Gone Fishin'

Gallery: Biking and visiting friends in Cuenca, Eucador

kim-bloomfield — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:17:00 GMT

Gallery: Biking Fernandez, The Biosfera Reserva, in the SOUTH

kim-bloomfield — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 09:57:00 GMT

Espinas? what espinas!

biking through Reserva de Biosfera del Noroeste

kim-bloomfield — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:39:00 GMT

An awesome bike trip. My transport picked me and my bike up at my lodging and carried us out into the little pueblo of Pampas de Hospital. I have no idea about the hospoital part as it was difficult to even find the badly need pharmacy. YES,YES I crashed. An "exceso de velocidad" as the say here. All is well, just a flesh wound, kinda. My guide and I left from his house on our bikes. Through the small town, past the farms and banana fields and into the reserva. My guide said that it had been about 10 years since he had been on a bike last. He proved that fact as later I had to repair his brakes and teach him how to shift. The ACTUAL guide that leads these trips was in Lima on a family emergency. He was kind enough to organize this trip for me from long distance and at a discounted price. Earlier in the morning our porter left with his loaded burro. He met us about half way into the reserva for a snack break at El Mirador, a great lookout point. The route from town started on dirt roads that turned into what we may call a carriage road. Once we got to the reserva entrance it was all single track BABY! Amazing views and great trail. Nothing crazy to jump or ride off of, but hard packed winding, ups and downs single track that basically followed the outline of the mountain. We spent the night at a Biological Station. The ranger was really glad to see us as he had been there alone for days. Also, we brought fresh food. The rangers have a 15 day on duty followed by several days off. There are few people/tourists that make it that deep into the reserva. After a refreshing bath in the almost drink-abley clean river our porter showed up and cook us dinner. The next day the ranger took us for a short walk. On most days it is possible to spot large monkies. I did not see a monkey but I did spot one of the reserva´s beautiful birds. They local name is Mock Mock. It moves it´s tail back and forth like a grandfather clock. A quick lunch and then we headed back to town. The trails were even better on the way out, which would explain my little accident. I won´t go into the gorry details. There are much more biking possibilities in this area. The owner of the agency I used has plans to keep up with the damage the annual rains bring in order to offer his biking fanatic clients a good variety of trails. My team was great.

Life in Mancora Beach

kim-bloomfield — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 10:50:00 GMT

Mancora during it´s high season is filled with surfers and surfer want-a-bees (Oct - Feb). The rest of the year the town is deserted of vacationers. The general atmopshere like most of the coast of South Americal is slow, layed back and the locals try to get what business they can off the tourists. By day we tan and swim, the water is much warmer during high season, but still enjoyable this time of the year. AT night there are bars and discos to frequent. Other local activities include the mud baths/hot springs and para surfing. Every time you take a taxi the driver wants to know if he can share the experience of the mud baths. The Reserva Biosfera (dry and tropical forests are only a few hours away) hiking, horseback ridding,waterfalls to swim in, class III rafting and mountain biking. There is much to be discovered.

Mancora has been on my list of places to go since I heard about how great it was from all the Peruvians. I have past through many times on my way back and forth from Ecuador but never had the time to stay more than a night or two. I managed to make a few pals here and kept in touch while I was traveling to other place. I decided to carve out a month to live in at the beach. My first 2 weeks I rented a beautiful cabaña at the beach front and far from all the craziness of the main town, at only $5 a night. Here I had time to spend endless hours resting in a hammock with the beach only a few yards away. The guy who owns and designed the cabañas did a nice job. All the showers are built into a garden. The water flows out of a bamboo tube like a water fall. Unfortuneltaly the owner became a jerk and I needed to move out. The timing was good as I was on my way for a multiday mountain biking trip into the Reserva and then spent a few days at one of the more northern beaches. the beach was so deserted that I was able to lay out totaly nude (YES YES with lots of sunscreen) This hotel (3 Points) is owned by this really nutty guy from Spain. He reminded me of one of the Muppets, esp. when he was wearing his tall white chefs hat ( a good cook he is). He designed the hotel using mangrove trees giving the architecture a very abstact feel, beautiful. I also met my new pal Alex. We were both stunned to discover that we share the same religion. He is from Panama but is now living in Peru. Though he grew up with the Latin culture, he IS STILL SOOO JEWISH, too funny to discribe.

After that trip I returned to Mancora. This time I rented a room in town from an older couple that run a internet service and bus company (for the convienents of an easy exit). The location has turned out to be excellent and the couple very nice ( no kids but they do have some chickens and a rooster running around the house). Like my cabaña I have an interesting bathroom. Instead of having a garden in my bathroom, the bathroom is IN my bedroom and the toilet is IN the shower. Try to imagine that! In any case the location is really great and the price is even better at $4 a night.

I had planned on teaching English for a few extra dollars and to have something constructive to do. I spoke to the folks at the police station and the Municipal office. Many people seemed interesed and some even chased me down the street to talk to me about taking a class. The funny thing and a very typical characteristic of Mancora is that the people are basicaly , well can I say lazy or just beyond low key. I had some future students pay me in advance to ensure their class. With all the attention I recieved to teach, NOT ONE student ever showed up for their lesson. That includes the ones that paid in advance. How strange you might comment, but here it is all the norm. So now I just enjoy the beach. When my bottle of sunblock is empty, that will be the time to head back to Ecuador and then home to the USA.

Biking in and around Chachapoyas Peru

kim-bloomfield — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 10:19:00 GMT

Chachapoyas is a small village in the northern highlands of Peru. Chachapoyas means "people of the clouds" in the ancient language. Some of the people still dress in the traditional form. Colorful layered skirts and blouses for the women and a less distinctive dress for the men, black pants and simple shirt. The area is filled with undiscovered ruins. The newly discovered civilization of Keulap is hidden higher up in the mountains. Their stuctures tend to be round in shape with a thatched pointed roof. The ruins are compared to Machu Picchu, however I think that MP is way more developed as a sight.

FRom Chachapoyas, my guide and I put our bikes on the roof of a combi and headed to Kuelap to see the ruins. After a typical morning of acting like tourists, we hopped on our bikes for the 4 hours of down hill trail back towards Chachapoyas. Once the trail ended, we caught another combi for the last few miles back to Chachapoyas. Some of the trail was quite sketchy as the rains loosened and washed away the earth leaving the loose rocks. It was for sure a thrilling ride. We were using the locals horse and walking trails. Not exactly built with the bike in mind. Once we got a bit lower the trail winded and turned along a river and through some small villages. Some nice climbes and down hill runs. Another great day on the bike.

Other days my guide took me to the more local places where he enjoys riding. Always beautiful views of the mountains, a mix of single track and dirt road. Very often we would run into bulls and cows enjoying a meal in the fields.

Gallery: Reserva Biosfera del Tumbes

kim-bloomfield — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 09:51:00 GMT

biking in the Reserva del Tumbes

Gallery: Mancora Beach, Peru

kim-bloomfield — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 09:50:00 GMT

Playa Mancora

Gallery: Chachapoyas, Peru

kim-bloomfield — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 09:48:00 GMT

biking in and around Chachapoyas

From Huaraz to nowhere and back

kim-bloomfield — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:36:00 GMT

An incredible mountain biking trip to the Cordillera Blanca mountain range. WHAT A TRIP. I was invited to go on an exploration mountain bike trip with a friend of a friend who owns a mountain bike agency. Using horse trails and ancient Inca trails, they wanted to develop new mountain bike trails to offer tourists an "off the beaten path" biking experience. The team consisted of the owner of the bike agency in Lima, a mountaineering guide from Huaraz, a trekking guide from Huaraz who would give us support with his horses and transport our bags, and myself. Our journey would start in Huaraz (3090m) and the near by town of Carhuaz (2650m) and connect with the pueblo of Chacas (3360m), Huari (3150m)and other small towns along the route. Riding our bikes, would need to cross over the Cordillera Blanco (White Mountain Range) at the peak of Portcchuelo de Honda (4750m). The first leg of the trip we would need to carry food, water, gear and clothes for the ride and one night in Chacas. Everything else we would need would be transported by our support team member who would be assisting us along the rest of the trip. For the first hump, we would be alone. From Huaraz, we rented a transport to get us and our bikes up as close to the summit as we could, but the roads were so bad that the van could not go as far as we had hoped and the trip took longer than we had planned. We had to bike the rest of the way. The road was sooo steep and full of loose rocks that we had to push the bikes most of the way. It was impossible to ride most of it. Again, not part of the plan. The temps were warm where we started our ride but soon started to get colder the higher we climbed and the later it got in the day. Hours before we reached the top I was having major problems with the altitude. We were close to 5000 meters. To make the ride more complicated, I was going through the first stages of hypothermia. My friends said my face was yellow, I was not thinking clearly and I was like the walking dead. They really saved my life with fast action and by working together we finally made it to the top of the peak. Not an experience I want to ever repeat. Quickly, we made our descend over the peak and down the other side of the mountain, in the dark and cold. We were so close to the snow. The views were amazing! We had the luck of a very bright moon. Once we got to a lower altitude I was feeling better. We still had a long way to go before we would reach the first town. We lost the trail many times and had to ride and push our bikes through some difficult terrain until we could find the trail again. Our descent took us about 6 hours. Towards the end we found some really good roads and trails that we were able to ride our bikes on with speed. Even after our insane day we all really enjoyed that part. Spoken like true mountain bikers:). We finally reached our hotel at 1:30 in the morning (in the town of Chacas). Dog tired, hungry, cold and muddy, we realized how lucky we were to have actually arrived safely. There was no hot water or food available until the morning. But we did have clean soft beds to crawl into. I ate sooo much food the next morning. The next morning we thought that we would be back on schedule, but we discovered that our transport support never arrived with our bags and with the horse we would need to assist us for the 2nd part of the bike ride (to the town of Hauri). We decided to rest that day and to figure out what our next plan would be. In the mean time we were invited to a local party. More good food, cultural dances, music and lots of beer, of course. We managed to secure a local guide who would carry our extra weight by horse. However, next morning he decided he did not want to go. So we wasted a lot of time trying to find another person with a horse. It was important to have this support and to have the least amount of weight on our backs. It was very difficult to negotiate any business so early in the morning and at last minute. An incredible waste of time as in the end we found our original guide and offered him more money. A typical Peruvian move. So we started out for Huari. The trails soon became difficult and the climbs very steep. Again we found that we were pushing our bikes more than riding them. Exhausted, we stopped for lunch. We still had another 4 hours to go before reaching the top and then about another 2 hours of riding on unknown terrain down the other side. It was too late in the day to continue. Our spirits were as disappointed as our bodies were tired. We were forced to return to Chacas. The ride down was really fun and lifted our spirits quickly. All that climbing and bike pushing we did on the way up was like a roller coaster ride on the way down. Great fun and some good trail. It is amazing how some good trails and descents can change the spirit of a biker. We also realized that maybe the tours could be run in reverse of the original idea. So maybe the time here was not a total loss. We spent the night back in Chacas and headed back to Lima the next morning early. We never found out what happened to our other team member who was supposed to meet us in Chacas with our bags and his hourse. Our contact in Huaraz bused our bags to us in Lima the next day. After wearing the same clothes, both biking clothes and relaxing clothes for 3 days, I was so happy to be back in Lima to have a hot shower and fresh pajamas to put on.

Gallery: Huaraz, mountain biking

kim-bloomfield — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:14:00 GMT

Huaraz to nowhere and back

Tena, Ecuador. The Selva

kim-bloomfield — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:04:00 GMT

Tena is in the mid-southern part of Ecuador. It is known as the doorway to the “selva”, jungle. I spent two days in the Selva. My lodge was an amazingly modern. They use eco-water system for toilets and gray water. Tubes connecting to a nearby river bring water to the lodge. The guides live in he lodge when there are tours booked. It is a about an hour ride by 4 wheel drive truck to get to the nearest modern town. My guide is a member of the indigenous Quichua Indians. Not to be confused with the Quechua that live in Peru. As we walked through the jungle, my guide taught me about the uses of the plants. It seemed like every plant has a use: soap, shampoo, medication, snacks and refreshing juices, poison and more. The lodge is built at the top of a cliff and eye level with the tallest trees were some of the larger birds nest or hang out. The second day we went tubing down the river. A great trip.

Weekend in Mindo

kim-bloomfield — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:43:00 GMT

Mindo is a river town just a mere hour from the volcano and 2 hours north of Quito. Mindo is one of those destinations that the bus does not drop you off in the town. You either walk the 7km or have luck with a private truck coming by. I happened to have spectacular luck this day. Just as I hopped off the bus, one such truck happened to be passing by. I rolled myself into the truck and met Rosa. She was taking advantage of the ride too. After a short introductory converstaion she told me about her hostal which was just a few minutes walk from the main plaza, included breakfast and was surrounded by her gardens. What a deal for only $8. AND it really was a deal. I slept in one of the most comfortable beds since my time away from home and the calming sound of the river across the street was enough to give me the best 2 nights of sleep I have had in years. Walking through town I was mistaken for a native hahahaha as a young couple from South Carolina tried their best Spanish on me to ask if I knew where to find the hostal they had mapped out. They quickly headed toward Rosa's place once I filled them in on the details. They were nice neighbors to have.

The first day I hiked up to where a cable car would take me across the river so I could hike BACK down the other side to view some MORE waterfalls. I met some nice people along the way. The waterfalls were worth the hike, but as usual difficult to get the best view with out some risk. There was a serous of VERY sketchy wooden suspension bridges to cross.

The next day I visited the Butterfly Gardens. The guide talked about the entire life process of a butterfly. I only understood half of the story as she was speaking rather quickly in Spanish. Some of the butterflies were like the size of 2 hands. It was a really beautiul and tranquilo place. AGain in Ecuador I had good luck, instead of taking the regular bus back to Pululahua, a guy in his new truck came by offering his taxi service. Myself and 3 others hopped in for the cheaper than the bus fare and a more comfortable ride. This is a very common thing. When a person is traveling in their private car a long distance, they will put a sign in the window where they are going and offer a taxi serice along their route. Often the price is really cheap. This NOT hitchhhiking.

Trip to Baños

kim-bloomfield — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:15:00 GMT

Baños is south of Quito. I had a week of vacation off from school. What a strange place to find in Ecuador. Baños is full of bright colors, the clothes, the signs, the painted walls of the buildings. Many of the shops and restaurants are owned by non Ecuadorians. Therefore you can find just about any kind of food. Baños is famous for it's bath houses which I visited like a dedicated tourist. Also for a ritual that will clean out the toxins in your body, so they say. First they put you in a hot box for 4 minutes with only your head sticking out. Then you do a series of washing off in cold water and returning to the box for another 4 minutes. This process repeats about 4 times. I don't know if my body was rid of any toxins, but by the end of the day I was sick.

My hostal was a hopping place. There were people from everywhere. I hung out with a woman a bit older than me who is from Germany, Claudia and a kid about 20, Daniel from French Canada. Together we hiked up to a view point of the volcano that just a few weeks before was on the verge of exploding. We had an adventureous hike up finding different trucks to hitch a ride. On the way down our luck was high. Just as we hit the main rode going down, a bus came by. For 50 cents we saved ourselves a 3 hour hike back to town. Later in the week, the 3 of us took a bike ride west on the tour of waterfalls. There are a few cable cars that carry you across to the other side of a raging river so you can get a better view of the waterfall. It was a rather trusting experience. Daniels facial expressions were priceless each time we dared ourselves across on a cable car. The last a final waterfall on our ride was the best, Diablo. After a 20 minute hike down, the path led us to a wooden suspension bridge that offered the best views. There was a sign posted at the entrance of the bridge that no more then 5 people should be on the bridge at one time. This is one of the reasons I love these countries. This bridge in the US would simply not exist. During our hike down, we passed a woman who had one leg and from a different group a man with one arm. We were begining to wonder about our trip. On the other side of the bridge was a treehouse looking cafe' and hostal. They served some of the best pasties I have ever had. WE all had seconds. We hiked back out and hitched a ride back to town on the "pick up trucks" that hang around for those bikers that don't want to bike the 18 km back to Baños, up hill. In the evenings we either played cards and drinking games with a huge group of fellow travelers or caught up on our old movies. Claudia and I spent the better part of one day hanging out on some over stuffed sofas in a coffeeshop. It was a nice relaxing trip.

Weekend Trip to Otavalo

kim-bloomfield — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 05:46:00 GMT

During the weekends I hike the one hour out of the volcano and hop a bus to somewhere. Otavalo is north of Quito. I got intouch with a guy I met on the bus when I first came to Ecuador from Peru. We spent alot of time together as the ride was supposed to be 14 hours and turned into 25. Now I will not take a bus trip that is scheduled to be over 5 hours. I would rather town hop than be stuck in that situation again. So when I reached Otavalo I called my new friend Tarquino. He picked me up at my hotel and I was immediately invited to the wedding celebration of his sister. Drinking, dancing and eating into all hours of the night. Even his 80 something year old grandmother was smashed. The next day was a fog. I hired a driver to take me to the sights. The famous Wedding Tree, some tree that has been standing solo for generations. The Lagoon were a pack of dogs almost ate me for lunch. The Condor Park was really cool. They have a collection of different birds, mostly condors that have been injured or for what ever reason can not return to the wild. They give a demonstation of the birds flying and how they catch their pray. I took advantage of the offer to hold one, using a leather glove of course. They are pretty amazing birds. I hiked into view a very big waterfall. The indigenous people swim naked under the fall every year as a celebration of the new year. The water is really cold. I visited a place where they weave using the old methods. I learned how they dye the wool, spin it and how to use a backstrap loom. I even wove a few rows. It is a very complicated process to weave those beautiful patterns.

Living and Teaching English Inside the Volcano

kim-bloomfield — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 05:34:00 GMT

My first week was quite an adjustment. No phone or internet, but the silence was what I really needed. Every day as I walked the half mile to the school I was greeted by the morning traffic. Cows, horses, pigs, dogs, chickens and of course my students. There are about 18 kids in all. Grades from kindergarden to 8th grade. The kids seemed really excited to have a new person there. I spent the first week trying to figure out the school system and schedule. Then, I realized there was none. This place was run completely day by day. My first lesson, I tought the kids some verbs so we could play a game. Run, walk, jump etc... They seemed to really enjoy it and the next day remembered the the new vocab and wanted to play more. They all seemed excited to learn. Slowly I got to know more about each kid. Living here is like a cross between Little House on the Praire and Land of the Lost. The kids are really sheltered here and do not really know what life outside the volcano is like. They do however go on a big school trip at least once a year so they can know their country.

Horse Backriding in Pululahua Reserva/Volcano

kim-bloomfield — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 05:18:00 GMT

A waiting my Galapogos trip, I decided to take a 2 day horseriding tour. My tour agent sent me to Pululahua. My tour was out of a ranch that is owned by a German woman, Astrid. she has owned her ranch inside Pululahua for about 11 years. She told me that she had wanted to have a ranch of her own since she was 6 years old. She also said that some mornings when she wakes up she still cannot believe her childhood dream is reality. During the 2 days we rode our horses just about through the entire volcano. I spent the night at a fabulous hostal that is also a part of an organic farm. The couple that own it were really great and so was the food, room and hot tub. This world inside the volcano was like a surreal world. After talking to my hosts, I discovered that there was a one room schoolhouse were I could teach English and live in the hostal.

The deal was set and I would return to Pululahua after my trip to the Galapagos. By the way, the night I was there, their dog gave birth to about 10 puppies.

The Galapagos with Sarah

kim-bloomfield — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 05:04:00 GMT

The Galapagos were awesome. A place I think everyone who enjoys the outdoors should go. If you don't like the outdoors, rent a nice video. My long term friend Sarah and I had a great trip ( minus the bits that the tour company screwed up). Our guides were good and we met some really nice people along the way to hang out with. We visited 2 main islands, snorkeled with sealions and I nearly had a close encounter with an iguana. We rode horses up to a volcano crater and hiked inside, hiked through bird and iguana nesting areas, visited turtles small and LARGE, walked through lava tubes, swam in the ocean at sunset and relaxed with nature. It was a great week. Sarah's last day in Quito, we went to the markets and the beauty salon. A great end to great week.

Biking Down Cotopaxi Volcano, elevation 5897 m

kim-bloomfield — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:51:00 GMT

Since I was a single looking for a bike tour, I joined in with a group of really nice New Yorkers that are a part of an outdoors club. During the long ride from Quito to Cotopaxi they filed me in on what was happening in the States. It was nice to speak American. Most of the English I have been speaking is with people from other countries. I think the people of the US would have been better off if Latin was not dumped out of our regular class load. Everyone I have met from other countries traveling knows at least 3 languages. Most of the people in the US can barely speak English.

We started our bike ride in the snow. As we rode toward the bottom, we passed through all the seasons. We had hale, rain, wind, and finally some sun. The views were really beautful. I can't say I was really excited about the actual bike riding part as the bikes were very basic and we rode on mostly dirt rode. It was a really nice day.

Trujillo, Peru

kim-bloomfield — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:37:00 GMT

Out of all the towns I have visited in Peru, I think that Trujillo has the best plaza. The city is one of the biggest in Peru. There are warnings about the crime. I did have my wallet stollen. I still have not figure out just how they did it, but I do know at least 2 or 3 guys were involved. They are truely artists at their craft. I reported the theft to the Tourist Police, which was more of a nightmare than getting the wallet stollen. they had no idea what to do or how to assist me. What a joke. After the formalities, I was back on my way to the beach for a surfing lesson. The waves were small, and I was able to surf a few in. What a sport, lots of work. I also toured a bunch of different Pre Incan temples and a Pre Incan city that is in the process of excavation. It is amazing that the original paint is still on the walls. The carvings are spectacular.

Gallery: Mindo, Ecuador

kim-bloomfield — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:17:00 GMT

North to Mindo