Salento, Colombia - Zona Cafetera

Somewhere down the line after drugs, guerrillas and kidnapping, coffee probably comes to mind when you think of Colombia. And in this case, it´s for good reason. They have lots of coffee here and they drink even more. Men strolling the streets with thermoses of tinto to sell are more common here than beer guys at Lambeau Field. For about a tenth of what you´d pay at Starbucks, you can get yourself a small cup of this tasty black coffee anytime, anywhere. Unfortunately, for those frothy, skim, mocha, latte, frappuccino fans, you´ll probably have to actually find a Starbucks as your choices on the street are black, black or black.



A visit to the coffee region, called the zona cafetera, is a requirement for foreign tourists and locals alike. For whatever reason, I always find it odd when I end up in a really touristy spot that´s actually filled with local tourists and not gringos. Wow, you mean Colombians go on vacation, too?? Salento is definitely one of those places that people from all over the country flock to for beautiful vistas, tranquilo settings and its famous (farm raised) trout. That farm raised thing confused me a bit, but I am assuming, at one point the famous trout here actually came from a river and not swimming pool. In addition to chilling, drinking jitters inducing levels of jo and taking a coffee tour from the couldn´t look more like a coffee grower, coffee grower, Don Elias and his apprentice grandson, I took a day hike through the absolutely stunning Valle de Corcora. Once again, Colombia delivered with warm, friendly people and jaw-dropping scenery. It´s easy to see why people don´t want to leave.








(Parents, want to instill a little discipline in the kids? Try the playground pictured below.)

Almost forgot...I finally had my first go at Tejo, the national sport of Colombia. This game, resembling horseshoes, but much cooler because there is exploding gunpowder involved, could easily be more dangerous than my all-time favorite, jarts. What tejo lacks in potential for impaling a teammate or competitor, it definitely makes up for in likeliness that a novice will throw the extremely heavy disc well off course and onto a neighboring lane. That and the fact, that you can´t play tejo without drinking beer. (can somebody say, Mallard Point?)

Dangerous Colombia! Drugs, guerillas and kidnapping.

It´s hard to imagine a country with a worse reputation for violence than Colombia. Okay, so maybe it only makes the top 10, but you get the picture. When people at home hear you are planning to visit, their immediate response is generally something like ¨Isn´t it dangerous there?¨ or ¨Be careful...don´t get kidnapped!¨. When fellow, in-the-know travellers who have experienced Colombia´s present day magic hear you are going, the common responses are ¨Man, I can´t wait to go back there¨ or ¨Be careful...you may not want to leave.¨ Indeed Colombia has even stolen that sentiment for it´s new tourism campaign...¨Colombia, the only danger is you may not want to leave.¨ Having heard all of these positive stories in the months leading up to my arrival in Bogotá, I could not wait to get there.

After another long, multiple bus journey from Quito I arrived in Bogotá and met up with Clara, my CS host for the next few days. I also met her two children - Juana (age 7) and David (age 5). What an incredible way to travel and to learn about (real) local people and places. Two days turned into a week here in Colombia´s capital and could have easily turned into a month had I not a few more countries to see before Christmas. I spent a lot of time hanging out with Clara, her friends and even spent a night at her parent´s house. On a couple occasions, we took the family car out with her sister and explored some cool little pueblos outside of the city. They were even kind enough to show me the corner in Bogotá where the drug-dealing, prostitute mariachi bands hang out. No joke. Finally, on my last night in town we grabbed the Colombian flag and went to another World Cup Qualifier - versus Paraguay.


It is immediately apparent that Colombia is a beautiful country. The stunning landscapes, the
soaring mountains, and the colorful colonial buildings are all incredible. What is even more apparent, however, is the kindness of its people and their desire to make you enjoy your time here. I have never been anywhere in the world where locals were so interested in what you think of their country. There is such an eagerness to show the world how amazing their country is that you can feel it. After only a week, I´m convinced. And it won´t be long before you start seeing newspaper and magazine articles popping up everywhere about this beautiful place and its beautiful people. And about the dangers of not wanting to leave.

Quito and Canoa

¨Look at that building!¨ ¨Notice the doors on that church!¨ ¨Oh, how beautiful!¨ You´d swear that Mrs. Risnero was the one visiting the old city of Quito for the first time, but in fact she was just a proud local excited to share her amazingly restored city with a tourist. Felipe, my CS host for the next couple nights had given me directions to meet him at a coffee shop. Upon arrival at one of, what turned out to be, his three coffee shops in Quito, he and his mom asked me if I wanted to take a night tour of the beautiful old city. As we drove around checking out the sites with his enthusiastic mom giving the tour in Spanish from the back seat, I could not help but think of the time when Mom and I met a German au pair in DC and gave her a tour of our favorite spots. This was my introduction to Quito and another wonderful CS experience. I ended up spending 10 days here seeing the sites, doing the requisite equatorial tour of the Mitad del Mundo, meeting many of Felipe´s family members, teaching (?) Ecuadorian girls how to Gringo Salsa and checking out another futbol match - this time a World Cup Qualifier with Bolivia. One of the neatest things to do in Quito is climbing to the roof and towers of the old cathedral and scurrying around the outside ledges. Definitely cooler and scarier than most amusement park rides and fits neatly into the ¨wow, they wouldn´t allow this in the states¨ category. Though Quito has a reputation of being a little dangerous, I absolutely loved my time here.

After Quito, I ventured off to the tranquilo little beach town of Canoa to relax for a couple days before heading to the Galapagos. Due to some miscommunication (okay, so the bus company lied to me), I had to stay in a little town in the middle of nowhere for a night because there were no more buses to Canoa. Though disappointing at first, it actually turned out to be a great experience being completely away from the tourist route for a little bit and I met a really nice family at their tiny little street side restaurant. Once in Canoa, the chillness of the place did not disappoint. What a great place to relax and do nothing but surf, swim, walk on the beach and...eat burritos while watching a cockfight in the shadows of a 10 piece mariachi band. It turns out that it was Mexico´s Independence day and one of the owners of the hostel I was staying in was Mexican. This is a tiny little town, more like a village, where word travels fast. No one from miles around dared miss out on the opportunity to have a beer while listening to the sweet sound of mariachi.

As an interesting (or maybe not) side note, the Ecuadorian government controversially changed currencies to the US dollar a few years back and it was a little weird to all of a sudden be using dollars, quarters and pennies again.

An American (admittedly left leaning) perspective abroad

Over the past 8+ months of travel here in South and Central America I have found myself defending my country and my government more than I ever have in the past. The latter would fall into the "I can say bad things about my government, but the hell if I am going to stand around and listen to some Norwegian or Belgian bash us" category.

On election day here in Jaco, Costa Rica, a couple friends and I settled in early to watch the pundits on CNN & Fox News gush their last minute ¨insight¨ and eventually deliver news of the early returns. It was great to hear about the high number of voter turnouts and reminded me of the patriotic feeling I had in 2004 while waiting for my turn to cast my vote.

As it looked more and more likely that Obama was going to win and win big, I felt a sense of relief, not only that he would prevail, but also that there would be no controversy, lawsuits or long delays in determining a winner. As we watched John McCain's concession speech I was impressed with his graciousness and more aware of the impact of what had just happened. As we saw the incredible joy that Americans were displaying in cities all over the country - because of an election - and the sight of the tens of thousands gathered in Chicago in front of the impressive stage of American flags, I felt myself smiling out loud. In no way did I expect to be, or for that matter, care to be greatly moved by the events of the day, but it suddenly began to hit me like I never could have predicted. The patriotism began to build and finally overwhelmed me during Obama`s acceptance speech. I was proud to be an American. For the first time on this trip, I was really, really proud to be an American. (photo from Sept 2007)

Lobos y Tortugas y Boobies, o mi! - The Galapagos Islands

(Sea) Lions, tortoises and blue-footed boobies were just a few of the spectacular sights I witnessed here in one of the most unique archipelagos in the world. Located about 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands are famous for their many, seemingly fearless, animal species. Incredible scenery, warm weather, beaches, and the ability to get up close to one of the craziest animals I have ever seen - the giant tortoise- made for an unforgettable time. In fact, I had such a difficult time leaving this special place I moved my flight back twice. In the end, I ended up spending a little under two weeks here swimming/playing with sea lions (amazing), hiking, scuba diving with a school of 20 hammerhead sharks, and snorkeling with sea turtles.