Hawaii January ´09

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America Central (parte uno)

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Colombia - A la orden!

A la orden señor! An expression that can only be heard in Colombia and an expression that I want to use to describe Colombian people. Friendly, respectful, considerate and interested. That`s how the large majority of Colombians will appear to you.

Before I went I heard so many good things. Almost every South America Traveler recommends Colombia as the best place to go because of its amazing people and good vibe. So I had been excited to go for months. My expectations where high, very high and what I got from traveling this country pleased me a lot. Of course there is not a 100% of outstandingly friendly people, but the large majority welcomed you warmly and appreciates your bravery of visiting their country.

Colombians are well aware of their reputation in the world and try to do everything to change it. Colombia is not what it was anymore. Guerrilla, drugs, and crime are still present but somewhere distant, somewhere where the common traveler will never go. The new commercials everywhere say: "Colombia - the only risk is wanting to stay!" I think that is true.

On the other hands, more things that Colombia is known for are clearly visible every day. Those are plastic surgery (Boob jobs are almost obligatory and butt implants necessary for every "nadadora" :-) and the prettiest women in the world (the reason why might be arguable, I guess).

Tourism has picked up so much over the last 5 years and it's beginning to change the country. Wherever you go there are people interested in you as a traveler, as a foreigner, as someone who comes to exchange cultural experiences. But in the busiest tourist spots this spirit is almost fading. Tourism has it's bad sides and besides money cultural exchange or tightening international relations, it can bring indifference, confirmation of prejudices and unkindness to local people. Especially in places where rich tourists visit relatively poor areas, behave disrespectful, take drugs and disappear after a short time. A place like this is Taganga at the Caribbean Cost in the North. The clearest sign that tourism has the power to destroy, to change the maybe friendliest and happiest people in Latin America.

Therefore my recommendation is, go to Colombia, and go now, before it is too late. To many people you are still a stranger, a brave person that made it to their country, someone who believes in Colombia. But there are already lots of those who are accustomed to travelers, who see you as someone who brings money and not much more - which is sad.

I was more than lucky already 4 month ago when I met David y Lida in Argentina. These two people as well as Daniela, Alex (a friend from Indiana and with 2 weeks hanging out together my longest travel buddy on the whole trip), Matt and Alisa, Karen and many others made my trip to Colombia unforgetable. After visiting stylish Medellin, historic and romantic Cartagena, beautiful Parque Tayrona and colonial Villa de Leyva, I spent my last 4 days in Latin America in Bogota. I felt super welcome there, learned a million things and I am very sure there could have never been a better end to my trip in South America. Thank you so much again David y Lida, you are great Chibchombianos!!

I left South America after 5 moths, 8 countries, and more than 360h of bus rides, with loads of experiences that will last a lifetime and the will to come back one day - maybe soon, maybe later, who knows, but one day for sure!!

Since my new passport just arrived on time in Bogota, one week before my old one expired, I was able to go to the US without any hazzle. Spent the last week in Florida, went to the Keys, to the Bahamas and incredible Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Only Problem is, that I spend as much money in one week as I did before in a month in South America - I think it's time to go back home... :-)

Soon! Greeting from Texas!

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Ecuador - A smelly bag and a fake experiment

Arriving about a week too late, I still didn`t want to rush it too much and allowed myself 7 days to see at least some of the most important places in Ecuador. Within one week I made it to the super pretty city Cuenca, to beautiful Baños, to the amazing crater lake of Quilotoa, to the obligatory tourist destination of Mitad del Mundo and of course the capital Quito.

My first impression of Ecuador was the shitty bus service. Although I don`t really need the alround service of Peruvian bus companies, which sometimes take security a bit too serious I think (fingerprints, passport checks and video filming before departure), I really like to have more than 15cm leg space, especially on a night bus. So in addition to no comfort, one company returned my backpack soaked in fishwater when I got off in Baños. First I didn`t recognize the smell but later it was pretty obvious. Fortunately I had my cover on the backpack and only a little bit soaked through, but even hard handwashing couldn`t kill the smell entirly so far. Obviously I am not the first one with this experience, because the staff at the hostel in Baños was quite unimpressed and just asked me if I came from the coast.

But apart from that, Ecuador really is a nice place. So much greener than northern Perú and friendlier people in the streets. Everybody likes to help out and answers questions whenever you are lost or just not sure. Laguna Quilotoa is a place not to be missed when going to Ecuador I think. An impressive crater lake that makes for stunning views and good hikes. Remembering that Melbourne is supposed to be the city of 4 seasons in one day - Ecudor is the country of 4 seasons in 4 hours. On my way from Baños to Quilotoa i went through everything from fog, to burning sunshine, to rain, and finally to hail. Then sunshine again - pretty impressive when you don`t know what the weather will be like in the next 15 minutes.

Finally Quito is a pretty nice place, too. The Equator is only 22km away and has some nice museums. At the new one, where there is supposed to be the real equator line measured with GPS, they do a lot of demonstrations like the classical sink experiment which shows water flowing clockwise on the southern hemisphere and counter clockwise on the northern one due to the Coriolis force. My group was unlucky because I disillusioned them by showing them that the experiment is fake and that this force doesn`t have any effect on such small amounts of water. After we put the sink on the equator, then 2 meters to the South and then 2 meters to the North, I asked the guide if I could move the sink around to another position. Suddenly the water spun around in the other direction and the guide admitted that it should just give an idea of how it works - buhu!! However I didn`t say much more about the egg and the strength experiments - I guess the guide would have been mad at me...

Then after one week of restless traveling I thought Saturday night might be the right time to hit the nightlife scene of Quito and see what bars and clubs would have to offer. Unfortunately at 9pm I had to find out that it was election week and nobody was allowed to sell alcohol or be drunk??!! That meant no bars, no clubs, nothing. A city of 2million people just dead on a Saturday night. I couldn`t believe it, but I had to face this sad truth. They say Ecuatorians are irresponsible when they drink, and especially during election week they would drink too much and then kill, fight, drive cars and walk around the streets without caution - hmmm anyone for a drink with Ecuatorians to prove the statement??

I already arrived in Colombia and again received a tourist visa that exceeds the expiry date of my passport by far. I really would love to try an cross a border with a totally invalid one now - I am sure it`s possible!!

soon ST SB CT

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Gone MAD!

Wow, what a week! Somehow I have the impression that all my reports from Perú have to start either with the words wow, or amazing, or incredible. Why is that? Maybe because I wasn`t expecting much when I first came here. Maybe because I meet incredible people all the time here. Maybe because I stay longer in every place than I actually planned. I mean during the first week Perú was pretty much what I expected - with touristy Lago Titicaca, tourist trap Cuzco and Machu (Rip off) Picchu. But after that... wow!

So anyways, let`s not waste precious time and words. The last week I worked for M.A.D. (Make a difference) Voluntarios in Pisco. In this little city of 90.000 inhabitants an estimated 80% of the buildings either collapsed or were seriously damaged during the last earthquake in 2007. As there were "only" about 600 deaths and some 2000 injuries, the president declared this earthquake of 8.0 on the Richter Scale as not serious and therefore Pisco didn`t receive any international aid. Only desaster relief voluntary groups like M.A.D., Burners without Borders, or Pisco sin fronteras arrived to help people sort out their lives and housing situations.

So I thought I might be able to use some of the strength I gained during my last weeks at high altitude to do some good for a couple of days. Planing to stay only for a couple of days I moved into the M.A.D. House. Immediately I had to find out that the work is very rewarding and the people I worked and live with were very clever, ambitious and really keen to Make A Difference. Thus my 3 day plan turned into more than a week and leaving was not easy. I would have loved to stay longer but time`s running out and there´s still so many places to visit on the way to Bogotá...

To just give you an idea of what I did while I was there. First, we moved a house and poured a concrete floor for this lovely old lady who has to look after her disabled sister. She lives in a hut with mud floor and walls of straw since the earthquake. We went to a school to paint and renew tables and chairs, we dug holes to errect a wall and a roof for another disadvantaged lady, we taught English at the house as well as at an institute, and we improved our own house to host more volunteers and set up signs in streets so they can find us. I also operated as a translator since spanish speakers are somehow scarce amongst volunteers.

The learning part for me this time not only included practical things like woodworks, concrete and paint but also how to talk to the people and how to find out whom to help and how. It`s not easy when people know how volunteers assess personal situations and then hide valuables or make up stories to get their work done for free. Unreliability is the next big problem. So it just happened that 8 people were waiting at 9am on Thursday for a guy who has been promised help with his concrete floor. He was supposed to pick us up but never showed up - no phone call, nothing. Obviously help wasn`t that necessary.

A nice thing is to walk around with the Voluntary T-shirt. All of a sudden prices are only half as much and shopping at the market gets incredebly cheap. So maybe help is appreciated.

Going fishing, playing chess, having lunch at Chicho`s, dancing like crazy in the front yard and taking care of the mental cat called Fleebag added some unforgettable flair to my stay. I really wish I could have stayed longer.

Thanks Jun, William, Robin, Hanna, Ashley, Katie, Dom. Keep doing the shit you do, you are doing it really good - the concept of the house is perfect, just maintain it!! I will look for new smart volunteers...

Check Mate!

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