That time I went to Colombia and accidentally got scuba certified*

*okay so it wasn't really by accident, but wasn't entirely planned either.

(preface: this is about 6 months later than it should have been posted.  First I was trying to source more underwater photos from other people, then there weren't any, then I procrastinated, and then I lost all of my photos when my flash drive got corrupted.  So it will be low on photos, (if I ever get those recovered I'll add them for posterity), but I figured I better post it anyway before I go diving again, and everyone wonders where the heck I learned to do that.)

September 5, 2015

We decided to fly from Cali to Santa Marta instead of taking the bus. It wasn't too much more, and saved us about 16 hours of bus travel. Our friend José, the owner of the hostel in Cali we stayed at (stay at Kingbird if you ever visit Cali!) drove is to the airport.

He also acted as a sherpa for our second packs as we got checked in and found an ATM.

Two big hugs later we were on our way. And found the plane had free entertainment in the seat back as well as device charging capabilities.

And we got juice boxes!
(Imagine a selfie on a plane with orange-pineapple juice boxes and funny faces)

We had 37 minutes to Bogota, a couple hour layover and an hour to Santa Marta. We checked into a well known hostel which was pure party. The rooftop terrace had hammocks and beds to lounge on, and there was a pool.

The food was also fantastic and reasonably priced, so much so that we went back for dinner there even after we moved to a different (quieter) hotel for the rest of the nights.

We had a 15 min bus ride to Taganga where the dive shops were all located. And there I learned to dive.

Shay has been diving for a while, so it was for sure on her South America to-do list and I was game to try.

Boat out to our first dive site

I started just doing the small course that would allow me to dive with them for up to 3 days. A small pool session with my instructor Petra, and I had enough skills to breathe, clear my mask, recover and clear my regulator should I lose it from my mouth underwater, and go up and go down safely. Basically enough to not die.

Flooding my mask and clearing it. Not fun because then you have saltwater to blink out of your eyes too.

Regulator recovery after taking it out of your mouth.

Shay was an old pro

We had two other people in our dive group that were getting PADI certified, so they had open water exercises to complete, basically the pool session exercises but in open salt water. We did those with them because why not, and then the rest of our tanks to enjoy being underwater.

All good!

During our surface stop on the beach before the second dive I changed my mind and decided to get the full PADI certification. It's cheaper than in the States, you get to take it in the Caribbean instead of freezing in the Pacific, and the certification doesn't expire.  It seemed like a good investment.

Snacks on the beach during the surface interval

Back at the dive center Petra talked to her boss to okay switching me over and sticking me on the fast track to get caught up with the others who were a day ahead of me. It was approved and I was there until 7pm doing more pool exercises and starting on the 3.5 hours of instructional videos and associated readings and quizzes. I fell asleep doing homework that night.

Next day was 2 more dives with underwater exercises including buoyancy practice, navigation, and taking my mask all the way off underwater, getting it back on and clearing it, and emergency ascents in the case of running out of air.

Once those were done we just had a fun dive for the rest of our tanks.

Goofball

Dive 2 was just a fun dive, and we saw a giant turtle.  He was just chilling on the bottom blinking at me. I finished the training videos after getting back that day, and the readings and quizzes that night. Fell asleep studying again.

Day 3 we had pure fun dives with Petra. Controlling my buoyancy got easier with every dive which made them even more fun. We saw a lionfish, giant eel peering from between rocks, beautiful big parrot fish, angel fish, and trigger fish. Some big schools of fish swam past and through us, and that's fun, let me tell you. We also saw an octopus as we ascended from our first dive.

Cue underwater wildlife montage

Butterfly fish are my favorites

After getting back I took my final written test, and got 100% on it.  I had been aiming for that, because it meant I got our last day of diving for free! A reward like that was rather good motivation for studying.

So now I have my Open Water Diver PADI certification and have a whole underwater world (up to 18m depth) open to me. Its an exciting prospect.

And since I'm finally writing this 6 months late, I can tell you that my PADI card has been sent to me with my Christmas care package, and I plan to go get my Advanced Open Water cert in Honduras in April, when I have the best chance to dive with migrating whale sharks.  And maybe I'll go in Panama before that.  Who knows. (Spoiler, I do!)

El Valle de Anton- here there be square trees

February 19-21, 2016

El Valle is in a volcano.

Don't worry, its an extinct volcano.

The little town is in the 6km caldera of El Valle Volcano which last blew about 300,000 years ago. Now its full of trees and scrub and is hard to tell you're in a big hole, except for the fact that there's big hills on all sides of town. This means there's lots of high places to hike to which I seem to have a propensity for doing. (Other examples here,  here, and here)

So I caught a bus from Panama, and after finding some lunch and reading for a spell, I took a good look at the list of hikes at the front desk. The hike to Cerro Cariguana said leaving around 4:30 gave a good sunset view, and it was 4:20. Done. One of the gals at the desk, Gina, was just finishing her shift and volunteered to come with me.

So off we went. Short walk through town, then a section on paved road, then steeper unpaved and rather rocky road.

Then we turned into the woods, went through some pines and out onto grassy hillside.

Here it got interesting, as the wind was strong enough to knock us both off balance. We had to fight for each step forward towards the hilltop and the view.

And it was worth it. The whole valley was laid out before us.

Notice I don't have my glasses on. That's because the wind was going to blow them off my face. Literally.

We (carefully) walked the ridge to the final hill. I'm pleased to report neither of us got pushed off the edge by a gust.

The sun was starting to go down and was making everything yellow and pretty.

The walk down with wind at our backs was equally interesting, and we both were forced to run a couple steps more than once. I'm not the best at approximation, but having stuck my hand out car windows for most my life, I estimate gusts of up to 50mph. A couple times I just plunked my butt down and waited for the gust to die so I didn't get knocked over.

We got a lift back down into town from another group that arrived at the top just after us. They had driven the roads. So we loaded into their little dune buggy car, and had a bumpy bumpy drive down.

This was the clearest picture I could get with the bumps.

The thing had some of the best suspension ever though, it was bumpy but not the sudden jolts that make your butt hate you.

We arrived back to the hostel just as sprinkles started, which I found quite satisfactory.

For my day 2 adventure I chose Cerro Gaital, the lookout on the other side of town. There are a bunch of waterfall hikes, but they said water was really low due to the dry season, so I decided to save those entrance fees for something more impressive later.

It started with 2 hours walking uphill to the trail head. I could have caught a bus, but I decided I could use the excersize. It took me through jungle woods, then up on a little mesa area that held chicken farms, the largest supplier in Panama. It was a pretty straightforward walk, though I checked in with locals regularly just to make sure. No point missing turnoffs.

This sign was all the way down in town.  It doesnt tell you that theres still 2 hours of walking to go. And it really  cracked me up...

Because the guy has a HUGE nose!

At the start of the path I had to talk with the ranger for a bit and convince him I didn't want a guide. He tried to tell me to come back tomorrow so he could guide me, which after my 2 hour uphill battle I was having none of. Eventually he let me by.

The hike to the lookout was easy and only about a half hour. The view was rewarding, and I could see where Gina and I had been the day before. I had a nice little lunch of peanut butter and bread, and a little pack of pringles I indulged in.

Little lookout platform where lunch happened. I tested steps and boards before trusting them with my full weight.

There was another hour long trail that went to an even higher point, but reviews said it was muddy and not well marked. The 10 steps I took on the path already involved a good quantity of mud, which decided me. I had my view, and didn't feel like more adventure.

And it was a lovely view indeed.

On the walk back down I noticed a line of leaf cutter ants hauling their leaves away. They are mighty little guys, the leaves were way bigger than they were.

At the bottom I accepted a ride from the ranger guy back to town. This cut a couple hours off my travel time, but meant 20 minutes of explaining why I wasn't terrified to travel alone, why I don't have a significant other, and listening to his unsolicited relationship advice which involved telling me that physical violence shouldn't be a part of it. (Well duh..) But I got home fast.

I wanted to make carbonara for dinner since I found a small affordable pack of bacon at the store, but volcano minimarts don't have parmesan. I settled for veggies and bacon with noodles which was good anyway.

My last morning I went to the arboles cuadrados, or square trees. Reviews said you had to use your imagination a bit but the walk was pretty, so I wasn't expecting much. 40 minutes to the hotel they're behind, 10 up into the woods, and there I was pleasantly surprised.

The walk was nice, as promised.

The tree clearing was lovely.

And the trees were square!

This one. Its this one.

The pictures don't show it too well, especially with dappled light, but there were four definite, pretty straight sides to the trees, especially at the base.

I think they grow up to be like the big one in the clearing photo with viney roots coming off of it, but when they're small they are square. The internet says the rings inside are square too. I forgot my chainsaw to confirm, so I choose to believe its fact.

I did the path backwards (due to not asking any directions to avoid the entrance fee) so I found this bridge after the trees, and all the signs pointed backwards.

It was altogether a satisfying morning. Some lunch, and I was off to my next stop, Chitre. I leave you with fun graffiti.

He looks so scared...

On the wall in the hostel

The Panama Canal - an engineering marvel

February 18, 2016

First off, let me say. If anyone needing a project idea for a history, Spanish, economics, engineeing, political science, or cultural studies class comes to you for help, tell them Panama. Then have yourself a drink because you just won the advice game.

I had no idea the history of the canal or the railroad before it, or that Panama played a big part in the gold rush. I'm a little sad I don't have any classes like that to write papers for because I think the research would be fascinating. I don't have the motivation to just do it on my own though, before you suggest it. Okay, on to the main event.

The Panama Canal.  Known worldwide as the way to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific without going around the southern tip of the continent.  It is only 77km long, and takes boats through Gatun Lake which is 85 feet above sea level.  3 sets of locks (Miraflores, Pedro Miguel, Gatun, Pacific to Atlantic) raise and lower the ships.  I visited Miraflores which is just 20 mins by bus outside of Panama City.

I made sure to get to the canal earlyish in the morning since all the guide books said then, and in the late afternoon, were when to see big ships going through. (This meant one abandoned attempt the day before when I couldn't figure out buses fast enough)

I got there at 10:00, just in time for a showing of the hourly film about the canal. Exiting from that, a big ship was just getting ready to go through the locks.

As one old guy near me said, it was about as fun as watching paint dry. Nothing went fast. But everything that went into it was incredible. (PS. this post is going to be chock full of facts. But really interesting ones! Promise!)

The 42 sets of lock gates along the 77 km of the canal are each 20m wide, 2m deep, and 14-25m tall depending on their location. (Much bigger than the 22m wide and 9m deep canal the French first planned for.) The first gates at Miraflores Lock on the Pacific side are the tallest to accommodate the tidal fluxes. And they're all the original gates from 1914. The opening and closing was changed from 40HP motors to hydraulic, but the doors are original which is kind of incredible.

Then there's the fact that ships are built to Panama canal sizes. The Panamax ship is the largest that goes through, leaving just a foot of clearance on either side. They measure 160ft long and 100ft wide. The Panama Canal is the only canal worldwide where the ships captain gives up control of his ship. Canal captains go to nautical school especially to navigate the canal. Ships are also guided by 4-8 electric 'mules' which are the locomotives on either side. They have steel cables attached to keep the ship away from the sides of the lock.

The locks are all gravity run, so to bump the boat up a level to the next chamber, that chamber drained and filled the lower lock. So they essentially met in the middle. Then the mules and tug boats accompanying the big one got it through the gate, to bump up once more to the level of the next locks.

I thought it was fun watching the workers on the boat having as much fun going through as us watching them.

One more boat went after, and that was all for the morning dockett. I'm not positive, but I imagine morning goes Pacific to Caribbean and afternoon brings ships the other way. The canal does operate 24 hours a day, until 1963 it only operated 12.

Tugs following the first boat in

For a hefty fee, you yourself can foray into the canal 

Average time is 8-10 hours to get through the canal, the fastest time was 2 hours and some change by a US military hydrofoil boat. Boats pay depending on size ant type of ship. Cruise ships have a toll per bed and container ships per container. On average it costs $30,000-40,000 for the passage. The most paid was $375,000 by a French cruise ship, and the least was Richard Halliburton who paid $0.36 in 1928 to swim through. He paid for 150 lbs of weight.

Canal selfie! I was there!

After the last ship, I checked out the museum in the visitors center which was magnificently done. The signs were clear and interesting, there were artifacts from construction, diagrams of the canal, and scale models of a bunch of ships, tugs, and dredge barges. Lots about the expansion project started in 2007 too.

Another canal selfie

I really enjoyed the museum, and the canal experience. I thought the interpretive aspect of it was top notch.

Interactive exhibit where you get to be the pilot. Three TV screens provided a wrap-around cockpit.

Model of the lock gates. Guy in the background for scale.

Models of the dredge ships (barges?) That are working on the expansion project.

More facts I haven't squeezed in yet:

-In 1880 the French lost 20,000 workers in 5 years to yellow fever and malaria, though they didn't know yet what it was. The US lost about 5,000 during their successful attempt.

-45,000 workers helped build the canal, the majority from the West Indies.

-It took 7 years for the US to get through the Culebra Cut, where the canal goes through the mountain range. More than 153 million m3 were excavated, the material could have built 63 Giza size pyramids.

And to round out the day, we passed by the Panama railway on the way home.

Verdict: I didn't like Panama City all that much, but I highly recommend seeing the canal.