Right now I am sitting in a CyberCafe in Vilcambamba, Ecuador. Quite possibly my favorite place on earth right now, especially relative to the towns and adventures we have experienced over the last week! Before I cover why I love Vilcabamba and may never leave, I need to get back to how we got to Peru, what we did, and how we returned.
On Sunday, we left Cuenca, Ecuador for the beach ¨paradise¨of Mancora, Peru. Days of long bus rides and spending hours upon hours riding various forms of transportation used to be known as "travel days". I have now mandated that these be aptly named "adventure days" as they never cease to provide extreme amounts of adventure, often unwanted adventure! Our 5 hour bus ride from Cuenca to the border town of Huaquillas was pretty uneventful really, other than providing great views of the Andes and going from gravel to dirt to pavement to ditches, all upon the great PanAmerica Highway that runs most of the coast of South America. The bus was incredibly hot as there was no air of any kind and most of the windows would not budge an inch, but we managed to make it all the way to the border. Just in time for the REAL fun to start!
For some reason, this border is called the "Worst Border Crossing in South America". And for some reason, we all agree that it very much deserves this title. I have to believe that the majority of the chaos was initiated by the fact that Ecuador decided to build their immigration center 3km north of the actual border. Well, Peru must have realized the cleverness behind this decision and followed suit. They built their immigration center 2km souther of their border! What does all of this mean? It means that you have to get off the bus, go through immigration so you can officially exit Ecuador, find a taxi of sorts to take you to the actual border, get out, walk across the actual border bridge and then find a "taxi" to the Peruvian immigration center. Once you take care of the formalities to enter Peru, you then are forced to yet again find additional transportation to where ever you are going. This most likely would be Tumbes, the next town of size down the coast about 30km away.
We had read the warnings from the Lonely Planet guide several times about this border and thought we were thoroughly prepared; however nothing could prepare three white people for this little journey. To start the crossing off right, we missed departing the bus at the Ecuadorian immigration point because only one person got off (still confused about this) and there were not even any signs on the side of the road saying we needed to get off there. So we got off the bus just before the border to find out we had to take a taxi back to immigration and then back to the border before we could cross. Don't get me wrong, could easily have crossed the border at anytime. It's not like you have to talk to anyone or even see anyone official to walk across the border. You seriously just walk across a big bridge filled with hundreds of people yelling and selling things, along with an awful stench that prevails in most little towns in the area. So anyway, we get out taxi back to immigration and have no issues getting our passports stamped and then finding yet another taxi back to the border so we can finally cross.
On our taxi ride back to the actual border, the guy that flagged down the taxi for us of course decides he needs to ride with us. So he piles in uncomfortably and proceeds to make suspiciously friendly conversation with us. He begins to tell us how we need to change a lot of money at the border so we can prove to the Peruvian border officials that we have money to spend in the country, which somehow will make it easier for us to enter the country. As soon as we get out of the taxi, several men start to grab at out bags to "carry" them for us. This, as everyone knows, is not cool...so we immediately put a stop to this. But once we had our packs on our backs and ready to walk into the sea of craziness at the border bridge, our new taxi friend introduces us to his money changing friend who begins to rattle off what a good exchange rate he will give us for our dollars into soles. I really only wanted to change a few dollars, enough to get us a taxi in Peru to immigration, but they gave me my $3 back saying that I needed to change at least $100 to get through immigration. These guys will stop at nothing to get your money and we decided we wanted nothing to do with them. They followed us, yelling in a mix of Spanish and English, the whole way to the actual border. Our taxi friend even said I needed to give him money to buy a coke since he had helped us so much. The funny thing about this whole exchange is that apparently these scammers do not keep up with the Wall Street Journal, because the exchange rate I negotiated was a good bit above the current rate (since the dollar has dropped so much lately). Of course their scam has other factors, but they were scamming themselves on the exchange rate.
Being practically the only gringos crossing the border, everyone in both countries wanted a piece of us as they saw a payday walking towards them. As soon as we walked into Peru, too frazzled to even get a picture of the Welcome to Peru sign, we were quickly approached by a taxi driver who wanted to take us to immigration and beyond. We knew we had to get to immigration, so we were cool with paying $2 for this (a price we negotiated down). Once in the taxi, the real fun started. He went on and on and on about how much easier it would be for us to get him to just take us all the way to Tumbes. Claire, sitting in front so she could do translation when needed, had obviously had enough of his ridiculousness and was getting visibly frustrated and angry. Once we got to immigration, we gave him his $2 and walked into the office. He followed us into the office and continues to yell at us as to why we needed to take his taxi all the way to Tumbes. After we somehow figured out how to get our passports stamped and enter the country officially, which was terribly difficult given that their are no instructions and no on to ask for help, we exited immigration in search of a way to Tumbes where we would catch a bus to Mancora.
As soon as we got our passports stamped, there was that same old crazy taxi driver up in our faces again. I even asked the immigration official if he was legit, which he of course said yes. I took this with a huge grain of salt as everyone in South America is on someone else's payroll. After another 10 minutes of confusion, discussion and searching for alternatives, we finally agreed to let this man take us to Tumbes for $7, which was negotiated because we did not change for any soles (Peruvian currency). As we drove under the "Bienvinidos a Tumbes" sign, the driver started up again about how the bus station was closed because it was Sunday and we would have to stay in this dusty borderesque town for the night in order to catch a bus. We told him that was not the case so he drove us by the "bus station" to show us it was all closed up. Indeed it was, but we were already prepared for this scam as Claire had experienced it in Costa Rica. We were not sure what exactly the deal was, but that was not the bus station we really needed to find. We asked him to take us to the real bus station and he acted very confused, followed by saying that we should just pay him to take us all the way to Mancora, which is about 2 hours from Tumbes. As soon as we heard this, screams of "NO" came from the back seat and we demanded he just let us out on the main street. He even tried to keep driving past it so I yelled "Aqui!" until he stopped. We got out, gathered our bags, reluctantly paid the driver, and then set out to figure out where the real station was.
Claire walked up to the first person we found and asked where the Tubmes station was; his response was an extremely confused expression that indicated to her that he had no idea what we were talking about. "Is this Tumbes?" Claire asked in Spanish. "No, it's Zuramilla" answered the guy. The fun hit an all time high when we realized that we were not even in the town at all that we had paid to be driven to, we were in a completely non-tourist town miles from Tumbes. Once again the only white people in town were mobbed by vendors, taxi drivers and anyone who could think of a way to lie to us to get some money out of us. We walked across the street and yelled at the guys to stop following us and then we started talking to a few little kids who we hoped we could trust to tell us where we were and how to get out. A few minutes after talking to them, the mother came up and kept repeating to us that we needed to be very careful. This of course only added to our anxiety levels that were already through the roof. Then, out of the blue, walked up two tall and well armed security guards dressed in black uniforms. They began to walk down the street with us and asked us where we were going. They informed us of where to get transportation and how much to pay for it and they even escorted us the two blocks to the real taxis. At this point, I was even suspicious of security guards...but these guys were honestly and truly there to help us and they recognized the need. They didn't even ask for money! It was amazing! They dropped us off at a collectivo taxi, which means it is cheaper because you share it with others. We shared it with a mother and her three children who all sat in the front seat, and away we went for Tumbes for $1 per person.
We arrived in Tumbes about 30 minutes later and were dropped off at a spot to get a cambe, or a 12 passenger van that drives to a destination while picking up and dropping off anyone and everyone at random points. While I watched our bags be tied down to the top like a hawk, the girls went with someone we hoped we could trust to find the ATM and get some soles so we could pay for the ride. It was $2 per person for the 2.5 hour ride. It started out ok, just a little hot. But with every mile we went we seemed to gather more and more people and before we knew it, we were stuff in with 20 other people into this little van! The ride took closer to 3 hours because of all of the stops and we all became even closer friends as we were literally on top of each other for most of the ride.
We finally arrived in Mancora around 8pm, after leaving Cuenca early that morning, and were ready to get out of the cramped van and find a beach side hostel to settle down for a few days. Once off the cambe, we hopped into a MotoTaxi (which is just as much fun as it sounds), piled in our bags on to the back, and set off to find a hostel. Our driver's name was Julio and he became a good friend for the duration of our 4 day stay. He was basically our own personal mototaxi driver! He helped us find a hostel with room for us for the night and we excitedly headed for bed after grabbing dinner at a good Italian restaurant in Mancora. Bed consisted of a concrete block with a very thin mattress on top and was honestly horrible, but we made do somehow!
At this point, being alive was what we're most thankful for! The fact that we were only scammed out of about $5 dollars that day and had nothing stolen was a giant relief. It took a lot of teamwork from the three of us to make sure we were even this successful in our insane border crossing experience!
I have just finished my hour long massage here in Vilcabamba, which cost a full $10, and now hunger is setting in. I think a fine $2 dinner is called for now, perhaps at a restaurant overlooking the Andes yet again. These are just some of the many, many reasons we are so glad to be here now and done with the hell that was our border crossing! In the next post, I will try to cover what exactly we did in Mancora (not much), how our crossing back was and how we came to be in Vilcabama.
Until then, we will enjoy paradise here! Adios!
Karl
jueves, 27 de marzo de 2008
lunes, 24 de marzo de 2008
In Peru at Last
Today I am writing from an internet cafe en la playa in Mancora, Peru. Currently everyone is happy and relaxed in the sun, but that was definitely not the case yesterday! I don´t have the energy to write out a full post about our most insane day yet (and I don´t mean insane in a good way either), but I will try and sum it up.
It included being the only gringos within hundreds of miles, so that immediately meant we were extreme targets for everything bad. Getting a bust ticket out of Cuenca for the border town of Hauquillas was not really all that difficult so we thought our travel day would go relatively well. We set out on a 5 hour bus ride in a charter bus that was described as a direct bus. Well, ¨direct¨has a very different meaning here apparently. Our bus stopped at every little shack, village and random hut that had someone outside flagging it down along the way. We winded through the amazing Andes so we could work our way down from around 8,000 feet to closer to sea level at the border. The bus trip offered fantastic views, especially when we got to pull over for a few minutes so a little girl could go pee on the road. Amazing.
The bus took the PanAmerica highway for the most part, but ¨Highway¨has a very different meaning in Ecuador. It is slightly wider than a normal road, but it is mostly dirt and gravel and is paved at certain points. The avg speed of the bus trip was probably around 35mph for the long duration. But rest assured, the bus trip was BY FAR the best part of yesterday´s travels.
I need to quickly wrap this up so I can get back to la playa and enjoy this great touristy town of Mancora, so let me wrap this up in phrases only format.
Book told us the border crossing was ¨The worst in South America. I believe it now.
Supposed taxi driver dropped us off in a random town and lied to us about it being where we were trying to go. We had to share a taxi with a mother and three children (who all sat in the one front seat) so we could actually get to Tumbes.
We took 5 different kinds of transportation to get to Mancora.
The best transport being 21 people stuffed in a busted old minivan for a three hour trip down the coast.
We all became much closer friends after spending many, many hours basically on top of each other.
Our mototaxi driver was very fond of Mary and offered up kisses.
Ok, seriously time to go. Sorry for the scrambled and confusing post. But after surviving yesterday, I am just glad to still be able to post at all!
Karl
It included being the only gringos within hundreds of miles, so that immediately meant we were extreme targets for everything bad. Getting a bust ticket out of Cuenca for the border town of Hauquillas was not really all that difficult so we thought our travel day would go relatively well. We set out on a 5 hour bus ride in a charter bus that was described as a direct bus. Well, ¨direct¨has a very different meaning here apparently. Our bus stopped at every little shack, village and random hut that had someone outside flagging it down along the way. We winded through the amazing Andes so we could work our way down from around 8,000 feet to closer to sea level at the border. The bus trip offered fantastic views, especially when we got to pull over for a few minutes so a little girl could go pee on the road. Amazing.
The bus took the PanAmerica highway for the most part, but ¨Highway¨has a very different meaning in Ecuador. It is slightly wider than a normal road, but it is mostly dirt and gravel and is paved at certain points. The avg speed of the bus trip was probably around 35mph for the long duration. But rest assured, the bus trip was BY FAR the best part of yesterday´s travels.
I need to quickly wrap this up so I can get back to la playa and enjoy this great touristy town of Mancora, so let me wrap this up in phrases only format.
Book told us the border crossing was ¨The worst in South America. I believe it now.
Supposed taxi driver dropped us off in a random town and lied to us about it being where we were trying to go. We had to share a taxi with a mother and three children (who all sat in the one front seat) so we could actually get to Tumbes.
We took 5 different kinds of transportation to get to Mancora.
The best transport being 21 people stuffed in a busted old minivan for a three hour trip down the coast.
We all became much closer friends after spending many, many hours basically on top of each other.
Our mototaxi driver was very fond of Mary and offered up kisses.
Ok, seriously time to go. Sorry for the scrambled and confusing post. But after surviving yesterday, I am just glad to still be able to post at all!
Karl
sábado, 22 de marzo de 2008
Welcome to Southern Ecuador
I have to begin this post by explaining my last one. When I sat down to begin the last post I was full of colorful ideas of what to write about, including the fact that all three of us happened to be wearing flip flops when we rather unexpectedly went hiking in the Andes to overlook the giant crater. When we talked to the tour guide about the trip at Mitad del Mundo, he told us there was an option to go for a hike to get a better view of the crater and we immediately thought that wasn´t going to be possible because of our amazing choice of footwear. He assured us that it was a ¨grassy path¨ and that we would be fine. Well, it was a bit more than a grassy path and the hike started by us climbing under a barbed wire fence and scrambling up a steep rocky hill, dodging cow dung as we went, but we all agree it has been the best part of the trip yet! The views were stunning and we were so high that we were litterally in the clouds, watching them as they quickly moved around us. So anyway, that´s the story. We went ¨hiking¨ in the Andes in flip flops and had a great time!
Now that that is out of the way, let´s cover the last day or so. I am writing this from a little internet cabina in Cuenca, Ecuador after finishing up a really great meal at a local Pizzeria topped off with delicious helado! But before I get ahead of myself, let me cover last night. Mary and I had every intention of actually getting more than a few hours of sleep last night so we thought we would just have a beer or two at the hostel bar. After the second beer, we got into deep conversation with the owner of the hostel about everything from the costs to start and maintain a hostel, to Ecuadorian culture and its fiery women, all the way to a heated yet incredibly interesting international discussion about American politics. The owner, Matt from Queensland Australia, and his volunteer helper, Sam from the UK, were great to talk to and drink with and they ended up treating us to healthy pours on the house the rest of the night. To make a long story short, we headed up for bed at about 3:00 AM! Awesome time, pero a serious lack of sleep is starting to set in!
We were up around 8:30 this morning to get packed, grabbed desayuno at the local fruitaria and jumped into a taxi for the airport to see if we could find our way to Cuenca today. Our original plan was to get to Cuenca via bus but the bus ride is about 12 hours and our guide book made mention of a flight from Quito for about $60. We were not really sure what our chances of getting to the airport and actually buying a ticket for that day and at such a low price, but after a 20 minute cab ride that included a hilarious driver and his marraige proposal to Mary in Spanish, we were able to immediately buy tickets for the three of us on the 1:15 flight from Quito to Cuenca for just over $60 each. After about an hour waiting around the in small domestic terminal at Quito, we walked out on the runway to board out turbo-prop bound for Cuenca. It was actually very nice inside and was run just as efficiently as any US airline. The ladies were not super fond of the rough turbulence that comes with being in a small turbo-prop plane flying over the Andes, but it was a quick 45 minute flight to our newest destionation.
Now in Southern Ecuador where it is a littler warmer, a little lower and a lot more colonial with a Spanish feel. Cuenca reminds me a lot of Granada and some of the smaller towns in Spain, the influence is everywhere in this town. It is also the third biggest city in Ecuador yet has a completely different and non-commercial feel compared to the massive sprawl of craziness that is Quito. Cuenca is really just a stop over on our way to Mancora on the coast of Peru, but it is an interesting historical town with lots to explore. We may try and take a tour to the jungle or something tomorrow morning, but we will probably just use this time to relax and get ready for our next bus journey to Mancora. We are about 4-5 hours from the Peruvian border here and should be able two hours from the border to our beach destination. I only hope we get across the border in one piece and all of our money still with us!
My Spanish is improving rapidly and I am able to learn a lot from Claire and the many interactions we have with the locals, none of which involve any English. I have entertained the thought of coming here for a while to live cheaply and finally tackle becoming fluent in Spanish as there are many Spanish schools around for gringos. I will have to give it some thought...but again with the job thing.
Back to the hostel in Cuenca now, my next post will probably be from Peru. Maybe even after having a meal of fried Guinea Pig!
Adios.
Karl
Now that that is out of the way, let´s cover the last day or so. I am writing this from a little internet cabina in Cuenca, Ecuador after finishing up a really great meal at a local Pizzeria topped off with delicious helado! But before I get ahead of myself, let me cover last night. Mary and I had every intention of actually getting more than a few hours of sleep last night so we thought we would just have a beer or two at the hostel bar. After the second beer, we got into deep conversation with the owner of the hostel about everything from the costs to start and maintain a hostel, to Ecuadorian culture and its fiery women, all the way to a heated yet incredibly interesting international discussion about American politics. The owner, Matt from Queensland Australia, and his volunteer helper, Sam from the UK, were great to talk to and drink with and they ended up treating us to healthy pours on the house the rest of the night. To make a long story short, we headed up for bed at about 3:00 AM! Awesome time, pero a serious lack of sleep is starting to set in!
We were up around 8:30 this morning to get packed, grabbed desayuno at the local fruitaria and jumped into a taxi for the airport to see if we could find our way to Cuenca today. Our original plan was to get to Cuenca via bus but the bus ride is about 12 hours and our guide book made mention of a flight from Quito for about $60. We were not really sure what our chances of getting to the airport and actually buying a ticket for that day and at such a low price, but after a 20 minute cab ride that included a hilarious driver and his marraige proposal to Mary in Spanish, we were able to immediately buy tickets for the three of us on the 1:15 flight from Quito to Cuenca for just over $60 each. After about an hour waiting around the in small domestic terminal at Quito, we walked out on the runway to board out turbo-prop bound for Cuenca. It was actually very nice inside and was run just as efficiently as any US airline. The ladies were not super fond of the rough turbulence that comes with being in a small turbo-prop plane flying over the Andes, but it was a quick 45 minute flight to our newest destionation.
Now in Southern Ecuador where it is a littler warmer, a little lower and a lot more colonial with a Spanish feel. Cuenca reminds me a lot of Granada and some of the smaller towns in Spain, the influence is everywhere in this town. It is also the third biggest city in Ecuador yet has a completely different and non-commercial feel compared to the massive sprawl of craziness that is Quito. Cuenca is really just a stop over on our way to Mancora on the coast of Peru, but it is an interesting historical town with lots to explore. We may try and take a tour to the jungle or something tomorrow morning, but we will probably just use this time to relax and get ready for our next bus journey to Mancora. We are about 4-5 hours from the Peruvian border here and should be able two hours from the border to our beach destination. I only hope we get across the border in one piece and all of our money still with us!
My Spanish is improving rapidly and I am able to learn a lot from Claire and the many interactions we have with the locals, none of which involve any English. I have entertained the thought of coming here for a while to live cheaply and finally tackle becoming fluent in Spanish as there are many Spanish schools around for gringos. I will have to give it some thought...but again with the job thing.
Back to the hostel in Cuenca now, my next post will probably be from Peru. Maybe even after having a meal of fried Guinea Pig!
Adios.
Karl
viernes, 21 de marzo de 2008
Hiking the Andes in Flip Flops? Yes.
This post is full of errors, but that is what happens when you only have 5 minutes to write a post! It will be fixed up later!
Day three here in Quito, extremely exhausted after an action packed couple of days! The first day included the best airport layover ever as we wisely used our 8 hours to explore Panama City and the surrounding sights by rented cab. Claire broke out her impressive Spanish skills as soon as we emerged from the airport in Panama City to help negotiate a taxi for the day. Panama City is not exactly cheap....expensive by South American standards. Still relatively inexpensive, but nothing like Ecuador.
I'm writing on the computer at the hostel in Quito so I really don't have much time at all to write. I'd prefer to write the novellas that I did in Spain, but I don't have my laptop with me so I am restricted to what I can bang out on borrowed time. So here we go...quickly!
We set off through the horrific traffic of Panama City to explore the very active fish market on the coast, a quick stop in Casco Viejo or the old town of Panama City, and a jaunt to the Panama Canal. The Canal was rather dissapointing as we only had 45 minutes and no vessels came through while we were there, but we made sure to get plenty of pictures of the empty lockes to prove we had been. We sat in traffic for nearly two hours to get back to the airport in Panama City and catch our delayed flight of just under two hours to Quito. Getting into Quito at about 10:00, hurriedly catching our breath at 10,000 feet with our hearts running a little quicker than expected and walking becoming increasingly hard, we grabbed a van to the hostel outside of the Old Town or El Centro.
Day two in Quito included a very interesting trip to the local market via bus where we saw every possible meat and animal part and clothing item and fruit for sale from aggressive vendors trying to make a dollar or two to survive. This country is amazing cheap! Cab rides across the sprawling metropolis of Quito are had for $1.50 and a full all inclusive meal is $2.00. I could stay here for a while longer....if only I could get rid of that work thing! And I would have to ship Max down here, any takers on people to bring him down for me? He would love to go out into the streets and play with all of the stray dogs that roam as they please. I befriend many of them because I can't believe how friendly and behaved they are for wild dogs that fend for their lives in the streets!
Today was packed! We were completely confused trying to find the right bus to the Equator and eventaully found our way there after about three hours. The Equator was good for taking cheesy pictures and to be able to tell your friends you were there....but we took a guided tour of the local massive crater that was honestly breath taking. It is apparently an active volcano at about 10,000 feet and we hiked up to a view point over looking the 400m wide crater where we stood on a cliff with a straight 4,000 foot drop. If you were not afraid of heights before, you would be now! We have some great pictures and I can't wait to post them. What an experience!
Well I am rushed and I really need to get back to mi cerveza, but I hope to most more details soon. A great time is being had by all and sensory overload is an understatement!
Adios.
Karl
Day three here in Quito, extremely exhausted after an action packed couple of days! The first day included the best airport layover ever as we wisely used our 8 hours to explore Panama City and the surrounding sights by rented cab. Claire broke out her impressive Spanish skills as soon as we emerged from the airport in Panama City to help negotiate a taxi for the day. Panama City is not exactly cheap....expensive by South American standards. Still relatively inexpensive, but nothing like Ecuador.
I'm writing on the computer at the hostel in Quito so I really don't have much time at all to write. I'd prefer to write the novellas that I did in Spain, but I don't have my laptop with me so I am restricted to what I can bang out on borrowed time. So here we go...quickly!
We set off through the horrific traffic of Panama City to explore the very active fish market on the coast, a quick stop in Casco Viejo or the old town of Panama City, and a jaunt to the Panama Canal. The Canal was rather dissapointing as we only had 45 minutes and no vessels came through while we were there, but we made sure to get plenty of pictures of the empty lockes to prove we had been. We sat in traffic for nearly two hours to get back to the airport in Panama City and catch our delayed flight of just under two hours to Quito. Getting into Quito at about 10:00, hurriedly catching our breath at 10,000 feet with our hearts running a little quicker than expected and walking becoming increasingly hard, we grabbed a van to the hostel outside of the Old Town or El Centro.
Day two in Quito included a very interesting trip to the local market via bus where we saw every possible meat and animal part and clothing item and fruit for sale from aggressive vendors trying to make a dollar or two to survive. This country is amazing cheap! Cab rides across the sprawling metropolis of Quito are had for $1.50 and a full all inclusive meal is $2.00. I could stay here for a while longer....if only I could get rid of that work thing! And I would have to ship Max down here, any takers on people to bring him down for me? He would love to go out into the streets and play with all of the stray dogs that roam as they please. I befriend many of them because I can't believe how friendly and behaved they are for wild dogs that fend for their lives in the streets!
Today was packed! We were completely confused trying to find the right bus to the Equator and eventaully found our way there after about three hours. The Equator was good for taking cheesy pictures and to be able to tell your friends you were there....but we took a guided tour of the local massive crater that was honestly breath taking. It is apparently an active volcano at about 10,000 feet and we hiked up to a view point over looking the 400m wide crater where we stood on a cliff with a straight 4,000 foot drop. If you were not afraid of heights before, you would be now! We have some great pictures and I can't wait to post them. What an experience!
Well I am rushed and I really need to get back to mi cerveza, but I hope to most more details soon. A great time is being had by all and sensory overload is an understatement!
Adios.
Karl
martes, 18 de marzo de 2008
Taking off for South America
Tomorrow in the early, early morning we will be grabbing a cab to Dulles to catch our flight. Claire, Mary and I board a flight to Panama just after 6:00 AM where we have an 8 hour layover before heading to Quito.
We have made tentative plans to rent a cab for the day in Panama to show us around a bit; including a vist to the famous canal and then a quick trip to the old town of Panama City. We have to negotiate a day rate with the taxi driver at the airport so this should be interesting. I will start at $5 and then half whatever he says next. Should be fun!
Quito this time of year is in the upper 50's with rain half the day each day. It is about 10,000 feet above sea level so the weather stays damp and cool most of the year. But after 4 days in the mountain capital, we will be heading south and down so the temperature will rapidly increase as we go!
Well I can only hope to find a net cafe in the major cities we are in so I can shoot out a few emails and blog a bit, but don't hold your breath on the big posts like the ones from Spain. I am not bringing the laptop this time in fear of not coming back with it.
Need to go run and finish (start) packing and get everything ready for this amazingly adventurous trip...hope to post soon!
Karl
We have made tentative plans to rent a cab for the day in Panama to show us around a bit; including a vist to the famous canal and then a quick trip to the old town of Panama City. We have to negotiate a day rate with the taxi driver at the airport so this should be interesting. I will start at $5 and then half whatever he says next. Should be fun!
Quito this time of year is in the upper 50's with rain half the day each day. It is about 10,000 feet above sea level so the weather stays damp and cool most of the year. But after 4 days in the mountain capital, we will be heading south and down so the temperature will rapidly increase as we go!
Well I can only hope to find a net cafe in the major cities we are in so I can shoot out a few emails and blog a bit, but don't hold your breath on the big posts like the ones from Spain. I am not bringing the laptop this time in fear of not coming back with it.
Need to go run and finish (start) packing and get everything ready for this amazingly adventurous trip...hope to post soon!
Karl
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