Thoughts After Seven Months of Travel

It seems a shame to me that in the last 7 months, we didn’t see more, do more, meet more people.

We had plans to do and accomplish different things, and I kind of feel like we planned to do *more*) during the past 7 months of our lives.

My friend Patrick Shaw says that people greatly overestimate what they can do in a year, but greatly underestimate what they can do in ten years.

So maybe we should talk in ten years.

But thinking about it, I realize that we did do a LOT over the past 7 months in central and south America, and laid a foundation for coming back to this part of the world throughout our lives.

However, we had plans.

This post talks about what we had planned to do versus what we did.

(I have written this post to remember what we planned to do, actually did and didn’t do, and also should help others traveling through Central and South America to discover some great places and things to experience.)

Lakes:
We didn’t see lake Titicaca (Bolivia), or Lake Nicaragua.
But we did get to see the beauty of Lake Atitlan (Guatemala).

Islands:
We didn’t see the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), Isla del Omitepe (Nicaragua), or the San Blas Islands (Panama).
But we learned to SCUBA off of Isla Colon (Panama) in a town called Bocas Del Toro.

Animals:
We didn’t get to see whales or dolphins.
But we helped guard baby turtles and were part of their introduction into the world.  We saw monkeys in lots of places throughout central America; saw llamas mating; hummingbirds and butterflies in Mindo, Ecuador; and many other animals and critters.  We loved the variety of animals we saw, even if the insects were sometimes disturbing.

Language and culture:
We didn’t spend time living in an indigenous community, (though we spent lots of time around indigenous people).
But we speak Spanish pretty well now.  (Thanks Maribel!)  We speak well enough to be well understood, to receive compliments on how good our Spanish is, and to understand even difficult topics like politics and religion.

Business:
Because of taking Spanish class every day, and the time involved with both planning and getting from place to place, we didn’t grow our business in the way that we wanted to.
But I know 100% that our videos and written reviews of the places we’ve stayed in Antigua, Guatemala; Boquete, Panama; Quito, Ecuador, and Cuenca, Ecuador; have resulted in more bookings for the owners of those places.  Our knowledge of marketing on the Internet has helped other people to grow their businesses.  That’s exciting to me.

Ancient Cultures and Civilizations:
We didn’t get to San Augustin, Colombia; or in Peru – the Ruins of Kuelap, Macchu Picchu (due to flooding in March), or the tomb of Sipan near Chiclayo. But we saw the remnants of powerful and amazing ancient civilizations at Copan, Honduras; Tikal, Guatemala; Guayabo National Park, Costa Rica; Ingapirca, Ecuador; Cuenca, Ecuador; and Cajamarca, Peru.

Land Travel:
We did not see Belize; visit Santiago, Chile; return to Buenos Aires, Argentina; nor did we get to most of the countries in South America.
But we saw every land country in Central America (except Belize); went to or near the top of five volcanoes in three countries (Irazu and Poas, Costa Rica; Pacaya, Guatemala; Masaya, Nicaragua; and Cotopaxi, Ecuador); we covered thousands of miles by bus, plane, car, in the water, and on foot; saw amazing markets at Saquisili and Otavalo, Ecuador, and at Chichicastenengo, Guatemala; got to the capital cities of Guatemala (Guatemala City), Nicaragua (Managua), El Salvador (San Salvador), Costa Rica (San Jose), Panama (Panama City), Ecuador (Quito), and Peru (Lima); and met many amazing people along the way.

Personal Growth:
I’ve recognized and let go of some of my own ethnocentricity (which I didn’t know I had); become a Spanish speaker; learned that the jungle is a great place for me to visit, but for short-term visits only; and have learned that even though the longest we’ve been apart in the last 7 months is 4 hours, Carrie and I love and appreciate each other as much or more now that we ever have before.

I feel like a year or more could be spent exploring just Ecuador and Peru, with a mention to the lifetime that could be spent exploring Colombia and the other countries in South America.

I do think that these are areas which we will return to at some (as yet undetermined) future point in our lives.

At the same time, 7 months in central and South America has given me an even greater appreciation for the country I call home, the place where I grew up.

The United States of America is a place where stores almost always have change for a $20 bill, many stores are open 24-7, the bathrooms nearly always have tissue paper and toilet seats, and the spirit of the people, more than anywhere else I’ve ever been, says both in word and in action, “we can do it if we’ll just work hard at it.”

I am so grateful for the opportunities provided by our travels of the last seven months, and I’m very grateful as well for the opportunities and life I’ve been able to have growing up and living in the United States.

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Testimonials and Videos from (a few of the) Places We Have Stayed

Apartment in Quito, Ecuador
(March, 2010)

Since you stayed at the apartment (I have in Quito) last month, I have gotten a lot more bookings.  I’m booked through the end of the summer, (2010).

It’s been really great… having you stay with me was more like having someone working for me because with the video you made and pictures you took while you were here, I have had MANY people want to book the apartment… I wasn’t sure at first since I gave you the discount to stay here, but having you stay at the apartment was one of the smartest things I think I could have done for future rentals.

Pablo Proaño
Quito, Ecuador

(November, 2009)

We loved having you guys stay in one of our casitas. Our favorite experience with any renter we’ve ever had was the night when you made us the most delicious Italian dinner of eggplant parmesean I’ve ever had. (And we were super impressed you offered to cook for us while you were renting from us)!

We were so happy too that we invited you to house-sit for us while we went to Florida in January 2010. During those two weeks in January, it was so nice to know that we didn’t have to worry about anything while we were in Florida.  Thank-you for taking great care of our home, taking care of the challenges and repairs at the casita rentals, and for getting messages to the neighbors for us.

Since you made the video of our casita “B”, we’ve had a nearly full booking schedule.

You guys are the best renters we’ve had… From our perspective, you guys being here felt like having family stay with us, but getting paid for the visit.  Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!

David and Cora Kent
Boquete, Panama

Hi Carrie and Jonathan!

Thought I would let you know we just had a month-long booking come in from someone who watched the video you made of Kookaburra.

Thanks so much for your interest in Kookaburra and its success. We had noticed the networking you did on our behalf and so, although this note comes just a little belated and with prompting (since it resulted in this rental), it comes nonetheless with our genuine gratitude.

Chris and I hope your travels are still wildly satisfying and endlessly awe-inspiring. Take care of each other!

Warm wishes,
Jenny

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Panama Hats: The Man and Woman In the Panama Hat

Panama Hats originated in Ecuador.

In fact, Panama hats originated very close to Cuenca, Ecuador.

So why are they called Panama hats?

Well, that’s a long (perhaps sordid) tale involving:

• One of the journeys of Eloy Alfaro to Panama
• Teddy Roosevelt
• A hat

But that’s not the story I will tell now.

Yesterday, Carrie and I went for a little walk from the Kookaburra Café (where we’ve been staying here in Cuenca).

We wanted to visit the museum and workshop of Hormero P Ortega & Hijos, one of the most famous Panama hat makers in Ecuador.

After about 40 minutes of walking, we arrived at Hormero P Ortega & Hijos (Hormero P Ortega and sons), to have the man at the gate tell us that the workshop is closed on Saturdays.

Lots of places are closed for some or most of the day on Saturdays/Sundays in Cuenca.

That was a bit disappointing, but at that point we were close to Cuenca’s Terminal Terrestre (where the buses leave from), so we went to check out the best options for leaving Cuenca on Tuesday night or Wednesday.

From there, we took a $4 taxi to Turi, which is a town and church on a hill above Cuenca, with a beautiful view of the whole city.

We wanted to eat lunch up there… we assumed there would be lots of restaurants with the beautiful view (and had been told as much by a few people). We found one restaurant with a great view, but it appeared to be some kind of dinner theater place, and it was closed.

So we took a taxi back to the city, wandered around a bit, and on our wandering back to the Kookaburra Café, we ran into this place just 2 blocks away from our hotel.

Rafael Paredes S. y Hijos, Panama Hat makers since 1957

Wanting to do the appropriately touristy thing and learn how Panama hats are made, we entered the exhibits.

Did you know that Panama Hats are made out of one single reed that is shredded, braided, pressed, and steamed into the shape of the hat? That was really interesting to see.

Rafael Paredes S. y Hijos apparently is also the hat maker of choice for many of the contestants in the Miss Universe contest. Their hats have also been featured in advertisements (on beautiful women who wear attractive hats on posters in order to get men to buy beer, and women to buy hats).

We played around trying on different hats, with no real intention of buying them for ourselves.

But then, I found a Panama hat that I liked.

Carrie said it looked *really* good on me.

Finding a hat I like is one thing, but having my wife say it looks *really* good on me kind of makes it a done deal.

One problem – the hat I selected was too small.

Turns out that in Ecuadorian Panama hat sizes, my head is not an XL.

It’s not even a XXL.

My head is HUGE.

I’ve known that for some time, but Rafael Paredes S. y Hijos is specially making, just for me, a XXXL (that’s three X’s) Panama hat in the colors of my choosing.

The women working there in the shop thought it was quite funny that I had such a “gran cabeza”.

(They actually said “cabeza grande” (giant head), but I preferred to say “gran cabeza” (which is more like “grand head”). It sounds more like a compliment – at least to me.)

To have a hat specially made to fit my head, in the colors of my choosing, costs $25.

It takes just 2 days to have one made, so I’ll be returning tomorrow to pick it up.

Carrie’s head is between a medium and a large, but they had a large in these fun colors, which looked great on her, so she got the large.

When you buy a Panama hat at Rafael Paredes S. y Hijos, they also give you a carrying bag for your Panama hat at no additional charge. This will be great for us for as much as we will be on the road in the next 4 weeks.

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(Not So) Frequently Asked Questions

Probably more often than I should, I check what words and phrases people have typed into Google to get to our web site.

Tracking what people want to know about is important if you want to be of service to others.

Also, it’s just fun to see what Google thinks CarrieAndJonathan.com is about.

Today, I want to share a tiny smattering of what I discovered people have been looking for, prior to landing on our site.

Also, I want to answer their questions.

These are all actual search phrases typed into Google by people before they landed on our site.

“what are chifles”/”what is an ecuadorian chifles”
Despite the funny English in this question, I am happy to respond to this one. In Ecuador, Chifles are chips made from thinly sliced green plantain.  They are very delicious.  We like chifles better than potato chips (which we don’t really like, so that’s a terrible comparison.  That previous sentence should say: We like chifles.)

“how far is it from david, panama to boquete, panama?“
Taking the local bus, it’s about 1 hour to Boquete from David, Panama, give or take 20 minutes.  Boquete is absolutely worth a visit for a few days, if not longer.

“are frozen bananas bad for you?”
Is frozen water bad for you?

“does it matter if you use yellow or green plantains when making patacones”
Yes, use green plantain. The yellow plantains won’t work for patacones.  They’re still delicious when fried, just not the right plantain to use for patacones.

“can you see lava masaya”
We weren’t able to see lava at Masaya volcano… lots of sulfuric ash spewing from the mouth of the volcano though.  You can, however, roast marshmallows over lava at Volcan Pacaya in Guatemala near Antigua.  (Take the marshmallows and a stick with you though.  There’s nothing except people renting out horses as taxis up the volcano, and kids selling walking sticks, once you get out to start your trek up the volcano).

“do ecuadors eat cuy/why do ecuadorians eat gineapig”
Yes EcuadorIANS do eat cuy.  Why they eat guinea pig is beyond me as I don’t like the flavor at all. Not all Ecuadorians eat guinea pig, but my guess is that many do because they like the flavor of it.  Others eat cuy as a social custom or tradition.

“does everyone in ecuador have a pet chicken”
No, just the people who live close to wherever you happen to be trying to sleep.

“how many mph can a koala run”
That is a good question… Maybe you should race one to find out.

Keep those Google visitors and random searches coming!

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Where Have You Been?

Carrie &Jonathon,

I’m confused looking at your site… you guys have traveld a lot looks like… where all have u been?

james

Hey James!

Well, we have done a lot of travel in the past, but since October, we’ve been

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Hotel Santana: A review of Hotel Santana in Santa Ana, Panama City, Panama

We spent two nights at Hotel Santana in Santa Ana, Panama City, Panama.
Here is our review of the hotel.
I remember hearing something about Manuel Noriega when I was a child.
I remember thinking he was in Nicaragua.
“Noriega” sort of sounds like “Nicaragua”, especially to a 9 year old.
Why do I bring it up in a review of Hotel Santana in Panama?
The United States invaded Panama in 1989. To some of you, this isn’t news. To me, (and I imagine to many people in the US under the age of about 33,) this is surprising news.
The United States invaded a country as close as Panama?

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Panama Viejo and Casco Viejo in Panama City, Panama are not the same thing

Panama Viejo and Casco Viejo in Panama City, Panama are not the same thing…

I don’t know why, but for some reason, I thought that Panama Viejo (old town Panama City) was Casco Viejo. I was wrong.
This morning, Jonathan and I decided to go see Panama Viejo and then have lunch at one of the many new and fun places in Casco Viejo.
Casco Viejo is also called Antiguo Viejo, as you’ll see in the video below.
We grabbed a taxi right out front of our hotel (Hotel Santana), and were taken to Panama Viejo. Our driver also told us where it was safe and where it wasn’t if we wanted to walk around the old city.

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The Panama Canal at Miraflores

The Panama Canal at Miraflores

For some reason, whenever I hear of the Panama Canal I think of “Arsenic and Old Lace”.
Teddy says “I’m going to the basement to dig the Panama Canal!”
I love that show…
No trip to Panama, especially Panama City, would be complete without a trip to the canal.
We didn’t really make it work last time we were here (as we just passed through Panama City), but this time we knew we’d go.
Our overnight bus arrived into Panama City from David at 6:00am – exactly on time!
There are some crazy buses in Panama (all over Central America)!

From there we went to our hotel, and they let us check in super early, which was great!
So, we were able to grab a nap.
I read that there is a restaurant in the visitor’s center of the canal, so we decided to go there, have lunch, and watch a few ships pass through.
It was awesome! The food was ok, not the best (and pretty pricey), but good enough.

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Boquete: Two Excellent Weeks In The Mountains of Panama

A few of you have mentioned that we’ve been posting rather sparsely the past couple of weeks.
So, I thought I would summarize the past couple of weeks in Boquete.
(This is a long post, but I’ve included lots of pictures. This should help if you like to read by skimming. )
Carrie and I have had two wonderful weeks here in Boquete, and we’ve really enjoyed our time here in Chiriqui Province, Panama.

(In case you missed it, I did talk about our wonderful day at the beach at Las Olas/Playa Barqueta.)
Before heading to Florida, David and Cora had dinner for their guests/renters.

The dinner was for Nick and Joyce, friends of David and Cora’s, to celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary.

The next day, we drove David (day-vid) and Cora to the airport in David (dah-veed).

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Bugs in Boquete: Panamanian Bugs and Critters

We had a blast making this video about Panama’s Bugs and critters.
It’s a bit of a tribute to Steve Irwin and really was just done in silliness.
Hope you enjoy seeing the bugs and critters that we discovered in Boquete, Panama.
It’s all a bunch of silliness, really.

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