. Our day was to be divided into two parts: a cruising and a landing. The morning cruising amongst the icebergs was going to be filled with scenes that could easily be on the cover of National Geographic magazines (not necessarily due to my abilities, but the scenery speaks for itself). Brian and I sat at the front of the boat (my parents were at the back of the zodiac) with a great viewpoint for taking pictures. Brian spotted a whale (he has a real knack for this)! The humpback whale came by the boat many times and we even got a lovely fluke shot. At one point, the whale came up right at the bow of our boat and narrowly missed our boat. Unfortunately, it wasn't the full breech I was hoping for, just a surfacing. However, it was enough to really freak out some people (mom included). After viewing the whale for quite some time, we left him alone and went to view the crabeater seals lazing on the icebergs up close. It is amazing how they are not disturbed by our presence and can sleep through almost anything. I was hoping to the get quintessential shot where it looks like they are bashfully hiding their face, but I just couldn't get it. Brian and I were lucky that our boat was relatively low on people (at least five people missing) which afforded us more room to manoeuvre for our photos. In fact, our driver often stopped several times for us to take photos. This cruise is geared around experiencing nature and they want the passengers to experience animals in their natural habitat. The cruise line will often stop the ship to allow us to view certain animals or sites...I truly appreciate that.
We returned from our cruise with only 40 minutes before our allotted landing time at Neko Harbour. Both of us decided that it seemed futile to change before lunch (can't have certain outdoor gear in the restaurant) to then change again. Besides, stepping foot on land is infinitely more important to me. We were among the first to get back on the zodiac boats. It was a warm 7degrees celsius. We had the choice to go left or right on the beach. I had heard of there being a seal or two off to the left and I wanted a really close up picture of the bashful seal pose. I couldn't believe how close we could get. The Weddell seal was facing in the right direction and slept despite the oohs and aahs from all of the tourists. Unfortunately, he didn't seem like he would stir any time soon, so we headed on a trek up the hill to the different rookeries of the Gentoo penguins. Being someone who can be easily impacted by temperatures, I came fully prepared for the cold. However, 7 degrees celsius was just too hot when you are wearing four pairs of pants! I am quite the prude and seriously considered stripping off a couple of layers in front of everyone, IF they didn't all have their cameras at the ready! (Side note: you can swim in the Antarctic waters and receive a certificate for it...however, everyone will film you! No thank you.)
At the rookery at the top of the hill there were many Gentoo penguin nests. The moms and dads were all laying on the eggs and they hadn't hatched yet, as their breeding season is a little later. Penguins will build their nests out of little pebbles and sticks that they take great effort to bring up from the shore below. The nests are built just far enough apart from each other that when they are laying down they can stretch out their necks to honk disapproval at others who waddle to their nest nearby, but don't necessarily make contact. That being said, often the mate will go on the attack and waddle over to hit another penguin who is not following the rules.
We heard a mighty cracking noise and knew that a calving of the glacier was about to happen. The small inlet of Neko Harbour is surrounded by a large glacier and a calving here can often mean a tusnami on the beach. At every cracking noise, Brian and I pulled our cameras up (like how a policeman puts a hand to his holster at the sound of gun shots) just waiting for the snow and ice to break off. We were at a rookery talking to Fritz and were long overdue for our zodiac back. Luckily, when you talk with Fritz about animals he is happy to let you linger and tell you many interesting facts. While we waited the skua kept trying to come and steal a penguin egg for lunch. This allowed us to capture some wonderful photos up the bird up close with outstretched wings.
Finally it happened. A section of the glacier calved and broke off and descended into the harbour. The shades of blue falling into the dark blue waters were an impressive sight. The tsunami that resulted was rather small and it reminded me of the waves caused by the little motor boat at grandma's lake. A larger piece of the glacier would have been a sight to see for sure! (Mom was on the beach when the glacier crack was heard and was not allowed to board the zodiac. Once the ice fell, she said all of the penguins started hurriedly waddling off the shore and to higher land. She got an adorable video.) Soon after the calving, there was an avalanche just further along the mountain ridge and the snow rolled into the waters. It was as if all of our photographic requests had been filled in one location. A wonderful place to land. Neko Harbour is picturesque and filled with great animals.
Dinner this evening was spectacular. I can't recall what we ate, but the view was unparalleled. As we dined, icebergs larger than my school floated by. I imagine that it could be very hard trying to navigate the ship through such obstacles. The shapes, sizes, and even the markings on the sides were all unique. Not wanting the iceberg show to end with dinner, we headed to the panorama lounge. There we sat right at the front as we were awestruck with the mountains and icebergs that towered on both sides of the boat.
As we neared our next destination, Port Lockroy, the cruise director announced that any drink purchased at the bar would have Antarctic ice in it. That I had to have! I hadn't enjoyed my celebratory drink yet and it was meant to be. I enjoyed a rum and coke and toasted to landing on the continent of ice and snow. Scientists from Port Lockroy, a British research station, came aboard to give a talk and sell small souvenirs. Port Lockroy is also the only post office in Antarctica and post cards were incredibly popular. The line up to mail their postcards was enormous and crew members had to come collect the stacks from everyone waiting. The scientist said that she personally stamps about 70 000 postcards each year. In her talk she told us the intense screening process to be selected since they will live together in close quarters for a four month contract where they have to: run a museum, conduct research, preserve artifacts, and maintain/repair the building. It was interesting to learn all about this establishment.
We headed off to bed at 11 pm and I was quick to fall asleep after such a long day.
Goodnight.
Liz
We were the first group called today and I was incredibly impatient. At breakfast, there were whales eating krill just off the port side of the boat and I didn't want to miss it! We got on our boat and I thought we would be on our way, but we had to wait for a couple more boats to load first. I kept whispering under my breath, "Let's go" hoping it would spur Henryk onwards. When we did start, it didn't take long before we were spotting whales.
I should mention here that the front spot of the boat was taken and I the second person. This was fine since we had a photography seminar earlier in the week and boat etiquette was discussed and I was sure that people would follow those expectations. Wrong. A lady who was friends or related to the man beside me cam and sat in the second spot, edging me further back along the boat. Argh. The problem was that she regularly stood RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! Not an arm or head in the way (although she did that too) she fully stood in front of me. Being that I have had about five days to calm down from this and the many perfect shots I missed, I no longer have to worry about expletives being posted here. Yet, I feel there needs to be some universal laws about zodiac trips. Please read below.
Liz and Brian's Rules for Zodiac Travel
1. If you aren't into photography...don't come on our boat.
2. If you are taller than 6 feet, you should not sit at the front of the boat...especially since it already curves upwards there and you really become 7 feet tall.
3. Taking photos with a point and shoot digital camera is far worse because of everyone's propensity to hold their arms straight out. Therefore, use a DSLR or don't come on our boat. (During one rage-filled inner monologue I imagined some of these arms could be cut off since they ruined some award-winning photos.)
4. If the interesting item is on your side, you slide of the edge and kneel down and only have your head above the side of the boat. That allows the other side to side or stand and be able to easily see. **This was the rule given by Camille in the lecture and everyone should already know this.**
5. No screaming. A certain tourist we nicknamed Curly Sue doing this and it will obviously scare away the animals. If you find speedboat rides thrilling, take a different holiday. You also make the other boats hate all of the passengers onboard (even those who are quiet).
6. Never slap someone with a camera in their hands (luckily this didn't happen to us, but a sweet gentleman from the US was the target of this in Garibaldi). If the camera falls into the water, those photos can never be retrieved!
7. Wait for your boat group to be called. We were Humpback Whales and we always waited to be called. Yet, somehow, we were always surrounded by a variety of whales, albatrosses, and seals.
8. If these rules seem too hard to follow...please go join any other group than the Humpback Whales.
I digress.
In the 16 years that our driver, Henryk, had been coming to Antarctica, he had never witnessed such a display of whales (you know it is a big deal if someone doing this for two decades is impressed). There wasn't any wind, it was warm, and there were many active whales (the usual whale activity here is about one whale). The humpback whales were continually surfacing to blow air out their blowhole, and to arch and dive back down to feed on krill. We saw so many flukes of varying colours and patterns, which when photographed properly can be registered on Happywhale.org to help the scientists track their migrations (I liked the white, rust, and mottled black fluke the best). The whales continuously dove down and you could begin to tell when you would see the fluke based on their body position. We saw a gathering of birds on the water surface and headed over there immediately. The birds float on the surface and the humpback whales work as a team to make bubble rings that push the krill upwards in a contained area which allows for them to surface with their jaws open to feed. At this point, I finally worked up the courage to ask the lady (we called Big Red) to sit down and was rewarded with the whales surfacing with their jaws open and their throats facing us with the Hurtigruten boat in the distance. A perfect photo. We were continually amazed with the show the whales put on for us. At one point, the humpback whale we had been watching surfaced right under the bow of our boat and his size nudged our boat backwards. Henryk was so happy that he kept us out on the water for a full two hours instead of just one. We also felt that he was the best driver we have had thus far as he was excellent at predicting the whales' position and always kept the motor quiet for serene moments. This allowed us to get the 'jaw' photo, but we are still praying for the full breech photo. We can't have all of the perfect things happen on the same day.
After lunch, Brian and I were working on our photos when one lady came by to see what we were doing. She loved our photos (Brian is a genius who should be published). I politely asked if she had seen all of the whales. Her reply was, "Well, I saw SOME of the whales. I think it is impossible to see ALL of the whales!" Oh, how I would love to stay and see all of the whales! Then for sure I would see my breeching whale.
We sailed to Cuverville Island during lunch and sound had another landing to explore. Upon landing on the shore of Cuverville Island we were told of there being Antarctic Grass here (a rare sighting) and our American friend, Curly Sue, couldn't understand his British accent and kept asking him to repeat it or translate it. Once she finally understood, we walked among more gentoo penguin rookeries. I have previously mentioned the protective penguins and how they spread out their nests. Here, at Cuverville Island, we found a penguin couple that seemed to be very behind on their nest. The mom was busy rearranging the stones that her husband brought over. The pebbles he brought over were from the nests of nearby penguins. What I can gather from the scene I watched today was that they either were late to arrive or were lazy. The male penguin was stealing the eggs from every nest in the rookery. This, of course, made him a target of every penguin and he was whacked with a flipper quite a few times.
I have failed to mention one of my favourite parts of the penguin rookeries...the penguin highways. Obviously, penguins struggle to walk on land and will follow in the path of other penguins. This compacts the snow and creates cute little ditches that are perfectly penguin-sized. Penguins will waddle up the steep hill in these penguin highways and it makes them even more adorable to watch. Penguins rarely walk down these highways if there is a snowy hill where they can slide down on their bellies. I got some cute highway photos at the rookery here. Again, Brian and I stayed longer than we were allotted trying to capture as many photos as we could and enjoying the scenery.
When we did get back to the ship, we were later than scheduled and missed our briefing for the next day, as did many other boat groups. To accommodate everyone they called an ad hoc meeting on deck 7. We all proceeded upstairs to hear the news about the next day. After listening to 2 briefings (for anyone who was late), Brian spotted seals on an iceberg. The seals kept hopping on and off and evading our pictures. As we sat there waiting for our next seal visit, who should happen to tap me on my shoulder and mess up the photo as the seal swims in, but the woman from the boat this morning. She had missed both briefings and wanted me to fill her in (despite her entire family being here for the briefings). Big Red, as we have nicknamed her, seems to be wrecking so many of my photos lately. Coincidentally, she also got on mom's nerves (an impressive feat) at the rookery today. Mom had a single goal for a photo of herself and a penguin and due to the rocky terrain at some of the rookeries it has been a challenge for her. Just as dad had lined up a perfect shot (another impressive feat), Big Red went and stood right in front of the penguin and starting photographing it for quite some time. I can't believe how someone couldn't see others trying to take photos on so many different occasions. Brian and I ran outside for a last ditch attempt of these seals before we set sail. We were successful, yet cold.
We headed inside to play more Hand and Foot that evening (we won again) until the main event that would happen around midnight...sailing through the Lemaire Channel. The Lemaire Channel offered us phenomenal colours and vistas as the sun both set and rose within an hour. The rocky islands were set against a rainbow sky streaked with hues of orange and pink. Large icebergs floated nearby in stark contrast to the colours in the sky and reflected in the water. Brian and I were holding up our cameras and shooting over the heads of other people on deck 6 when we decided to try and photograph from deck 9. It was almost completely empty and we went across the entire flat deck shooting from every angle. I had switched to my telephoto lens and leaned over the railing to get a photo of the colours in the valley of two mountains. At one point I was leaning quite far and didn't fancy the idea of swimming in the waters and having to be pulled out with a life preserver and continued to photograph with both feet planted firmly on the deck. We wanted the boat to turn to exit the channel (we were too big to go further south) for more angles. While we waited we got drinks from the bar and enjoyed the views in the panorama lounge. The boat went the furthest south it has ever been and finally turned to head back. We photographed our exit as the colours began to fade as it was now considered full daylight again at 1am. We headed off to bed in awe of the wonders we saw today (whales, penguins, simultaneous sunset and sunrise). I am a lucky girl.
Goodnight.
Liz
We landed at Damoy Point this morning. When it was our turn to go on the zodiac, I was determined to hold my spot on the front of the boat. The ride was short, but at least it was unobstructed. When we arrived, there were penguins right on the rocky shore that looked just like the image I had been waiting to shoot in my head. I knew they would be there on the way back and we were worried about being the last boat, so we hurried up to the top rookery and the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust hut and museum. I hadn't been at the official briefing the day before and was excited to possibly buy a ring on Antarctic land! However, I had clearly misunderstood the site. Here there was a research station hut painted a bright turquoise next to the bright orange Argentinian research hut. Inside the hut which was about the same size as my university bedroom was a kitchen, work bench, and sleeping quarters. You can only imagine how small it was. It was quite an interesting hut to walk around. In the kitchen I was immediately drawn to a label on the bottom drawers called, "Manfood. Spaghetti and Rice." I wondered where the "Womanfood" drawer was and can't wait to have dinner with spaghetti or rice to exclaim that it is Manfood. There was a ledge of books around the top of the kitchen part of the hut and I found the book selection quite humourous. In such a sparse and barren landscape I probably wouldn't have books called: "The Exiled" and "After the Funeral"...there were also a few Harlequin romances on the shelf too.
Once I left the hut, I busied myself taking photos of the inlet of Damoy Point. The sky was a brilliant blue today and the sun illuminated the snow. I got a couple of photos with a sunburst at the top of the snow covered mountains. I just love sunburst photos. The weather today was 8 degrees celsius and even though I wore fewer layers, I still have to strip off a few. I took off my sweater and coat and had a thin long sleeved shirt on (again, I could have taken off some pants...but there is no privacy here).
We walked back over the hill to the rookeries where we saw Fritz. The day before we had seen some penguins that looked like they might be dying or already dead. When we asked him about it, he said that the skuas would have already observed a penguin passing and enjoyed an easy meal. The penguins we saw were resting and pointed out a similar penguin today. After watching it for some time, we saw it move and breathe. They can be quite still. We took many more photos of the gentoo penguins up close. Still no babies at this rookery. I am curious if there is a difference between the chinstrap and gentoo babies and I hope to see some to be able to compare.
As we headed down to the water to get the penguins on the rocky cliff the expedition leaders were trying to get us on the boat. I snapped a couple of shots before jumping into the boat and prayed that they were good. On the boat, I wanted a quick video of the penguins jumping in and out of the water. Again, I somehow ended up beside Big Red who kept getting her sleeve in the way of my videos. Argh.
Dinner that night was supposed to be a set menu of Italian food that had everyone drooling at lunch. On the menu was about 6 different pastas and osso buco. Unfortunately, the menu had changed and it became a buffet dinner. I can't complain since the meals thus far have been fabulous. However, mom and Brian were so disappointed over the change. I wouild have liked to try it again, but that is how life works some times.
After dinner, we again played Hand and Foot. Brian and I were on another winning streak when we saw some lovely icebergs floating by. Of course, we had to capture them. We quickly grabbed our cameras assuming it wouild be a quick photo shoot and ended the game there. Up on deck 9 we were quite cold and decided to use the woollen blankets up on the deck as extra warmth. It helped minimally with the temperature but required quite a bit of finesse to manage to keep them on our body and hold the camera for the shots. When we finally came back down, we all decided that we were tired and would save cards for another night. Brian and I stayed up editing photos and chatting about our lives back home. It was a lovely conversation that lasted until we were the last ones on the deck. Even the cleaning crew had already vacuumed all around us. We headed off to bed to catch some z's before our last landing day tomorrow.
Goodnight.
Liz
I love putting on my bow camera in the morning to help give me a sense of context as to where I am and what it is like outside. Today looks like it might be quite cold as I see snowflakes fly by the bow of the boat. The visible horizon is a dark grey and a weather change seems to be on its way. Perhaps I have not emphasized enough in my previous blogs how fortunate we have been. The weather here has been perfect. Calm waters, blue skies, fluffy white clouds, and warm temperatures without much wind to chill the air. It is unheard of to have as much luck as we have had. In fact, the websites all say to anticipate rough weather that will impact or cancel the scheduled landings. When I had booked this trip, I was excited to have six scheduled landing days as I figured it would mean that we would probably get three successful landings. I have had all six and they have been perfect...so perfect that I often doubled the allotted time on shore to be able to soak it all in.
The whale groups were the last of the four groups to go to shore today. Our humpback group was being driven by the female kayak instructor from the states. She bottomed out our boat three times before the male mechanic took over because the landing crew on the beach got tired of trying to dislodge us while standing in the water. When we were greeted on shore we were told the landings were getting harder due to low tide. They gave us one hour to explore since we were the last group. I knew I was going to push it as long as I could because there were seals all over the beach and baby gentoo penguins.
On shore, I wanted to get as close to the seals as possible. They seemed to be sleeping right at the shore line and we had been given a set distance of where we could stand. I, of course, was hoping that they would move, but the seals really can sleep for quite some time. I decided to refocus my attention tot he gentoo penguin chicks that were in their nests up a little incline. I saw Fritz and while we were talking he heard a noise and said, "leopard seal". They like to hand out in the water near rookeries for the easy penguin meal. These chicks were older (about 3-4 weeks old) and would only be weaned and swim in the ocean at about 2 months old. While photographing the chicks above me, I could hear rocks being kicked about. A seal was 'inching' or crawling towards me and was about two feet away from me. He was staring right at me, not aggressively, more like he was judging the remaining distance to the water and I just happened to be blocking his view. I got some great photos of him looking at me. It takes a lot of effort for the seals to make it back to water which explains why they hang out really close to the water. After a long process of scraping his belly across the rocks (Fritz says his skin is 2cm thick and it doesn't hurt), more seals up top wanted to come to the water. However, some of them inched right to the penguin nests. I asked Fritz and if the penguin mom would defend the nest and scare him away or if the seal would plow right through, he said that both options could happen. I had my fingers crossed for the first option.
We went to look at more gentoo penguin babies. We were able to snap many pictures before we were told that we had to leave. We were ushered on to a boat with 16 people already onboard. It took 5 minutes of every expedition team member trying to push our boat off the rocks. We offered to hop back off to catch the next boat or walk further out into the water. I did get some funny videos of them trying to free us. We all stood right at the stern to ease up on bow. Once we were sailing Brian noted that we were on land for two hours, not one. Oops again. Haha. I really don't care and I still can't fathom that some people only come ashore for about 20 minutes. I understand those with physical difficulties needing to go back, but I could stay from first to last boat if they would let me.
Being as this was our last time on land in Antarctica, Brian wanted to be the last one on the zodiac. Then, we didn't want to sail without more pictures, so we headed to deck 9 to capture as much of the scenery as we could. We stayed up there for probably an hour and a half and missed lunch. Brian had me take photos using his Canon camera with many features my old camera doesn't have, and it was nice.
The afternoon (once we finally came back in) was spent blogging and working on photos.
Our New Year's Eve dinner was lovely. We were served a set menu. I can only seem to remember the Chateau Briande. I have never had this before and it was exquisite. We decided to play more Hand and Foot this evening, keeping with more tradition of playing cards on New Year's Eve. We didn't happen to make it until midnight (two nights in a row of late photos had tired us out) and wished each other a Happy New Year and headed to bed at 11:30pm.
Goodnight.
Liz
Being that today is a full day at sea, Brian paid for the internet and allowed me to be his second device on the plan. We then spent the majority of the day on deck 5 blogging, editing photographs, and communicating with loved ones online. Therefore, this will be a very short entry, but it is also a great chance to catch up on some missed observations.
1. People on the boat like to sit around and take photos of other people's photos. During lecture presentations of places we will visit, people hold up their cameras to take photos to later pass off as their own. There is a photo display on the one TV in the lounge of deck 5 and one lady sat there for 2 days straight to steal every photo. I am not sure why you would want someone else's experience to be passed as your own...especially since we have had spectacular weather and animal encounters.
2. The amphitheatre on deck 5 just has something about it that makes you want to sleep. It is so dark and it is really hard to keep your eyes open in there. I have been good, but dad is almost always asleep during the lectures
What to Pack for an Antarctic Cruise with Landings
1. Really good rubber hiking boots (that come up to your knees for shore exits) that are waterproof. Ours were provided by Hurtigruten and were amazing.
2. Fleece gloves (or the cheap knit kind) for having your fingers free to take photos.
3. Waterproof mitts
4. Knit hat or ear muffs (I can't stand hats, so I loved my ear muffs in addition to my jacket hood)
5. A good jacket that is water and wind proof. Should you not get an insulated one (we didn't) you can always wear layers underneath.
6. Good layers. I like my Under Armour moisture wicking long sleeved shirt and long johns. It was really the best thing I packed.
7. Waterproof pants. Mine had a fleece layer on the inside, but you could always add layers.
8. Carabeaner (sp?) clips. I regularly clipped my mittens to my pocket zippers. I really could have used another one. I loved how handy it was.
9. Sweaters that zip up the whole way. This helps make it easier to add and take off layers on hikes.
10. Neck warmer. Many people loved those. I had my fleece sweater zip up that high, so I was covered.
11. Sunglasses. We regularly wore these to dinner in the restaurant. The sun here is glaring!
12. Sunscreen. The highest SPF you can get. I was wearing my dermatologist SPF 50 and SPF 30 in a two layer system and I still ended up with a red nose (might be due to me staying out longer than my allotted time).
13. Lip Balm. Buy one with a good SPF.
14. Hiking socks. I have some really good socks from my Macchu Picchu trip and they were perfect. I was warm and didn't get any blisters.
15. Photography equipment. You don't want to miss a moment here. I could complete a whole entry about what to bring, but I suggest paring it down to one light backpack that allows you to move easily in your many layers. My bag had to be under the life preserver they give you and being a one-strap bag, it was good to keep it on the light side. I also had my iphone handy for quick snapshots and videos.
I may have mentioned this before. My apologies if the following is a repeat. Announcements are done here in English and German. I just love the excursion announcement lady and her accent. The German speaking people are put in the penguin groups, but it is always pronounced "Pinguinie" like linguine. I also love how she pronounces crabeater seal in English. Lastly, I told Fritz that they should make the German people seals because they are "Sea Hund" and it would be awesome to hear that paged regularly throughout the cruise.
Back to the day.
While we sat on deck, Brian was praying for his rough seas. He dreamed of surviving a rough Drake Passage. Yet, during the whole voyage we have had phenomenal weather and calm waters. I was also there praying for a breeching whale. We feared that these final two wishes would not happen this trip. We can't complain though, as we have been incredibly fortunate. The lack of rough seas actually allowed us to get closer to the Falklands and we might now get to see the King penguins!!! (Three exclamation marks to show how excited I am...don't tell my students)
This morning they offered a visit to the Bridge to learn about how to manoeuvre a ship of this size. It was really interesting to see. I was most fascinated by the chairs that have a groove on which they slide along the console and be locked into position during rough waters. I never really watched Star Trek, but it reminded me of that show.
All day long the crew offered lectures and movies. Mom and dad attended almost every one and even managed to stay awake. Dad learned all about the Falkland Islands history (let's be honest he already knew it and was fact checking) and movies on Antarctica.
For dinner tonight, we had a lovely cut of reindeer. Delicious. I have had a variety of reindeer dishes this trip and I think I have forgotten to mention it before now.
We went to bed relatively early again tonight in anticipation of our 8 hour King penguin trip tomorrow.
Goodnight.
Liz
Today we were eagerly awaiting our arrival into Stanley, Falkland Islands. The sooner we landed and got off the boat, the greater our chance of having time to see the King penguins. The couple from Boston was eagerly waiting at the main exit with us. We were among the first to exit and as soon as we met Patrick, we were on our way. Patrick knows a lot about the Falkland Islands that he could probably fill an encyclopedia. Here are some of the facts that I found interesting:
-No natural trees but they will grow if maintained
-A lot of peat which was the main source of fuel for a long time
-One place to buy gas on the island, no tax and it sells for 50 pence a litre
-One bar on the island (looks like a portable) called The Trough
-Horse racing over Christmas holidays
-Abbatoir in last decade to export meat from sheep and lamb sold in Europe, used to be just wool exported from the islands
-6 wind turbines provide 50 percent of town's power (German design to handle the strong winds because they used to blow out the motor from the high winds)
-Boots put on a stake as a joke by a family has now become a cute little roadside attraction
-Road surrounded by large rock beds from the last melt of the glacier
-Land used to be owned by shareholder in the U.K. and shepherds went to Australia and New Zealand to heard sheep. Forty years ago U.K. Got landowners to sell to Falklands to keep the population stable.
-Wool isn't a big money makers so farmers come drive tourists from ships to make extra money on the side
-Roads meant sheep farmers didn't have to pay for a boat to come get their wool to then transport it to Stanley which was expensive
-Government gives away a lot here: Medical care (fly to Santiago for larger issues, fly to UK for specialized treatments), Schooling, University in U.K., Land plots for 7000 pounds to encourage people to build
-Liberty Lodge veteran housing for when they have a special memorial event and when the lodge is full, the 300 that come is invited to stay in everyone's houses
Falklands War Information
-Argentinians placed over 25 000 land mines now only 10 000
-Zimbabwean trained diggers came to clear the mines
-Whole field was covered with Argentinians and the British were able to keep them at bay
-Argentine memorial here they still visit and they erect flags and plaques
-Falklands had a referendum and 99 percent wanted to stay British
-The best beach in town was loved by the Argentinians, but they thought that the Brits would love it too, so they littered it with land mines and it has been unusable for 35 years
It is a harsh land on which one must live here. The terrain looks very much like Dullstroom, South Africa. It has little in the way of green vegetation and short, dry grasses cover the land. We were thankful for the Land Rover once the paved roads ended after about 15km. Another 25km later, our gravel roads were also done and we were going off-roading (an unexpected bonus). To get to the King penguins we had to go through Johnson's Harbour which was a farm that was recently sold, but was more expensive than normal due to the access to Volunteer Point, the King penguin rookery. We were told that it would be 11 miles of off-roading to 'that hill'. Which then became, 'that hill' , 'just 20 minutes more' and so on and so on. Dad's vehicle got stuck in the muddy bog and the Land Rover got sprayed and covered in mud. We towed them out of the rut and then got stuck ourselves. I loved the off-reading. Some of the bumps over the rough terrain were throwing us around in the car, which I loved (I giggled quite a bit and would have loved more of this). After about 2 hours of a real bumpy ride we arrived at Volunteer Point.
Only about 4000 tourists go to Volunteer Point each year. Here there are over 3 000 King penguins, 3 000 Magellenic penguins, and about 1 000 Gentoo penguins. When we arrived we were all alone. No other person was there other than the 6 of us. What a magical experience! The King penguins are completely at ease with us around them. Many would waddle up to us and sit there in order for us to take their pictures. They were very easy going and didn't mind us being there at all (unlike the Magellenic). The baby King penguins have a fluffy brown fur that is quite puffy. The noises that each penguin makes is very distinct. The King penguins remind me of a car with a dead battery trying to start, but run through a synthesizer (you really need the videos to get the full effect).
Brian and I took pictures and videos for ninety minutes before heading over towards the Magellenics on the beach. I should note the difference in penguin nests here: King don't have a distinct nest and can carry the egg around in a pouch at the bottom of their torso, gentoo/adelie/chinstrap make rock nests, and the Magellenic dig holes in the grass or sand. The Magellenic are more protective like the chinstrap and gentoo. They will tilt their heads left and right trying to figure out if we are a threat. I reckon that if we had been too close for their liking, we would have been pecked until our arms when purple.
We headed back to the car, as we knew we were pushing our 2 hour limit to the maximum and had lunch in the little bunkhouse. Before we entered, we noticed that a family of Magellenics had made a home underneath and were posing at the entry for us. I enjoyed my lunch of cheese and chutney sandwich, chips, juice, chocolate, and tea strong enough to remove paint from furniture. I was sad to leave our penguins, but am thankful for the wonderful opportunity. Just as we were leaving, I saw a penguin 'running' on all fours. It was using his front flippers to stay low in a protective stance and chase another penguin that it did not like near his home.
Our ride back was going to be a long one. However, Patrick gave the warden a bottle of wine to get permission to use his personal route. We drove all along the rocky beach at low tide to save even more time. We made it back to Stanley in only 2 hours, as opposed to three, and had a private tour of every part of the city before heading back to our boat. We said goodbye to Patrick and I highly recommend a tour with him if you are ever in the Falklands.
Back on board, we felt the need to celebrate with a drink. We met at the bar on deck 8 and toasted a great day. Mom and I both enjoyed a Long Beach Iced Tea (similar to Long Island in alcohol quantity, but made with cranberry juice instead of coke). I was incredibly thirsty and drank my first one entirely too fast and was almost instrantly drunk. I paced myself only slightly better for the second drink. Mother and I were drunk and telling lively stories. Brian said that it was the most animated he had seen mom since the cruise started. We all walked a little awkwardly to our rooms and went to bed after a special day.
Goodnight.
Liz
This morning we weren't expecting much from our landing at New Island. It might be due to the fact that Brian and I missed the briefing. What a pleasant surprise. As we approached the shores, the landscape reminded me of Newfoundland and I wanted to take photos of the houses. Once we were onshore, we started our walk to the shipwreck just inside the bay. We hoped to get a good angle without the enormous neon orange buoy floating right in front of the beautiful old wooden boat. We did get a few good shots before heading off to the penguins.
At the end of the road, I found my mom sitting on a rock. I went to see her and saw that she had a front row seat to the rockhopper penguin show. We were at the top of a large 250 foot cliff and all along the edges were rockhopper penguins. There were penguins everywhere. Mom and I were in front of a bunch of rockhopper chicks with about two adult penguins watching over them. We made a joke that it was the daycare, but we were right. It takes about 2 hours for the penguins to hop down to the water to get food and return up the cliff. If any chick tried to leave the tightly corralled group, they would get a swat or peck until they returned to the group. Mom likes the rockhoppers the best because of their 'funky hair'. They came up nice and close to us and were about only a foot away from me. While we were there, giant albatross would swoop right over top of us in a big arc. As they flew by, I noticed their large webbed feet look so cute when viewed from above when they are flying. I would say that we watched the rockhopper penguins for about an hour. We photographed so many pairs, chicks, fights, etc. before my parents headed back.
Brian and I stayed to photograph further along the cliff's edge. As we walked around to get a different view of the penguins, we realized that everyone was watching the albatrosses on their nests. We found a comfy spot to sit and stayed for at least an hour. I was amazed at how nurturing they are. A parent sits on the chick in the nest and when the mate arrives, they groom each other and almost 'cuddle' for a few minutes before they switch places. The albatross is a lot larger than I had originally assumed. They are large, but quite delicate in appearance. They have a black line extending from their eyes that make it look like they are wearing mascara. There was one baby chick that stood out, as it was sitting alone in a nest without a parent. This caused me a great deal of concern as I never saw one alone. Often, there were two parents to every albatross chick. Moreover, I watched that chick for an hour without any sign of a parent. I find it hard to believe that a parent would leave and that both would have died and left it there. I want to find Fritz to ask him about that chick. During the hour that I watched him, he protected himself from nosy rockhopper penguins, was scouted as lunch by a skua bird, and called out for food from his parents. I have my fingers crossed for him, but without a parent to protect him, it didn't look good. At one point a large albatross off to my right decided to walk, rather clumsily, past me to another area on the cliff and was only a foot away from me. I couldn't believe how big they are. Except for breeding times, albatross do not go to land, they will fly or sit on the water. Seeing an albatross near your boat usually signals rough waters ahead...this might explain why I hadn't really seen any thus far in the trip.
Brian and I headed back to the bay. On the way, he pulled out some pears that he had gotten for us to eat. The day before there was an announcement about not bringing foreign food into the Falklands. I knew I should eat to avoid another headache, but didn't want to be caught with the scandalous pear. At one point we hid the pears in our coat pockets as we walked by a cruise member, just in case. I placed the cores in my tissue wrapper and waited to dispose of them later.
I was surprised to see my parents at the hut on the bay. They had been chatting with the lady who lived on the road. This was great news for me as I wanted to know if I could take photos of the houses along the road, especially the stone house with the red door. She said, "Of course you can. Go right up to any house you like." I couldn't wait to take pictures of this one stone cottage with a copper coloured roof. As we got closer I found it had a shed around the back with beautifully faded hues of green as well. I loved this house. I really wanted a photo from the other perspective, but the gate was shut. We returned to the road and entered from the other side. This however, was incredibly open and visible to everyone. I know that I had permission, but they didn't know that. I felt so scandalous and guilty, but the pictures were worth it. As we were finishing, the cruise director looked in at us and I was panicking. There I was in someone's gated front yard and with food in my pocket. I was sure I was going to be questioned. My heart was racing. We walked back out and I tried to look as casual as possible. Surprisingly, no one said anything even though I felt I was walking around wearing a scarlet letter on my coat.
Back on the cruise ship we enjoyed a set menu of cod dishes and lingonberry desserts before Brian headed off to rest (his cold had become worse) and my parents went to the briefing for the next day. I continued to blog in my room before bed. I have one more landing day in the Falklands tomorrow. It seems like such a short amount of time has passed since the cruise started and I can't imagine it being over soon. Best not to think about it...
Goodnight.
Liz
When I met Brian at breakfast he was not feeling well at all. Yesterday when I asked him how he was feeling, his reply was "About fifty percent." Today his reply was "15 percent" and I knew that meant he wasn't going to shore with us. It would be sad to not have my buddy shooting pictures beside me, but he needed some rest. Based on what mom told us over breakfast about the briefing from the day before, it didn't sound like Brian would miss much.
Mom, dad, and I went to deck 4 to be prepared for when they called our whales for the tender boats. Due to an earlier announcement that was misleading many people hurried down to the boats and it took quite some time before we were called. I got very hot waiting and I am not sure that Brian would have been able to handle that. When we were eventually called, I felt satisfied to see that all the other animal groups that tried to sneak down early were waiting on the side of the hallway for their turn. We hopped on our boats and were off to the dock.
On land, I was surprised by how much greenery there was on this island. I saw a lot of grass, trees, bushes, and even palm trees. What an odd ecosystem it is here. It needs to be rugged enough to survive, yet is diverse to represent the meeting of two different continents.
I was excited to walk to the settlement and photograph the houses, in hopes of another stone house with iron roof like yesterday. Once I approached the houses, I asked Maurice where we could venture with permission and was very relieved to be able to wander freely (unlike the self-imposed stress of yesterday). I started right away with a fading green house with rusted gas cylinders in front of an old, worn window. Stunning. I managed to photograph every building on the island from a variety of angles...after all, I was shooting for two today!
Satisfied with my settlement pictures, I ventured to the beach to find my parents. They were setting along a fresh water stream and birds were hopping along their feet and enjoying some water. We took some quick pictures of the ducklings on the beach before mom and dad heading in for tea and cookies. There is a couple on the island who like to bake and upon the arrival of every cruise ship, they bake an enormous amount of goodies for the 'starving' tourists on the ships. I took a little longer on the beach because a boy told me to walk another 400m to see a king penguin, but I think his English translation confused 400 and 4000. I turned around knowing that I already had some great photos from before. When I got to the tea and cookies, I was met outside by my parents and thought that I might skip it. To which, mom and dad vehemently shook their heads, I just had to try come of the cookies. When I walked in, there was a full table of so many treats. There were handmade chocolates, cakes, cookies, tarts, squares, cinnamon rolls, etc.. I selected the three made with chocolate and wrapped them in a napkin for Brian and headed back out to meet my parents. Dad informed me on the walk home that he was so happy to have had mince meat pie and fruit cake. At first, I balked at the selections he made, but then realized that he got to have a treat he loves, but rarely gets , without having leftovers in the house. A good deal for all of us.
We boarded our zodiac and headed back to the boat. I checked in on Brian and gave the chocolate treats that might lift his spirits. We all met for lunch a short while later to discuss what we had seen. We all agreed that Brian picked the right day to be sick. The afternoon was spent updating the blog, sorting through photos, and chatting.
After a. Lovely dinner of beef Wellington, we played more Hand and Foot. Mom and dad finally won a game! We had fun before heading off to the crew show (mom and dad) and to bed. I a, sad that tomorrow is my last day. It feels like it just flew by.
Goodnight.
Liz
Last night around midnight, Brian got his wish for rough seas. The boat was rocking quite a bit that it woke me up around midnight. We have had very calm and beautiful weather up until this point and have been very lucky. Every time the boat went over a huge wave it rolled me around in my bed. I slept in an awkward position in order to feel like I wouldn't fall out of bed. As such, when I woke up this morning, I was feeling a little stiff.
At breakfast we took a quick survey of our foursome to see how everyone was feeling. Dad's cold was worse and Brian was about 60% and happy about the rough seas last night. He said he got up around midnight to look out his window and watch the weather. He estimated the waves were 5m high. It was his minimum height needed to have rough seas, so he was happy.
Today was a sea day. Without much to do other than returning a few items, it was going to be a quiet day and many people were winding down. We returned our boots and Velcro patches and spent the majority of the day editing photos. Dad and Brian went for naps to help rest away some of their respective colds.
Fritz came by at one point to chat with me. He is really interesting to talk to, as he had been to so many places around the world and worked with a variety of animals. I was happy to have a chance to ask him about the albatross chick we saw at New Island. He had also seen it, I saw him watching it closely at the rookery too. He said that when the albatross chicks get big enough, they require more food to keep them fed and both parents will leave to get the food needed. He noted that the chick was well fed and quite capable to be on its own for a bit. I agreed with him, as I recalled seeing the chick peck at rockhoppers or other albatross that got too close to him. He was already taking on a slight adult role. He also mentioned that the penguins will also do this, but that the chicks we saw were young and still needing attention. He said that the chicks in the nursery are often almost old enough to be left alone and it was a good way to transition them to adulthood. Phew. I felt much better about this information.
We had a lovely final dinner with a champagne toast from the captain. Brian made another good toast (he is really clever at these) before we enjoyed our meal. The dinner celebrated the local Magellan cuisine with ceviche and chimichurri beef. Yum. The whole cruise dad had been joking around with mom that he was going to arrange a birthday song and dessert presented by the crew at dinner for her. She kept insisting that she wouldn't want that. Then after a goodbye dance during dinner, the waiters came by with a dessert and dad said, "here is the dessert I arranged." You should have seen mom's face as the dessert landed at the table next to us. She was stressed but trying to look happy at first. When it went to the lady at the table next to us, she was so relieved. Well, our whole table erupted into hysterical laughter at this. I am sure it was as good as her reaction to when the humpback whales bumped our boat (dad counts these two events as highlights of his trip).
Brian and I had been skipping many of the lectures lately, but couldn't wait for the photo journey of our trip. Many of the photos were very striking (amazing morning icebergs) and some seemed to be just as good as ours were. There was of course one photo of a breeching whale that made me jealous.
We said goodnight as we all headed off to our rooms to pack. We had to put our suitcases by the elevators before 11pm. Then I headed to bed as I know that tomorrow is going to be an extraordinarily long travel day.
Goodnight.
Liz
I woke up at 6am this morning to get ready for our long travel day. I had taken a pear the day before have as my morning snack. I couldn't envision myself eating much that early. I headed down stairs to eat near a window on the deck and saw Brian. We chatted before finding my parents as they came off the elevator.
We all cleared out of our rooms in order for the staff to start cleaning for the next bunch of passengers. Then we sat waiting for our bus letter to be called. When we were called, we boarded a bus to drive down the dock and get scanned at customs. They ran our carry-on bags through a scanner, but I feel like they didn't even look at the screen. We hopped back on the bus and were treated to another tour of Punta Arenas. It was very different type of tour, it was more about the present day, not about the history. Here are some highlights:
-3 months of winter and 9 months the of all seasons (weather changes every 5 minutes)
-Town was very important before Panama Canal opened
-Fire land = Tierra del Fuego because they saw the native fires for cooking and warmth
-End of the World because it is connected to land unlike Ushuaia, so it is southern most Point despite Argentinian claims (although Puerto Williams is the most southern settlement, but it is on an island)
-Most expensive city in Chile (Santiago apples cost 75 cents. Here in Punta Arenas four dollars)
-Gas is most expensive even though the oil is taken from here
-Pinochet took power in 1973 and got rid of duty free for Punta Arenas
-Salaries are higher here (prices still rising)
-Safest city in chile (can walk everywhere)
-Cleanest region in Chile (No plastic bags here)
-Family lunches here (not a siesta) and other regions don't
-Nearby Magdalena Island 150000 penguins couples and then their babies. One man lives there to care for them and use the lighthouse
I would actually like more time in Punta Arenas to photograph all of the unique houses. Each one had different colours and architecture. I also found the seaside basketball courts and skate park to be quite amusing. Knowing the weather they get here, this park must be difficult to use.
***During the tour, she told us that if you touched the toe of the Magellan's statue it means you will return to the Magellan Strait. Luckily, I saw other tourists doing this on our stop before the cruise and I blindly followed them. I can't wait to come back and explore Antarctica again!***
At the airport, we lined up for security right away. Being a charter flight, they had preprinted our boarding passes and taken our luggage. The security lineup was pretty long. Once we got closer, we realized why, one of the scanners was broken. It was quite a funny scene to see them repairing the belt and parts of the machine with duct tape. Say what you will about duct tape, it worked. Soon after Brian arrived to join us, told us his bus had a woman trying to take an apple into the country. He didn't think she was fined, but she was quite upset when she was asked to fill out a new customs form in order to keep her apple. The cruise ship offered a full breakfast only thirty minutes before this, so I am baffled by her wanting to hold on to the apple.
We boarded our flight. Lucky Brian got a seat in the first row, while we were in cattle class in the back. However, everyone wanted to sit with their friends and kept switching seats which left me with a vacant seat beside me. Almost instantly after the food was served, I fell asleep. I hadn't planned on it and didn't take out my neck pillow and did the head roll thing for about an hour.
At Santiago we picked up our bags at the baggage carousel and said our farewell to Brian (he is staying one more night in town before going home). I have had many amazing experiences on this trip (I truly am a lucky girl), but getting to spend this trip with Brian has been my favourite of all of them. I have found a great friend and hopefully a future travel buddy. Thanks for everything, Brian.
We entered into the departures terminal and found the Air Canada lounge would not be open until 6:30pm. That gave us nearly four hours to kill before we would then have to wait again. We went to have lunch at the cafeteria. We all enjoyed our bacon cheeseburgers while catching up on blogs and watching people walk by.
Looking for a change in scenery after a couple of hours, we wandered in the direction of the check-in desk to find that it had just opened. Hooray. We checked in and went through security. Once we were on the other side we went shopping. Mom has been on my case to buy a non-silver ring since this summer. Somehow, I relented to her arguments (it only took 7 months) and bought a blue (possibly lapis lazuli) and silver ring. I realize it doesn't sound like a big departure from my usual, but it was a big win for mom. This ring reminds me of sailing on the Magellan Strait and all of the good times with my parents and Brian.
We sat for a couple of hours after shopping waiting at the gate to board our plane. The information displays kept showing that our plane was already boarding, however, there wasn't even a plane at our gate. Dad was growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of schedule adherence. I have grown accustomed to airlines always seemingly running behind...what got under my skin was different. I just drives me nuts how airlines board their planes. In fact, Brian and I were discussing this in the Punta Arenas airport. I don't understand the value of loading front to back. In all of the places I have travelled, my fastest loading was when they called specific rows (back to front). I hate waiting behind people who didn't come when their front sections were called and I am waiting behind them to find a spot to cram their three carry-on items. One man threw his luggage up above row 11 and then walked to row 29 to sit. This of course means that people in row 11 can't fit their luggage and while they search around five different rows, I can't get to row 44. We were happy to finally be on the plane and in our final stretch.
On the plane, I watched two bad movies and tried to sleep (head bob style again, even though I had my neck pillow). Our flight also had quite a bit of turbulence today, probably more than I had ever experienced. I wasn't ever stressed as pilots are professionals, but it make sleep difficult. Knowing our travel day was to be longer than 24 hours, I knew this would make for a rough Saturday. We did land without any problems and sailed right through customs (I love the system at Pearson). At the luggage carousel we were sniffed by dogs and all of the luggage seemed to appear on the belt 20 pieces every fifteen minutes. Ours were among the last ones to appear (probably due to our extremely early check-in). It didn't bother me at all, but I did feel badly for my brother-in-law who had been waiting in the airport parking area since about 6am. We finally made it out of the terminal at 7:30am. Upon walking outside, we were greeted by a bracingly cold wind at about -15 degrees celsius (you could feel your nose hairs freeze). Most of our days in the Antarctic were about +5 degrees celsius and we were shocked back to reality by our truly Canadian weather. Needless to say, we were happy for Larry's seat warmers in his car.
Once we were home, we turned the heat back up, got the mail, and settled in. I did all of my laundry and started reading through my mail (letters and emails). My parents headed to bed for most of the day as they had not slept much on our transit day. As we slowly readjust back to normal every day life we are thankful for the wonderful once in a lifetime experience (I intend to go back though...I touched Magellan's toe) and our new lifelong friends.
Goodnight.
Liz
Embrace the chaos.
I have travelled quite a bit and I know how lucky I am to do so. I really look forward to my trips. I enjoy researching new places to visit and planning my trip. With the number of trips I have taken, I know there is a pattern of events that seem to emerge each time. One event that is a sure thing for me is the pre-trip chaos.
Pre-trip chaos for me looks different every time, yet I know it is going to happen. For my loyal blog followers you may remember the riots in Egypt causing a whole new itinerary, flights etc in 2013, or the doctor’s note debacle of the Antarctica trip in 2016. I have so many more that I could rhyme off, but those are the most notable events. Therefore, I tried to be pro-active and do my best to avoid the chaos this time. I didn’t. My mom had knee replacement surgery this week, which meant that my mind was going in a number of directions. Luckily, my mom is a champ and she is doing well. However, during my one night packing I couldn’t find my vaccination booklets. This translated to me ripping apart most areas of the house (that I had just organized a week ago...when I last had the booklets). A good two hours later, I found them in my car (not sure why I left them there or thought that was a good idea) and had to clean before I could resume packing. All things considered, it was a minor bump in the road. I am just learning that every pre-trip of mine will have ‘something’ happen. As James would say, “It is just Type 2 Fun!”
***
This is where I need to give a big shout out to my sister. Last night I slept at her place and she had the unfortunate task of getting up at 4:30am to drive me to the airport. Thank you, Andrea!
We arrived at the airport at 5:30am like we had planned and I am not sure my brain was fully functional yet, as it took me a little bit to make sense of the departures board. However, while I stood there I ran into a former teacher from my school (Michael Volpe) who was headed to Hawaii with his family. We said a quick hello before I headed off to check-in. I really love being forced to get first class seats on my points (there never seem to be any economy seats available to the places I go). I got to immediately check in my bags (they were given priority tags), zoomed through the security scanning, and made it to the first class lounge in record time.
Once there, I enjoyed a small breakfast: latte, berry pomegranate juice, toast, and hard boiled eggs (which always remind me of my trip to Africa with Katie). The lounge was quite nice, but the hazy morning views of Toronto weren’t the best.
I headed to my gate after grabbing a free magazine from the lounge and arrived at my gate as they called First Class boarding. I was so happy with how well I timed everything. I didn’t have to wait at all! I settled into seat 1A and was excited to soon take off.
Nope.
We were delayed 75 minutes due to people not arriving to the airport with enough time to get through security. The pilot explained that their luggage was already onboard and we either had to wait to bring the people or offload their luggage. I really enjoyed the delay. I was able to read my free magazine and the in-flight magazine (I love those). However, I couldn’t believe some of the passengers. When we were only 15 minutes late, a lady came up and pleaded to be let off to go get a coffee from the terminal. They politely refused her and then she tried to pay our crew to go get her a coffee (I believe she wanted something fancy)! Again, they politely refused her. This reminds me of when dad and I travelled to Florida for our Caribbean cruise and people showed up thirty minutes before their flight to the US and then were being called ahead and our wait just kept getting extended. The airlines all advise what time to arrive at the airport, I find it hard to believe that sooo many people had problems getting to the airport on time. I digress. A 75 minute delay would cause me a lot of stress under normal circumstances and I can fully appreciate that some people must be upset if they have short connections. Luckily, I have around a 4 hour layover in Orlando before my next flight. Therefore, I have just been enjoying my magazines. (Side note: 1st row has a lot of leg room and nobody reclines in your face, but you can’t keep your bag under your feet.)
Being that I was in seat 1A, I was first in line to get off. I thanked the attendant for a great flight. He asked where I was going and if I was blogging the trip (he saw me typing and taking photos of Yarnaby earlier). He was so impressed that he opened a cupboard and offered me a KitKat chocolate bar and a bottle of water. Not too shabby!
I wandered the distance to get to where I had to board for Copa Airlines and was surprised at the theme park stores. In theory, you could pretend to have visited all of the tourist attractions without going. Simply bring home a souvenir from the airport. That being said, I did enjoy looking at the Harry Potter items and got some neat ideas for Harry Potter Club next year! I quickly ate my KitKat, drank my water and headed through security.
At the gate for my next flight, I was paged over the intercom. I was confused. When I went to the desk, they asked me where I was going. I explained that I was going to Panama for a couple of days. He could tell from some of my return flights that I was going to Quito, since one of my (many) return flights are from there. He needed my itinerary to verify that I had transport to all of my locations. He then asked me if I had checked bags. I told him that I DID check one bag and it was ticketed to come the whole way through. He said, “Okay, I will call down to the plane to make sure they have it!” He then asked me about other Canadian people he was trying to page and thanked me for my answers. So, I went to sit down.
Fast forward a couple of hours to when I land and there is no bag at the luggage carousel! I went to the baggage help desk and filed a report. The man was very nice and was impressed with how kind I was about everything. To be honest, I knew this had to happen to me at some point. Considering the number of planes I have been on, I have been very fortunate up until this point. At the moment, I am enjoying the Type 2 Fun of not having your luggage (and embracing the chaos). I will be honest, I am curious how quickly this will fade. Stay tuned.
I make it to my hotel (courtesy of a crazy lady taxi driver with great Panamanian tunes blaring) and check in. I am looking forward to relaxing and waiting my luggage delivery. I receive a message from my sister, Andrea, about my sister, Cheryl, being delayed. At the moment, her flight is four hours delayed due to a lightning strike at her airport. Sounds like both of us are going to have some excellent Type 2 Fun stories to share later.
For now, all I can do is embrace the chaos!
For Dad:
YYZ-MCO Boeing 767-300
MCO-PTY Boeing 737-800
I am aware of the different pace of life in the Caribbean. I know things often take longer than expected. So, I can’t say I was surprised when my luggage didn’t show up by 8:30pm like promised. At some point that evening, I fell asleep waiting for my luggage and my sister. I heard her flight was delayed and was expecting her to wake me up at some ungodly hour. Instead, I woke up at 4am to see she still wasn’t here. After some sleuthing in the morning (again, thanks Andrea), I found out her delay turned into a cancellation and she wouldn’t be here until some ungodly hour on Sunday morning.
I got dressed and headed to the lobby. I had tried to call the airlines about my luggage, but the phone wouldn’t call out. They called for me. No answer. I decided to eat breakfast. We tried again when I was done. Many attempts later, we found someone who ‘had’ my bag with them. It was being sent right away and would be at my hotel by 9:30am.
I went upstairs to await my bags. I was so excited. Luckily, I was able to catch the last 5 minutes of Harry Potter and then Beauty and the Beast. I kept expecting the phone to ring. It didn’t.
I went down to check out and we called again. My bag was ‘almost there’. About five minutes later, my bag was being wheeled through the door! Hooray!
Alright a fresh start. I had a day to myself and I had promised Cheryl that I would book our tours for when she arrives, so I headed to our next hotel in the middle of The Gamboa Rainforest. The hotel concierge called a taxi and told me it would be $8.
I waited. He came and I hopped in and we were on our way. The driver didn’t speak any English, other than Gamboa. I said, “Ocho dollars”. HE stopped the car. Pulled out a sheet. Pointed to $35. No. This went back an forth about two buildings away from the hotel. I pulled out my Google translation app and we tried to talk. It didn’t work. We drove back to the hotel. We both got out and I could see the concierge defend me in Spanish. Then she said to me, “It is my mistake, it is $30!” I asked her to clarify that I had heard her correctly originally. She said I had. I then told her that I had had a number of incidents in the last day and really just wanted a fresh start.
This is when I started crying.
I walked to the taxi and got in...still crying. I get the distance to the rainforest is far. I get the driver is doing his job. I get that people make mistakes. Why am I crying? Why couldn’t I stop?
The concierge comes and says she can call me a different taxi. She starts negotiating the price. Here is where my stubbornness kicks in. She says, $25, $20 and I just kept saying no (in between sobs). I just wanted this done! After about 5 minutes of what I am assuming is an interesting exchange between the 3 of us. Any onlookers would have found it hilarious...a gringo not taking a discount sobbing in a taxi, insisting on full price. I am sure this driver wanted nothing to do with me. But, there I was sitting in the back of his cab crying and facing away from their conversation. Seriously, why am I this immature sometimes?
We start driving. I am wiping away tears for longer than I care to admit. Only once we hit landscape that looks like a rainforest, do I stop crying. In fact, it was the sight of a sloth in a tree that turned my mood. However, I kept seeing them and realized they were nests, not sloths. Haha. I loved how many Bird of Paradise flowers I saw along the road. Yet, we still sat in stony silence.
Then, my driver tried to drop me off at a Radisson hotel. I said that is wasn’t my hotel. I restated “Gamboa Rainforest Resort”. He loudly sighed and drove off again.
Then I could tell he was lost. Even though there is only one road and the Panama Canal is to the left and wilderness to the right. He slowed at every driveway/road. Or maybe, he wanted to dump the most awkward fare he had ever picked up. We ended up stopping at a police station after turning around. Then we turned around again with his new directions. We were at the hotel a minute or two later.
He was more than happy to drop me off at the hotel and go. I hope Cheryl has better luck tonight at 4am!
Stepping out into the hot and humid air of the rainforest, it already feels different. I enjoy the breeze throughout the resort. I have checked in, booked some tours, and have ordered ceviche and a Gamboa Resort drink. Things are looking up.
Upon arriving at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, I sat at the lounge bar overlooking Lake Gatun. I ordered a Gamboa Sunrise and ceviche. I enjoyed watching the beautiful scenery, relaxing, and listening to the birds.
I could see dark storm clouds rolling in and it wasn’t too long before the rains came pouring down and I witnessed a nice lightning display. Beautiful.
I got my room and was surprised I had forgotten about the hammock on the balcony. I quickly settled in to watch the tail end of the rainstorm. When it was a light drizzle, I started noticing small animals all over the grass below. I zoomed in with my lens and saw that most of them were capybaras! I love capybaras! I didn’t realize that they were I Panama and I happily spent nearly three hours just watching the groups of capybaras run around the grass while I gently swayed in the hammock. Bliss. After the rain, the rainforest across the river seemed to have a blanket of clouds hanging amongst the treetops. It looked so beautiful and peaceful.
I headed to dinner and was spoiled for choices. I enjoyed mushroom chicken, beef tenderloin, scalloped potatoes, and beet salad. The desserts were a sight to behold. Almost every imaginable choice and all presented like works of art. I chose a chocolate mousse and a grenadilla mousse. I haven’t had grenadilla in at least a decade and it was so light and delicious.
Off to bed soon, but I want to wander the grounds tomorrow to see how close I can get to the capybaras for some photos. I love those (not so) little guys.
Goodnight.
I woke up this morning to the sound of birds calling to me. I checked my phone and saw two messages from Cheryl. She had finally landed. I got ready to meet her at our hotel reception with a big hug. I quickly showed her our room while we got ready for our next two tours.
We started with a monkey boat ride at 8:45am. We were picked up by a jaguar print truck (I kept calling it a Lego truck). The sides of the truck were open with a small chain that they put across when driving. I noticed we were being filmed while we waited in the truck. Our other passengers joined us and one lady said, “you will be filmed for a TV show. Okay.” I guess that counts as a legal release form in Panama. Hahah. We rode down the hotel paths to be dropped off at the docks. There we were introduced to our tour guide and boat driver. We donned our life jackets and hopped in the boat, ready to go.
While we made our way out to the monkey islands on Lake Gatun, we waited for large tanker ships to pass. Here, our guide told us a little bit about the canal and how there are only a couple of pilots allowed to drive ships through the canal and they must board each ship to pass. He also pointed out a very large crane they call Titan. It was commissioned by Hitler, as well as three others, and was purchased for one dollar by Panama once it was completed. They aren’t sure where the other three are. They use it to help open and close nearby gates that weight 700 tonnes.
We zoomed off in our boat to make it to the islands. I have heard that earlier is better. There we wove our way around the islands and saw: many birds (I remember Cara Cara, Tiger Hawks, and Cheryl can fill you in on the rest), iguanas, howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys, and tamarind monkeys. The capuchins are the “Marcel” monkeys from “Friends” and they came close to every boat. Many private boat operators feed the monkeys, Gamboa Rainforest Resort does not. It is a catch 22. The monkeys then become reliant on the boats and it upsets the ecological balance. Yet, many capuchin monkeys came down close for the food (which resulted in some nice photos). I am happy we didn’t feed them, yet they come close for the food. If you choose to go, it is a decision you will have to make for yourself.
We headed back to the hotel to jump on our next tour...we had to squish everything into one day since Cheryl was delayed. Next was the ecological tour and sloth sanctuary. Again, we boarded another jaguar Lego truck and headed of down a road going in the other direction. We started in a very weird taxidermy animal museum...I didn’t enjoy it. Then we turned a corner to see the cats that have been rescued (mostly due to being struck by cars). The first was an ocelot and she was adorable. She was rescued as a small baby and was excited for attention. She came right to the glass and nuzzled right up to us. I spent a long time watching her and missed the description of the other animals. However, there was an anteater, another ocelot, and a porcupine.
We headed to a frog sanctuary and I was expecting to see frogs the size of my fist. They were minuscule. There were a couple that were the size of my pinky fingernail (or even smaller). There were two main frogs I saw, a super tiny red one, and the black and green ones (they were the size of a cotton ball). Next were the butterflies. I couldn’t get a picture of the bright blue butterflies that I loved in Bolivia. There was once that often flounced around, but I seemed to always miss it.
The next building was the best...sloths! I rushed to be near the front. No shame here. Oh my goodness, these cuties pies were just the best. The first group we saw were all babies. There were four of them all clinging together in the most adorable ball of fur every. Volunteers would stand near them, offering them boiled carrots, green beans, and sloth biscuits (the boil them to make sure they get enough water). The sloths are quite motionless most of the time, unless the food is near. I got some adorable feeding pictures. I just kept snapping picture after picture. They were too cute! We had to rush off as some of our group was going to the boat tour. I asked our leader if we could stay to spend more time with the sloths since we weren’t going to the boat. She said, “after your orchid visit.” I wasn’t much interested in orchids, but I didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth.
I am glad I went to the orchids. Natalia was our guide for this section and she was phenomenal. She said, “Do you know what orchids are?” I replied ‘yes’, assuming she was checking her translations. She continued, “Okay, so you know they are like testicles!” I nearly choked. Nope, I didn’t know what she was referring to. She explained about the stamens and the pistens on each flower and how you can cross breed them to create beautiful new flowers. She then went on to explain about how each plant is named, national flowers, how to care for the flowers, etc. We also toured the local medicinal plants found here in Panama and how they were all used. She also pointed out toxic plants. The flowers were gorgeous and I really enjoyed learning from her.
Now came the awkward part. Another 4 people didn’t go on the boat tour...how do we get back into the sloths without alerting them to our deal? Natalia said, “Feel free to go to the sloths.” We did. We went back and had the place almost entirely to ourselves for the next 90 minutes. I was so happy. We snapped pictures and wandered freely among the nine sloths there. They play very calming zen-like music in here. Cheryl kept calling it the sloth ballet, because they move so slowly and deliberately to the music. There are branches where the sloths hang out, but there are also baskets that they can sleep in. It was so cute to see the sloth in his picnic basket. Again, our film crew showed up and we were filmed again. It was organized my a company called ‘Panamazing’ and her microphone said ‘D’Paseo’. Not sure where you will see us, but we will be famous!
We headed back for some lunch overlooking the Chagres River and once we were done we were going to go swimming. Just then, the thunder rolled in and the rain started. Staff were asking people to get out of the pool. We were going to when the rain stopped, but it seemed to go on and off for hours. We got to the room and right away Cheryl spotted the Capybaras out for their afternoon lunch on the green grass. I could get used to watching them every afternoon from my hammock. Cheryl passed out on the bed (after only 1 hour of sleep and a long 2 days). But was up only fifteen minutes later. She is crazy.
We noticed that there were people swimming, so we had to go! The pool was phenomenal and I can’t believe there weren’t more people in it. It was so refreshing after two days of hot and humid weather. We enjoyed the lovely mosaic tile and waterfall in the pool for about an hour until we were chased out by more rain.
We again watched the capybaras from the hammock while we waited to be given our new room (the elevator was broken and they didn’t want guests walking up I guess). Our other room had a way better view of birds and capybaras, but the sun was setting and we had already used up all of the good watching time!
We had a lovely steak dinner in the hotel bar area and headed back to the room to relax before our city whirlwind tomorrow.
Goodnight.
This morning we woke up in the Gamboa Rainforest Reserve to rain. Then more rain. With nothing but rain on the horizon, we decided to change our plans to spend the morning lounging at our hotel. We joyed the breakfast buffet that was offered. We enjoyed omelettes, waffles, and local Panamanian breakfast items (like cassava).
We headed back to our room for one last swing in the hammock. Cheryl and I were enjoying the view, when she jumped up during a break in the rain and said, “Let’s go track some capybaras!” The trail to get their was often non-existent and completely soaked. We crept through the grass to where my capybaras often played and were able to spot one for some photos before we headed back to catch our ride into town.
Back at the original site of my taxi cab meltdown, we arrived at the Innfinity hotel to find they gave us a very nice room with a spectacular view of the ocean. It was much nicer than the first room we were given and I think it was due my tears. Cheryl was happy about the view because she was sad that the rooftop infinity pool was closed.
We decided it would be prudent to go to the local mall to find Cheryl some sandals for the trip...in case her luggage doesn’t arrive. At the local mall we found original Tevas for $16 in addition to a couple of other finds! We quickly scoured for some rings, and Cheryl found a pack of three (1 was nice). We felt it was a good ‘safety’ ring and we will be checking at the airport tomorrow. We were rushed and didn’t want to miss the shuttle back to the hotel.
We talked to the concierge about dinner and it was casually mentioned that the rooftop infinity pool was open. We hurried up for a quick swim, some photos, and a beer (for Cheryl). It really was lovely. We went up just before sunset and enjoyed watching all of the tall buildings light up in the night sky of the Panama City skyline. The water was chilly (which would have been nice during the heat of the day, but since it has just rained, the air had cooled. We went to a traditional Panamanian restaurant for dinner and had empanadas, ropa viejo, and arroz con pollo. Delicious.
On our way home in the cab, Cheryl got a call about her luggage. They were at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, not Innfinity. They said they would deliver again in about an hour or two. So, here we sit up in our hotel room waiting for her luggage to arrive. Fingers crossed everyone.
Goodnight.
PS. I have forgotten about how when I was in the cab to the rainforest and kept seeing sloths in the trees. It turns out they were a nest of some sort of bird. They are attached to the branches on the trees and it kept making me think they were sloths. So, now we call them sloth nests.
PPS. At some point I decided to write a limerick.
There once was a girl from Canada
Who didn’t feel like going to Havana
She heard from word of mouth
To head further south
And that is how she came to be in Panama
I was stressed for Cheryl’s luggage situation when I woke up. I was surprised that she was surprisingly calm. I quickly checked Facebook and saw that she got her luggage from the front desk around midnight (I guess I was asleep)! Hooray. We were so excited. We packed our items and headed down for a quick breakfast before catching the airport shuttle.
I have failed to note that driving in Panama is a little chaotic. Lanes are a suggestion. They have to have stop signs and traffic lights to stop traffic...and that probably only works 50% of the time. Also, if you want to turn and there is an endless stream of cars, you just continually inch out blocking three lanes of traffic until everyone is forced to yield to allow you to make your turn. I would definitely not want to rent a car here.
At the airport, we checked our bags in a said a little prayer that we would see them again. I used the hour before we had to be at our gate as an opportunity to search for another ring in the shops. I found one. Yay!
We boarded the plane. Cheryl and I were placed across the aisle from each other. As I walked down the aisle, I could see that my seat had big lettering that said, “Not operational”. No one said anything, so I sat there and assumed it meant that I couldn’t recline. Right before take off, a different attendant came up to me and said that I couldn’t sit there. He offered me a different seat and I said that I would pick the option that was closer to my sister. He then said that we should sit together in our own row...an exit route with so much leg room. Score.
We landed in Bogotá and got a taxi to our hotel relatively quickly (as our suitcases were one of the first ones on the luggage belt). A quick note here about taxis in Colombia, there is no meter. The airport taxi guy had a counter at his rear view mirror and the numbers were skyrocketing. It is not uncommon for tourists to get ripped off on airport taxi. We were worried, because soon the amount would equal almost all of the money I took out at the ATM. When we arrived at the hotel, I believe the driver was asking “how much would you like to pay in Spanish” but it was to quick for me. Then he said a number that was super low. We said yes. (We have found all taxis to be much cheaper here in Colombia compared to Panama...and the cars are much nicer.) Our hotel is incredibly nice. It was also filled with men here on business. There were also a couple of sports teams here. The male to female ratio is easily 10:1. It is a very swanky hotel and I am clearly not dressed appropriately. The hotel has orange accents and is very modern in design. We got a room with a view of the mountain and were happy to get over there while it wasn’t raining.
I enjoyed looking at the graffiti art on the way to the cable car. The city is very clean with many great graffiti art walls that just draw your attention. We headed up the cable car to the top of Monserrate. We headed to the church sanctuary to view the Virgin Mary that inspires thousands of people to climb this hill each month as a mini pilgrimage. Then we ended up taking a slow meandering walk around the grounds taking pictures of birds, flowers, and architecture. It was good that we took it slowly, as I am very susceptible to altitude sickness and I was feeling sluggish. A flight of stairs at the top of the mountain made my heart pound. Once we had photographed almost every inch, it was time to go for our dinner reservation of Casa San Isidro. A nice upscale French restaurant allowed us to have a delicious meal (I had Chateaubriand and a lychee mousse with rose sherbet dessert that was deconstructed and fancy enough to be on Masterchef). We enjoyed watching the sunset, and watching the city come to life with lights.
A quick taxi ride home and went to our room to see that the government building across from us was having a soccer game. We watched about 5 minutes before it ended. Another point I keep forgetting to make was that we kept hearing dog barking. We are high up in our hotel and couldn’t figure it out, as we couldn’t see any residential buildings. When we Googled our area we learned that the space across from us was a government building and we figured that the security dogs had a kennel right by our window. We hope to see them at some point. As bedtime was drawing near, I went to close our blackout blinds and saw that right beside the soccer field, they were setting up a stage with disco lights and getting ready for a big party...on a Tuesday?!?! If they were partying tonight, we would be fast asleep before it even starts.
Cheryl suggested we listen to a podcast on the Galápagos Islands while I type my blog. She started to fall asleep and then woke up right as it was time to turn it off. She has an uncanny knack to wake herself up.
Well, we are off to bed.
Goodnight.
For Dad:
PTY-BOG - Airbus 320
No better way to start your day
This morning we chilled a little in our room. Instead of jumping up to shower, we checked the internet and looked out the window at the beautiful city. I should mention here that I forgot to mention yesterday how clean Bogotá is. The city is filled with beautiful red brick roofs and tall apartment buildings, but everywhere is clean. I was surprised by this, as I thought Panama City would be this clean or that Bogotá would be the same as them. However, Bogotá is really well looked after. Cheryl also wants me to mention that the blackout blinds are incredibly effective. She was in the washroom when I opened them. She went in there in absolute darkness and came back to a sun-filled room. This hotel does things right.
When we went down to breakfast we were greeted by a jovial older gentleman named Edgar who gave each of us a kiss on the cheek and a BIG hug. He acted like he was waiting for us all morning to arrive. They quickly served us coffee and tea as we selected our breakfast items and ate by the window overlooking the mountains. When it was time to leave, Edgar came to give us a big hug and a kiss goodbye. What a lovely morning!
We asked at the front desk before going upstairs about the concert/celebration that was being setup across the road. Cheryl had googled that it was the Copa cup. That game we saw last night was the final game to determine who was going on to represent them in a bigger tournament later in the year (apparently it is a big deal). When we got up to our room, we saw the concert preparations were mostly done and there were men announcing non-stop over the speakers. However, there wasn’t anyone there in the audience. We think they were announcing jobs to people as some were still bringing chairs and podiums outside. We think the big celebration will be today when we are out exploring (I doubt we would get inside the government grounds anyway). Although, we might be able to watch the party from our room later! Also, the dog handlers were out this morning with the dogs. We saw all of the German Shepards, Bernese Mountain dogs, and chocolate labs frolicking in their area of the grounds for exercise. They kept bringing out new dogs to play, do agility training, and some to work. Forget the party at the stage, I want to go play with those dogs!
We headed off to the Candelaria district of Bogotá. I am dressed in light summer pants and a t-shirt. I mention this because I have been the only person in a shirt both days. At the top of Monserrate yesterday, almost everyone was wearing puffy parkas and scarves. I found the 15 degrees Celsius to be quite lovely. I digress. We asked to be dropped off at the Gold Museum in the centre of the areas we wanted to wander around. Cheryl was checking her map on her phone when we were standing right beside a jewellery shop...well, I am sure you can guess what was going to happen. We went shopping right away and found lovely alpaca scarves and silver rings of course! The day in town was off to a great start.
We wandered to the Plaza Bolivar where we encountered human statues that come to life for a fee and hundreds of pigeons. Tourists were walking amongst a wall of pigeons for some photos. I was happy to stay on the government building steps on the side and enjoy the show. It seems like the plaza is being set up for some big event and we were excited to move on. We walked towards areas of the old town that are said to be quite cute. We weren’t disappointed. Cheryl and I happily snapped hundreds of photos of adorable houses with ornately carved window frames, clay roof tiles, and brightly painted cement walls. We wandered up and down many areas and could possibly map most of the area with our combined photos. We reached the one road called the ‘funnel’ and at the end I was face to face with some beautiful graffiti. I failed to mention the graffiti yesterday. It is everywhere and it is gorgeous! The artistic talent here is amazing. Many blogs mentioned Bogotá Graffiti tours and I thought that would be an odd choice, but it makes sense. The are here is phenomenal. So, again we wandered around where the graffiti led us and taking many pictures. At one point, we were at a youth park where there were two intense soccer games in progress and a group of boys skateboarding amongst the artwork. I should mention here, that everywhere we wandered we were treated so well. In fact, at one point we were walking beside a construction zone and a local man had the men behind him on our side of the pathway move behind and free up space for us. I almost feel like it was a nation-wide initiative to treat tourists well. I have felt so safe and welcomed here in Bogotá.
Rain kept threatening all day and it was our intent to visit the Gold Museum when the rain started. We got caught twice in the rain, but it never lasted long. We still went to the museum for the time frame for when rain was predicted. I learned so much today. The thing that was the coolest for me was when I learned how many gold items used beeswax to create their gold jewellery and items. They sculpted ornate earrings, then surrounded in in clay, fired it, dumped the wax, heated the gold, poured it in, and then broke their mould to see it all worked. Then they would have to start over since they already wrecked their mould. We also learned that gold was viewed at the harnessed energy from the sun and the symbol of men, whereas the symbol of women were lakes. Therefore, many religious and sacred ceremonies involved covering yourself in gold dust before jumping in the lake, or throwing the gems in himself. The thousands or artifacts were amazing. At the end of all of the exhibits we saw, Cheryl said that she hadn’t seen the large gold boat. I was about to ask an employee about it, while Cheryl googled it and found the picture she remembered and it was a tiny object we saw upstairs in a room all to itself when it was only about the size of two hands put together. Haha, it was quite funny to see expectations vs. reality sometimes.
We headed off to dinner and ended up at a restaurant called Sanelejo for some Colombian food. It was so delicious. We had traditional chicken soup with potatoes, avocado, a section of a corn of cob, shredded chicken, and sour cream. It was phenomenal. I highly recommend it. It might be worth recreating at home later. Cheryl really wanted a video of this one building illuminated at night. We wandered around looking for it, but came up short. We were in our taxi two minutes and there it was. We got some odd videos of it, but at least we got them!
Once back at the hotel, we found mints on our pillows! It is so lovely at the Tryp by Wyndham hotel. Perhaps, tomorrow at breakfast we will get more hugs...
Goodnight.
I honestly didn’t think that I would have much to write today. Truly.
This morning Cheryl and I enjoyed a lazy morning. We started with a hug from Edgar before our breakfast. I should mention here that all of their name tags has a section on the side where they listed things they were passionate about, Edgar was interested in travel and had been to places like Korea, Italy, and Argentina. What a great way to connect with everyone at the hotel. We headed back to our room to pack for our airport shuttle. It was to leave at 11:30am. It didn’t. Here is where the stress started. We left 15 minutes late, which isn’t a big deal, but we were cutting it close anyway because the previous shuttle was significantly earlier. Then, of course there was an accident and we were stopped. I was getting very stressed. I made Cheryl google flights and was resigned to the fact that we would miss our 2:17pm flight and would be on the 8pm flight instead.
By some miracle, just as Cheryl and I were going to jump out of the van and run the police started letting vehicles through. When we passed the ‘accident’ we saw a car that had virtually no damage on the left lane. No idea why this had to cause so much chaos (police and ambulance). I should quickly mention here that I noticed police at virtually every corner in tourist areas. Back to the story, we quickly jumped out at the terminal and ran to check in. Thank goodness for kiosks, all we had to do was quickly deposit our bags. My stress level was going down. Or so I thought. Inefficiency of the check in/bag drop was crazy. I knew we still had security and immigration to do too! Argh! At the bag drop, the lady told us to hurry. Yeah, thanks!
During the lllooonnnggg immigration line we kept talking about Cheryl’s hear rate monitor watch and how it would be crazy on me. I am more acutely sensitive to altitude and more easily stressed. So, she put it on me. We ran through immigration, security, and then ran to our gate. Wrong. We followed the arrow to the gates, but it sent us one way to force us to go through the duty free shop, but we had just run for 5 minutes the wrong way. Argh. We turned and ran and ran and ran. It took so long. I kept looking at my heart rate and at one point it was 155bpm and I called out “155” to Cheryl and she turned on her extra booster pack. I think she thought I meant the time 1:55pm (although, that wasn’t that far off). I tried to keep up with her. I didn’t. However, I looked down and saw that my heart rate was 164 bpm. Altitude, stress, and running was a crazy combination for me.
We made the plane. Barely. However, we were being loaded on to buses and they ran out of buses before they called our group to load. We had time to relax a bit. We ended up leaving an hour late, but arrived only 2o minutes late. When I looked into it, it seems that they purposely schedule two hours travel for a 60 minute flight (we spent about 40 minutes taxiing). We were also worried that our flight attendants had forgotten our customs cards, but it turns out that they are fully automated. It was awesome.
We were picked up by our Celebrity Cruise representative and chatted for the hour long ride. She told us about the hotel, restaurants, the cruise, and the area. We drove along steep cliffs of the mountainous area. It was a lush green and breathtaking. The winding roads were larger for most of the way, but at we ascended the tallest part of our mountain, it was narrow cobblestone streets when houses that you could reach out and touch. Quito is the second highest capital in the world after La Paz, Bolivia.
Our hotel is phenomenal. We were greeted by our Celebrity people who gave us a welcome drink which was part cinnamon and naranjilla (a orange-tomato hybrid), it was delicious. We also got a refillable water bottle to eliminate the need for water bottles to protect the environment. I love this. Our bathroom is almost three separate rooms with a large soaker tub, shower, and toilet in separate areas. The basket of goodies made Cheryl and I ooh and aah at the freebies. We didn’t linger too long as we wanted some dinner.
We followed the suggestion to go to a local Ecuadorian restaurant for dinner. We enjoyed freshly squeezed blackberry juice, naranjilla juice, local corn pancakes with guacamole, shrimp stuffed avocado, and cheese and potato quinoa soup. After we headed out to the highly recommended crepe place for authentic hot chocolate. It was delicious.
When we got home we were eager to relax and settle in before our big day of touring tomorrow. We get to meet everyone who will be on our cruise, that should be a lot of fun.
Have a goodnight.
For Dad:
BOG-UIO = Airbus A320
This morning’s breakfast was a sight to behold. We didn’t even see all of the items. I enjoyed an omelet from the omelet bar, dragon fruit, mango, hot chocolate (I had to mention this for you, Brian), and a blackberry smoothie from the custom smoothie bar (every type of fruit imaginable, any combination you may want). I know you are probably wondering why I would pick something so ‘normal’, but the blackberries here are a little different and I want to enjoy as much of them as I can.
We met in the lobby after breakfast for our tour and was greeted by Diana again. For the day, we had a bus driver (Manuel) and a security guard (David). They really want to make sure that everyone is comfortable. To be honest, I didn’t feel the need at all for the security guard, but he was such a great guy. Our first stop was atop a mountain to see a statue of the Virgin Mary which overlooks Quito and is higher than the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil. It was a bright, sunny day and of course I forgot my sunglasses in the room. So, I had to pay what Cheryl calls an ‘idiot tax’ of USD$12 to buy what I am sure are not Ray Bans. I was okay with it though. Our next stop was the old town where we visited a monastery, the ‘gold’ church, the presidential palace, and saw the main square with old buildings. It was all lovely, but I want to highlight the ‘gold’ church. I prefer silver to gold, but this place was almost completely covered in gold and I loved it. This church took 160 years to build and went through four architectural periods, which can be seen in the decor. The people being forced to build the church for the Spaniards, hid symbols important to Ecuadorian people in the decor. I LOVE this church (and I have seen many). The downside is that photos are not allowed to be taken inside the church and I guess I will have to look at online pictures for future reference.
We went to a fancy restaurant on the main square near the presidential palace for lunch. We had a private room upstairs at ‘La Belle Epoch”. It was so opulent. There was a crystal chandelier and ornate wood trim everywhere. The balcony overlooked the square and the Virgin Mary in the distance. It was stunning. The food was very high class. I had the ceviche trio to start and was pleased to see more Ecuadorian popcorn, fried plantains, and purple potatoes came along with it. I had mushroom risotto for my main course. However, dessert was the most impressive thing. All of a sudden, the music changed to almost ominous tones and a man in a purple robe with a purple pointy hat that covered his face walked into the room carrying smoking ice cream! They served our sorbet with a bowl of dried ice underneath. It was so much fun. I enquired about the purple outfit and learned that it was used by sinners on Easter. They would wear it to conceal their identity and walk in the main square to be forgiven in their culture.
After an hour long drive, we arrived at the equator museum. Here, Cheryl and I were total know-it-alls and keeners asking questions. Cheryl knew way more about magnetic properties at the equator (bonus points from dad for sure) and I seemed to know more about the indigenous tribes. She was surprised that I knew about the fish in the jungle rivers that is attracted to ammonia and will swim to (and up) the source...if you know what I mean. We did water spinning demonstrations, egg balancing (Cheryl and I sucked), walking the line, strength tests (you are weak right on the equator), and time telling. We also learned about shrunken heads and how they were ‘made’ by some cultures. We were able to see two examples, but only photograph one. They were often taken as trophies after a war and for reverence when someone in power or a shaman passes away. Lastly, we got to learn about chocolate! We sucked on the cocoa bean when it is covered in a white fleshy fruit exterior to guess the flavours it has adopted. We saw how they were then fermented, dried, roasted, and crushed. Of course, we sampled along the way and bought some of our own (no promises that it will make it to Canada). Plus, the gift shop had a perfect Ecuador ring.
We head back to the hotel for a quick break before headed out to dinner. I was full and was thinking about staying behind. However, I went and had a lovely time. Once we finished we raced back to our rooms to pack everything and leave our luggage downstairs. Tomorrow at 5 am, it will be inspected by Galapagos authorities for seeds, grains, etc.
We are off to bed soon, as it will be an early morning tomorrow.
Goodnight.
PS Cheryl thought it was funny how we followed our tour leader who was carrying a sign up high all day. She likened us to baby ducks following their mama.
Missed Quito Tour Information
Warning: if you don’t love information, this will not be a blog entry that you would want to read.
Here are facts about Ecuador and Quito that I didn’t include in my Quito day tour blog post...I blame it on being tired.
-the volcano at the edge of Ecuador is the Pichincha volcano, many things here are named in reference to this volcano. However, it is not the volcano that is snow capped even in the summer, I didn’t get the name of that one
-Quito is surrounded by volcanoes, not that many are active
-should one of the closer volcanoes erupt, it could wipe out 95% of the population of Quito
-The main industries in Ecuador are: 1) oil 2) shrimp (just climbed to the second spot about a couple of months ago) 3) bananas 4) flowers 5) tourism
-Voting is mandatory in Ecuador when you turn 18 years old, if you don’t vote your are fined USD$35 (a great idea if you ask me)
-begging is not allowed, if anyone begs on the streets they will also be fined.
-instead, citizens are encouraged to sell items and offer services as way to increase their skill set and ensure children stay in school (didn’t see a single person beg)
-the Andean condor can be found in Ecuador, it is the largest living flying bird, it is over 1 metre tall and have a wingspan around 3 metres long
-apparently, the world teaches geography/water direction incorrectly...if you were to place a globe so that the north and south poles are parallel to the ground and spin in counter clockwise, it makes the water currents make sense.
-at the equator, the water heads straight down the drain
-five feet north of the equator = counter-clockwise circle down the drain
-five feet SOUTH of the equator = clockwise circle down the drain
There you have it. A short read with information just about Quito.
For Dad:
The old Quito airport that was up in the mountains in the middle of the city was considered one of the toughest landings for airports. The runway was too short for landing. Also, they struggled to take off and many time the houses at the end of the runway would be demolished when a plane would slide in to the side of their house. Among the mountains it created a lot of wind and the clouds are really low here (or the mountains are really high) and it was bad for stability and visibility. Now they have turned the airport into a park for children and often hold special events there (Metallica concerts, a large mass for when the Pope visits).
Stuffed. So stuffed. They really feed you on this tour. I didn’t want to go to dinner last night, but thought it would be good for socializing. I am just too full. However, Cheryl thought we wouldn’t reach our boat until 6pm. This information made me have a half of a smoothie at breakfast. It was still too much!
After my smoothie, we got on the bus to go to the airport. We arrived and didn’t have to touch our luggage or worry about passports. Celebrity took care of that for us...however, I should note that the Avianca line up seemed to take just as long as it did in Colombia. I am so happy I didn’t have to wait in that line. Our flight included a stop in Guayaquil. We sat on the plane while a few passengers switched spots. As we approached the Galápagos Islands, the flight crew went through the cabin and sprayed all of the carry-on bags in the overhead compartments (but not the ones stored at our feet) to prevent the spread of micro-organisms. We finally landed at Baltra airport. I was so excited to walk on the land of these untouched islands. The landscape is quite different than you might expect, if you haven’t seen pictures already. Most people on the bus called it similar to the surface of the moon. It seems like a dry, red soil that might not be able to sustain life. However, it was quite the opposite. Along the water’s edge we saw the Sally Lightfoot crabs scurrying among the dark volcanic rock. We boarded our zodiac and were pulling away from the dock when a pelican dive bombed the water beside us to catch a tasty fish. It really was quite amazing.
As soon as we were on board, lunch was served. It was 3pm, so I thought it might be wise to eat a little. Soon after, we were given instructions to get back on the zodiacs as we were heading to North Seymour island. This is the island to visit if you want to see the frigate bird...and we did! The male frigate bird has a large red pouch at his chest that he puffs out to attract females. I have sene pictures of this bird that were almost comical. Imagine a large fully inflated balloon attached to a large crow. It is quite the sight. Here we saw blue footed boobies, which I had been excited to see. The males have bright blue feet in comparison to the females and I hope to see more of them for the ideal photo I have imagined in my brain. As, it seems that every blue-footed boobie we saw was amongst the branches that obscured my view in some way.
We saw land iguanas perched atop of rocks. The way that these animals sit almost completely unaware of humans in unreal. The animals seem to sit and pose for hours. I am used to hearing about an animal sighting that you are always too late to see. Not here. If there is an iguana on a rack, you will see it too. If not that one, there are another 50 that are happy to oblige. There were many birds. Cheryl gets very excited by birds. The list goes on and on. I have my field guide book and we are flagging every animal we see. We have a lot of birds flagged!
The funny animal scenes have been watching a pelican mid-flight. It almost seems preposterous that they can fly. The size of their body in the air just seems humourous to me. It reminds me of the the really large plane Canada used to fly at the Heritage Warplane Museum (beaver? Buffalo? Dad will know). Another funny sight was a sea lion. They are very lazy animals. They love to lie about. I wish I had taken a video of the sea lion that was lying on it’s back on the beach. It was trying to get up by doing a sit up and then simply sighed and resigned itself to being forever on the ground. All I wanted to say was, “I feel your pain.”
We ended the day with a lovely dinner meeting new people. We headed to bed completely exhausted after a great day. I never thought I would see this many animals all at once on a one hour walk.
Goodnight.
PS I have to tell you that Cheryl and I are the boat novelty. We are the “Canadians” or the “Canadian Sisters”. Most people know our names or just refer to us as the Canadians. The boat is primarily American (with one Japanese couple, 6 Europeans). At one point the zodiac needed another 2 people and someone called out, “The Canadian sisters should go! They are an agreeable bunch.” Thank you very much for the compliment and the seat on the earlier tour!
For Dad:
UIO-GPS Airbus A320
Today we are going to have 2 island stops. We are starting the day at South Plaza island.
Here we were greeted at the landing site by a curious sea lion. He was taking up most of our space to land. We saw many land and marine iguanas. We were sad not to see a hybrid iguana that is characterized by it’s black and white stripes. However, once you compare the size difference between the land and marine iguana, you have to wonder how the hybrid was even possible to create! This island was FILLED with sea lions. The first part of our walk was mom and baby sea lions all over the land. They were often in the middle of the designated path and we had to make our way around them. The babies will nurse from their mothers for up to three years. We later saw the bachelor section of the island, which was up high on the cliffs. All of these males are solitary (although, they often have around 35 females in their ‘harem’) and can be quite aggressive (insert joke about marriage here). This island is covered in the Giant Prickly Pear Cactus. They are very tall and quite interesting. Being from Canada, I really only see cacti on Wylie Coyote cartoons.
When we were back on ship, the captain headed off for Sante Fe Island. Cheryl and I signed up to kayak at this spot (which makes up for not kayaking the Panama Canal). We took the zodiac out to the protection of the little bay to kayak around. On the way out, our Naturalist Guide spotted sea turtles. I missed it of course! Argh! Cheryl and I were determined to kayak to see turtles. However, that was easier said than done. Our communication lacked at the start. We were told to stay away from the rocks, but Cheryl had spotted a bird. I tried to paddle us away (in the direction of the bird) and she tried to turn us the other way. This just propelled us closer to the rocks! We were shouted at from the zodiac to stay away from the rocks. We were trying. At one point Cheryl was trying to take a GoPro video and was telling me something in great detail and then said, “Stop paddling.” I told her to say that crucial part first! We did get much better. Our reward for our good teamwork was a green sea turtle popping up and floating on the surface right in front of our kayak! It was awesome. It made up for all of the ‘turtle rocks’ we saw during our kayak.
The afternoon activity this day was another hike with a wet landing. This was to be on a sandy beach. Our zodiac approached and had to retreat because the beach was covered in sea lions. Even though the animals allow us into their space, we should still allow them to have that space. We turned and went to the second beach. There was a little non-sea lion space on it. We were able to land on the sand. However, the sea lions are very curious and three instantly swam over to investigate our boat. Again, more sea lion photos on the beach before we started our hike. During one stop, I (shockingly) was the one to spot a Galapagos Hawk perched on a rock beside a large cactus. It was so cool. Everyone was impressed. I was unaware the the Galapagos Hawk is the largest predator on the islands (not counting any underwater predator like sharks). This hawk was also on the path when we came back towards our boat and he posed quite nicely for us.
I debated about writing this last paragraph for some time. We saw something that upset a lot of the tourists. If you might get upset...stop reading now. The hawk had flown off when we were almost back at the beach. When we got to the sand one of the Naturalists saw it trying to stare down a sea lion. You could tell they were about to fight. I took a photo of that fight that is pretty neat. However, I couldn’t understand why they would fight. That is when the people around me told me what had happened. This mother sea lion had just given birth about five minutes ago and the hawk was trying to take the baby. The mother was very protective, but I couldn’t see the baby from my perspective. Then I heard it, “she doesn’t know it is dead.” The baby sea lion didn’t make it and the mother kept trying to make it move and defend it from the hawk. It is sad, but a part of the circle of life. We had to get back on the zodiac to get on the ship for dinner and sailing to our next island.
I skipped dinner tonight. I feel like my stomach is way beyond capacity. I am looking to get back to a neutral state of being. Instead, I spent my time sitting in the lounge (adjacent to the dining room) and could hear Cheryl chatting with all of the people at her table. BUT, I was able to get three days of blogging done. I am thinking ‘win-win’.
We watched most of the documentary on the Galapagos in the lounge before bed, but Cheryl was falling asleep on the couch. I think we left about 5 minutes early. We got back to the room to discover that our steward, Wilber, left us gourmet Ecuadorian chocolates on our bedside table. Cheryl took the white chocolate one and I saved the milk/dark chocolate looking one for the morning.
Goodnight.
So, last night we were warned that later today when we go into town to remember that the boat is on Quito time, not Galapagos time. Quito time is one hour ahead. We woke up when my phone alarms went off this morning and took our dear sweet time in the room. We went up to the lounge beside the dining room and our guides said, “Ready!?! Come get life jackets!” We were confused and mentioned to someone that they must be having a safety drill because it was breakfast time. Nope. Since we were stationed near San Cristobal, an inhabited island, my phone picked up Galapagos time and we were an hour late for breakfast, but right on time for our trek up the mountain.
We boarded the first zodiac and were on a tour with Gabriel. We had a wet landing on the beach where three baby sea lions slept and didn’t seem bothered by our arrival. We were told the night before that this would be a long and steep hike. I signed up because I wanted to see the red footed boobies...not the treacherous terrain. When you look up at the landing site, the island topography is quite steep. Again, I began to wonder if I would be ‘that’ person in the group. Lagging behind, huffing and puffing seem to be par fro the course for me. However, while some sections were steep and rocky, I had no problem. The flat sections of course were more of a challenge for me. The dirt and gravel underfoot, often caused me to slide. Gabriel kept checking if I was okay. If he saw me in my everyday life, he would really grow tired of asking that question...us Cooks are clumsy!
At the lookout points we were able to take in some great views. We saw Nasca, Red-footed and blue-footed boobies. I was talking wth Pat about the boobies when we drew a comparison to myself and them. I was the only one to slide on the gravelly slopes and we saw a blue-footed boobie do the same thing. I was also wearing bright blue running shoes for the hikes. So, I prefer to think it is because of my shoes, but if we are being honest it is because of REASON ONE. We saw some blue-footed boobie eggs (they lay three at a time) that were in a a nest that we believe was abandoned. A little sad, but it made for great photos.
We carefully hiked down and changed shoes to board the zodiac from the beach. The waves were getting quite large by this point and transferring from the zodiac was a little tricky. The zodiac was rising and dropping about a ten foot difference. (I forgot to mention earlier that when I was boarding the zodiac I stepped on to the platform just a a wave came and soaked me up to my knees.) Cheryl got off a couple of people before me right before it got bad. I had to wait for a bit before I could have my turn. I made it onboard without getting soaked this time.
We dropped our belongings off in our room and went to have a Coke by the window. We were chatting to some couples when someone called out “Dolphins”. Everyone ran outside. The captain kept turning the boat for everyone to be able to see. Cheryl and I ran up to the top deck. Where our American friends helped us see the dolphins. However, we could hear the naturalists on the deck below saying “Whales”. I also spotted them and pointed them out to the captain who joined us on deck (he was looking at albatross). They were pilot whales! They gracefully broke the surface many times in front of us. We were so close. It was great!
The boat arrived at our designated spot in San Cristobal and we were dressed in our wetsuits ready to snorkel. We hopped on the first zodiac and were dropped off near some rocks beside the bay. We flipped backwards over the edge and everyone complained it was cold, but to us it felt like any lake in Canada. At the start, I kept getting water in my snorkel, but quickly found my groove. We didn’t see much for the first half of our time in the water. Cheryl and I decided to head off in a direction without people. In a way, I was happy we hadn’t seen much because I was struggling to get my underwater camera to work. Then Cheryl spotted a green sea turtle. The front section of my mask was a little foggy, so I had to look out the extreme left hand side to see clearly. That is when I was determined to make this camera work! Miraculously, I did. I got some great footage of the sea turtle swimming, eating, and floating by us. It was great. If you just float, the sea turtle will chill with you for a long time. Some other people on our cruise ship were trying to touch the turtles, even though you aren’t allowed. Every time they spotted one, it would rapidly swim off. We had four who just let us hang out with him. I would have stayed the whole time with them if I hadn’t heard someone shout “sea lions”.
We swam in that direction as quickly as we could. It was amazing. I was taking a video when I was spotted by one of them and it swam straight for me and veered off at the last second. We filmed them for at least five minutes enjoying their acrobatic displays. We were soon called to the zodiac and we had to go. Except the sea lions didn’t want us to go, they were doing jumps and flips into the air beside the boat. It was so cool.
We rushed back to the boat to shower before heading back into town. We opted to walk at our own leisure around San Cristobal. What we ended up doing was walking along the pier’s edge taking photos of crabs, lizards, sea lions, and birds. The town is quite adorable and it would be great to stay there in one of the hotels. As you would have quite a few of the animals just wandering around outside the door of your hotel. We made our way back to the boat where they had set up a fresco BBQ at the back of the boat for us. It was delicious. It was lovely to sit their sipping my sangria, watching the sun set, and then gazing at the stars.
We headed to the briefing for the next day where we learned that we would be going to the post office tomorrow. However, I hadn’t learned the true nature of the post office before coming here. I thought it would be similar to the Antarctic. The next ship would take the mail after it had been stamped to deliver it. I was wrong. It is free to send postcards, but what happens here is that they are hand delivered. Meaning if you see a postcard that is close to where you are going, you pick it up and deliver it to that address yourself. So, I worry that some of you will never receive the postcards I have written to you. I will consider it to be a message in the bottle that I have thrown in to the sea, wondering if it will ever turn up again. Maybe in one year...15 years...never. Who knows?
Wishing you a goodnight from San Cristobal.
We started our morning with a zodiac ride around Post Office Bay. There in the shallow rocks, sandy beaches, and mangroves we saw sea lions frolicking about. They often did acrobatic jumps out of the water right alongside of us. The juvenile sea lions are curious by nature and really do want to explore around visitors. I asked if they had ever jumped up onto the zodiac and they had. No such luck this morning. From the boat we saw green sea turtles in the water, a pair of flamingoes flying overhead, and we were told we had a 1% chance to see a Galápagos penguin.
We headed to the beach where we went to the the Post Office Barrel. This was established by whalers in the 1700’s as a way to get messages to family members. If you look through the barrel and see a card/letter for someone in the area where you are going, you take and personally deliver it. I was really hoping for more GTA postcards. I also want to hand deliver it. However, there was just one postcard in my area. So, Jane Lee of Toronto, I will be seeing you soon!
We quickly headed back out to the beach to get ready to snorkel. Cheryl and I tried the new masks mom had bought for her. They are a full face mask that have snorkels at the top of the head. The mouth compartment is separate, so any fog is in the lower part of your mask. Genius. They worked really well. We started off to find some sting rays. They had just been in the shallow water and we wanted to video them. We first came upon some sea turtles. Man, these are such gentle creatures who let you just live amongst them without a care in the world. We headed back towards the shore to hopefully see some sting rays, when Cheryl spotted one. I tried my best to swim after it for as long as I could. I feel I did a decent job, but if they want me out of their way, there isn’t any way I would catch up.
We were so proud on the beach of our achievements when another group called out, “Shark”. I ran back into the water without my fins and swam in the direction that everyone was pointing. It was futile. Then Mariuxi shouted, “Penguin!” I headed for the penguin. Again, no flippers and it slipped below the surface away from view. Argh. Nothing achieved. I decided to stay in waist deep water (which everyone thought was cold with wetsuits on, Cheryl and I thought it was nice without wetsuits). Here I waited for the next person to shout out a cool animal. Soon the penguin came back, half way down the beach. There was no way I was catching it (again, no flippers). I had to try. By some miracle fat me made it without fins and I spent ten minutes filming and swimming with the Galápagos penguin by myself. She floated on the surface and kept ducking her head down to look at me and scratch herself behind her right ear. It was so cute. I was hoping she would give me an underwater show of some sort, but she swam off on the surface to go bask on the rocks. I finally resigned to go back on the zodiac. I was promised sharks this afternoon. I saw them from above, but I want the real thing!
When we got back to the boat for lunch, Cheryl was sorting through her iPhone videos and I could hear her say, “Shark”. While she was filming me swimming with the “pinguino” she saw movement in the water nearby and there was a 4 foot black tip reef shark that zoomed past. I guess that I am always swimming with sharks in the ocean. I just like the underwater video proof too!
After lunch, Cheryl and I boarded a zodiac to go snorkelling at Champion Islet. The water was rough and choppy, but we were excited to see sharks. Well, I was excited. She was excited that she got her underwater GoPro working properly. We snorkel well together...much better than we kayak haha. Unfortunately, we found ourselves situated amongst a rowdy group that has been causing troubles repeatedly (don’t touch turtles, don’t climb the rocks, sea lions will bite, don’t go in the caves, etc.). This created a problem for us. On previous days, we would avoid the groups and find turtles and sea lions who like people who want to chill. You could tell that the sea life was scattering from us. In the meantime, we saw starfish and schools of fish in beautiful formations. No sharks anywhere. At all. I was promised sharks in the afternoon. I will just keep looking! When I got back to my bedroom, I examined my underwater camera and found that I had filmed a sea lion and a sea turtle. At one point, I thought I had seen a sea lion, but when I turned on my camera I couldn’t find it. Apparently, they were swimming with me...
Our afternoon landing at Cormorant Point on Floreana was to go to the Flamingo Lagoon where American flamingoes are common. We were fortunate to see quite a few in flight and another 6 up close to the lookout points on the trail. Cheryl and I were quite happy about that. I have seen flamingoes before and always enjoy watching them. They are fascinating. I knew this fact but Mariuxi would want everyone to know that flamingoes are white. Baby flamingoes are white (almost grey) and it is the ten to twelve hours of eating the same thing, it changes their pigment.
After another lovely dinner, I was quick to run to bed (I only slept 2 hours last night). Cheryl stayed up to watch a movie in the lounge.
Goodnight.
We are related to our father! We were given the opportunity yesterday to see the Sierra Negra Volcano eruption if we woke up at 5am. Like real rock enthusiasts (or fools) we got up at 4:45am and headed up to the top deck to see the volcano. Surprisingly, there were about another 10-15 people. However, most were only up for about 5 minutes and then left. Cheryl and I snapped pictures for an hour of the volcano, the moon, and the sunrise. The volcano was the big topic of discussion at breakfast. At the start it did look like just 2 dots. However, our captain did get closer and even steer towards it for about 10 minutes. The pictures are far away, but you can see the ash cloud and the lava spewing outwards. It is pretty cool. Right at the end of breakfast, someone spotted a whale. I ran out to see a humpback fluke...but then not too much else afterwards.
Our morning zodiac ride was to explore around Elizabeth Bay on Isabella Island. We didn’t get very far from the ship before we were greeted with many sea birds. There were blue-footed boobies, pelicans, Galápagos penguins, and the flightless cormorant. What is interesting about the flightless cormorant is that over the years spent her at Galapagos, there hasn’t been a need to fly to various places. As such, their wings are now quite short and almost comical. They evolved to have smaller and smaller wings sizes. When they were sitting on the rocks in front of us and stretched their wings out, I found it looked disproportionate. With so few predators here, they happily swim for food and have no real need to fly. When we entered into the lagoon we found many sleeping sea turtles. They lay motionless on the surface, or right on the bottom in the sand. One actually woke up in our presence and seemed startled to see us there, I bet he was having a good dream. Within the bay were were able to see golden cow nose rays and eagle spotted rays. There have been photos of this bay where it almost seems that it is entirely blanketed in rays. That would have been cool to see. We were also greeted by another Galápagos penguin in the bay. Gabriel our naturalist for this ride was very skilled at mimicking the penguin sound (almost a low honk) and I believe he followed us to spend more time with him. Our penguin would often call back to us. It was quite cute.
On our way back to the ship, we were caught off guard by all of the birds in the sky. It almost looked like an ominous scene from a Hitchcock movie. The blue-footed boobies were circling above looking for a school of fish to dive bomb. Boobies can torpedo themselves into the water at speeds of 60km/h due to the construction of their skulls. This adaptation makes them skilled fishermen. Once one boobie spots the school of fish, they all follow suit and it resembles a frenzied attack as all of them launch into the water right after each other. They tuck their wings in tightly at the last moment and they look like thin arrows entering the water. A minute or so later, they resurface with fish in the beaks as a reward for their hard work. Now the frigate bird can’t get their feathers wet or they won’t be able to fly, but they hover nearby trying to steal some of the fish that are close to the surface.
The minute we were onboard, the captain pulled the anchor and headed for Puerto Moreno near the volcano we saw earlier this morning. This is where we were going to snorkel this afternoon. Along the way there, Cheryl spotted many whale surfacing to breathe as we could spot the spout from their blowholes far off in the distance. Cheryl was ready with her camera and got the dorsal fin on a Bryde’s whale. I hadn’t heard of them before, but they are in our guide and I will have to read up on them some more. When we finally arrrived at Puerto Moreno, the number of snorkellers had drastically dropped. There was only one zodiac heading out. The water here is colder, however, if you plan to swim with penguins, yo have to expect colder waters. There are only 2000 Galápagos penguins here and I was already lucky enough to swim with one. I had my fingers crossed that we could have that again today for Cheryl to have her chance. Cheryl and I waited to be the last ones out of the zodiac to allow ourselves to be naturally separated from the group. We find we have better luck when it is just the two of us. Instantly we were greeted by a curious sea lion who wanted to show off his acrobatic skills. We saw so many sea turtles here and they were huge. Again, they happily munched on the vegetation while we watched. The current here was more choppy and we would say in motion with the turtles. It was awesome. The fish here were even bigger than the other spots too. So many fish. Once we rounded one of the corners of the bay, there seemed to be more weeds and vegetation in the water. This did impact our visibility a little. At the last moment, one snorkeller spotted the Galápagos penguin in the water. I turned on my turbo power and followed him. Unlike the other day, this guy was speedy. I was quite mad because my camera had automatically turned off and I missed the awesome shot of him diving in the clear water section. He was smart and down down into the vegetation in the rocky area. I did get a video of him, but it isn’t great at all. I had been hoping to have a video of a penguin diving, but I am so lucky to have had all the time with them these past two days. I am a lucky girl.
Back on board we showered and enjoyed a lazy day on the boat. We spotted more blowhole activity from whales, watching the smoke from the volcano, played Euchre with the brothers from Indiana, chatted with the naturalists and double checked on our camera cards.
It was nice to have a relaxing evening.
Goodnight.
PS Today at lunch they offered passion fruit mousse. My parents always talk about how amazing it was in Brazil and I couldn’t agree more. It is so delicious.
Tortoises! Today is the day we get to see the tortoises. I was excited. We disembarked the boat and were taken by bus through the town of Santa Cruz to reach the Charles Darwin Centre. We started by walking through some exhibits about invasive species and endemic species. It is profound the impact such a small thing can have on an entire ecosystem. I learned that male and female tortoise eggs are created by the temperature at which they are incubated (28 degrees Celsius is male, 29.5 degrees Celsius is female). Essentially at the breeding centre this information can help generate offspring of either male or female to balance the population (interestingly enough, they use a hairdryer to head their egg incubator). As we were learning about eggs, I could see tortoises out of the corner of my eye and I wanted to be there so quickly. This Centre does have a wonderful program to help the tortoises. We saw a couple of pens of baby tortoises that all had different numbers in different colours on their shells. They use different colours to indicate the species and island that tortoise comes from and will be ‘repatriated’ to when it is old enough. The big male tortoises are so incredibly large. They happily sit and munch leaves when you are taking photos of them. Most notably, is Diego, a tortoise returned from the San Diego zoo to help continue the species. It should be noted that most tortoises taken from the Galapagos by pirates and whalers long ago (strapped to their backs, yikes), that they weren’t given permission. Ecuador has regularly called out to the world to help when species numbers are low. The most famous case is that of Lonesome George. He was the last of his entires species , even after a world -wide search was conducted. Unfortunately Georgie dies in June of 2012. I digress, Diego was returned and helped parent 2,000 offspring to save his species from extinction, as there were 2 males and 12 females left at one point. I happily snapped pictures of every tortoise in there until, I was told time was up.
After the Charles Darwin Centre we travelled by bus for another thirty minutes and we arrived at the tortoise ranch. I prefer to call it a tortoise farm because it seemed like they were scattered all over the land (and it was a good crop)! There were tortoises everywhere! In fact, when we were driving in on the dirt road, there were three tortoises blocking our path. However, they were arranged in a zig zag pattern and we were able to carefully manoeuvre around them. The buses got so close to them, but they weren’t moving. We sat and had empanadas and blackberry juice before putting on rubber boots and going on a tortoise walk. The males are far larger than the females. They are quite massive, easily a metre in diameter. They would sit there slowly munching on grass and let us photograph them. It was quite interesting. The tortoises like to sit in mud to help keep their bodies clean from pests and when they are out of the mud, the finches will help by eating the pests on them (plus they get a nice place to perch). We were up in the highlands and it was more misty and wet here. At this ranch, the larger males stay, but small females can get under the wires. The females will regularly seek out lower ground to lay their eggs and then come back up to the highlands. They tortoises are quite happy here as they have plenty of vegetation to eat and can roam. We got to see a couple of them walking around and I took a video that seems like it was recorded in slow motion. They allowed us some free time to wander amongst the tortoises and they were quite happy to pose for pictures (only one or two seemed to tuck away into their shells). I was a little sad when it was time to trade in our rubber boots and head for the bus. I would have liked more time with the tortoises, as we only explored a small section of the ranch.
We were dropped off in town for free time to wander the city. Cheryl and I shopped in the shops looking for a couple of items. It was lobster season and we were quite excited to enjoy a lobster. It turns out that I was swayed by a fish and shrimp dish more, but Cheryl had a massive lobster on her plate. We enjoyed these meals at a cute garden restaurant that felt like we were at an oasis even though we were on the sidewalk. We were lucky to get a seat that allowed us to watch the ocean too. It was a perfect place to relax. Then we wandered further down to the fish market, where fisherman brought their fresh catches of the day in to be bought by the locals. Also waiting for fish, were some sea lions and a great heron. It really was a cute sight. Unfortunately, they had just run out of fish and the photo wasn’t the greatest (but we did see more fish come in later). We wandered up to the coffee place highly recommended by Mariuxi called OMG coffee and sat in a beautiful courtyard enjoying a beautifully designed latte while a statue of Charles Darwin (with a package of OMG coffee) watched us from a bench. Many tourists stopped to take a selfie with him. We wandered back to the pier to catch our zodiac ride to the ship. On board we enjoyed some caipirinhas while we watched all of the local boats bobbing up and down with the waves.
After dinner, Cheryl stayed up in the lounge to watch the conclusion of the “Galapagos Affair” movie which she says was quite messed up, although it is a true story. Cheryl came down to our cabin, threw open the door and shouted, “Sharks off the port side”. I ran up to see five black tip reef sharks feeding off the fish that were enjoying the light given off by our boat. It was pretty cool. I went back down to the room to work on my blog in the room before being rocked to sleep by the waves.
Goodnight.
Today we visited Espanola island. Darwin never visited this island on his travels and there are some birds here that weren’t in his observation notes. We went to Gardner Beach in the morning for a beach walk to see the marine iguanas here that are multi-coloured. Often they can be red and green, but all of the ones we saw today were black and red. We had to hike quite a distance along the beach and the lava rocks by the ocean to see them, but Mariuxi was determined that we would see them. Whereas, it seems that other groups didn’t come as far as us, so either we missed some on the way over, or they weren’t interested to look for them.
Today was our last chance to snorkel in the Galapagos. We were told that there would be sharks and rays, but that the water would be even colder today. Cheryl and I were the first ones in the water, but we didn’t feel the need for wetsuits here (again, we were called the crazy Canadians). We quickly headed towards a rocky outcrop about 100metres from shore where we were told sharks like to hang out. We circled it for quite some time, but no sharks. Cheryl is an amazing spotter though and saw jellyfish, trumpet fish, and coronet fish (which are long and skinny fish). The visibility today was excellent, but most of the marine life I wanted to see were hiding. We headed back to the beach and realized that we were the last people in the water (including a small group from another boat). Everyone kept commenting on how crazy we were, which perhaps is a theme for me as I seem to hear that on almost every trip from someone.
When we got back on board, they had hot chocolate and cannolis waiting for us. They were so delicious. A nice perfect rest after a snorkel.
We sailed to the west side of the island to visit Suarez Point. This is where we can see the Waved Albatross. The tide was pretty rough and we had to change our landing plan from the Getty to the sharp rocks. You would think that this is where I needed the doctor, but no. I quickly scaled down the jagged rocks to the beach where we were greeted by colourful marine iguana and sea lions. Today we were told that it was going to be a long and difficult hike. It really was. The path that we were allowed to follow is a large collection of rocks all pointing in different directions and only a few were flat. Along the way to the cliffs we saw many marine iguanas, lava lizards, and albatross. The baby albatross chicks were about 2-3 months old and they looked like really soft teddy bears (with beaks and wings of course). Many people commented on how they would like to take them home. They were adorable. We also got to witness a couple of courtship rituals. Since the albatross mate for life, the courtship ritual lasts for months until the male can prove he is worthy. He will do a dance raising one foot at a time and then repeatedly bow his head up and down. Then the male and female with ‘click’ their beaks where they tap the ends of their beaks side to side with each other. It really was quite a cute routine, but without knowing what it was, it might have seemed like some sort of quarrel. We finally made it to the far side of the island with the cliff where the albatross take off. Again, you would assume I would hurt myself on a rocky cliff, but no. They don’t just flap their wings to fly, they walk to the edge of the cliff and walk into the updraft of the ocean winds and soar away from the cliff. I can’t remember if I saw that in Antarctica or not. I did see a lot of landing there, but here it is harder to land. The albatross need open space without trees to land, and there are a lot of bushes and trees in the way here. Although, the albatross will walk quite a distance into the bushy areas to make a nest and lay their eggs there. We continued walking to see the blowhole erupt. When the waves are big enough, the waves crash just right into the rocks and create a geyser-like eruption of water. It was quite cool. Again, we continued onto some very tough terrain where we saw the Nazca boobies. We climbed up and down the loose rock valley being sure to go slowly. We finally made it back to the beach and the tide had gone out enough that we could use the jetty for a dry landing. I was last in line and I was one step away from the safety of the zodiac. I stepped down to the bottoms step where there was some algae and gloriously wiped out. I landed on my hands and knees. I got a small scrape on my knee, but a pretty deep cut on my hand. Again, being from a clumsy family, this seemed pretty normal to me...however, Mariuxi and the crew were quite concerned. I was given first aid on the zodiac by Mariuxi (oxygenated water on my hand was really cool to watch, it is like that scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where the holy water bubbles and seals the gunshot wound). Then I had to be first off the zodiac and seen by the doctor RIGHT AWAY! (These people would have full time jobs if they followed me around). I had never seen the inside of a ship’s medical facility. I laid down while she cleaned and dressed my cut. I didn’t need a shot, because I updated my Tetanus in July before coming (phew). Mariuxi and Cheryl were both waiting outside for me to check that I was alright. I was.
We headed out back for some farewell cocktails. I enjoyed three sangrias before we had a final briefing and goodbye ceremony in the lounge. Our final dinner was a lovely al fresco seafood barbecue out back. After dinner, we headed into the lounge for the Galapagos Trivia! Everyone was gunning to beat Cheryl and I. I will say there was a lot of pressure. We enjoy asking questions and answering them on walks, so we became the ‘ones to beat’. We teamed up with the Venezuelans on board. We were only given 5 seconds per question to answer. It was a lot of fun, but we didn’t win. I knew that I was the anchor that held Cheryl back. I have to admit that I am glad about that. I think it was more fun for other people because they also got to beat us.
We went to our room and started to pack up for tomorrow’s early departure. I am sad to go, but am happy that I got to have such an amazing time in the Galapagos. If you love seeing animals on your travels, like I do, then you HAVE to come to the Galapagos. It truly is a magical experience.
Goodnight.
Not too much to report today. We woke up, had breakfast, and disembarked. Boarding the zodiac for the last time was a little bittersweet. I am thankful for an amazing week, but sad that it is over. We made it to the airport without incident. Once we received our boarding passes we passed through to the VIP lounge. Cheryl and I relaxed listening to some Depeche Mode (I wasn’t expecting that you would hear that in Galapagos).
Our flight was a little interesting today. We had a quick layover in Guayaquil before heading for Quito. This portion of the flight is ridiculously short...on a normal day. It is windy and turbulence around the mountains was noticeable. We were on our descent and then we did a rapid pull up. The captain came on to explain that a plane had a tire explode on the runway just before us. We had to circle for quite sometime while they did a runway inspection. We were delayed coming in as a result. Not really a big deal for us, but others were stressed about their connections. Cheryl and I were looking forward to enjoying the swanky hotel pool, fancy steak dinner, and massive bathroom (a luxury after last week for sure).
It wasn’t long before we headed to bed.
Since this entry is so short for me, I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight some things to remember if travelling to the Galapagos:
For Dad:
GPS-UIO Airbus A320
We woke up in our massive bedroom in the Marriott and enjoyed some more 1980’s music videos before heading down to breakfast for our smoothies and omelettes. We took our time getting ready before heading out for our next part of our journey...relaxing at a thermal springs spa.
We asked the doormen at our hotel to get us a taxi up in the mountains and we ended up with a luxury airport shuttle. The taxi ride was a lot longer than I had anticipated. It was about 90 minutes in total up the winding mountain (over 4000 metres high). In fact, we even ended up crossing into another province. While we were driving up we passed by the Coyambe Coco National Park that had a sign that had pictures of bears, deer, and tapirs in the park. We knew that this is the area where you can find the largest flying bird, the Andean Condor. We had our eyes peeled and we weren’t disappointed. We saw the Condor flying above the mountainside on the way up. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get to our cameras in time, but it was awesome. We finally arrived at Termas Papallacta (only 3300metres high) and it was cold. We were both wearing shorts and t-shirts. Every local there was wearing head to toe parkas, scarves, boots, etc. We looked hilarious for sure. It was cold, but not that bad. I maybe would have added a sweater to my shorts and flip flops.
We had arrived before official check-in time, so we were given passes to go to the public thermal springs for a couple of hours before our room was ready. This was experience was crazy! It was Sunday. The Sunday after a national holiday and so it was packed! You could barely see open water from all of the kids jumping around and families swimming. Cheryl and I decided to brave the crowds and squeeze into the pool that had the most space available. It was chaotic. Kids were jumping, splashing, kicking water and I was sitting there trying to protect my had from getting wet. I would angle it away from one splashing kid, to be in the direction of another splashing kid. We decided to try a warmer pool to avoid kids splashing my hand as they wouldn’t go into the warm pools, right? Wrong. This one little girl in a pink bathing suit loved to follow us and splash us. Luckily, we chose a spot where the warm water comes out and a lady kept warning people not to sit near it and the little girl went elsewhere. The lady also warned us about this spot and her English was quite good. Her name is Priscilla and she is a realtor in Cumbaya and we talked about everything for an hour with her before her children came and went for lunch elsewhere. (If you are ever looking to buy property in Ecuador, look her up...she is really nice.). Cheryl and I decided to explore all of the other pools and found some that weren’t crowded with kids. However, they had couples. South American couples are quite intense. They have to be constantly touching and many of them brought GoPros and would film each other swimming towards each other underwater before kissing. It was incredibly uncomfortable when they did this. This is when Cheryl and I decided to go get our room keys.
Our room was available and it is awesome. We purposely picked the private cabins in the south with our own private pools that are open all day long. I calculated that at the most 40 people could be in there, but most rooms only had two people and only about half the rooms were filled. Cheryl and I quickly went to swim again and were alone for almost 2 hours (4 people came for about 30 minutes to a different pool and then left). It was awesome. The private pools are also arranged in a way that allows for amazing views of the mountains, the lush gardens they have planted all around the pools, and yet are still private. We enjoyed watching hummingbirds feed from the lilies and delphiniums.
We decided to get out and dry off for dinner (a very chilly endeavour). It was all worth it when we got to have our potato, cheese, and avocado soup that we love so much. We spent most of our dinner listening to the surrounding groups. The group behind me was going to the Galapagos tomorrow and the large student group was going to the Amazon. It was enjoyable to listen to their itineraries, but we really wanted to get back into the pools.
The night sky was so clear. We gazed up at the stars and counted the constellations we could spot. The private pools have little lanterns carved out of logs to give a little bit of light for nighttime swimming. It was lovely. We tried to take a video of the surrounding to show how cute it was, but it is horrible quality and we will take one in the morning. I should mention that the private pools here are almost arranged in a lazy river fashion. It loops almost fully around, and had many waterfalls and little grottos to sit in. Each waterfall increases the temperature as you go around, so you can easily find a spot that is just right for you.
What a lovely day and relaxing day (not the chaotic public spa...but it makes for a great story).
Goodnight.
PS Priscilla told us that the spa was extra busy because of the long weekend and it being a Sunday. If you are ever in this area and can only visit the public area, you will love it as it will be more subdued any other day of the week. Also, you can book a spa treatment to get access to those special pools too!
We woke up in our room at Termas Papallacta and were eager to enjoy our private thermal pools again. We changed in to our still wet and cold bathing suits and ran to the warmth of our pools. Cheryl and I were amazed that again, we were alone in the pools. I am gobsmacked that people book these rooms to have access to these pools, but then don’t make use of the pools. I am not complaining though, I enjoyed having the space all to ourselves. We stayed in the pools for almost three hours before checking out.
After check out we enjoyed a lunch (where we saw another Andean Condor flying in the mountaintops) before paying to enter to the spa facilities before our chocolate wraps. The pools only had a couple of people in each one. Each pool had it’s own unique design. They all had jets, which the private pools and the public baths didn’t have. One had they large taps that would continuously pour hot water onto your neck and back. One pool was a circle of sculpted lounger beds that had jets coming out the middle of your back. My favourite pool was near the back that was tall enough to stand in and it had a gorgeous view of the mountains. The best part was when some neighbourhood cows came grazing along the mountainside. We had a lot of fun watching the four of them. We lounged in each of the pools for three hours before our spa appointments.
I walked into the spa place to ask what I needed for my appointment, so that I could get ready. She ushered me in right away. She gave me a robe, sandals, and a tiny package. I went to the change room and opened the package which was a paper bikini to wear while I get wrapped in chocolate. All bundled up in my robe, I was taken to a rest area to relax before my treatment. Then I was ushered into my treatment room. My lady was so nice and wrapped up my injured hand in plastic wrap for me. I listened to Enya while I was scrubbed and then covered in warm chocolate. It smelled so delicious. When she gave me a chocolate mask, it took a lot of will power to not try to lick my face. She then wrapped in the plastic wrap, covered in warm towels, and bundled up like a large burrito...or chocolate crepe. I was left to relax. I am pretty sure I slept. I was very relaxed. My lady came in and led me down the hall to were the chocolate would be cleaned off. I entered into this massive shower and faced the back wall where I was pelted with enough water to put out a house fire. Then I heard, “Miss. Turn please.” I turn to see my lady holding a fire hose. She continually sprayed me with massive force. It felt like a slightly painful massage. She even sprayed my face at that force. I started to get used to it, when she adjusted the temperature down to cold (I know is good for the pores), but yikes it was cold. Apparently, Cheryl heard my squeals at the cold water in her relaxation room. Once I was done, I was given a gourmet chocolate and peppermint tea in the relaxation room. Cheryl came in moments later. Her assessment was much the same as mine: relaxing, delicious smells, hilarious pelting of water (Cheryl called it an elephant spray down), and we left feeling so soft.
We waited in the lobby surrounded by beautiful floral arrangements for our taxi. Not only are the gardens here amazing (lilies, foxgloves, roses) are everywhere, but the rooms all have at least one floral arrangement. Not really a surprise since 25 roses cost only $2 in Ecuador. If you love flowers, you have to come to Ecuador.
OUr taxi arrived. We were picked up in a pick up truck and we hopped in. We made it about 1 kilometre when our driver kept taking semi-angry phone calls. We stopped about a minute later and we switched cars. From what we can gather, it seems like the younger family member borrowed his car without permission and we met to switch back. We were back on the road and there was a sign pointing left to Quito and we went straight. We asked where we were going. He waved us off. We sat there unsure for a bit, until Cheryl recognized the road. When we got near to the airport we could see our hotel. It is the only airport hotel in Quito. We said hotel aeropuerto. He was going to take us to the airport. Even after we repeatedly pointed at our hotel and even described it in Spanish (blue on the left), he didn’t seem to understand. Regardless, he turned right and we ended up at our hotel.
We enjoyed the buffet dinner at the hotel. Where Cheryl enjoyed three different desserts to celebrate her birthday. We headed to bed where I noticed that in the last two days in the overcast/rainy weather I managed to get some brutal sunburn and tan lines. I was even wearing sunscreen. Never underestimate the power of the sun at the equator, even on a rainy and cloudy day.
Goodnight.
You may notice that I didn’t post a blog for yesterday the 14th. That is because there would be so little to blog. After three weeks of adventure and discovery, we were ready to just veg out. We woke up and turned on the television and spent most of the day in our PJs watching the two English channels on our TV. That meant we watched about 10 episodes of various crime shows (CSI NY, CSI Miami, Mentalist, etc) and How I Met Your Mother on the other channel. We also spent some time repacking our bags as we had one of my carry on bags used solely for our purchases and those items had to be divvied up. We went to the hotel buffet again at dinner. Tonight they had the best chicken, veggies, and rice. It was so good, I just went back for those (no dessert). We went back to the room for a bit and Cheryl left around 9:30pm to catch the shuttle for her flight and I tried to catch what little shut eye I could before mine at 2am.
I set three alarms before turning off the lights. Three. I also considered making a wake up call at the front desk. I thought that might be overly dramatic. Apparently not. Only 1 alarm went off! Thank goodness for my old iPhone. I got up and headed out for the airport shuttle with three hours before my flight. I took the 2 minute drive there (the hotel is DIRECTLY across the street). When I went to check-in at the desk, my clerk had no idea how to check my bags through to the destination since my third flight was with Air Canada, not Copa Airlines. He went to ask for help and came back assuring me he had everything ok. I am unconvinced, but if I don’t get my bags on the way home it wouldn’t be that big of a deal (compared to the start of a trip).
I went looking for the VIP lounge which Cheryl said was amazing. She enjoyed her last glass of Ecuadorian blackberry juice. If I haven’t raved about it yet (that would be a major oversight), but this stuff is phenomenal. Their blackberries are slightly different than ours and make the best juice. I would love to have a glass of this juice every morning to start my day. I was really looking forward to it. I went up in the elevator and even though my airline was in the same alliance as Cheryl I wasn’t allowed in. I tell you, I really don’t get these ‘alliances’. They couldn’t figure out booking my luggage all the way through, only some of the members are allowed at the VIP lounges, and on my way down they couldn’t see my other flights to prove I was leaving the country (for which I had to be paged in Orlando). I feel like these logistics could be better sorted out by these ‘alliance’ members. I sound whiny, I really am okay not being in the lounge, but am curious about how much these airlines share with each other.
I boarded my flight and promptly tried my best to sleep. 2 hours of restless sleep before leaving the hotel left me haggard. I shut my eyes and waited to hear the sound of tires hitting the runway.
In Panama City I was able to enter the VIP lounge. Being that Panama is the base for Copa Airlines, I felt it had to be a sure thing. I had one coffee and a comfy chair to start my blog entry before jetting off to Jamaica.
I landed at Montego Bay airport and was sent to immigration. I explained I was in transit, but I still had to do it. They were very nice and surprised that I was only going to be here about 6 hours. I zoomed right through, after a stamp in my passport (that is a big plus for me). I was going to skip baggage claim, but something told me not to. I was hoping to be the last one standing at the carousel and then be told my luggage went through. That was not the case, I didn’t have to wait long for my green bag to start it’s rounds on the conveyor belt. I took my items and headed for departures. This led me to a taxi stand outside. I went back in. I enquired. I had to walk up the sidewalk a fair distance (still in my pants and sweater from the cold plane) to enter back in at departures. It seems that I have never dressed to match the locals this trip (shorts and t-shirt when everyone else shivered in parkas and now this). It was a madhouse in the departures lounge as all of the hotel shuttles had arrived. Madhouse. I couldn’t find Air Canada counters because the American Airlines system was so overcrowded that they blocked our entrance and I didn’t see the signs. I went in line. I was fourth. This wouldn’t be bad...after all I had a boarding pass and my bags were properly tagged. Wrong. I waited over an hour. Ever so slowly, one Air Canada employee would arrive. However, don’t be fooled in thinking that it mean they helped customers. No. It seems that they were going to start every computer and set up all of the workstations. That seemed like a good idea until I noticed ninety minutes later when others finally arrived that they did the same thing. Redundant. Anyways, at 12:45 the first group was called. It took 2 attendants an hour to help ONE family EACH. ONE. I couldn’t believe the pace. When I was finally called (remember I was 4th in line) I was so fast. The lady said, “Why didn’t you go to the first class line?” I said, no one was there for 2 hours. The first group they were serving was still waiting. Besides, I have fun chatting with some local Jamaicans in the economy line for those two hours.
The flight to Toronto was pretty uneventful. I do appreciate how quickly I am able to breeze through Canadian customs as a local. I landed and got my luggage and was out waiting for my pick up within 30 minutes. I love that. I told stories to my parents as we drove home. I was finally in bed by midnight, but was too wired to sleep. I read my book until about one am. I still felt awake, but I want to keep my sleep schedule semi-normal.
It was a fabulous trip. A once in a lifetime trip. I was blessed to travel with Cheryl, a fabulous partner who enjoyed slowing down to take photos (literally thousands of birds) and forcing me to keep going when I needed a little push. I loved the people I met in every country. I am a lucky girl.
Signing off from Canada. Goodnight.
Travel Side Notes:
-Passengers should not stick their feet up a wall or the back of another person’s chair. My seat mate on my first flight in the 1st row with AMPLE leg room had his feet almost completely up the wall (another great reason to try to sleep right away...I couldn’t bear to watch it).
-Middle seat passenger always gets bot armrests. Yes, both. One gets the luxury of the window, one gets the luxury of the aisle. Each of those seats has one armrest. Name a redeeming quality of the middle seat! Nothing. They deserve both armrests.
-Always watch the safety demo. I think it makes the attendants like you more.
For Dad:
UIO-PTY Copa Boeing 737-800
PTY-MBJ Copa EMB 190 (I have never heard of this). I had one seat all too myself. I was both window and aisle simultaneously. Also, the right side of the plane started at row 2, so it was just my in my own little ‘cube’ of space.
MBJ-YYZ Boeing 767-300