11 Mar 2019

Just Keep Climbing

by Ben & Kourt | posted in: South America, Travel | 0

Our three week Ecuador adventure began in Quito, the capital city that sits at 9,350 feet above sea level. We needed to get our hiking legs back quickly and acclimate to the elevation, for we had some seriously big plans. We stayed in a lovely hostel with lots of Spanish colonial charm and free breakfast!

Our room was long and narrow with lots of natural sunlight overlooking one of the city’s center squares. We spent a few days relaxing and catching up on writing before our first big hike.

Rucu Pichincha is a popular hike because it leaves from the city and requires people to take a cable car up to the base lodge. The summit stands at 15,413 feet and we were expecting the trek to take around seven hours round trip. The trail was well maintained with a nice gradual uphill climb through green grass and orange flowers.

The last forty-five minutes were a scramble up loose and very large rocks, but the end result was literally breathtaking — pause to catch a breath. It was our first introduction into the vastness of green landscape, large rock, and blue sky that makes up Ecuador, and we were so excited to be standing the highest either of us had ever climbed and in just two and a half hours!

We crushed the climb and felt like we were acclimating well to life back in the mountains. The entire trip took four and a half hours, and we were eagerly awaiting the next hike as we rode the cable car back down, singing “We Are the Champions” by Queen with a little Ecuadorian boy and his dad.

We hopped on another bus to Riobamba, but the bus trip was longer than expected because we stopped in the middle of the road for almost three hours with no explanation from police about what was going on. More vehicles joined us and many started turning around. Men and women were begging the driver to take a different road and rallying riders to bribe him with tips to encourage him to brave the dirt side roads through the national park. He refused. When we finally started moving again, we drove past groups of police in full riot gear lining the streets and what we assume were Venezuelan refugees. The scene did not look violent, just sad. Our hearts go out to those in Venezuela struggling to keep their loved ones safe.

Finally off the bus and after a short walk, we met John in his office at Andean Adventures. We tried on and gathered our mountaineering gear: thick waterproof and wind-proof pants and gloves, goggles, helmets, harnesses, ice axes, and crampons. We were going to find the snow for the first time all trip! The next morning we set off for the refugio at Chimborazo.

Our view of the mountain as we approached.

In a van, we prayed for our safety as this crazy grandmother, calling everyone ‘bandejo!,’ swerved in between lanes to bring us to the welcome center. We would spend four nights in the park doing two hikes with the final one bringing us to new heights!

Our first hike from the refugio was Carihuairazo, a 14 mile hike through varying landscape with an aggressive hour climb to the summit post-holing in knee-deep snow. This was the second time we’ve ever had crampons, harnesses, and ice axes on but it’s a much different experience on a steep incline. While walking on a flat glacier and avoiding crevices that go down for miles can be nerve-wracking, climbing steep hills in untouched snow with crampons on is tough work! What a sense of accomplishment to stand in the clouds at 16,469 feet, having learned first hand how to put crampons on in the snow!

We were excited to get back to the refuge for a delicious meal and some coca tea.

Two days later, it was time to make the summit Chimborazo attempt. Because of its location on the equator, and the fact that the earth isn’t perfectly round, Chimborazo is the closest point to the sun on Earth. It has two summits with the tallest standing at 20,564 feet. We have been talking about this climb for months. We’d spent a couple very successful weeks preparing at this point, and we were nervous, excited, and so ready! We had trouble sleeping because of all of the anticipation and build up, but we “woke up” and 9pm, had some tea, bread and cheese with jam, put on all of our gear, and set out around 10pm.

We spent a lot of time looking at this map.

We took the red route which is shorter and steeper but way more badass as we needed to fight our way through steep inclines of loose gravel and rock. In the back of our minds we knew that we needed to be at the summit by 8am before the sun starts melting all of the snow and the way back becomes too dangerous. Easy, right?!

Fabian was our guide, a smiley and friendly father of five, and he set out a good slow pace for climbing as we started off walking straight up. By three hours in we were trekking in crampons all roped together by our harnesses. The excitement started to wear off. It was becoming grueling as we were putting one heavy foot in front of the other at nearly a 50% grade. Still, we were keeping a good pace and Fabian figured we would reach the cumbre at 7am.

“Only five more hours!” Fabian says cheerfully at 2am.

What. The. Hell.

So we continued making our own switch-backs, zig-zagging a trail in the snow because we no longer had the strength nor energy to keep putting one foot directly in front of the other to go straight up. The five-hour comment was like a swift kick to the crotch. Then around 3am we started to see headlamps coming down closer and closer to us. The young, energetic American and his guide, Raul, were quickly approaching us. Side-note, Raul might be the craziest person we’ve ever met. Sporting frostbite burns on one arm from some near death hiking experiences, he has hiked with Aron Lee Ralston, the guy from “127 Hours” who sawed off his own arm in order to save his own life. Anyway, the American we’d been swapping stories with hours earlier couldn’t even look us in the eye as Raul told us that 600 feet above us the snow had frozen slabs sitting on top and it was too dangerous to continue. Two days ago it had snowed most of the night making the second summit untouchable, but we had been holding out hope for the first. Unfortunately, the rain during the next day at the lodge meant more snow/hail at the top that froze overnight. If Raul, who has been stranded in the snow before, says it’s time to turn around, then it’s definitely time to turn around. So at 3am and 18,700 feet, we were forced to head back, defeated, exhausted, and heart-broken.

Eager for a break from the mountains, we headed straight to the popular tourist town of Baños, a sure bet to find a bar showing American football because on Sunday the Patriots were playing in the Superbowl.

Done with hiking, time to drink our sorrows and watch the Pats win in Baños.

We posted up at this German bar called Cherusker and watched Brady win his sixth ring which made us feel a little better. We drank delicious beer and had awesome burritos. While in town, Kourtney visited this cool bead shop and got to create her own necklace. Known as the adventure capital of Ecuador, we were looking forward to some biking to the Amazon, waterfall exploring, and some cliff-side swings but it just rained for four days. So we continued to sulk, sleep, and binge one of our favorite comedy series — Brooklyn 99.

It was time to snap out of it and stretch our legs again. We headed to Latacunga to start the Quilatoa Loop, a four day 36-mile trek through four different towns beginning in Sigchos. But first, we got off the bus to find that Coons’ bag that was under the bus had been next to and soaked by a bag of fish. WOOF! This was going to be a long four days, especially for anyone hiking behind us. We soaked it in vinegar in the hostel shower after the first day.

Backpack soaking in cold water and vinegar.

We read online that if you put baking soda on it and let it dry, it helps cut down the odor. So we did so and left it by the wood stove since it was raining outside. We woke up to find it had melted a bit at the bottom, rendering one of the bottom straps useless. We knew our bags would take a beating, but come on!

However, it was so nice to be on long dusty roads winding up mountains and down into canyons. We marveled at the green pastures and endless peaks and remembered that we do love Ecuador.

The countryside was all different shades of green.

We saw more animals than we could count. We made excellent time avoiding these quarter-size beetles with sticky legs that swarmed and attached themselves to us while we stopped for breaks. After school, children would line the trails asking for candy or gifts. On the fourth day, we hiked around the crater of the lake taking in views from every angle.

It was excellent #patagoniaprep as we were getting excited for our next big adventure and one we had been planning since August.

But first, we needed a little redemption. At Chimborazo, we talked to the only female that reached the summit the near-week we were there. This was her second attempt at the summit and she was grateful to have reached the top of Chimbo but honestly loved Cotopaxi much more. That comment (and her pictures) stuck with us and we decided we had to try it. Cotopaxi is an easier climb, although still technical and must be climbed with a guide, crampons, and harness. The success rate is closer to 50% instead of ~25% and the weather had been pretty great lately. We contacted John and met Fabian on the side of the road near the highway exit to Cotopaxi ready to hike that same night!

We woke up (minus air quotes because we actually both slept this time) at 11pm and started out at midnight. A much more manageable grade, the Cotopaxi hike up was actually enjoyable, and we were looking forward to coming down because we could tell the crevices we were passing in the pitch black were going to look insanely awesome in the daylight. It turns out that we were incredibly acclimated and in shape for this hike because our pace was too good. We were crushing the two 22-year-old Americans that set out with us, one of them a dumpster diver who has only spent 300 dollars on groceries in the last two years. We started taking multiple (unneeded) breaks of up to 20 minutes in order to slow ourselves down and reach the summit by sunrise. At 5:20am, we reached the cumbre at 19,347 feet — seven feet taller than Kilimanjaro!

We gave victory hugs and took victory pictures and waited for the sun to start rising and the clouds to hopefully clear so we could see the crater. A little after six the sun started to turn a light blue and orange, but dark clouds were still hugging the crater. We needed to start down in order to avoid further numbness.

The way down was incredibly beautiful. As the sun was rising and warming us up, we walked past and over huge crevices and saw enormous icicles.

Seeing this in the daylight made up for the cloudy summit.

As the clouds parted we looked out into the park and felt a wonderful sense of accomplishment and redemption. We realized it was Valentine’s Day, and it was the most wonderful present to have reached new heights, standing on the third tallest active volcano in the world and the second closest rock to the sun. Although Chimborazo will continue to be our white whale, we are proud to have completed a technical climb in Ecuador at an impressive elevation.

We couldn’t have done it without Fabian!

Eager to get out of Latacunga (the food was decent, but the town isn’t a tourist attraction for a reason), we grabbed the rest of our gear and hoofed it to the bus station to catch a bus to Ambato. Unfortunately, we JUST missed the 1pm bus from Ambato to Cuenca, meaning we had to wait three hours for the next bus. Feeling hungry, we ordered lunch from the cafeteria upstairs. Luckily, Coons’ food came with soup. Unfortunately, that soup had a massive chicken foot sitting in it. Yum!

Not the post-hiking food we had in mind.

After finally reaching Cuenca at 10pm (almost 24 hours after we woke up to hike Cotopaxi), we made our way to our final hostel in Ecuador. Bella Vista was owned and operated by a lovely Ecuadorian man who was more than happy to engage in conversation with Coons whenever possible. Finally back in a hostel with a kitchen, we hit the market the next day to take full advantage of it.

While there was a highly recommended national park nearby, we decided to take it easy to rest up for Patagonia and instead spent the next day exploring the town. Thirsty from a day of sightseeing, we stopped by Jodoco, a Belgium brewery near our hostel. We both went for the Funky Sour beer and –oooh boy — this was the best beer we’ve had on the entire trip!

Needless to say, this was not the only time we happened to find ourselves thirsty and nearby.

On our last day in Cuenca, we decided to spend the afternoon at the local zoo. Typically, we’re not huge fans of zoos, but this biopark lived up to its reputation. Specializing in rescuing animals native to Ecuador, the zoo prioritized giving animals the space and environments they needed to roam around. It seemed like the monkeys had miles of tracks to move around the park and it took us an hour or so into the park to even see the Andean Bears.

The dirt path wound up hills, through exhibits, and worked in educational areas explaining the dangers of fires, logging, and litter. It was a heartening message compared to the attitude we’ve seen in other parts of our travels.

It was time for one more night bus headed to Lima, Peru where we would spend a few days before our flight to Patagonia.

4 Feb 2019

Coons’ Take Over Colombia

by Ben & Kourt | posted in: South America, Travel | 1

Our adventure in Colombia began in Cartagena. After arriving at the dock on January 3rd from our epic boat trip, we headed to a cheap hostel near the port; it came with AC and a private bathroom that ensured we could still lock eyes at all times. We did our laundry, worked on our blog, enjoyed cooking our own meals in the hostel’s nice kitchen, and went shopping for some “acceptable” clothing (aka something that doesn’t look like it just came out of a backpack). Mama Coons and Maddi were set to arrive on the 6th, upgrading our accommodation status from rags to riches.

Feeling like Cinderella, we entered Hotel Lola right in the heart of the old city. After minute-long embraces from family, we celebrated with drinks at the rooftop bar/pool.

That night we went to the first of many delicious restaurants, La Cevicheria, coincidently Kourtney’s favorite food group (just ahead of tacos).

The next morning we had a jam-packed day planned. We enjoyed the best arepas (Colombia’s famous fried bread) stuffed with meat and cheese for breakfast in Lola’s garden courtyard with delicious coffee served in vintage tea kettles. Then we went on our first of many free city tours. Our tour guide was so passionate about his job and his city.

Morning walking tour of the old town with Ender.

He studied for three years in school in order to land this gig in which he brings people around the walled city, giving the history and culture, showing people the most lavish and large doors, and explaining what the door knockers mean (lions = soldiers and teachers, mermaids = sailors, and lizards = royalty). The streets were so colorful and busy all the time! Then we went to a much larger rooftop bar on top of the city walls to enjoy the sunset before our fancy dinner at Carmen to celebrate Mama Coons’ 60th birthday!

This was hands down the best meal we’ve had on our trip and we highly recommend you treating yourself to a meal here if you find yourself in Cartagena.

The next day we enjoyed more of the walled city with a walk to the castle on the hill, more classic architecture, more decorated streets, more pool time, and more fresh seafood. Next up Salento!

In Salento, we stayed at this adorable finca (Colombian farmhouse) outside the city. We enjoyed home-cooked meals in their formal dining room overlooking the mountains.

The next morning we set out to find the wax palm forest which looks very similar to the land of Dr. Seuss’ Truffula Trees.

The enormity and beauty of these trees was truly spectacular. They can grow up to 200 feet high and are the national tree of Colombia. Later that evening, we went into town square to look at the lights and enjoy a wonderful Venezuelan meal at Cumana.

The next day was all about COFFEE! We began our day at Don Eduardo’s Coffee Farm to learn about the extensive and involved process of producing some of the world’s best Arabica beans which are considered the most flavorful, although lower in caffeine.

Colombia is the third leading producer of these magical beans behind Brazil and Vietnam. Don let us sample six of his roasts (light, medium, and dark in his typico and catora) before brewing all of us a proper cup of the group favorite.

Coons actually tasted a spoonful of light roast from both brews! Don said it’s often the favorite among non-coffee-drinkers because it actually tastes like tea, but he did it — COONS DRANK COFFEE! The girls shopped around town and enjoyed another afternoon cafe at Jesus Miquel where they specialize in foam art. Kourtney was in heaven! We stopped at the food trucks to have trout; this is a must if you are in Salento — it’s everywhere. Then we went to play tejo (think corn hole with gunpowder!) and drink some cervezas, so Coons had a good day too in case you were worried.

A successful toss will light the gunpowder on fire!

The next morning before we left for Bogota, we had brunch at this funky back-packer place and took in a view of the mirador at the top of the hill.

We went for a short hike to a waterfall near our hotel guided by the two dogs on the farm. Coons played around with the camera that we’re slowly learning how to navigate — impressive, right?!

In Bogotá, we stayed in our second luxury hotel of the trip (spoiled much?), the W. This hotel has lush showers, a heated jacuzzi pool, and the most comfortable beds. They make up and take down your bed each day and change the floor mats in the elevators three times per day to say good morning/afternoon/evening. We took in two different free tours the city offers: one that covered the history and culture and one that covered all aspects of graffiti art. We learned how crucial Simon Bolivar was in establishing the city as the capital and more about Pablo Escobar and the havoc he caused all over Bogotá and Medellín. The graffiti tour gave us the vocabulary (is that a quick piece?); history (remember when Bieber was allowed to graffiti legally in Bogotá but local artists weren’t?); and perspective of some artists expressing themselves through art — this stuff speaks for itself!

Our tour guide, Mara, explaining the art.

We also visited two museums: the Gold Museum and the Fernando Botero Museum. The Museo del Oro had thousands of artifacts recovered when the Spanish came in search of gold but the locals wouldn’t reveal their secrets. So much gold.

The Museo Botero was a favorite because who doesn’t like looking at sculptures of big butts? All his work focuses on more of the over-sized images of fruits and/or humans, and his work is everywhere!

We took in many religious sites as well. We visited the Salt Cathedral where you can walk almost 600 feet underground to a place of worship past the 14 stages of the cross carved into the salt. We took a train up to Monserrate which sits over 10,000 feet above sea level and visited the Church del Carmen, a gorgeous display of Spanish colonial architecture. This blog is already long enough, so if you’re interested in seeing more pictures, we have plenty in the Colombia photo gallery.

One of the most memorable activities was our cooking class in Bogotá (thanks Maddi!). We visited the home of a mother-daughter duo to learn about the different fruits Colombia has to offer as well as learn how to make three different types of empanadas: fish, potato, and chicken.

Here we got an interesting perspective of what it’s like to live in Bogotá, running a business that depends on tourism in a country with a shady past. Despite all that, we shared stories and laughed. The food was so tasty, and the Coons family will never eat another empanada without lime or guac again!

On our last night together, we all went out to an eclectic steak house outside the city to enjoy dinner and some dancing. We are so appreciative that Maddi and Mama Coons came to visit and treat us to such a unique experience — one that we would never have enjoyed on our own! We love and miss you two already! We enjoyed Colombia’s cities so much that it prompted us to visit two more before we moved on to Ecuador.

Before we moved on from Bogotá, we had to get out of the city and into the country, hug some trees, and stretch our hiking legs. After some research, we discovered that the tallest waterfall in all of Colombia was an hour and a half from the city. Yahtzee! We checked Uber prices — illegal but $25 to get us out there — perfect. What was not so perfect was our driver’s poor navigation skills. Apparently, Waze straight up ignores the two easiest ways to get there, instead taking us up and over the mountain passes on some rough dirt roads. Our driver’s car had no business being on those roads, but we finally arrived after three hours (double the time it should have taken). Eager to be out of the car, we set out for the hike. After an hour, we saw something in the distance.

That can’t be the waterfall, can it? – Kourtney Lipka

La Chorrera is a multi-stage waterfall, 1,935 feet tall in total. Unfortunately for us, this just meant we were looking at a big wet wall. The waterfall was basically nonexistent. Good, great, grand!

A bit disheartened, we began the hike back to the entrance. Fortunately, one the way back there was a second waterfall — this time with water!

After the second waterfall, we headed back to the park entrance to face one last challenge — how do we get back? Thankfully a nice couple gave us a lift to the main road where we were able to flag down a bus. It felt good to be back to our backpacker ways.

We decided we had to go to Medellín, well, because, everyone said we had to! We took our first overnight bus and saw a healthy amount of what the bus station has to offer before we checked into our hostel (yes, we’re back to those). A short ride on the metro’s B line from the downtown, our neighborhood was residential and off the gringo trail. We ate quite a few “comida tipicas” — a basic meal consisting of soup, meat, potatoes, rice, and salad with a glass of juice (guanabana!) for breakfast, lunch, and dinner because it was so cheap.

Determined to see what the hype was about, we took another city tour, but there was one major difference; no one in Medellín says his name, the infamous drug lord that gave the city and country its bad reputation. In Medellín, the Paisas (people born and raised in the city) are among the proudest people in all of Colombia, and they choose to smile and keep their heads held high despite their devastating past. It’s not that we didn’t talk about him, but saying his name draws a lot of attention from locals who, lacking context from the English speaking tour, become quite heated. Our final stop in the tour took us to San Antonio Plaza (papaya level 5 = danger!) to view the most powerful image in the city. The statue on the left was the site of a bombing in 1995 during an outdoor concert, killing and injuring many Colombians whose names appear on the white plaque below. Botero donated the statue on the right, with the stipulation that the original statue remain as a reminder of violence inflicted by the drug trade.

The Birds of Peace – representing Columbia’s dark past and bright future.

The people of Colombia desperately want to end the war on drugs, but the economics aren’t working in their favor: demand fuels supply. Similar to coffee, the vast majority of Colombia’s best product is exported to Europe and the United States. It’s been almost 50 years since we declared a war on drugs, but cocaine exports continue to increase. All the “walls” in the world won’t do anything to solve the problem — without demand, there is no supply. Drugs are bad, mmkay!

The next day we decided to get out of the city and do a little hiking. We took the long way up to Parque Avrí through the barrios on the top of the hill before we entered remote farm land. The trail was nice and yielded a great view of the city. Then we decided to take the cable car down!

It was much different being in one of these wearing shorts and tank tops.

I know we mentioned that the Paisas are proud people, and you can tell when you look at the metro and cable cars — they are absolutely spotless and offer great views of the city! They also help people who live in poorer neighborhoods have access to jobs in the city. Later that day we went to El Poblado, the touristy section of Medellín, for some beer, wings, and football. Superbowl here we come!

On our last day in Medellín we decided — why not jump off a mountain? So we went paragliding over the city!

What an awesome experience! We were flying so high that the birds became curious and circled around us. We also got to see Pablo Escobar’s yellow house on the top of the hill, which ironically enough is now a drug rehab facility. Lucky for us, our guide’s decided that we would need to land in the city as the wind and sun were not strong enough to land where we started. We had planned on paying extra for this. Bonus!

After Medellín, we hopped on another night bus bound for Cali, Colombia. We had three days there and one purpose — learn how to dance salsa. We stayed at a hostel that provided free lessons, and we loved it so much that we signed up for a private lesson. Each night we also went to La Topa, a popular salsa club, where we practiced our new moves live and gawked at all of the beautiful people who move their hips and feet like they were born to dance!

Thanks to the private lesson we graduated beyond the four basic movements and have added some different spins and steps to our arsenal. Watch out South America!

To break up the 24-hour bus trip from Cali, Colombia to Quito, Ecuador, we visited one more church which quickly became our favorite — Santuario De Las Lajas in Ipiales. We got to this little town early in the morning before the street vendors lined the road, so we were really able to appreciate the quiet, majestic beauty of this church. This church was built into the side of the valley in the early 1900s and has some of the most beautiful architecture we have come across.

Although big cities are not usually our jam, we spent most of our 22 days in Colombia’s most happenin’ spots, and we can confidently say we really loved what Colombia has to offer. Two big things happened that are worth mentioning. The first is that we were robbed in Cali. WE’RE FINE! Nothing valuable was taken from us, and we were not hurt, but we were a little too lackadaisical and had our emergency money taken from our room which we thought was well hidden (wrongo!).

The second thing worth mentioning is the border crossing leaving Colombia into Ecuador. There was a separate Red Cross line for Venezuelans escaping their homeland crisis — standing in the long line was one woman obviously trying to flee with all of her belongings stuffed in a pillow case and a fleece blanket wrapped around herself and her child. On the other side were mandatory vaccination clinics set up for refugee children before entering Ecuador. We remember reading about the economic crisis from the comfort of our kitchen before the trip, but now we’re witnessing the devastating consequences firsthand.

We don’t know how to end this section after the aforementioned, so we will let Jimi Hendrix speak for us.

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”

15 Jan 2019

Central America Rewind

by Ben & Kourt | posted in: Central America, Travel | 1

It’s hard to believe, but our time in Central America has come to a close. We spent three months traveling over land and sea from Cancun, Mexico to Cartagena, Colombia. This is the longest either of us has gone without a full-time job since graduating college in 2009 and it’s provided us with an amazing opportunity to relax, explore, meet new people, and adventure. We wanted to write a recap blog of our first three months and decided to deviate a bit from our typical process. Normally, Kourtney writes the initial draft and Ben does goes through it and adds funny anecdotes and drops in pictures before the final edit. This time we’re each writing our own responses independently. We added some fun stats at the bottom as well. Hope you enjoy!

Favorite country?

B: Guatemala was my favorite for a variety of reasons. We finally got back into a comfortable climate after a few weeks spent on the Carribean – the highlands of Southern Guatemala offered warm days and crisp nights. We had the opportunity to take a week of Spanish classes, live in a homestay, and spend some time getting to know Quetzaltenango and establish a home-like rythym for a week. We climbed the highest peak in Central America with Tajumulco, saw some of the biggest ruins in the jungle at Tikal, explored caves and swam in natural pools at Semuc Champey, relaxed at Lake Atitlan, and experienced the raw power of Mother Nature with the lava of Volcan Fuego. For me, this encapsulated the best Central America had to offer.

K: Hands down Guatemala! We stayed for one month, and I think that allowed us to really relax the most. We saw a lot and moved quickly, but we also realized that we didn’t need to stick to the “2-3 weeks per country” rule, and we could stay if we were really enjoying some place. Here we stayed at some of my favorite hostels– Vista Verde, Casa Siebel, and Free Cerveza– that infinity pool overlooking the mountains, making “home-cooked” meals and watching sports in the common area, and those three course meals with two hour happy hour. So pretty, so fun, and so, so cheap. In Flores, we visited the Tikal ruins and walked through the jungle looking at monkeys and toucans. We enjoyed the sunshine and cooled off in tropical pools in Semuc Champey. Some of my favorite hikes were in Guatemala: Talhumulco, the highest peak in Central America, and Acatenango with Volcan Fuego erupting spouts of red lava all night! We took a cooking class in Antigua and walked around looking at all of the old churches. Here we also took one week of Spanish classes complete with a home-stay. Immersion language learning is difficult but so fun, and I love to learn so this was particularly exciting for me because I learned something new every single day!

Favorite hike?

B: This was a tough one for me. These hikes were so unique and each offered a new experience, but the most uniquest, and most new, was Volcán Acatenango. And honestly, it wasn’t even about that volcano. The hike up was nice enough, we got a nice sunset, but had a miserable hike to the summit at 4am in the wind and rain, saw no sunrise, and had to pack up and hike down in the wind and fog. But! Our campsite had a direct view of Volcán Fuego, just a few miles away. From the time we got up there around 4pm till our hands were too numb to be outside any longer, we had front row seats to the raw power of Mother Nature. We got to witness 3-5 eruptions every hour and once the sun went down, we could see the molten lava explode and flow down the mountain. It was mesmerizing. There’s a reason this was one of Guatemala’s most popular tourist desitantions and something undertaken by a lot of non-hikers. We’ll see a lot of amazing things in nature on this journey, but I have no doubts this will remain one of my top highlights.

K: I guess I’d have to say Cerro Chirripo. At this point, we were in great shape, but the three day trek was still challenging in a way that was exciting. I really appreciate a well-marked trail and water refilling stations, not carrying all of the water I think I’ll need for our entire excursion. I loved stopping for coffee. We met some really cool people at the base camp lodge with no heat and electricity for two hours a day. We got up at 2:30 in the morning and hiked under the stars in order to watch the most epic sunrise I think I’ve ever seen. We got to enjoy the view at Lake Ditkevi all to ourselves. I made a plan to hike those Crestones we saw at the lodge and I did! We played cards at the lodge, and I won TWO games! I was in such good spirits too because it was my birthday, and your mental state really does make a difference. Nothing cooler than going to bed at 7:45pm (sober) on your 32nd birthday!

Favorite activity?

B: Hiking the tallest peaks of the Central American countries. We didn’t set out to do this. We obviously knew that hiking and camping would play a big part of the trip, but with the hot & humid climate in Mexico and Belize, hiking was the last thing on our mind. I always knew we would hike Volcan Tajumulco in Guatemala since it was the tallest peak in Central America, but once we were in El Salvador and figuring out the route to Honduras, I realized we would go right by the tallest peaks of both El Salvador & Honduras. Within 5 seconds we decided we would try to hike them all. Of course, in my exictement, I had forgotten that Belize was a country, something Kourtney was quick to realize. Crap! After some research, we discovered that the tallest peak in Belize, Doyle’s Delight, was only 3,688 feet, required ~6 days of trekking through the jungle with armed guards, and cost $1,900 per person. Hard pass!

Ok – I think I got sidetracked. Why was hiking the tallest peaks my favorite activity? Besides the fact that I love lists and checking things off, this was my favorite because it got us the furthest off the “gringo trail” of Central America. Of the peaks we hiked, only one was truly on the gringo trail (Barú in Panama), with another one being fairly popular with hiking tourists (Chirripó in Costa Rica). To summit these, we had to take some very long, very full chicken busses and mini vans, find a spanish-speaking guide to safely guide us up a landmine infested mountain in Nicaragua, spend nights in the wilderness, and hitchhike for miles in El Salvador when we ran out of cash. These peaks aren’t on the “Top 10 Things to do in Country X” list and aren’t easily arranged through hostels. For the most part, we arranged our own transportation, food, and self-guided and camped our way to the summits. We had a blast along the way, saw some amazing sunrises, and is something I’ll always remember.

K: Learning to scuba dive has been incredible! I loved that my instructor gave me a briefing of skills we would practice in the water and then we just JUMPED right in! He made me feel comfortable and confident the whole time. And it turns out that I am really good at it! Aris complimented us on our air consumption and our bottom time. The second day he took us to 90 feet even though we were definitely not certified for that depth! We swam through these tiny caverns in places I was certain we might not fit. You really feel like a guest underwater; the colors and the marine life–everything is alive! It’s really indescribable and it leaves you speechless. I was crying tears of joy and awe when we finally reached the surface!

Thing we miss the most (excluding the obvious answers of family & friends)?

B: There’s a lot of things that could go here: our bed, bathroom mirrors I can see my face in without my quads burning, nonstick cooking pans, PBR, a meal that lasts less than 45 minutes, first chair on a pow day, legroom, paying with credit cards, etc. You get the idea. But the thing I miss the most? My car. More specifically, the ability to drive. The freedom to decide what time you want to leave and arrive at a destination with a reasonable time frame. The ability to go from point A to point B without 87 stops and three bus transfers. Whenever a person tells us how long a bus trip takes, we usually multiply by two. For a large portion of the population, these buses are their only means of transportation. That means they really act like the school buses they used to be – they stop constantly to pick up and drop off people. They rarely travel direct past the next moderate sized town, and forget about getting a time table. While it is nice to not have to worry about gas, parking, or car security, the freedom a car provides… sweeter than a cold PBR (yeah, those are probably #2 on my list).

While this is something I miss dearly, it has provided me with some first-hand insight into what it’s like to live without a car. To have to rely on public transportation to get to and from work, to grocery shop, to see a friend. Wow. You can lose hours out of your day on these things. Time that could be spent applying to new jobs, leaning a new skill, cooking a healthy meal, or spending time with loved ones. For us, this is an adventure. It may be tiring and uncomfortable at times, but we know the Subaru is waiting in Mom’s driveway and we can pick our life back up when we’re done. While our wallet is certainly glad we haven’t hired direct tourist shuttles everywhere, three months of public transit has certaintly been eye opening.

K: I miss access to sanitary restrooms. Is it too much to ask to sit down and wipe with the amount of TP I deem necessary? Often I have to pay to use facilities with no toilet seat, no toilet paper, and no flush. Seriously, what is my money paying for? If there is a person outside the bathroom, they might hand me a lump of paper with six single-ply pieces; you must never flush the paper as the sewer systems cannot handle anything that is not organic, so I always get a good look at what others before me were up to as I discard my TP in the nearby trash can. If the flusher is missing, then there are large barrels full of rain water and a bucket; you fill the buckets with water and dump them into the toilet until the toilet flushes. There is usually never soap and forget paper towels or those fancy electric hand dryers. I’ve had to learn to bring toilet paper in with me and I always have access to hand sanitizer. When we luck out on a hostel room with an attached restroom, sometimes the bedroom and bathroom are attached and separated by folded pieces of wood. This way Coons and I can still see each other when we’re doing our business—number one only! Honestly, sometimes it makes going in the woods sound more appealing.

Most uncomfortable experience?

B: Riding the local chicken buses, for a couple reasons. While these provided us with an very economical and convienent way to travel the region and gave us the chance to meet and interact with locals, I was never able to be comfortable on these for a few reasons. First and foremost, these ex-school busses were not built for someone of my size. I had a hard enough time fitting into these seats in high school. Compounding this was the fact that we always ended up with the seat with the wheel well and no matter what time we left, the busses were always packed. I’m talking three to a seat, people in the aisles, chickens in the back, luggage on the roof, packed. Speaking of luggage, this was another aspect that was always a bit sketchy. Since we decided to pack roughly 30% of our remaining belongings in our backpacks, they weren’t exactly “carry-on friendly”. For the most part, this meant that the bus driver assistant would haul the bag onto the roof and strap it on while we got inside. This left us praying that our bag would be there safe and sound (and dry!) when we got to our destination. We’ve heard and read plenty of horror stories, but thankfully we managed to always arrive with our bags intact.

The last component of my uncomfortability was the trash. Specifcially what happened to the trash. Anyone who has visited a third-world country is probably familiar with the scenes of trash littering the sides of roads and sidewalks. Due to our massive amounts of time spent on these busses, we got to witness firsthand where a lot of this comes from. Instead of hanging on to an empty soda bottle or chip bag, the locals simply open up the window and out it goes. It’s frustrating to read about the multitude of environmental issues we’re facing and watch countless plastic items end up on the ground of these beautiful countries. I know a lot of these people live below the poverty line and have more pressing items to deal with every day, but it doesn’t make it any easier to watch.

K: When you encounter a rotting canine carcass in the road during your bike ride, it is time to TURN AROUND! We were in Tulum, Mexico–first week–and we thought it would be a lovely idea to rent bikes for a day and explore cenotes nearby. We had a blast cruising around and visiting the first cenote complete with rope swings, diaper bobs, and shelter from the sun. We had some delicious nachos and cervezas, and they hit the spot before heading out to the next destination. The next two we wanted to see were a farther bike ride but close together. Coons had Google Maps ready to go and we set out. The road started out smooth and then became unkept and bumpy with large puddles everywhere, but who doesn’t love splashing through puddles? And then we saw it. The skeleton of what once was a cute little perro. As soon as the words, “Wait, was that a dead dog?” came out of my mouth, we rounded the corner to piles, nay MOUNDS, of trash blocking the road. The smell was unbearable. There were rail thin dogs climbing in the filth to find food and vultures squawking and lurking above. A man and his two sons approached us with this sneer and told us that we couldn’t pass because the rest of the road was filled with garbage. Mucho basura. It would take me hours to tell you all the things that ran through my mind, but I have never been so ready to bounce.

Our Central America travels by the numbers:

925

$132

Countries visited

Towns visited

Days spent traveling

Mountains hiked

Scuba dives

Bus rides

Nights camped

Doctor visits

Total books read

Stray perros counted by Kourtney to practice her Spanish

Average cost per day

8 Jan 2019

You’re Hot Then You’re Cold

by Ben & Kourt | posted in: Central America, Travel | 1

(lyric cred to Katy Perry)

A common theme during our time in Central America is the extreme climate swings from one location to the next as we bounce between what we love and new experiences. We went from the beaches of Costa Rica in Uvita which were #HOTAF to the mountain town of Boquete, Panama which certainly felt like the “windy city” of Central America. Before we get into Panama, we have to talk about the bus we took…

We got the most mint seats on our bus to Panama that it’s worth mentioning in the blog. As one of the more developed countries in Central America, Costa Rica had few chicken buses, instead relying on coach buses to transport people long distances. Some of these buses are even double deckers, with passengers on both levels and the driver on the bottom with all of the luggage. The best seats by far are the front-row seats on the top level which come complete with extended leg room and a large window, simulating the future of driver-less cruising. You guessed it; we’re the cool kids and we got those seats!

Front row, second level of the bus – doesn’t get any better than this!

It was one of those moments where we checked the tickets several times to see if we had the right seats — would Coons really have that much leg room?! — and we couldn’t relax until the bus was in motion. But we did it; we achieved ultimate seat satisfaction!

Okay, now back to Boquete — the weather was much more bearable. It was sunny but cool. You know when your wardrobe is confused because you’re wearing a long-sleeved shirt and shorts? It was lovely. In the night, we listened to the whipping sounds of the wind. We stayed in a hostel up on the hill with a beautiful view of the city. Coons got to use his first non-stick frying pan since we started our trip, and we took the opportunity to cook salmon on Christmas to celebrate.

Before the main attraction of Volcán Barú, we spent an afternoon hiking through the jungle to find the tres cascadas esondidas (three lost waterfalls).

Of course, the warm sunny day quickly turned to overcast once we got into the mountains with rain starting once we exited the taxi. Determined not to let the rainy weather get us down, we zipped up our rain jackets and spent the next couple hours hiking the fairly well-maintained trails with waterfalls every half hour or so.

Finally found the sun at the last waterfall

With the arrival of Christmas Eve, it was time for our final hike in Central America – Volcán Barú. While most people start hiking at 12am to arrive at the summit in time for sunrise and then hike back down, we decided to be different and sleep at the summit. Not only did we make use of the camping equipment that we’re lugging around, but with no pre-sunrise hike to the summit, Kourtney got to sleep in until 6am! The trail was easy to follow because the other hip way to see the summit involves not hiking the trail at all, but rather taking a Jeep 4×4 up to the top and back down. We agree you have to really suffer through the aggressive uphill for kilometers on end in order to earn this one (our budget agrees). Plus, from a vehicle, it’s harder to see these gorgeous trees

or this cute little Coati, who either wanted some love or to claw us to death — we almost got close enough to find out.

At this point, he started hissing and we got out of there

The clouds rolled in as we were setting up camp, so we missed the sunset, but we didn’t miss the howling wind at the top. Endlessly thankful for our gear, we remained cozy in our sleeping bag and tent. Sheltered by the towers at the summit, the next morning we enjoyed another gorgeous sunrise.

The unique thing about this summit is that it is the only place where on a clear day you can see both the Pacific and Caribbean ocean — we were lucky enough to see both!

From Boquete, we traveled across the country to Panama City. Despite the daytime heat, we knew we had to at least see the Panama Canal. The closest site to the city was the Miraflores Lock, the last piece of the canal before ships hit the Pacific.

Completed in 1914, the Canal and various sets of locks enable travel from the Caribbean to the Pacific, saving weeks of travel and millions of dollars for shipping companies worldwide. The Miraflores Lock allows gigantic cargo ships to pass through the Canal with only two feet of clearance on each side, costing an average of $125,000 in taxes and fees each way.

We watched in awe for an hour as five big-ass boats were pulled by locomotive “mules” down the last stretch of the Canal before they were free on the Pacific. Then we watched the oddest movie about the canal: more an amateur cinematic presentation from the viewpoint of children, spanning from the invasion of the Spanish to the liberation of Panama from Columbia, and the completion of the Canal in 1914. After, we visited the four-story museum which was much more informative. Coons marveled over the model dredger used to clear rock when the canal was just a pipe dream, and Kourtney enjoyed reading stories from the people who sacrificed their lives in order to make the canal a reality. Fun fact: when the USA had control of the canal, we only charged enough money to keep the operation running. It wasn’t until Panama garnered control that the canal became a money-making business. This was one of the coolest “touristy” things we did and an absolute must-see; the budget went out the window this day but it was so worth it!

With some extra cash in our pockets from family, we made reservations and got dressed up for a date night at a fancy restaurant. Kourtney put on make-up for the first time in months, and Coons wore pants and a shirt with sleeves despite the heat. Did we mention Panama City was stifling? At Caliope, we indulged more than usual with short ribs, duck, and a bottle of Chilean wine.

We’re still remembering the mouth-watering tastes of each course. Opting for liquid dessert, we visited a local brewery and a rooftop bar overlooking the city. What a lovely evening!

The next morning we set out for Puerto Lindo, Panama where we were to set sail for six days on the Wilson boat — destination Cartagena, Columbia! On this 46ft ship, we crammed in 12 strangers: 4 Germans, 2 Swiss, 3 Americans, Captain Erwin, Chef Danni, and one token Aussie.

We spent the first day anchored a short swim from a tropical island, lounging on the beach and snorkeling the nearby reef.

On New Year’s Eve, we visited the San Blas Islands where locals put on a huge BBQ/ dance party! Erwin told us he makes a point to shop locally in this matriarch society, and oftentimes families with a lot of sons will raise their youngest son as a woman to avoid the taxing dowry required of the man’s family when they marry. No one even blinks an eye. We ate freshly caught lobster and island-raised chicken, and we danced the night away!

To ring in 2019, we did something we have never done before and challenged ourselves. We spent 40 hours on the open ocean and the seas were ROUGH. It felt like you were on a bucking bronco as the ship rocked front and back and side to side. Sometimes it felt as if the ship might just tip right over on its side. We have never seen waves of this magnitude with swells reaching up to 10 feet. Captain Erwin kept us comfortable the whole time, and chef Danni made the most delicious food, always keeping presentation and taste in mind, even when his kitchen stove was swaying to and fro, and he was skating back and forth like a Spaniard Olympian. We’d like to personally thank the manufacturers of Dramamine as we were some of the few to not barf over the back of the boat!

You’d think that we would be happy to be away from each other after six days in such close quarters, but our seasickness quickly turned to lovesickness, and we met up several times for dinner and drinks with Team Wilson, enjoying local pies and pints, sitting and chatting on rooftop bars, and dancing salsa in the local dive bar until 3am!

We will really miss all of them, but that’s how it goes when you travel. We’ll always have our memories. Most of us are headed home, but Coons and Kourtney are saying, “Hello, South America!” On to continent numero dos!

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