Finding a Caribbean jewel

After having an amazing time with Roozbeh´s dad and Colombian girlfriend, Margarita. We were intent on finding some extreme adventure and getting to some place rugged as soon as possible. We needed help waking up from the serious comatose state we were in, we had spent too much time eating good food and getting way too pampered by Roozbeh´s Dad. Living in the lap of luxury kills your travel drive and makes you soft.

So we hit the road and headed to a little unknown slice of heaven called Capurgana.

Capurgana is a little town right on the border of

Panama. It is located on a little isthmus so beautiful and tranquil you cannot even imagine. It can only be reached by boat, which makes for a journey of historic proportions. It took us 4 bus rides on gravel and rocky roads (I felt like my insides were going to come out from all the bumping and shaking), a night in a local town called Turbo (that pretty much says it all) and then a 3 hour boat ride the following morning.

It was worth every torturous minute. Capurgana and the town right next to it, Sapzurro, are little Carribean dreams. There are no cars, only horse and cart, the electricity goes off by about 8 pm and they have only two computers for the whole town. The main pass times are walking around the town barefoot and eating sugar cane candy and coconut ice cream. They eat bananas and fish practically every meal with rice and coconut fish soup. It is very reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. It feels like you have been trapped in a time warp.

In Capurgana there is only one tiny school house. Grades first through fifth go in the morning and sixth grade through twelfth go in the afternoon. Hence all day you are running into groups of school kids drinking soda and screaming ¨hello!¨ and then running away laughing. There are kids everywhere, they are seriously coming out of the wood work. Every woman you see is holding at least one beautiful baby under her arm while she is making food or sweeping.

Capurgana is not one of the places on every backpacker's lips in Colombia. In fact it is not a popular backpacker's hang out at all. There are no ATMs so you have to bring all the cash you are gonna need with you, this seems to put most people off the idea of heading out that way. Sleeping through a noisy night in Turbo near an open sewer and a drunken pool hall, is also not very appealing to most travelers. Most people head east, opting to go to other places that can be more easily reached and are not quite so isolated like Santa Marta or Taganga; I could not be more thankful to them. I am so happy there are not a bunch of backpackers in Capurgana demanding wifi and sandwiches. This is a place where you live and eat like a local because you have no other choice.

Capurgana is surrounded by the thick Darien jungle, which is home to many beautiful hidden spots reached only by a sweaty jungle trek. A number of years ago this region was a real hot spot for the drug trade but now it is safe and highly patrolled by young and friendly members of the Colombian army who will give you crappy directions, but are trying to be helpful nonetheless.

This wild spot is one of the first places I've seen in South America that has not been already over-run with tourism. The people in Capurgana are really relaxed and go about their normal lives not paying much attention to you; it was wonderful. Obviously I did not blend in very well, but they really let me be part of the scenery. No one touts or tries to sell you over-priced, cheesy tours. If you need information about a hike or a hidden beach they will usually just point you in the right direction and then go back to their daily routine of doing pretty much nothing. The best part about staying here is the fact that you can do a three-hour hike to the border of Colombia and Panama and hang out for the day on a beautiful Panamanian beach called La Miel. La Miel was gorgeous and it felt really crazy crossing the border on foot with just your passport and a bathing suit.

When we had to leave I was absolutely heart broken. I felt like I had been let into a bizarre little Latin American Garden of Eden, and then God had abruptly kicked me out. But I know this is one of the places I will be back to visit as soon as possible. My mind is also very much at ease, because when I do get a chance to go back, I know this will be one of the few spots on this planet, that will look, and feel, exactly the same as when I left.

Descansa, estas en Colombia! (Relax, you are in Colombia!)

I was almost too relaxed to write this blog. Colombia has a depressing history of violence and political upheaval, but walking around the charming city of Cartagena; I feel completely at ease. The Carribbean coast is a land of fairy tales. Beautiful people, beaches, architecture, and weather.
It amazes me how much the weather and my enviroment can affect my mood. The Carribean sea has insane power over humans, it makes life feel like a dream, a dream you do not want to wake up from.

Travelling all over South America has introduced me to a lot of different climates, and terrains which are all beautiful in their own right; somehow I always find myself happier and more at ease by the sea.

Here on the Carribbean coast I feel like a less scruffy, less rum soaked, less talented, Hemmingway. I want to get a boat, and sail around, like a salty old sea captain. I can understand why the Carribbean attracts both the masses and the geniuses. It is paradise here.

This is the South American vibe I was searching for! Here on the northern coast of Colombia I am right in the middle of a serious cultural mixing pot. It is Latin, and Carribbean, and African, and even West Indian. It is a little bit of everything rolled into one spicy setting. Salsa music and afro-music is bumping out of every store front and car window. Here in Colombia tropical fruit and fish are the staples, and the sun burns hotter than I even thought possible. The air truly smells of coconut, and fried plantains.
I only just arrived, and I am already planning my trip back.

A slashing, some whales, banana cake and a ¨coup.¨

Ecuador started out sweetly and lured us in like an apple pie cooling on the windowsill.
Little did we know that beneath that flakey crust there were some sinister plans in the works.
Ecuador provided us with the most turbulent four weeks of travel we´ve had yet.

On the local bus to Puerto Lopez we were the unfortunate victims of a bag slashing incident. My friend Jenny (who was spending her ten-day vacation here with us in Ecuador) and I were holding our bags on our laps and we had sadly placed Rooz´s bag on the floor. We were watching his bag like hawks and even had our feet through the straps of the back pack. In the end we were no match for these professional thieves. It is a career for them, stealing from tourists pays the bills and so they are crafty beyond belief.

Ten hours into the torturously long twelve-hour bus ride, Rooz took his bag back from us and saw that his bag had been slashed with a razor at the seam and his had been taken. He was depressed about the camera but also about all his beautiful photos of South America that had been lost as well.

We were all in shock. The bus ride had been unusually hectic with a ton of vendors and beggars with bullet wounds coming on and off the bus at a steady rate. Every seat on the bus had been full and the aisle was filled with women and children getting on and off at different stops along the way. Somewhere along the way, amidst all this chaos, poor Roozbeh had lost his most prized possesion. The camera was gone and all we could do was hold back the tears and go over the details of the trip over and over again trying to determine when it happened. We have no idea how someone got under the seat and slashed the bag. At the time we had felt comforted by the fact that only women and children were sitting near us, but we have come to the realization that most likely a child was put under the seat to slash the bag.

We arrived in Puerto Lopez full of regret and extremely disheartened. But we decided not to let this robbery defeat us, effect the entire trip, or tarnish our opinion of Ecuador. Rooz showed amazing character because although he wanted to lay down and die he pushed through and kept his chin up; he did his best to stay positive for Jenny and me.

The rest of our time in Ecuador went beautifully. In Puerto Lopez we saw Humpback whales at the tail-end of their migratory mating season and a mother and a calf playing together. We also saw the famous blue footed boobie and enormous sea turtles. Rooz had to enjoy all this natural splendor without the help of his camera. You never really realize how much photos mean until you are unable to caputre the moment.

After Puerto Lopez and the Pacific coast we headed to Cotopaxi National Park. Cotopaxi is a volcano (actually the highest active volcano in the world) two hours outside of Quito.
We stayed with Jenny in our first eco-lodge; it was so beautiful and relaxing. They had no electricity in the rooms and served us food from their organic garden. The area was incredibly lush and green and was surrounded by amazing snow-capped volcanoes.

We did two day trekking tours, the first one was to the crater rim of Pasachoa (an inactive volcano) 4,200 meters high. I thought I would never make it up the ridge of this volcano, but when I did the 360 degree view was wonderful. The second trek was on the active volcano, Cotopaxi. We went up to the lowest point of the glacier on the volcano and ended our trek at 5,000 meters.

Altitude is a crazy force of nature. Going up these volcanoes is a strenuous activity that takes both mental and physical strength. The pressure is so low that your lungs cannot properly absorb the oxygen in the air, making you barely able to breathe; your head is pounding like a drum and your brain is screaming for you to stop and sit down. Instead of listening to your body you must ignore everything it is saying and keep moving forward inch by inch. We were literally moving at a snail´s pace up torwards the peaks; it is painstakingly slow and grueling work.
Lucliky for us at the end of both of our day treks we were promised banana cake and hot tea or cocoa. You can not imagine how rewarding it felt, after hours of walking at the slowest pace humanly possible, to get that sweet banana cake and some delicious hot tea. Nothing will ever taste as good as banana cake on the top of a volcano.

After our days of glorious nature and high altitude adventures in Cotopaxi, we arrived in Quito on top of the world. The altitude in Quito is lower so we could breathe easily. My friend Jenny was flying home after a great trip and we were heading to Colombia as soon a possible. Everything was going according to plan...

Thursday morning Jenny went to the airport to catch her 6 am flight. When Roozbeh and I woke up in the hostel dorm room we heard from other travellers that the airport had been shut down by the National Police of Ecuador. We were so worried that Jenny had not been able to board her flight and was essentially being held hostage at the airport by the police. Luckily, the airport had not been shut down until later in the morning after 8 or 9 am. Leave it to South Americans to sleep in on the the day they are going to strike and take over their capital´s airport.

The National Police were protesting a cut made to their benefits by President Correa. Rooz and I left our hostal to get lunch and saw some police riding around after setting tire fires and then saw a lot of the President´s supporters rallying in the Plaza around the Presidential Palace. Everything seemed rather calm and most Ecuadorians did not seem too worried about the police protesting. Most Ecuadorians dislike the police because they are extremely corrupt as a whole.
The President´s supporters were chanting in support of President Correa and his spokes people were giving speeches to rally the crowd and starting chants of ¨This is not Honduras, this is Ecuador!¨ This was the first we had heard of this being some type of ¨Golpe de Estado,¨ a strike against the government, a coup d´etat! We left the Plaza as quickly as possible, realizing that this had turned into something more than a protest against cut benefits. We called my parents and got more information about this domestic unrest.

We pieced together what was truly happening at the moment. With information gathered from people on the street, the news and talking to my dad at home, we came to the conclusion that Correa had had a clash with the Police, was tear-gased and sequestered to the Police Hospital were he was being held hostage by the National Police. Correa was charging the Police and his political rivals with trying to overthrow the state.

As always, these types of situations look worse on television than when you are actually there.
Later that night, safe in our hostel away from any of the violence going on mostly outside of Quito, we heard the rescue mission. The mission was carried out by the army who broke into the Police Hospital in Quito, rescued the drama-queen Correa and took him back to the Presidental Palace in order to restore order and presidential power.

The whole ordeal was essentially exacerbated by Correa running his mouth and claiming this was some sort of ¨coup d´etat¨ set up by his opposition. President Correa has being trying to consolidate power and basically get rid of congress so that he can have more control over the country. He was elected as a man of the people and has done some positive things in Ecuador, but at the same time he is a little unnerving and even dangerous because of his lust for power.

I believe that the police were merely protesting the loss of benefits and perks and did not think about overthrowing the government or killing Correa until the President taunted them and charged them with the crime. Once they were charged with attempting to kill the President and overthrowing the government I think their motives changed.

It was very complicated and dramatic South American politics and I am definitely over simplifyng it. I personally believe that this was a domestic clash that was wrongfully used by Correa to rally personal support and discredit his opposition. He did seem to rally a lot of national support, but unfortunately people lost their lives in the process. People dying for political gain is never justified in my opinion.

It was a frightening but also powerful and educational experience. We were staying in a very safe part of the city and were never in danger. We survived our first fake coup and saw first hand the instability of South American politics; it definitely put a stolen camera in perspective.

Thanks to our wonderful parents we flew out of Quito as soon as the airport opened and are now safe in Cartagena, Colombia with all the turbulent experiences of Ecuador now behind us.
I want only to remeber the beautiful nature and the lovely, open Ecuadorian people. Adios Ecuador!