Lets keep going North, we are bound to hit the border at some point....

From the end of the world to the centre of the world it might seem. As we departed from Ushuiaia on the 15th, only the grand glaciers lining the horizon, I knew little of what lies ahead. And so when the glaciers and turquoise waters got replaced by the endless sea of Buenos Aires’s buildings, it was a pleasant and slightly confronting realization that I was back in a major city. Buenos Aires is exactly that- a major city. Numerous boutiques line the pavements, with the newest and funkiest designs jumping at you from behind the glass windows. The amount of restaurants could make a hungry person go mad and the smell of steak wafting through the streets from every kitchen door becomes something you become somewhat numb to. We arrived at the national airport, which was very conveniently placed just outside central Buenos Aires and so before I knew it, we were dashing through he busy streets in a taxi, of which the taxi driver is still to receive a formal complaint from me. Little note on the side- taxi drivers are generally known to be slightly on the crazy side in South America BUT Buenos Aires taxi drivers take it to a whole new level and if any one of them happens to, by complete coincidence, get to read this blog then: WHAT the hell are you thinking? Are you deliberately trying to kill someone or are you just plain stupid?? Okay, so now that I ventilated a bit of anger I can continue..:) Anyway, only a few minutes later we arrived at our apartment in Palermo Viejo, a beautiful part of Buenos Aires, where sitting at an outside table in front of a cute café, sipping cafe con crème and reading a novel, is absolutely acceptable ( if not slightly expected). We had 2 full days before we had to head out to our next destination, which was to be Baradero, and so we made full use of them. Rather than rushing my way through all the typical tourist attractions I fully embraced the Buenos Aires life-style for those 2 days: For breakfast we would sit in a beautiful café at the corner of a park in Palermo Soho called Mamaracha. After waking up with a freshly squeezed orange juice and a couple of media lunas, it was off for a brisk walk in the park, maybe a bit of window shopping and generally a well- balanced few hours of relaxation and fun. Light lunches are luckily a concept they do understand in Buenos Aires (unlike anywhere outside of the city) and so a salad was actually an option- for which I was very grateful. Afternoons were spent doing more activities, which demanded little strenuous exercise and so in the early evening, only a quick freshening up was needed before the night part of the day could begin. Bad habit: eating at 10pm. Who has this habit? The entire population of Argentina, and Buenos Aires even more so! I could write long essays on, how steaks are hard to digest when consumed after 9pm, or, how Argentineans have a strange perception of what is a human size portion of meat, or how one basically looses all his/her human rights as to what one wants to consume, due to the fact that there is no option apart from meat BUT that would be pointless so I won’t…but you get the idea!! On the 18th of March it was: no more lazing around and lets get to business – or polo in our case! We spent 8 full days in the surrounding area of Baradero, the beautifully tranquil region north of Buenos Aires. From our picturesque cottage, we could spot Nicaragua in the distance, horses grazing on our outside lawn and purely listened to the angelic sounds of nature. Although it must be said that mosquitoes did become our greatest enemy (just after bloody bums and aching arm muscles), we defeated them night-by-night successfully and so with ridiculous amount of OFF! Sprayed all over ourselves and frantically shutting the door behind us each time we entered the house, not even the blood-sucking mosquitoes could ruin the experience. Our schedule was simple: rise at 8am, munch up on a huge breakfast, spray an entire can of OFF! All over ourselves and head over to the stables. Marcelo, our lovely stable carer, helped us buckle up, saddle the horses and so with little ado by 10am we were already stepping onto the (by the end of the weak very familiar) polo field. We would practice for 3 hours, usually stick n’ ball, to only dismount with cramps along our entire inner thighs ( only the first day to be honest…exaggerating a little here I know) and head into the house for some LUNCH!! We were actually, not kidding, like a bunch of wolves. We ate veggies, and meat by kilos each and so it is only understandable that a siesta was extremely necessary. After a 45min nap and a quick coffee, the horses were being galloped by us, skilled riders, all around the field by 5pm again. In the afternoon we usually practiced games, rules and technique. We would make use of the last sun just barely lighting up the field and would retreat only if absolutely necessary ( in other words, when it was too dark to see the ball on the ground). For 8 days we played a solid 5 hours of polo each day, ate like horses ourselves (although I probably ate more than my horse) and generally fell into bed absolutely shattered each night. Polo was an interesting experience for me. I disliked it a lot at first. I LOVE horses and so the idea of crashing my horse into another horse in order to then attempt hitting a tiny ball with a heavy wooden stick, whilst galloping at full speed and being attacked by another 4 riders on their horses…..no, really not my cup of tea!! But unfortunately, as I was the only girl amongst many guys (my father and brother being rather dangerous as they were new to the game also, and the others being professional so just plain scary as hell) I had to show them what I am made of. It took time, before I managed, but by the end of the week, and after numerous conversations with myself about not being a wimp, I successfully partook and actually kicked their asses. Go girl power!
Down sides: well apart from having bloody bruises all over your bum and not being able to use your wrist because you have been using muscles you didn’t even realize you had….let me think…hmm…oh yes, maybe the fact that my upper thighs acquired the size of a grown male body builder!! Yep, it is official; I left Baradero, with thighs like a sprinter. Its fine, let me calm you down, I have tried my best to reduce my upper thigh muscles (mainly by simply not galloping 5 hours a day) and am slowly getting there. It was definitely a great experience though. But all things, good or bad, have to come to an end and so we headed back to Buenos Aires.
But not for long!!!!
Although, before we did manage to head off again, I managed to meet up with Axel, Charlie and Tom (all former St. Paul’s students) and it was FUN! I am not going to elaborate, simply because you weren’t there, so you wouldn’t understand anyway..haha BUT all I am going to say is 3 words: 69, go there!!
Seriously, transvestites can apparently make for a good night in Buenos Aires…just some food for thought!!
So on the 27th of March it was LET’S GO time again. And so we did. Mendoza was our next destination. We all know that Mendoza is known for its wines, so no surprise there, that we pretty much just visited wineries all day, ate wonderful food, went horse-riding and enjoyed the beautiful hot weather (average aprox. 35 degrees Celsius). For me the true highlight of the trip (and I think that my father- a big wine lover - was slightly disappointed) was the visit to Aconcagua. With almost 7000m, it is the tallest mountain in all of the Americas, and stunningly beautiful. During this visit I only hiked to the bottom of the mountain ( to check out the terrain and conditions) but I am coming back soon and climbing it – its going to be for Ecolibri, my charity, and I have set my heart on it!!! I needed a next challenge ( what after the whole travelling on my own around the world thing) and so climbing a 7000m tall mountain seems about right!! So that’s that…otherwise, the scenery is incredible, striking colours of the mountains, combined with the blasting wind, azur sky and glistening small ponds- truly mesmerizing. From Mendoza on we went- and bussed it to Cordoba. Just a little note on the side- the buses are GREAT!! You just basically fold your chair into a fully horizontal position and sleep like a baby all night…just thought I would slip it in there, for those adventurers, who are planning their own trip to the heart of South America any time soon). So Cordoba…well..not much to say. Kinda’ disappointed. Rained all the time we were there, slightly sketchy. Don’t know. BUT to be fair, it had been hyped up by many, so it had big expectations to fulfil and in all honesty we did find a great eatery and the hotel we were staying in was beautiful (good thing that, as we did have to end up spending a lot of time there).
Forgot to mention some news, which I received just before leaving for Cordoba; received my replies from universities. To my great surprise and joy I had some brilliant offers – top being St. Andrews in Scotland, and Georgetown in Washington D.C. I decided for the latter and so it happens that I shall be enrolling into Georgetown University in August this summer, into the class of 2014!! Very excited about that aspect.
So in Cordoba we rented a car and the next few hundreds of miles were to be crossed by car.
Cordoba - Estancia La Paz (Ascochinga) - Estancia Las Carreras (Tucuman)- Estancia El Manantial des Milegros (Salta).
1000km, 3 days, many stops, incredible scenery!!
Each night we slept at a different Estancia – old typical Argentinean farm – using their horses to go on horse rides early in the morning, walking through rich grounds, milking cows ( yep, I actually milked the cow and then made my own cheese- got it in a bag to prove it). The farms are always very homey and comfortable. I am getting (maybe a bit too much for my own good) very used to drinking my evening cup of tea in front of a flaming fire, with a soft blanket made from lama wool over my lap, and fresh dulche de leche flan to snack on. OMG!!!! I might have already mentioned dulche de leche, but I certainly have to mention it – even twice if necessary. OMG – not much more can be said. It’s basically like caramel but better, richer, sweeter and EVERYWHERE! Haha…its true. Smeared on every cake, served at every breakfast with toast, even put in coffee, this ridiculously sweet “thing” is maybe something I might miss a little. I must admit (and please don’t tell my dad, he might disown me), I will miss the excellent steaks BUT I might miss dulche de leche a bit more. Sshhh…(he would b devastated if he would realize that I am in fact not as obsessed with meat as he is). Although on the note of meat; today we drove from Tucuman to Salta, but on the way we stopped in Cafayate, known to be the most beautiful village in the whole of Argentina. It was soooooo cute! Really glad I saw it, plus they did in fact have some great meat. We stopped for lunch and as my father insisted on ordering himself, sooner than I knew it, I was not only confronted by about 6kg of meat for 5 people ( one being only 4 years old) but the meat also included goat and rabbit. Not judging I kept my mind open and tried it all- wow. I am not going to go into details BUT I am simply going to say: try goat and rabbit. The drive to Salta was amazing!!!!! It’s like driving through the Grand Canyon; Massive, deep red stone formations, pinks, reds, violets, oranges, then slowly as more greenery appears, the mountains’ deep reds start contrasting with the lush greens of the rich flora and the dominating plantains of endless cacti. Yep, one cactus larger than the other, thousands of them…it was wonderful, and as the sun was setting, the mountains were actually flaming up, the colours even richer than in the light of mid-day. So with those burning mountains, prickling 4m-high cacti and yummy rabbit in mind, I now finish this entry. I shall now go and have my ‘traditional’ cup of tea in front of the fire and then off to bed- the beds happen to be very comfy at these farms. Tomorrow morning a morning horse ride awaits and so with no time to waste- that’s all for now!!!

Plans can go wrong and that is when the real fun and adventure begins.....

Wow…I have not written on here for a long time and so there is much to tell but I must, as is custom, begin at the beginning and slowly find my way through all the great experiences I have had in the past few days. So Banos ended up being a very beautiful trip. We did indeed end up renting a set of bikes and explored the surroundings of Banos on our two-wheeled machines. There are over 13 waterfalls in the nearby valleys of Banos and so, being the big nature-lovers that Sergio and me both are, set out full of enthusiasm to seek them all out. I could describe how we repeatedly stood there, side by side, sore bums and mouths wide open, as the ear-ripping thunders of the waterfalls glued us to the spot but then that might get boring after the 10th waterfall…They were all astonishing and I repeatedly left, convinced that waterfalls are simply nature’s temples, places for special energy to accumulate. So 8 hours later ( yep that is right, we cycled from 10 in the morning until 6 in the afternoon) and 48km in our legs, Sergio and I, both felt that the day could be ticked off as a success and as a reward treated ourselves to our first meal that day ( I did sneak in a banana earlier in the day and Sergio, after all he is a guy, consumed about 6 sandwiches)…so I must correct myself and say first “proper” meal of the day, of soup and rice with some vegetables ( chicken for Sergio). For dessert, as a massive sweet-tooth overcame me shortly after, I allowed myself a cheeky cup of “Morocho”, the traditional rice with milk; with cinnamon and raisins it really hits the spot ( or for me at least). That evening, me being very ready to call it a day, we met some people who definitely did not think so. They lived in Banos and so had a great insight into the night life of the town- what does that mean?! A groovy reggae bar/gallery/random building situated just on the outskirts of town, with live music, a lovely old barman/owner, and a cool bunch of people. It was there that my next few days already started forming; but I was at that point not aware of that fact. I met Marco over a game of pool (which I am now apparently quite good at…beginners luck, but shhhh don’t tell the others). Sergio and me spent the night with Marco and his friend and partied there, and later on moved to another, slightly busier bar. So it happened that it was 4.10am, and I was suddenly in a hurry. Now you might be wondering where the hell a weird little 19-year-old can be rushing at 4:15am, and trust me most of the people still about did wonder, but the truth is, that my bus for Quito was leaving at 4:40am and I still had to get to the hostel, pack and make my way to the bus station- I was in a hurry!!!! I made it however, and so 3 hours later I was once again letting in the air of Quito’s morning breeze wash over my somewhat sleepy face. It was the 27th of February, and my flight to Punta Arenas, in the south of Chile, was scheduled for that evening. With that in mind, I pulled out my serious “lets go and see something” self and set out into the streets. I did see a lot, and now that I try to recollect it, it seems slightly incredible, but the highlights were the teleferico, (a lift that brings you onto a big mountain, overlooking the entire city of Quito, spectacular) and a beautiful little restaurant (if I can call it that), where I sat and had late lunch with the owner, an old lady and her grandchild. I can say, with complete certainty, that my grandma could not have made a better seafood soup. This lady was so generous and so inviting, I had to take a picture with her and informed her that I might just start calling her my 5th grandma J she smiled and nodded, waving me goodbye and calling me her “ ( Spanish for grandchild). I then rushed back to the hostel ( Centro del Mundo- the receptionist now my good friend) and packed up, heading to the airport. The mood was excellent, little traffic and the thought of seeing my family the following day was no doubt causing a lot of excitement. Little did I know….the earthquake in Chile had fully destroyed any coherent transport throughout the country and so my flight suddenly seemed very unfeasible. As much as I tried to put my situation into perspective, and see that being healthy and alive was in fact something I should be grateful, the thought of getting back into a taxi and paying for more nights at the hostel did annoy me somewhat. But nothing could be done; it was Saturday night and like the lady at the LAN desk said: “There is nothing I can do, so call back on Monday and you might be able to fly to Santiago”. Great, I thought; wanting to fly to Punta Arenas, where my family would be waiting for me the following morning. It turned out that my extra few days in Quito would be very interesting and important I think; now that I look back. I arrived back in the hostel, the receptionist not even attempting to hide her amusement at me constantly walking out of the hostel door, only to always return a few hours later. That same night, Marco, my new friend, walked through the door of my dorm. Staring at him in disbelief, and he kind of staring back, we both smiled-because neither of us knew the other one was staying in that hostel but we both suddenly knew that our days of getting to know each other were not over just yet. Marco is unfortunately German ( I know, strange that I used the word “unfortunately” in this case, if I am German too but….) and this means that he likes to party; and pretty hard for that matter. I will let you figure out the damages for yourselves; but just a few hints: rum, music, 6am, street, tumbling…….The next day, after a coffee and some porridge to perk me up, I was already dragging Marco out into the streets, for some Quito action. We paid a visit to the renowned Medio del Mundo and the Sun Museum about 300m farther, where the REAL Equator line runs across. I could not suppress a quite chuckle when I watched the tourists taking pictures at Medio del Mundo, knowing that the line they so proudly pointed out in their photographs was 300m off the actual one J A long walk, meal of Chinese veggie noodles, and several tired sighs, Marco and me tumbled back into the hostel, kind of happy to just chill for the night! That night another beautiful thing happened when we met Tzlil ( yep, that is actually her name and not just my typing going spastic). Tzlil is from Israel and has enriched me in the 3 days I spent close to her side more than others have managed in years! Her outlook on the world is fresh but more importantly so very defined and unclear at the same time; this provides her with the freedom of thought to be open-minded but enough personal opinion to really seize advantage of certain moments that others might slide by. I walked alongside her and observed or simply listened, my ears suddenly the most treasured of my possessions, as they presented me with the means to hear her share her views……you can probably tell that she made an impression on me but the time we had together was also simply magic. Her, Marco and me explored Quito; heading over to an outside village, located in a crater, with its population not even exceeding 50, we sat on top of the volcano, looking down, the sound of the cows carried in the wind the only soundtrack to our idyllic scene, we were all very happy. During the day we walked, searched, tasted, tired and discovered; at night we talked, shared, celebrated, and grew closer. It was the 2nd of March and the endless calls, as well as the visit to the airport itself the previous day had only resulted in excessive phone bills so far. I had given up and started planning a trip to the jungle- civilization and technology seemed disappointing and the idea of heading into the wild to find an alternative to these seemed inviting……on Wednesday, the 3rd, I headed out on my own- needing some space. I started walking, and before I knew it an hour had passed, my t-shirt was soaked, and I was once more stepping through the door of the airport building. I had seen the sign towards the airport earlier in my walk and decided to head over, just in case someone capable was actually sitting behind the stained glass for a change. It was my lucky day, and because someone wished it to be so, the lady asked me a question I was more prepared for than I was aware myself at the time: “You want to fly to Santiago tonight?” and without missing a beat my mouth pronounced the word “YES” and so it came that I finally flew onto Chilean soil that night. I ran back to the hostel, packed up and straight back to the airport (you can probably predict that it was once again going to be a night without sleep). I left Quito at 11pm and arrived in Quaquil (another city still in Ecuador) 45min later. There we stayed in the plane whilst other passengers joined us on the plane. Then another 2 hours to Lima. In Lima I dozed in and out of sleep from 2am until 7am ( but never actually falling asleep, as you really do NOT want to miss an announcement-trust me). Anyway, at 1pm I was finally in Santiago and little did I knew that the real trouble hadn’t even begun yet. Santiago airport was not much of an airport. Upon arrival we got told to stay in the plane for 40min whilst our luggage got lined up on the runway. Each person then exited the aircraft, and when they spotted their luggage, they grabbed it, flashed their passport at the nearest police officer and ‘welcome to Santiago’ – yep, that was pretty much it!!! I was lucky that I befriended a couple of guys from California, who were being sent down to Concepcion by the US force, to help with the areas badly affected by the earthquake and tsunami. I did not know at the time that my acquaintance with them would come in handy but as I parted from them, I secretly wished I could head down with them and put my energy to some good use. At the airport I got told that there were no flights to Punta Arenas ( where my parents were waiting for me, to join them on board of a cruise in only 48 hours) and so it would have to be the bus…..At the bus terminal it was more good news: “Bus to punt arenas?? ( the lady laughs) that does not leave until Saturday ( it was Thursday)…GREAT!!!! I will admit that wondering through Santiago in the boiling afternoon sun and with the 18kg backpack on my back was getting slightly on my nerves and so I sat down in an internet café, browsing for a good hostel I could crash in for the night. Some might call this bad organization on my account – flying to Santiago and not having any name of a hostel for emergency situations- BUT I felt that even just looking up hostels in Santiago in advance would have given my future events the idea of not getting to Punta Arenas. Anyway, a few minute later and a very friendly taxi man was helping me with my luggage out of his taxi, and into the ‘La Chimba’ hostel. That night was a very nice and relaxing one, but as I did not know what the next days would bring I made sure that night’s sleep was a very good one. The following morning I made use of being in this chic city of Santiago and walked around for 7 hours – yep you heard me right!! Through the Bellavista area, down to Santa Isabel, up to Plaza de Arma, to the Central Mercado and finally up, around and back down from the San Cristobel hill, with the Virgin statue at the top. It was a beautiful day, I tried the typical street treat: Jugo de Huesillos ( roasted oats in peach compote with peach halves) and I even wondered into a LAN office ( my airline). The lady there was very helpful and so I left the office, in fact having a flight to get on, but only on the 6th at 8am. It did not matter though; the boat left at 5pm, so I would make that, and this at least gave me another whole day in Santiago. I could have just had another touristy day around the city the following day but instead I opted for the more ‘ivyesque’ version and headed down to Concepcion. I met Josh and David (the two officers) at 5am the next day. The truck loaded with water tanks, emergency supplies and many more, we all squeezed into the front two seats of the truck. The roads were at points unbearable and my bum bones were starting to make themselves heard –more like, screaming with pain!!!! We arrived and I just stared for a few seconds. Luckily there was no time for astonishment, shock or plain surprise, as the scene was massively hectic (but you can be assured that all those feelings were wildly pulsing through my body)!!! I could write an entire essay only on my 5 intense hours at the scene but I can’t!!! Because I would firstly, start kicking myself all over gain, over the fact that I could not stay longer, as well the fact that it’s just not possible to put my experience into words. Or maybe that it is but I suddenly don’t seem to have the accurate vocabulary, which this scene would deserve or need!! I mainly helped loading stuff on and off the trucks, lifting some gravel, helping some people with equipment or cleaning some surfaces, where medical procedures were to be carried out. I could not be of major help; unqualified, and in comparison to the massive soldier-like men wondering around, my feeble little student body suddenly seemed pathetic – and I swore to myself to change that!!!! (Some heavy weight lifting might be on the agenda in the following weeks). It was the psychological intensity and the sheer novelty of this situation that probably tired me out most and yet I kept running around, looking for anything I could help with. Josh and David, and their entire team, were so impressive, it was a joy to watch them do their work and the sentence: ‘even one person can change a lot’ kept running through my head!! I had to leave at around 6pm, as my taxi would be picking me up from the hostel at 4:30 am, I still had to pack and the ride was long and hard!!! Josh was driving up for more supplies and so we stepped into the gloomy space of the monster truck for one last time (although to be fair Josh was going to be spending a lot more time in that truck, so I guess it was just my last time). The drive back was long, but with little people on the streets and plenty to think about, we both spent it in silence, listening to the crappy radio station or chatting about the things we did that day!!! A hint: if you ever need some food for thought, head into a location hardly hit by a tsunami – I guarantee, you will have plenty to think about – in my case way too much. My brain (by this point exhausted) was ticking over like a clock gone crazy; and seeing that the nature of airports tends to be one full of waiting, sitting around and generally being bored, I had plenty of time to let my clockwork run wild and exhaust my brain even further!!! From the previous sentence you can see that I made it back to Santiago on time, packed up and after a not too bad drive to the airport was soon enough waiting for my plane to start boarding!! The flight was short and so there was not even a point in attempting to sleep. Instead I concentrated on the fact that I would see my family soon and watched the nature below us grow remoter and barer. It was lovely to see my family – I am not going to lie. As much as we independent youngsters like to convince everyone otherwise, when we see the comfort of our parent’s arms (and their wallet for the matter of that :P) we silently sigh to ourselves, thinking: life is good!!! And gee has it been good!!! As my father saw me, for the first time after a long time, he loudly proclaimed: you are undernourished, look like a walking skeleton and this will have to change!’ I knew that my father does not take the topic of nourishment and generally food very lightly and so his intense program to fatten me up began immediately. I will not even pretend for a single second like it was not delectable to feast on king crab, eel soup and local delicacies of other kind. Used to less filling and generally rich in flavour meals due to my low budgets, I enjoy every spoon-full. As my brothers attacked me with news and generally went into over-mode, my already tired brain and body quickly resorted to emergency energy supplies. But after a delicious lunch and coffee in the town of Punta Arenas we boarded to ship, which was to be our home for the next 5 days : Cruceros Mare Australis. We left on the 6th at 5pm and arrived on the 10th at noon in Ushuiaia (the most southern town in the world). It was unlike anything I have ever done before and miles off from anything I have been doing for the past few months of my travels. At 8am the loudspeaker would announce that ‘Breakfast is now being served in the Patagonia lounge’. Not only would this be announced in 4 different languages, but lying in the depths of my numerous feathered duvets I repeatedly woke up being thankful for this extreme luxury, which I know are only very temporary for me. The food is something I do have to concentrate on for a second; it was ridiculous!!!! A delicious buffet was served for breakfast. Followed by another even better buffet for lunch (with a theme e.g. Chilean, Italian, Israeli…), and then DINNER. Okay, it started at 7:30pm and usually finished at about 9:30pm. We had antipasti, then a soup, the main course and finally dessert!!! The chefs on the boat were magicians but the pastry chef was the best magician of them all…every meal we would all (mainly my baby brother and me) storm into the dining hall highly excited by the desserts that would be ornamenting the tables this time! Okay, so now that I have spent more time on food than many other topics lets move on. So the days on the boat where planned out around the three meals. In between breakfast and lunch was one program, and then another after lunch and before dinner. Our schedule contained numerous trips out on the Zodiacs: to watch penguins, walk on the shore, climb up to a few look outs and a glacier etc. and if we remained on the boat we had lectures and presentations on topics such as Glaciology, Shackleton’s expedition, penguins and other southern species. The highlight was on the 9th, when we got woken up at 6am and outside our window was Cape Horn, the southern tip of the world - “El Fin del Mundo”- The End of the World. As we ascended up to the very tip a general stillness and silence overcame everybody. We stood there, paying our respects to the 10 000 dead sailors who lie at the sea bed around Cape Horn and no one could suppress the majesty of this place. I shut my eyes and really thought about it; in front of me was only the Antarctic, the south pole, and behind me the entire world. It is an opportunity for those who wish to take it, to leave the bad and unwanted behind. As I turned around and took a fresh look at the lands above me, I felt like a new page had been turned. I am thankful for having received this opportunity for refreshing my canvas of life, maybe coating it with a new layer of white paint and I left with a sudden surge of renewed energy. When I say that a new coat of paint was brushed over my canvas I do not want to imply that I leave all behind - Quite on the contrary. But there is a difference between learning from our mistakes and moving on, and dwelling on bad memories and experiences. Maybe that is all that Cape Horn did for me; it gave me that last necessary kick, provided me with the right moment to not only realize this but apply it. That could have been the sudden rush of energy I experienced; simply old grudges or bad memories lifting off my shoulders, leaving me feeling lighter. I know that not everybody sets off on trips down to the bottom of the world, but I wish that at least those reading this blog can now take a second and transport themselves there, facing the open see with me and feeling the mass of land, the entire world behind them. Don’t wait like me, it drains you, so take any chance you get to release those old mistakes and memories – you have already learned from them all you can and need – now release them and move onto making new mistakes that you can learn from J

Anyway, on the 10th we arrived in Ushuiaia, the freezing blasting winds almost ripping our ears off. After a short wander round the town, we rented a car, picked up our luggage and arrived at our cabana – now officially one of my favourite places!! A small wooden hut, with walls largely being out of glass, a fireplace in the corner, jocose, and a view beyond believable. And that is pretty much where we have been relaxing ever since. After a cosy breakfast of freshly baked “media lunas” (little croissants) and some fruit and coffee we head out on little excursions, hikes or strolls around the glaciers. Then the day might be intermitted with a visit to the sauna, a dip in the jocose, or simply another coffee with a good book in hand. The weather has not been so kind and so continuous rain / snow at points, has been our companion for the majority of the days. It is funny how rain beating on the roof, and the grey tone of the sky, automatically shifts the body into slight hibernation mode; as if doing excessive exercise does not seem necessary or even worth it. Those are the days that one devotes to the intellectual self – reading, thinking, writing and engaging in other less physically strenuous exercises. So with that said, I am off for a short stroll up to the glacier and then I think a good, long session of reading is on the menu for this afternoon.

What do you get when you combine a 19-year old and Ecuador....?

So lets elaborate on this topic- the last two days have certainly been worth mentioning. Yesterday morning I woke up and headed into the historic center. After a few hours at the National Museum, Sergio and me ( Sergio being my new friend) headed to the male jail of Quito. Sergio was not the one who initiated this visit but the "crazy czech chick" ( as he likes to call me) wanted to go, so we went!!! WOW....that is the first thing I have to say. We arrived in front of the jail, a slightly dodgy area of Quito being the setting, and approached the guards, to ask how we should approach. I had read on some randomer's blog, that Wednesdays were the visiting days in jail and so I thought why not visit a lonely foreigner who doesn't have family or friends visitng him , unlike the others. After a long time in the director's office, convincing him that we are not complete weirdoes, Sergio and me received permission to visit Raymond. You know the show: "everybody loves raymond"? Well I have a feeling that this show might be based on our raymond. Raymond is 63, from London ( we had a lot to chat about), and has been in the Quito jail for 3 years and 7 months. Why? well because they found 3kg of cocain in his suitcase on the way out of ecuador. obviously!!! :) as you do.
anyway...i could go on about how we walked around the jail, chatted to other criminals, sat and listened to 'lemon tree' in a cell, had a lunch of rice and pork in prison, or just tried to keep cool whilst we listened to Raymond talk about 47 deaths in the prison during his stay there BUT that would be pointless, as all that needs to be said, is that it was an experience beyond anything I have had in my life. Quito prison, being the 2nd most dangerous in the world, is generally a place I did not see myself strolling around in on a Wednesday afternoon but as things happen I did. I still have 3 stamps decorating my forearm - VISITAS!!!
After the visit to prison, Sergio and me wandered around the historical city center, looking for some random bookstore ( as he is obsessed with musical theory books). Although we did not find it we did find a beautiful caffee with some delicious local dishes. We sipped on Morocho ( a lovely warm rice drink) and slowly headed home. Sergio got very enthusiastic about the free 12litres of rum&coke at our hostel, but I had one last camomile tea and headed into bed.
Refreshed and revitalized I awoke this mornign ready for another adventure. What form did this adventure take? Well a LONG journey to Banos ofcourse...An hour on one bus, to the main bus station, and then another 5 hours on another bus to Banos. We are staying in hostel Transilvania and our first few hours in Banos have already lived up to their expectations. After some soup and rice for dinner, a trip to the highest volcanoe in Ecuador was on the menu. Surrounded by the cheeriest of people, a small, colourful trolley ascended the volcano, only to drop us off at a clearing where the view was exquisite. Complimentary drinks of Puntas ( the local drink I mentioned in a previous blog), combined with a huge bonfire and a night view of Banos put us all in a serene mood and I ended up bonding with a 58-year-old Argentinian, who is doing a similar trip around south america, like me.
There really are moments when if you listen, you hear your heart saying : yes, now you are truly living your life; truly following your heart and destiny!!! That was one of those moments. I wish I could share the moment with those I love but as I am here alone, instead I embrace the beauty and hope to share it with others through the changes these travels evoke in me.

Tomorrow?? lets see....maybe an 8 hour hyke to the top of the volcano, or a train trip to Puyo, or maybe we just leave it up to fate...yeah i think we shall do that!!

Keeping busy...

So yesterday was definitely one of those days where you lie in bed late at night and try to remember everything you saw and you cannot imagine that you did all that in one day....although, as you now know, this sensation is starting to become a trend in my current life.

We started off with a free breakfast of toast and tea at our hostel and headed out to the museum of Oswaldo Guayasamin. When I say "we". I mean Rodrigo, Javier and me. These two lovely lads took me in after they saw how lonely and sad I was. One of them had a girlfriend back in Chile ( their home country) who he missed dearly, and the other had fallen in love with an Argentinian girl- so we all understood, which topics had to be avoided and simply enjoyed our day!!

So after the museum we went to start a LONG journey through all the churches of Quito. First the Basilica , a beautiful old building, the highest in Ecuador. We climbed to the very top, and each of us engraved a little love note into the ancient walls of this local jewel. One Basilica later, we already proceeded to the Inglesia de la Compania de jesus. This church is the richest church of the entire Americas, with no less than 7 tons of gold garnishing its inside. It took 160 years to built and we all stood in awe- Rodrigo demanding if he could chip himself a bit of gold off ;) Amongst another 3 churches was also the oldest in Ecuador, the Church of San Francisco, another spectacular church. After re-loading on some food ( burgers and fries for the boys and a banana and 3 grenadias for me) we headed to the winged virgin, which watches over the whole of Quito. Her beautiful elegance and tranquility, which we discovered up on the mountain at 6pm was surprisingly welcome by all of us after a busy day and after taking a few obligatory pictures, we all sat in a plastic chair, lined up along the hill top, one next to the other, a cup of hot Canelazo in hand ( canelazo being a mix of hot sugarcane liquor, cinnamon, orange and lots more). We watched as the entire city started tucking in their blankets, only the bedside lamps lighting up the streets of Quito. We decided to walk home and taste the goods these vaguely lit streets had to offer....wow were there goodies!!! As we passed open doors to local people's living rooms,w e ate at Jose´s table, having some beans, corn and delicious chilly. Only a few blocks down, we then joined an old couple around a table, embellished with a classic red and white dotted tablecloth. for a huge bowl of crag, mussels and broth- delicioso!!!!
As we had stilled our hunger it was now time for some sweet goodies; a local bakery provided this in some form or shape, another coffee shop did so with a cheesecake and coffee and we topped it all off with sharing a rocky mountain with ice-cream!! i would be lying if i would pretend that we did not pig-out but it was necessary, we were celebrating our meeting, as well as our goodbye, as the boys were leaving that same evening. Plus we were all majorly emotional eating :P
The evening ended with a couple of beers with the other hostel occupants and after pouring my heart out onto the pages of my diary is was truly time for bed.

Today, the weather defo on our side, i head into the streets once more for some more quito action. But of that a bit later tonight...after all I don't know what the day has in store for me.

New record?!

People tend to ask me, "what do you do all day during your traveling?"

So let me give you a taste of my days, for example yesterday;

Wake up at 4;30 am in Gutaemala city, plane to Costa Rica, san jose. Get on a random bus get out in a random village and find an internet caffee. Sit there for a couple of hours, buy 5 mini bananas and a big bottle of water and spend all afternoon in the town center´s park - reading and writing out spanish vocab.
Hope back on the bus, by this point sweating rather unattractively but the show must nonetheless go on.
At the airport a few quite hours pass quickly and so I watch the streets and forests below me grow miniature a second time round.
Welcome to Panama they say. So I feel welcomed and use their public toilets to feel liek I really did something in panama.
One last time, many thousand tears later, we take off.
10:30pm and we arrive in Quito, Ecuador.
I grab a taxi to my hostel, Centro del Mundo- funky little hostel, full of young people. i walk in, immediately confronted by a big drunken bunch, as I happened to arrive on a night where the hostel provides 12 liters of rum and coke for free. Too tired to get excited about this ( and actually genuinely not that excited about it) I drop my stuff onto my bunk bed and sit down for a nice relaxing tea before bed.
The living room consists of a TV and many comfy pillows scattered on the floor and so I be-penciled numerous pages of my diary, slurped on my tea and at 1am I fell into bed- officially knackered like hell.

So yes that is an average day of this 'Ivy on the go'.

In one ay I stepped foot in 4 different countries. Breakfat in Guatemala, morning internet session in Costa Rica, afternoon tea and toilet visit in Panama, finished with a late night cup of tea and falling into bed in ecuador.

i would call that a productive day!

Emotions = or when we decide to eat our emotions

The purpose of this blog is purely to release my own shock over how much I have eaten today.
William would just laugh and say- 'Its good, you need to eat' but i feel like there is a limit to how much one can eat. Nonetheless emotional eating is definitely to be blamed for today´s intake of food, and crappy food at that!

Let me just give you a rough idea of what leaving love behind can do to you - just see as a kind warning!

Morning: fruit, granola ( so far so good), cookie, 3 more cookies...
Lunch: Curry with rice ( unhuman amounts of curry and rice), followed by ice cream and more cookies
Snack: coffee, cake ( a small piece to be fair), pistachio nuts, dried apricots,
Evening ( this is where it gets good): a whole chocolate bard ( cinammon flavoured though so kind of hard to resist), followed by a beer and a whole meal of tortillas, frijoles and avocado ( just to finish my stay in Guatemala on a traditional note)

I kidn of cannot believ I just wasted my time typing out what I have consumed today but then again i cannot believe a lot of things in my life right now so it seems kind of appropriate :)

Buenos noches...and so with a stomach ready to explode i lie down to dream of what the future holds in store for me

Emotion = Energy in MOTION

It is the 21st of February and a new episode of this journey begins.

I have been at the lake for two months, I have met people that I cannot and will not forget, I have started projects that I wish to continue and most importantly I have found love.

I will not expand on love, as this blog is one on my travels not on love ( although I now argue that love can be the biggest journey of all) but the reason I do mention it, is that this blog might be one filled with emotions, leaving someone I love behind being the source of those emotions.

So the last few days have been a blur - yesterday, Saturday was the day we had to ship off 16 skirts, which will be heading for the east coast in the US to try their luck for us. so causing alot of stress but also excitement we worked long hours to complete these!! as we saw them leave, waved our goodbyes and raised a glass to our first collection, it felt great to see one aspect of this project finished.
Ecolibri is also in full swing and should continue to be so in the future.
I stopped working at Fe in the last week to absorb every moment I had left at the magical lake and my little house, which has not only become my new home but my own little temple of love and peace - I feel grateful for having found a place liek that, even if I only resided there for a month. Two minutes in heaven are better than one minute in heaven :)

So I brushed off the dust of my big rucksack and layed out the accumulated crap on the bed. It must be said that a few things had to be left behind but I was genuinly surprised at how everything fit!
One final descend down the hill to the dock and with the wobbliest feet yet I entered the "lancha" for one last time. It is hard when you have to leave something, somewhere and someone that make you feel a 100% happy and a 100% yourself. I cannot ohnoustly give you a good reason why I left earlier today- and the more I think about it the closer i am to just taking a shuttle back to the lake, but times come when we know we have to do things- even if they feel like the most unfeasible at that precise point in time.

So one boat ride and a 4 hours bus ride later I stepped into hostal cafe city, 3 minutes away from Guatemala city airport. My flight leaves at 6.40am and so the close prozimity to the airport seemed great at the time- now all i see about this place is its extreme distance from San Marcos.
I fly to Costa Rica, where I have one day to roam around and fly to Quito in Ecuador that same evening. I do not know what this journey will entail for me, how many baggs i will lose or flight I will miss but to be ohnoust right now I don't see myself gathering the strenght to board that plane anyway. So lets not get ahead of ourselves!!!

Emotion is just an abreviation for Energy in motion and I feel like today I have taken this meaning to a whole new level. Love is a form of energy, so is fear, excitement, anxiety and courage - all those have been electrifying my entire body and as I move closer towards the next destination and further from my previous, motion seems to be the predominant variable.
I do not claim to understand emotions, a strong as the ones stated above but I can say this with certainty:

Every meal, every nap, every step, is a potential source of gain or loss!

This, for me, seems now more important than ever before. life is absolutely beautiful and the beauty lies equally in the moments of pain as in those filled with love and joy. As I listen to the empty street outside my hostel, I know that this is the biggest test for me so far. Listening to your heart can be painful and might not always seem right but the truth is that one does not have to look any further- the truth is only to be found in our hearts and noone ever said that pain or fear might not be found. The good always comes with some bad attached to it. But that is no reason to not listen to your heart.
So as I admit to feeling a bit lost and deeply confused I finish this blog on a positive note:

Light. Love. Life.

All these are one, each an expression of the other, three dimensions of the same existence.
Even in these seemingly darker hours I am a strong believer and witness of this. So I continue to follow the stream as it will lead to river of my life soon enough - That i take away from Guatemala.