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Airports and Migration:

After a short, but relaxing flight I arrived at the airport in Miami, I had about 5 dollars in my pocket.  I was truly thrilled my Miami’s new immigration system for US passport holders. The new system has automated registration kiosks, about a 20 machine replace the 4-5 minute interview with the customs agents with a two minute process in which you scan your own passport, answer the customs forms, have your picture taken and your thumbprints registered.  There was virtually now wait at all for these machines and the printout is examined by one customs agent and then you are directed onward.  The process was so quick I had a ten minute wait before my bags came off the conveyor belt.  Having recently been through Colombia I was pulled aside for an additional baggage scan but I was into the airport right quick, officially back in the United States.

I had a few hours in the airport and was beggining to get super excited fo going home.  My screensavers for the past month had been pumpkin pie and baby Julia.  Food and family.  I was also anticipating Meghan being at home with Julia and that gave me a full house and a little bundleof pure joy to look forward to.  At long last I found myself on the last leg of my journey, the flight from Miami to Boston, the end of this expedition, well kind of. I would be back off to Nicaragua an life is one big expedition in the end.

Flights:

Due to my inconveniences at the Panama-Costa Rica border I arrived two days earlier than expected.  I spent some time trying to resolve my pending flight from Managua, I couldn’t cancel it at the airport and was told to call customer service to resolve the issue.  Unfortunately I couldn’t cancel just the first leg of the flight and had to cancel the whole thing, but the airline gave me a credit toward a future flight as long as it was used within one year of the purchase date.  That worked out better than expected.  I set out searching for a cheap flight  with Spirit Airlines and found a one way a few days later than my anticipated departure, so I ended up with about 3 weeks in the US.  On the way back I caught another small issue, Spirit Airlines’ agreement with Nicaragua requires that all passengers destined for Managua have a return flight booked.  Having no proof of onward travel the company helped me book the cheapest return flight and told me to call and cancel within 24 hours for a full refund, which I did.

The Holidays:

My dad picked me up at the airport, groggy, stinky but super excited.  I arrived the day after a big snow so that made me happy, snow and not sleet is cause for celebration.  My sister, Meghan had arrived the day of the big storm, with baby julia in tow, my dad had picked her up in his car, which had no functioning heat with all of Boston trying to get out of dodge, so it took three or four hours for them to get home.  Fortunately hours was a quick 90 minutes.

The first week I had Meghan and Julia basically to myself, which was pretty sweet!  Julia was now 3 and half months older and twice as heavy as when I saw her in September.  She remained the happiest baby with a lot of smiles and patience for Tio Chris. We played, bonded, wrestled and gurgled through the week.  Her patience and happiness are no doubt the result of extremely good parenting. My sister is both a natural with children and extremely well versed in a child’s developmental needs.  Andreu, when he finally arrived, made an excellent teammate and calming influence on Baby Julia.

The house began to fill up  few days before Christmas and I greatly enjoyed the feasts and family. Nothing compares to the house filled with the warmth of the fire, family and friends.     The house emptied all too rapidly after Christmas, my siblings and inlaws spread back out to their respective parts of the country.  When I arrived I had noticed the serenity of the house in two aspects, noise and air quality.  To understand what good pure, defeaning, unadulterated silence can do for someone, one needs to experience the thundering din of Nicaragua, rural and urban, which I presume exists in other cases of impoverished peoples. The purity of air the crispness of winter in New England sharply contrasts with the dense, humid, acrid and smoke-filled air that circulates through the open constructions of Nicaragua. This initial sense of serenity replaced the bustle of the house with its comings and goings.

Closing Out The Trip

The last weeks were filled with many activities, one of the small joys about being home is the many new and untried activities that it presents.  I spent time working at my dad’s office where I mounted a TV and fixed a water cooler, I went birdwatching and oystering in Ipswich, I helped my dad fix his plow and of course nothing beats the invigorating activity of stacking would in the cool, crisp, winter air of New England.  I also attended New Years events in Boston and visited friends.

I achieved two important tasks while home, both seized upon opportunities that appeared and through no force of my own will.  First, I was able to sit down with my parents and communicate with more confidence and effectiveness what I had achieved in Nicaragua and what my goals and plan were for the future.  While I always had their blessing, now they can see more of my purpose, vision and future.  Second, my aunt sent the things I had accumulated while at GWU to the house in Ipswich.  I was thus able to sort through my past lives and store away what might be useful and get rid of things no longer necesarry in my life.

I finally had some time to sit and reflect on life and the passed year.  Among many things, I spent 8 months as a loan officer working with microcredit, I had my first failed business and my first succesful enterprise in Nicaragua.  I visited four new countries and accomplished my first trip planned and executed by myself. Most importantly I lived alone and financially independent for the first time.  All these accomplishments combined with the energy absorbed from teaching in Colombia, sent me back to Nicaragua in energetic and confident form.

The Site of Many Wonderful Feasts; Past, Present and Future

Meghan with a Bundle of Julia

Experimenting with the Facial Hair

20 Inches of Crisp Winter at the Fay’s

Fire Side Family

A Great Elf and a Cute Elf, You Decide.

First Night in Boston

Return Trip

The plan for the end of the trip originally was to take a bus to Bogota where I would catch my flight out to Panama City on the 16th of December.  I would then travel from Panama to San Isidro by bus via San Jose and Managua. I would get  back with a few days to take care of business in Nicaragua and then would board a plane home for Christmas from Managua on the 20th.

COLOMBIA

I took a bus from Ipiales to Bogota at 8pm on the 14th.When I left Ipiales I was concerned about my money situation as I had about 70$ left, but the bus through Colombia and the flight out were paid for.   That left airport taxis and the busses back to Nicaragua.  I had planned it just right so that if I spent it all well and ate just about nothing I would make it back to Nicaragua.  In Nicaragua I would once again have access to more cash. The bus ride to Bogota went smoothly and I arrived without incident the next day around 5pm, my last 20 plus hour bus ride was done.  I got in a line of 50 people waiting for registered taxis from the bus terminal and by around 6:30pm I was at El Dorado Airport.  My flight out wasn’t until 6am the next day so I had to hold on tight.  Unfortunately the airport policy is not to check in passengers until the same day of the flight, for me that meant a 9 hour wait with my bags in the extremely sparse departure area of El Dorado.

I took my bag and shifted around the airport a few times during the night.  Nerves kept me awake and unfortunately there are about six public outlets in all of El Dorado and naturally every single one was ocupied.  I did manage to find one to use, the type that is for the employees to vacuum and clean with, it had a slot and I used a coin to open this and was well rewarded for a short recharge of my devices.    At long last and a after a very dull 11 hour wait I was able to check in for my flight which was accompanied by a frightening exchange when the lady told me I had to get a stamp, I thought I had another unforeseen expense coming my way.  So I looked for the Civil Aviation bureau where I got my free departure stamp that was for tax exemption.  After that I finished check in and went to the final waiting area where I napped for a few minutes before the flight.

PANAMA

I landed in Panama early on the 16th refreshed from the free airplane food that Copa Airlines provides.  I was still a little groggy and certainly exhausted when I got to Panama. Surprise! A hastle at Panamanian Migration.  The officer required an exact address in Panama to stay and I couldn’t make up an address, nor communiate my purpose clearly.  Eventually a superior came over and understood that I was just in transit and communicated this to him.  I got through after presenting proof of onward movement and proceeded  to Albrook bus station, no small task -I waited two hours to grab passengers going in the same direction and eventually got there, but not before a ripshit cabbie gave me a 10 minute angry rant about the other passenger because he had negotiated the fare so hard and then only had 50’s and 100’s to pay his 12 dollar fare.   I ended up waiting 12 hours in the bus terminal for an express bus to the border.  I thought this was a good option because it would get me to the border when it was open, as opposed to late at night.

Albrook Bus Terminal, Panama City

I arrived at 730am and proceeded to wait for two hours for my Panamanian exit stamp. This border crossing is the most confusing I have seen, it is the most poorly designed, completely unintelligible to human foot traffick as to where to go an what line to be in, it unhelped by the express bus crew member holding a place for the express bus passengers. There was a lot of confusion over the need for baggage checks at the border, but the process is so relaxed one could easily bypass the requirement and most do.

DEPORTATION

Passport stamped I walked toward Costa Rican immigration and after another dialogue made difficult by exhaustion I found myself in the Migration Office.  Turns out I had overlooked another bureaucratic regulation; passengers coming through Colombia into Costa Rica are required to pass a seven day quarantine period or have proof of vaccination for Yellow Fever.  I had not spent more than 24 hours in Panama and was not carrying proof of vaccination, nor did I have the vaccination(which I realized later).  In the Migration office I started getting nervous about how to get myself free from the situation and really got the jitters when they put another guy in cuffs.  At this point I had not had anything to eat or drink since the flight, I was starting to feel a little faint and asked the officer for some water, well no help from them on that front.

After an hour of waiting for the Migration office to draft a document of rejection for mysef and the other two guys, I was escorted back across the border with two other guys, fortunately only one of us was in handcuffs.     We were left in the Panamanian migration office to be officially let back in to the country via a cancelled exit stamp. This was a three hour process, meanwhile I am feeling increasingly faint and starting to panick a little about what my next move was.  I got the stories of four other people in the office while I was there and one of these, a fellow american traveller who had been rejected because his passport, while still valid, “looked old.” When he was finally let out of migration he very kindly passed me a bottle of water through the migration office window. Thank you kind sir from Chapel Hill, NC.

The man in handcuffs I think just tried to pass the border without any ID.  The other rejectee from Costa Rica had missed the fact that he had to check into to Costa Rica the day before.  His hotel was before the Costa Rican migration office, which is a solid 200 meters down the road with enough shops and buildings in between to make process confusing.  When he went to leave, Panamanian Migration told him he had to check into Costa Rica first, oficially. Costa Rica told him he had to go back to Panama and have them cancel his exit stamp, because of the day long discrepancy in the stamp date.  At the same time he had get a new exit stamp so that he could check back in to Costa Rica where he would have to stay another night and then return to Panama.  All he wanted was to renew his tourist visa.   Another person was travelling with a swimming competition.  She entered with a group of students to Costa Rica one of her students had flown home.  When migration caught the discrepancy, they stopped her, and the whole group, until they cold get confirmation of the childs movement.  I imagine this had something to do with child trafficking concern. Score one for migration doing something right.

RESOLUTION

After three hours I was released, my exit stamp had been canceled.  I was asked to sign a statement that said

1. I had not been mistreaten physically or emotionally while in the office
2. I had not paid for (AKA bribe) any migration services.

By that point I had calmed down and actually smiled at the document.  I had also worked out several possible solutions to my predicament.

• Get the vaccine, wait ten days and then move on.
• Wait six days in Panama to end the quarantine period.
• Try to fly out of Panama and skip the bureaucratic nightmares.

Well, the first two would mean missing the flight I had planned for the 22nd of December to go home.  The third resulted that I was unsure of being admitted to Nicaragua for the same Yellow Fever issue.  So my only option was to go directly home.   Within an hour of my realease  I booked a ticket for an early morning flight the following day out of Panama City and high tailed my way back to the Airport.  A lady on the bus took pity on me and bought me some food at a pit stop along the way back, another eight hour bus ride through Panama under my  belt.

I made it back to the airport with about 7 dollars in my pocket and spent a few on snacks to hold me over.  Getting to that airport helped me see the light at the end of the tunnel, being home and seeing my wonderful and loving family. I was shocked at the airport because our entire flight was required to go through normal security checks once, and then everyone on the flight was passed through security at the departure gate.  Of course there was a hullaboo.  Some pumped up security officer and a  jackass entitled American had a verbal fight for three minutes.  The American was a appalled at the second round of security and when he presented his documents, a Panamanian passport, the lady asked for his US Visa.  Well the guy said he was a US Citizen and it turned out he had dual citizenship and his US passport was packed in his carryon.  He was appalled at having to present it.

Slumping into that aiplane seat was the most refreshing and relaxing act in a long time.  I slept calmly on this flight.The end was a few short hours away.

On the Plane at Last. Three Days of Grime, 6 Weeks of Beard

Onward to Ipiales

From Cusco I retraced my steps back to Colombia.  I met up with Max in Lima where we spent a night or two before heading north.  From Lima we took an Oltursa bus to Piura. This was by far the nicest bus I took on this trip. It had a significant recline, a good TV, meals on board and it only cost us about 10 Soles more than our other vomitorium busses.  Our intention was to cross from there to Las Lojas, rather than brave the Tumbes border crossing once again.  But we found the next bus out was to Guayaquil and crossed the border in the middle of the night without us having to deal with more than an entry and exit stamp.  We moved directly on from Guayaquil to Quito and then from Quito to Tulcan, Ecuador passed quickly with varying landscapes of rice, banana, palm and shrimp farms as far as the eye could see.  We got an early morning taxi to the border for more stamps and then another shared van taxi to the bus station in Ipiales.  After about three days of nonstop travel through Peru and Ecuador and the ensuing dirt and grime from these travels I found a phone at the buss staion and called Alvaro at about 6am from the Cultural English Institute.

Arrival: Alvaro answered and came to pick us in his tiny white 1983 Renault Master. Max and I squeezed into this little vehicle and our shared backpack barely fit in the trunk, I had to remove the tent we had brought along and it was still a squeeze. Alvaro brought us to his home and we were shown our lodging and introduced to the family. I took a quick and frigid shower, truly frigid beause Ipiales is high up and in a very chilly climate and the electri heater for the shower head was disconnected. But I felt immediately relieved and ready for the day. Three days of grime turns out to be pretty heavy. We were also informed that class started at 9 am. So while I showered, Max napped and we then made our way to the institute after our first delicious breakfast from Alice, Alvaro’s wife.

The Classic White Renault Master

Classes:  We went to teach i the Language institute from 9 until 5 with a few short breaks for snacks and a massive 2 hour lunch break in between.  We spent a lot of the time in classes working on basic conversation questions, getting to know you, introductions and interview questions.  We worked as much as possible in English to give the students as much practice time as possible and then when that failed we could go back to explaining things in Spanish.  Ii fell back on Spanish to communicate the cultural aspect and variations within English speaking cultures.   The Insitute has three teacher, Alvaro Enriquez and his two sons John and David.  Each has a unique and effective style to teaching.  Alvaro is most formal, focusses the most on grammar and keeps the classes well ordered and formal.  David runs largely conversational classes and spends most of his time hitting on the young women in the class, yet the fluidity of the conversive style seems to be highly succesful. John is slightly more laid back and focusses on tutoring, working on assignments with students in a calm way that puts students at ease.

Family: Alvaro’s household consists of him, Alice, his wife, his two sons, David and John, David s girlfriend, Jennifer and Jennifer and David’s daughter Juliana, plus simon(charlie) their dog and a cat. Alvaro is an intriguing person and the most notable attribute is his love of his White Renault Master from 1983.  He spends most of his waking moments when not eating or working sitting in it. The car is is a classic looking car, short and slim with some good curves. Alice is the mother and head of household, she has a small beauty salon near home and is a fantastic cook.  The food was easily one of my favorite aspects of the homestay.  Lots of big hearty meals and delicious, sweet colombian coffee. is what I would describe as a Rico-Suave type.  Slicked hair, leather jacket, tight jeans, earing and always hitting on someone.  Jennifer is his girlfriend and she is superfriendly, jokes a lot and is the mother of their child Juliana.  Juliana is sweet and adorable, she quickly warmed up to me and I was the recipient of many large and warm hugs from her.  We went to her kindergarten graduation toward the end of my time there.  John is mild natured and friendly and largely kept to himself when not at work.

Exploring Ipiales: Our first Saturday in Ipiales we were able to do a field trip and explore the town with a group of students.  We were well acompanied by the Institute’s Students.  We explore the market, a great big modern hall of commerce with small and local merchants selling everything under the sun, particularly produce and meat. One could find  Guinea Pig being sold by the sack full to prepare Cuy which is the pride of the local people.  We were presented with the myriad fruits and vegetables that only the verdant and varied climates of Colombia could provide, passion fruit, pitahaya, potatoes.  We tried a suculent hornado, almost like a barbequed pig.  We then travelled through the El Charco area of town which is known for its colorful buildings and plentiful cuy restaurants.  Then we made our way out to the Sanctuary of Las Lajas.  Las Lajas is a shrine and cathedral built on the site of a miracle.  The site on which it is built makes it a marvel of construction. It spans a river valley and is built in a Neogothic style.  Its location and surroundings make it seem somethng out of a Lord of the Rings battle at helms deep.  It was quite impressive.  The long walk and close proximity to lunch, the main event of the day in Colombia, meant that we were a little hurried through this marvelous site.

Helm’s Deep or Las Lajas Sanctuary

Market, Hornado and Beautiful Ladies

A Bit of Culture: Saturday morning’s exploration was followed by a large meal and a siesta. In the afternoon I went to explore the town and saw the preparation for Noche de las Velas, the Night of the Candles. Vendors and home owners were lining the streets with candles and in the evening the priests and the religious marched through the streets of ipiales illuminated by these candles. In the evening we were invited to Jennifer’s neighborhood to partake in the celebrations there. We arrived as a mass was concluding and observed as a pyrotechnics display was lit, filled with climbig and falling jets of sparks and whirlywheels propelled by pyrotechnic jets. All this to reveal the image of the Virigen Mary hidden behind. The following day was the Immaculate Conception. After this the party commenced. Jennifer’s father was an emcee and gave Max and I some shoutouts through the night. There was a rousing band playing Andean rythms throughout the night and naturally I danced the night away. Dancing was acompanied by drinking hervido, boiled aguardiente with juice and spices, and Ecuadorian peach wine, as well as eating, it was in this place that I finally tried famous Cuy, roasted guinea pig. It was quite delicious.

Stolen Hat and Local Liquour!

People and Culture: I met many wonderful people besides the family. Every student was extraordinarily welcoming and open and honest with us. Our second day there some of the female students invited Max and I out for drinks. It was the first time I tried hot wine, and Max’s first firey test with Colombian women. We were also invited out to go dancing by Andrea a student from the evening classes. Once my bashfulness lifted, after a few drinks, I took to the dance floor and the result was not as embarrassing as I had envisioned and I learned a few dance moves. She had invited a friend so Max and I both danced a good piece. I hung out with Andrea a few more times and she was good company, open, honest, refused to let me pay for anythig(culture shock from Nicaragua), she invited us to her home and I spent my last night in Colombia out with her. A Big Change: Ipiales was truly about the people I met and friends I made there.  The unique situation of language classes provided a structured format for getting to know people, something like speed dating with a cheat sheet.  Every day in classes we would burn through questions like what is your name, where are you from, what do you, what do you study.  This really facilitated getting to know the basics about students.  I left my shy timid self behind and through myself into the work with a lot of energy and I think by being outgoing I was able to make connections and help people feel at ease speaking in English.  I think that this energy and drive reached through to the end of the trip and my return to Nicaragua.

The Lovely Andrea and I

An Emotional Departure?: On my last night in Colombia, after Max finally made his decision to stay there, we went out dancing with Andrea. I drank to hard, and it turned into a messy evening. Somehow we got a second club, but I ended up sick, then bawling my eyes out in a heart to heart with Max. I made it through the night. But the next day it was kind of the opposite. I got over the hangover alright. I left at 8pm and Max accompanied me to the bus stop and Andrea met us there. There were a few wet eyes among them, but mine were dry and ready for the next leg of my journey.

Rounding Out Cusco

While Max and I perused the Inca sites together, we spent much time doing our own thing.  I went about checking off what I could of the museums from the Boleto Turistico. There were three museums and one monument to be visited within the city of Cusco.  Interestingly the most informative site was the Monument. The following are my short impressions of the sites.

Qoricancha Museum: is a small five room museum under a park near the temple of sun and moon.  Max and I found that the museum was underwhelming in content and information. It also had really terrible English translations and many objects lacked description.

Regional History Museum: is housed in an old colonial house, the former residence of the writer and historian Garcilaso.  This museum presented mostly colonial history, art and religous artifacts.  It had a section introducing the Inca revolts against the Spanish Colonial rule in the 1800’s.  It was a small but impressive museum that focused on the Spanish Colonial period in Cusco.

Pacacutec Monument:  This monument is in the middle of a major crossroads in Cusco.  It is a multi-story tower with a statue of the Inca Pachacutec on it. It contained a plethora of information about tye history of the Inca. Pachacutec was a great empire builder and organizer.  It also highlighted the inca inspired revolutions against the spanish.

Museo Municipal de Arte Contemporaneo: The museum is housed in a municipal building and presents the works of many artists.  All items were for sale and the works were truly beautiful.  The color pallete of the artists was on the whole bright and dazzling to the eye.  The neon colors presented a stark contrast to the Colonial Paintings with the heavy and ominous hues of red and brown and black that seemed to dominate the art from the Garcilaso Museum. Perhaps it is a reflection of the liberation of peoples through the centuries, first from the Spanish and Cathoic oppressors to the political independence and then political and social freedoms now widely enjoyed in the Latin American World.

Money: Much of the trip I had been concerned about money.  I left Nicaragua with enough money to make it to Cusco, but barely.  Prior to departure I had made arrangements to receive money owed from a project.  As I was in Cusco and wound up there for a week I thought I would be set.  Well things didn’t work out so well and I ended up in a slight scramble.  A friend came through just in time.  Max, who had loaned me money temporarily and helped keep me a float, tired of Cusco, or rather the Hostel, because it was low season and the hostel was too mellow for his liking.  He decided to take off and we made arrangements to meet up in Lima.  I stayed an extra few days to resolve the money situation.  Fortunately it was resolved the day he left and the next day I had more than enough for the rest of the trip, or so I thought.  I spent a day buying gifts for my family.  I usually hate shopping, but this time it was fun.  I spent the entire day wandering the shops and markets in Cusco looking for adequate presents for friends and family.  I took some time to haggle each transaction as best as possible, I think I did alright, I rarely payed the asking price, but most probably payed a gringo price.   I also took the time to search out coins from Peru and found several great shops that had a good selection of coins.  My haggling skills came in quite handy for these.  In one shop I reduced the initial asking price by 60%.

Ruins Near Cusco

Cusco offers a Boleto Turistico.  This is a ticket that costs 130 Nuevo Soles and offers entrance to 16 different sites in and around Cusco.  These include museums but the majority of entrances are for Inca sites.  Max and I realized this was a necessary purchase for many of the sites we wanted to visit in the area so on the second day in Cusco we purchased a pair of them and proceeded to visit the sites on the list.  The first thing we did after purchasing the ticket was to visit the Qosco Theater.  We were treated to a lovely, lively and colorful display of music, song and dance.  It was a real treat to be back in the theater because it has been several years.

Sacsayhuaman

Sacsayhuaman is the archeological park and site just outside of Cusco. The park covers 3000 hectares; I believe they are noncontiguous areas as many individual sites are considered part of the park.  Sacsayhuaman was my first real hike since reaching Cusco at 3300m.  The site is 200 meters above Cusco and the climb made my lungs burn like wildfire.

Along the Jagged Terracing.

Facing the Terraces

Sacsayhuaman was a hilltop shrine and later fortress overlooking Cusco valley and city. This site was considered the head of the “puma” layout of the old Inca Cusco.  The site itself is composed of jagged “andenes” essentially terraces in a zig zag.  The site contains several levels of terracing. The top level of terracing held religious buildings related to the sun.  The sizes of the stones are impressive, many are over 20 tons, 10 meters tall and 4-8 meters wide. Every stone fits snugly together without room for a sheet of paper.  It is quite impressive for such “primitive” societies. While most of the Sacsayhuaman site was open to exploration, a significant portion was closed off to visitors on the day we went.

Looking Onto the Rodero Side of Sacsayhuaman

There is a massive ceremonial ground separating Sacsayhuaman and the complex called Rodero. The side opposite Cusco faces Rodero, which is associated with the water cult of the Inca due to its hydrology.  It is built up around an outcropping of solid stone and contains a large circular pit on one side associated with water, including many channels that lead to the circle purportedly to bring water from the surrounding hills.

It is impressive to consider that only a fifth of the massive site is still intact. It provided a convenient quarry for the Spanish when they arrived and finally conquered the Inca.

Just Impressive Building

Stairs and Another Interesting View

Tambomachay

Tambomachay was the site I most enjoyed, because of the amount of exploration I did and the pure simplicity and tranquility of the site.  Tambomachay is a small but gorgeous Inca site about 7km from Cusco and at 3700 meters.  Max and I took a bus there and then walked back to Cusco via 2 more sites.

Tambomachay from the Structure Facing the Main Fountain

Tambomachay is a water site nestled in a crisp green valley used for grazing. The valley is filled with water; a stream runs through it that is so crystal clear the water hardly reflects light and my intrepid cousin dared drink from it.  The valley is used as grazing for sheep and the twiggy brush was often adorned with tufts of wool.  I got lost exploring the site upstream and uphill of the main structures.   I couldn’t find a reasonable descent from the mountain so I ended up crashing through some farmer’s fields and hedgerows in the process.  I came out and stumbled upon a cave, or shallow rocky overhang nestled in the mountain side and as I was gasping for air going uphill, I ran unawares into a group of three lambs taking shelter there.

Secondary Fountain

The site has two fountains and one other structure associated with it along with a fair bit of terracing.  The main fountain is terraced in four levels, the top has a sort of false stone windows, the third terrace level has a few rooms, the second is where the water source begins and flows down in one stream and on the bottom-most terrace the fountain splits in two and falls to the level of the ground.  This fountain faces another structure faces that seems to be a guard tower, house or lookout.  It is difficult to interpret because the worked stone only reaches the level of the rock around which the structure is built.

Lambs!

The last fountain seems to be formed of runoff from the mountain.  There are two terraced levels, the first contains the source and a pool of water.  The second retains the earth and will from which the water emanates.  The water cascades from the pool through a small hole in the wall of the fountain.  The centerpiece of the terrace is an impressive trapezoidal rock with notched cutouts on the top corner and a carved channel in the center for water to flow through. The center piece and all the stones nestled snugly into the base rock of the hillsides in the same seamless fashion.

This site was really peaceful for lack of a press of tourists and pastoral scenes around it.  The site was not without tourists and there is an interesting tendency for Peruvians to take pictures with strangers or foreigners who they have not met before nor know their names of.  Normally the request is from a group of young girls, but this time it was an older lady in very traditional dress.

Puka Pukara

Puka Pukara sits only a hundred meters down the road from Tambomachay and at the same altitude- 3700 meters.  It is known as the Red Fort for its clearly defensible position and formerly red coloring.  The site information mentions that it was a tambo which they translated to dairy and other translations mention hotel, rest stop and way stop on the Inca system of messengers.  The site itself sits on a the edge of a ridge in a teardrop shape.  It’s distance from Cusco would put it as part of a defensive ring around the Inca Capital.  It also sits along the the road stretching out the far parts of the Inca Empire. The site could not be interpreted apart from the site of Tambomachay, a relatively unprotected temple and worship site.

Puka Pukara from Tambomachay

The site occupies the end of a ridge and has the overall shape of  a teardrop. The point of the teardrop is a source of water, now not functioning.  This is separated by 10 meters from the main defensive structure.  The entrance complex is approximately the shape of a trapezoid consisting of the entryway, store rooms or barracks and what could be a large courtyard for military assembly or religious rites.  This trapezoid abuts the bulwark of the fort which occupy several round, terraced levels.  The top most level is a circular platform and surrounding this on two consecutively lower levels are additional rooms and storeroom.  The round bulwarks stand 10 meters above the valley walls which fall away steeply making any assault extremely difficult.

Entry, Storerooms and Courtyard

Approaching the site from Tambomachay it is evident that the structure is built to be strong. sitting firmly on a ridgeline, it commands the valley below and above it, as well as the road that passes by it.  Sitting on the edge of the bulwarks one commands a view of the ridgeline to the left, the valley below and can see see the snow capped ridgeline straight ahead.  Pukapukara was the most complete site I  saw on the trip.  It’s purpose is more self-evident by it’s layout, position and the existing structures than other sites I visited.  The previous description is of it’s current description and I imagine that the fort stood far higher, with the walls and terraces built up much further during the reign of the Inca.  For any newcomer to the empire, the site would have been an impressive introduction the power of the Inca.

Terraced Level with Buildings

Q’enko

Arc and Flat Area (Left)

Underground Altar

We walked from Puka Pukara to Q’enko which is a religious site approximately one kilometer from Cusco at about 3550 meters and only one kilometer from Sacsayhuaman via the White Christ on a ridgeline above the city of Cusco. The site consists of large boulders and Inca walls and buildings.  The focal point of the site is the massive rocks in the center and the jagged boulder field that surrounds the main rocks.  The rocks have several crevices that are natural or have been worked to allow a man passage through and under the rocks.  The site is interspersed with altars for worship. The Inca created several flat areas for worship one is on the edge of the site, with one area formed by a wall in the shape of an arc that  creates a rounded area adjacent and facing the massive rock formation, and also in the center of the rock formation is another area for worship. Overall the site’s purpose besides its evidently religious purposes is unknown to me.  It begs further investigation in terms of the reasons for worship of the rocks.

Inca Construction with Rocks for Worship

Onward to Cusco

November 17^th-18^th:  The bus to Cusco was the worse bus ride of the trip so far.  We took the same carrier as from Tumbes to Lima-CIVA.  The distance is about 1000km, which we did not realize until we planned for the trip.  The bus took 24 hours and the first evening and night were pretty easy going, still flat and decently straight roads.  Sometime in the night we passed by Nazca and began to climb.  I awoke a little ways before Abancay, which sits at 2380 meters or 7800 feet.  After Abancay the road climbs rapidly up switchbacks to a pass at 4000 meters or 13,100 feet.  The climb offers spectacular views of the city below nestled in the valley and the first glimpse of glaciers and cloud covered mountains.  Somewhere below the pass the road reaches a zone where the vegetation thins from tree covered slopes that smell of Christmas as the primary cover is eucalyptus and pine tree to grasslands.    As we reached the peak of the road we were treated to majestic views of a bright white, snow-covered mountain in the distance.  We began a general decent of several hours into Cusco and the mountain disappeared from view.  I remember passing alongside a river in a valley for some distance, but at this point had to keep my focus inside the bus to keep myself from being ill.  The bus stopped at a small roadside cantina and the passengers disgorged to gorge themselves on food and relieve themselves. 5 hours after Abancay we reached Cusco city and searched out a hostel.

When I awoke just before Abancay I immediately felt like I would vomit and it took a lot of effort to get the feeling under control.  When I stood up in Abancay I was surprised at the effort that it took as well as how dizzy and lightheaded I felt.  I spent the 10 minutes at Abancay stretching and staying vertical.  I tried to enjoy the spectacular views but it was nearly impossible to look out the window without feeling queasy, nauseous and week.  The speed of the bus and curviness of the road created a feeling of constant motion almost like sea sickness.  Sleeping and watching movies was the only way to pass the trip for me.  In the morning the bus became a biohazard, many people vomited, and not all made it to the bathroom.  Every time the bathroom door opened we were treated to the odors of the strong bathroom chemicals or urine or feces.  The only way to survive was to open the window for air, but that let in bursts of frigid Andean air.

Cusco and Plaza de Armas from San Cristobal Church

The first days in Cusco were spent in the city proper just exploring.  In the city I was fascinated by three things:

• The old and beautiful churches.

Plaza de Armas with the Cathedral (left) and Jesuit Church (center)

Church of San Cristobal

Church of San Blas

• The mix of Incan, Colonial and Republican Architecture

Temple de Sol y Luna, Incan Base, Colonial Superstructure

A street with different phases of wall building

Archeology in Cusco: Incan Street and Drainage Meets Colonial and Repbulican

Awesome Puma Fountain

• The symbolic motifs over the doorways of the houses and religious buildings.

Unknown Symbol 1

Symbols over Archbishop Residence

Unknown Symbol 2

 

BioCarbon

In July a team of researchers from Iowa State University, led by Bernardo del Campo, came to study the production and financial viability of biocarbon.  They used the EOS International team and facilities as a base point for their research. They had two primary tasks, the first was to build a reactor to create Biocarbon and the second was to produce enough material to begin testing on the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural production.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Test Plot: Sample Chambers in the Ground

Biocarbon or Biochar is an organic matter that has undergone pyrolysis, the super heating of the mass in the absence of oxygen.  The product is proposed as a soil additive for agricultural practices.  It has several potential agricultural and environmental benefits.

Learning How to Take the Samples and Looking Professional

The product is thought to trap greenhouse gasses, such as methane, carbon dioxide and nitrogen in the soil. This was the focus of this particularly study done in small test plots measuring a control parcel, a biocarbon only, manure only, and biocarbon/manure mixture.  This first test aimed to capture preliminary data on gas emissions over an 8 week period.

Loading up 45 lbs Chamber Caps. Salvador did this 3 times a week for 8 weeks.

The product essentially increases the surface area of the soil to trap molecules and as thought to increase fertilizer and water absorption in the earth, thus increasing the productivity of the soil in agriculture and also reducing the costs associated with watering and fertilizing crops.  It thus has its own potential as a fertilizer substitute or complement.   The benefits of this are thought to be long-term and so one application may increase soil fertility over many years.

The concept that these researchers presented was intriguing to me and I have been following developments from Bernie.  The air samples are still in the analysis phase, but I have been trying to help Bernardo push his research further in Nicaragua. This included helping him develop his proposals and write a grant application for further research in Nicaragua.

Recently I stumbled upon an opportunity to make a connection with a local university – UNAN-Leon.  My friend Denis had the number of a staff member and so we arranged a meeting with her to start a discussion of the potential research and collaboration opportunities that were available.  To our surprise the professor had made her own phone calls and arranged for the vice-president of external relations to meet with us and so we were caught a little under prepared for the meeting, but we managed to make a lot of progress. We left the meeting with a date for a potential video conference between Bernardo and the University.  This last bit happened right before I left for South America and so I am unsure where this lies at the moment as I left it in the hands of Denis, Bernardo and the University to continue to discuss arrangements for a strategic alliance between the two universities as the initial step.

Lima

By the time we were part way through Peru we decided to cut our trip short and not try to get to Patagonia.  We had no idea how difficult the bus rides could be and how taxing on one´s body, it would be all but impossible to get to Tierra del Fuego and back to Bogota in the 6 weeks we had allotted.

Originally we intended for Lima to be a short stop before heading on to Cusco.  This developed into a full week rest stop.  When we disembarked the bus we set off with Jorge to find a hostel, he helped tremendously and we were able to find a great little place in Miraflores district of Lima-Hostel Lima.  The first day we explored with our friend Jorge and I was surprised by the section of Lima, very modern, very elegant and upscale, there were lots of hostels in the area and lots to do. That first evening we ended up checking out the beach and the parks that provide the buildings a buffer from the cliffs.

I came down with a cold, probably from the bus ride in Colombia, and spent the first three days in Lima in pretty sorry shape. After the majority of the cold passed I was able to enjoy Lima´s rocky beaches and admire the incredibly sheer cliffs of stone and sand. Lima sits 3o meters atop these cliffs which seem impossibly held together by only gravity.

Max´s Outfit for the Trip

The area was filled with quite the mix of new and old cars.  VW Bugs were very popular and I saw a newly restored 1958 Peugeot for sale. Every evening there are paragliding from the cliffside parks and at any moment the coast line is filled with a dozen parachutes.  I was also surprise at the amount of surfing that took place right in Lima.  The shores are rocky and waves make a fearsome yet soothing noise.  They crash onto the shores with ferocious noise and then the rocks that are dragged back down the coastline create a dull roar.  Sitting by the shore it is nearly impossible to hear the roar of traffic on the highway that is less than 20 meters away.  One day we were treated to watching a wedding on the beach.

When we were finally ready to leave for Cusco, we found the busses were full and had to delay, resulting a full week in Lima.

The Beach and Lima´s Cliff Line

On the Road: Part Two

We arrived in Colombia at about 4:30pm in good shape after the second short flight from San Andres to Bogota.  We did not leave ourselves much time to rest at the airport and after some inquiries about an information or tourism booth in the airport we found our way to the bus station.  We were approached by a very friendly and helpful man who talked our ear off about his Colombia and sold us on a ride in a private car to the bus station.  We looked around for an international bus option but the only international bus leaves on Monday and we arrived in the middle of the week.  So we hopped on the next bus to the border town of Ipiales at 5:30pm.  This bus took 24 hours, and was extraordinarily cold.  The locals were ready with blankets and winter coats, but we had not prepared for the frigid temperatures resulting from the drivers putting the AC on full blast.  We were in the front seat of the bus, with the smallest amount of leg room and spent most of the night curled up in the seats in the tiniest ball possible to conserve energy and keep our body heat contained. Upon arriving at Ipiales the next day, we decided we needed to rest and recharge from the bus trip, so we found a hotel within our budget range that had some WIFI and a warm shower.  It was one of the best nights of sleep I have gotten in a long time.

Bandeja Paisa

When I woke up the next morning I was refreshed and ready to go for the day.  At around 10am we struck out for the border.  It was the most pleasant border crossing experience of the trip so far.  It started with a taxi ride that was extremely pleasant with good conversation and no hidden fees or charges, a flat 7000 Colombian pesos or about $3.50 for the two of us.  When we got to the Rumichacha border crossing it was straight forward, just stamp your passport on each side, no fees.  My passport took a while to process- I think the RFID chip is somewhat damaged and most border agents have to manually enter my information. While in line on the Colombian side Max attracted some very cute Colombian girls who were conducting English language interviews on the border.  When we got our passports stamped we stopped for a short dialogue with them and exchanged contact information.  They attend an English language school in Ipiales and the students spend Fridays practicing on the border.  The director of the language school uses it as an opportunity to attract native speakers for a few days to help with cultural exchange and linguistic practice.  The experience was very pleasant and the girl’s fell in love with Max, one of the girls in particular.

English Interview at the Border

After stamping on the Colombian side we walked across the bridge over the gorge and stamped on the Ecuadorian side.  We hopped in another taxi to the bus station in Tulcan, the driver was also very friendly and honest.  A bus departed for Quito within 10 minutes of our arrival and we were off on the 5 hour trip to Quito.  The distance between Tulcan and Quito is gorgeous, the region near the border is extremely fertile and is endlessly green until you hit the Andean slopes and the region seems to get much more arid with only the depths of the valleys green and fertile.  The Ecuadorian road system is impressive.  In many spots the country was in the process of literally moving mountains, cutting on one side of the road and refilling in spots to make the roadway wider or safer.  We got to Quito at about 5:30pm, but it took us two hours to cross to the other side of the city due to traffic.  We had an amazingly delicious meal in Quitumbes bus station in Quito-this is one of Max’s top experiences so far.  The bus station was super modern, comfortable and clean and had a cafeteria system designed to feed hundreds quickly.  There are 40 eateries and each one serves the exact same thing.  Ecuador uses their own dollar but is interchangeable with US currency; they use US Sacagawea dollars and their own 50 centavo piece.  We got a heaping plate of food plus drinks for about 6$.

Leg 3 Bogota to Ipiales

Leg 4 Tulcan to Huaquillas via Quito

Again we looked for a direct international bus to Lima, but were unable to find one that was leaving.  So we hopped on an overnight bus to Huaquillas on the border with Peru near the coast.  It was a terrible decision because we had to pass through the infamous Tumbes border crossing and it lived up to its infamy.  We got roped into things real fast upon getting to Huaquillas.  Originally we were going to sit and get food and get our thoughts together.  A bus company from Tumbes on the other side of the border had representatives waiting to pounce on us as we got off the bus.  They told us they had a bus leaving soon, but from the other side of the border, they also had the money changer and the taxi driver was there to get us there.  We changed money with them and took their taxi. The taxi driver, Eridson, told us it was 20 soles, about 10$ at the exchange rate we got, to the border checkpoint, which is about 10 minutes into Peru and a one stop shop, when I asked him how much it was from there, he never answered the question so I assumed we were good to go.  When we got to Tumbes after passing through migration the price started climbing in some ridiculous ways that I had never had a taxi driver try to pull on me before.  He tried to charge us per person, but for the four seats in the cab, not the two people that were traveling, and for each leg of the journey.  Then he told us that gas was 10$ a gallon in Peru.  He had some kind of math that made the whole trip 120 soles each.  At this point my blood was boiling and I gave him to his hustling just so that everything would turn out well and we got our bags back and didn’t die in Tumbes we ended up paying just 120 soles. In the end we never even made the bus we were aiming for.  Later I found out that first, the exchange rate is around 2.8 soles to the dollar, not the 2.06 rate we got, so we lost about 80 soles exchanging at the border.  Then we found out that the taxi should have been no more than 12 dollars and ended up costing us 60$ at the exchange rate we had received.

Peru By Bus, Ocean and Arid Areas

In Tumbes we did manage to find a bus and I was happy to be on the next transport out of that place by 2pm.  The bus to Lima on a Civa bus cost 60 soles and the route along the coast was a fast and relatively flat 1300km.  The ride was interesting for many reasons.  Once you leave Tumbes the route passes through some beach, surf and fishing villages with the most gorgeous Caribbean blue waters.  Climbing up from these beaches, but still in sight of the ocean it passes through an extremely arid region with desert like conditions.  There are some oil fields, but it is mostly very arid and a dull brown hue for hundreds of kilometers.  I woke up just outside of Lima and saw some insane sights because the road passes along steep cliffs that feel like the road is just hanging on and a small slip would send a bus tumbling a hundred feet into the ocean. We got into Lima around noon and took off to find a hostel with a new friend, Jorge, from Argentina.

Leg 5 Tumbes to Lima

On the Road

A Rocky Start:

The saga begins truly with the attempt to buy bus tickets for November 4th to Panama where we were to catch our flight on the 6th to Colombia. I searched online for ways to reserve tickets but the online reservation system was down, or more likely has never worked, so I found a ticket agent in Esteli and went to purchase the tickets. They told me I needed to pay now and then come back the Friday before the trip to pick up the tickets. I returned punctually to pick up the tickets only to find out that, first, they couldn’t acquire our tickets because they needed our passports despite my having asked this question specifically at the first meeting, second, they had gotten the date incorrect for our tickets requesting tickets for the 5th, which would make it all but impossible to catch our flight from Panama to Colombia.   I only found out that they thought we travelled on the 5th because they told me to return on Monday, the 4th, and I asked if it was possible to come get the tickets and travel in the same day, The lady looked taken aback and asked me if I was travelling on monday, I said yes then showed them the receipt they had written me.  They said ok, then assured me that the tickets would be ready the following day.  When I returned the next day she told me “you know what there is no bus to Panama on Monday, they do not travel until Wednesday.” She also told me I had to come back the next day to get my refund.  It was all incredibly frustrating.  On Saturday when I got back to San Isidro I proceeded to yell for 10 minutes, but when the storm was clear I just made a plan, went to use the internet, found numbers for the bus lines and resolved to get myself and Max to San Jose.

Ready, Set, Go:

I was able to make a reservation with one bus company, Central Line, who I heard about from my neighbors and who had an online reservation platform and great customer service. The bus to San Jose was smooth sailing across the border to Costa Rica, the company even gathered all our documents and took them through customs and migration. Unfortunately Costa Rica makes everyone get off the bus with their luggage and then go through customs and scan their bag.  It’s sole purpose seems to be to hold up people on the Costa Rican side of the border and create delays.

We arrived In san jose too late to find or make a connection on to Panama.  We stayed at a run down hotel near the bus station, stashed our things and took off in search of food.  After an hour of walking indecisively through San Jose we found a chinese food place.  We had some beer and fried rice and both of us felt like the waiter was starting Max down.  The restaurant seemed to be only for regulars who were sitting at the bar stools and the place was mostly locked down tight for the night as we arrived.  We went back to the hotel, Max went out to explore or lurk as he calls it through the city.  I woke up at 5:30 am to a yelling match between the very curt and indecipherable desk lady and Max. When max woke up again at around 9am i asked him what the deal was and found out that the lady wouldn’t let him in because he was trying to bring a new friend into the hotel.   We headed right out in the morning to look for a bus connection to Panama and could not find a direct bus so we went to the Tracopa bus station and took a bus to the border, Paso Canoas.  The bus was supposed to be 6 hours long and put us on the border at 4 or 5 pm.  With our luck and in such a hurry the bus hit a motorcyclist about an hour or two from the border and so we had to wait for police to come and take statements.  We had to wait for a bus to come pick us up and bring us to the border.  We got to the border around 7pm.

The border crossing was stressful because all our information indicated that the border closed around 7:30pm, but  fortunately a helper set upon us and informed us that the border would be open until 10pm, but also informed us that we needed a copy of our onward tickets and proof of 500$ to enter Panama.  He ushered us into a internet place and the showed us to the ATM.  It was a little bit sketchy, but in the end I was happy with the result because we did get across the border fine.

The thing i realized about borderlands in Central America is that they are pretty porous.  It would be extremely easy to pass through them without registering with migration. In each security is pretty relaxed and no one checks for border stamps.  There is such massive throng of people pushing through the lines and so many locals who pass without a second glance on business and for work at the border.  Where the Nicaraguan border is a confusing nightmare, there is at least a choke point that everyone passes through and on foot a guard would check your stamps, but it would be easy to pass through without registering.  The Panamanian side of the border was something very different.  There is a cluster of buildings on each side of the border, and it seems on the very border itself.  Getting into Panama the road into the country stretches out straight ahead of you, but a cross street leads to a shopping district, bus terminals, food and for the so inclined dance and discoteques.  It has the distinct feeling of chaos.

We survived the border and after some Burger King were ready to get back on the road and we hopped a 10pm express bus to Panama City and over night we passed through Panama and were at the bus station by 6am for our 10am flight to Bogota via San Andres Island.  We took a taxi to the airport with a very crude and brash taxi driver who quoted us a price and held up three fingers, when I confirmed that it was 3$ he told me I was crazy and that it was $30 in Spanish so I apologized and told him I couldn’t understand his garbled speech despite being fluent in spanish. Then when we got to the airport he tried to charge us the 5$ in tolls that he had to pay.  Fortunately by yelling at him, chastising him and making a generally big scene in front of the airport staff and security  I was able to get the other 5 $ back.  You can only push me so far.

And We Are Off:

We made our flight and I was truly relieved to get out of Panama, or at least on our way to Colombia.  We landed I  the tropical paradise of San andres, one of the tiny islands in the Caribbean that are the subject of dispute in the international courts. Once again  we had to provide proof of onward travel. It took an excruciatingly long time to get our bags re-checked.  We were able to catch our breath for a bit in the end at the airport and take in the Colombian beauties travelling to paradises like Medellin, Cartagena and Barranquilla.

Max and I set off for South America o  Monday, November 4th at around 530am. The plan on departure was to attempt to get to Patagonia.  In that effort we set off at a blistering pace.   We essentially were on busses for 6 days straight. Our travel schedule was as follows as we reached Lima Peru on Sunday, November 11th. Stay tuned for more South American adventures.

Leg 1 to San Jose

Leg 2 San Jose to Panama City

Bus Route	Date	Start	Finish	Time (Hours)	Cost($)	Distance(km)
San Isidro-Managua	Monday 4 November	5:20:00	7:30:00	2	2	150
Managua-San Jose, CR	Monday 4 November	10:00:00	20:30:00	10.5	28.75	428
San Jose-Paso Canoas, CR/Pan.	Tuesday 5 November	10:00:00	19:00:00	9	16	360
Paso Canoas-Panama City, Pan	Tuesday 5/6 November	22:00:00	6:30:00	8.5	20.55	495
Bogota, Colombia- Ipiales, Co.	Wednesday 6/7 November	17:30:00	17:30:00	24	52.5	922
Tulcan, Ecaudor- Quito, Ecuador	Thursday 8 November	12:00:00	20:00:00	5	5	241
Quito-Huaquillas, Ec	Thursday 8/9 November	10:00:00	11:00:00	13	12	544
Tumbes, Peru-Lima Peru	Saturday 9/10 November	13:00:00	12:00:00	23	30	1270
			Total	95	166.8	4410