Monthly Archives: May 2014

“You want to rub me down with mud??…Okay!” ;)

Posted on May 28, 2014 by valarieivester

How could I forget the MUDDY MASSAGE?!?!? If you find yourself in Cartagena, Colombia be sure to take a day trip to Volcán de Lodo El Totumo. It’s a short bus ride but many believe that the muddy rubdown has healing powers… I’M IN!
(I had to lure Jorgie in with the promise that I heard mud wrestlin was part of the deal….LOL)

***FYI: There will be no muddy girls awaiting your arrival boys…nor will any wrestlin take place. I KNOW…I lied…but don’t act like you ain’t ever promised an ice cream cone to an unruly child to get your Sunday errands done…It happens;)

To get to your massage you have to climb these sketchy steps to the top;)
PLEASE NOTE: You will be asked to leave your sandals at the foot of the Volcán….if you do, someone will watch them but you will need to tip them. If you would rather carry them up and keep them with you in the mud, you are free to.

Jorgie hops in first and his rubdown begins;)

Okay….I’M COMIN IN!!

The mud is so dense you just float!!! It’s an awkwardly amazing feeling!;)

BUUUUUUT …be careful!! Mud in the eye = “I gotta get out NOW!”

As you climb out…Yes, once again on a sketchtastic ladder, you make your way down the volcano and waddle your muddy bodies to a nearby lagoon where you bath yourselves to a greyish form of clean.
What do you expect…your bathing in a river with mud;)

ANOTHER NOTE:
When you get to the lagoon there will be local women wadding in the waters wanting to assist in rinsing you clean (Don’t think “SCORE! I’m about to be bathed by a ravishing young Sophia Vegara look alike!” Think more like Sophia’s grandma’s older sister) once again boys…Im sorry…Anyhow, if you allow them to wash you, you must tip them;)

It’s a pretty awesome way to spend a day in Cartagena if you find yourself there;)

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Cartagena, Colombia, massage, mud, mud volcano, see the world, south America, travel, volcano, volcán, Volcán de Lodo El Totumo | 4 Comments

Colombia and the Cochinas!!

Posted on May 17, 2014 by valarieivester

Colombia was pretty high on my list to see (against my mother’s wishes….SORRY MOM!) A country that has so much history and elegance can’t just be what we see on TV… can it?? My hopes were high that Colombia would bring me much more than the cartel, drug trafficking, coffee drinking, murder business we see on the news.

AND IT DID;)

I’m happy to report that, though I did have some pretty delicious coffee, and couldn’t believe the amount of gorgeous women here (they are seriously pretty..like all of them) not too much scary business to report! Allthough Jorgie did get several whistles and hisses from the local “LADIES OF THE NIGHT” wanting to lure him into their nasty little web…. COCHINAS!

Val: “Waaaaait, OMG….Were those prostitutes propositioning you?!?”
Jorge: ” Yeah… Duh..Look at me!”
(INSERT SLAP) smh…

We saw no drug deals or murders……but there was a little cocaine smugglin…I’LL GET TO THAT LATER;)

Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas
Cartagena is surrounded by large walks that were designed to protect the city long ago. Its a beautiful fortress worth a view;)
The walled city of Cartagena was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.

These canons are a lingering memory of the protection once needed for this beautiful place.

From the top of the fortress you get gorgeous views of the city!!!

Okay…I couldn’t pass this up. We have now seen multiple times people carry INSANE things on motorcycles…..YES…that is 2 people and a living room sized TV on ONE motorcycle!!! We couldn’t believe it!!

You get to see many women adorned in the colors of the country!!

In the square is the sculpture of Mujer Reclinada (“Reclining Woman”), by Colombian artist Fernando Botero

Church of Saint Peter Claver

The streets in Cartagena were so picturesque! I can DEFINITELY see why this place is a NOT MISS for anyone visiting Colombia. The colonial structures surround you and draw your eyes at every corner!!

Puerta del Reloj– The entrance to all that you see

Boca Grande in the background….

At the end of the street we were staying on, we catch a neighborhood baseball game! They played right in the middle of the street!!!

Ooookay…..I promised some cocaine smugglin! Lol
So we planned on leaving Cartagena by sailboat to Panama City, Panama to visit the San Blas Islands….we book our boat, then some dummy backpacker tried to smuggle a kilo of cocaine to Panamá on a boat and caused all kinds of trouble for this industry. All boats were docked and told that they couldn’t leave (How does this happen to us???) ……SOMEHOW we manage to find ourselves on the LAST boat allowed to leave Cartagena;)

With a fist full of dramamine in my belly and Cartagena literally behind us, Jorgie and I set sail to the San Blas Islands;)
Thank u Jesus!!!

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: baseball, Cartagena, cocaine, Colombia, colonial, fortress, gorgeous, sailing, south America, walls | 4 Comments

A lesson learned…Sadly.

Posted on May 15, 2014 by valarieivester

Soooooo after the Galapagos Islands we flew to Quito, Ecuador. Home of the equator…..BY FAAAAAR the prettiest parks I’ve seen throughout this tour, and one of the coolest places we stayed in….AAAAAAND I have NO pictures of any of it.

TRAVEL RULE #1:
Move you pictures off your camera asap!

Because we both threw our cameras (not our main ones) into what we thought was a waterproof bag and then took it into the water….I lost all the Quito photos that I hadn’t backed up yet.
DOH! (Smack my forehead). Guess that bag wasn’t waterproof
So here’s my small synopsis of Quito minus the pics….
IT’S AWESOME! GO! Seriously though, it’s pretty. When I say it had some pretty amazing parks….it’s an understatement. Sorry for the ridiculous post without many pics….what can I say…
***These are all I have…THANK U JORGIE;)

AMA LA VIDA 😉

Equator…..though I read this isn’t EXACTLY the middle of the world. This monument was constructed before modern technology could exactly pinpoint it….though it seriously is impressive they are super close!!

El Mitar del Mundo

On to COLOMBIA!!! (I got pics!!) 😉

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: back up, Ecuador, idiot, lesson learned, pictures, Quito, sorry, south America, travel, traveler problems, waterproof | 2 Comments

Scuba diving & The BEST beach I’ve seen so far

Posted on May 7, 2014 by valarieivester

So we decided to get the full animal experience and become a
fish for a day;) This would be both of our first time to scuba dive and snorkel so we were excited!

We boarded this magnificent sailboat that would take us to North Seymore for our day of scuba and snorkeling.

I have no idea why, maybe it’s our faces, but we were chosen to be the first to scuba dive. (Whatever that is…I wish it would stop. I needed a moment to panic) But it was time to suit up. Squeeeeeeezing my body into this wetsuit was a task but eventually my ass cooperated and got in there;)

Scuba diving was sorta scary. Resisting the urge to breathe out of your nose was extremely difficult. It goes against everything I’d ever trained myself to do while running…not being a mouth breather in this scenario completely worked against me. Honestly, I had several sheer moments of panic. I mean, we did have an extensive WHOLE 15 minutes of training where we were supposed to learn hand signals that were imperative to my life but that all went to hell when I was underwater. Lol! On the second try to descend, I got nervous and wanted to go back up and gave the OKAY signal, rapidly started pointing up (that’s not even a signal he taught us) then for some reason gave him the SHARK signal (he’s super confused now) said “To hell with this!” and started flailing my body upwards. Once my head was above water the instructor comes up and looks at me soooo confused and was like “What was that!!!??? Why aren’t you doing the signs? I won’t understand you if you don’t do the signs!” Is he serious? He’s lucky I even tried to do ANY signs at all before I bailed! Not my finest moment I must admit, but I seriously was scared. Lol! It took me several attempts, but finally I just let go, and forced myself to continue on and when I did..

It was A Okay;)
I saw sharks, soooooo many fishes, and some super long fish that I can’t remember the name of. Wifi sucks here so I can’t upload to my YouTube channel to post the video so I’ll post to my Facebook instead. To see Scuba Diving Val check out my FB page at http://www.facebook.com/valarieivester.com

What was not okay was me not taking dramamine…. Meet SEA SICK VAL just moments after a rather embarrassing violent vomiting fit.
TAKE THE PILLS! Geeez.

NOOOOW…. on to (in my opinion) the prettiest beach we’ve seen so far. Tortuga Bay Beach😉 Be prepared….its a 30 minute walk to the beach and an additional 15 minute walk to the lagoon but it’s completely worth it.

We have gotten to visit many beaches but this one had immaculately white soft sand, turquoise crystal clear water, very little people, no vendors trying to sell you refreshments or whatever bracelet they made that day, all you could hear was the water rolling up on shore and beating against the rocks. It was so serene.

Tortuga Bay Selfie;)

Daaaaaaaaaaang;)

Our walk to the lagoon was great. Even though its super hot in the Galapagos, once you get here, the breeze coming off the ocean is so cool and smells of salt.

Once again we run into these gigantic land lizards!!

TONS of them…just keep walking….they won’t bother you;)

And the lagoon;) This shallow secluded part of the beach was refreshing and filled with little fishes! We were sitting half in the water and a tintorera (harmless small sharks native to this area) just swam right by us!!!! In shallow water!!! So cool!

As we walked back we soaked up as much sun as we could (as if either of us need it…we are getting super dark!)

Tortuga Bay on Santa Cruz Island is definitely high on my list for beach bummy days and #1 beach so far on my list.

And finally…..the most of any travelers budget is devoted to where you will be staying. We opted to save some real money by staying with a family in their home that they are converting to a hostel. This might of been the biggest saver for us in the Galapagos.

Meet Jimmy (we found his place on Airbnb) and his sweet family. Getting to stay in their home was a real treat! They treated us like family and even invited us to dine with the family at dinner cooked by Auxillidora. I would highly recommend Casa de Hospedaje and Jimmy for your visit to the Galapagos. Thank you Santiago family!!

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: beach, budget travel, Galapagos Islands, homestay, lagoon, North Seymore, relax, sailing, sand, Santa Cruz Island, scared, scuba diving, sharks, snorkeling, south America, tintorera, Tortuga Bay, travel | Leave a comment

Holy Crabs! The Galapagos Islands…Parte Dos

Posted on May 6, 2014 by valarieivester

Day 2 we visited the Charles Darwin Research Center. It’s free to enter and is filled with hiking trails, access to beaches, and an observatory for animals that are endangered.
Ps . . .don’t forget to bring your water bottle with you anywhere you go, it’s hot and reeeeeal humid here. You will thank me for it later;)

This is the home to the giant land turtles. These things are the size of small boulders!!! They live to be extremely old but are currently endangered and they are trying to breed them to preserve the species.

Lizards…..eeek. This guy was pretty scary looking to me….

Doesn’t he just look like he’s coming to get ya?!?

Okay….he wins. I’ve had enough if this guy….Moving on! 😉

They have managed to determine that if incubated at a certain temperature, they can create either a male or female turtle. Slightly colder temps gives you female, slightly warmer, males.

And the beach;) Here you will find locals with their families taking a dip in the cool water and resting on the beach.

Like all parts of the Galapagos, the animals are still running free. Just keep your eyes open or you will get a scare….when I saw this little guy, I almost stepped on his tail. Scared me half to death!

HOLY CRABS!! Be careful when finding a rock to sit on…these crab change colors! Look at the one closest to me…its turning from red to black to blend in to the rocks.

Galapagos animals do not disappoint!!! They are all over the place here!!!

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: beaches, budget travel, Charles Darwin, crabs, Galapagos Islands, lizards, research, save, south America, travel, turtles | 2 Comments

The shoestring budget version of The Galapagos Islands…Parte Uno

Posted on May 6, 2014 by valarieivester

When we were planning the trip we both placed this seldomly visited group of islands HIGH on our list, but being on a shoestring budget we weren’t sure if we were going to need to cut it out. We read by many other travelers that the only “proper” way to see all that this had to offer was to book a cruise that would run us roughly $2,000 EACH…MERICAN!!! (As I nearly coughed up my wine) “Are you kidding me?!?!” “We can’t do THAT!”
Here is our version of The Galapagos Islands sin (without) the expensive cruise. 😉

We flew into San Cristóbal Island. Right outside the aiport is an abandoned fleet of ships;)

And right off the plane do we see this little guy!

SEA CHUYS!!!! Isn’t he cute???

Okay….for those of you who don’t know…. Meet Chuy;) This is my sweet pups back home…he is some sort of weenie mix of cuteness and Jorgie and I think he looks sorta like a sea lion;) Now scroll back up….short legs…husky body…you see it;) Hence….Sea Chuys.

The animals here on the Galapagos dont know to fear humans so they have no problem being extremely close to you.

Sharing a bench with a Sea Chuy;)

I feel inclined to inform everyone that if you want to get to the other islands you need to make sure you book your lancha before 2pm. The last boats for island hopping leave around 2 or 3. So if you miss it, or its full, your stuck on that island for the night. We BARELY make it onto a boat headed for Santa Cruz Island.
Please, pleeeease, for the love of God, TAKE. YOUR. DRAMAMINE!!!
This is a almost 3 hour death journey for anyone remotely proned to sea sickness. After 3 hours, 2 pills, and multiple prayers to God to TAKE ME NOW, Jorgie scrapped me off the floor of this boat to land;) (as I raise my hands) “Thank you Jesus!”

Once on Santa Cruz you just have countless alleys that all end…

To this beautiful view;)

We strolled up to a local fisherman who was selling fresh caught lobsters and the sea gulls and sea lions were patiently waiting for an occasional drop of food;)

These giant lizards are everywhere just hanging out!!

An end to our 1st day of the Galapagos Islands on a shoestring budget was perfect. Sea lions, lizards, and dramamine Oh my!
Lol on to day 2!!!

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: budget, budget travel, Galapagos Islands, lizards, San Cristobal, Santa Cruz, sea lions, shoestring, south America, travel | 4 Comments

Lima, Peru & Mancora Beach

Posted on May 5, 2014 by valarieivester

We stayed over night in Lima on our way to Mancora Beach in tge Miraflores area. Highly recommended staying here! Beautiful and full of life.

Visit Parque de Amor with it’s colorfully decorated tiles surrounding the park. This beautiful park is home of many professions of love written in tile for the world to see.

Our over night visit was fun but on to Mancora!

MANCORA, PERU

When you arrive the only way to get around are these tuk tuk taxis that are pretty much 3 wheeled golf carts!

Jorgie is loving them!!!

We were thrilled with Kimbas Bungalows!!! What a break from the normal backpackers hostel but still within the budget!!! Highly recommend….its gorgeous;)

We immediately hit the beach for sun and relaxation!!

There’s nothing quite like posing for a selfie and then finding a tongue about to find its way to your face!! Jorgie almost got thrown into the water;)

Making our way to the pier….

Uuuummmm…..so I see all the boats…..but where are the fishermen?

Bring on the drinks!!

All in all….this picture pretty much sums up Mancora. This place is made for lazy days, cold drinks, and little clothing;)
We have spent the most time in Peru…..but Ecuador is a mear 8 hour bus ride up the road….it’s time to add more miles to these shoes;)