Papallacta to Mindo July 31, 2008

We set out on Saturday morning for Papallacta, where we thought we would be able to camp. After about an hour we stopped at this really cool reserve called Reserve Ecologica Antisana. We hiking in about 45 minutes in mud and extremely wet and cold conditions. Luckily we were dressed appropriate and pretty comfortable. We ended at a small lake that was just beautiful. 

We hiked for about an hour before heading back to the car and traveling further. 

After leaving Antisana we were not successful in finding a dry enough place to camp so we headed to Papallacta where we sat in hot springs and had a good dinner at the hotel there. 

 

The following morning we headed to Mindo, where I traveled to with Erin a couple weeks ago. We found a nice place to camp a 30 minute hike away from the road. The place had a roof, which was helpful considering the rain. We relaxed and cooked a really good dinner of veggies with pork. We went to sleep early as there isn’t much you can do with little light. 

94 and still rolling July 30, 2008

This picture comes a little late, but I couldn’t resist posting it. It was taken in Duluth, Minnesota, the location of our last family reunion. My father rented a car and was given an upgrade to this convertible. My Grandpa, Egon Hofer turns 94 this year. It is amazing the joy he brings to so many people’s lives. I love him and miss him dearly as we are so far from him now. Picture by Brad Hofer.

To Protect a Chicken July 25, 2008

I was working on the design of our coop. I wasn’t sure how rat-proof I needed to make it. The Pacheco family has had chickens in the past, but never with a coop like we are building. It was a bit more casual 12 years ago and they didn’t have problems with predators for some reason. But now I think we might have a problem. I have been thinking about how to make sure it’s safe the last couple of days as I cleaned out the area for the yard. This morning I got up and my concerns about predators was confirmed with this: 

Really nice rats. They eat a portion of the best fruit we have in the yard and then poop on it, as to make sure it’s clear they really don’t care. I’ll take it as a good reminder to make the coop really rat proof. Or maybe I’ll try to figure out how to deal with the rat problem. We also have another kind of predator. I am researching how to train dogs not to eat chickens. Let’s hope I can figure it out. 

 

The pictures below show the area I have cleaned out for the coop and yard.  The raised area is going to be the yard for the chickens and their house will go in the corner. The posts sitting there are not the posts that we are going to use. We are confirming the design by Monday and hoping to finish it quickly. 

 

Below is a close up of the yard where the chickens will hang out.

We obviously have a long way to go.

The Chicken or the Day? July 23, 2008

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Today is the first day of the rest of my time in Quito, and the first day I am figuring out what to do with myself here. After a productive morning of exercising, cooking and cleaning up a little, I have met my afternoon. It’s a gorgeous one, blue sky, puffy white clouds, enough wind to keep it cool. And now I sit down to figure out how to build a chicken coop. With the internet the possibilities are endless. How tall should I make it? Should I put wire on the bottom? How many windows? Did you know there is a website called backyardchickens.com? I’ve sketched out a plan. One that I’m sure will change when I think about it a little more. The afternoon lays in front of me. How many chickens should I fill it with?

A Cloud Forest Called Mindo July 21, 2008

Erin and I had a great time in Mindo where we tried almost every adventure it had to offer. We began our first day visiting a butterfly arboretum and hiked. That evening we went to a “frog concert” where we listened to really cool frogs, saw many of them and got to see five inch cockroaches. The next day we left early and went ziplining. We sailed across caverns that were over 500 feet deep with rushing water below them. The course offered 13 different ziplines, all of which we tried. That afternoon we went tubing down a really turbulent river. The water was cold, but with the heat it felt great. We stayed at a beautiful hostel that had the best food we ate on our trip. The place was called Cascaffesu and had the best hosts ever.

Traveling with Erin July 21, 2008

My girlfriend Erin and I traveled around Ecuador for about 1 week. We visited hot springs called Papallacta, where Andres came with us. We also went to the cloud forest and stayed in a small city called Mindo and then traveled to Otavalo where there is a great indian market. We had a great time together and I will be sad tomorrow when she gets on a plane and begins another adventure in Toucuman, Argentina, where she will be with her boyfriend Daniel.

The View July 13, 2008

We stayed in Santa Marta at Gayle, Jen and Char’s house. They are renting an 8th floor, 3 bedroom apartment right on the water. It has the most incredible views that are equivalent to any 5 star resort I’ve seen. Even they say they can’t believe that they live there. They were such great hosts, sharing their beds, their food and their company. We couldn’t have asked for a better place to stay!

Traveling with Girls July 13, 2008

I had the opportunity to travel around Columbia with a great group of girls. We went to visit Gayle and Char who are teaching English there. I traveled with Erin who I went to high school with and we met our friend Sara who also went to high school with us. We also met up with Deborah who studied in Mexico with Gayle and came to Ecuador a couple years ago. Gayle and Char recently moved in with Jennifer from Indiana who teaches with them. They were so welcoming in their home where we stayed several nights. We all went camping together (see the post below) and hung out in Santa Marta several days together. We cooked together, laughed together and played scrabble together. It was so much fun just having such a great group of girlfriends to chill with. There is really nothing like meeting new friends and getting back together with old ones. We have vowed to plan another trip somewhere in a couple of years so that we can do it all again.

Camping in Tayrona July 13, 2008

We spent two nights sleeping in hammocks in the national park, Tayrona about 45 minutes from Santa Marta, Columbia. We hiked in about 1 hour and paid our 10,000 pesos (about $5) for our hammocks. We were grateful for a roof over our heads as it rained both nights we were there. The day was spent laying on the beach, reading, drinking cold Aguilas and swimming in the warm water. Other than the constant wetness, lack of cleanliness and constant mosquitos it was a blast! Two nights seemed like just enough time though. Gayle’s boyfriend Walter met us there for the second night. We spent our evenings enjoying natural juices and playing scrabble. On our way out we opted for horses to carry us.

Colombian Mud July 13, 2008

We visited a volcano mud bath about 45 minutes outside of Cartagena, Columbia. It was quite an experience. We immersed ourselves in the mud, which was so deep we could not touch the ground. After soaking for around 30 minutes we were led down to the lake were ladies scrubbed us clean. They even made sure to get the insides of our ears! They washed our bathing suits out and we were as soft as babies. We then enjoyed a cold Aguila by the side of the lake.