After we parted company in northern Peru with our French amies, Damien, Eleanor and their lovely family, we continued to work our way north. For us, there never really was a decision about whether or not we would continue to travel. We know our unfortunate event was random and it certainly was not how we wanted to end our journey.
Our travel now is colored through the lens of a year and a half of great experiences and the impending end of our trip.We know so much more now than when we began: more about life, more about ourselves, more about each other and more about the world in which we live. We are savoring every minute of our remaining time. We are less interested in visiting must-see tourist sites (if that is possible) and more interested in relaxing and reflecting on our travels.
Here is a glimpse of the last month or so...
Funny outdoor shower at a camping area near Puerto Lopez - Ecuador
Our setup at IslaMar, near Salango Ecuador - a place just made for chillin´
Mike plowing through yet another book - our reading lists from the trip are impressive and include everything from schlock to historical fiction, lots of non-fiction and several classics.
Sunset over Isla Salango from IslaMar
A surprise cake for Mike on his birthday...
....with 'Happy Birthday' sung in 3 languages (english, Spanish and German) by our fellow guests.
A roadside stop along the coast for lunch
After a week on the coast we hit Quito, both for some follow up medical care and a taste of city life.
On Sundays several main roads in Quito are closed to cars and open only to cyclists. Cool!
Cyclopolis
From Quito we went back to Hacienda Sigsipamba for a reunion with our buddy Lucho. Indeed, it was like coming home. We were greeted warmly by Lucho and his new ´vecinos´ Nicole and Philip and their two kids who are now living there. I spent a morning taking pictures of this beautiful old property and though it needs major work it just exudes character and charm. Oh, the secrets it holds....
Hacienda Sigsipamba
Our little corner of Hacienda Sigsipamba
Some of the perritos
Lucho´s big Mann vehicle
Lucho driving his monster truck - clearly just a big kid, he has a joie de vivre that is hard to resist.
When we left Hacienda Sigsipamba we went to a great spot just outside of Ibarra. This vivero (plant nursery) is owned by an Austrailian named Graham. He invites travellers to stay for free to take a break from the rigors of the road. Again, it was super relaxing.
While here we met Lacey and Luis, two Americans travelling south. Only the second Americans we've met who are travelling like we are, it was fun to share info on places we loved throughout South America. We also had a great community dinner with Graham, Lacey and Luis and Tom and Jenny, a backpacking couple who are friends of Lacey and Luis'.
But eventually the rain chased us away and we decided it was time to move into Colombia.
Potato bus - Colombia
We worked our way to San Agustin, a town we had bypassed on our way south. Many, many carved stones have been found throughout the area and little is known about the people who carved them.Here we met Canadians Wendi and Steve and toured the archeological site with them conjecturing about the stones and their significance.
Steve
Wendi
Wendi, Steve and Pumper, their fabulous 1972 VW bus
Is Pumper cool, or what?
Leaving San Agustin we fell upon a town with five different hot springs. This area used to be off limits to tourists and none of my three travel books even mentioned Rivera. We checked out the different springs and chose the one we felt suited us best (low key, clean, quiet). We stayed three days and met the familia Jamarillo. They were great and very helpful providing local information. In case you are wondering, that is a grapefruit I´m holding. It was huge and fresh off a tree in their back yard.
Trish with Susanna and Fabio Jamarillo
After leaving Rivera we did an overnight in Natagaima, south of Bogota...
Here we asked if there was a place to camp and the municipal pool managers invited us to camp on the deck. Chettie even got to take a dip! It was a very unique camping spot.
Street scene just outside the doorway at the Zona de Camping
We opted to bypass Bogota in favor of returning to and spending more time in Villa de Leyva. This is the town where Jim and Mike did the engine work exactly one year ago. One of our favorite places in all of South America, we are so glad to be able to come back and visit with people we had met while here. We have been enjoying the town and love it just as much as we did on our first visit.
The Beagle in the Zona one year and 25,000 miles later
Looking towards the Plaza Mayor
Early morning on the Plaza
Villa de Layva rooftops
Hard as it is, we will leave here tomorrow and head to Santa Marta on the coast, another place we skipped when heading south. We plan to spend about a week in complete relax mode before heading to Cartagena to ship the Beagle to Miami. Should be home for FIBArk!
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