Thoughts After Seven Months of Travel

It seems a shame to me that in the last 7 months, we didn’t see more, do more, meet more people.

We had plans to do and accomplish different things, and I kind of feel like we planned to do *more*) during the past 7 months of our lives.

My friend Patrick Shaw says that people greatly overestimate what they can do in a year, but greatly underestimate what they can do in ten years.

So maybe we should talk in ten years.

But thinking about it, I realize that we did do a LOT over the past 7 months in central and south America, and laid a foundation for coming back to this part of the world throughout our lives.

However, we had plans.

This post talks about what we had planned to do versus what we did.

(I have written this post to remember what we planned to do, actually did and didn’t do, and also should help others traveling through Central and South America to discover some great places and things to experience.)

Lakes:
We didn’t see lake Titicaca (Bolivia), or Lake Nicaragua.
But we did get to see the beauty of Lake Atitlan (Guatemala).

Islands:
We didn’t see the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), Isla del Omitepe (Nicaragua), or the San Blas Islands (Panama).
But we learned to SCUBA off of Isla Colon (Panama) in a town called Bocas Del Toro.

Animals:
We didn’t get to see whales or dolphins.
But we helped guard baby turtles and were part of their introduction into the world.  We saw monkeys in lots of places throughout central America; saw llamas mating; hummingbirds and butterflies in Mindo, Ecuador; and many other animals and critters.  We loved the variety of animals we saw, even if the insects were sometimes disturbing.

Language and culture:
We didn’t spend time living in an indigenous community, (though we spent lots of time around indigenous people).
But we speak Spanish pretty well now.  (Thanks Maribel!)  We speak well enough to be well understood, to receive compliments on how good our Spanish is, and to understand even difficult topics like politics and religion.

Business:
Because of taking Spanish class every day, and the time involved with both planning and getting from place to place, we didn’t grow our business in the way that we wanted to.
But I know 100% that our videos and written reviews of the places we’ve stayed in Antigua, Guatemala; Boquete, Panama; Quito, Ecuador, and Cuenca, Ecuador; have resulted in more bookings for the owners of those places.  Our knowledge of marketing on the Internet has helped other people to grow their businesses.  That’s exciting to me.

Ancient Cultures and Civilizations:
We didn’t get to San Augustin, Colombia; or in Peru – the Ruins of Kuelap, Macchu Picchu (due to flooding in March), or the tomb of Sipan near Chiclayo. But we saw the remnants of powerful and amazing ancient civilizations at Copan, Honduras; Tikal, Guatemala; Guayabo National Park, Costa Rica; Ingapirca, Ecuador; Cuenca, Ecuador; and Cajamarca, Peru.

Land Travel:
We did not see Belize; visit Santiago, Chile; return to Buenos Aires, Argentina; nor did we get to most of the countries in South America.
But we saw every land country in Central America (except Belize); went to or near the top of five volcanoes in three countries (Irazu and Poas, Costa Rica; Pacaya, Guatemala; Masaya, Nicaragua; and Cotopaxi, Ecuador); we covered thousands of miles by bus, plane, car, in the water, and on foot; saw amazing markets at Saquisili and Otavalo, Ecuador, and at Chichicastenengo, Guatemala; got to the capital cities of Guatemala (Guatemala City), Nicaragua (Managua), El Salvador (San Salvador), Costa Rica (San Jose), Panama (Panama City), Ecuador (Quito), and Peru (Lima); and met many amazing people along the way.

Personal Growth:
I’ve recognized and let go of some of my own ethnocentricity (which I didn’t know I had); become a Spanish speaker; learned that the jungle is a great place for me to visit, but for short-term visits only; and have learned that even though the longest we’ve been apart in the last 7 months is 4 hours, Carrie and I love and appreciate each other as much or more now that we ever have before.

I feel like a year or more could be spent exploring just Ecuador and Peru, with a mention to the lifetime that could be spent exploring Colombia and the other countries in South America.

I do think that these are areas which we will return to at some (as yet undetermined) future point in our lives.

At the same time, 7 months in central and South America has given me an even greater appreciation for the country I call home, the place where I grew up.

The United States of America is a place where stores almost always have change for a $20 bill, many stores are open 24-7, the bathrooms nearly always have tissue paper and toilet seats, and the spirit of the people, more than anywhere else I’ve ever been, says both in word and in action, “we can do it if we’ll just work hard at it.”

I am so grateful for the opportunities provided by our travels of the last seven months, and I’m very grateful as well for the opportunities and life I’ve been able to have growing up and living in the United States.

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Casa Pastoral Hotel Review: Las Lajas, Colombia

Casa Pastoral in Las Lajas, Colombia

For $4.50 per person, per night, it’s hard to complain. But that’s not going to stop me.

I’d heard some great things about Casa Pastoral with its view to Las Lajas Basilica in Colombia.

But, as far as I’m concerned the only great thing about Casa Pastoral is its view.

(Well, the price is pretty good too I guess.)

My biggest complaint was the bed. It was hard as a rock.

No exaggeration: sleeping on the side of Mt. Kilimanjaro was softer than this bed.

And the bathroom…was diiirrrtttyyy. Oddly enough, the lady who checked us in said we could look other places (when we weren’t all that thrilled with the room), but that Casa Pastoral was the cleanest and nicest place in town.

That may be true. But, if it is, I don’t even want to look at the other places.

To be fair, there were very few bugs. And, the staff was nice enough.

They also offered a breakfast for $2 per person (of rice, one egg, and very hard bread).

But, if you do stay at Casa Pastoral, get breakfast somewhere else. And coffee too.

If you just need a place to stay, and don’t care about getting a good night’s sleep, then Casa Pastoral is probably fine. But if, like us, sleep is important to you, I don’t recommend staying here.

Jonathan’s notes:

I was completely exhausted when we got to Casa Pastoral.  I woke up three or four times in the middle of the night because variuos parts of my body hurt (like they do when you sleep on the ground with little or no bedding).

But the room was clean enough, and I got 9 1/2 hours of sleep because I didn’t get woken up by racing cars, car alarms, roosters, or any other random sounds.  To me, that was absolutely worth the $4.50/person we spent, to spend the night at Casa Pastoral.

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Visiting Las Lajas Basilica, Las Lajas, Colombia

Credited as being on of the world’s 10 Most Unique Churches, Las Lajas definitely lives up to its claim.

At first, I’ll admit, I was a little unimpressed. But, then again, we approached it from the wrong side. Once we walked around and saw the view of the whole church, I was stunned.

(Click on any of the pictures in this post to see a larger version.)

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Bus From Quito, Ecuador to Las Lajas, Colombia

About a week ago I was going through our site post by post. We’d recently changed systems, and I wanted to be sure everything moved correctly.

I ran across this post. When I saw that Las Lajas Basilica was only 4km from Ecuador, Jonathan and I immediately started planning a weekend getaway.  As we don’t have a car, and didn’t want to rent one, we knew we would be going by bus from Quito to the border with Colombia.  (Some buses cross the border with Colombia, but most don’t.)

Las Lajas Basilica, Colombia

From Quito to Tulcán (the closest town to the Colombian border) is about 4 ½ hours by bus. So, I did some research to find a route, a place to spend the night, and things to do when visiting Colombia and Las Lajas.

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