Tucan Circuito 3-COLOMBIA

The 10th country on my 154 day overland trip of the massive continent of South America. From the beautiful beaches, old forts, hours of traffic, salt mine churches and the capital of Bogota. Welcome to Colombia.

Tucan Circuito 3-VENEZUELA

The 9th country on my 154 day overland trip of this massive continent of South America. From bad roads, hours of traffic jams, Angel Falls, Lightening Lake and the plains of Los Llanos and the elusive anaconda. Welcome to Venezuela.

Tucan Circuito 3-ARGENTINA

The forth country on my 154 day overland trip around the massive continent of South America.  Lakes, glaciers, National Parks, sealions, the End of the World, Guacho's and BBQ's and the Tango.  Welcome to Argentina.

Tucan Circuito 3-CHILE

The third country on my 154 day overland trip around the massive continent of South America. A Chilean winery, volcanos, the Atacama Desert, New Years Eve, a massive hand and some lakes. Welcome to Chile.

Tucan Circuito 3-BOLIVIA

The second country on my 154 day overland trip around the massive continent of South America. Death Road, drunk miners in Potosi, Christmas and the Uyuni Salt Flats. Welcome to Bolivia.

Tucan Circuito 3 - PERU

The first country on my 154 day overland trip around this massive continent of South America. Nazca lines, beaches, mountains and the magical Machu Picchu what a great start to a once in a life time journey.

GOODBYE TO MY FELLOW TUCANS-IT’S BEEN A BLAST

WEATHER: Cool and 20C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Sleeping in and having nothing planned for the day

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Missing people off the tour already

WORD OF THE DAY:  My Epic Adventure Finishes

Today there is no Tucan

Today there is no Gray or Mark

Today there is no Rosita

Today is the last ‘official’ day of the tour that concludes after breakfast, but as we are in Swanks-ville we no longer see Tucan travelers, no gossiping and no large group travel anymore.  That was actually my last official tour of my whole Odyssey.  I am doing a Tucan independent package for Easter Island, beach bumming in Barbados for a week and then with friends for the remaining 6 weeks sightseeing and seeing their hometowns.  I am so excited to be catching up with friends and they all sound like they are organizing some amazing things for me which is really super sweet!!!

As we are on the Smart level, we have our own breakfast room on the third lounge in the Smart lounge.  Yeah none of this mixing with the plebs business.  In saying that I am not one for people fussing over me and heading into the lounge there was only one other person eating, so all the waiters attention was on us and it just makes me feel uncomfortable, not to mention that we can’t pig out on the buffet as I didn’t want to look like a little piggy that hadn’t been fed for days.  So with a lot of decorum as the waiter boy held open the lids on all the hot stands, we had a small breakfast that would get us through till lunch time.  I did get up a second time, while the waiter was in the kitchen to get some more sausages, but he was at my side quick as a flash and I only picked up 2 more instead of the 4 I wanted to consume.  Maybe he is good for starting a diet? 

After breakfast Shaz and I went in search of an ATM.  I wanted to load up on some USD dollars and Shaz wanted to clear out her US account while there were no fees involved.  Last time I was here there was a chemist at the end of the street that had an ATM but when we go there the whole shop had been demolished.  It was literally a vacant block of land.  A lot can change in 5 months.  We could see a bank further down the road so we used that and then headed back to the hotel to off load the wads of cash we had withdrawn.  Sharon wanted to get one more spot of market shopping in before we headed to the post office this afternoon, me, I had had enough and more to the point if I went I would buy something, so I stayed at the hotel to blog and Shaz headed out and would be back in an hour or so.  Well she was back just over the hour with the report that there wasn’t that much there and I believed her as she came back empty handed.  She likes to shop just as much as me, so I am glad that I didn’t go.

The afternoon was spent getting our postage bags ready and after I had a room service lunch we walked the 15 minutes to the post office to send our packages home.  I couldn’t fit everything into my textile bag that I was sending so I was carrying 2 bags, so when we got to the post office the post office lady thought I wanted to send 2 separate packages.  She spoke no English, so I just let them get sent as 2.  After inspecting what was in both bags, we packed up the plastic bag in a used brown box that we taped up, completed the paper work and the addressee card and then the textile bag she was going to stick the addressee card on the bag and send it like that!!!  I can tell you now if it all just went in that bag, not taped up or boxed the bag would arrive empty.  It is not made as a postal bag that is for sure.  So I asked if she had a box big enough and she said no and then kept processing my first parcel.  So I had to interrupt her again and asked if she had 2 boxes and I would just split the bag and send 3 if I had to.  Well she came out with 2 new folded Ecuador Post boxes which wouldn’t fit all my gear in but I had a brainwave and I butted them together to get a bigger box and my bag fit in ‘perfecto’!!!  Gee I am smart.  Before I knocked myself taping and sealing the box I checked with her that the size was okay and we got the nod it was okay!!!  Luckily I had done this before and I knew that we needed a copy of our passport that they keep and after filling in the second lot of paperwork it came time to pay and I was pleasantly surprised that 9kg cost me 183AUD for registered mail.  I thought it would have been around the 200-250AUD mark so I was a happy chappy.  I know it sounds like a lot of money and I could have bought a new bag to check in with my flights as I am entitled to 2 pieces on my round world ticket, but I have a few internal US flights that you are only permitted one checked in piece for free and then you pay 30USD for the second, so after 4 internal flights I was already up at 120USD, so for the ease of not carrying a second bag I think it is money well spent.

After spending and hour at the post office we deserved a little treat, so we walked to Cyril’s, which is an amazing little chocolate shop just up the road from the hotel.  They specialize in boutique chocolates and these are the guys that make hand bags, racing cars, massive easter eggs and high heel shoes all in chocolate and they also have gelato, biscuits and amazing little desserts that looked too good to eat, really, they were works of art.  So I bought a box and picked my own 45 chocolates of 5 flavors and a raspberry tea to wash some of them down with and Shaz purchased a lemon cheesecake/passionfruit thingy that tasted amazing and a coffee.  It was a well-earned treat we reckoned and a nice way to finish off our last day together as we both fly out tomorrow. 

Dinner was room service, again and that pretty much wrapped up our last full day on the continent and our last night on the continent proper.  Sharon heads to Europe for her last 4 months and even though I am travelling to Easter Island that is dependency of Chile, I leave the actual continent for the last time tomorrow.  It really is the end of an Epic Adventure.  A once in a life time dream and I am lucky enough to have made and met many friends along the way.  To finish the blog in South America I have some trip stats and thanks to my notes and my diary that I was able to work them all out.  I knew I kept a good record of times for a reason.  Yep I am a stats girl that is for sure!

TOUR STATS:

9 Countries

153 days on tour less 25 Ethiopian days

178 days on the continent less 25 Ethiopian days

400 days on the road since leaving home

43 people on tour

32,918.1km circumnavigating the continent less 5,500km while in Ethiopia

75 stops less 18 stops while in Ethiopia

524 hours of truck days less 96 hours missed while in Ethiopia

31,234 hits on my blog since leaving Australia in 29^th March 2011

11,723 photos taken since 04 November 2011

MY TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

Seeing the magic of the Nazca lines from the air-Peru

Completing my longtime dream to visit Machu Picchu – Peru

Our home stay with our Mama and Papa’s on Lake Titicaca-Peru

Riding ‘Death Road’ in La Paz, Bolivia and surviving the 65km downhill decent

Visiting an orphanage in Uyuni, Bolivia - Christmas Eve and delivering presents from ‘Santa’ and seeing their little faces light up – priceless

Looking through a $40,000 dollar telescope to see the moon in La Serena-Chile

Letting the world know about Zeme for the first time in Pucon

Perito Merino Glacier-Argentina

The stunning Torres Del Paine National Park-Argentina

The beautiful city of Buenos Aires

The thundering Iguassu Falls from Brazil and Argentina including the Bird Park and helicopter ride

The scenic city of Rio de Janeiro and Rio Carnival 2012

Getting inked in Ethiopia with Zeme in February

The Camelot of Africa in Gondar-Ethiopia

The Rock Churches of Lalibela-Ethiopia

Hand feeding a Colobus monkey in Awaasa

Hand feeding a wild hyena in Harar-Ethiopia

Hacking our way through the Amazon Jungle- Brazil

Seeing the disappointing Angel Falls-Venezuela but the National Park was AMAZING

Speed boating over Lake Maracaibo  WikiMiniAtlas

the largest lake in South America-Venezuela

Spending the day in the flood plains of Los Llanos and seeing Kappabarra’s

The stunning Tayrona National Park and beaches-Colombia

The historic and beachside town of Cartagena-Colombia

Holding the amazing creature called a Sloth

The longest truck day of the trip from Cartagena to Bucaramanga of 18.5 hours-Colombia

2 nights on a Colombian coffee plantation

The Saturday Otavalo Markets-Ecuador

Crossing of the ‘real Equator’ line-Ecuador

THANKS TO ALL MY TUCAN TRAVEL PEEPS

Kate - Australia

Sharon- New Zealand

Julia- UK/ Australia

Debbie – New Zealand

Mark - UK

Gray - UK

Omar - Australia

Nicola - UK

Paul and Liz - UK

Angelica - German

Malar - UK

Seamus - Ireland

Mick - Australia

Mike - UK

Sven and Kate – Switzerland & UK

Andreas - Switzerland

Kirilly - Australian

Helen - UK

Anna and Elizabeth – Switzerland

Wendy and Tony - Australia

Maria - Australia

Marina - German

Rebecca - Canada

Dom - UK

Cam - Australia

Natasha - Australia

Jade - UK

Gerard - UK

Luigi - Italy

Stephanie - Switzerland

Danielle - French

Maxine - Australia

Taz - UK

Moon Sun – South Korea

Michelle - UK

Blue Heather – New Zealand

Chris – New Zealand

Nez - Australia

Andrea – New Zealand

New Heather - UK

Melvyn - UK

Agatha - Ireland

Matt - Australia

Alice - UK

Alison - UK

It is now time to move on to my last few sections of my world odyssey before I get to go home and spend seven glorious weeks with friends and family before stretching all I can of my travel to spend 6 weeks in the UK and Europe and then into Ethiopia at the start of September for my new beginning.  I am sad that this has come to an end, but I am one step closer to seeing home, Zeme and Africa once again.  Thanks to all for an amazing experience and it will never be forgotten.    

THE REAL EQUATOR AND OUR LAST DAY ON ROSITA

WEATHER: Warm and 28C  

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: The shortest travel day for sure and finality at 2.5 hours

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Our last day on Rosita – EVER and good-byes

WORD OF THE DAY:  I HATE good-byes

DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 88km

TODAY IS OUR LAST DAY IN ROSITA.  The journey ends today, officially tomorrow after breakfast, but really today, especially for Sharon and I who are not staying at the Tucan hotel tonight.  I booked 2 nights at the same hotel that I had stayed in back in November with Amy as part of our Galapagos package.  Not just to have a small splurge, but I knew where things were in my area and to avoid the check-in and checkout dramas of moving from one hotel to another.  Sharon still had to book an extra night in Quito so I made the offer to stay with me if she wanted. 

The drive was only going to take a few hours this morning with one stop at the Equator line on the way so we had a 9am start time.  I gave my Globetrotters book to Gray and Mark to write in for me.  Only ‘special’ people get to write in this amazing book of mine.  For those of you who don’t know what my Globetrotters Log is.  The Globetrotter’s LogBook #1 - Countries of the World is a beautifully produced and highly unusual pocket-sized souvenir book for people who like traveling. Every one of the world’s current 193 countries (and their 58 overseas dependencies) are listed in alphabetical order, complete with flags, capital cities, information, details about their time zones, currencies, land area, population, interesting travel-websites, etc. - the list goes on. Also -and this is what makes the book so unusual- each country has room for a small personal souvenir: the rubberstamp from the hotel where you stayed, some fun words of farewell from your ski instructor, your own personal copy of that beautiful postage stamp you loved so much, a dried petal from your favorite flower, and so on - whatever you want to keep to remind you of your trip. But there’s even more. The Globetrotter's LogBook® #1 also features a very handy Vaccination Log in which you can keep a structured and up-to-date record of the jabs you have had as you embark on your adventurous life. Many travelers will also enjoy the detailed Flight Register with -believe it or not- room for the flight captain’s signature and your seat number!  It is an amazing little book and it is just about as important as my passport, well nearly. 

After only 40 minutes we stopped at the Equator line of Caranqui.  The Equator refers to the Earth's equator which is an imaginary line on the Earth's surface equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole, dividing the Earth into the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere. Other planets and spherical astronomical bodies have equators similarly defined. The latitude of the Equator is 0° (zero degrees). The Equator is one of the five notable circles of latitude on Earth, with the others being the two Polar Circles and the two Tropical Circles: the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The Equator traverses the land and/or territorial waters of 14 countries.  Ecuador is also the name of a country, representing a nation, an ancient history and cultural identity of a society.  Also known as "The Middle of the World" to the region of the Equatorial Andes, where evidence has been found proving that in the past of the region there was a deep awareness astronomical and the possibility that Indians Quitu-Caranqui, before the conquest of the Incas were able to reach the exact positioning of the equator in the archaeological site.   

Several monuments have been built in honor of the Equator, and the same is found in many countries crossed by the equator, there are in Brazil, Sao Tome Principe, Gabon, Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Indonesia , however, that attracted the most attention and are both the best known, are in the Republic of Ecuador, or better known as the Equator.  There is much confusion around this controversy. To explain the truth about the origin and real meaning of these sites, we will explain one by one, and begin with the most recommended.

Our stop was at the ‘real’ Sundial Ecuador which is exactly at latitude 0 ° 0'0'', with the precision of a millimeter, the Sun Dial Ecuador is the first monument of the Equator in the history of the Republic of Ecuador, comprising a circular platform of 54 meters in diameter, which forms a mosaic of river stones, of light and dark tones that draw the eight-pointed star also known as the compass rose. In the center of this platform is a cylindrical post ten meters high which serves as the gnomon or marker shadows, which indicate the corresponding hours and months according to the apparent transit of the Sun.  There was a guide there that explained about the equator and the most interesting fact that I took away from his spiel was that when in New Zealand (Southern Hemisphere) you see a certain set of constellations and stars and when you are in Switzerland (Northern Hemisphere) you see another set of constellations and stars.  When you are on the Equator you can see all the starts and constellations of both hemispheres-pretty cool huh.  I have seen the Equator in several other countries and it is always a great claim to fame.  This monument is not to be confused with the Monument in honor of the eighteenth century French Missions which is closer to Quito than this monument and really is advertised also as the Equator.  The misconception had to be clarified with respect to the monument of the Middle of the World, which was built in 1982 to replace another that was in the same place, and now in the town of Cala Cali, is that it was never built as a monument to the Middle of the World, but to commemorate the two hundred years after the visit of the French Geodesic Mission, which is also written in the plaques on the sides of these two monuments. This monument is not on the equator, according to geodetic datums applicable to the region as WGS84. So the monument does not represent the limit of both North and South hemispheres, nor was generated by the studies performed with measurements Geodetic Astronomy of the Academy of Sciences of France in 1736. The French Geodesic Mission was never in this site, they stayed in the village of Cala Cali and the Treasury Tanlahua, to perform the respective triangulations.  According coordinate positions, taken with GPS surveying, the monument in honor of the French Geodesic Mission, is located 7.7 seconds south of zero, about 240 meters, which indicates that, with the latest technology that exists , said monument supposedly is not on the Equator.  The Monument of the "Middle of the World" is important to our history, as long as you recognize it as the monument in memory of the French Geodesic Mission, not as the Equator, it never was, it is not and never will be.  This is the one that Amy and I visited in November, so I am glad that I got to see the ‘real’ equator line of Ecuador.  So after a few photo ops, the purchase of some paraphernalia to help the local guides and organization we were back on the road again for the last 1.5 hours of my whole Ultimate South American tour.  

We arrived into Quito just after 12 noon.  This is where it started to set in that this journey was coming to an end.  It didn’t take long for everyone to get all their crap off the truck.  Rosita looked so nude with everything taken off.  It was good though as it gave Sharon and I time to go through the whole truck to make sure that we hadn’t left anything and also to check that no-one else had as well.  We had stacked our bags in the courtyard as everyone else checked into their rooms and looking at all our bags it still looked like we had a wad of stuff.  Oh well a trip to the post office tomorrow will help us rid us of that bag and I also had my snack bag, plus my backpack, my small backpack, a miscellaneous bag and my handbag.  Yeah I guess it sounds a lot and then Sharon had the same plus a camping bag, so yeah I guess we had a lot of crap.  We got Mark to call us a taxi and a transfer service turned up instead which was just as well as he had a 4WD to fit in all our bags.  There is no way it all would have fit into a normal taxi and the best thing was it was only 5USD for the 10 minute journey.  No good-byes were exchanged here as there was going to be a farewell dinner tonight at a place called The Magic Bean.  We decided we would just get back to the hotel at 7pm and walk with the group to the restaurant. 

When we arrived at our 5 star lap of luxury, the Dann Carlton Hotel, we told the bellboy we would need the trolley and his eyes nearly popped when he saw how much stuff we had.  Once we had checked in we found out that we were on a ‘Smart’ level of the hotel in a new wing.  We had our own lounge access that served free horse a douvers at 6pm each night and drinks and coffee all day and when we got to our room we had our very own computer and free internet and Wi-Fi access.  The junior suite itself had a sitting room with a massive flat screen TV, the bedroom with 2 queen size beds, a walk in robe, another flat screen TV and a spa in the bathroom and separate mirror and sink section.  Welcome to our 2 nights in the lap of luxury.  We deserve it. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, unpacking all out ‘stuff’ and just getting used to the idea that we no longer inhabited a big yellow truck and no longer travelling with 20 other people.  This will take a little adjusting and I am just glad that I am not flying home firstly, that would really suck, glad I am not flying tomorrow, that would really suck too, and super glad that I am still travelling to lessen the pain of saying goodbye to people I have spent so much time with. 

We caught a taxi at 6.40pm back to the Tucan Hotel called the Majestic.  It was a little dark, in regards to lighting as well as the dark wood furniture.  Sharon had stayed here at the start if the trip, but I got to have a peak into Marina and Steph’s room and it was okay.  Nothing compared to the ‘lap of luxury’!!!  The walk to the Magic Bean was only 10 minutes away where Mark had booked a table and the last supper was served for the last time.   The staff at the magic Bean had on shirts with the following quite which I thought was pretty cool:

If you are a dreamer, come in.
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
a hoper, a prayer, a magic bean buyer...
if you are a pretender, come sit by my fire
for we have some flax, golden tales to spin.
come in... come in!

SHEL SILVERSTEIN

As it was a Sunday no alcohol is served BUT after dinner Mark knew of a place that served alcohol in coffee cups, so sneaky to get around that, so after dinner we walked 5 minutes to a funky bar called La Boco del Lobo.  Featuring a brightly lit, colorfully painted glass-encased patio with funky chandeliers, hanging birdcages, and faux renaissance portraits it was a great place to have a few farewell drinks before the final farewell.  They had an awesome long list of fruity cocktails all made with different flavors of Absolut Vodka, delicious!!!!!!!  Some people had early flights in the morning and Shaz and I had to catch a taxi back to our hotel so we were the first to leave after 2 drinks and a photo shoot for some last snaps.  I think I was glad that we were the first, as we left on a high, before anyone got too drunk and it was just a great way to say goodbye.  So after massive hugs for each and every-one there, with promises to keep in touch and safe travels all round we walked out the door and the official end of the tour for Shaz and I. 

What a trip of a lifetime. 

9 Countries

153 days on tour less 25 Ethiopian days

178 days on the continent less 25 Ethiopian days

43 people on tour

32,918.1km circumnavigating the continent less 5,500km while in Ethiopia

Goodbye to Tucan, to my fellow Tucan travelers but I still have another week on the South American continent ( well 2 nights in Quito and 4 nights on Easter Island (territory of Chile) so it is not quite farewell just yet for South America.  By the time I leave Easter Island I would have been in South America for 6.5 months.  That’s just over a third of my 16 month trip-it’s incredible to just think about it all and I am still thankful for each and every day that ticks by.   

MY SHOPPING EXTRAVGANZA AT THE OTAVALO MARKETS

WEATHER: Cooler and 23C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: SHOPPING

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Spending money…….

WORD OF THE DAY:  Barter, barter, barter

Nothing was on the cards today except shopping, shopping and more shopping.  It was a free day in Otavalo and breakfast was from 6.30am-10.30am.  The specialty of the house was pancakes with chocolate sauce, fresh strawberries and banana’s.  It was delicious.  Some of the guys wanted to go to the animal market first thing that finished at 10am so they hit the road for the 20 minute walk to see that.  Apparently if you have animal rights principles, then don’t go as livestock is not treated with tender loving care as it is not the highest priority on the day's agenda.  I decided to stay at the hostel and I got some diary entries done and I had bought 2 thank-you cards in Popayan for Mark and Gray.  I am a sentimental person at the best of times and to say good-bye to two people that I have spent every day with for the last 5 months and were an integral part of my trip, I bought them cards to put their tips in and a personal thank-you message.    

Otavalo is a largely indigenous town in the Imbabura Province of Ecuador. The town has about 90,000 inhabitants and is surrounded by the peaks of Imbabura 4,630m, Cotacachi 4,995m, and Mojanda volcanoes.  The indigenous Otavaleños are famous for weaving textiles, usually made of wool, which are sold at the famous Saturday market. Although the largest market is on Saturday, there is a very wide range of wares available throughout the week in the Plaza de los Ponchos, and the many local shops.

The Otavalo market consists of ninety mushroom-shaped concrete umbrellas with benches. The market was designed and built in 1970 by Dutch architect Tonny Zwollo. During the market's peak, almost one third of the town becomes full of stalls selling textiles, tagua nut jewelry, musical instruments, dream catchers, leather goods, fake shrunken heads, indigenous costumes, hand-painted platters and trays, purses, clothing, spices, raw foods, carved statues, picture frames, furniture and spools of wool.  The best day of the week to hit this famous and friendly corner of the Andes is Saturday, the biggest market day for gringos and locals alike.  The market is centered around 'Poncho Plaza'. All day long there is Andean pipe music and you can hear the locals talking Quichua, the native tongue derived from the Incan tongue.  A blinding maze of colored textiles spills from the square out across town.  As you stroll the streets you'll find everything from jumpers to armadillo shell guitars, wall hangings to ceramic fried eggs. We decided to attack the square in some form of order to make sure that we tried to see everything so we tried to not restrict ourselves to Poncho Plaza, as we guessed you’d probably get better bargains away from the main square. 

We started our shopping at 10am.  After stopping at one of the first stalls Sharon had already purchased a wool beanie and I was a few stalls down purchasing 2 small woven nags for my god-daughters and 2 small dolls.  We hadn’t even been there 10 minutes!  This was going to be a BIG shopping day.  We spent the next 3 hours wandering the stalls in some form of order.  There was colour and people everywhere, and a lot more local people than gringo’s from what I could see.  It was nice to be spending money that you didn’t need 5, 7 or 12 times tables to work out the cost of things.  So in the first round of shopping I had bought the 2 bags and 2 dolls for my GD’s, 2 painted pictures, 2 wooden statues, a new scarf, a beautiful silver ring, 3 beaded necklaces, 2 woven table runners, 2 woven belts and hand-made local cards.  Not a bad effort for 3 hours.  We needed to drop off our bags back to the hostel and then refuel for the afternoon’s second session.  Thank-goodness that the hostel was only a 5 minute walk down the road.  It started to rain just as we finished lunch, but after an initial downpour it only sprinkled for a few more minutes and then it was just cloudy for the rest of the afternoon.  Some of the stalls had packed up due to the rain, but there were still plenty of stalls to visit and we only had 2 hours to do it in as the markets start to close and pack up around 4pm. 

The markets are full of local Otavaleños.  They are still easily identified by their distinctive dress: women wear women traditionally wear distinctive white embroidered blouses, with flared lace sleeves, and black or dark over skirts, with cream or white under skirts. Their long hair is tied back with a 3 cm band of woven multi colored material, often matching the band which is wound several times round their waists. They usually have many strings of gold beads around their necks, and matching tightly wound long strings of coral beads around each wrist. The men have long, braided hair and wear calf-length white trousers, ponchos and sandals.  It is nice to be back in a country with National dress and culture so clearly evident.  My second round purchases included a beautiful hand woven rug, an alpaca lion (which is as cute as a button) a pair of silver earrings, 2 bags, 2 more beaded necklaces, 2 painted wooden jewellery boxes, a painted cross and another textile bag to put all my purchases in.  What a GREAT day and man it felt good to have some retail therapy.  I definitely will now have to send another box home.  I was thinking I could carry it all for the next 8 weeks, but by the time I pay for a second bag on the US airlines it will add up to what the postage will cost, so posting all my gear that I bought today it is. 

Once we were back at the hostel it was time to go through what we had bought, making a postage bag, going through what was left of my things and starting to airline pack again.  I had posted a box in Cartagena last week and with another box to post in Quito, all my stuff was looking okay to fit in their original bags.  AWESOME.   Shaz and I got ourselves into position as we worked, packed and threw away things we no longer needed in our little dog box of a room.  We couldn’t walk past each other without someone moving out of the way, the room was really a room filled with 2 beds and a chair and no room for anything else, but we got it done and it feels great that I have now moved all my stuff off Rosita and have it all packed.  With Sharon heading to Europe for the last 4 months of her trip and me heading to the USA there was no need to stock up on things and I have finally been able to leave my sleeping bag and my blow up travel pillow behind.  I bought the sleeping bag in London just before my Africa component on sale for 50GBP.  I think I have got my money’s worth out of that yellow and gray thing in the last 10 months.  I also got my washing back that I had dropped in this morning.  A whopping 4.80AUD for 3kg.  That certainly beats the 75AUD I paid in Caracas for around the same amount.  That was the biggest rip I have had nearly all trip. 

Dinner was a quick option at the local chicken take-away place.  We couldn’t be bothered with a proper sit down meal tonight.  It has started to rain again and the temperature had really dropped, so it was time to get into bed, even though it was only 8.30pm where we needed up on the intermittent internet and reading my book till a more respectable hour of 10pm when we turned off the light for the last time on tour in preparation for our last day in Rosita tomorrow.        

OUR LAST OVERLAND BORDER CROSSING-WELCOME TO ECUADOR

WEATHER: Cool and 23C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Driving through the beautiful Andes

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Our last overland border crossing of the trip

WORD OF THE DAY:  Welcome back!

DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 380km

We leave Colombia today after 17 days in this magic country and enter into Ecuador this afternoon.  This is where the tour started for 3 people back on the 14^th November last year.  They have completed the full 171 day loop by the time we get back.  I started in Lima on the 29^th November so it is not a welcome back home, but I have been to Ecuador before when I did my Galapagos cruise with my mate Amy in mid- November but either way it marks the end of this great adventure.

As my broken record keeps playing, we knew that today was going to be a long day!  We had over 380km to travel which doesn’t sound like it should take all day, but for the last time, and I have said this before as well, but this is the last time that we will be in Andes, with its winding roads and traffic, mainly trucks, it will take us over 10 hours today and also a border crossing.  It is our last BIG drive and our 2^nd last truck day of the whole trip and as we pulled out of Popayán, listening to my IPod, it has finally hit me that it is all coming to an end and I am sad.  I have feeling a little fragile emotionally the last few days and I think it is just the movement if my life, the end of one thing-the start of new things and the unknown of what the future holds.  Don’t worry I am okay, the circle of life continues and life moves on, but we can have sad moments every now and then. 

Once we were out of the city limits the scenery changed dramatically and we found ourselves in the beautiful Andes where we hovered around the 2000m above sea level for the rest of the day.  The views from up here were AMAZING.  The sky was blue, the sun was shining down and the hills were a shade of green that changed with every twist and turn of the road.  It wasn’t too cold, so I could keep my window open and have the wind in my hair all day.  I LOVE sticking my head out the window and just watch the world go past.  The Andes Mountains form the most populated region of Colombia and contain the majority of the country's urban centers. They were also the location of the most significant pre-Columbian indigenous settlement.   In this section there are some small houses and home style shops along the way, but no massive service stations as there is just not enough room.  These shops do supply fuel for the small trucks and cars, but via a funnel out of a drum should people find themselves short.  Where the road is wide enough, there are some truck stops that have public showers and food that they can purchase, and at some of these stops they have truck cleaners, that get dressed all in raincoats and boots and wash the trucks with high pressure hoses and buckets.  There are a lot of trucks on this route and patience is a virtue on waiting for the right time to get more than 20m of straight road for Gray to manage an overtake and then for other trucks travelling faster than us (hard to believe with Gray behind the wheel) that they then try and over take us!  At one stage there was a yellow cabbed truck behind us and I took a photo of them behind us on one of the bends.  It’s actually a cool picture, but then the passenger in the truck started waving on each right bend and then they started tooting on the right bends and smiling and waving.  We got to over-take on one of the few straits and they tooted as they got stuck behind the slower truck.  I could see them trying to catch up with us again, when we pulled up to one of the few petrol stations for a toilet stop they passed us and gave around 10 toots and waves as they continued in there way!  It helped kill an hour or so of the drive. 

We arrived into a small town 15km from the Colombian border that is famous for the Las Lajas Sanctuary.  We parked at the top of the town and had to make our way down a sloping pathway and a few steps to get us to the basilica church built inside the canyon of the Guáitara River.  The present church was built in Gothic Revival style in 1949. The name Laja comes from the name of a type of flat sedimentary rock similar to shale.  The inspiration for the church's creation was a result of a miraculous event in 1754 when an Amerindian named Maria Mueces and her deaf-mute daughter Rosa were caught in a very strong storm. The two sought refuge between the gigantic Lajas, when to Maria Mueces's surprise, her mute daughter, Rosa exclaimed "the mestiza is calling me..." and pointed to the lightning-illuminated silhouette over the laja. This apparition of the Virgin Mary caused pilgrimage to this location, with occasional miraculous cases of healing reported. The image on the stone is still visible today.

The existence of a shrine in this location was recorded in the accounts of friar Juan de Santa Gertrudis's journey through the southern region of the New Kingdom of Granada between 1756 and 1764. The first shrine was built here in the middle of 18th century from straw and wood. It was replaced with a new, larger shrine in 1802, which in turn was extended and connected to the opposite side of canyon with a bridge.  The current church was built in the time period from January 1, 1916 to August 20, 1949, with donations from local churchgoers. It rises 100m high from the bottom of canyon and is connected with a 50m tall bridge to the opposite side of the canyon.  In 1951 the Roman Catholic Church authorized the Nuestra Señora de Las Lajas Virgin, and it declared the sanctuary a minor basilica in 1954.  It was pretty cool and to be able to go inside the church and see the rock wall that makes up the alter side of the church was amazing.  The only bad thing is that walking ‘down’ to the church after getting some pretty magic pictures of the church and the gorge, we had to walk back ‘up’.  The cherry on the top was that Mark and Gray had prepared lunch in our presence, so it was all ready to go after I had caught my breath.  I am putting it down to altitude and has nothing to do with my level of fitness! 

It only took us 20 minutes to get to the Colombian border control and it was a busy place with people, cars, trucks, money changers, fruit sellers and National Guards all around. We all got off the truck and there was no queue for the stamping out process and we were all processed within 20 minutes.  We all had to have our thumb and pointer finger scanned which was a little strange when we didn’t have then scanned on the way in.  Shaz and I made a joke about our finger prints matching up with our postage that we sent from Cartagena where we had to give our finger prints on the postage paperwork, but we were all allowed out of the country and back into the truck for the Ecuador formalities.  The Ecuador formalities were just as easy, we had to fill in a simple form and then our passports were put into a machine and given an electronic stamp rather than an ink stamp.  The truck took a little longer to clear here but we were back on the road again at 5.25pm with around 180km left to go till Otavalo and out stop for the last 2 nights. 

WELCOME TO ECUADOR.  We are now on USD for the local currency which is great for me, not only is the rate still in the AUD favor but I will be on the USD for the next 51 days.  I will be on the Chilean peso on Easter Island and then I can use USD in Barbados and then the USA.  I think I will pull more money out in LA before leaving for home, as it will be good to have some USD when I head back to Ethiopia and I am sure it will be cheaper to withdraw it out in the US than use the exchange when I am at home. 

The border controls were at 2750m, which from memory is ranking up there within the top 5 of the highest crossings to date.  Within half an hour we had risen to 3200m above sea level where we stayed pretty much until we descended into Otavalo at 1800m at 8.15pm.  It was another 14 hour day, but we were all happy to out in the time today as it got us into Otavalo on a Friday night which then gave us all day at the Otavalo markets tomorrow, which is the main market day of the week.  We were supposed to stay at a small town just over the border and then arrive into Otavalo around lunchtime, but we decided to put in the hard yards and get there the night before to give us all day. 

The hostel was in a great location and was 2 small blocks from where the stalls of the markets would be set up tomorrow.  It was getting late so by the time we had dropped all our bags Marina, Steph, Sharon and I decided to eat at a small café/restaurant just off the Poncho Plaza, the group went to a small bar, but we figured it would take too long to serve 22 people, so we branched off to speed up the process of getting back to the hostel.  We were knackered.  Our room at the hostel was so small you couldn’t even swing a cat in there.  BUT the beds were comfortable and warm enough and we had hot water, so what else did we need.  The weather was cold and our rooms were located on the ground floor in like a little outdoor cottage surrounded by the rest of the rooms, but once in bed we were snug as bugs in a rug.  Sharon and I had taken every single thing we owned off Rosita and we were going to go through our stuff tomorrow to make sure all fits into our packs and depending on what we buy tomorrow at the markets work out whether we needed to send another package home.  It will be interesting with the amount of space we have how the room will look with all our stuff, but we’ll work it out tomorrow.     

TRUCK DAY WAS ONLY 3 HOURS – WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ABOUT?

WEATHER: Cooler and 25C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: 3 hours in the truck

BUMMER OF THE DAY: 3 hours in the truck

WORD OF THE DAY:  Italian

DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 120km

We were told that it wouldn’t be far to travel today, but we have been told that quite a few times now, so it’s with a little skepticism we board the truck for the third last time EVER.  It is just starting to dawn in me this time next week I will be I will be on Easter Island on my second last night before finally leaving the South American continent after being here for nearly 6 months. 

I was in the room on my own last night as Heather had departed yesterday and it was nice to have some space to myself and spread out all my crap.  In saying that I am happy with the crap I do have left and depending on what I buy at the Otavalo Markets, I think I am going to be fine with my one bag to check-in in 5 days!  OMG 5 days!!!!! 

A 9am departure was a luxury and before we had even got out of the street Rosita (not Gray) hit a branch on an over-hanging tree and happen to snap it from the tree with it landing on a car directly below.  It was actually bigger than the normal branch that it warranted Gray to get out of the truck to check if there was any damage……and the punches just keep in rolling!!!  Luckily there was no damage to the car and we were able to drive off guilt free that no harm was done.  What a start to the day!!!  It’s our last full day in Colombia today as we cross the border to Ecuador tomorrow after lunch.  I have reall6y enjoyed Colombia, even with all the bad luck that we have had, that’s travel and shit happens.  But the people are friendly, they wave (big plus for me), its beautiful, it has beaches, it has mountains, it has shopping, no one got robbed, accosted and only some of the girls were offered some recreational drugs in Taganga, other than that we had no issues what so ever in Colombia.  We did use common sense, didn’t stray too far from hotels at night etc…. but its smart travelling and we all survived.

It took us a while to get out of Cali and the highlight was the passing of a street fruit and veggie market.  The traffic was shocking so we got to really see people go about their daily business as we were stuck in traffic.  We got the usual stares and people in cars next to us wanting to speak to us, but as my Spanish is non-existent I have to refer them to Danielle 4 windows back as her Spanish is quite good.  I wish I could speak Spanish and all plans of learning from home went unheeded and it makes me even more determined to learn Amharic so I am not left in the position when I move.   The fruit and veg market was amazing.  There were bikes, taxis, 4WD, pull carts, push carts, motor taxis all loaded to the hilt with purchases.  Colored umbrella’s shaded the sellers with their massive avocados, these things were twice the size of your fist, the grapes are the size of cherry tomatoes, there was lettuce, massive mango’s, oranges by the sackful, onions potatoes, tomatoes, bananas by the bunch and pineapples in their original form and already chopped to eat.  It was a hive of activity, colour and smells. 

It was a rainy day the further we travelled and it is funny to see how the motorbikes cover themselves to keep dry.  The main pieces they all wear are the poncho raincoats.  I saw one guy had plastic bags over his shoes, I’m guessing they aren’t waterproof.  Kids were on the back of the bikes sheltering under the ponchos and other riding with umbrellas in their hands.  I am still getting a lot of waves and I think the Colombians have been the best wavers of all the South American countries.  It probably has something to do with not seeing many tourist trucks like ours coming through, so we are a novelty and to get a gringo to return a wave is probably pretty funny for them.  I am more than happy to oblige and keep up the Tucan Ambassador-ship.

You could imagine our surprise when we saw the ‘Welcome to Popayan’ sign at 12.15am!!!  WTF.  I was just starting to get comfy on the truck.  We’re here already???  I have to say that I think this takes the prize for the shortest travel day of the whole 151 days.  3 hours!!  A walk in the park.  We were staying in the old town and after stopping out the front of the Dann Monastery Hotel (we are staying at the sister property in Quito) while Mark went to check on the hotels and returned 10 minutes later to tell us that Rosita was too big to get in and we just had to walk a block to the hotel.  I was okay with this as I had just packed an overnight bag for the one night stay, so I didn’t have to lug my big backpack.  I am not just a pretty face you know!  

Popayán is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between Colombia's Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. It has a population of 258,653 people and is located 1760 meters above sea level.  This town is well-known because of its beautiful colonial architecture and its contributions to Colombian cultural and political life. It is also known as the "white city" due to the color of the most of colonial houses and places in the city downtown, where several churches are located, such as San Francisco, San José, Belén, Santo Domingo, San Agustín, and the Cathedral Basílica Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, known locally as "La Catedral".  The city's cathedral was home to the Crown of the Andes, a 16th century Marianist devotional object featuring emeralds taken from the captured Inca Emperor Atahualpa before its sale to finance local health care institutions.  Much of the city's original splendor was destroyed on 31 March 1983, when an earthquake toppled many buildings. Though many of them were rebuilt and repaired, the heart of the city still bears ruins and empty lots since the disaster.  Popayán has been home to seventeen Colombian presidents, as well as noted poets, painters, and composers. The University of Cauca (est. 1827), one of Colombia's oldest and most distinguished institutions of higher education, is located here; that is why Popayan is also known as the "University City."

In 2005, Popayán was declared by the UNESCO as the first city of gastronomy because of its variety and meaning to the intangible patrimony of Colombian culture.  The culinary history of the Cauca department was chosen because of their maintaining of traditional methods of food preparation which has been passed over through different generations orally. Popayán is the only place in Latin America to have been declared a City of Gastronomy by UNESCO, in tribute to its significant tradition of regional cooking. Typical dishes of the city are a legacy of both Spanish and indigenous cultural interaction, integrating components of local origin with fruits brought from Spain.  On 2009 September 28, UNESCO also declared the processions of the Easter Week processions as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Patrimony of Humanity.  Popayán was a very important town during the colonial period because of its location between Lima, Quito and Cartagena. Even after the discovery of the Pacific Ocean, Popayán remained a transfer point of gold and riches going to Cartagena on its way to Spain. Popayán also served as a colonial mine, producing various denominations of the Escudo gold coins and silver Reales from 1760 through 1819; it continued producing coinage for the new Republic of Colombia after 1826.

As a result of its colonial importance, Popayán is one of the most traditional Colombian towns and is very rich in Colonial architecture. Although in 1983 an earthquake destroyed part of the city, there are still several colonial bridges, museums and churches in the town.  Popayán has been destroyed by several earthquakes. The most recent and destructive lasted eighteen seconds and occurred on 31 March 1983. The reconstruction of the colonial city took more than 10 years and today it is still possible to see some lots that have not been reconstructed. The first earthquake seismic design code was established in Colombia as a consequence of this earthquake.

Popayán's Historic Downtown is considered one of the most beautiful and best preserved in Colombia and Latin America. Popayán has preserved its colonial architecture for more than four centuries, a reason why national Colombian and foreign visitors are seduced by its historic downtown. The cobblestone streets were almost all paved in 1937, however, there are a few projects which are currently being implemented to recover the old city's original look and this was where we were staying for the night.  It was still spitting rain a little bit as we arrived at out hotel.  The hotel had another large group in, so the boys got moved to the hotel next door and we stayed where we were.  After a 25 minute turn around, we walked the 2 blocks to the city center and then branched off to enjoy a leisurely lunch.  Steph, Marina, Shaz and I found a cute little Italian Restaurant where we got a starter salad, I ordered spaghetti carbonara, we also got garlic bread, French fries and to finish off we got a small custard and meringue for desert and it was all included in the pastas price of 10AUD.  It was an amazing meal and while we were waiting for the main course I made a phone call to Zeme.  It’s been a week and I said I would try and call once a week and I also needed to use the last of my mobile credit, so we got a good 8 minutes, it was a bad line, but what I could make out is that he has applied or has seen the Australian Consulate people about his visa for July.  Fingers crossed he doesn’t have any issues as I would be totally devastated if he didn’t come to Oz for the 10 days as planned.  We filled all the forms in while I was in Addis (I was allowed) so all should be in order for the submission.  Please, please Travel Gods you have to weigh in on this one for me as we know you really haven’t been around for the last 3 weeks that is for sure. 

Sharon and I took a walk around the small town after lunch and we saw a few of the main sights including:

Caldas Park.  This park, common passageway of students, executives, and all citizens, and cultural reunion place, it was born at the same time as Popayán in 1537, when the track in grid generated around religious, governmental, and founders buildings. Initially it was used as a marketplace. In 1538 it was placed a trap in the center of the park, where Jorge Robledo y Álvaro Oyón were beheaded. This trap lasted until 1766 when it was replaced by a faucet of water, which lasted until 1805 when a stone pile was put in its place, but it was removed too in 1910 after the inauguration of the monument to Sabio Caldas, a piece of the French sculptor Raoul Verlet, which has remained since that time in the same place. There exists a replica located in the Plazoleta de las Nieves in Bogotá. At the same time there were planted leafy trees which currently round up the monument and embellish this place. In May 2007 a proposal of architect Lorenzo Castro was made to remodel Caldas Park by expanding the pedestrian zone around the park, and in April 2009 the first phase of the work in the park began, in preparation for the celebration of Easter, a touristic time for Popayán.

Clock Tower.  It is the main symbol of the city, and it was called “the nose of Popayan” by Master Guillermo Valencia. It is a construction placed next to the Cathedral church, built between 1673 and 1682, with 96 thousand bricks.  The clock, made in England, was placed in 1737. Its mechanism operated by the action of two lead weights which were changed by Antonio Nariño in the Colombia independence dispute in 1814, when metal was required to manufacture ammunition.  After the earthquake of 1983, the clock was restored and put back in operation by the same English company that manufactured it, but it stopped working a long time ago.

San Francisco Church.  According to the architect, critic and historian Germain Téllez, the facade of this temple is the best example of baroque style throughout Colombia. In its tower is placed a famous bell donated by Don Pedro Agustín de Valencia. This temple is remarkable because of its altars decorations and its naves and apse proportions. In the San Francisco's square, it stands the monument to the local hero Camilo Torres, whose replica is located in the square of the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé in Bogotá.

Santo Domingo Church.  Fray Jeronimo Escobar founded the convent of the Augustinians in the late seventeenth century, whose temple was destroyed in the earthquake in 1736. Then, it was reconstructed thanks to contributions from notable people of the city, but it was necessary to restore it again after the earthquake of 1983. In particular it stands out its altar carved in wood and covered in gold, its expository baroque made in silver and a beautiful image of the Lady of Sorrows.

Catedral Basílica Nuestra Señora de la Asunción Church

Originally it was a straw hut, but in 1609 it was opened a second cathedral of mud and masonry. The current construction was consecrated in 1906 by Archbishop Manuel Antonio Arboleda, who brings it a magnificent European pipe organ. Its style is the neoclassical, and much of the building was restored because of the earthquake of 1983, including the great dome of 40 meters high, whose restoration was made according to guidelines of the original structure designed by the local artist Adolfo Dueñas.

It was a nice afternoon and it is the first one we have had for a very long time where we have had time to actually do something in daylight hours and it made a great change.  We were back to the hotel just after 5pm where we relaxed and watched some TV.  The Wi-Fi was intermittent in the rooms but we only had to sit in the hacienda courtyard out the front of our room to get connection, which we did when we needed.  We found the crime channel and watched back to back CSI Miami, New York and Las Vegas through till 8pm and decided we better get something to eat, even though we weren’t that hungry after such a big lunch, we were leaving in the morning at 6.15am, and wouldn’t be getting breakfast.  So we took a stroll back into town armed with our cameras and took some night shots of the Bell Tower, Santo Domingo Church and the park all lit up at night.  There wasn’t a lot of traffic on the roads, but there were a few people out and about and it certainly felt safe enough to walk around.  On the way back we found a small areapa place that did all sorts of flavors, so Shaz got 2 Hawaiians, and I got 2 chicken and bacon ones, one for dinner and one for brekkie and they were heated on a BBQ grill with the toppings and cheese put in the in the middle and slapped together like a sandwich.  We took them back to the hotel and it was just the right size for dinner and we now had something in the morning for breakfast.

Sharon and I have been scratching like mad all day from the blood sucking flying buggers.  My skirt was rubbing make them all itch.  We didn’t have any itch cream so we resorted to applying aloe vera and it seemed to help them calm down, but man scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch – ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

So that was how we spent our last full day and our last night in Colombia.  I enjoyed the country immensely and I think it would definitely be one that I would come back to again and spend some more time on the coast.