Retiro #4: Pablo Escobar's Old Stomping Grounds

We are back from Colombia! We spent the weekend seeing a different side of South America. It's hard to believe that neighboring countries can be so different. Spanish accents, food, currency, city planning, museums, appearances, weather, etc. Medellin was very different from Quito. For one thing, we arrived to humidity (what's that?), heat, and sweat. It was warm and tropical. Medellin is similar to Quito in that it is a city in a valley, but the city is much smaller and is circular, rather than reaching north/south for miles. The city is much more developed, with sky scrapers and fancy apt buildings. It is very green and people seem to obey traffic signs.

We spent most of our time exploring parks and museums. The city is very nice and put-together, largely due to the biggest philanthropist Colombia has ever seen, Pablo Escobar. A lot of drug money has been put into the city; that means that now that they have worked so hard to clean up their act, it is a beautiful and clean place, filled with culture. It was a great place to spend the weekend (since we were kicked out of Ecuador).

We all got back safe and sound under tourist visas. Now we are back home and ready for the last month ahead of us.

A 19,000 Word Blog Post

This is a beautiful country. This post is a collection of pictures taken recently. Enjoy the scenes and the stories they have to tell!

Retiro Numero DOS

This past weekend, we all ventured to Riobamba for our 2nd retreat. To say it was a fail of a trip, may be fairly accurate. The reason we decided to go to Riobamba was to go on the train that takes you to the "Nariz del Diablo" or "Devil's Nose". It weaves through the Andes mountains while you sit on the roof of the train, taking in the sites. When we arrived in Riobamba, we went to buy tickets only to find that they were sold out until the end of February. So we just walked around the city... in the pouring rain. We all were soaking wet. Sarah got sick. It was a mess. In order to salvage the trip, we decided to go on a hike the next morning. We woke up to an overcast day and horrible hiking conditions.

Plan B: We hopped on a bus to go towards Banos, where the active volcano of Tungarahua is currently errupting. We didn't go all the way to Banos, but we went to a neighboring mountain and got a great view of the action. It was really neat to see the smoke billowing out of the volcano (my seismology-loving, ex-geology major side came out for sure).

Group shot at dinner

In the camioneta on the way to see Tungarahua

We've got cows

Tungarahua in all it's glory (best picture I have... sorry)

The weekend just goes to show that even though things don't always go as planned, ecuador is an adventure por siempre!!!

Was that a puma or is your stomach growling?

Our first retiro, or retreat, was this weekend. All of us somewhat sluggishly got in a van at 6:30am on Friday and headed to the north bus terminal in Quito. From there we caught 2 buses, packed into the back of a truck for a 30 minute ride into the forest, and hiked over a mile into the woods to get to our hosteria. I guess you could say we were a bit secluded. We stayed in cabins and the shut of the electric generator at 10pm promptly. We sat around a fire and played lots of Phase 10 and Catch Phrase. We laughed and enjoyed some great canned figs and peaches (this past statement is dripping with sarcasm... for some unkown reason, Ecuadorians love their syruppy canned fruit for dessert. It is gross). AND, we hiked, and hiked, and hiked.... and hiked.

The first day we arrived, the girls strapped on some rubber knee-high boots and headed into the virgin forest while the boys napped. We hiked for 2 hours, while we sank into mud, forged a river, battled vines and fallen bamboo, and tripped a lot. The next day, however was our hike of epic proportions. We left camp at 9:30 and returned 14km later at 5:00pm. Our guide had a machete to clear out some of the brush (and probably to defend us if we were to encounter a puma). We saw some beautiful birds and a 3-foot long worm, but we missed the larger animals. Although we saw some fresh tracks, the tapirs and oso de anteojos (relative of a panda bear) must have been scared and hiding just beyond us in the dense forest.

I'm not the most coordinated of people, so tripping was a problem on said hike. Imagine the setting from Apocalypto, you can't see past the trees and moss and ferns that grow like a wall on either side of the 3-foot wide path. It wasn't a pretty sight to watch me trip to gracefully avoid roots, rocks, and cut-down bamboo while lugging around in heavy rubber boots. My best fall left me with some scars on my face, as I fell face-first into a tree. Glad my parents decided not to call me Grace; I would be a walking contradiction. Our time in the cloud forest was relaxing and a team-building experience (pulling each other out of mud pits). It was great to be in such raw nature and enjoy the tranquility of God's creation. The retreat was also a well-needed break from the business of work. Now we're back into the swing of things, yet I feel as if I'm taking on my tasks head first with a renewed spirit and in awe of the beautiful country which I call home.

Our cabinas

Pretty

Excited/Nervous for our day-long hike

Those are some cute boots, Krysta