Week 33: Buenos Aires, Argentina; Montevideo, Uruguay

Monday, 8/29 

We finally get to Buenos Aires and took the Metro to our newest hostel. The reception of this hostel was amazing! We were told about all kinds of tours, things to do, where to go, what to eat, pretty much everything we needed to know! 

It was colder there so we had to bundle up. This first day, we spent some time hanging out in the lobby and then tried matte, which is a South American green tea drink, for the very first time. It was difficult to choke down to say the least. 

Later, after wandering the city a little bit, we ended up meeting a few different people from around the world! We decided to go that night to a suggested drum show so we got our group together, headed towards the show, and spent the whole night watching this amazing band and wandering the streets of Buenos Aires with an outside band and our new friends.

Unfortunately, we didn’t stay out too late because most of us had arrived that morning or afternoon from travelling and we were all tired. 

We headed back, stayed up a little bit more hanging out with more people at the hostel, drank some wine together, then went to bed.

Tuesday, 8/30

Today our little group decided to go on a walking tour at 10:30 in the morning. The tour was slow, but good! We got to see a good chunk of the city and we ended up with our favorite part of the tour at the famous cemetary, Recoletta.

It was our friend Martin’s birthday so after picking up some sushi and pizza for lunch, we separated and decided to meet up that night. I had an urge to make cookies and had the perfect excuse to finally bake! We also had to pick up a battery for my phone since it was constantly dying.

That night, we had a BBQ with the whole hostel. We sat at a family style table, ate soooo many different types of delicious meats, drank wine, and spent the night talking, drinking, and hanging out in our little family room!

After presenting my disastrous cookies and a cake that the girls at the hostel had made, we sang Happy Birthday to our new friend, hung out some more and then went to bed!

Wednesday, 8/31

We woke up pretty late this morning! In the afternoon, some of the group got together and wandered some more around the city.

We went to the MALBA art museum, saw the famous metal flower which is way more beautiful than it sounds (and even opens and closes every morning and night!), had a picnic in the park, then went to the free arts museum – one of my best museum experiences so far! We were shocked to see a flock of parakeets in the park with the pigeons. Apparently they can be found living wild in most countries in the world, even the UK. 

We didn’t get back until it got dark. Luke wasn’t feeling well, but it was the last night of the opera Tosca at the famous theatre.

Luke crashed while my friend Eyþos and I pretty much sprinted to the opera house hoping to snag some last minute tickets.

The seats weren’t the greatest (we had to lean over the rail to see anything) BUT it was perfect because they posted subtitles at the top of the stage showing the lyrics.

The show was AMAZING! Mario’s character gave me chills and he had one of the longest standing ovations I’ve ever seen after a song he sang during the show. Ah-mazing.

Afterwards, since we had skipped dinner, we tried to find a restaurant that was open but had no luck.

We finally got back to the hostel, I checked on Luke who had a temperature, and ate left over mac and cheese (homemade this time!), and went to bed. 

Thursday, 9/1

Again, we had a slow start to the morning, enjoying breakfast and each other’s company before some of us decided we wanted to go see the famous yet touristy old town of Buenos Aires (Boca, where the soccer stadium is) – the one you always see pictures of.

We wandered around the area for a little while and visited a really small but neat wax museum. We met up with everyone a few minutes later and then headed back to the hostel.

That night, we hung out, went to a bar together, and spent the entire night playing games and hanging out with our friends.

Friday, 9/2

Luke was up way earlier than I was. We made chicken soup for lunch since I was feeling a bit under the weather.

He wandered around town and we spent a lot of the day and evening at the hostel.

*sarahi was in bed most of the day so I wandered the city! First I stopped at an old church with a double layered organ on the back wall. Someone was playing and it was eery but amazing. Next I went to Puerto Madura, a revitalized old warehouse area along the river. I saw the iconic bridge and went to an old navy boat turned museum. Then I wandered past the sky scrapers to the ecological reserve. It’s not that impressive but I actually saw several new species of birds, animals, and plants. After that I returned to the hostel to check on Sarahi. I went grocery shopping, took all our dirty clothes to the laundromat and then we cooked dinner. Spaghetti I believe. -Luke

Saturday, 9/3

This morning, we checked out and thought to catch the ferry over to Uruguay. Unfortunately, we were way too late for it and had to find another hostel to stay that night since our favorite didn’t have room.

We Ubered out of there and our driver told us that Uber was technically illegal there because of all the taxi drivers. He told us to not mention Uber if we were around taxis since they could fine him like $80,000 pesos and attack him or his car.

It was a warmer day than a lot of the other ones, so Luke and I decided to try and see the Japanese garden, the planetarium and a few other things.

We spent some time at the Japanese garden then headed to the planetarium! Luke got a candy that looked dangerous and we hung out at the park for a bit before heading to the planetarium. Unfortunately, we didn’t go inside the planetarium since it was extremely busy and the movie wasn’t until two hours later.

We wandered the city a little more, visited the Palacio de Congresso which was beautiful! 

It was really cold and getting dark so we headed back to the hostel, cooked leftover dinner, and then went to sleep.

Sunday, 9/4

We were up around 6:00 the next morning, spent some time trying to get our taxi to the port, and then finally boarded after waiting a while.

We spent a majority of the morning taking the ferry over and taking a bus the rest of the way to Montevideo. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening around Montevideo, but it was really cold! We took our wanderings in short bursts giving each other time to warm up. We visited the fair that happens on Sundays where I finally bought a sweater and then we spent a few more hours wandering the city and going out to eat.

We went to bed pretty early listening to the other people jam out to music on the first floor.

Week 32: São Paulo, Iguazu Falls area (Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina)

Monday, 8/22

We woke up this morning to a very cold room! We had breakfast with our new friends and then went and wandered the city (Unfortunately, we missed the walking tour!). I wasn’t a fan of São Paulo at all and was happy we left. 

We were going to wander the city even more, but we had a bus to catch at 6pm and we still had to do laundry.

So we started our laundry, went and had some Chinese food, shopped for some things like a warm hat, and then went back to the hostel to charge our phones and pack up our laundry.

We went to the bus station and loaded up for an all night bus to Iguaçu.

Tuesday, 8/23

We arrived pretty early in the morning and we ended up taking a taxi up to our new hostel, El Shaddai.

Our hostel owner was so resourceful! We spent a good 30 minutes talking with her and getting the updates on the city, public transportation, and the surrounding areas.

We went to our new room and then started wandering around the city. We started with some Arabian food.

Since we didn’t have time to go to the falls or to the dam, we decided to go to Paraguay and check out the shopping.

We hopped on a bus over the river and headed to the Mona Lisa shopping center. 

Unfortunately, we aren’t big shoppers and didn’t see the big deal on that shopping mall. If you spend your money on lots of nice brand name items, this may be the place for you! It had a lot of beautiful things, but it didn’t seem like it was discounted as much as we had hoped. Because of high import taxes in Argentina and Brazil, residents can cross into Paraguay for cheaper shopping. As Americans the prices seemed no different than malls at home. However, non luxury items on the streets of Paraguay are extremely cheap. 

After some time there, we decided to wander around the outside where all the local shopping tents were. We got some money exchanged, grabbed a beer and walked about. Luke ended up getting his beard shaved again and a nice new haircut. 

Afterwards, we decided to head back. Luke found some amazing place that offered a buffet of soup so we ended up going there!

It was so great to have some warm soup on a cold night so we ate a lot and then headed back to the hostel. 

We spent a lot of time wandering the cities that day and we went to bed happy!
Wednesday, 8/24

This next day was the day that we went to the falls on the Brazilian side!

It took us a while to get there since we took the bus but we ended up getting there with plenty of time. 

It was so beautiful! We spent all morning and afternoon wandering the little trails, pushing our way past the crowds, feeling the power of the falls, and running away from the Coati. They were little critters like raccoons and they kept stealing peoples food including some left over chicken bones Luke and I had on our plate left over from lunch! They literally climbed onto the table where we were sitting and tried to steal food from right under our noses. 

Afterwards, we decided to leave and head back. We decided we weren’t done adventuring and we stopped by the zoo on our way back! It was a small free zoo and it was a pleasant little walk back on the way back to our hostel. We went and picked up groceries then headed back to the hostel.

We were still hungry so we decided to stop by the Arabian place again for some more snacks. Then we went back to the hostel to hang out by the pool and rest after wandering around the city just a little bit more!

Thursday, 8/25

Today was our last day in Brazil and we decided to go see the Buddhist temple and the dam.

It took us a while to get to the temple since it was a bus ride and a mile walk from where we got off, but it was totally worth it.

It was serene and filled with statues. It also had a great view overlooking a few of the cities! We spent a good amount of time there looking at the statues and wandering the grounds.

Afterwards, we walked back to the bus station and rode the rest of the way to the dam.

We bought the Panoramic tour and spent the day learning about the dam and taking a bus all the way around the area. It was beautiful and sooo massive. After a few hours, we went back to the bus sto and headed back to town.

That night, we picked up some beer and had a small beer tasting to ourselves while playing some card games and then went to sleep after enjoying the space at the hostel.

Friday, 8/26

Today, we packed up and headed to Argentina. Unfortunately, we missed our stop and then our bus broke down so we spent quite a bit of time getting our passports stamped and through the borders. We did meet some new people and spoke to them for a while before finally headed to Puerto Iguaçu. We headed to our new hostel and settled down before we left and wandered again around the town. Since we were in Argentina, we ended up picking up some super cheap wine (about $3 US), some cheese, and crackers. 

We headed to the 3 points where all the countries meet and watched the sunset while having our little picnic. It was a short and sweet sunset! We headed back to our hostel and hung out but then decided to go get dinner later that night.

We went out to this amazing restaurant that had an amazing meat platter! We ate that, some fries, and this amazing bread and sauce that night.

We finally went to bed later that night after a great day.

Saturday, 8/27

Today, we decided to finally see the falls in Argentina. I had heard that this side was better, and I have to agree!

If you don’t have time to see both I suggest the Argentinian side mainly because they have many trails through the grounds and over the waterfalls. We spent pretty much the entire day there! 

We took the tour boat ride that day as well and it was like a roller coaster! We got soaked and it was awesome!

After that entire day, we finally went back to our hostel and cooked dinner. 

Then we decided the night shouldn’t be over and ended up going to the Icebar which was amazing!

It is a bar that is -10 degrees and they serve you drinks in an ice glass. They also give you these huge massive coats and we posed with the ice sculptures.

You are only allowed to be in there for about 30 minutes but it was okay because it was freezing in there! 

We were finally exhausted and went to bed.

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Sunday, 8/28

Luke was still sleeping when I got up, but I ended up getting up for the sunrise which was beautiful!

We didn’t do much except for get bus tickets, eat, and then run to the station because we were running late! We bought tickets from Iguazu to Buenos Aires, a 17 hour bus ride. The tickets were only around $70 USD per person and we had fully reclining seats! It was a great bus ride! They gave us dinner and even a glass of whiskey! We watched movies and read and hung out before going to sleep. 

Week 31: Paraty, Ilha Grande, Angra dos Reis

Monday, 8/15

After a long night of travel from Rio, we slept in just a little bit before heading to breakfast and going around the city of Paraty. We didn’t really plan on spending a lot of time in this city so we did as much as we could.

We wandered around the older part of the city then went back to the hostel. Our hostel owner was actually a great resources. We didn’t know what we were going to do that afternoon but he ended up helping us by telling us about some trails and some places we could swim. 

After a quick lunch of microwave lasagna, we caught the next bus on the town and followed it until we saw a few signs of the places we wanted to see. 

One of them was ponte do Tarzan where you could jump off a massive boulder and the other area was Toboga Falls where you could slide down a big slab of rock like a water slide. 

We ended up hiking down a random trail first to see a pretty little area with a stream and a few little ponds of water. Then we headed towards the water slide. It was too cold for me to slide down (I admit, I was a little freaked out too), but Luke went right on down a few times! It looked amazing!

After soaking up the sun and reading a little, we decided to move on to the Ponte do Tarzan. 

There, Luke climbed up a really flimsy ladder and then, after a few minutes to gather his courage, he jumped! I was super freaked out for his safety but he made it alive and well and full of adrenaline. He’s obviously way braver than I am.

We decided to hang there a little bit longer before heading back to the hostel.

There was a walking tour we were trying to catch but both of us were hungry and craving moqueca (fish stew with peppers and onions in a tomato and coconut broth).

We ate at a restaurant serving some delicious moqueca and then tried to catch the walking tour but ended up missing it.

We were both exhausted by that point and decided to go back to the hostel to take a nap. That night, our hostel owner invited Luke to play soccer with a few other people from the surrounding hostels at 10:00.

We went, he played, and we went home after midnight. We crashed completely exhausted!

Tuesday, 8/16

We woke up the next morning super early to go see the sunrise.

It was gorgeous! We spent the morning together, but then split up because I was exhausted and Luke wanted to stay up for beach yoga and reading. So I went back to bed and then he came back and we had breakfast together.

After breakfast, we left to catch the ferry to Ihla Grande after wandering in Angra dos Reis for a while and grocery shopping there since islands are usually more expensive than the mainland. 

We finally made it to the island after a 2 hour ferry ride. It was soooo pretty!

Our host from AirBnb, Claudio, met us at the docks and led us to his home. We was a wonderful source of information and a wonderful host. We stayed in a room in the upper part of his home. 

After walking around the town, we went back, cooked some chicken for dinner, watched a movie together and then went to sleep preparing for a great day. 

Wednesday, 8/17

We woke up, cooked breakfast, and then prepared for a long 5 hour hike. 

Then, Claudio mentioned a boat that would take us most of the way to the beaches where we were planning on walking for only $120 reals round trip for both, so we decided to be lazy and do that instead.

So we loaded up on that boat and headed to the beach!

There were 3 beaches in that area and we spent a little time at each one and spent some time hiking in between. We’ve also been making a habit of eating tuna and crackers or bread for lunch!

Each beach had beautiful waters but they were all pretty diverse! They had different waves, rocks, views, etc.

It was a great day and later that afternoon we headed back to the house to cook dinner. 

We ended up making more delicious dinner and hanging out before getting ready for bed.

This place had a glorious shower with really hot water and I reaaalllyyy enjoyed finally having some truly hot water.

We then went to bed.

Thursday, 8/18

This day we took it pretty easy since it was supposed to be a really rainy day. We left for a little to go hiking around the town and walked to an aqueduct, the ruins of the prison that used to be there, and a few beaches in the area. 

Then when we were heading back, the big rain clouds started heading toward us. We stopped at this house which had a few options for dinner and ordered them as they started raining. Luke got the fish and I got the beef.

After getting some free herbs from the sweet lady at the house restaurant, we walked back in the rain to our house and enjoyed a delicious lunch. 

After that, we tried to watch a movie together and made some homemade popcorn! We fell asleep early since we were going to be hiking and camping the next day and it was raining pretty hard.

Friday, 8/19

Today, we packed up our bags and separated the unneccessary items into another pile which we would leave at the hostel. 
After a good breakfast, we left and started our 18km hike. It was a pretty easy road until we got to the next little town on the island. We spent some time looking at all the beautiful flowers and some monkeys and listening to the birds of the area. 

We were trying to beat the time they told us of 6-8 hours total for the hike. We made the first bit in 2.5hrs. Then, we stopped by the beach in Dois Rios. It was soo beautiful and we enjoyed a wonderful lunch break filled with more tuna and oranges. 

After hanging out on that beach, we finally continued on and tried to pick up some toilet paper on the way (we had a translation problem and ended up having to buy paper towels ). 

Then, the little pretty road ended and the jungle trail began. 

On a worse day, this trail would have taken twice as long. It was smooth at the beginning, but it gradually got worse. The jungle is always trying to overtake the path. Trees are blocking the way, there are roots trying to trip you all the time, slippery ups and downs, little creeks, etc.

But it was beautiful. It brought to our minds the wonderful mystical things like fairies and centaurs and all those things that people would never find in a forest as dense and beautiful as this. We spent a lot of time talking about weird creatures and looking for any wildlife – which we did see! We saw monkeys, armadillos, birds, and more. We even heard something massive a few yards from us even though we couldn’t see it – we decided it had hooves, was big, and had to be a centaur!

After another 2.5hrs of pushing the speed pretty hard, we finally made it to Parnaioca. It was soo beautiful! 

The trail ended pretty much right at the beach and at a very pretty campground. We were planning on camping without paying for a place, but unfortunately, the national park had more strict rules and we could not camp on the beach. Luckily it was only $50 reals ($15 USD) for a campsite which was practically on the beach. We only saw a few people on the beach the whole time we were there. Our campsite was empty and there are only five houses of natives on the entire beach. There is no road, only the walking trail and apparently no regular boat transportation to the beach so we truly had paradise all to ourselves. We were exhausted after arriving and spent some time relaxing on the beach after setting up our tent. For dinner we used a rustic kitchen and cooked an amazing dinner of sausage, peppers, onions, and squash sautéed together, with some slightly squished bread. Maybe the exhaustion and hunger helped but it tasted world class. After dinner we quickly succumbed to sleep in our cozy backpacking tent borrowed from Mr. Paulson. 

Saturday, 8/20

The next day we hoped for a boat to come by that we could bribe into taking us back to the other side of the island. But when no boat came we decided to pack up our things and prepare for a hike back. We ate breakfast of bread and fruit and did some beach yoga and read until we could procrastinate no longer. We started back down the long trail but were soon caught in a rainstorm. A family of monkeys gave us a show during a rain free break. Finally we reached dois rios where we drank a well earned beer and ate some tuna, bread, crackers and fruit for lunch at a covered table. After a nice break we continued hiking up the steepest part of the trail, which was luckily a better trail as it began to truly pour rain. We were very much ready to be done hiking by the time we reached the end of the trail. That night we cooked the rest of the food we had waiting in the fridge, took much needed showers, and relaxed. 

It should be noted that our backpacks and boots became completely soaked with sweat and rain on this hike and did not dry out for days. Once they did dry they still smelt awful and caused us a lot of headaches. 

Sunday, 8/21

The next morning we talked to some Brazilians who were staying in our Airbnb. We learned a lot about Claudio’s Buddhist/yoga world views and finally packed our bags, ate a large breakfast, and headed to the dock where we caught a ferry back to the mainland. We were sad to leave but hoped for better weather. We hoped to travel a long distance that day and so once we arrived we hurriedly hiked to the bus station where we waited two hours for the next bus to São Paulo. We had a nice lunch and bought groceries before getting on the bus. It took 8 hours and was late by the time we arrived. We made friends on the bus and decided to travel to a hostel together. We took the subway directly from the bus station and after a transfer we attempted to walk to our hostel. As my boots were soaked I was wearing flip flops and we sadly found the weather very cold and rainy. Eventually after a very cold hike we reached our hostel and were soon fast asleep. 

It was a fantastic week and we were happy to get out of big city Rio to enjoy some remote hiking and camping! 

*this post was partially written by both Sarahi and Luke, sorry if it’s confusing! 

Week 29 Summary: Rio de Janeiro

Monday, 8/1

Obviously, another beach day close to the beach volleyball stadium!

To be honest, we didn’t really do much here except hanging out at the hostel with a few of our friends and hang out at the beach. We have been making a habit of cooking our meals and after that we read a little, hung out a little more, then went to bed.

Tuesday, 8/2

For breakfast we went to the restaurant right outside of the hostel and called an Uber to take us to Christ the Redeemer. 

Uber is definitely the way to go in Rio. For about a 45 minute ride the bill was only $17 R (which is around $6).

Our goal was to hike up and exercise that day so we ended up hiking partially up the hill to Christ the Redeemer. Unfortunately, we didn’t get great direction because the next thing we know, we get pulled over by a few of the police at the park saying that we weren’t allowed to hike up that specific road – I still couldn’t tell you which road we were supposed to take. 

Fortunately, they decided to give us a ride all the way up! So much for exercising!

When we finally got up it was $24R to get inside.

The views were incredible. It was a nice day albeit windy. The statue itself is beautiful and it was nice that you can see it all around the city. We could see the entire city from that view and we had fun picking out the places we’ve been, stayed, or walked.

Afterwards, we hiked all the way down through the National Park that Christ the Redeemer.  The hike itself was actually really difficult. I felt sorry for those few brave souls that decided to walk all the way up and down. It was slick, steep, and long.

It ended in a beautiful place though. It was the Lage Park (including the British House building during the Olympics) and there was a nice little pond, a miniature aquarium, and some beautiful grounds where we spent some time. 

Afterwards, we went to the grocery store and cooked dinner again before going to bed.

Wednesday, 8/3

We spent half the morning packing and hanging out at the hostel before we Ubered to our new apartment on the other side of the city. We pooled with a few guys who were headed to the soccer game and then finally to our new apartment.

They were literally plugging in the kitchen sink when we got there and to be honest I thought I was going to be okay with the arrangements but was not. 

That’s the whole thing about hostels and Airbnb. You are rolling a weighted dice, but sometimes it just doesn’t roll your way. Luckily, our host did as much as she could to correct the situation and we got a few free nights out of the deal. We ended up sting there all evening trying to figure out the area, arrangements, and how to get to our Olympic events.

Thursday, 8/4
Today, we went to the beach again for a little, but when we got back to the apartment Luke had a fever. We had some sandwiches and snacks and he rested.

We hung out the rest of the evening reading, sleeping, and updating our social media.

Friday, 8/5

After some needed rest yesterday, we went to the beach again today and hung out at our favorite Uruguayan sandwich shop. We spent all morning and some of the afternoon soaking up the wonderful winter sun.

That night we decided to go out to Lapas which was a bus and a subway ride over we saw a few wonderful buildings along with a massive aqueduct before we wandered around the area.

It was a wonderful busy area with a lot of places to eat. It was a little pricey but it is the area where people go out to have a great time!

We ended up settling at a restaurant near the aqueduct to have pizza and some beer to watch the opening ceremonies.

After that we finally went back to bed.

Saturday, 8/6

Yay! We got to attend one of the first Olympic games which is one of my favorite things – archery.

We watched a few of the teams compete and we got to really enjoy the diversity of the teams there.

Afterwards we had an entire beautiful day ahead of us.

Since we didn’t want to go back to the apartment and be lazy, we decided to go to the park near the huge Maracana stadium. We couldn’t go in but we tried to admire it from the outside!

Anyway, the park was amazing. It was a HUGE park with amazing greenery. It also had a zoo which provided an amazing assortment of rare birds, monkeys, etc.  Not a huge fan of caged creators but if you want to see an assortment of animals – this is the place to go. We were worm out by the time we were 2/3rds of the way done. We defintely forced ourselves to finish it and a peacock even gave us a show of its beautiful feathers! Luke spoke to so many animals! It was so funny!

Not only did it have a zoo but it also had a museum which was a great place to be. It had amazing fossils and ancient history and really too much to see to describe here. I fell in love with this whole area. We spent the whole afternoon here before we headed back to the apartment – grabbing Subway on the way home. 

Sunday, 8/7

We spent the day wandering the area and getting to our soccer games!

The amazing thing about the Olympic tickets here is that they include more than one competition. We got to watch both Portugal vs Honduras and Argentina vs an African country. Everyone cheered for the African country because Brazilians do not like Argentinians. It took pretty much all day but we had no problem with that. 

We spent much of the night trying to wait for a bus to get us back to our apartment and then went to sleep!

Week 28: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro 
Tuesday July 26th

After two weeks back home for Michelle’s wedding we headed back to South America. We flew out from Tulsa in the evening and arrived in Houston to a delayed flight. That night at around 10 pm we finally left for São Paulo, the largest city in Brazil or the Western Hemisphere, and arrived by 10 am. 

Wednesday: 

Although there are good restaurants and nightlife in São Paulo, it is mostly a commercial city. We decided to take a bus directly to Rio. After a six hour bus ride we reached Rio by 7 or 8 PM and took a taxi to our hostel, just a block from Ipanema beach. It was in a very ritzy area, so after checking into our room we walked around looking for a cheap place to eat. We explored the dark and cold beach and then found a pastry and snack shop only a block away. We were still exhausted and after watching half a movie we were in bed. There was a karaoke bar across the street which made it difficult to sleep but anything is better than a plane.
Thursday: 

After a free breakfast we took a nap for a couple more hours. Eventually we got ready and left our hostel in search of lunch. We bought McDonald’s burgers to go and ate them next to lake Rodrigo de Freitas which is the site of some Olympic events and is only a few blocks from our hostel. We walked around a bit and then returned to a jewelry museum on the way back. It was informative but the jewelry was way out of our budget. We returned to our hostel as the sun set. We ate sandwiches for dinner from a nearby grocery store and watched the rest of our movie. We talked for awhile about relationship issues and then went to bed. 

Friday: 

After breakfast we did some research and found an Airbnb during the first week of the olympics. We also bought some Olympic tickets. Then we packed our bags and checked out. We walked a few blocks to another hostel we hoped would be a bit quieter. We had to wait a few hours to check in and planned the next few days. After checking in we went to the beach in search of a famous sandwich shop. It was closed that day so we found another popular sandwich shop a couple blocks from our hostel. We took our burgers to the beach for a picnic and hung our for a couple hours. Then we walked on down the beach to a nice lookout point. We tried to cut through a park but had to turn around. While there we were stopped and searched by the police who are on high alert during the olympics. I was glad I shaved my beard and we were soon on the right path. We went to copocabana fort and enjoyed the old and new cannons and exploring the inside of the fort. It was growing dark so we took the long walk back to our hostel. That night we went back to the same sandwich shop for chicken and cheese sandwiches. We took a nap and then another walk to the beach but we were soon asleep for the night. 

Saturday:

We stayed one more night in the hostel we didn’t really like because the location was perfect for our day. After a leisurely morning we went to the beach and waited a couple hours for the sandwiches to be ready. It was a perfect day and our Uruguayan steak sandwiches were phenomenal and cheap. We set off walking the few miles around the lake until we reached the botanical gardens. They are huge and have many different types of plants. We loved the countless varieties of cacti as well as the orchid house and the massive palm trees. After a couple hours of exploring we were exhausted and decided to return to our hostel. We took a bus we hoped was right and hopped off fairly close to our hostel. We rested our feet and watched a movie before heading out for food. We found a cheap sushi restaurant before returning to the pastry shop for an extra snack to finish off my meal. We returned to our hostel, relaxed a bit more and then went to bed.

Sunday: 

After breakfast we packed our bags and moved to a new hostel. We loved this hostel located on a hill overlooking the ocean. It’s a bit of a walk to the beach but there are great areas to lounge in the sun with a sea view at the hostel. We were tempted to relax all day but instead walker to a bus stop and after some confusion found the proper bus. We took the bus to the area of town containing museums but then were so hungry we walked directly toward restaurants and found a McDonald’s. Then we walked to the museum of modern art but were not impressed by the appearance and decided not to enter. We walked another half mile to the museum of national history. We enjoyed this but were so tired of walking that after our two hour visit decided to head home. We walked quite a ways until we found a bus in our direction and made it within a mile of our hostel. We stopped for groceries and then continued to our hostel as the sun was setting. That night we decided to try the per kilogram restaurant across the street. The food was quite good and after a Netflix movie we went to bed. 

Week 25: San Gil Colombia, Quito, Banos Ecuador
Monday June 20

We get to our camp, La Pancha, after hanging out at our hostel all morning making sure that all our bills were paid and our flights were arranged before we went out. We had wandered a little around the city before it started raining. We spent a wonderful time drinking coffee, reading our books, and then took a bus halfway between towns. We walked a few hundred meters and reached our newest place! We were going to go camping for $20,000 a person but the yurt was $30,000 a person. After finally getting here we were introduced to the area which has an old bus turned into a game/TV room. There was a couple already watching Shrek and, of course, I was extremely excited to hang out! We watched a movie after dinner and then went to bed.

Tue June 21

This day we woke up and had another amazing breakfast. We spent a majority of the day relaxing and meeting new people.

We got to finally learn how to play Catan with the owner, Justin. We spent a few hours playing it. Then we picked fresh herbs from the garden and made some pretty ramen noodle soup with a few eggs in it. Luke cut up some fresh fruit and made a bomb fruit salad. That night we played with another new friend and taught him how to play!

We went to bed in the cold, warmed by our multiple blankets.
Wednesday June 22

We decided to spend another day relaxing at La Pancha. We had only planned to stay one day but we had such a good time we stayed for a few extra nights. We made friends with some of the other guests and played another round of Settlers of Catan. We made spaghetti for lunch with some fresh picked garden herbs. We ate all of our dinners at the hostel which served vegetarian food only, so we were extra healthy for a few days, but enjoyed the food.
Thursday June 23

We spent our final day relaxing around La Pancha.  Sarahi slipped and cut her foot on a rock in the mud, so she stayed around camp for the day. I went on a hike with a new friend named Steve, but it was mostly a lazy day.  We played Settlers of Catan and watched more movies.  We decided to share a taxi and take a night bus with our Swedish friends.  The bus was so cold we could see our breath.  It only lasted around six hours, and we arrived in Bogota early in the morning.

Friday June 24

We left our stuff at the bus station near the airport, and headed to the old town with our Swedish friends.  We recommended a few places to eat and saw them at breakfast! We spent most of the day in coffee shops and restaurants due to the rain. We stopped for a beer and again saw our Swedish friends at the local Bogota Beer Company.  Then we headed to the airport around three hours before our flight was scheduled to leave.  We made a quick stop at the bus station to grab our backpacks, and continued to the airport.  Unfortunately, the traffic was terrible, and it took us over two hours to travel what usually takes 30 minutes. We arrived at the airport with 45 minutes to spare, but the airline policy was check in one hour before the flight.  We very sadly learned it would cost $150 a person to change to the next flight, but it was worth it because the trip was round trip.  This was our most expensive mistake all year and meant that we would arrive extremely late in Quito.  After a few hours in the airport and traveling, we arrived at our hostel in Quito at around 3 AM and were instantly asleep.

Saturday June 25

We slept in a little before eating a great breakfast in our hostel.  We found that our hostel had great views, free coffee, and lots of cool people.  After breakfast we signed up for the free walking tour. We started across the street at the Central Market of Quito.  Here you can buy all kinds of fruits, veggies, meats, flowers, meals, and more.  Then we continued through some historic areas and learned about the history of Ecuador.  Quito is home to incredible architecture, well preserved colonial areas, and breathtaking views. After several hours of walking and learning, we ate lunch at the central market.  We spent the afternoon relaxing at the hostel and watching the Hobbit.  That night there was a pub crawl, so we wandered around to a few different bars with all of our friends from the hostel.  It was a really fun night with tons of great memories made.

Sunday June 26

We woke up in Quito feeling the effects of our late night the night before. After a great breakfast and several cups of coffee, we walked back to the Mercado Central where we had juice, roast pork and potato “tortillas”, flan, “Ecuadorean sopapillas”, and bought a bunch of fruit for the road. We took a bus to Baños, a beautiful small touristy town in a valley below a huge volcano. We arrived in the late afternoon after a beautiful bus ride. It started raining so we stayed inside for a little while. Eventually we went out for pizza and watched the first half of the South American soccer championship. Then we headed straight to one of the towns several thermal baths. The water is 118 degrees Fahrenheit and felt great on a cold rainy night but only for a few minutes at a time. The bath is located at the foot of a massive waterfall which is lit up at night. We went to the thermal bath on the roof which was a bit cooler. When walking back from the baths we saw that the soccer game was in overtime. We stayed for the end and then returned relaxed and exhausted to our room.

Monday

After a long weekend, we woke up in Quito and had another delicious breakfast at our hostel and we packed our bags.

Then, after I talked to people for a while and then we went to the park where some police busted some guys. It was a beautiful and sunny day.

After hanging out there, we ended up going to the Mercado Central to pick up food for our long bus rides to Quilotoa. It accidentally spilled on Luke’s lap 😂

Once we were on the bus, we read books, played games, and watched fantastic views out of the windows – they were so incredible. 

Then, when we finally get to Quilotoa after dark, we have to find a place to stay! We were supposed to go camping down in the crater, but unfortunately, it was about a 45 minute walk down there not to mention setting up the camp and the fire. Plus, it was soooo cold so we ended up booking at a place for $25 that included a room with 2 good size cuddly beds, bathroom, wood stove, breakfast, aaandd dinner. 

We had dinner that night at a family style table with lots of veggies and fresh fruit juice.

After hanging out around the fire, drinking tea, and talking with some new friends, the place had already started the fires in our rooms. 

Ready for a cozy night of sleep, we finally headed to bed and prepared for a great night.

Tuesday

Luke got up to see the sunrise and I was too cozy in my bed and reluctant to get into the cold so we met up at breakfast which was delicious.

We then packed our bags and then hiked down the slippery trail into the lake. The views were breathtaking!

Once we got there, we decided to try and find a campsite for our hammocks… unfortunately there were no trees that were close enough together for our hammocks so we ended up settling next to one large tree for the moment.

There were kayaks and canoes for rent there for $3 a person so obviously, we ended up going kayaking across the lake. It was an extremely cloudy and cold day, and Luke did all the hard work getting us back! 

After that we finally decided to try and set up camp. We decided on trying to create a tent with our tarps and ponchos.

Unfortunately, it was also a rainy day to attempt this venture, but it was too late to turn around and try to get out of there – we were determined to make it work.

It was probably the coldest I’ve been in years. I’m proud to say that we kept a fire going even in the rain, but everything got rained on and ended up a little damp.

Luke cooked a delicious meal of hobo stew and some eggs in foil and then I hid in the tent because sitting on the fire wasn’t warm enough!

I spent a sleepless night looking up at the infinte amount of stars shivering in the cold – while Luke slept like a cozy bear. I’ll never know how he stayed so warm.We did have a stray dog watch over our camp and threaten other dogs that came close so we would hear him growling menacingly during the night.

In the middle of the night, I finally told him that I couldn’t do the cold and wet another night (It was definitely less than 40F) and we decided to go back to our cozy wood fire place the next morning after breakfast. After that, I finally fell asleep for a little while before the sun came up.

Wednesday

Waking up to the sunrise was amazing and it was so bright and warm compared to the night before. We ate a breakfast of leftovers while surrounded by stray dogs.

Then, we packed up and started the long hike up the hill and back to the warm rooms.

We didn’t stay still for long though since we, mainly Luke, wanted to do the hike around the crater which was about 10 km.

We finally made it to the highest point and had lunch and a lot of water. Luke asked a stranger for sunscreen for his nose, and I just sat there trying to breath.
It was definitely treacherous and the steep climbs, the slippery sand, the blasting wind, the cold, and the burning sun made for a 5 hr long and arduous hike.

It was awesome.

Then, we finally went back to the hostel and cleaned up with extremely hot water. We ended up piling on the blankets, drinking warm tea, and having dinner with more friends.

We went to bed cozy that night determined to keep the fire going as strong as possible. Sadly, I ended up burning the tips of my fingers on the metal stove and ended up leaving my hand outside in the cold air to stop the burning. It was still a nice night compared to the cold, wet version the night before!

Thursday

We had another wonderful breakfast and planned on sharing a truck with some of our new friends. We spent that morning talking and travelling with them all the way up to Quito. From there, we ended up staying at our favorite hostel there. Luke got a haircut, and we ended up going to the market again for more food and fruit juice.

We also ended up going into the basilica and went to try and see some more churches and cathedrals in Quito. 

We went back early to have dinner at the hostel and then went to bed to prepare for our early flight to Panama City.

 

Friday 

We left early that morning to make our plane to Bogotá which was our connection to Panama City. We spent most of the day on an airplane but we finally made it to Panama City. We took a shared taxi to our hostel. Met a new friend who I spent a while talking to and she ended up walking with us to show us the way around the area.

We spent the evening wandering around the city and exploring the beach and shopping areas.

We ate Subway for dinner and then we went back to relax by the pool before bed.

Saturday

We packed up and headed to our new hostel the next day. Fortunately for us it was a spectacular place that had all you can eat pancakes for breakfast. We made some chocolate and peanut butter ones with bananas that were delicious!

We spent some time in that area wandering around, checking out the fish market and trying the ceviche there for lunch. After that we ended up finally visiting the Panama Canal! It was bigger than expected but it was also $15 to get in which we thought pretty expensive. We met a new Uber driver friend that gave us a tour of the city that night and after that we went back to the hostel to crash.

Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador

Sunday

Endless pancakes = awesome morning.

After that we decided to wander around the city with the free bikes available at our hostel. I thought I was going to get run over but it was actually a really fun bike path over looking the ocean. We continued on looking for food and checking out the parks in the area before heading back.

We then went to the fish market and bought a pound of lobster tails for $8 and half a pound of shrimp for $2.50.

We went and got groceries to make seafood alfredo that turned out so good!!

We also made new friends and ended up talking to them about all sorts of things.

 After our amazing dinner, we went out to the bar in our hostel and hung out before going to bed.

^Panama Canal

Monday

Another round of endless pancakes. Did I mention how much I like pancakes?

After that we decided split up for the day. Luke took the bike and I read a book through the morning.

We ended up hanging out with a variety of new friends the entire weekend. We hung out with them almost all afternoon. We had leftover pasta – which was still delicious and sat in our common room and talked for a few hours until we went to bed.

Tuesday:

We flew home for two weeks for Michelle’s (Luke’s sisters) wedding! 

Sorry for the delay on this post! Updates about Rio and the Olympics coming soon! 

Week 26: Baños, Guyaquil, Montanita, Puerto Lopez, Otavalo

Monday June 27
We woke up early but it was cloudy and rainy so we slept in for several hours. After a lazy morning we went to the store for sandwich supplies. After making hot sandwiches we set off on a hike through town. We saw the bridge and river flowing through the edge of town. Then we had a cup of coffee and hopped on a bus headed up the route of waterfalls. It was already getting late so we only went to one, named something with Diablo. After a bit of a hike we heard the waterfall. We only brought rain jackets but should have used ponchos. There were multiple viewing areas immediately adjacent to the waterfall and each was more wet than the last. It was exhilarating but soon we were soaked and freezing as it became dark. We warmed up by walking back and soon caught a bus back. Hot showers were in order and then we went to a fabulous Armenian steakhouse. We shared llama dumplings and lamb steaks. Everything was amazing and with heaping piles of veggies and potatoes. We ran, or rather waddled, back through the cold and rain. We were immediately fast asleep.

Tuesday

We again attempted to wake up early but the weather was very cloudy. We slept in a bit and then went to grocery store for breakfast supplies. After packing our bags we hopped on a bus to the famous casa de Arbol (treehouse) despite the clouds. Here you can “swing on the edge of the world”. On a clear day you have a great view of the volcano as you swing out toward it. Unfortunately it was cloudy and rainy, but we broke out our very rarely used rain ponchos and had a great time. After a couple hours we returned to the bus and picnicked on our ride back. We immediately picked up our backpacks and headed to the bus station to catch our seven hour plus bus ride to Guayaquil, the largest city and economic capital of Ecuador. Its located along a river that feeds into a bay in the Pacific Ocean. We enjoyed a beautiful but very windy ride and arrived by 10 PM or so.  We had hoped to continue on, but the last bus to Montanita had already left.  We reluctantly found a hotel room nearby and stayed there for the night.

Wednesday

We woke up in Guayaquil, and had a leisurely morning. We checked out and returned to the bus station.  After waiting half an hour we hopped on a bus to the regional bus station on the coast.  We arrived within a few hours and then quickly found another bus to Montanita.  After an hour or two of driving on the coastal highway, we arrived in Montanita and began walking to find a hostel.  A hostel owner offered us a large private room for $6 a person, and the room included a bathroom and ocean view window.  We headed to the beach and spent the afternoon lounging around.  As the sunset we headed to a bar and hookah lounge on the beach.  The food was expensive so we only watched the sunset and then decided it was time for dinner.  We walked to a few places that were either closed or expensive before finally finding a reasonable restaurant that was also one of the highest rated on trip advisor.  We walked around the streets for awhile and then returned to our room and hung out on our balcony until bed.

Thursday

We spent most of our time laying around on the beach after sleeping in.  We both read and I attempted to draw a picture of the beautiful view.  We bought some groceries and made our own breakfast.  That afternoon we went to a local travel agency and arranged a tour for the following day.  I can’t remember what we had for dinner, but in summary it was a nice relaxing day.

Friday

We woke up early, packed our bags, made a breakfast, and hopped on the bus sent by the tour company.  After a nice hour long trip we arrived in Puerto Lopez, a slightly larger town with a large boat dock.  We hopped on a small boat with 15 or 20 other tourists and three staff.  We set off for an island and on the way passed by many whales.  There was a group of five or ten humpback whales and watched them jump out of the water.  It was spectacular to watch.  After another thirty minutes at sea and we reached the island. It is named Plata Island and is known as the poor man’s Galapagos.  It was very dry and hot but is home to unique bird species.  We hiked for two hours and saw blue footed boobies and frigatebirds which have large red pouches for mating displays. There were thousands of birds on the island with no predators to reduce the population.  We returned to the boat, ate fruit and sandwiches for lunch, and then sailed to a nearby bay.  Here we snorkeled for an hour or so. It was not quite as impressive as some places I’ve been, but there were many large fish, as well as sea turtles and sting rays.  We returned to shore and saw more whales along the way.  We picked up our bags from the tour agency, ate some cheap dinner at a local restaurant, and then headed to the bus station. We hopped on the night bus back to Quito and we arrived by around five in the morning.

Saturday

From the Quito bus station we took a bus north for a few hours to Otavalo.  This town is famous for a market selling everything imaginable, but specializing in llama and alpaca fur clothing.  We walked around for awhile before finally finding a hotel room.  Then we headed to the market and shopped for awhile.  We had chinese food for lunch, shopped some more, got into a fight, and returned to the room.  After resolving our differences, we took a taxi over the next hill to a lake at the base of a volcano.  The volcano was cloud covered, but it was still a beautiful view.  We returned to the market, shopped a bit more, and then headed back to our room. We ate leftover chinese food and were sound asleep by 9 PM.

Sunday

The next day we hopped on a bus and headed north to the town of Ibarra, where we waited for another hour for a bus to Tulcan.  It was a beautiful ride with a variety of landscapes.  We arrived in Tulcan in the early afternoon and grabbed a taxi to the Colombian border.  From there we took another taxi to the bus station, where we took one more taxi to Las Lajas Sanctuary, a cathedral style church built in a remote ravine.  It was beautiful and great weather.  We walked around for awhile and then ate lunch.  We bought some cheap secondhand tickets to ride the cable cars across the ravine. We had to wait an hour to take the fifteen minute ride, but heard from new friends about a beautiful cemetery over the border in Tulcan.  We took an unoffical taxi directly there and walked around as the sun began to set. It was indeed beautiful with countless sculpted shrubs.  After leaving we went to the bus station and found a bus back to Quito.  It was a crowded and miserable four or five hour bus ride back to Quito, but we watched a good movie in the bus and were soon back at our favorite hostel in Quito, and instantly asleep.

It was an amazing and action packed week.  We loved Ecuador and the variety of mountains, beaches, lakes, and waterfalls.  We only had two weeks in the country and attempted to see alot.  It was a blast, and I hope to return to the pacific coast of Ecuador with a bit more time in the future.