Steve, Ryan, and Kevin conquering South America - Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia

We are back in Ecuador and feeling pretty adventured out. We are lazing around at our friend Paul's house just north of Quito. He helps out at a mountaineering, adventure, hiking sort of camp ministry (El Refugio) here in Cala Cali. Right now there is kind of a hangout house because a bunch of people just showed up at the same time. There is a group from California building a house and a bunch of other Americans chilling out and visiting. We did a little hiking but we have spent a lot more time making pasta and fruit shakes. It is hard to keep Kevin and Ryan off the guitars too. I think we are going to park it here for a couple days until our flight.

I will finish off our Colombia story. We couldn't wait to get out of Colombia. I think we went to a bad city at a bad time and met bad people. Everyone hassled us. The men either tried to sell us drugs or told us we were going to get hurt for being there. The women whistled or gave us looks like we were idiots for being in the country. It is really too bad because Colombia is one of the most beautiful countries in South America. The time is just not right for visiting I guess.

That's it. Time to come home. I think we are ready for a rest but of course we are all thinking up new future adventures.

-steve

We thought we were cool going to Colombia. We heard it was dangerous so we left all of our stuff in Ecuador. We packed a small plastic bag with stuff we needed for a week before we returned for our stuff (so like our toothbrushes). Our first day in Colombia, our little daypack goes missing. I still claim that it dematerialized but I think the majority vote went towards it being swiped (maybe a little welcome to our country present). Anyway, now for our last week of traveling we seriously are just walking around with the clothes on our back (and camera). We just walked into a McDonalds and walked right into the bathroom. Ryan was washing his chest when I left and a McDonald's employee walked in on him with his foot in the sink. McDonalds is always a great international place to take a bath!

We have never had so many stares in all of our travels. Tourists obviously don't ever come to Colombia anymore. The for sure don't come to this city, Cali, anymore. We just picked a random city in the middle of Colombia, since we lost our travel guide about a month ago. Little did we know that it is the new drug capital.

We are being careful. In the daylight it is ok to enter parks, so we are told. We walked into one and started following this BonIce person (people all over Ecuador and Colombia selling freezies). They are about 10 cents and they have great flavors. When we get bored, sometimes we just follow them around. Tonight we are going to head back to Ecuador (hopefully) cause we are really running out of time now!

-steve

Our rafting experience a few days ago was excellent. We were feeling really wild and were cheering for big waves and currents. There was this Scottish girl with us and I think she was more scared of us then of the rafting. She said we were completely bonkers (the accent made it even funnier). Every time we would go over some major rapids we would be hoping the boat would tip or we would try to nudge Kevin out of the boat. We ended up in the water a couple times but unfortunately the raft never completely tipped. I am definitely hooked on white water rafting and if I ever come across a cheap ride I am definitely going to take it. I think we all agree that we won't go again unless it is class 4 or 5 rapids though (level 1 is a swimming pool and level 6 is a waterfall by the way).

After visiting the capital of Quito, we decided to visit the equator. There is a huge monument, a huge line drawn, and a whole lot of unnecessary touristy stuff. The first thing that I did was GPS the line. Finding the coordinates were quite wrong, we ventured to find the real equator outside the commercial "equator" complex. We found the real line and it happened to go through some guy's property so he set up a little park to show that his property was on the equator and not the official monument. He proved it with GPS, the water test (flows clockwise on one side, counter clockwise on the other), and balancing an egg on a nail. After this we were convinced that we had made it to the real equator. Supposedly 200 years ago the commercial complex was designed around a line measured with primitive devices. Kevin got a sweet equator line cheek bisection picture (may have to think through that one for a sec).

We made it to Quito a bit ahead of schedule and although wanting to see more of Ecuador, we thought we better make a quick Colombia trip. Many people talk of the dangers but most say that if you are careful it should be ok. Many travelers are still going to Colombia. Anyway, here we are! On this side of the border, everything looks pretty good so far!

-steve

Ecuador is amazing - yesterday we were playing disc on the beach in the scorching sun and today we are hiking mountains in the cold wind. Yesterday we were in the "banana capital" and we definitely agree with the locals that the name does justice to Machala. I have never seen so many banana trees in my life. The nearby beaches had the samba music pumping and were all around great. But we are running out of time so we headed north to Banos.

Here in Banos, the first thing that sparked our attention was the active volcano next door that is continually spewing ash and (sometimes) lava. We definitely had to set out and climb it. They advise not to go past the refuge which takes 6 hours to get to. We are in pretty good shape and hiked up to it in 3 hours. Unfortunately by that time the wind was so strong and it was so cold that we decided to turn back.

What we really wanted to feel were the apparent tremors that exist when that far up the volcano. I am pretty sure I heard them but it could have been the wind. It was pretty cloudy out so it wasn't apparent that we were climbing anything other than a mountain. I think the best part was finding this gutted cow carcass. It was basically just skin and a head. After the initial shock of finding such a thing laying on the path, we spent about half an hour poking and prodding (to expand our biological knowledge of course).

Tomorrow we are signed up for some river rafting (class 3 & 4). As long as we don't suffer the same fate as Christie and Amie, we should be fine. However, we are hoping to get hurt enough to make a good story of it. Ryan says he wants to wet himself with fear. I want to be there to see it all!

-steve

We spent last weekend in Piura in Northern Peru staying with a family that Ryan is distantly related to. Staying with the Falks was refreshing and they made us feel at home. Some of the memorable events were eating yuka and plantain dishes along with seafood cooked (supposedly) in lemon juice. We also drank purple corn juice which was amazing and made various fruit shakes out of the passion fruit tree behind the house. One day after lunch we went walking looking for wild iguanas. When we had found enough we entertained ourselves by making scorpions attack each other.

That's it for Peru though! On our way out we made sure to stock up on the essentials - Coca tea and Inca Cola. It is difficult to leave these essentials but we have a good stock that should last for a while as long as we can survive carrying our heavy new burlap sacks full of stuff.

We arrived to Ecuador this morning and to the town of Vilcabamba. Supposedly many people live here to well over 100 so we are going to scope out the city to find the reason and/or the fountain of eternal youth. We have been quite successful in trying all the typical local dishes in each country. How delighted we were to read that the Ecuadorian food of choice is bull penis. We are definitely going to have to look into this!

-steve

Nope Dad, we haven't been attacked by Shining Path yet and we weren't on that bus wreak containing all the Canadians. But we have been on many buses recently. We are heading northward to Ecuador quickly cause we are running out of time. We just finished a couple days in South Peru in the Colca Canyon near Arequipa. The canyon is the deepest in the world and a great place to catch a glimpse of some condors.

We have been getting a little sick of traveling lately and have been making excuses to find luxuries whenever we can. For example, instead of 3 meals a day we go to a good restaurant and eat enough for the whole day. A couple days ago we walked into a buffet (cost 17 Soles). We planned to eat for the whole day and the owners noticed. We got the bill and it said we owed 25 Soles each! We were furious cause it was supposed to be all you can eat. They said we ate too much. Some of the people in the restaurant started trying to help us out too by this time. Then they switched their minds and said we ate too many deserts. Now, I did have 8 or 10 desert plates but still, it was all you can eat right? After some extended persuasion, we got out paying no extra.

Another luxury - we decided to try a more expensive bus for once. This one had full reclining seats, served supper, and had movies! The funniest part was after the first movie, the conductor handed around bingo cards. We were laughing our heads off but played along as he read the numbers over the bus intercom system. Ryan almost won. I think it is good that we only have a couple weeks left cause we are finding it difficult to be the cheapest ever. However, as for hygiene, Kevin still insists on being The Bum.

-steve

Well, we just finished our longest trek yet this trip. It started high in the snowy mountains up to 5000 meters and continued down into the tropical jungles at 1500 meters. By night 2 we had pestered our guide enough - it was clear we wanted to eat guinea pig. Our cook (the genius) found this no challenge at all.

We were staying near a local house that night and absolutely everyone around this area has guinea pigs running around their floors for special occasions. At the time, I didn't know we were actually going to get to eat them so I was catching them and petting them etc... Then a lady walked up to me and I thought she wanted a turn petting the cute little thing but she grabbed it and broke it's neck right in front of me!

At that moment for some reason, Kevin wanted to get a picture of it. It some sort of attempt at revenge, or maybe Kevin's special touch, the guinea pig started emptying its bladder with forceful projection. Kevin spun around and everyone was screaming and jumping out of the way. The locals were hysterical.

At this point I was not quite sure if it was actually dead yet and I wanted it back to revive it or something. But the killer lady grabbed it back and then while it was still warm and twitching (me still shocked and jaw dropped), she proceeded to skin and gut it. After getting over that shock (and getting most of it on video, hehe) we had a great Peruvian classic dinner (guinea pig is the national specialty).

I mentioned our cook was a genius. Seriously, Julio cooked up the most amazing things that you wouldn't expect on the side of a mountain. Everything from gourmet soups to great pastas and deserts. Everything had garnishes and 10/10 for presentation.

I almost lost it when he brought out this cake one morning that he somehow made in a pan. The next couple days were kind of a downer because I got sick (again). This time it was for a just cause though - over exerting myself over mountains (in addition to the normal path) and drinking too much non-purified river water.

For the last part of the trek we were walking along train tracks. I got further ahead then the group and didn't realize they took an alternate route along the road. The tracks started to go through many narrow tunnels.

I knew there wasn't supposed to be any trains coming but I would still enter the tunnels with caution, creep half way and then take off running out of fear just in case a train would come.

At the 4th or 5th tunnel I was over that fear and was just casually walking through the tunnel. Half way through I was shocked to hear the sound of a train. I took off running and good thing because a train did enter the tunnel.

I made it out of the tunnel with ample time but I definitely needed the run. Later I checked and there was lots of room to pin myself against the wall of the tunnel (that would have been the more thrilling option if I had another chance :)

Alright, day 5, the pinnacle of our trek and our reason for coming to the continent: Manchu Picchu. I think I can only describe the ruins it in one way. Manchu Picchu is the probably the most stunning sight on earth but you have to share the experience with 500 people you don't like.

I guess that is not totally true.. we did try to befriend a couple American tourists at one point - but not because we wanted to respond to all their questions - we wanted the remains of the sandwiches they were going to throw out. We chatted for 10 minutes and finally we got offered the remains.

Then it was back to explore the ruins some more. Don't get me wrong, we had the most amazing day and it was well worth it. We got up at 4:30 AM and hiked to the ruins, making it there before everyone.

We sat up on a hill for the next 2 hours and watched as the morning mist slowly revealed the ruins. It was absolutely fantastic. The rest of the day was hot and sunny and we got the best pictures.

-steve

Today we hung out in Cusco all day after another fantastic overnight bus. Cusco is surrounded by a bunch of ruins which can be hiked to from the city. The most famous other than Manchu Picchu is Sacsayhuaman. It is probably just as fun saying the name as it is actually visiting the ruins (roughly pronounced "sexy woman"). After that we definitely went a little overboard with shopping for clothes. As I speak, I am completely decked out in the greatest Peruvian garb. I won't describe anything because it will all too apparent from the way we will be dressing in the next 2 years.

Another funny thing that happened resulted from the numerous times we were offered drugs today. Marijuana and cocaine were the most frequent offers. Anyway, one of the times I muttered something under my breath like "stop bugging me" or "get lost". The guy switched from his Spanish into perfect English saying "hey man, someone's got to sell it", in a funny voice. All of us cracked up loudly including the guy. The rest of the day as we were hassled to buy random (many hilarious) trinkets, the new phrase kept us optimistic and cheery.

Other than that, we are getting very close to the reason we came to the continent: hiking the Inca Trail to Manchu Picchu (most famous ruins on the continent). Seriously do a search and check out the pics if you have never seen it. Ok gone for 5 days!

-steve

Well friends, we just finished our two day tour of island hopping on Lake Titicaca and it was quite impressive. For example, we took a boat ride to the 'floating islands' where the Uros people, a small tribe, live(or so they say, we think it's just for tourism). The whole island is made up of interwoven totora reeds and they use these reeds to make everything from the islands themselves to little model boats to sell to tourists. The islands are pretty small consisting of maybe 5 or 6 reed houses with everyone selling stuff. We asked the tour guide where the people use the washroom and he mentioned that they use one side of the island to pee and crap and the other side for fresh water. But what the people don't know is that these are floating islands and so they move around depending on the direction of the wind. I would be careful of the drinking water if I were you.

Well friends, our next island was Isla Amantani where we stayed with a local family. You can tell that this island was made for tourism because they have special toilets for the gringos (real ones and not the stinky holes that the locals use) and a total separate sleeping quarter with clean blankets. That afternoon we played football with the locals and we got creamed of course. Us gringos were huffing and puffing because of the altitude and all the locals were laughing and us. What I don't get is that all the locals were playing in their dress shoes'.maybe that's the secret. Later on in the night we had a traditional fiesta where everyone got dressed up and looked pretty. They gave us some snazzy Peruvian toques and ponchos to wear for this festive occasion. We were 3 hot guys looking for some action! That night we showed the Peruvian girls what it meant to get funky. Actually it was weird because the girls were leading the guys but we finally caught on. And so we danced the night away. Quechua dance was a bit odd and quite plain actually. We had to add a bit of a Russian dance just to spice things up which everyone loved.

Well friends, the next day we hopped to Isla Taquile where we hiked to the other side of the island where the Uros people where doing their traditional dance in the plaza. They said it was a 40 min hike to the other side but us gringos did it in 20. All acclimatized - we are all ready for Macchu Picchu! The people were wearing their flamboyant traditional clothes and seemed to being playing the same songs but it was nice seeing them dance around in their costumes anyways. We took a 3 hr ferry ride back to Puno (sunbathing on the deck and getting a good tan) and will be taking an overnight bus to Cusco ' yeah baby!!

-kevin

When we made it to the island where we were going to spend the night, we were informed that there was a soccer game going on and we were to get a gringo team together to play the locals. This happens pretty much all the time and we always get beat. This was especially embarrassing this time though because we clearly didn't have the advantage. These locals play every day and at 4000 meters I can make one strike and then I have to sit down.

After the soccer game we were told there was a fiesta going on that night. This was a little suspicious. I tried to find out whether or not they do this for the foreigners every night but I couldn't get a straight answer. It was clear that the local island folks liked having us there so I planned to have a riot. Our host family dressed us up in traditional clothing (textile ponchos and tuques) and we were off. The locals were ready to get dancing right away and before I knew it, this 60 year old lady was working me to the max. This lady wouldn't let go and she was hurting my arms. I tried to take the advantage by incorporating some high school jive moves. Later in some sort of line dance everyone had some good laughs when Kevin, Ryan and I started incorporating Irish jumping heel clicks and random Russian yelling.

-steve