Laguna de la Cocha, Colombia

Creek running to la Laguna de la Cocha.

Bracelets in the foreground and el pueblo behind.

Up until now, we´ve been in only the cities of Colombia. Now, no. Quite the opposite. We´ve been putting Gato´s tent up on the front porch of a brother and sister´s house and tienda. They are both in their 60s or 70s, probably.

I initially asked la señora if we could put our packs in their store while we walked around and explored the village a little. She let us. We went for una vuelta, came back several hours later with two bags full of dinner preppings in our hands and el señor simply said, '¿Vas a cocinar aqui, no?' We didn't even have to ask. So we cooked the fresh cow meat we had just bought down the road at the butcher's shop. The dead cow's head lay underneath a sink while his body hung from the ceiling. Freshly killed that day.

After cooking and eating with Bucañero and his sister (regretfully, I never learned her name), Bucañero asked us if we wanted to sleep in their corridor. We ended up on their front porch and we´ve been sleeping there ever since. We´ve cooked every meal in their kitchen, mostly fresh rainbow trout from the lake and shared every feast with them, except for lunch today when la señora made us soup. ¡Oh, que rico!

Today, after almost five days without running water or any form of a shower and sleeping in a tent (you always feel dirtier after sleeping in a tent, for some reason), I was CRAVING a shower. The toilet I've been using is the public toilet across the street from the house with a sign above it that reads 3.000 pesos. Bucañero showed me to it the first time. He carefully wiped down the seat for me, flushed a primary flush and said "Siga." I guess he and la señora use this toilet too. Anyways, it took me a little bit to work up the nerve to ask la señora where I might shower; they've given us so much already. I'd also been wondering where they shower themselves. Ruben told me to ask her if she showered. "If she says yes, ask her where? and if she says no, say 'oh, me neither'."

Eventually, I asked. La señora looked at me confused for a minute and then told me that she would ask her son, next door. They didn't have water that day, so she asked her grandson who ran across the street and asked his mom, her daughter. Meanwhile, the son and his wife explained to me that there aren't really showers here in Laguna de la Cocha, everyone just uses a cup and a bucket of water. "It's better in the morning," they explained, "with the warmth of the day to follow."

It's much different living with a family than staying in no-matter-how-primitive-I-think-they-are hostels. The hostels I've stayed in have showers at least. Maybe not free toilet paper or toilet seats or hot water, but they at least have running water. It's very different living without running water. Washing the dishes is interesting.

The kitchen sink. You pour water from a bucket of fresh water (maybe lake water) into one pan to scrub the dishes and have another pan to wash them off in. The yellow bucket on the floor is where you scrape the plates. That bucket goes to the pig.

The stove.

I think most of the pueblo was in on finding me a shower. They finally found me one. The best shower in a while, I must say.

We're frying rainbow trout right now on a open flame in the kitchen. The one-eye-green-one-eye-blue cat is waiting patiently for us to spit the bones her way. La señora gave us three plantains to make patacones (smashed and fried round pieces of plantain, Yum.) The speakers blaring from the church across the street are starting up. They play the same latin loving songs every night, beginning at the same time, while the futbol teams warm up. Every night two different teams from el pueblo play in the plaza in front of "our" house. Their final championship is approaching. The first night we stayed here, it was a little awkard setting up the tent in front of the futbol game with most of el pueblo watching and giggling at us.

Fishermen's boats.

The family and the front porch where we slept. Bucañero and la señora are in the middle.

On the island in the middle of the lake. After a week of being in this pueblo where most tourists only stay for the day, we got a good deal on a ride out to the lake and island.

Gato. Riding out to the island.

One of la señora's many grandchildren. He taught me how to yo-yo really well.

Quito, Ecuador

La Ruta del Sol

Canoa: Fishermen bringing in their catch.

me: Doing handstands in Mompiche for the sunset and remembering Karyn and her hand stand obsession.

After about a month of being nothing but a beach bum, I am back in the city. A big city. Quito, the capital of Ecuador. At first I was sad to leave the tranquility of the beaches, but arriving last night and driving through the streets of a very European feeling city, was cool. There are so many people here; the cobblestone walking streets, cathedrals and churches all remind me of a mix of Spain and France, in a weird way. There are Christmas trees in windows, with lights and Christmas music. I forgot that it´s December. On the coast it was hot and so tropical feeling I felt like I had never left August.

Canoa at sunset.

But here in Quito, I have taken out my jeans again after a month of not wearing them. Yes, they´re much tighter. Yes, I love the Panaderia´s here. Bread stores. Yummmm. Pan de chocolate, pan de carne, pan de leche, pan de sal, pan de.....oh there so many choices. Sadly, along the coast, the panaderías were limited. Usually one or none in each little village I was in. But maybe that was for the best, as far as my pant size goes.

Ruben.

I met Ruben, a guy from Argentina in Montañita. Actually, I met him first in Baños about a month before. Shay had bought a bracelet from him. He´s an Artisañia. He makes jewelry and sells it on the streets to fund his travels. The jewelry is made from thread or "hilo," similar to what I used to make friendship bracelets with, except it has a durable waxy covering. He finds seeds, shells, trades for stones and crystals and incorporates them into his work. I´ve been learning the trade and have started trying to sell some of my own work. Ruben has been travelling for about nine years now. He lived in Colombia for three years at one time and in Brazil for another three years.

El Gato.

I also met Gerardo, or Gato, in Montañita. He´s from Chile, also an artisañia and has been travelling for about six years now, going back to Chile every so often to visit his family. Ruben and Gato met several months ago in Peru, went separate ways and then met up again in Montañita.

Gato and Ruben walking ahead of me on the long trail to the deserted beach.

Before I met these guys I was planning on going to Colombia. I had a little fear though about travelling up there solo. After hanging out with Ruben, Gato and other artisañian friends in Montañita, I thought I´d be fun to tag along with Ruben and Gato up to Colombia. They´re kind of like big brothers, which is really nice to have, especially now that Shay is gone. It´s also awesome because they don´t speak English. All we speak is Spanish, so my spanish is getting SOO much better.

So after leaving Montañita, a partying gringo-ville, we went to Canoa, another beach town further north of Montañita. Canoa was a little smaller than Montañita. Only one panaderia there, which only occasionaly had bread at random times. There really wasn´t much to do there except walk the beaches, looking for shells and sharks teeth, talk with locals, and swim. We had a kitchen at the hostel we were staying at for $2.50 a night, which was really nice because everyday, the guys would go down to the beach, help the fisherman push their boats back onshore and then come back with hands full of fish, gifts for helping. The family that owned the hostel, let us use their kitchen and then we would pull a table from off the porch and put it in the middle of the dirt road in front of the hostel. There we would feast. We made many good meals in Canoa. One night, after walking all day, without any food or water, getting lost and finally finding the secluded beach we were looking for to hunt for sharks teeth, we made it back to Canoa, bought 3 pounds of chicken, 2 packets of spaghetti, a bag of tomatoes, onions and peppers and cooked a grand meal. Each of us ate about a pound each of chicken and all the spaghetti. I think I ate the most out of the three of us. "Newton John," Gato said, "comes como un hombre."

My name here is no longer Libby. After 2 months of people butchering the name Libby, (Leeebee, Libya, Lydia) I have adopted the name Olivia. It sounds pretty in Spanish and it´s a lot easier for everyone to remember for some reason. Gato calls me Newton John, as in Olivia Newton John.

The three pound chicken spaghetti feast.

Mancha: "Mi" mascota de Canoa.
She and her mom followed us everywhere. There were so many dogs in Canoa. They were always roaming the streets and beaches fighting, playing and begging.

This picture was taken for you, Sean.

La playa escondido: Where we hunted for sharks teeth.

Mompiche: The little village was so small and wonderful. Every night at 7:00, the power would go out for the entire village. You could see every single star and hear everything so much clearer.

After a week in Canoa, we went further north to Mompiche, an even smaller beach village with no panaderia and hardly any gringos, which was awesome but not so awesome for the guys because there was no one to buy their stuff. Our feasts dwindled to sandwhiches of cheese, some weird meat, cucumbers and sardines. We didn´t have a kitchen in Mompiche which also hindered our creative cooking abilities. On Thanksgiving, the fisherman came back to shore with two boats loaded down with the biggest stingrays I´ve ever seen. Two of them were each probably five feet wide. It was sad to see them on the beach, bloody and dead, vultures circling around above them, but we walked away with a huge bag full of stingray. We wandered for awhile looking for a kitchen to cook in. Ruben asked a woman working in her empty restaurant if we could use her kitchen to cook the ray. So my Thanksgiving dinner this year was stingray, one big beer between the three of us and some salt. Stingray is a little weird. Tough, but fishy flavored. Rico! I tried not to think about the pies I imagined my mom cooking back home.

Thanksgiving Dinner.

Two fishing boats came back with sting rays.

We left Mompiche yesterday in the back of Jeep, dust flying everywhere, eyes closed and took a seven hour bus to Quito. We are headed to Otavalo within the next couple of days, where the largest street market in South America is, and then from there, we´re going to the border. My family is nervous. With reason, I suppose. But everyone I´ve spoken to that has been to Colombia, has nothing but good things to say about it. I think going with the guys is good too. We stick out as tourists still, but they have an advantage in dealing with people here because they´re South American. I´m excited for Colombia. Ecuadorian set meal lunches of rice, beans and chicken are getting a little old. I´m ready for some Colombian cuisine.

We´re going to Cali, Colombia where Ruben lived. His brother and his wife and children live there and Ruben still has friends in Cali also. He and Gato are planning on passing Christmas there with friends and family and as for now I think I will too.

Gato and some of the gigantic sting ray.

Canoa.

Reservations

Baños

As usual Shay and I have found it extremly hard to leave yet another town. In 2 months of travelling, we´ve been to just 4 towns. We´re travelling extremely slow. I like it that way though. After a week in a small town, I go places and people know my name and I have a sense of belonging. Sometimes travelling is lonely. Being in new towns all the time and not knowing anyone, you never get truly comfortable. In Baños and in Vilcabamba both, I have friends and people I know I could go to if I had a problem. It´s a good feeling.

Riding a cable car to catch some trout, with a Bañeno, William.

Some nuns taking the day off.


The trout we caught. Best meal in Suramerica so far.

Man taking empty Pilsner beer bottles back across the river valley for deposit.

Girls playing in the street during the month long celebration of a Virgin. Every day, for the entire month of October, different barrios (neigborhoods) in Baños take turns hosting the celebrations for the different Virgins.



The streets were crammed with people. Lots of dancing, music, food and drink.


One neighborhood band. They played all day long. Seriously, all day and into the night.

People watching.

White water rafting. This is as far as my camera got on that trip.

Rock climbing at the zoo. For 30 cents on a 10 minute bus ride, we´ve been going climbing in the valley under the local zoo. It´s kind-of in someone´s back yard so we have to pay $1 to get in, but it´s so worth it. It´s challenging and a really good way to spend the days.

Rapelling.

View from the climbing spot.

Oscar climbing, Paulo belaying. We met Oscar on our white water rafting trip, he was one of the guides. Since then, we´ve been rock climbing so much with him and his friends. Last week, Oscar, Paulo, an Isreali girl named Mor, Shay and I all went camping in a little pueblo near Quito. We camped underneath a cool rock face and climbed all day for 2 days.

Paulo, way high up.

A view of the hot baths. These baños were closed for a while when the volcano erupted a couple years ago. They´re still repairing the place and so for now, it´s free to get in. The pool on the far left (the one that looks the dirtiest) is the hottest. The clear one is straight river water, for a cold dip. The trick is to go back and forth from the really hot to the freezing cold. If you don´t you get dizzy and dehydrated.



We went with our friend, Oscar, to his grandparents house to bring them lunch. He showed us how to make sugar cane juice. He´s cutting up the sugar cane here, then he put it in this huge juicing machine, added a little sweet lime and yum.


Robertito and I. The smallest 27 year old in Ecuador, maybe.

Going canyoning with two couples from Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Canyoning. Rapelling down waterfalls.


Rapelling down a huge waterfall.


Gorgeous.

The country side of Baños, just a 10 minute bikeride out of the center of town.

The day we rented these four-wheeling-go-cart cars. It poured down rain, got really muddy and then the sun finally came out later on.