Zoológico!

October 10, 2015

Rob and I went to the zoo in Cali.  He's a guy from England staying at the hostel too. (If we're being correct here, he's a bloke from England I guess)

We took this on the way out actually so that's why the lighting is weird

Here's some of our fabulous day in pictoral form.  Hopefully that's a word because I want to use it there.

Flamingos were the first thing we saw on the way in

This is a barranqero.  It's got the coolest tail, and was beautiful blue, both on it's tail and light blue on it's head.  Google it for some better photos.  Wait nevermind.  Just click here

The top bird sounded like a squeaky toy and vibrated when it made noise.  The bottom on has a mohawk.  Enough said.

This monkey laid down and used it's tail for a pillow about 3 seconds later. Very cute.

This one was fascinated by what was in my bag, so I showed him. Rob got a photo

Turtle riding a crocodile.  Yup.

And then I rode a turtle.

Meerkats! 

Rob became a beautiful butterfly along the way

They're like upside down bats!  Wait...

They had some beautiful tigers that were pretty active when we were there.

We decided these monkeys were like an 80s rock band with their hair

Lemurs, which never stopped hopping all around their island.

I got one mid-flight!

I've seen capybaras for real now.  They were so big!

Giant anteater for the first time too.

Also I became a turtle for the day.  Did I get a proper turtle face?

And that's your reward for getting all the way to the end.  I'm headed tomorrow to a coffee farm to work for a bit, so more adventures coming soon!

Cali the second time around

September 27-October 14, 2015

After a couple of days planning and chilling in Bogota, I decided to brave the weather and come on back here to Cali.  For one, a couple weeks away makes you forget how terrible the weather really was, and two, there was the Festival Mundial de Salsa (International Salsa Festival) happening.

After being here for a week (two actually at time of posting), I'm pleased to say the weather doesn't suck so much.  I'm not sure if it's actually cooler (I think maybe) with more breeze, or if I was just better mentally prepared this time, but I've handled it much better.

The festival started off with 4 days of free salsa lessons and talks during the day with various people on various topics.  I tried going to those a couple times, to hear about salsa congresses world-wide, and the beginnings of the Cali festival.  I understood just about nothing.

The salsa lessons worked much better.  I learned some caleño salsa, had some short lessons in pachanga (which is strange and I'm not very good at it) cha-cha, and rumba.

This was the cha-cha routine I learned, it's got some pachanga in the middle.  (The step to the sides after the first turn around.)

This was one of the salsa routines I got to learn in the Salsa en Línea level 3.  I was lucky enough to have my dance partner be one of the other instructors who was also taking the class.  Needless to say, he knew what he was doing as a lead.

Also an hour of rueda de casino (casino wheel) which is the square dancing of salsa.  There's a circle of pairs, and a caller saying which steps to do.  These steps incude passing the lady off, so everyone is switching partners while dancing.  Since I was in a beginner lesson, it was a bit of a mess, to put it politely.  Some people knew salsa, and just had to learn the specific steps, others couldn't really dance in the first place and were kind of hopeless.  Ladies were ending up with no partners when someone messed up.  But it was fun.

It was also fun surprising people with the fact that the gringa could actually dance.  One old guy said I was 'like a basket of beer'  which my dance partner informed bewildered me, is an expression for being a surprise.  Maybe because beer doesn't ususally come in baskets?  I'm not sure.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday had the semis and finals of the competitions, which had 11 different categories for pairs and teams in different salsa styles.  Friay night we went with everyone in the hostel, and between the 6 of us represented 5 countries and 3 continents.  Colombia, USA, Germany, Argentina, and England.

Left to right in a circle around me: Marcella, Juan Pablo, Jose, Karlotta, and Rob

The performances were amazing, and the costumes bedazzled.  I still can't handle the pants that are entirely sequins and the lime green shoes, and some of the gals were NOT wearing what I'd call a dress, but it was exciting anyway.

This performance was especially exciting because there were tear-away pants in the middle of it.

For the finals, when we arrived we found a long line and shut doors.  They were saying the stadium was full, and weren't letting more people in.  So we sat listening to the live band in the expo area, had a drink, and danced ourselves.

This awesome old guy was dancing.  I just had to get him on film, he's got so much spunk.

For this night we had 12 people representing Colombia, Argentina, the UK, New Zealand, Washington, California, and Switzerland.  It's pretty cool all the new people you meet staying at backpacking hostels.

We made it inside for the concert by Groupo Niche (read this in a 14 year old girl voice) who are only the *biggest* salsa group in Colombia.  It was a fantastic show, and the crowd was full on concerting, standing and dancing and yelling and horns and cowbells were present too.  It was a fun end to the whole shebang.

For one of the songs they turned off all the lights and everyone had their cell phone lights on.  Lighters at a rock concert for the digital age, but it's a really cool effect.

This was the big finale when all the performers came up on stage.

Other exciting Cali activities included hiking up to Last Tres Cruces, the three crosses up on the top of a hill next to the city.  I think it's some sort of South American law that you have to have something on top of a hill in every city.  We left before 8 from the hostel, and had about an hour hike.  It wasn't too hot yet, so it wasn't too bad.  Still lots of sweat at the top.  Also a great view.

This was the first road we had to go up.

This was the trail

Great views along the way

Sweaty and successful at the top

On the way down we took this photo:

Which led to the worst YMCA attempt in history

I tried another typical treat of Cali after salsa lessons one night when we all went out for chulado.

It's kind of a fruit filled slushie.  Fruit flavored ice slushie at the bottom, and a bunch of differnt fruit types in chunks on top, all of that with sweetened condensed milk poured over it.  Very sweet and delicious.  Also I was cold for the first time in Cali.

One day we headed out of town maybe 30 minutes and hung out at a river for a bit.  Rio Pinchinde

A short walk up the river and we made it to a big flat rock to sit on, and a deep pool (like almost 5 feet at the deepest!) to go swimming in.

It wasn't exactly what I'd call warm.  In fact I'd probably call it cold.  You know what?  I think I did.  Loudly and high pitched.  Okay.  It wasn't terrible after you'd been in for 5 minutes and numbed a little, but it was never comfortable feeling.

We stopped by the Rey Cristo statue on the way back to town.  Its not Rio but it also had a good view.  And good arepas up at the top.

Photo showing the arepa.  Actually by accident, but it works in this case.

So Cali #2 was a success, and I've got some more friends from around the world now.

Strange things that you get used to really quick while traveling in South America

As a follow up to my 10 Things We Take for Granted post (which you can read here) I have for your enjoyment:

15 Kinda Weird Things You Get Used to Very Quick in South America

1. Stealing whatever toilet paper is left on the roll when departing a hostel. You never know if the next place you go to the bathroom will have any or not.
  a. Same goes for unused restaurant napkins.

2. People selling random things on the streets, from socks and sweaters, to phone chargers and headphones to the little wire baskets you put in the kitchen sink drain to catch the crud.

3. Completely ignoring traffic lights while walking. It only matters if there is a car coming or not, not what the little green blinky man says.

4. Broken glass lining the tops of cement walls. It's so much more effective looking than barbed wire.

5. Completely hair-brained driving in the crazy traffic, such as taking a right turn from the far left lane during rush hour in front of a bus. I've seen it happen.

6. People walking into restaurants and starting to sing/play their guitar/panpipes in hopes of a tip from everyone eating.  Same goes for bus riding entertainment.  Singers, one guy telling funny stories, balloon animals from one gal, and the most energetic rendition of La Bamba from two guys with dreads and a guitar at about 11:30 pm on night.

7. People performing in the crosswalk in front of stopped cars at a red light also hoping for tips. I've seen jugglers, fire breathers, flag dancing, a mime... Also a guy juggling clubs while going in circles standing on the seat and handlebars of his bicycle.  That was a new one.

8. (This one is a little tougher to get used to) Kids selling chocolates and gum (chicles) on the streets and buses late at night. Children as young as 7 or 8 will ride the Trole back and forth at 9pm with a box full of candies to sell trying to earn a little money.

9. Dogs on the roofs of houses.

10. Hot soup and a full rice and chicken and salad meal served for breakfast.

11. Motorcycles carrying more than 2 people. I think a family of 5 might be the most I've seen so far.
   a. Same goes for bicycles. 3 riders might be the record for that.

12. Motorcycles parked inside of houses, stores, and restaurants.

13. It being acceptable for  stores, restaurants, random houses, etc. blasting music at any hour of the day or night. In Sua we had music going at 9am heard 3 lots away. In Santa Marta a grocery store had discoteca-worthy music blasting at 7am when we walked to the bus to go diving. Regular houses with the occupants sitting in chairs outside on the sidewalk still have music pumping at 10pm. Its actually kinda fun.

14. Paying to use the bathroom. In all 3 countries, public restrooms charge about 15 cents (or their currency equivalent) to go in, and you receive toilet paper when you pay. Unless you're the jerk bus station in Bogota, where it's more expensive and doesn't include the cost of paper.  That you get in a little box from a tampon dispenser looking machine that's on the wall.

15. Things like milk, water, and yogurt being sold in plastic bags.  Fridges have little places in the doors to keep the bags so they don't fall over.  You just cut a hole in the corner and pour until its gone.

And honorary #16 though it's so commonplace now we don't even think about it:
Toilet paper doesn't go in the toilet. It goes in the small trash can next to every toilet. After about 2 days traveling it doesn't seem weird anymore, so it almost didn't occur to me to stick it on this list.

Stay tuned for a list of things that are way better in South America than at home.

And since blogs are better with pictures, here's some cute graffiti from Cali

Throwing Rocks at Gunpowder, aka: Tejo

September 18, 2015

When Taryn and I visited Salento, of course I googled things and read through Lonely Planet to ensure we didn't miss anything exciting.

One thing they both had in common was Tejo. And basically all either one said was 'It's throwing rocks at gunpowder, go try it'

So we did. And it was.

It's something akin to horseshoes. There is a slanted wooden target maybe 2.5 feet square, filled with clay. In the center, squished in the clay is a metal ring, maybe 6in diameter. (I forgot my measuring tape that night so all measurements are approximate) you stand back, and throw flat, couple-pound (also forgot my scale) palm sized round disc rocks at the target, trying to get the rock to stick the clay. Ideally in the center of the ring.

But wait, there's more.

Around the ring are 4 little paper triangles filled with gunpowder. Hit one of those suckers just right and they explode.

Throwing rocks at gunpowder.

We weren't very good at it. The old cowboy looking Colombian running the place gave us a rundown on the scoring system, then of course put us right in front of the group of young guys having a drink.

I think they were laughing internally.

We improved some with practice, and a couple of them tried to give pointers. Due to language barriers and accents this was met with a limited amount of success.

We did start hitting and sticking the target though.

The first time we got both rocks to stick at the same time

Taryn got a solid bulls eye.

We exploded maybe 4 triangles all together. I jumped and yelped at each one.

My first exploded paper!

The place was filled with the smell of gunpowder.  It was so nice. Reminded me of rockets and fireworks.

And we had a marvelous time. For a whopping ~$3 we had a drink and played 3 rounds. Then our arms started to get tired. Because throwing rocks is kind of tiring.

We were throwing maybe 15 feet at the targets. There were other Colombians there playing on the big kid pitch which meant more like 40 feet.

And they were hitting the target. *head shake*

Villa de Leyva

September 20-22, 2015

Our second destination for Adventure Week after Valle de Cocora was Villa de Leyva.

It was a cute, whitewashed, colonial town under a big sky. Especially at night when the cool wind blew off the hills, it reminded me of how Eastern Washington feels.

We spent the first day walking around town, window shopping and trying not to turn an ankle in the street. Cute colonial town had cute colonial streets of mostly flat rocks cemented mostly at the same height. It was dangerous walking.

That night there happened to be a charranguera performance in the main square.  There were a bunch of groups playing charranguera music, which I had never heard before, but consists of 3 stringed instruments, one metal twangy sounding, and a scraper.  One group sang their last song about how onions are the best, but some people don't like them.  The last group had matching, color coordinated pants, which I enjoyed. Mr. Yellow pants with the scrapy instrument got really into it and was fun to watch.

Video of one of the songs.  Hopefully sound quality is okay.

This video shows the kind of dancing done to this music.  And a puppy.

Day two we logged about 12 miles. We had breakfast and headed out of town towards El Fósil. It was a lovely walk along the road through red hills and scrubby plants. We arrived at the museum where they have a kronosaur fossil amidst others.

Unfortunately when we arrived at the ostrich farm we found it closed. I really wanted an ostritch selfie to add to the llama selfie and giant rodent selfie.

We did go to Pozos Azules, lovely blue pools that used to be irrigation but the farmer found the minerals responsible for the lovely blue color were not so bueno for crops.

We slept well that night.

Day 3 we went to Ràquira, 45 minutes away. It was full of arts and crafts and pottery. Lots of terra cotta, lots of painted pieces.

The random Sid the Sloth figurines might have been my favorites

And of course they have everything Minion there

I forgot my hat on top of Minnie Mouse while I took a picture with a duck. I realized it back in Villa de Leyva and since its my favorite hat and I get sentimental, I went all the way back to get it and Taryn got a bit more shopping time in Villa de Leyva.

What is this, a duck? Obvioulsy made by someone who had only heard of one by rough description.

Then we headed back to Bogota for the night before I had to say adios to her.  It was a lovely beautiful week of adventure.

Last night drinks at Bogota Beer Company.  They had real tasting beer!