Day 23 – Making Pizza! AND Mortino Pie

June 26th – 3:39pm

So, today is officially Sarah’s birthday. We decided to go to the Hot Springs in Nangulvi to celebrate. We got really lucky and caught a ride with some foreigners who were already heading there. They seem to be two couples biking (at least the down hill bits) across South America. We got a ride with their Ecuadorian guide who might be the safest driver in all of Ecuador (this is rare!). We got to enjoy the views from the truck bed without being bounced around like popcorn. It was awesome. When we got to Apuela, we thought the jig was up and we’d have to hitch another ride, but the guide asked us where we were going and they happened to be going to the same place.

When we got to Nangulvi, we decided to eat lunch at the restaurant first. It was the strangest, but probably most authentic, Ecuadorian food ever. We got Tree Tomato juice, which was pretty tasty. It came with a soup that I still don’t quite know the contents and then the main meal was some kind of meat (not sure, because it seemed to be mostly fat) in a peanut butter-like sauce with potatoes, rice, and fried yellow plantains. It was really, really strange. But for $2.50, why the hell not? When in Ecuador… do as the Ecuadorians do.

During our lunch, it poured rain outside, so everyone at the pools left. When the rain finally stopped, we had them all to ourselves. I’m not sure if I liked or disliked the pools. Frankly, they didn’t seem very authentic. They were just tiled, heated pools. And some of them were really gross and dirty. We stayed out of those and stuck to the cleanest ones. Thank god.

After the pools, we went into the Gift Shop, which also operated as a internet service place. We took the opportunity and checked our e-mail. I also took some time to shop. They had all kinds of artisan stuff from Intag. I got some Rio Intag Free-Trade Coffee for my grandparents and bought a Cabuya Fiber bag. More on that later.

After that, we caught a ride back to Apuela, bought two boxes of wine, and then caught a ride back to Pucara.

To celebrate Sarah’s birthday, we had a special pizza dinner. This was really good. We also had birthday pie (yes, pie. not, cake.) which was made with Alpine blueberries. Pretty good but crammed with so many blueberries. Insane.

Then Dan built a birthday bonfire. We sat around for a couple hours talking and now, it’s bed time.

Love and Andean Bears,
Ashley

Day 21 – Back to Otavalo…

June 24 – 2:48pm

Sarah and I did Vuelta de Oso today. We decided to carry everything we needed for Otavalo and then catch the bus from the trail. This worked out pretty well, because we got to catch one of the mid-day buses which are not nearly as busy as the 7:00am, 7:30am, or 3:00pm buses. We got seats and everything. It was nice for a change.

(Bad news bears ---- No bears heard today)

When we got to Otavalo, Sarah and I went ahead to check in at the Hostel. Another good surprise, we got a double room to ourselves and didn’t have to share a room with the guys this time. Definitely a plus. No farting or mooning to be had. Sweet.

After checking in, we went to find a lunch spot. While walking around we saw a sign boasting a 4-course meal special for $3.80. We were like, “Why the hell not!” This place is called Aly Allpa and specializes (or, so they say) in Grilled cuisine.

So, the 4-course part is kind of a lie. It came with a really nice and hearty soup, a grilled chicken filet with rice and salad, and a piece of chocolate cake. What’s the fourth course? It was the drink… Haha. The meal came with a fresh made blackberry juice. Everything was pretty good, with the exception of the chicken. The chicken filet looked like it had been beaten to a pulp in order to make it flat and appear larger. It also didn’t taste as though a grill had been anywhere near it. The chocolate cake was very good, but it was such a small piece, you really couldn’t enjoy it.

After Sarah and I ate lunch, we went on the search for a couple of things in the market. Sarah is set to climb Machu Picchu in Peru in a couple of weeks and she didn’t pack enough warm clothes. Apparently, Machu Picchu is freezing and it’s a four-day hike to the top. So, we needed to find her a warm hat and a scarf. For cheap. We found her a beanie for $2 and a similar scarf for $3. If I were her, I would have gone for one of the Alpaca scarfs… SOOOO warm.

Once, we found those, we walked past an art vendor with some really amazing work. In Otavalo, if you even remotely show interest in something, the vendor latches onto you like a hawk. This is where Sarah and I became Team-Haggle. The vendor saw four paintings that we liked and pulled them all down for us to look at side-by-side. Once he told us the prices he wanted, we were like “No way.” and went to walk away. He wanted $70 for the painting I wanted and $60 for the painting Sarah wanted. We both weren’t prepared to pay that price. We said we’d pay twenty each, but he wouldn’t have that. Finally, we came to an agreement of $55 for both. We basically got them for over half off, so we were pretty stoked.

I bought more presents for back home and I can’t wait to give them to everybody.

After a little more shopping, we went back to the Hostel to meet up with the guys and Kerry. Then, we went to dinner at Pizza Siciliana (a pizza place Kerry recommended). This is an expensive pizza place… just saying. It might be good but I think $18 for pizza in Ecuador is a bit much, especially considering we had a similar size and quality pizza the week before for $5.80. But, it was for Sarah’s birthday and it was good.

After that, we hit the streets and danced with the locals. This was so fun! Loved it!

Sarah did a birthday Tequila shot. This was the darkest tequila I’ve ever seen. It looked sooooo gross. I don’t know how she got it down. I would have thrown up.

All around, it was a good night!

Love and Andean Bears,
Ashley

Day 20 – First Seriously Sick Day

June 23rd – 2:38pm

So, I couldn’t walk today. Something about last night’s dinner didn’t settle well in my stomach.

Last night was Wednesday night game night, which was fun. We had a table full with Carl, Will, John, and Judy here. Plus, it was Mayke (Mik-a)’s birthday. Mayke is the educational coordinator here for the International Homestay program. She is from Holland. We played spoons (i.e. Ecuadorian Pilsener bottle caps). It was fun.

I believe it was the beer that made me sick. It’s pretty much the shittiest beer I’ve ever had (which isn’t saying much). We also had Chinese Rice for dinner and I just don’t think the two combined well in my stomach.

When I woke up and got the news that the two trails were Tabla Chupa and Paramo, I knew I couldn’t do it. Both are at high altitude and that makes me dizzy. Dizzy and nauseous just don’t go together.

My choice in not going kind of benefited everybody. Kerry and Dan had a bet going over who could beat the other to the top of Paramo. So, without me dawdling behind, they could actually race. I totally thought Kerry would kick Dan’s butt, considering he’s a smoker and Kerry is way more adapted to the altitude. However, it didn’t go that way and Dan won. The wager was that if Dan beat Kerry to the top, he would get to smoke a cigarette. So, he did.

Fun times in Ecuador.

Tomorrow, we all are headed to Otavalo to celebrate Sarah’s birthday. She turns 26 on Sunday. Apparently, there’s a big festival in Otavalo this weekend. Exciting.

Love and Andean Bears,
Ashley

Day 19 – Feeling Better

June 22nd – 2:31pm

Today, I hiked Cazapamba with Kerry, Carl, Jon, and Judy. Jon and Judy are another set of friends from California that came to Ecuador to see Kerry. They’re an older couple, but I really can’t peg them. They say they’re just friends, but I don’t know about that. They’re very nice.

I felt a bit proud of myself today. Cazapamba was the first hike I did here in Ecuador and it was so hard the first day. I couldn’t keep up with anyone and didn’t really care to try… But today, I was leading the pack most of the way up. It felt so much easier than the first time. I doubt I could keep up with the boys even at this point, but I’m definitely getting fitter. I’m quite proud to tell the truth.

Not only was today a good day in that respect, we also heard Frida straight off the bat and got four really solid points on her. That felt good too. I think I’m finally getting a feel for this radio telemetry thing.

Leaving on a good note…

Love and Andean Bears,
Ashley

Day 18 – Paso Alto

June 21st – 4:32pm

Today started bright and early at 5:00am. The community asked if some volunteers from the Bear House would do a nature walk with some school children from the Intag Region. We, of course, said yes and I was pretty stoked. We were going to be walking through a protected nature preserve called Paso Alto.

We were told it was going to be a super easy hike. They lied. It was like 90 children and a hike straight up to the top of a mountain. They told the library coordinator that it would be easy enough for her to carry her baby the whole way up. Again, they lied. It was a crazy intense hike. I didn’t even make it to the top, because I lost sight of everyone and decided it would be safest just to turn around and meet back up with Carolina (the coordinator) and to help her with the baby. One of the hippy guys, Carl, had been helping her most of the way and when I found them, they knew they wouldn’t make it to the top. So, we all turned around together.

This hike was so hard, I ran out of water. I was so dehydrated, I drank out of an Ecuadorian waterfall. This is something you’re never supposed to do… ever. But I did it and I’m really lucky it didn’t make me sick. My stomach is stronger than I thought.

This was an 8 hour hike with 5 hours of driving too. It was the longest day and I’ve never been so excited to eat Shepherd’s pie and go to bed.

So tired….

Love and Andean Bears,
Ashley

Day 17 – Kicking Global Ass

June 20th – 4:20pm

Had a pretty uneventful day. Nothing special. We had a horrible time getting up and around this morning. I think everyone is kind of exhausted.

We had a pretty boring breakfast. The same scrambled eggs we seem to always have and fried plantains.

After that, Sarah and I were headed for Tabla Chupa. However, it had rained the night before and we weren’t sure if we’d be able to do it. When we got there, Alberto said it wouldn’t be safe. So, we did Vuelta again. This is like the 4th time I’ve done Vuelta, so I’m pretty much over it.

The coolest thing we learned was that a puma lives in the area and killed a family’s sheep. Sweet! A puma!

We came home pretty early and went to Apuela for two hours to check e-mails and shop around. Got some yogurt, a coke, and some bleach. My socks weren’t white anymore, but they are now! Ha, bitches.

Caught a ride back to Pucara with two old Gringos who just bought a house here in Pucara. Definitely seemed like the kind of guys whose wives divorced them and decided to leave the country.

Kerry, the volunteer coordinator, finally got back today. And what did she bring with her? Two of her buddies from California who have been traveling through South America for like a year. Totally hippy dudes with long hair who haven’t showered in a week. Really cool, nice guys though. Lots of experiences and like pro world travelers. Africa, most of South America, and Europe. They’re kicking global ass. Pretty sweet.

Super tired today. Looking forward to dinner and bed.

Love and Andean Bears,
Ashley

Day 16 – Down Day

June 19th – 4:17pm

Today, I did absolutely nothing. Slept in till noon. Ate lunch. Painted in Pucara (only words). Ate Dinner. Went to bed.

Nothing Excited… Not at all. Kind of needed the rest though. Been going, going, going for 2 weeks now.

Love and Andean Bears,
Ashley

Day 15 – Otavalo Market

June 18 – 4:01pm

We woke up early this morning to go to the Market in Otavalo. Hostel Maria has surprisingly comfortable beds for only being $7 a night. Pretty sweet.

We got up especially early to go to the Animal Market in Otavalo, which runs from 6am to 10am. It was pretty crazy and super disturbing. I’ve never seen animals so poorly care for. Puppies with ropes tied around their ankles. Guinea Pigs being lifted up by their heads and then tossed back in the pile. It’s sick actually. Baby piglets with cuts on their legs from the ropes used to tie them to things. It really made me nauseous and the other volunteers didn’t feel any different. We all saw way more than we needed to see.

We went for breakfast at a little coffee shop and had French Toast… with no syrup. Dissappointing.

After that, it was time for the main show. The crafts market. It was super wicked. I love hand-made shizz. I spent like $100 and got presents for just about everyone including myself. Super sweet. I got a necklace with a bear carved on it. Sweeeet.

I got Amelia a blue Ecuadorian poncho and a pink hand-woven bag. I got my mom a bracelet and a really awesome hand-woven table cloth. I got Ben a sweet-ass hammock. I got Professor Altfeld a hand-woven bag. I still have to get Warren and my dad something yet. Too hard to figure them out.

After shopping, we ate lunch at this pizza place in Otavalo. This place had delicious pizza, but it was definitely a little gross. We got like a large pizza for $5 that had mushrooms, chorizo, beef, pepperoni, and ham on it. Weird thing though… no sauce. Still delish though.

We caught the 3:00pm bus back to Intag. There was a huge festival for the village of Pucara’s saint. But, by the time we got there, everyone was already plastered off their asses. And… the only thing they seemed to know how to do was ask to dance. I politely declined and returned to the house. I was not down with like 100 drunk men asking me to dance every five minutes. Super lame. We had people passed out on our porch and everything. Totally effed.

Love and Andean Bears,
Ashley

Day 14 – First Night in Otavalo

June 17th – 2:37am

Today actually wasn’t horrible. Surprisingly. Everything with Jack has seemed to have blown over. At least, for the most part.

Sarah and I did Cazapamba by ourselves again. With no guide. Again. We did the trail really fast today though. It only took us like 3 hours to do it, even with us having to walk the whole way up, wait at Sanuel’s for 30 minutes (only for him to tell us he wasn’t walking with us) and then back down. It was a lot easier this time than the previous ones. We didn’t stop for nearly as many breaks and I didn’t have to stop for water too often. The only downside was that we didn’t hear any bears. No Frida. No Enrique. Nada.

We got back to the house around 12:30pm and the last bus to Otavalo leaves at 3:00pm. So, we had plenty of time to pack and get everything situated. Dan didn’t show back up at the house until 2:15pm and everyone was really starting to worry that he was lost or something. Luckily, he packs really light and had no trouble being ready in 15 minutes.

The bus showed up about 15 minutes early and we were lucky to snag it. However, this was an awful bus ride. No seats. No room. Standing for 2 and a half hours. Lovely… Plus we we’re lucky enough to be standing next to two women who apparently had to breast feed the entire drive down. Awkward. These two women also felt the need to change their babies’ dirty diapers on the bus. That was charming. And what did they do with the dirty diapers? Oh, they threw them out the window of course. Disgusting. But, I guess I’d rather it be out of the bus than in it. One of the babies kept trying to climb up my shirt and kept putting their hands in Dan’s pants. It was downright terrible. I’ll take yesterday’s bus ride any day.

Getting to Otavalo was awesome because we finally got off the bus from hell. Then we had to find our $7/per night hostel that we were staying in for the night. That took a good 20 to 30 minutes, because we had no idea where we were going. This also got really irritating, because it seemed like the guys didn’t want to make any decisions, so it was left up to Sarah and I to make all of them. Super frustrating. I hate indecisiveness. Hate it.

We found the hostel and it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Thankfully. When 4 people are being crammed into a room, the last thing you need is a crappy room. After getting checked in and sort of settled, we decided to go for dinner. Where do 4 white people go for dinner in Ecuador?

To a Chinese restaurant, of course. This was the most ghetto Chinese restaurant in the world. It really wasn’t even Chinese. The menu was in Spanish with a couple bad English translations. There were more misspelled words on this menu than there are on a first graders English Writing test. Pineapple was spelled Pincapple. Beef was spelled Beed. Does anyone know what Crackless Chicken is? Because I sure as shit didn’t. Despite the menu and atmosphere, the food was actually pretty good. It definitely wasn’t Chinese though. Not at all. Ecuadorian Chinese consists of a choice of protein, some julienned vegetables, fries or rice, and a shit ton of American Brown Gravy. I had what I would consider a Salisbury steak in a “Chinese” restaurant. Luckily, it tasted good and the fries were good with the gravy.

After that, we went back to the hostel for showers. YAY! Hot water with pressure. It was soooo nice. During this period of time, we learned that Jack takes forever to get ready to go and that he uses the bathroom like 2-3 times in an hour. It’s outrageous. Annoying too.

We left the hostel to go on a pub crawl. Our first stop was a place called The Red Pub. Which, again, wasn’t really a pub at all. It was more like a hookah bar. It was also too loud to be a pub. The guys had rum and cokes which they said tasted bad. Sarah and I had some really, really disgusting blue curacao and pina colada drink. It was awful and was so strong that it knocked both Sarah and I on our asses. TERRIBLE.

So, we moved on to another bar, which didn’t have a name and just said Bar in English. Dan had like 4 rum and cokes here, because he liked them. Sarah and I had a glass of white wine that took us over an hour to drink. This bar was actually really cool. The music wasn’t too loud. There was artwork all over the wall and the absolute best part was… there were Banksy (the graffiti artist) tag prints all over the place. It was awesome. Jack and I found out that we both love Banksy and bonded over our love for political graffiti. The night was starting to look up. Sort of.

After the 2 hours we spent in there, we went back to The Red Pub for some nachos and a round of shots. We each had a shot of Rum and some really boring nachos with queso. But it helped sober us up.

After the nachos, we met up with some other white travelers who were working with GVI. Still not sure what they do, because they all said something different. They invited us to a bar called Shots, so we went. This bar was completely not my scene. It was a dance bar. Eww. Sarah and I kept getting grabbed up on by creepy Ecuadorian dudes. We kept having to push them away too and they didn’t seem to want to take no for an answer. This caused us to move outside. There we talked with the other travelers. We met a really, really crazy Canadian guy who was hilarious. I think the worst part about this place is that the gender ratio is completely off. It was like 90% dudes. So, anywhere we walked it felt like there were 20 to 30 pairs of eyes on us. It was really gross.

When we got back to the hostel, everyone completely crashed. It was the best sleep I’ve gotten in Ecuador. I’m just glad I didn’t have to punch anyone in the face for touching me inappropriately.

Just a hint… don’t go bar crawling in Ecuador. It’s creepy. Totally not my scene. Not at all. Still had fun with Sarah though. We made each other laugh so much tonight. We are kind of getting to that point where I can look at her and she’ll look back and we just burst out laughing because we know what the other is thinking.

Fun times.

Love and Andean Bears,
Ashley

Day 13 – Paramo Drama

June 16 – 10:44pm

I’m started to get the gut feeling that it’s all downhill from here…

Today was another frustrating day. Breakfast kind of sucked and for some odd reason, Jack felt the need to say, “You’re not a morning person are you?” I was just like “WTF?” Just because I wasn’t talking, I’m not a morning person? I’m not here for his entertainment and frankly I’m sick of being the one forced to start conversations and to make decisions. It’s really fucking frustrating. Like really.

We woke up early to catch the 7:30am bus. From there, we picked up Alberto. This bus ride sucked. We were stuck standing for an hour and my arms were so sore. Jack and I are not on common ground and the levy has been about to break for the last week. He’s just difficult to be around and I feel like he doesn’t pay attention to anyone else. On the bus, he just pushes his huge ass backpack into peoples faces. I tried letting him know and that only got me a smart-ass remark about how “It’s a bus and it happens.” In my head, I was like, “Well, it’s still rude…”

Paramo is beautiful, but it’s actually the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. Apparently, my lungs were not made for this altitude and they’re too used to un-clean air. On Paramo, the air is so pure and so very clean. It actually makes it hurt to breathe. I apparently got altitude sickness, because I became very dizzy and fatigued and couldn’t feel my feet. I didn’t even want to go past the 1st station because it was only getting worse as we went up. However, my fellow male volunteers felt that they had to put their two cents in…

Dan: I’ve been smoking since I was 15. If I can do it, you can do it.

Jack: Don’t you think you’re just psyching yourself out.

Dan: I think you can fight through it.

I didn’t fucking want to fight through it. It hurt so bad to breathe and I couldn’t walk too long without falling. It was just bad and all I really wanted was for them to say, “Okay, take it easy. See you soon.” I didn’t need a pep-talk every ten seconds.

So, I made it to 6 out of 7 stations and I was so proud of that. Luckily, Sarah stuck by me the entire time and we both ended up stopping at the 6th station. It was pretty great of her and I really appreciate her doing that.

After walking back down through Paramo and getting even dizzier, Sarah and I caught the most terrifying ride ever. It was literally a near death experience. The driver drove on like the edge of the cliffs and drove like 80 on sharp turns. We’re lucky to be alive. It was like an hour ride down the mountain and we planned on getting out at Alberto’s house because we were so terrified. But… that didn’t happen. When we got to Alberto's house, he jumped out and talked to the driver and we were like, “LET US OUT!!!” and since he doesn’t speak English… that didn’t work. So, he abandoned us on the truck ride from hell. From that point, the ride only got worse because the driver kept picking up speed every chance he could. We were nearly decapitated by tree branches about 3 or 4 times. I don’t think we were ever so happy as when he stopped in Pucara and we got to jump out and walk the 5 minutes to the house.

We told the guys about this and they of course thought we were exaggerating and had to make some stupid smart-ass comments. I finally got to the point where I was like, “Whatever. Alright, that’s enough.” From here on, it was pretty much all fighting words between Jack and I. Everything I said, he felt the need to make a fucking comment on it. He even brought up me giving the dog in Apuela a couple crackers and how they weren’t my crackers to give. Then, who’s crackers are they? I even said this. I was like, “I gave the dog 4 crackers and gave you and Dan the rest of them. Did your stomach miss those 4 crackers?” He said yes and I was like, “Well, I think the dog’s stomach was far more empty than yours.”

And this is where it went down… He had the nerve to say, “It’s not like you would know the feeling.” This caught me by complete surprise and I asked him what the fuck that meant and he proceeded to say that I seem to be doing pretty well. Basically, he called me fat. From there, I didn’t say anything and just took a drink.

Jack: I’m sorry. I don’t know why there’s so much hostility in the air.
Me: I don’t know why either. What’s your fucking problem?
Jack: I feel like you talk to me in a condescending way and that you don’t feel like I’m your peer. I feel like you tell me what to do sometimes. (*I don’t feel like he’s my peer… not anymore.*)
Me: Please, give me an example. Explain this.
Jack: Today on the bus with the bag and you telling me about it.
Me: I felt like you were being rude and I wasn’t sure if you were aware of your bag being in that little old ladies face.
Jack: Well, let me deal with my own consequences then.
Me: Fine, whatever. I won’t help you anymore. I feel like I’ve done nothing but be nice to you and help you with as much as I possibly can. I’ve helped you with uploading and transporting pictures. I’ve helped you with your dissertation. I’ve helped you call home. Why would I do that if I didn’t like you? That’s called being two-faced.
Jack: Well, I can’t tell if you are or not.
Me: Again, that’s fine. I won’t help you anymore.
Jack: No, no, no. That’s not what I want.
Me: Well, that’s what it sounds like.

This is clearly proof that I’m too nice.

And, then I walked away and went up to the room. Maybe two minutes later, he’s knocking on my door, wanting to apologize. I wasn’t having it, so I ignored him. Then, when I went down to help dry dishes, he was waiting for me and wanted to talk. Again, I wasn’t having it and told him I needed time. Then, he like went up in his room by himself and sulked. It made me feel a shit ton better.

I felt terrible for Dan and Sarah. It must have been very awkward for them. When I went to dry some dishes, Dan was like, “You should really talk to him.” I told Dan that we both just needed to move on and get over it. To this, Dan said, “Okay, then.” More attitude…

When I went to walk back upstairs, Jack was there waiting and was like, “Please, just hear me out.” Since, I didn’t have much of a choice, I just sat down.

Jack: I just want you to know I didn’t mean anything I said. That was nothing. I’ve been thinking and I realized that you’re such a nice person and that I was wrong. You’re so nice and so helpful and I should have taken that into account before I said anything. It just seems like miscommunication.
Me: It’s not a big deal. I’m fine. I know I’m a nice person and I think the issue is I’m too nice.
Jack: There’s nothing wrong with being too nice. (*Yes, there is. People take advantage of it when they can and then stab you in the back later.*)
Jack: Don’t change at all.
Me: Let’s just let it go and move on.

From there, we all played a couple rounds of cards and I just let myself simmer down a bit. I just didn’t feel like dealing with it anymore. I just don’t want to deal with him anymore. He’s so irritating. Nearly everything he does irritates the living shit out of me now. I’m hoping the Otavalo weekend will help clear the air a bit.

Ready to come back home… I miss Ben. I miss having him around to vent to. I just miss him altogether. I feel like I’m missing a huge part of my life. He’s my best friend, the love of my life, and the only person who actually just listens. I know he’s always in my corner and I just miss having that.

Tired of biting the bullet for strangers.

Ashley

Day 12 – Not Keeping Up With The Boys and Not Even Trying

June 15th – 4:27pm

Today was a frustrating day. Alberto, Dan, and I did La Colonia today, which is one of the hardest trails the ABF has. It sucked royal dick. Just saying.

When you’re trying to keep up with an Ecuadorian Guide who has been doing the same exact trails for 11 years and doesn’t ever get tired, you kind of just give up. And Dan was staying right up there with him, so I didn’t have a chance in hell.

Instead of adjusting their pace to match mine, they just kept speeding up the steep up-hill parts as fast as they could with no consideration for me being like a half mile behind them. I actually got really pissed off about it, because they’d go up the hill and stop, sit down and wait for me to catch up and, instead of letting me take a break when I got to the top, they’d speed off again, right up the next hill. So, basically, I felt like I could never take a break and I eventually just stopped caring. I wasn’t going to run to keep up with them. I just wasn’t. They should have been a little more courteous and should have just slowed down some to accommodate the slow-walker (i.e. me).

Before we even got to the uphill part (that I was actually looking forward to), we had to walk down the mountain through slim and very steep mud paths. Luckily, I didn’t fall at all, but there was one point where it was just a mud slant with no foot holes and I was just like, “Screw it!”, and sat down and just let myself slide down the mountain as if I were snow tubing. I hate steep, downhill mud paths. With a passion. They are a broken ankle or near-death experience waiting to happen. (Alberto and Dan couldn’t even be bothered to slow down for this part either…)

So, all this downhill mud? Where does it go? To a big-ass river. How do we cross said river? On the most terrifying imitation of a bridge ever. This bridge is little more than steel cables with about a half dozen two by fours laying  end-to-end across them. So, this bridge was about the width of my two feet. It was terrifying, but somehow I made it across and then all the up-hill and frustration started.

I actually got so frustrated that I said to go on with out me to the last of the stations, because I was done. If I tried to keep up with them any longer, I’d be dead. I’m terrified to think of how the Paramo trail is going to go tomorrow, but Sarah and I have decided to band together and stay together with out trying to rush to keep up with the guys.

I’ve also decided that I’m too nice to everyone, but I don’t receive the same treatment in return.

“Hey, does anyone have 50c for the bus? I only have a $5.” – Dan. “Yeah. Sure. Don’t worry about it.” – Me.

“Does anyone have antibacterial wipes?” – Dan. “Yeah, here you go!” – Me. “Thanks a lot!” – Dan. “No problem.” – Me.

“Can you make the reservations for Otavalo? – Guys. “Yeah, no problem.” – Me. I made the reservations using that last bit of my phone card that I bought to call home…

“Can I go in front of you?” – Jack. “Sure…” – Me.

“Hey, I’m going to buy phone cards. Does anyone want to come?” – Me. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll come.” – Jack. “Do you want me to show you how to use that?” – Me. “Yeah, thanks.” – Jack. “No problem.” – Me.

I’m so nice to everybody and I talk to everybody. This place would be so quiet if I didn’t try to start conversations. But, yet, I’ve heard Kerry say I could talk the ears off a donkey. Oh and that I’m a know-it-all too. I’m kind of ready to say goodbye to these people (with the exception of Sarah)… Everyone is so two-faced. I wish I were truly traveling alone now. I wouldn’t have to conform to everyone’s standards. I wouldn’t have to worry about talking too much, knowing too much, walking too slow, being too nice, or giving too much (information, time, energy, money…). I wouldn’t have to worry about offending anyone or being offended by anyone…

I sound so miserable today and I think that’s because today was a truly awful day. The highlight of my day was walking to Apuela after the trail and sending e-mails home with the hopes of receiving e-mails back. Oh and buying phone cards, because that means I might get to talk to my family and fiance who I actually give a shit about. Because today, I really couldn’t give a fuck less about anyone in this bear house (except Sarah).

I’ve learned something about myself already on this trip. And, that is that I’m not as strong as I think I am. I’m burning out at just 2 days till my two-week mark (and I still have over 2 and a half weeks left). I’m breaking down on the bi-daily basis and it really pisses me off. Today, I didn’t break down because I felt weak, I broke down because I was just so pissed off at Alberto and Dan for pretty much leaving me behind the entire time. Tomorrow better be better or I'm going to have a terrible weekend with these people (except Sarah).

I really miss my Ben. I just want something familiar and I feel like he’s the only thing that is truly constant anymore (aside from my Klause-man). Dad and Amelia are completely hit-or-miss. Mom seems like she’s in her own world sometimes or she’s too tired to be bothered. I feel like it has taken me leaving for anyone to truly give a shit. Mom actually seems happy when I call.

I’m hoping all these feelings are going to pass, because otherwise I’m going to have a miserable night.

Misery and Andean Bears,
Ashley

P.S. Another high-light of my day was spending a good 20 minutes with a street dog in Apuela who looked exactly like a skinnier, shorter version of Klause. I almost cried when he sat for me. He definitely had an owner because someone whistled for him and he ran over with his tail all-a-wagging. So, that was encouraging. I even shared my crackers with this dog because he was so sweet and skinny. If I could have had my way, I would have walked him right onto the bus with me and he would have lived at the bear house in the girls room. I would have even bought dog food in Otavalo this weekend. I miss my Klause soooo much.

Post Dinner:

So, tonight wasn’t a complete bust. Sanuel, one of the guides, dropped by at the house and we were planning on playing cards and such. So, we invited Sanuel for a beer and played a couple different games. It was difficult to explain a game to Sanuel, because of our poor Spanish, so we ended learning one of his games. The game he taught us is called Cuarenta (which means 40 in Spanish) and I still don’t understand how the game goes. But there were lots of laughs shared all around. Fun times.

Paramo tomorrow.

Day 11 – Pissed as a Cricket

June 14th – 2:39pm

So today kind of sucked. Last night, I started getting really bad chest pains and lung cramps that made it painful to take deep breaths. I don’t know where they came from. My only idea is that the altitude from yesterdays trail actually got to me. But I didn’t feel this way up on the trail. Well, whatever they are, they make it really difficult to sleep too. It kind of feels like someone is sitting right on my lungs.

Once they started getting bad, I talked to Kerry and told her that I didn’t think I could do the trail for the next day. The trail we had scheduled today for everyone was Loma Redonda, which is another jungle trail that requires you to walk half of Cazapamba before you can even start Loma. Also, I knew that Loma was like 75% steep up-hill and 25% steep down-hill. Apparently, Tabla Chupa is just an appetizer of what Loma is like. So, for safety’s sake, I decided to sit this one out and rest. I did this, because I really want to be healthy to do Paramo on Thursday.
(I really don’t feel like a loser either, because one of the guy volunteers ended up only making it to the 1st Station of Loma and then ended up turning around because of a headache and knee pain.)

So, I had a late start to my day. I decided to start some of the painting in Pucara with the mural at the local store. Kerry said to put slogans on any murals that didn’t have them, so I ended up putting the web address, the species name, and an Andean Bear slogan on the mural. The slogan I painted said, “El oso es nuestro tesoro. Cuidemoslo.” This is one of the three slogans Kerry said I could paint on the murals. I’m not exactly sure what this one means. When I can get my hands on a Spanish dictionary, I’ll figure it out. But the other two, I understand pretty well.

“El oso da vida al bosque. Cuidemoslo.”
– The bear is the life of the forest. Protect it!

“Lo que es bueno para el oso es bueno para nosotros.”
– What is good for the bear is good for everyone.

I finished painting and then made a call to Otavalo to make reservations at a local hostel for Friday Night. This weekend, we’re planning on going to the Otavalo market which is biggest on Saturdays. Apparently, there is an animal market on Saturday morning which is supposed to be quite the cultural experience. Not sure how to take that. I’m looking forward to purchasing some local gifts for everyone at home.

Here’s the plan.
The House is getting a hand-made Otavalo Hammock. Super excited. Hammocks are awesome.
Mom is getting some kind of jewelry or artisanal carving.
Amelia is getting a hand-woven bag or something.
Ben… I’m not sure what to get him… really. Maybe some Coca Tea (which is tea made from the Cocaine Plant). Haha. Just kidding.

Well…

Love and Andean Bears,
Ashley

POST DINNER BLOG!

So, only in the Andean Bear Project does the Volunteer Coordinator leave you a week in to go to Colombia to get an extension on her Visa. Oh, did I mention, she’s leaving us alone for a week.

How do volunteers spend their first night with no volunteer coordinator? We get drunk off of boxed wine and beer while playing drinking games. Haha.

Myself and Sarah drank an entire box of Peach White Wine. It was really gross alone, but if you added Sprite to it, it was pretty good. Dan drank 3 bottles of Ecuadorian beer (which is really like 6 bottles of beer). And Jack, well Jack was a downer, and didn’t drink at all, but acted as if he were drunker than all of us.

I think Jack might be a bit of a stoner, because he talks really slowly and can never complete a sentence when he starts one. He’s also really, really random and brings up the most random ass topics ever (kind of ADD-ish). For someone trying to complete a dissertation, he really has no clue. He makes for some really funny moments though.

“In Otavalo, I think I’m going to get pissed as a cricket…” – Jack

“Hey man. Do you want to open your mouth and I’ll squeeze it in (peanut butter)?” – Jack to Dan

“Never have I ever kissed a guy?” – Dan
”Oh man!” – Jack
”Dude, what?” – Dan
”I offended my gay best friend, so I kissed him… just a peck on the lips though. And I’m totally not gay.” – Jack

HILARIOUS!

We played Mexican Snap, which I wasn’t very good at because of slow reflexes. We also played Circle of Death, F&#* the Dealer, and Up the River/Down the River. It was pretty fun and it was definitely a way to spend the night that didn’t involve us just sitting around.

However, I’m really, really tired, so it’s beddy-bye time!

So…

Love and Andean Bears,
Ashley

Day 10 – It’s Jungle Time!

June 13th – 2:53pm

Today, the whole group did Tabla Chupa. This time, I wore the right boots and didn’t fall 40 times. Tabla isn’t a terribly difficult trail as far as physical fitness. Once you get past the 10 minutes of climbing straight up the side of the mountain, it gets much easier physically. The trail becomes gentle ups and gentle downs.

But really this is just a tease. About half way through the trail, it turns into straight down mud with little to no foot holds. I was pretty terrified of slipping and falling down the side of the mountain. It didn’t help that I was the last one in the group. This was by choice, because I wanted to go at my own pace and not feel like I had to rush for people behind me. However, a bit of this backfired. With every person ahead of me, the foot holds got torn up more and more, leaving me no where to put my feet (that was actually sturdy!). At some points it was so steep, you just had to sit down and slide. I really didn’t care if my butt got dirty or not.

At some points during this trail, you literally felt like you were walking through a cloud (which you really are, hence the name Cloud Forest) with fog as thick as marshmallow fluff.

We found a lot of cool, really cute and tiny frogs. And, when I say tiny, I mean like the tip of your pinky finger tiny. They blended so well with their environment, you could really only hear them and not see them.

We also found some cool bugs and a lot of mushrooms and a shit-ton of fungus.

The only down-side to todays trail was that we didn’t hear any bears at all. With us being so high up in the mountain, I thought for sure we’d hear Enrique at the very least. Kind of sucks.

Can’t wait to camp. I really want to see an Andean Bear. They’re such special animals and I’m desperate to see their cute spectacled faces. Soon. Hopefully soon. Either while camping or during our Paramo trip.

With Love and Andean Bears,
Ashley

AND ON A SIDE NOTE – I can’t wait for dinner. Shepherd’s Pie = Num num num. I really need to eat a bigger lunch. Haha. Also, on a side note, I should start painting this week. But I’ll only be painting the Andean Bear Projects Logo and web address on the previously painted murals. I’m not sure when I’ll get to paint my own mural yet.

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After Dinner Blog!

Dinner was extremely late today, because Kerry got stuck in Nangulvi till well over 6:45pm. Dinner didn’t make it to the table until nearly 7:20pm. Everyone was starving, so the dinner table was silent for at least 20 minutes. Then, it was share time, apparently. Haha. We sat around the table and talked for like 2-3 hours.

Topics ranged to just about anything.

One conversation was about Sarah and I getting attacked by an old Ecuadorian man. Sarah got the worst of the molesting and was extremely tolerant by my standards. I don’t think I’d have tolerated it. This happened on Thursday by the way. It was pretty bad. At one point, I thought he grabbed her boob and everything. My eyes were huge. You’re probably wondering how this relates to our dinner conversation. We were discussing how to say, “No boob.” in Spanish. Out of no where, Dan just says, “Smack!!!” and imitates smacking somebody. It was hilarious. Dan is all about delivery. And, man, he has it down!

This topic led to another conversation about Self Defense Classes. I said, “Breaking someone’s nose is pretty universal.” which resulted in laughter. I then explained how I’d had a broken nose multiples times, 3 of which were horse related. Of course, everyone wanted to know about the non horse related incident. This led to a conversation about the high school brawls everyone had been in. I learned a lot about my fellow volunteers during this conversation. Dan apparently gets jumped a lot at parties while drinking. Jack will only fight someone if he gets really, really annoyed. Haha. And Sarah… Sarah doesn’t get in fights or she just didn’t feel like sharing.

The next topic was a little random, but Jack wanted to know if anyone had any ghost stories. There was silence all around. Then Kerry piped up and talked about something that happened here a couple months ago. Apparently, all the volunteers and Kerry were in the kitchen when they started to hear rustling in the bushes outside the kitchen window. Everyone went out and just saw this long piece of rope getting dragged along the walk way. They picked up the rope and started reeling it in, only to realize it was the neighbors cow who got loose. Not really a ghost story but a pretty funny story, if you ask me.

I asked Kerry if she had any terrible volunteer groups and, in business mode, she said “No, but…” There’s always a but. Apparently, there have been some pretty funny volunteer experiences. One of the Volunteer Coordinators caused a love triangle between herself and two locals. This love triangle ended in a beer bottle brawl.

A young, first time traveler from Hawaii, named Olivia, apparently gave a local the wrong impression while hitching a ride. The local came to the bear house at like 2am drunk and blasting music from his dump truck. He apparently kept playing the same song over and over, because it was the song he and Olivia had listened to together.

Another time, some locals came out to the bear house drunk one night and we’re screaming, “Chicas!” and demanding that the girl volunteers come out with them. Apparently, all the volunteers were just sitting on the porch in awe while Kerry told the locals to go away. Haha.

Perhaps the funniest story Kerry told us last night involved an older volunteer getting so drunk that she made up her own language (supplemented with some very ignorant American curse words). The volunteer apparently drank an entire glass of pure Puro (the sugar cane liquor without the sugar cane juice) and then drank a couple Ecuadorian beers (which is the size equivalent of like 2 American 12oz. Coors Lites). So really a couple is more like 6. She was so drunk that the two male volunteers had to carry her back to the bear house while she kicked and screamed. In the middle of the night, she got up and walked out of the bear house and went walking down the street. A local apparently saw her and came to the bear house and screamed for Kerry and told her that some gringo was walking down the street in her socks. When Kerry found her she was sitting  in the grass on the side of the road staring at the sky (typical drunk fashion). After getting her back to bed, Kerry and the other volunteers had to rig some kind of plastic bag alarm system on the door that would wake them up if she tried to leave again.

Tonight was a fun night. Lots of talking. It was great.

Love and Andean Bear x2,
Ashley

Day 9 – 31 Ways to Die in Ecuador

June 12 – 2:22pm

Today is Sunday in the Bear House and myself and Jack are on House Guard Duty. Which means, we’re doing absolutely nothing! I feel like a mushroom.

So, for lack of something better to do, the Andean Bear Project presents:

31 Ways to Die in Ecuador

1. Tragic Bus Accident due to Lack of Guard Rails, Road Lines, and Excessive Speeding.
2. Tragic Hitch-Hiking (Cammionetta) Accident due to Lack of Guard Rails, Road Lines, and Excessive Speeding.
3. Land-Slide Related Accident – i.e. Being Crushed by a Really Big Chunk of Mountain.
4. Getting Hit By a Car/Bus/Truck While Hiking. Everyone Drives in the Middle of the Road. (Luckily, it is so quiet here, you can hear cars a mile away. Haha.)
5. Tragic Zip-Lining Accident – i.e. Really Old Zip-Line Snaps as you Cross Over the Valley.
6. Climbing a Mountain – i.e. Climbing up the Side of a Mountain After it Rains and Slipping and Falling to Your Death.
7. Walking Through Cloud Forest, Falling, and Getting Impaled by a Piece of Bamboo Cut Into a Point by a Machete.
8. Walking Through Cloud Forest with a Machete, Slipping, and Stabbing Yourself – i.e. Bleeding to Death.
9. Walking Through Spider Webs in Cloud Forest and Being Bitten By an Extremely Poisonous Spider or a Huge Number of Only Slightly Poisonous Spiders.
10. Walking Through Cloud Forest, Touching a Poisonous Frog, and Then Eating Lunch Without Washing Your Hands.
11. Walking Through Cloud Forest and Eating Ecuadorian “Crazy” Berries (Which Cause You to Go Psychotic and Die).
12. Drinking Bad Water. “It better be boiled!” – Me
13. Climbing Up to Paramo Habitat and Dying of Extreme Altitude Sickness.
14. Leaning Against the Loose Railing of the Bear House and Falling Onto Concrete Steps and Breaking Your Neck.
15. Slipping on Ecuadorian Mud Yards and Cracking Your Head Open.
16. Being Stung to Death by Tiny Wasps That Are Everywhere!
17. Being Attacked By an Andean Bear- (Highly Unlikely).
18. Being Attacked By a Puma – (Highly Unlikely).
19. Being Attacked By Rabid Street Dogs – (REALLY LIKELY!)
20. Being Attacked By a Local – (this sort of happened, but not in a deadly way…)
21. Being Kicked in the Head by Free-Roaming Horses – i.e Getting Kicked By a Momma Horse Protecting Her Foal.
22. Being Bitten By a Ba-Zillion Mosquitoes with Dengue Fever.
23. Hiking Down to the River, Falling In, and Drowning.
24. Contracting Typhoid.
25. Contracting Yellow Fever.
26. Contracting Rabies.
27. Contracting a Parasitic Disease from Un-Washed Fruit.
28. Having a Heart Attack After Finally Seeing an Andean Bear.
29. Dying of Hypothermia in High Altitude Cloud Forest After Falling and Breaking Your Leg. (Impossible to Med-Evac) 
30. Finding Out That You’re Allergic to Some Cloud Forest Plant You Rubbed Up Against While Hiking.
31. Being Gored By Cattle (Cows Actually Have Horns Here!)

Why 31? Because that is the exact number of days I am in Ecuador. I could die 31 different ways in 31 different days. Haha. Doesn’t that just make you excited?

Day 8 – A Cultural Experience…

June 11th – 10:12pm

Today was our first day off after a week of walking and tracking Frida and Enrique.

Sarah and I walked an hour away to the town of Apuela where there is an internet café, so we could send news home. It was nice to hear from home even if it was only for a little bit. Strange experience though. A little Ecuadorian girl was like sitting behind me watching me type and trying to see what I was doing. She also kept poking me which was a little strange. I just ignored it and focused on my e-mailing.

Today, I felt so much better as far as stiffness and sore legs go. So, that was nice. I think my body is getting used to walking 15 miles a day. Even on our day off, we walked over 4 miles.

In Apuela, we saw another dead pig. This time, it was really just a head and its organs. It was pretty gross and was pretty much exposed to the open air and insects, making me realize that not eating very much meat here is actually quite a good thing.

While we went to Apuela, the boys went to another village called Nangulvi which has zip-lining and hot springs. Glad I didn’t go, because they said they spent most of their time walking in circles because they couldn’t find the zip-lining place. Plus, they said the zip-line was only about 30 seconds long. It might be one of the last things I do. Plus, it seems Jack might of gotten some bad water because he’s been feeling sick since he got back.

Today is a special day in Pucara, because the local restaurant Mexicano is only open on Saturdays. It was definitely a cultural experience. They make this alcohol call Puro, which is fermented Sugar Cane. I tried it mixed with Sugar Cane Juice and was really, really gross, but while in Ecuador, do as the Ecuadorians do. Haha. They also make Sugar Cane candy which we got to watch them make. The basically make like a Sugar Cane caramel. It was pretty good. Definitely strange though.

For those of you that don’t know, Roasted Guinea Pig is a delicacy in Ecuador and until today, I wasn’t sure if I was going to try it. I think you have to take it for what it is. Dan ordered a whole Roasted Guinea Pig and said that anyone who wanted to try it could. Soooo. I did. I took the smallest bite in the world and after that, I couldn’t even stomach anymore. The scene is pretty intense. It’s like the entire animal with its head and teeth and little paws and everything. It was actually really disturbing. I will definitely never do it again- ever. No one can say I didn’t embrace the culture, because I definitely did. No matter how disturbing it was.

Everyone but Jack tried it. Jack is a vegetarian, so it was definitely out of the question for him. But he didn’t make a big deal out of it, which was pretty cool. I’ve also learned something new about the boys today. Jack’s favorite word in the entire world is “Nice”. He says it about everything. I also learned that Dan can drink an entire pitcher of disgusting Puro. He took it like a champ. Just so you can get an idea, the Puro tastes a lot like really sweet whiskey and again, it’s really gross.

Learning how to be an Ecuadorian can be quite difficult sometimes.

With Love and Andean Bears,
Ashley

Day 7 – No Bears…

June 10th – 10:12pm

Today was a sad day. We didn’t hear any bears.

It started with a breakfast of Fried Bread which was quite good with butter. After breakfast, Sarah and I were basically thrown to the wolves. The boys got Kerry as their guide and, due to vehicle troubles, our guide didn’t make it to the bear house. Samuel is a guide for the Andean Bear Project that lives on the Cazapamba trail and he was supposed to lead us up the trail. Instead, Sarah and I ended up having to go to him. So… basically, we did the trail by ourselves and could have gotten lost or seriously hurt and no one would have known.

We hiked the whole way up Cazapamba in about an hour and a half to meet Samuel at his house. When we arrived, he wasn’t ready to go and we ended up sitting around for about an hour. He was very nice though and let us tour his farm and what not. Samuel has a huge Grenadia plantation, which is a fruit closely related to Dragon Fruit. He let us each try one. They are very good, but they have way to many seeds for my liking.

After sitting for an hour, I got terribly stiff and the walk back down Cazapamba was terrible for me. To make it worse, we didn’t hear Frida or any of the other bears. I’m so excited to have the weekend off to just relax and heal up.

We’re planning on going Zip-Lining tomorrow, but I’m not sure if my legs will be up for it, so I might just go in to town for some internet. I would also really like to talk to Ben tomorrow. I talked to my mom today and she said he seems really down since I left. That makes me really sad and I really, really miss him already. The first week is almost over, so it’s only a matter of time before I get home.

Kerry also told us that we will probably be camping Tuesday through Thursday next week. In a town not to far from Pucara, a farm-owner has been seeing bears in her corn field. Based on the amount of information we can get from her, we will camp on her farm with the intention of trapping and collaring a bear. This means, I may get to be part of the collaring process. So, hopes are high. It might also be nice not to walk for two to four days. Haha.

Hoping to see a bear before coming home.

Love and Andean Bears,

Ashley

Day 6 – How to Fall and Get Back Up

Yesterday was an exhausting day. It was an early morning with Banana and Cheese Empanadas for breakfast. These were pretty good, especially the banana ones.

After that, Sarah, Armando, Alberto, and I were headed for the trail named “Tabla Chupa”. We caught an 8:45 bus up to the top of the “Vuelta de Oso” trail. This trail is a jungle trail, where you literally climb straight up the mountain with foot holes and hand holes. This was crazy! No where in the volunteer packet does it say, “MUST CLIMB LIKE BEAR!”. We made it up to the first station, but unfortunately my rubber boots are not made to climb up the side of the mountain and I kept losing my footing and would slip. Based on that, we only did the first station of Tabla Chupa. I have to try on a pair of the Bear House’s boots before doing this trail again. We did hear Enrique though, so it wasn’t a total loss.

So, after climbing back down like a bear and falling once or twice, we continued on the Vuelta de Oso trail. Only thing is, we didn’t stay on it. Armando had to go back to the bear house after the first couple stations and caught a bus down the mountain. Not long after we walked past a little house that had pigs. We saw these pigs yesterday and today, one of them had been slaughtered. It’s pretty sad to see something alive one day and dead the next.

We continued on with Alberto, who decided we should do a side trail which was worse than Tabla Chupa. It is straight up jungle and mud, with no footing. We even had to climb over a spot where a landslide had occurred. It was at this point that I realized, I really could die out here. It’s kind of crazy. I probably slipped and fell a good 15 times on the same hip. Scuffed up my hands real good too.

The side trail is a trail that climbs through the jungle down the mountain to the river in the valley. It had rained the night before, so everything was extra wet and extremely dangerous. All I can say is I survived and learned how to fall and get back up over and over again.

I was so happy when this trail was over, I could have cried. I was terrified.

After that, we returned to the bear house and had dinner, which was my least favorite thing in the world – beans and rice. So… I ate leftovers from the night before. Following dinner, we watched a BBC documentary on the Andean Bear that features the Andean Bear Project and Armando. It was a really good documentary and covered the Andean bears behavior in Peru and Ecuador.

I’ve also been working on a sketch for an Andean bear mural I plan to do while here. I will probably be painting an Andean bear and its habitat in a mural on a wall at one of the local schools. The Andean bear murals are meant to help educate the public and children and to teach them that the bears are a good thing.

I’m really excited about that, but I don’t know when it’ll happen for sure.

So, with that!

Love and Andean Bears,

Ashley

Day 5 – The Valley of the Bears

June 8th – 3:06pm

Back again! Ecuador is amazing! If you ever want to go somewhere and just be in awe of your surroundings, Intag Valley is definitely the place. The amount of untouched land compared to cultivated or human-impacted land is incredible. From what I’ve seen so far, it’s probably about 10% cultivated or used land and about 90% untouched land. It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.

My day started at about 6:30am, when I got up out of bed and got ready for the day. It’s pretty funny trying to brush your teeth while watching people milk cows. Then I got dressed and packed my bag for the hike. Here in the Bear House, you pack your lunch before eating breakfast. So, I packed an apple, a papina dulce, sweet biscuits, and a Nutella sandwich. Breakfast was alright. We had fresh-baked cornbread and hard-boiled eggs. I’m not a fan of the yolk in hard-boiled eggs, so I really only ate the whites. The cornbread was very good and reminded me a little bit of home.

Today, we split into two groups. One group would go with Kerry, the volunteer coordinator, and the other would go with Alberto, the Andean Bear Projects Guide. Here’s the thing, Alberto doesn’t speak very much English at all. So, because Sarah and I speak the most Spanish, we were grouped up with Alberto. The boys don’t know any Spanish at all. Haha.

Alberto, Sarah, and I did the trail called the “Vuelta de Oso”, which in English translates to the Valley of the Bear. This is an awesome trail. It’s basically a four hour hike down a mountain range. So, after breakfast, we had to either catch a ride or take the bus to the top of the mountain (which is about an hour drive and a 5 hour walk).

We stood on the road till 8:45am waiting for a ride, when finally a Community Truck (which operates as a school-bus, a delivery truck, a livestock transporter, and many other things). The truck we caught was a beer and grocery delivery truck. In community trucks, you stand in the bed which is kind of like a open-top box trailer. For an hour, we stood on crates of empty beer bottles while driving up the side of a mountain. It was absolutely terrifying. Roads in Ecuador are pretty much the scariest thing in the world. The roads are just wide enough for one vehicle and they are super twisty (due to being cut into a mountain) and they are often wet. You are almost waiting for the truck to go off the side or get a tire stuck. Oh and then there are the tree branches you have to keep and eye out for so you don’t get whacked in the face. Overall, it was an incredible experience that I will never forget. Who rides up the side of a mountain in a beer truck that can tip over any minute? This girl! That’s who. We got off at the top of the mountain and started our trek back down to the stations.

Vuelta de Oso has 14 stations. The stations are called:

1. Vuelta de Oso – this is gorgeous! You can see a magnificent waterfall on the mountain across from you.
2. Pendo – this is also quite stunning, with views across the entire valley.
3. Postes 267 – I believe I found an incredibly larger worm at this station.
4. Laurel
5. Lastre
6. Kilometro 25
7. Entrada Azavi
8. Delicia
9. Casa Curva
10. Jose Maria
11. Piedra Grande
12. Delphin
13. Picacho Santa Rosa – Santa Rosa is a very small town near Pucara
14. Richard

Don’t ask me who named the stations, but we did listen at all of them. So, we did the entire trail (all 4 hours). We only heard a bear at two of the stations and they were stations at the top of the mountain, so really the bear could have been anywhere in the valley. The bear we heard today is named Enrique and no, he’s not named after Enrique Iglesias.

1st Signal – Station 2 – Pendo – 10:00am – Enrique – Collar 947 – Activo – T5 – 10^o

2nd Signal – Station 4 – Laurel – 10:42am – Enrique – Collar 947 – Activo – T4 – 337^o

We stopped at Station 9, “Casa Curva”, for lunch. I don’t think you can beat this. We hopped a barbed wire fence and climbed down the mountain a bit and sat over looking a huge green pasture and mountain valley. What better way is there to eat lunch.

Another great thing about this trail is there are tons of animals around. Horses, baby horses, cows, baby cows, pigs, baby pigs, dogs, puppies, alpacas, and a few sheep. I probably saw around 15 horses today and 3 foals or fillies.

Awesome.

After finishing up the trail, we ended up waiting for the 2:00pm bus at Alberto’s house. Alberto is very a nice and respectful Ecuadorian man. He even listened for the bus very closely so we wouldn’t miss it.

We got to the bear house 2:30pm and waited for the other group to get back from the La Colonia trail in Pucara.

Today was a very long day, because Armando Castellanos was coming for a visit. Armando is the owner and founder of the Andean Bear Foundation and is likely the leading authority on Andean Bears. He arrived around 5:45 and dinner started at 6:15. Immediately, he began asking questions about my project and I gave him the full spiel (which he appreciated).

Armando is a very busy, busy man. When not studying bears, he also studies Mountain Tapir. The Ecuadorian Government asked him to head a project in tracking Mountain Tapir. Apparently, the Mountain Tapir is much more endangered than the Andean Bear due to the Tapir being a food source for Andean People, Bears, Pumas, and what not. The government figures they don’t need to help fund conserving and studying Andean bears because Armando and the Andean Bear Project is already doing it pretty much for free (with the exception of volunteer/internship fees, grants, and donations). So, the government funds the Tapir Project instead.

This is a good thing in some ways because, in recent years in the projects history, the Andean Bear Project has acted as test guinea pigs for various GPS and radio tracking collars and the companies who make them. What ends up happening is the company donates a collar(s) for free, but then there’s a catch. Ecuador has a 100% importation tax on these kinds of things. So, he might be getting a $3000 collar for free, but he ends up paying $3000 anyway just to get it into the country.

And then, there’s the problem that not all collars are good collars. Some of the GPS collars he has received are not made to operate in the Andes and the only way to learn this is when it’s on an animal. So, he captures a bear, puts the GPS collar on the bear, lets the bear go, and then never receives any data on the bear due to collar/technology issues. We are currently tracking 3 bears who have had GPS collars put on them and we have yet to obtain readings on them. In order for us to hear these collars, the bear would literally have to be about 5 kilometers away (that’s a little over 2 miles). While this is a big distance on flat land, when in the mountains, this could mean the bear is on the mountain side directly behind you. In that case, the bear would smell you way before you saw it and it would obviously run away. This is especially a problem because most of the GPS bears are male bears who have a much larger home range.

In talking to Armando, I also learned of other research the Andean Bear Foundation is interested in. He has collected blood samples and hair samples from all his captured bears, but lacks the money to have them genetically analyzed. This is perhaps a place where I could come in. If the Ministry of the Environment does not give me permits to get scat out of the country, Armando could get permits to export his samples to me in the states where I could analyze them at Wilson on my Senior Research budget.

Armando is interested in seeing the familial relationships between the bears living in Intag. Based on his home range research, there is strong evidence that the female bears like to stay in the valley where their home ranges overlap significantly. He believes these could be mother bears and their cubs staying in close regions. He calls this “Valley de las Chicas”, which means “Valley of the Girls”.

Also based on his research, there is strong evidence that the males live on the ridges and visit multiple valleys (each with their own set of chicas) in their lifetime. The male home ranges also overlap, so it is believed that Andean bears are not territorial.

I’ve learned a lot about Andean bears today over our dinner of Shepherd’s Pie which was delicious. With a long walk and lots of talking and learning, I am exhausted.

So, here we go again.

Love and Andean Bears,

Ashley

Day 4 – Cazapamba Trail

June 7th – 9:46pm

Buenos noches!

Today was the first real day. We were up at 7:30am, eating breakfast by 7:45am and catching the bus to the trail by 8:15. Breakfast was pretty good. We had scrambled eggs with peppers and onions, fried green plantain chips, rice, and beans. I did not partake in rice and beans for breakfast. However, the eggs were good and the plantain chips were awesome with a little Nutella on them. We also had fresh-made Guava and Pineapple Juice. Which was also very good. Juice here is so much heavier than what we call juice in the US. Ecuadorian juices are almost more puree than juice. Haha.

Cazapamba is a village about a 30-minute drive from Pucara. Kerry claims it is one of the easier trails (but, it wasn’t, or I’m just in terrible shape). I’ve never walked uphill for 6 hours before, so it was quite difficult. Definitely need to work on that. I think my choice in shoes was also a negative and made it worse than it actually was. I have blisters out the butt.

However, it was absolutely stunning! I’ve never seen so much untouched mountain before. You could literally walk to the one side of the road and see down into multiple plush green valleys. It was pretty much the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.

We were listening for bear signals at stations along the trail. Cazapamba has 10 stations on the trail. We did 7 of the 10.

1. Entrada Cazapamba
2. Mirador Santa Rosa
3. Las Ninas
4. Las Rocos
5. Casa de Teja
6. Portilla
7. Gato
8. Cazapamba
9. Quilca
10. Tanque

We listened at 6 stations and were successful in 3 stations. So, what I’m saying is, we heard a bear on the very first day. The bear we consistently heard at the 3 stations is named Frida and she lives on the side of the river that the trail was on. In total, we heard her signal at 4 different times of the day in 3 locations.

1st Signal – Station 6 – Portilla – 12:38pm – Frida – Collar 951 – Activa at >1 bps – 303^o – On Tune 4

2nd Signal – Station 6-2 – Portilla Dos – 2:05pm – Frida – Collar 951 – Activa at >1 bps – 318^o – On Tune 4 - 17N [0783052] [0043898] +/- 8m

3rd Signal – Between Stations 5 and 6 – Entre Casa de Teja y Portilla – 2:30pm – Frida – Collar 951 – Activa at >1bps – 296^o – On Tune 4 –        17N [0782773] [0043822] +/- 8m

4th Signal – Station 5 – Casa de Teja – 2:58pm – Frida – Collar 951 – Activa at >1 bps – 77^o – On Tune 5

I’ll explain this better when I have more time. On our way back down, we were lucky enough to catch a ride on the way back down. It was a short-bed (like 4 - 5ft), white pick-up truck and all 5 of us had to fit into the bed. The bed was lined with pieces of wood and was not the most comfortable thing to bounce around on. But it was a hell of an experience. Like I said, Ecuadorians drive like crazy people.

The dropped us off in Pucara where we saw the store and walked down some steep mud steps  to a gazebo that looks out over a ton of mountain range and valleys. Stunning.

We returned to the bear house and kind of got into more comfortable clothes and then walked 5 minutes back in to Pucara so that Jack and Dan could play futbol with the locals. While in Pucara, I got a chance to call home and let my mom know I was safe. She was happy.

After some futbol, we returned to the Casa de los Osos to eat dinner, which was very strange. Fettuccini with vegetable and tomato sauce that had cut up hot dogs in it. Haha. It was pretty interesting and tasted good after a long day.

After dinner, we triangulated our signal points and then took showers for bed. It is very strange having a cow grunt at you while you’re showering. HAHA.

On that note,

With Love and Osos de Andino,

Ashley

Day 3 – Welcome to Intag!

June 3, 2011 – 9:18pm

Buenos dias, mi amigos y amigas!

I’ve made it to Intag Valley finally after a long day of traveling and unpacking. My day started bright and early with a 5:30am wake-up call. After that, I proceeded to check-out of my hotel at 6:30am and then caught a taxi at  6:45am for a 15 minute ride across town to meet up with the other volunteers. This went well enough and I got to my destination. No problemas.

From there, I met two of the other three volunteers, the volunteer coordinator and Sarah Clifford (one of the project heads). The volunteer coordinator, Kerry, is around my age and has been in Ecuador for 4 months. She’s also from the states, only on the west coast, in Northern California near the Redwoods and Half Dome. So far, seems like a pretty awesome chick. She speaks really great Spanish and is a favorite among the locals. She’s also very well-versed in traveling through Ecuador.

Sarah is the secretary of the project who I’ve spoken to many times over e-mail, but I never once expected her to be British. She speaks in an awesome accent and seems to be very fond of the Andean Bear Project. She has been in Ecuador for well-over 9 years and has been traveling the world since graduating college in England. She’s spent time in Egypt, Greece, and wherever the wind may take her. My favorite kind of woman: Independent.

The two volunteers I met were Dan and Jack, who are both conveniently located on the East Coast of the US, just like me. Dan, is 6-Year college student in Maryland. Small world, huh? He actually knows where Shippensburg is! Can you believe it? I also learned that he has traveled to Costa Rica where he worked with sea turtles and jaguars (so jealous! Haha) and he has also done work with North American Black Bears in Maryland regarded their denning behavior. So far, a very nice guy! Haven’t got his full story yet.

Jack is a London college student who actually lives in New York between semesters. Again, pretty close to home. This guy seems a little more lost in the world- scatter-brained if you will, but overall very nice. He forgot hiking boots, his iPod, and a number of other things. More on that later! He’s here in search of ideas for his dissertation. Very interesting. He’s also a vegetarian (only for a year so far, I’ve learned). He’s traveled abroad before, obviously, to London and Tunisia. Excited to hear more on that later. He seemed pretty well versed in the humanitarian effort and in global, environmental issues. Also, more on that later.

After getting everything set up at the meeting spot, we waited about an hour for the last volunteer to show. At 8:45, we couldn’t wait anymore, so we went ahead to the Quito Bus Station where we caught a very crowded, 20-minute- long bus ride through Quito to the Carcelan Bus Station. Once there, we purchased tickets for a charter bus to Otavalo. This ride was really nice. I didn’t even mind that it was two and a half hours. Each of us volunteers had two seat rows to ourselves, one for us and one for our bags. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking! We were practically traveling up through the mountains, with views of both the valleys and the peaks. Muy bonita.

When we neared Otavalo, I also got an incredible view of San Pablo Lake and Vulcan Imbabura. Not long after, we arrived in Otavalo which is home to one of the largest markets in all of Ecuador. We arrived around 12:30 in the afternoon and had to go grocery shopping and eat lunch before our bus to Intag left at 3:00pm.

During our ride to Otavalo, we received news from Sarah that the last volunteer, also named Sarah, had made it to the meet-up point and was about 45 minutes behind us. In order to kill time, Kerry decided to grocery shop and then come back to the bus station to meet up with Sarah. About a 10-minute walk away from the bus station, there is a grocery store called “Aki”. Apparently, you can get some but not all things in Intag, so we had to stock up for the month. While Kerry shopped for our supplies, she recommended we pick up anything special we needed. So, I purchased a jar of Nutella (for breakfast stuffs) and a couple extra bottles of water.

Following our grocery shopping adventure, we went back to the bus station and met up with Sarah. Sarah is a 25-year-old college graduate from Australia who has been traveling through Central America and the Northern countries in South America for about 4 months now. She still has 2 months before she plans on returning to Australia. I’m interested to hear more of her story as this month goes on.

After meeting up with Sarah, we went to an Ecuadorian Restaurant in Otavalo, where we ate the set lunch, called Almuerzos in Ecuador. It was about $2 a person and included some kind of beef stew with potatoes, peas, celery, and a bone-in spare rib (or that’s what it looked like). It has some kind of butter sauce in it, but overall was very good. Following that, we had the entrée which included a piece of lightly fried chicken (I had a chicken leg) on a bed of rice and beans, accompanied by a salad and a slice of avocado. Overall, it was also very good.

After lunch, we went to the fruit market in Otavalo to get the fruits we couldn’t get in the grocery story. We walked through the vendors, looking for apples, oranges, guava, tree tomatoes (which are not a tomato at all), papina dulces (which are a fruit that tastes like a sweet cucumber), and another fruit whose name has completely slipped my mind. It was pretty fascinating, honestly. I’m excited to try it all. We also had to hunt down a machete, which wasn’t too difficult.

We then had to return to the Grocery Store to pick up the meats and dairy products that would’ve have gone bad had we gotten them earlier. Once that was done, we went to the bus station and boarded out bus to Intag, which was the most crowded bus in the world. Just when you thought, “Oh, it’s completely full! They can’t stuff anyone else in here!”, they stuffed about 4 more in. This bus ride was about 3 hours long and was pretty terrifying, because the road looked like it belonged on IRT: Deadliest Roads, but I survived and we arrive at the Casa de los Osos (the bear house) safe and sound.

Once at the house we started unpacking and then ate dinner (quinoa soup, salad, and rice and beans). After that, we washed dishes and then continued to unpack. While unpacking we heard the most amazing thing! HOWLER MONKEYS. Here! In Intag. It was amazing. I can’t wait to hear more wildlife.

Tomorrow, we set out on our first hike. So excited.

With Love and Many Andean Bears,

Ashley

Day 2 – Finally Finding Freedom

How do I spend my last day and night in Quito?

I ventured out of my hotel room and explored the hotel a little bit. The Grand Mercure Alameda Quito Hotel is a beautiful hotel with a lot to offer. Consider this my personal review of the hotel. Wonderful Staff. Beautiful Hotel. Good Food. The hotel staff do their best to speak English for me or they allow me to give them my best Spanglish. My most successful strategy thus far has been to write down my Spanish instead of trying to say it and sat it wrong.

On my exploration of the hotel, I found their décor to be very patriotic. The have large prints spanning across much of the wall depicting both natural wildlife (including a beautiful portrait of Jaguar and another of a Galapagos Tortoise) and the indigenous people (my favorite is of young Ecuadorian girls holding two kittens as if they are the most amazing things in the world). The lobby televisions have videos streaming of the national bird, the Andean Condor, which is a beautiful and incredibly endangered animal. Also, in the lobby, there are two large cow-skin covered chairs.

There is also a bar inside that has a world map covering the bar. In the bar area, there is a beautiful sit down space. Right outside of the bar, there is an entrance to hotel’s personal casino. I did not venture inside considering my aversion to gambling but I’m sure it is lovely. In addition to the bar, beautiful photos, and the casino, the hotel also has a lovely, but limited library. Yay for reading!

Following my adventure through the hotel, I returned to my room to order dinner. I even ordered my dinner completely in Spanish. At some points, I had no idea what the order taker was saying, so I just said, “Si. Si.”, with no idea what I was saying yes to. Haha.

I had Consome de Pollo y Pasta for a starter, which was a delicious and incredibly light soup with peas, celery, onions, carrots, large hunks of chicken, and spaghetti noodles. For a cold $5.76, it was very good.

For my main course, I had Costillas de BBQ which is the hotels version of BBQ ribs. Surprise here is! The ribs had no bones in them and I ate them with a fork, They came with fries and a similar salad to the one I had last night with my Lasagna. I got this all for $11.53. Can’t get baby back ribs for $11.50 at home. Haha.

AND the best part, of course, was desert. I ordered Crumble de Manzana, which is like our apple crumble, but not really. It’s very spiced apples topped with a crunchy-something (I don’t know what it is, but I’d bathe in it) and served with a thin-strawberry sauce and vanilla ice cream. I ate this first, so this is especially delicious. My desert was $4.48 and I’d pay it again.

Since eating dinner, I’ve spent my time watching TV and doing something many would consider stupid. I felt the need for some sort of symbolism or peace with this place that has become my temporary nesting grounds. Every meal I’ve had here has been accompanies with a beautiful rose in a small glass bowl with white rocks in it. I felt as though they’d throw them away if I sent them back with the room service tray, so I kept them on my little table in my room.

You’re probably wondering why this is important. Tonight, I took the red rose, I received the first night here and separated 30 petals from the stem. I then took them out onto my balcony and tossed them into the wind, watching them soar through the little bit of Quito I can see from my balcony. Each petal represents one of the days I will spend here. The rose itself represents Ecuador (the Rose is Ecuador’s national flower). And why would I toss them off my balcony? To represent my journey to finally finding my own freedom.

Tomorrow marks the true beginning of finding that freedom.

Anxiously finding my freedom, it’s all about:

Love and Andean Bears,

Ashley

Day 1 & 2–A Very Welcoming Quito

June 5th, 2011 - 11:36am

Fast Fact! - So, I’ve learned I’ve been saying Quito all wrong. The Qui makes the sound of the word Key. So it’s actually said like Keyto.

Last time I wrote, I was flying over Florida and Key West. Not long after, about when we were flying over Cuba, we had dinner on the plane. The food on the plane was actually not as terrible as most plane food. We had the choice of Chicken or Pasta. I chose the Pasta, which was a type of Mediterranean Tortellini with a basil and garlic-butter sauce. It was pretty good. It came with Salad, a Roll (that was as hard as a rock), Cheese and Crackers, and a Chocolate Chip Blondie (that was too sweet for me to eat). Overall, it was good enough, to keep me over till I got here.

My flight mates were pretty nice. I sat in the same row as two of my fellow young travelers who I mentioned last post. I learned that the girl I mentioned doing a language internship was named Jennifer and that her mother is from Mexico and her father is from Japan. I also learned that she was coming all the way from Tucson, Arizona and that her first language was Spanish. She is also on her first solo trip by herself.

I sat next to mid-thirties divorce’ who was flying the whole way to Quito to meet someone he had been speaking to on the phone for 5 months. I guess the city of Quito brings people of all purposes.

The flight landed at about 10pm and it took about an hour to get through Migration and Customs. My bag was found within minutes of getting to baggage claim, much to my relief. AND none of my straps got chewed up on the machine.

It seems the Quito airport is pretty organized as far as taxi service. As soon as my bag got through customs, I went straight to Ground Transportation and within about 3 seconds, a nice Ecuadorian man asked me, “Taxi” and I said, “Si”. He then said, “Un momento.” and pointed to the open window where I could show my hotel reservations and they would call my hotel to tell them I’d arrived and was on the way. For a cool $10, I got an entire passenger van to myself. Just my rucksack, backpack, and I.

Now, the drive to the hotel was a completely different story. Ecuadorians drive like crazy people. I swore my van driver almost hit about 13 taxis and almost ran over 3 pedestrians. Quito is definitely Ecuador’s NYC.

I felt much safer once I got to my hotel and the hotel staff has been very helpful in both speaking as much English as possible and helping me use the phone to call the US. Getting to my room, I was excited to order some food, get a shower, and get to bed.

I ordered Lasana de Carne from room service and it was pretty delicious. The Carne was spicy and the Queso was very fresh. It was great. It came with a side salad which included julienned peppers and a small amount of lettuce and cheese. Delicious.

After that I had a shower in my gargantuan bathroom and then I had a wonderful nights rest in a very comfy bed with breakfast delivered this morning at 10:45am. I had a small stack of pancakes (with syrup that was far too thick and sweet for me) and a fruit plate with papaya, pineapple, melon, and watermelon. Again, quite good.

I then spent a moment on my balcony, looking out at Quito. I was suprised by how cool the weather is here. There is so much wind here that whips over the mountains. It's quite beautifuul and honestly, it reminds me very much of home in Shippensburg. <3

I better be careful! This is starting to feel like vacation! I have to remember I’m here on a mission. Haha.

Love and Andean Bears,

Ashley

Day 1–The Adventure Begins - Continued!

June 4, 2011 - 6:21pm

As I write this, I am sitting in the plane taking me to my final destination, Quito and we are currently passing over Florida and about to fly over Key West and Cuba. We are also experiencing a good bit of turbulence.

The reality of what I’m going to be doing for the next month has finally started to settle in and I can’t help but be both excited and nervous. We are supposed to arrive in Quito at 9:50pm, but I believe our flight was delayed due to boarding complications. So, the arrival time is tentative.

So far, the flight can be described in one word: warm! It seemed to take nearly an hour and a half for the AC and fans to kick in. But, who am I to complain? If a warm plane bothers me, how will torrential downpour or scorching heat affect me? It’s just time to suck it up and deal.

I’ve met a couple other young Americans so far, who are all heading for adventure in different parts of Ecuador. I met a guy about my age from Minnesota who is headed to Ecuador on a 3-month-long internship involving eco-tourism on the coast. I also met a female English major who is headed to Quito for a month-long internship involving English education. Another girl about my age is headed to Cuenca to preview an internship she would like to participate in next year.

So far, it seems that Ecuador has a large number of young Americans who flock there during the summer, for internships and traveling. I was honestly surprised by this- I didn’t know Ecuador was a large tourist destination. As well, I’m sitting in a completely full flight- packed in like sardines with not one empty seat anywhere.

Well, that’s all I got for now. More on the flight later. Still have about 3 hours of soaring at 35000 ft, before landing in Quito.

With Love and Andean Bears,

Ashley

Day 1–The Adventure Begins

Well, here goes nothing! Currently, on June 4th, 2011 at 3:37pm, I’m sitting in the Atlanta International Airport, having arrived about 2 hours ago. My next flight, which takes me to Quito Mariscal Sucre International Airport in the capital city of Ecuador, begins boarding in an hour. It is approximately 2 hours till my adventure begins and approximately 7 hours till I arrive in EC.

The journey officially started this morning at 7am as my mom and my future husband and best friend drove me to the airport. I will miss them both very much and even, as I type this, it’s difficult to quell the tears, but this is a journey I must take on my own to truly learn who I am as a human being. Ben and I have not been separated for more than a week since we moved into together approximately 2 and a half years ago. With our wedding approaching this coming year, I feel that this is an important time to learn who we are as individuals without the pressure and expectations of one another. And, as they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder. Now, with only a thousand or so miles between us, I already love him more for being man enough to let me do this. I can only imagine what a month and over three-thousand miles will do for us. It is the make or break moment in our relationship and whether were ready for it or not, it’s here. Take it or leave it.

I’ve been reading guide books and travel books catering to the solo female traveler- books filled with stories of adventure to far off places with love they both lost and found. I plan to keep these stories with me to help me remember their strength. The first thing that comes up in these stories is why they go alone and it brought me to thinking of why I’m doing this alone. The obvious reasons pop up first, 1. I was the only one invited. 2. It’s an internship, not a vacation, and then the not so obvious pops up: 3. This is my passion, not my family. The only family members and friends I know that would chase after bears, would be chasing with a gun. 4. If you wait for other people to commit, you’ll never do all the things you want in life. Sometimes, you just have to do it alone. So, I’m going it alone and proud to do it.

Even after my bug spray got confiscated and the airline made me check my rucksack, I’m still so excited that it feels like there are 2 billion butterflies flying around in my tummy. And yet, the real adventure hasn’t even started. This is just the beginning…

But, it’s just me, my back pack, and nothing but a journey. Here I come! Ready or not!

Love and Andean Bears,

Ashley