We have made it home, but we just wanted to make our last update about the time we had in the amazon (just in case we have not talked to you).
Day 1 - We flew from Bogota to Leticia. After we arrived we got into some taxies and drove to Tabatinga, Brazil. After lunch we had a very interesting taxi ride. It can best be described as a 4x4 adventure. The road was very muddy. Our taxi was the only one not to get stuck. We arrived at a native camp/housing area called Monilla Mena. We were able to meet the leader of the camp, he told us all about the area (via a translator). After dinner we retired to our beds. There is not much to do in the evening and the mosquitos were everywhere. We were even warned not to walk around barefoot at night because of the many creatures that might be about. The place we stayed was a very large two-story room. It had 2 bathrooms (boys and girls). The first floor was for people who wanted to sleep in hammocs. We elected to sleep on the floor upstairs. Everyone had their own mosquito net that surrounded their bed.
Day 2 - We woke up early for our first hike through the amazon jungle. Our first obsticle was a small stream we had to get across (there was a small canoe). We crossed many questionable bridges, some our guides created on the spot using their macheties. It was a good thing we were told to purchase some rubber boots that cam up to about mid-calf. Later on during our hike we were hit with a nice rain storm. It was interesting how you could hear the roar of the rain a few minutes before we actually felt any rain drops. We got completely soaked during the rain. We only had our rain jackets (no rain pants) so our rubber boots filled with water. We were sloshing in our shoes long after the rain stopped. Later that evening, back at camp, we were shown how they create their bags and baskets. They even had us try. They would use a palm frond. They told us that it would take about 3 hours to to "strip" all of the palms off of one single frond. We were able to make some bracelets for ourselves, with the help of the locals.
Day 3 - After breakfast, we packed up back in our taxies for another 4x4 trip back to Leticia. It was really amusing watching the taxi drivers push each other out of the bigger mud puddles. In Leticia is where we boarded a river boat to travel up the Amazon river. We were heading to a national park called Amacayacu. On our way there we stopped at a place called monkey island. This is where we were able to feed bananas to little spider monkeys. They seemed to be very hungry as we arrived. The monkeys would jump onto us and eat right out of our hands. It was really quite fun. Our trip to Amacayacu took about 4 hours. When we arrived at the national park, we were welcomed with a short talk about everything in the park and some facts about the amazon river (the second longest river in the world). Then we were treated to a short hike where we were able to see a 500 year old Seiba tree. This tree reminded me of the trees in Jurasic park where they found the Raptor eggs. It was reallly big. The park had really nice beds and even hot water for the showers.
Day 4 - We left to go on another jungle hike at 8am. We had lunch in a village called San Martin. They have no types of motorized vehicles in the village. After lunch we hopped on a boat that took us back to camp. Later in the afternoon we went to another village down river to do a little shopping. After a wonderful dinner at Amacayacu, we went on a night canoe ride. These canoes were only big enough for four people and they rode very low to the water. This was our chance to see some caimans (similar to a crocodile) and other wildlife. We searched with our flashlights in the dark, but we did not spot any. But, there were soooo many sounds in the jungle at night. The amazing view of the stars only added to the experience.
Day 5 - This was probably our best day in the Amazon. We woke up at 4:30am to go on a canopy trip today. This is where we get to rope climb up to the top of the tree canopy and look at all of the amazon jungle from a birds perspective. This was a total blast, the views were incredible. The tree canopy was about 200-250ft high and the climb was tougher than I thought. Coming down was even more fun. Then we went on another boat ride to view the giant lilly pads. They are about 5-6ft. in diameter and can hold a small child afloat. Later in the afternoon we were treated to a lagoon in which we were able to go for a swim. They told us that it was safe to swim in this lagoon. It was only inhabited by dolphins (the pink river dolphin). No dolphin ever came over to us, we were only able to view them from a distance, I guess they are a little shy. fter our swim, we went to where the river with the lagoon and the amazon river meet. There we were able to see many river dolphins. We then went to a city called Puerto Nareno where we spent our last night in the amazon. At night the town even had a little soccer game, Jeanne and I watched for a little while.
Day 6 - We woke up and packed for our trip back to Bogota. During our boat ride back to Leticia we went to the other side of the Amazon river (this happened to be Peru) for one last shopping trip. This place had an anaconda skin for sale, we were tempted but not sure if we could get it through customs so we passed.
We arrived home on December 23rd around 9pm. Just in time for the holidays. We had a wonderful time and we hope you enjoyed reading our blog.
Thanks, Rick and Jeanne
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Shopping in Bogota
We arrived safely from Cartagena to some of the worst traffic I have even been in. This was worse than 580 after an accident. It turns out that during the holidays a few nights a month they close down a lot of the streets so pedestrians and bikers can have the run of the city. We eventually made it to Ricardo's parent’s house and were invited to dinner at his grandmothers. This was en enjoyable time and we met a lot of the family.
Yesterday we went to a crafters fair. This had crafts from all over Colombia and even a little from Peru. We didn't really get much but it was still fun to see all the native items. It also rained for a bit and oh my did it come down. This didn't last long but it sure dropped enough water to leave large puddles between the buildings.
We had some time in the afternoon so we just walked around and stumbled on a bowling alley. Rick won, by a lot, but it was still fun.
We spent a nice evening with dinner and walking around and then off to bed. Today we are going to do a little geoaching today and then we have a party tonight.
We leave tomorrow for our trip in the Amazon and not sure how much time we will have to make an update between now and when we get back to Livermore.
Hope all is well and the holiday shopping and festivities are going well.
See everyone soon
Jeanne and Rick
Yesterday we went to a crafters fair. This had crafts from all over Colombia and even a little from Peru. We didn't really get much but it was still fun to see all the native items. It also rained for a bit and oh my did it come down. This didn't last long but it sure dropped enough water to leave large puddles between the buildings.
We had some time in the afternoon so we just walked around and stumbled on a bowling alley. Rick won, by a lot, but it was still fun.
We spent a nice evening with dinner and walking around and then off to bed. Today we are going to do a little geoaching today and then we have a party tonight.
We leave tomorrow for our trip in the Amazon and not sure how much time we will have to make an update between now and when we get back to Livermore.
Hope all is well and the holiday shopping and festivities are going well.
See everyone soon
Jeanne and Rick
Shopping in Bogota
We arrived safely from Cartagena to some of the worst traffic I have even been in. This was worse than 580 after an accident. It turns out that during the holidays a few nights a month they close down a lot of the streets so pedestrians and bikers can have the run of the city. We eventually made it to Ricardo's parent’s house and were invited to dinner at his grandmothers. This was en enjoyable time and we met a lot of the family.
Yesterday we went to a crafters fair. This had crafts from all over Colombia and even a little from Peru. We didn't really get much but it was still fun to see all the native items. It also rained for a bit and oh my did it come down. This didn't last long but it sure dropped enough water to leave large puddles between the buildings.
We had some time in the afternoon so we just walked around and stumbled on a bowling alley. Rick won, by a lot, but it was still fun.
We spent a nice evening with dinner and walking around and then off to bed. Today we are going to do a little geoaching today and then we have a party tonight.
We leave tomorrow for our trip in the Amazon and not sure how much time we will have to make an update between now and when we get back to Livermore.
Hope all is well and the holiday shopping and festivities are going well.
See everyone soon
Jeanne and Rick
Yesterday we went to a crafters fair. This had crafts from all over Colombia and even a little from Peru. We didn't really get much but it was still fun to see all the native items. It also rained for a bit and oh my did it come down. This didn't last long but it sure dropped enough water to leave large puddles between the buildings.
We had some time in the afternoon so we just walked around and stumbled on a bowling alley. Rick won, by a lot, but it was still fun.
We spent a nice evening with dinner and walking around and then off to bed. Today we are going to do a little geoaching today and then we have a party tonight.
We leave tomorrow for our trip in the Amazon and not sure how much time we will have to make an update between now and when we get back to Livermore.
Hope all is well and the holiday shopping and festivities are going well.
See everyone soon
Jeanne and Rick
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Leaving Cartagena
We just checked out of our room in Cartagena and have fully enjoyed our stay here.
The kayak trip that we mentioned earlier was supposed to be about a 2.5 hour trip that we managed to finish in just over an hour. Guess it’s a lot faster when there are only 2 people on the trip and we don’t tend to take many breaks. We spent most of the time paddling through mangrove trees. They formed a really nice tunnel that we rowed through and caught glimpses of crabs and fish. The mangrove are able to survive in the salt water so all the roots grow from the branches of the trees, those are what created our tunnel.
We when out of the Chivas bus that night and this was very interesting. The Chiva is a really old bus with rows of seats and no doors. They are painted with every color of the rainbow, very bright and festive. We were lucky enough to get close to some people that spoke English and this made the trip much more interesting. After about an hour of driving around and filling the bus up they started passing the drinks back. This consisted of each row getting a bucket of ice, a couple bottles of coke (Pepsi) and a bottle of rum. We then took a driving tour of the city while the band in the back of the bus played funky music.
On Wednesday we went out to on of the many islands that are around Cartagena. The island that we chose was Pirate Island I believe. Here we went on a snorkel trip and saw lots of neat fish and coral. Nothing much bigger than your basic tropical 18 inch fish but still fun. The lunch they served on the island most people would have loved. It was a full fish (head and tail) that was BBQ. Rick and I were lucky enough to be warned about the food before and were able to order chicken. We also missed out since one guest brought a large supply of fresh lobster but since neither of us eat seafood we passed on that. We spent a very relaxing afternoon hanging out in the little sand that was there and enjoying the amazing view of the ocean.
Unfortunately today is our last day here. We catch our flight at 5pm to return to Bogotá. Thank you Ricardo and Angela for making our stay here possible and very enjoyable.
Now we are off to Crepes and Waffles to have some amazing ice cream. YUMMY!!!
Rick and Jeanne
The kayak trip that we mentioned earlier was supposed to be about a 2.5 hour trip that we managed to finish in just over an hour. Guess it’s a lot faster when there are only 2 people on the trip and we don’t tend to take many breaks. We spent most of the time paddling through mangrove trees. They formed a really nice tunnel that we rowed through and caught glimpses of crabs and fish. The mangrove are able to survive in the salt water so all the roots grow from the branches of the trees, those are what created our tunnel.
We when out of the Chivas bus that night and this was very interesting. The Chiva is a really old bus with rows of seats and no doors. They are painted with every color of the rainbow, very bright and festive. We were lucky enough to get close to some people that spoke English and this made the trip much more interesting. After about an hour of driving around and filling the bus up they started passing the drinks back. This consisted of each row getting a bucket of ice, a couple bottles of coke (Pepsi) and a bottle of rum. We then took a driving tour of the city while the band in the back of the bus played funky music.
On Wednesday we went out to on of the many islands that are around Cartagena. The island that we chose was Pirate Island I believe. Here we went on a snorkel trip and saw lots of neat fish and coral. Nothing much bigger than your basic tropical 18 inch fish but still fun. The lunch they served on the island most people would have loved. It was a full fish (head and tail) that was BBQ. Rick and I were lucky enough to be warned about the food before and were able to order chicken. We also missed out since one guest brought a large supply of fresh lobster but since neither of us eat seafood we passed on that. We spent a very relaxing afternoon hanging out in the little sand that was there and enjoying the amazing view of the ocean.
Unfortunately today is our last day here. We catch our flight at 5pm to return to Bogotá. Thank you Ricardo and Angela for making our stay here possible and very enjoyable.
Now we are off to Crepes and Waffles to have some amazing ice cream. YUMMY!!!
Rick and Jeanne
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Colombia update
We have now been in Colombia for a few days and haven` t done much of an update so here it is.
Our first full day in Bogotá we went on a city tour. We had a personal guide who took us to a few different places throughout the city. The first place we went was an agricultural preserve area. The preserve consisted of 120 families who acquired some land in the south of Bogotá. They all have individual farms where they do organic farming and they have also set aside a large plot of land to keep the native plants from being wiped out. We hiked through this area and had a great view of the city from the top of the hill that we climbed. We were both amazed at how large Bogotá was.
From here we went back into the heart of the city and went to the Gold Museum. This museum is much smaller than your average museum but it only contained gold that was found from the natives of Colombia. The gold work was incredibly detailed and still in great shape. There was very fine detail in each piece, and the difference from region to region was amazing. They even had pieces from the “kings” dress attire. It was truly awe inspiring. After the gold museum we walked around down town through the main square where they had all the Christmas decorations up. The main decoration this year was a HUGE ice castle. It wasn’t really ice but still neat to see some piece of home.
We spent the night at the Radisson hotel courtesy of Ricardo’s grandmother. This was our first night in a nice hotel and it was so relaxing. The pool was closed for a wedding reception so we went out exploring and found a local mall. It was basically a typical mall but we were able to find an outdoor ice cream vendor and got some of the best tasting ice cream we have had in a long time. It tasted like it had been home made, yummy.
Our second day in Bogotá we traveled North of the city to a very famous and religious lagoon. The lagoon is at about 3000 to 3500 meters high ( about 10,000 feet) so its not your typical lagoon. It is surrounded by natural vegetation, and tall trees even at the high elevation. The lagoon is famous because the legend has it that the natives used to make sacrifices of gold and emeralds in the lake for prosperity. Many people tried to get the gold out of the lake, one even went as far as trying to draining the lake. But most or all went bankrupt from trying.
After the lagoon we went to the Salt Cathedral. This cathedral is 180 meters under ground in a salt mine. There are 3 chapels in the cathedral and with chairs it will seat 3000 people for mass. They even still have mass here every Sunday. As you walk down into the main chapel you will pass the stations of the cross. These are all carved in or out of the salt depending on what it was to depict. It was truly an amazing work of art. We did get some pictures but considering we were under ground and had minimal light to work with its hard to get the full impact of the Cathedral.
After the cathedral we went to Angela and Ricardo’s house for a BBQ. WOW, they have an incredible place in the country just outside the city. Angela and Ricardo have been the best in helping with our trip. They set up the tour guide, our hotel, and even took us over to a friends house with them and translated the conversation. We felt very included and very grateful for all they have done for us. Thank you Ricardo and Angela for everything.
We are currently starting our second day in Cartagena. We are staying at another first class hotel courtesy of Ricardo’s grandmother. The hotel is located in the old part of the city that is surrounded by a fortress wall. Many of the old cannons are still in place and sticking out through the wall.
We spent yesterday on another city tour where we were taking to an old monastery that was built I think in the 1600`s. It was on top of the highest hill in the area and gave a great view of the city as the sun was going down. We also went by the largest fort in the area, actually I believe it is the largest fort in South America. It was a fort that was created to defend the city against pirates of the Caribbean. It is an interesting place because it actually faces inland. The reason for this is the reefs are so shallow that the pirates had to come from the bay. No pirate ever captured the fort.
Today we plan to go on a kayak trip and this evening we are going on the Chivas (party bus). This will take us on a tour of the city’s hot night spots. Hopefully we will be up in time tomorrow for our boat trip out to some island where we will spend the day swimming in the Caribbean.
We will try to get another update soon
Jeanne and Rick
Our first full day in Bogotá we went on a city tour. We had a personal guide who took us to a few different places throughout the city. The first place we went was an agricultural preserve area. The preserve consisted of 120 families who acquired some land in the south of Bogotá. They all have individual farms where they do organic farming and they have also set aside a large plot of land to keep the native plants from being wiped out. We hiked through this area and had a great view of the city from the top of the hill that we climbed. We were both amazed at how large Bogotá was.
From here we went back into the heart of the city and went to the Gold Museum. This museum is much smaller than your average museum but it only contained gold that was found from the natives of Colombia. The gold work was incredibly detailed and still in great shape. There was very fine detail in each piece, and the difference from region to region was amazing. They even had pieces from the “kings” dress attire. It was truly awe inspiring. After the gold museum we walked around down town through the main square where they had all the Christmas decorations up. The main decoration this year was a HUGE ice castle. It wasn’t really ice but still neat to see some piece of home.
We spent the night at the Radisson hotel courtesy of Ricardo’s grandmother. This was our first night in a nice hotel and it was so relaxing. The pool was closed for a wedding reception so we went out exploring and found a local mall. It was basically a typical mall but we were able to find an outdoor ice cream vendor and got some of the best tasting ice cream we have had in a long time. It tasted like it had been home made, yummy.
Our second day in Bogotá we traveled North of the city to a very famous and religious lagoon. The lagoon is at about 3000 to 3500 meters high ( about 10,000 feet) so its not your typical lagoon. It is surrounded by natural vegetation, and tall trees even at the high elevation. The lagoon is famous because the legend has it that the natives used to make sacrifices of gold and emeralds in the lake for prosperity. Many people tried to get the gold out of the lake, one even went as far as trying to draining the lake. But most or all went bankrupt from trying.
After the lagoon we went to the Salt Cathedral. This cathedral is 180 meters under ground in a salt mine. There are 3 chapels in the cathedral and with chairs it will seat 3000 people for mass. They even still have mass here every Sunday. As you walk down into the main chapel you will pass the stations of the cross. These are all carved in or out of the salt depending on what it was to depict. It was truly an amazing work of art. We did get some pictures but considering we were under ground and had minimal light to work with its hard to get the full impact of the Cathedral.
After the cathedral we went to Angela and Ricardo’s house for a BBQ. WOW, they have an incredible place in the country just outside the city. Angela and Ricardo have been the best in helping with our trip. They set up the tour guide, our hotel, and even took us over to a friends house with them and translated the conversation. We felt very included and very grateful for all they have done for us. Thank you Ricardo and Angela for everything.
We are currently starting our second day in Cartagena. We are staying at another first class hotel courtesy of Ricardo’s grandmother. The hotel is located in the old part of the city that is surrounded by a fortress wall. Many of the old cannons are still in place and sticking out through the wall.
We spent yesterday on another city tour where we were taking to an old monastery that was built I think in the 1600`s. It was on top of the highest hill in the area and gave a great view of the city as the sun was going down. We also went by the largest fort in the area, actually I believe it is the largest fort in South America. It was a fort that was created to defend the city against pirates of the Caribbean. It is an interesting place because it actually faces inland. The reason for this is the reefs are so shallow that the pirates had to come from the bay. No pirate ever captured the fort.
Today we plan to go on a kayak trip and this evening we are going on the Chivas (party bus). This will take us on a tour of the city’s hot night spots. Hopefully we will be up in time tomorrow for our boat trip out to some island where we will spend the day swimming in the Caribbean.
We will try to get another update soon
Jeanne and Rick
Friday, December 8, 2006
Arrived in Colombia
We arrived in Bogota today to meet with Angela and Ricardo. It sure was nice to see familiar faces. After getting up at 5am this morning we were able to get to the airport and catch out flight with no real problems. A few small glitches we had were:
1 - The lady at the airport didn't give us back our itinerary
2 - Rick tried to bring a knife onto the plain and got arrested in Cusco. Okay just kidding, but it was the knife I got for one of my birthdays, can't remember what one it was but it was a while ago. To make it up to me he did buy me a necklace at the airport so I can't really complain.
The flight was uneventful and we were able to meet Ricardo and Angela just outside the airport so that was all smooth. We met Ricardo's parents and had a great meal at an amazing restaurant. It was called Crepes and Waffles. Rick and I both ended up getting the curry chicken that was amazing. Probably the best meal we have had since our trip started. To finish off the meal we had the most amazing ice creams. Mine was raspberry sorbet with vanilla ice cream and blackberry sauce, YUMMY. Rick had a hot chocolate ice cream. This was very similar to the ice cream he gets when we go to my mom's house for dinner. It tasted just like home made chocolate sauce.
Tomorrow we are heading out on a city tour of Bogota, we leave for Cartegena (sp?) on Monday. We are really looking forward to hanging out at the beach and relaxing in the hot sun and blue ocean.
Will update when we can, so far things are going well.
Take care
Jeanne and Rick
1 - The lady at the airport didn't give us back our itinerary
2 - Rick tried to bring a knife onto the plain and got arrested in Cusco. Okay just kidding, but it was the knife I got for one of my birthdays, can't remember what one it was but it was a while ago. To make it up to me he did buy me a necklace at the airport so I can't really complain.
The flight was uneventful and we were able to meet Ricardo and Angela just outside the airport so that was all smooth. We met Ricardo's parents and had a great meal at an amazing restaurant. It was called Crepes and Waffles. Rick and I both ended up getting the curry chicken that was amazing. Probably the best meal we have had since our trip started. To finish off the meal we had the most amazing ice creams. Mine was raspberry sorbet with vanilla ice cream and blackberry sauce, YUMMY. Rick had a hot chocolate ice cream. This was very similar to the ice cream he gets when we go to my mom's house for dinner. It tasted just like home made chocolate sauce.
Tomorrow we are heading out on a city tour of Bogota, we leave for Cartegena (sp?) on Monday. We are really looking forward to hanging out at the beach and relaxing in the hot sun and blue ocean.
Will update when we can, so far things are going well.
Take care
Jeanne and Rick
Thursday, December 7, 2006
Wannapicchu
Today we decided to get up early and try to make it to the top of Wannapicchu (The ruin that over-looks MachuPicchu). We arrived at Machupicchu at 8am and headed up the trail. What a climb it was, we were exhausted at the top. But the view was well worth the trip. At least when it wasn´t blocked by the clouds. After a few minutes at the top, we decided to find the geocache. This was also the same way we were going to see the Temple of the Moon. We found the cache without any problems, so we headed off to the Temple of the Moon. This trail was interesting, it wound around the mountain through the rain forest. We even had to go down a couple of ladders. The temple was located in a cave, well actually, it was under a BIG rock. It took us almost an hour to reach the temple and now we had to head back to Machupicchu. This was almost all uphill, ugh. We had some great views on our way back. The jungle was really neat. We arrived at Aquas Callientas around 12:30 and had some yummy chicken noodle soup for lunch. We head back to Cusco on the 3:30pm train. Then tomorrow we are off to Colombia where we will see Ricardo and Angela. We will update from there.
Rick and Jeanne
Rick and Jeanne
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