Clay Dude and Dudette

I was in the groove and spent some ten hours doing clay stuff on my day off yesterday. I made my first female bear that didn't look like a boy bear with a wig. One of the gals i work with is trading me a clay dude for a knitted hat. I like creating on the barter system. I am building a list of people who want dudes so the bear with the beer at the mini Webber will be a gift for someone?

My new home of Twisp

I accepted a full time position here in Twisp with Yakima Nation Fisheries. I will start full time on March 1. I needed to get one more travel in. I am going back down to Borneo for five weeks in January. I am going to meet a co-worker down there. I was there two years ago but only for like ten days and seven of those days i was underwater, so i'd like to see a little more of the second largest island in the world. Now when i say full time i only mean 8.5 months. I am still going to be spending my Summers in Alaska. I wasn't ready to give that gig up and the Yaks were fine with that. As a bonus i just found out yesterday that they are going to hire me on as a Fisheries Technician III that is the next level up from where i am now. A few $$$ an hour more. I am a Tech III in Alaska too, A full time job with insurance and 401k stuff. I have not had a full time job in about.... forever. I can still live here at the office too. The job will be trapping Coho from Oct-Nov, then like what we are doing now is stream surveys. We hike up the tributaries that flow into the Methow River in search of Coho Redds (nests) we also float down the Methow river doing the same. The Coho were raised in Hatchery and before they are released what is known as a Coded Wire Tag is inserted into their snouts. It is very small like a millimeter in length. Any spawned out Coho we find we sample them and cut off there snouts bag them up and put them in the freezer for later i will carefully dissect them and retrieve the CWT. There is a numerical code stamped onto the tag and we will ready that under the microscope to find out which hatchery it came from. The Disecting is done in December/January after all of the Coho have spawned. The Coho that we trap at the Dam we keep at the Winthrop Hatchery and when they are ready to spawn (lay eggs) we manually do this by cutting open the bellies on the females, dump the eggs into a bucket and then milt the males, give the bucket a swirl and pour the eggs into a tray where they will incubate until March, at which time we will spend a few months feeding the fish and cleaning the raceways.
I got my rig back after it had been at the mechanic for the last month and a half. The bill was enormous, but the car was free so i guess it kind of evens out? I have my clay up here and just found an art table for $12 at a thrift store. I have a pretty big list of characters that people want so i am staying busy on my days off. I will take pictures of the sculptures as i finish them.

To Egypt or not to Egypt

I was all super pumped about buying a ticket to Cairo until i saw the prices. $1500 wouldn't be so bad if i was staying overseas for three or four months, but for just one month, i am pushing my budget. The plan now is to wait until mid December or so in hopes that the slumping economy will scare away travelers in turn lowing the price for me? It could happen?
My truck i still not fixed, but hopefully this week. Gas $2.99! i want to fill up.I think i am buying Silver tomorrow morning. My friend who is a financial adviser has advised me to do so. Back when i killed fish for a living, i had no problem killing fish. Now that i work in a field where i am helping fish i don't like killing them. I transported 25 Adult Coho Salmon from Wells Dam, where we trap them 45 minutes away to the Hatchery in Winthrop, WA. When i got there 10 were dead. Lack of oxygen. We carry them in a tank that has a constant flow of oxygen, but these fish were too big and packed in too tightly. I was told to carry 25, so it wasn't my fault, but you still feel bad. Eight females, so about 20,000 eggs or baby salmon that never had a chance. Science isn't an exact science so these things happen. My suggestion of carving them up and putting them in the smoker did not go over too well, just trying to make lemonade out of lemons

career move

I think i am becoming a full time Yakima Nation-er. I will be starting March 1 as a full time Fisheries Technician with Yakima Nation Fisheries. I will still do my Summers in Alaska, so i guess it is more of a Part-Time Full-Time gig. They are going to pay me what i was getting working for the State, and i will be able to live here at the office. We are not sure, but hopefully the position comes with health insurance too. I threw in one other stipulation too and that is if Jim or Jason become the musical guests on Saturday Night Live, then i get that week off too. They were ok with that.
I am also buying a rebuilt transmission, i am not as stoked about this, but I have put so much $$$ into this rig that i kind of feel like i have to keep fixing it. I can't back out now. Hopefully this will be the last thing for a while. It will be good to have a 4wd if i am going to be up here all winter. My next investment is going to be a new camera. Oh yeah, i think i am going to go to Egypt in January. I have not bought the ticket yet, but i will post when i do.

Yakima Nation

I am back in Twisp, Wa working for the Yakima Nation Fisheries. I wasn't really looking forward to coming back, but now that i am here, i am ok with it. My Truck is once again sitting at the mechanic, I think it has spent more time at the mechanic than it has on the road. I will be investing in a rebuilt transmission soon. I had planned on working only until just before Thanksgiving, but due to broken down circumstances i will be working towards a running vehicle until the season ends at Christmas time. Hopefully i will have enough $$ to leave the country come January. I am thinking Egypt. I have a friend who lives there and she has invited me to come travel Kenya and Ethiopia with her. Afterwards i will probably come back here to Twisp and work with the Washington Fish and Game again. Maybe replace the motor in my truck?
Today after sitting at the office, doing nothing for two hours. I live downstairs in the office, so i went down and washed the dishes. The whole crew went down to Wells Dam to trap Coho. You sit up on a chair above the fish ladder and watch water flow by, waiting for a Coho to swim past, if it does you quickly hit a button that opens a gate and traps the Coho. It is about as exciting as watching the toilet flush. When not sitting up on the chair, you sit in a lawn chair below. I spent most of the day asleep in the lawn chair dreaming about Egypt.
I sold my camera to a friend of mine, so until i get a new one my blog will be photo-less.

Back in Alaska

Back up in Alaska, It is a lot colder than it has been in the past. There is still plenty of snow up in the hills surrounding the lake and water is crazy cold. This season is off to a slow start. Since the 12 days i have been up here we have only counted 9 Sockeye into the lake. These are very low. Everyone at the Dept. hopes it has something to do with how cold it is. I don't think anyone is catching much out in Saltwater either. I guess the fish will come when they are ready.
My plan this year was to take a picture of every fish i catch. I've already caught two, but the photos did not load properly on my computer so i have no proof. One was a small rock fish and the other a yellow eye (like a red snapper) I breaded and friend up the fillets and used the carcasses for crab bait. They worked well as the pot yielded 5 keepers.
It is not raining today so my temporary co-worker Joey and i will head down to the end of the bay catch some crab bait, set the pot and i want to check out an old alaskan fish trap that you can only see at low tide. Joey is my temp while i await my co-worker Jill, who has been teaching English in Japan and comes out July 2nd, along with my two Australian friends Amelia and Alice.

once a month

I guess i am on the once a month blogging schedule. Things do not seem as exciting when you do the same thing everyday. My new counting baby fish job has gone to something i really enjoy to something that is really boring. I work nights so i have put cardboard over all my windows so i can come home and go to sleep in my Motel Cave. I got to bed when it is barely light out and get up when it is barely light out. The work is just measuring baby Steelhead and Chinook Salmon and sticking a microchip in their bellies with a syringe that seems way too big to be shoved into the fishes belly.
On a funner note last week i flew to Bozeman, my friend Jason told me that if i came and got it he would give me his 92' Toyota 4 Runner. Seemed like a good deal to me. Bozeman was nice but it was snowing and cold. I spent just one day with Jason, we took a nice drive up in the mountains where he let me have an advanced listen to his new Album. Great stuff, and i am hoping that he will one day want to tour it, because i really miss being a roadie for the guy.
I will be finished here in a little over one month , then on my way up to the not yet boring very exciting job in Alaska. So there should be at least one more blog before then.

a leaky move

My room sprung a leak while i was at work today, i came home to see some of my stuff drying outside on lawn chairs and my door wide open. Thankfully it wasn't me that left the water running, Something under the sink decided to burst. I guess the cleaning lady stopped by to empty my waste basket and noticed A couple of inches of water on the floor. Luckily i didn't have too much of my stuff lying on the floor, my sleeping bag, a hammock and my shoes. No harm done. They moved me into #1 which is way better than room #2. I no have a full sized refrigerator, a closet (number 2 has the hot water heater in it) A microwave and i am a few feet closer to my free internet that i am getting from the coffee shop down the way. I now have no neighbors to keep me awake with their TV either.
Work is still going well, a little slow still. Not next week but the week after we will move into working nights, here we will have more chance for overtime too. I worked this weekend, just for a couple hours each day but it counts as one day of comp time, AKA a day off. I am going to shoot for next friday and drive back over to Seattle, I hear nights are extremely cold and i left my warm boots at Karens house.
I have been making clay Yedis, one burned in my oven, but i think i was able to salvage it.

WDFW (washington Dept. fish and Wildlife)

Fish and Game agencies must be the same the world over. I have a pretty laid back job. Start work at 7am, drink coffee till 8am drive slowly to two different river traps and watch someone else work up the baby fish as there are too many people and not enough fish. Then slowly drive back to the office and dink around until quitting time at 3:30pm. I know as soon as more snow melts and the rivers fill up we will become much busier. I really like the crew i am working with and they are teaching me that there are different species of fish in different youthful stages, i can not keep referring to the small fish as 'Baby fish' and the biger fish as 'Baby big fish" and what i was calling 'Baby snake fish' are actually known as Pacific Lamp Ray. I am getting it though.
We are trapping fish with a Screw Trap, which is like a big cone, kind of looks like what you would crush up apples in if you were making apple sauce, but way bigger. The flow of the river turns it and the baby fish swim in and can't get out and end up in a trap like tank, we net them out, weigh and measure them. Depending on which species they may get a pit tag that goes in their belly via syringe
Because they know i am from California i got volunteered to work this weekend, "His family is too far away to go home for Easter" That is ok i would rather work as much as i can, plus my car is in the shop. The neutral safety switch is shot?
I have been spending my off time working on clay projects.

Settled in

So i am all settled in again here in Twisp I live at the Sportsman Motel, it is kind of a dump, but at $425 a month it is the best i could do. It is furnished and i don't pay utilities so i blast the AC and the heater to keep it a comfortable 75 at all times. I have worked three days now with the Washington Fish and Wildlife. We don't really do much, and i hardly do anything as i just watch. Once the fish begin to flow a little more we will split up into day shift and night shift and i guess then i will be working instead of watching. I like the people i work with and i am learning that not all the small fish are called 'Baby fish' there are actually different stages of baby, 'Fry' 'Transitional' 'Smolt' and then there are all these different codes they use for the different species. I am learning them as the days go on.
I brought some clay with me so my time off i spend making clay figures. I made a Yedi holding a bunny that i am giving to my friend/ex boss Kraig for his birthday and now i am working on a Monkey man of some sort as a birthday present for my friend Jason.
Tonight we are meeting down at the Branding Iron bar for some Guiness' to celebrate St. Patties Day.

Home

Vacation is over, i have made it back to USA soil. The situation in Ecuador/Columbia wasn't as bad as the news would have you believe. They Ecuador and Colombians were not worried too much about a threat of war between them, but they are both worried about Chavez and Venezuela, cause that guy is crazy. Getting back into the States was bit of an experience. I flew from Quito, Ecuador to Bogota, Colombia. As i waited to board the flight to LAX i was approached by a gentleman who asked me a few questions about how i liked his country then asked to see my passport and then as everyone else started to board i was lead into the back room with a few scary looking policia. There my passport was smelled? and then my stomach was X-rayed. Good thing i did not swallow that balloon of Heroin or shove a canister of Cocaine in my rear, cause i think that is what they were looking for. I was cleared and had to run back to just barely make the flight. Then in once in the States i got sort of the same questions as my bag was completely emptied and thoroughly searched. They even cut into the coffee i brought back. Was it my shaggy hair, dirty clothes or the fact that i had stamps from two major drug producing countries, probably all three.
I had a great time and would love to one day return down south, I would prefer to be able to speak a little more than pequeno Espania for next time. My job has started a few days ago so i am only in Modesto till Sunday, sorry if i didn't get to see you. I will be back around the middle of Sept. I am pretty keen on hooking up with either of my new sailing buddies or i will be flying back to Borneo/Malaysia/Indonesia for a fall of more Scuba Diving, as i am now fully addicted. Hopefully my new job will be exciting enough to continue this blog thing.

Quitting Quito

I don´t know who´s dumb idea it was to build Quito on the coldest part of the Equator. I wear a sweater everyday and it rains every night. I never did get to eat the Guinni Pig, maybe next time. I met my friend Ann here in Quito. I met her in the Galapagos. We took an over night trip up to a town called Mindo. It was nice and peaceful there, you could tell it is a happening spot in the dry season on the weekends. Pretty dead on a Wed. We spent one night there. The first day for some reason i was sick so i slept on the bus ride up there and slept all day while we were there. I had risked drinking the water here in Quito, since you can in Medellin and Bogota. At one point i found it ironic as i was taking alchaseltzer since my stomach ached from possibly the water, yet i was using tap water for my alchaseltzer??? The next day Ann and i hiked up to near the top of a nearby hill and did some zip lines, this was pretty fun, eight lines in all with a little nature in between. The zip guide showed us some 10 of the 4100 types Orchids of here in Ecuador. Last night we went down to an English bar and joined in on a team for Trivia night. We came in 3rd place scoring us a free picture of beer. I am on my way back to the States in a few hours. I will be overly rushed in my return visit as my new job has started five days ago.

sad day in the G´s

All my new buddies sailed away today. We had a really nice dinner last night with the crew of WMD ( yes it stands for that) that was Kim, Javier, and Mick. The crew off the Tiger was going to meet us, but we did have drinks before hand with them. That is the nice couple with the two little kids. Dinner was great i had a baked fish in a champagne mushroom sauce, a beer, a pina colada, Guanabana and vodka, octopus with olive sauce starter and some fancy brandy infused pancake dessert for $45. It was sort of Christians farewell dinner, for he has set sail on the 41´ Jackal. we met the Capt and first mate two days before and they were in need of a third member for the long haul to the Marquasis. They offered Christian the spot all the way to Australia, Expected arrival of Sept. I was offered a spot on the WMD from here to the Marquesas and onwards to Tahiti if i wanted, i really really wanted but feel committed to count the Salmons. Plus i am broke. I have contact info for both the WMD and Jackle and both Capts. have said that i could come to Australia to join them on their way to S.E. Asia, so hopefully i can maybe do that.
Headed back to Quito, Ecuador in the morning, If it does not cost too much i will head back to the States earlier and if it costs i have another friend in Quito to hang out with.

ciao

Breakfast with Carl Weathers

Unlike Colombia, Ecuador is on the Nescafe train. Even though I´ve seen coffee plants all over the island and you can buy Galapagos Coffee. In almost every restaurant order a Cafe Negro and you get a hot cup of water and a jar of crystals. Who likes that stuff? We have found one place that serves the real stuff with the Continental Breakfast. It is different on this Continent. for $300 you get Hugo (juice) ice and some kind of fruit blendered up. Two fritos huevos (eggs) two croissants with totally flavorless cheese, a bowl of mixed fruit and real real strong Cafe Negro (black coffee) The best part besides the price and the coffee is the the guy that owns it looks spot on to Carl Weathers.
We met with the Capt of the Jackel this morning on his boat. Christian moves on tonight and they sail in the morning, I am trying to change my ticket out of here, i went down there once but the line was crazy long. They are closed for siesta so i will return again at 2pm. A nice gal we met a few days ago is going to meet me in Quito for a nice dinner of fried or BBQed Guinni Pig. If it doesn´t cost too much i will probably be head back before March 7th for i am financially all traveled out.

best best days yet

for about the last 5 or so years Christian and i have been talking about one day buying a sailboat and sailing all around the world. Yes i know neither of us know how to sail. Well we went diving with these three folks, Kim McGowen the inventor of Suttle butt (look it up) she is the boat owner 44´ she says it is much easier than we would expect and we should totally do it. They are on their way to the Marquesas (sp) on Saturday and if i was not going back to work in a couple of weeks i would be riding along with them for the next 30 days. Christian on the other hand, i am stoked and jealous at the same time has been offered a berth on board a 50´yacht for a 6 month cruise to Australia. The owner who has been sailing this time for 3 years says, don´t worry that you have no experience, by the time you i finish with you in 6 months you will be a pro sailor. I am going to see if i can do the next leg in Sept. Australia to Thailand.
We went out diving on Tuesday with the same dive operators that took us to where the whales and the dolphins were, we saw a few turtles and eagle rays and i saw the rear end of a hammer head. On our ride back we once again came upon a pod of dolphins this time i had my camera and got some great footage. I used the movie mode and captured one dolphin that came up from the bottom of the boat and shot up doing barrel rolls easily 15 feet in the air, don´t believe me? i have proof!! We had dinner with the Suttle Butt boat people and also met a family who have been sailing since 2005, they have a four year old and 6 year old, i think that would be crazy hard to sail with kids. The one does not even remember ever living in a house. They are both well behaved and seem very intelligent. I think what a great way to grow up. We also met the two guys that want Christian to join them. There is a large amount of sailboats in the harbor. Most of them are part of a big round the world regatta, except the three groups we were with.
_Yesterday we took a day off from diving and took a $1 cab along with the Kim,Javier, and Mick (suttle butt) to a beach on the other side of the island, we had heard that there was a calm bay there that reef sharks would sun themselves in. Maybe we got there at the wrong tide? we did see a very small dead black tipped shark up on shore., We swam a bit in the calm bay and then walked over to where the big waves were, we were going to do a bit of body surfing as we were walking out we spotted a big shadow in the waves, at first i thought it was a dolphin, but it was a 5 to 6 foot reef shark, it is funny because when you are under water you swim right towards the shark, to get a better look, but when you are above water and see a shark in the surf, you are kind of hesitant to enter, we did anyway. Reef sharks are not known for eating people. While in the water we did spot two more smaller reef sharks, they were pretty close too. Mick had brought a boomerang and by the end of the day I was able to throw it and catch it when it came back around, this took me a lot of tries and one good wack to the thigh before i was able to master it. Now i am like the kid from Mad Max.

Today we dove with a new operator, we got a deal three dives for $140 this seems very high but we were paying $120 for two. We took a long boat ride to a place called Cousins Rock. on the way we spotted dolphins again but this boat capt instead of speeding up to get them running he slowed down, so the show was not as good, it was still fun to watch them though. My dives would have been great except my booties were rubbing me wrong and rubbed a raw spot on the back of my ankle. The first dive we saw lots of turtles and other cool sea life. The second dive was kind of the same, but in a good way. We putted over to another island for lunch and who was sitting on the rocks the Penguin family, a few of us jumped in the drink and snorkeled over to where they were, We right up on them like within just a couple of feet, close enough to where the capt said ¨hey you guys are getting too close´ so Jeremiah and Neil, i kicked it with real `penguins, i told them you said ¨Hi´
The last dive was the best one yet. Plopped into the water and swam near a school of 10 or so eagle rays and some kind of manta ray that is not a manta ray but looks like a manta ray only smaller. Then there is a species of fish whos name i forget but are only found around the Galapagos They school up 1000´s at a time, a big cloud of fish the size of your hand, you can swim right up on them and they sort of spit apart and as you enter the school they close in around you and your are surrounded by a darkened cloud of fish, It is pretty neat to do and pretty neat to watch another diver do. Then we dove down to the bottom and spotted some 4 foot or so White tipped reef sharks, then looked up and over a rock and there were about 30 lying there in the sand, we watched them for some time., Three of the divers had cameras so we are hoping to do a photo swap in the next couple of days. The last thing we watched was an octopus that had a couple of tentacles missing, it was sitting on a rock when a moray eel came out of its hole and took a couple big chomps of it. It was a good day and a good way to end my Galapagos diving experience, not sure what i will do the next couple of day, but i think i am going to fly back to Quito on Saturday, i still need to eat a Guinna pig

BEWST DAY YET

BEST DAY YET

We went diving with a new dive operation today, cause ours was all full up. We had to pay an Xtra $10 but the equipt was way better and the boat was nicer and the lunch tastier. We went to Floren Rocks or something like that, i do not do a good job at remembering the names of anywhere we go. The dive was not all that spectacular compared to some of the other dives we have done here but the visibility was fabulous. Saw a sea turtle on the first dive and a bunch of sting rays. We picked up a couple of rich white folk from another boat. I think there are some people who just should not dive. This one lady was all over the place, legs and arms flailing around. Christian and i just stayed in the back of the group shaking our heads. Every few minutes we would watch as she sank into the rocks and kicked the coral. She would out of the blue turn around to see where everyone was and her tank would slam into the the rocks. Christian tried to give her some pointers for the second dive, but she didn^t seem to do much better. Crazy amounts of sea lions. I took a big grasp of air when one scared the hell out of me as it shot right up from underneath me. They will stay and play with you if you turn and twist like they do. I really wanted to touch one, but when one came face to face with me and opened his mouth just a couple inches from my mask i remembered the time last year in Bali when i thought it would be cool to pet the tail of the monkey that was sitting right next to me and it turned agro on me and bit me in the shoulder. As cute as they are they are still wild animals.On the way back to our island Christian and i were sitting out on the bow burning our skin. About every few 100 feet we'd spot little coconut sized heads poke out of the water followed by a sea turtles shell, a few got so close i thought we were going to run them over with the boat. I sat there thinking to myself that i am very fortunate, and that i lead a pretty cool life. Things couldn't be much better than they were right at that moment, Or could they? What was that off to our Starboard side, a couple puffs of saltwater and two big (i don't know what kind of ) Whales. Capt. turned and inched the boat up about 30 yards away and we watched them for a bit, clapping when they came up and wishing they would breach clear up out of the water. Now we are once again headed back towards our island and off in the distance i spot what i think is a school of manta rays jumping out of the water, i point this out to Christian and soon the Capt. is steering the boat towards them, i find this strange, since what are the chances that they will still be there when we come up on them. As we get close the splashes head our way and soon i see that these dark siliutes are not manta rays but a pod of some 80 dolphins. They rush our boat and get out in front and race us in the water right in front of the bow. Now i have seen something similar on the fishing boat with Dalsl porpoises, but on the boat they were like 40 feet below us, here they were maybe 3 feet. It was pretty amazing to watch, a few were jumping clear out of the water and a couple jumped well above the bow of the boat i'd say close to 10 feet above the water, I wished my camera was with me and not on the table in the back of the boat. Christian had his, but he only had the zoom lens on. Out of the 100 or so shots he took, he was able to capture a few good shots.
We had a two day land sea tour planned to another island, but really you have seen one giant land tortoise you've seen them all, and who really wants to ride a horse up to see the worlds second largest volcano crater and the only reason i wanted to swim with penguins was to mark that down as one of my top experiences and to tell Neil Jackson and Jeremiah Boone that i swam with penguins. So instead we are going to dive at least two more times, which equals four more dives. We are hoping for great visibility and dozens of Hammer Head Sharks.

Hammer Time

Hammer Time
I am sweating my butt off here in the Galapagos´ it is really hot when there is no wind. It is Sunday and everything is shut. We have been trying to spread our dives out since they are so damned expensive. We go every other day. So the day before yesterday we got together with Ann, from San Francisco, Rens and Marshel from Holland, Girl, me and Christian. We hired a cab at $30 to take us half way across the island to see lava caves. The cab driver acted as a guide but only spoke Spanish. Ann speaks Spanish so with her help i was able to pick up on a little of what we were seeing. There are these huge craters known a sink holes, i guess a couple years back 100 or 1000 as the lava moved under ground it would displace the dirt that supported the top layer and woosh it would collapse into itself, like digging a tunnel through the sand. There was one that was so deep that we could not see the bottom, Mashel timed it and i tossed in a rock and five seconds later we heard it hit, With my great math skills i calculated that the depth of that particular ´sink hole´ was hecka deep`. We also went to an area with wild, not so much running but, slowly moving giant land tortioses. They were really cool. Like little tanks moving through out the grass. They asked us not to touch them but you could walk right up and snap some pictures. It is mating season so we got to see that too.
Yesterday we went diving at Gordans Rock, which is a volcano crater, You would think it would be called Gordans rock(s) as there are five or six rocks above water, but once underwater you see that it is one big rock and what you see above the water is the sides of the crater. The currents can be strong and crazy down there, moving around in all different directions. We would descend down and hold onto the rocks and sort of sneak around corners and sneak up onto Hammer Head Sharks, Turtles, Manta Rays, Golden Rays, and good sized White Tipped Reef Sharks. I had a great vantage point for a big female Hammer head shark that went by and at one point during the dive i thought i was about to come face to face with a reef shark, but when he got some 15 feet away he quickly turned. The sea lions were out and about again. They would come right up to you and as you twisted and turned they would mimic you, blowing bubbles as you exhaled. Ann took off today so we all went out for pizza in the rain, and met up with a couple other people from our dive. Today we are looking into seeing if we can get to another island. We´ll dive maybe four more times, then i will be broke. We are going to head back to the mainland early, spend a few days in Quito, eat BBQed guini pig and call it a day.

Galapagos

Are the Galapagos all that? so far, Yes!! As we flew in and looked down the islands look very bare, brownish around the edges and green in the middle, but no lush palm trees, it looks a bit like flying into Dutch Harbor in the summer. There was nothing to the airport. Got off the plane got our bags paid $1.80 to take a bus ride and then a ferry ride and another hour bus ride to Port Auyroa or something like that on Santa Cruz Island, or in the town of Santa Cruz on some other island, i haven´t quite learned the names of any of the places here. Found a hotel at $12 a night per person. We booked a couple of dives and just got back a few hours ago. The first dive was not all that. There were four of us and our dive guide. Every time you dive with a new outfit, the make you go though a couple of steps to make sure you are competent. you have to let your mask fill with water and clear it our and through out your breathing regulator and be able to retrieve it. It is all very simple and wastes a couple minutes of breath, but whatever. So the first dive, saw some cool fish and a few eels, seen all that before, so i was not too impressed. We got out and had lunch. While we were eating we were anchored out along these rocks and we watched Frigates, which are these really neat birds that dive into the water. The males have this crazy bright red balloon like sack under there beaks, no idea what it is for and i only know it is a frigate, cause i saw a picture of one in a gallery last night. There were also loads of pelicans flying around. Christian really wants to see a manta ray, and the other gal we were with wanted to see turtles, and i just wanted to see something different. So we hit the water and as soon as we submerge we look over and there is this giant Manta Ray circling us. real big, with a wing span of like 20 feet, that my be a bit of an exaggeration but not by much. next with smiles on our faces we look left and there are four Sea Lions swimming around us. These guys spin and glide back and fourth around us for pretty much the rest of the dive, no fear or a care in the world. If i could have stuck my hand out fast enough they were close enough to touch, but way too fast for me. A few minutes later our guide pointed in the distance and there was a small hammer head shark. I did not get a good enough look at it to notice the type of shark but i could tell it was a shark. We also came across a couple very big sea turtles, the were not as close as the ones i saw in Borneo, but there at least twice as big. There were four of us diving and the other two ran low on air so the went up, Christian is a very good diver and i am getting much better so even though we somewhat low on air the dive guide trusted us enough to take us down into this really cool cave, there were loads of colorful fish swimming about, we were near where some big waves were crashing, so you really had to hold on tight to the rocks around the cave because there was a strong surge that would want to suck you into the cave then swoosh you right back out. None of us wanted to be sucked in so we did not stay down there too long. I loved it , i came up with hardly any air in my tank and a big ole smile. There was another group of divers that were in our boat. While we were waiting for them to come up we saw some splashes out in the distance. It was manta rays breaching, they would shoot up out of the water like 5-10 feet sometimes do a couple flips and plop back in the water. One of the guys is a biologist and says he has heard they either do that for fun or to remove sea fleas from there skin? There were 20 or thirty of them that we watched for a while. We are taking tomorrow off from diving since they are going to the same place. We have heard that you can cab over to the other side of the island where there is a turtle farm, which is home to Thomas the 170 year old turtle, oldest known. and a bay of knee deep water where reef sharks hang out. We will dive again on Saturday. So yeah, so far the Galapagos are great.

it is like equator hot here in Ecuador

Decided to meet the girl at the airport, Quito is a sketchy looking town and since the girl was arriving at 11pm we decided it would be best if we met her at the airport instead of her wandering around in the middle of the night looking for a place to stay. We grabbed her and hightailed it to the bus station to just make the bus down to Guayquil. We made it in about 9am this morning. The airport was right across the street so we checked to see if we could hop a flight to the islands. We were on standby and stood there till 1pm and then booked a flight for the tomorrow morning at 7am. we cabbed into town and got a room at a little hotel. $40 for three of us. Ecuador uses the USD which seems strange but is very convenient as you don´t have to wander how much stuff costs. A beer at the airport $1.20 a nine hour bus ride from Quito to Guayquil $7 and a cab ride clear across town $4, but then a flight to the islands is $380 so not everything is cheap`. We have discovered, i forget the name, but it is Spanish for ´set meal´$1.50 gets you soup with a mystery chunk of meat,. rice and some sort of meat product and a juice. yesterday it was beef in an odd gravy and today was beef and i think tripe in a peanutty sauce. Well wort $1.50. We walked down the main drag and then out along the water front. They have put much dinero into the area and there is a cop with a .38 revolver about every 30yrds or so. You feel very safe here too. Not like Colombia that had a cop with a machine gun on every corner, we would be cruising in the bus and round a corner to see a group of army men machine guns in hand all standing around a tank or armoured car so you feel relatively safe everywhere you go, On our 26 hour bus ride we were stopped and boarded and searched three times. the mostly just pull the guys off and let whitey sit it out, but this night everyone was pulled off except the two hot local girls that were sitting behind us. They pat you down and semi search your bag, looking for guns i think.
We are off to the Galapagos Islands in the morning, nothing booked, don´t know where we are staying or what we are doing, but those we did talk to said, you could book cruises and day trips easily from the main island there., so we are not worried

Ecuador

in Ecuador

There is a bar called Mango´s that we keep hearing from pèople to check it out. They will not say much about it so now you want to go even more. We get back to the Pit Stop hostal, and a few others from there have gone to Mangos so we are going to meet them there. Paul the Pit Stop owner calls his Cab driver friend who comes and gets us. Cabbie and his friend drive us past Mangos, when we mention something they say no that is no good we take you to the other Mangos. Hmm? so we pull into a very sketchy neighborhood, and drive in circles, Cabbie looks back at us and motions if we would be so inclined to purchase some cocain or perhaps a girl or two. No Gracias, just to Mangos please. we pull over and all get out of the cab. Cabbies friend gives the hand signal to me that i take as, stick with your friend and stick close to us. We get to the doorway of what we are suposed to think is Mangos II. The door man grabs cabbies wrist and shines a blue light over it, then he does the same with the other wrist. We are imediatly declined, Cabbie makes him look again, I am waiting to see an invisible stamp or something. Nope what shows up is a small little scar across one of the veins on the underside of his left wrist. Instant access. They frisk Christain and i and say ´Gringos, Much denero´ Like if the scar was not enough, this line makes me think ´Naahhh!! it is time to go, but we don´t instead we are ushured inside and down stairs to a load non whitey filled bar with half naked girls lying on the glass bars and tables. We try and order a beer and end up with a $35 bottle of crappy rum. Christian is a little more drunk than i, so i know i want to leave, but he still thinks that we are in Mangos and wants to go and look for the guys from the hostal. I pour Christian a drink and tell Cabbie and his buddy that we appreciate what he is trying to do for us, but we really just want to go to Mangos. He gives me a look like ´Mangos sucks´ after driving past it i think he is right. so back to Mangos we go, bottle of rum and drink in hand. We get to Mangos, and i can tell right off the bat that i do not want to be there. $15 to get in and $8 beers. Christian is determined so i pay Cabbie and give him and extra $2 and ask him to wait 5 or so minutes, cause i know when i go in i am going to want to come right back out. It is like a cross between Urban Cowboy, Sams Town on the way to Lake Tahoe and some really cheesy vegas casino. I hate it, We order a beer, find the people Christian wanted to meet, and now i am so over it that i just want to leave. Christian makes me stay 10 then 20 more minutes. I tell him i am feeling dizzy and sick, which is true. I secure i safe chaperone for Christian leave him with just enough Pesos for one more overpriced beer and a taxi ride home, and i am out of there!

In Quito now, it is like a dumpy Colombia, i see a lot of streets that look like the icky areas of San Jose or Crows Landing RD. if there were more pigs, cows, and stray dogs roaming around. The Colombia folk are fair skinned and very good looking, now here in Ecuador they are darker more Andes type folk, short old men with hunched backs wool ponchos and 40´s style hats, and leather shoes. People are still just as friendly as we encounterd through out Colombia. We have been on the bus for 26 hrs. with a little time at the border. We decided to get off in Quito for a few house so that we do not end up in Guayaquill at 2am, it is said not to be the safest place after dark. So instead we will either take a late bus from Quito or see about flying to the islands from here. A distant friend of mine Michelle, ´Girl´to others is flying into Quito tonight on here way to the islands, so we will hook up with her here or there.
and no Karen i have not tried guinnie pig yet, but i will.

busses

What is worse than a 20hr bus ride with a little kid screaming the entire way? probably the 38 hr bus ride we are taking today. Took the bus down from Taganga. I have never wished harm on anyone, but i was ready to huck that kid and mom who would not discipline him out the bus window. When he wasn´t running down the hall and climbing over my seat he was screaming. Thank You Aaron for loaning of your iPod as i would have lost it without it. At one point in the night Christian woke up to a gun in his face, it was not purposely pointed at him, the machine gun was on a policemans back and he was bent over checking someones bag. I was asleep with a blanket over my head, so they must have thought i was a local and didn´t even wake me. These busses have pretty good leg room but they keep the aircon on high and it is freezing in there. I were a t-shirt, long sleeved shirt, sweater, and curl up in the blanket i stole from the airlines and i still shiver.
We spent the last two nights in Medellin. First nigth we just hit the sack early. Yesterday it rained all day so we did not do much. We were staying at a new hostel that was not quite opened. It is owned by a few young Irish Men. It was once a really nice house that i think belonged to a drug lord. It is all marble with a crazy glass staircase, mirrors on the walls and ceilings and our bathroom looked just like a scene from the movie Scar Face, that is why our dorm room was named the De Tony Montana Suite. They had a big BBQ party last night so we hung out there till around 10pm when Carolina called. Her birthday is in Aug. but her boyfriend is leaving for Switzerland to study soon and will not be there, so he organized one for last night. It was fun, she lives in a little apt, but they fit some 40 people and two live Salsa bands. Everyone was dancing, Mom, Aunts, Uncles, friends, and the two tall out of place gringos. We did our best, but those latinos can dance. It was lots of fun. Stayed there till about 1am then things got weird. But i will tell you that next time as our 38 bus leaves in just a few minutes.

bob

headed back to Medellin

the gang is splitting up today. The Danes are flying back t Bogotqa, Steve is sticking around to check out the Seirra Nevados (i can do that at home) and Christian and i are taking a night bus back to Medellin. The last couple of days i was in Parque Tayrona with Steve and the Danes. It took us a while to get going on the day we left, but we caught a mini bus over the hill to Santa Marta then took a very crowded very hot bus for an hour ride to the park entrance. we paid our dues and then hopped a ride on the back of a pickup deep into the park. It was really hot and mugger there. We then hiked through the woods for 45 minutes or so to the first beach. beautifully white sand beaches with big waves and signs that warned that if we swam in the water we would most likely never return. At one point during the hike we were all attacked by some sort of flying ant spider. the attacked our hair, crawling up inside and biting our heads, i was not into it. we all ran flailing our arms and smacking ourselves in the head. All that night i was pulling chucks of flying ant spiders out of my hair. We had heard about a great beach known as El Cabo, so we trekked on. another 20 minutes hiking and we came apon an even prettier beach, but we kept on going until we finally hit El Cabo. We rented hammocks and slept in a wooden yurt type circle hut way out on a rocky spit that jutted out into the ocean, what a veiw. The wind blew all night which kept the mosquitos away. It did get a little chilly at night, but i had my towel and the blanket that Christian has swiped from the airlines to keep me warm. The next morning we just kicked it and read our books. At about 3pm we made the return trip back to Santa Marta. On the bus ride back down the hill we were stopped by heavily armed police and disembarked the bus, but they paid us whiteys no mind, they were just checking the papers of all the Colombians. Last night was our last hoo rah of with all the people we have met here, but it is back to Medellin tonight.

I figure ten days with out getting sick in a country where raw sewage flows through the public fountains is is good. That is a bit of an embellishment. You can actually drink the water in Bogota and Medellin, But i am not in either of those cities. Here in Taganga it was either when i brushed my teeth, bad ice or some bad Cervicie el Camorones. Either way i got it bad yesterday. I took a spanish lesson in the morning and went diving in the afternoon. I am officially an advanced open water diver now. Woo hoo! during the first dive the water was very rough so i figured the reason i was feeling ill afterwards was maybe due to sea sickness, i guess you can get sea sick underwater? I almost canceled my second dive, but went for it anyway. I threw up a couple of times on the surface of the water. I have heard that you can throw up underwater, but i really did not want to try that. I was able to keep it under control during my dive. It was a rough ride on the way home, back at the hostel i left behind about five gallons out of both ends. Hopefully it was just a one dayer. My new roommate told me that three people in that hostel had the fever, one of them had the Dengue for over a week. I am feeling better and i have held breakfast down for now for 3 hours, so i am pretty sure i just had a bit of the food poisoning. Steve and the Danes have gone to Cartenga adn Christian is hiking the Lost City until Tuesday. I was hoping to just take it easy, sit in a hammock and read, maybe get a couple more dives in. not the kind where i am diving into the bathroom

Taganga


I just found out today from one of the locals that the port of Taganga used to be where all the pot from south america left to to all the reaches of the world. There is a a Statue of the Virgin Marry atop a hill here in Taganga, it is in a little cement church with a cross on top. That was donated to the city of Togonga by the big drug dealers in the area it used to have lights that would flash in different colors, very beautifull. It was descovered later on that the flashing lights were a way for the drug lords to signal boats for dope delivery. The lights are now gone but the statue is still there. pretty cool.

Tganga

Day three in Tatganga the bus took about 17 hours to finally makit to Santa Marta. there was a lot of random stopping towards the end between Barquilla and Santa Marta. the bus has what i thought was air brakes as there is an airhose connected to the wheels. Apon closer inspection we have decided that there is a compressor to inflate and deflate the tires depending on the altitude since the bus goes from sea level clear up and over the Andes, which are well over 12,ooo feet. Around Santa Marta looked like a dump similiar to the out skirts of T-Juana. We took a $5 taxi for a 10 miniute ride through the ghetto to end up on a beautiful little fishing villiage called Taganga. We went down and sat on the beach with a couple of Cervesa while christian and thomas (one of the three Danes, who speaks the best English)went and looked for accomodations and a good dive center. We ended up at a cute little two story place one block from the beach. Me and two of the Danes are getting our advanced open water, the third Dane is diving for the first time and Christian and Steve (USA) are already dive masters. Yesterday our dives were boyancy which i need plenty of practice at, and navigational which i also was horrible at. Today we did deep dive, 1'00 feet, that was kind of cool cause they brought down with us an empty water bottle and showed us the pressure, the dive guy also cracked a raw egg underwater and it sort of stayed in the shape of an egg because of the pressure. After that dive we did a current dive. The two Danes did a night dive just now, but i had allready done one so i am instead tomorrow morning diving with dive computer or fancy watch that does everything for you. Then i guess i will be certified to dive where ever when ever. Chrisitian is headed out tomorrow for a 5 day hike to the Lost City, My leg will not handle that so i may either go with Steve and the three Danes to Cartenga or stay here and dive. The Danes seem to woop it up more than i am into, so i may just stay here and relax and dive. When Christian gets back, We will head back down to Medellin for a few days and then either bus, or fly to Quito, Equador and the Galopogas Islands. I still have not felt one bit of danger anywhere i have been here in Colombia, which is nice.

marching in a demonstration against FARC

Got a call from carolina this morning, seems we did nothing wrong, she hung with her friend who was leaving on saturday and then either a family member or a pet had to go to the hospital, i couldnt tell with the accent. She said she was verey sorry, i was just glad that we were still Amigos. There was a big demonstration against the FARC, violence and terrorism all over Columbia. Ther must have been close to a million people marching the streets. We went downtown to have a look from the outside. Christian tried getting some photos from a view point atop a park bench. He has a really nice camera and it must have looked like we were journalist because someone came up and offered us to come upstairs to a balcony, from the balcony of the store we were in we were soon led up to the 10th story of the building, you could see through out the entire city. He got some great photos, if i new how to download them onto these slow computers i would share them, just imagine loads of dark heads in white tshirts yelling no more murder in Spanish. We are headed on a 15 hour night bus to Santa Marta, up north and then we will mini bus it to Tanaga for some diving.

thank you NY i am now 100 million pesos richer

I am not sure what we did if we did anything to piss off our Columbian Girls Freinds. I gave Carolina a call in the morning and never heard anything vack. Oh Well. a couple of guys from the hostel came with us on the metro downtown to an art gallery. 3 stories with some great stuff. There is a famous Columbian artist by the name of Fernando Botero whos work i recognized. The place is pretty much set up for him. He does paintings and sculptures of fat people, i quite liked his stuff. I think i was the only one into the art as i was looking at most of the stuff while the others just grouped up and talked the whole time, but i guess art hits people in different ways. One of the guys wanted something to eat and we all wanted to find a place where we could sit outside and have a drink. I suggested the Champions bar as this is the place that i knew would be showing the Superbowl later on in the evening, I had heard that you could place bets so i wanted to get there early enough so that i could put down some pesos. I am glad that we did go early cause the place was going to be packed. I was able to place a bet on NY and the spread and reserve us a nice view of the screen. We returned later on in the evening. Christian came with me to support me. They were going to show the game in the hostel, but i new since they were not Americans that they would just be giving me a bunch of shit because it is not as cool as soccer. Whatever. there were over 150 people there to see the game, i expected there to be loads of Americans but there was only a handfull and the rest were Columbian. the one guy in front of us was for the Patriots but the rest around me were all for NY so it was lots of fun, screaming and high fiving the locals. They even served Budweiser, but it was made in Chili and tasted awful. I came home with my hands stinging from clapping and 100 million pesos richer. I would have put exclamation points after that sentence but this keyboard is missing a few keys.

ohh la la my head is pounding

did not do much in the morning, just sort of relaxed. We walked up and found a grocery store and bought some fixens for lunch. Columbia seems to have nothing but deep fat friend stuff, no losing weight on this travel. I got a hold of Carolina and we were to meet her at her work around 3pm. I had the guy here at the hostel write down the address. We took off and tried to get a taxi, but the driver either could not read the writing or had no idea where the place was. We new the general direction so we started walking. I asked a guy on the street and he grabbed some one else and pretty soon we had a whole group of people trying to help us. The original guy got us into a cab and got us on our way. We seemed to drive in circles until i finally called Carolina and she talked to the cab driver. Aja said Carolina worked in TV, i figured she was an assistant to the director or something. She is the host of her on show called Teenagers. I think it is directed towards jr high and highschoolers except, Carolina is very pretty and her and her co host are dressed in little Catholic School girl outfits, plus some of the camera angles were a bit provocotive. The subject of the days show was the Spice Girls. there were some callers who where all dudes and by the fake flattered gestures on by Carolina and her co host, i think the audience is just dirty old men, or at least older than high shcoolers. When we got there Carolina was in a meeting so her friend Vicky showed us around the station. They tape some five or six shows along with the news. On of the Anchor Women was practicing her lines so we ran up and got our picture taken. After the tour we met Carolina and then sat and watched the taping of her show.It was quite fun to see from behind the scenes. She tapes one hour everyday, which i am sure must get old after a while, but it also looked like they all were having a lot of fun, especially during the commercials. after work she took us home, and we met up later on in the evening for Sushi in the happening part of town. A little park surrounded by tons of bars. We ate good sushi and then i drank way way too many Caprionos or Rum with sugar and lime. Now i feel like total poop. Today will be another day we see nothing but the inside of the hostel. I am not drinking tonight!!

Medellin

Christian made it in, we walked down the street had some beers then got something to eat. It was 11pm when we got back to our room, so we forced ourselves to sleep. This morning we checked out and cabbed to the terminal and caught us a bus to Medellin. It cost 37 million pesos about $20. It was the nicest bus i had ever traveled on. Plenty of leg room, not too cold like we were told it would be. The driver was a bit suicidle passing big rigs up hill on blind corners, barely making it back into our own lane. We came in at 9:00pm i tried calling Carolina, but i think i got an answering machine? I will try her again tomorrow. I do not know what there is to do here in Medellin, hopefully enough to keep us here until Sunday as i have found a bar that will be showing the Super Bowl. I would like to get up north to the coast and do some diving. I think we may try and make it to the Galopogas Islands too?

buenas dias Muchacho´s

I forgot to mention, and don´t know if this is why but Bogota is 8600 feet above sea level. I noticed that my ears did not plug and pop as we decended and landed. I do notice the altitude in my stomach and my heart is being over worked and i find it difficult to breath after walking only a short distance. Phew iam out of breath just typing that.
I had taken a little nap yesterday so figured i would be wide awake at 7am this morning, i finally dragged myself up at 11:00. That is still Buenas dias though. I don´t think i can blame it on jetlag since it is only a three hour time difference, but i was wiped out when i got here. I am pretty impressed with the coffee here at the hostel, plus it is free. I got a message and Christian will be here tonight around 9:30 pm and we will leave for Medellin in the morning. I also got word that i have been hired for three months by the Washington Fish and Game dept. Starting Mid March. Woo Hoo for me.
I spoke with a couple of NY kids who have been traveling through Columbia for three weeks now, they say they have felt perfectly safe, and that the people are very friendly. The gave Medellin and the north high marks too.
I walked around a bit in the afternoon and evening. There is a university near by so there are lots of young peeps around. the area reminds me a bit of a cross between Bangkok only way less people and way less diry, and Spain only way more people and way dirtier. I am headed down to check out Bolivardo del toro, AKA the park.

Donde Esta Bogota

made it no problems, I had three seats to myself on the plane from SFo to El Salvador and slept the whole way. From El Salvador to Costa Rica i was at the window in an exit row with about ten feet of extra leg room. The last lef of the flight i had an empty seat next to me, put them all together and it was like sitting in first class. El Salvador and Costa Rica reminded me of the CIA, planned coudeta´s and drug smuggling. Bogota looks similiar to Bangkok, but with twice as less people and cars and not nearly as dirty, there was no trash lying around all over. But it was the same in the fact that there would be tall buildings, 10 story apts, then cows grazing in the ajoining lot.
We got in a wreck in the cab on the way to the hotel, little fender bender. I sat in the cab while the driver and the guy that hit him yelled at each other. The drive got back in cursed under his breath and then did made a cross across his chest all Catholic style, i guess he should have done that earlier.
the guest house is clean and good enough for me, i like the owners as he decided i should have a coffee and a beer before i check in. He says it is safe to walk around durring the day, but to treat it like any big city, just use your head and do not believe when people come up and tell you they are the police.
Christian is not here yet but hopefully he shows up tomorrow.

A lunch date with Juan Valdez

in about 12hours i will be stepping out for a bit. I am headed down to Columbia. Not the Sonora Columbia, or the river that separates Oregon and Washington, but the Country of Columbia. I will be down and around there until March 5th. I know, I know I will be careful. I have never been scared of anywhere i have traveled, but i am just a teency weency bit nervous, and afraid of running into the ELN or FARC and having my gold fillings ripped out with pliers. I hope they at least allow me to rub coco leaves on my gums to numb them first. I am sure i will be fine. I can't guarantee photos but i will do my best at keeping everyone posted on what i am up to and what is going on via Myspace and travelwithbon.blogspot.com
I sure wish i took Spanish in school instead of dumb old German. I wonder how far i can get with "dos cervesa porfavor" and "uno mas taco"