Whale Watching -Too Close for Comfort

In the States, there are rules as to how close a boat can get to a whale, but in Ecuador, no one seems to care. At the expense of interfering with whale mating and migration, tourists have the pleasure of watching whales up close and personal. I feel somewhat guilty for contributing to the on-going environmental risks by being one of those whale seeking tourists, which is partly why I didn't go twice to see the whales even though I really wanted to.

During the months of June to December, one can see humpback whales migrating. Any tourist going on a whale watching tour is pretty much guaranteed to see them since they seemed to be everywhere when I went. The boats almost surround them and the whales have to adjust their positions to get around the boats which is how I'm able to take photos so close-up. Although I wasn't fast enough to take a picture, I saw a whale leap out of the water for the amusement of his mate. Only the males seem to jump and they can jump quite high.



Their heads are covered with tubercles that look like stuck mussels, but are actually hair follicles as seen in the photo below. I could have watched them all day, but only did so for a couple hours because I also had to see the Poor Man's Galapagos that same day.
The island off of Ecuador, Isla de La Plata, is known as the Poor Man's Galapagos because a tour to see similar wildlife as on the Galapagos only cost $30 including the whales as opposed to thousands for the Galapagos. Because I could not get enough of the blue footed boobies, I went to see them again along with the Nazca boobies who currently have little hatchlings.




The town of Puerto Lopez is mainly known as a fishing village despite the whales and the Isla de La Plata. Fishing boats congregate and bring in the daily catch. Therefore, I ate fresh seafood every night for dirt cheap and chilled out with fruit milkshakes. One day, I laid out on the National Park beach of Los Frailes. I woke up every morning to the sounds of waves crashing since my own private cabana only cost $10 including breakfast. And in the evenings, I huddled around a beach bonfire and chatted with other gringos or I relaxed on my hammock with my latest book. Life is good.

Valley of Longevity

When I feed a stray dog food, I do so out of pity for the desperate and sad dog. I wonder if strangers feel the same way towards me when they buy me dinner. I wonder if after 13 months of traveling alone, I have developed the sad and pathetic puppy dog look. Maybe travel is catching up with me. This time, the free dinner though came with a bet. Bruce of Villcabamba bet me that I could not finish a plate of spaghetti that he has never been able to finish and if I did, he would buy it. What Bruce did not know is that I've been taking food bets ever since I was 10 and only lost once on a cheesecake.

While we waited for my spaghetti, he paid for my dinner anyway. When my food did come, and to everyone's surprise, I finished that meal with no hesitation. And this is how I came to know Bruce who has retired in the Valley of Longevity and has become just like one of the regulars here.


Villcabamba is known for the longevity of the inhabitants. No one is really sure if it is the tranquil setting, mineral water or fresh air that contributes to the longer life. One thing is for sure, Americans are moving here in droves. I visited during a real estate conference with hordes of Americans looking to buy property. Bruce came for all of the above and the cheap rent and massages. It has become a backpacker's resort of sorts.

During my time here, I took advantage of another spa opportunity and another horseback ride. I've ridden more horses during this last year than in my whole life. Horseback riding just seems to be the tour of choice around Ecuador.

The rest of the time, I read and caught up on my life. I've also read more books in the last year than I may have read in my life. I had forgotten how much I enjoy reading and I relish the time I now have to delve into worlds, lives and adventures so different from my own. I have a born again devotion to books, which I hope continues even when I return to the real world.

Hablas castellano porque necesito un amigo?

Do you speak Spanish because I need a friend? Ok, so I'm not that blunt, but since my Spanish hasn't improved as quickly as I would have liked, I have had to make more of an effort to reach out to locals to practice. I've been accused of and found guilty of hanging out with too many gringos over the last year. Meeting strangers has never been difficult for me. I even befriend the local animals and currently have a kitten who follows me around and insists on being my best friend. But since I hang out in hostels, I tend to meet more Europeans, Aussies and Israelis than anyone else.

In Cuenca, I met two musicians from Quito. David and Andres, who invited me out to listen to an orchestral concert. I gladly joined them and after the concert, we met up with one of their friends Mayra who is from Cuenca and we hit the town. We ate street food, watched fireworks from the Corpus Christi festival, laughed endlessly at a microbrewery and danced the night away at a hole in the wall salsa club. Wonderful and entertaining night...



Additionally, to help improve my Spanish, I returned for a few hours to focused Spanish school at the Simon Bolivar School for $8/hr www.bolivar2.com. I couldn't commit to or afford 4 hours a day again and so instead went for 2/day and reduced the cost of housing to $5/day to balance my budget. In the afternoons, we learned salsa and one evening we competed in a very long round of musical chairs. In the end, I beat out everyone including the last remaining tall Australian and won the whole event. My prize-my pride and an incredible dance workout.


Over the weekend, I bused up to Ingapirca, known for their Inca ruins and the sun festival of IntiRayma. David was already there and I met him and his friends who had camped there the night before. During the day, locals from varying regions dressed in forkloric costume danced to their traditional beats.



I followed some of the performers over to the ruins and hiked down to see the face in the rock that was either naturally made or formed by the help of a sculptor many years ago. No one is quite sure. On the hike, I befriended three guys from Riobambaba and they taught me the cool words in Spanish that I have sadly suddenly forgotten.



In the evening and throughout the entire morning, the village rocked the night away. Thousands bused in to celebrate the festival. David left that evening and I met more locals from Cuenca who are now part of my phone directory. I have so many names and numbers in my phonebook, I can't remember who is who. I just know that Rene or Oso (bear in Spanish) keeps texting me. At least I can practice my Spanish via short text. Throughout the night, I learned new Ecuadorian dance moves-another great workout.

At the bus station, an elderly woman befriended me. She told me of how one of her nieces met an American and after 4 months they got married in Ecuador. Discovering that I'm single, she is on the lookout for any man for me. Of course, my green card wedding gift is a great sell.

After a week, my Spanish improved a bit, but I still have quite a ways to go.

Best Cities to Live In

Along my travels, I have discovered a great city in every country where I could base myself for a year or more and study Spanish. After visiting Cuenca, I have now added it to my list.

Here are my favorite cities in each country for their walkability, good nightlife, tranquility, Spanish schools and variety of restaurants.

1) Medellin, Colombia-not really walkable but they have a great transportation system

2) Cuenca, Ecuador

3) Cordoba, Argentina

4) Cochabamba, Bolivia

5) Xela (Quetzaltenango), Guatemala-although it rains quite a bit and can get cold and I worry about the muggings here.

6) Leon, Nicaragua-although it gets rather hot during the summer.

I didn't really go into detail, but might at a later date.

Cost of a Year (or really 13 months now) of Travel

FAQ: How can you afford to travel for so long? A: This is a common question and I really wasn't sure how much I had spent until I recently did the math. Given that I have never bought a new car, rarely go out to eat at restaurants back home, never buy clothes at full price and never buy drinks when going out on the town, I have saved for this trip since I would rather spend my money on travel than any of the above. I had anticipated $50/day for a total of $18K, but I have spent much less. I bought most of my flights with my 400,000 frequent flyer miles. These helped immensely since flying business class to China would have blown my budget otherwise. Plus, I made 4 trips home throughout the year. In terms of individual costs, to get scuba certified in Belize with 6 dives cost $300, to attend Burning Man (all expenses included) probably cost me about $450, my 24 tickets to Olympic events in China cost $650, 7.5 weeks of 150hrs of Spanish lessons ($5/hr) in Guatemala cost $750, and my biggest expense was the Galapagos at $2K. Since I traveled rather slowly staying in one city for awhile, couch surfing on occasion and eating the menu of the day meals, I have scraped where I can to expand my budget.

In total, I spent about $14K for the last 13 months, or about $35/day, including the above high ticket items and regular pedicures. ;-) For $14K, I can't even afford lodging in SF for a year and can barely buy a cheap new car. $14K is much less than the cost of 1 year of my college education. And yet I think I learned more in this last year about the world and myself than I ever did in college. If I had traveled through South East Asia, I probably could have spent half that amount over a year and I have often thought about continuing my trip in that region. Many other travelers I have met who are truly doing an around the world trip and who are visiting more expensive countries like the US, Europe and Australia are spending about $18-$20K for the year.

Granted, in this estimate my house costs are not included. To keep my house in livable condition and out of foreclosure, I have had to spend additional money that has nearly caused me to have a heart attack at times. But just purely to travel does not cost as much as one would think especially when staying in hostels and traveling through cheaper countries than the US. If you have ever thought about taking a year off, don't let money or even a jumbo mortgage be a deterrent. It is doable and so worthwhile!

Spa Junkie

I am a Spa Junkie. The first step to recovery is admitting that I have a problem. Whenever possible, I jump into the nearest spa to get whatever is on order-a massage, my nails done or a steam bath. I can rough it with the best of them, but the girly girl in me can't pass up relaxing in a tub of hot water.

In Quito, I went out of my way to bus over 2.5 hrs to papallacta to enjoy their natural thermal springs and bus back the same day.

In Latacunga, I received a $3 pedicure and a $7 haircut, but I've been creating a disaster plan for my hair ever since. I now have what appears to be a mullet. I try to keep my back hair up during the day so it's not so obvious. At least hair will grow back.

In Banos, about 3 hrs south of Quito, I indulged in everything the city is famous for. I started the morning with a steam bath in what appears to be a vertical coffin. Every 5 minutes over the course of 45 min, I had to leave the steam box and drench myself in cold water to wake up my heart and circulation system.


Later that day, a couple Swiss women, Margot, Tamara and I hit the thermal baths for our evening session. In all the baths I have visited, these might be the hottest. Tamara is trying to fan herself in the photo because the bath is over 110 degrees. I could feel my blood boiling inside. We didn't last long.


During the days, I took advantage of the body and feet massage and facials on offer. At one point, I didn't know if I could gather the strength to leave. The town is in the middle of natural wilderness and besides the spa treatments, the town is overflowing with outdoor activities.


Kate, a Canadian, and I scoured the hillside on our 4x4s, but I became a little nauseous riding it and had to stop before my 2 hours were up. We did drive up to a zipline and we rode it down over the river below. Since I do have my limits, I avoided the bungee jumping stunts and eventually left for Cuenca where I am now.

Hiking From Village to Village

Within the Quilitoa region, South of Quito, lies a patchwork quilt of farmlands that creates an eye-catching display of varying shades of green. The hills fold into each other where in-between the layers reside local communities and basic farm living. This region is the only area within Ecuador in which one can easily hike from village to village and stay the night in each one. I have never claimed to be a hiker, but I always love a challenge and the opportunity to take in some breathtaking scenery. I thought about hiring a local kid to show me the way so I wouldn't get lost or if I fall down another mountain, at least there would be someone there to witness and hopefully seek help after. However, I met a couple Swiss guys, Remo and Stephen and we joined up to hike the region together.

We took a local bus to Isnivli and stayed at a hostel there where we met up with a Dutch couple who also joined us. The next day, the 5 of us, with rough directions on how to get to the next town embarked on our hike. The hike itself wasn't challenging, but we often became lost along the way. We backtracked several times and split up a few times to scout the different paths. After about 5 hours and tons of patchwork quilt photos later, we came upon the next town, Chugchilian.




The next morning, the Dutch couple had to bus back due to bronchitis and so Remo, Stephen and I hiked up to the volcanic crater of Laguna Quilitoa to reach the next town. I often encouraged Remo and Stephen to hike without me since I was so slow, but they insisted on staying with me. I'm glad they did because I really enjoyed their Swiss humor and their laid back attitude. Stephen kept explaining to me how to breathe since I apparently don't know how. I'm not sure how I lived so long without this knowledge. He has a heart condition and so he has learned the proper way to breathe using long and slow breaths while hiking up whereas I sound like a canary flapping away for short breaths of excited air.






Reaching the top after the 1000m canyon hike up only took 5 hrs using mainly my mental strength. At the top, I laid down on the ground to celebrate my victory and to recover since we still had to hike the crater rim to get to the next town. When I scaled the innerside of the vocanic crater while holding onto dear life to get to the next side, Remo and Stephen told me that I may be small, but I sure have an incredible will power and courage. They were surprised that I didn't go around to the safer back side of the trail. Honestly, I was just being lazy and didn't want to go around the boulder when I could just climb across it instead. I think they had taken the easier path and cheered me from above when they saw that I was scaling the crater.

We made it to the next village of Laguna Quilitoa, and then took a bus down back to our original starting point. We had hiked the two major paths around the loop and that was good enough for all of us.

Cotopaxi

Every once in awhile, Cotopaxi pokes her almost perfectly cylindrical head from above the clouds to look down upon her admiring fans. Her snow top head shimmers in the sunlight and the black moving spots on her head are not lice, but people hiking up to pay their respects. When I first saw a photo of her in Quito, I had to visit to view her beauty in person.

At almost 6000m tall, she is quite the giant. Although climbing her is not as difficult as other major peaks because one can drive up to about 4500m and then hike up to base camp at 4800 m and start hiking the rest at midnight til 6am. I debated on whether to hike Cotopaxi and in the end, I chose to just hike up to about 5100m. The rest of the way, I needed to have crampons and an ice pick. The altitude and the wind made the hike a little difficult and my hiking partners often looked back for me to make sure I hadn't blown off the cliff. I am slow hiking up, but I always make it. When I reached the snow, I laid down to make snow angels, but the stiffness of the snow prevented the formation and instead my imprint looked like a big giant foot had stepped down.


When I returned to my lodge set in the hillsides of Cotopaxi, I took a hot shower and profoundly slept. The rest of my 3 days in the region, I rode horseback through the hills all the while avoiding the bulls that tried to stop us from passing. I hiked to a nearby waterfall getting drenched in the process when I fell into the river. I befriended the 4 dogs on the property and the sheep named Jolee. And I cuddled next to the fire in my private cabin and read. The manager of the property took pity on me and let me stay in a private 2 story cabin for the price of the dorm just so I could take a hot relaxing bath inside. Dorm and budget life doesn't lend to many perks and so I jump at the chance to take a bath whenever possible. After over a year of traveling, it's the small joys of comfort that make all the difference.



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