Sondermann Passport

The Square Peg vs. the Round Hole - Our Visit to Africa

2011-04-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

Well, this isn’t exactly the blog update I was hoping to provide but here it goes...

Once upon a time in, the far away land of Kenya, the Sondermann’s prepared for the biggest road trip of their lives. They bought camping gear, travel maps, tools, road safety gear, extra tires and oh yes of course...their overland safari vehicle - a Toyota Prado.

The good news is that every item on their shopping list, albeit one, was a ‘good buy’. The bad news is that the one item that wasn’t a ‘good buy’ just so happened to be the Toyota Prado.

Simply said, our overland vehicle was such a lemon it's a wonder that Shane and I didn't smell citrus a mile away.

After a somber tow-truck ride back to Nairobi, our friends issued some nasty threats and after a lengthly wait, some of the money for the vehicle was returned to us but sadly we had spent far too much time and depleted too much money from our budget to start over with the trip.

We could have used the remaining funds in our budget to fly to a few places in Africa but we knew that overlanding was the only way we wanted to see such an incredible place. And so we weighed out our options and consulted the lyrics of a legendary, plastic surgery-addicted country singer:

“You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,

know when to walk away and know when to run".

In this case we heeded Kenny’s advice, and ‘ran’ for South East Asia.

Our time in Kenya was full of highs and lows. While the vehicle gave us mind-numbing headaches, sleepless nights, and heart murmers, we also had really wonderful/incredible/inspiring experiences including self-safaris through three of Kenya’s National Parks. We also met and befriended some exceptional people and saw iconic landscapes. So all was certainly not lost. To give you a snapshot of our trip, I've captured the highs and lows.

Firstly though, I've included a special treat for all of you keen African animal lovers out there (yes, that's you!!). Thanks to National Geographic and The Lion King, we can identify many of the beasts that roam the wild landscapes of Africa. But what about 'the other end' of the animal - the less glamorous side of these magnificent spectacles? It's time to see how sharp your animal identification skills really are by enjoying some good, old fashion "Behind the Beast" photo trivia.

Admittedly, it was pretty fun taking these photos because we were genuinley excited when an animal dismissed us by offering its backside. Admittedly, this photo trivia may seem a tad odd, and may suggest it's time that Shane and I to return to civilization, but just 'role with it' and find the photo answer key at the end of this update.

And now for those highs & lows...

Highs

- Spotting our first giraffe after landing at Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi at 1:30 in the morning.

- Getting to know Megan & Patrick and their son Jacques, who generously offered for us to stay at their place while we purchased the vehicle. Thank you to our magnificent friend Erin for putting us in touch with them.

- Finding two vehicles that appeared to be good options for our overland trip - both being sold by Expats that worked for the United Nations.

More Highs

- Tom Smith, the seemingly straight-shooter of a mechanic that Patrick and Megan introduced us to reports that for various reasons (poor engine, evidence of roll-over, major mechanical issues), both vehicles were not viable options for the trip. Though our spirits are deflated, they’re quickly restored when Tom recommends a ‘solid, reliable Toyota Prado’ with a ‘solid, reliable engine’. We have the vehicle inspected, get all assurances that it’s a good fit for our needs and take the plunge with our biggest purchase of our world tour.

Lows

- After investigating a slow leak in the back tire we discover that the ‘rubber has been ripped’ by not one, not two...but five nails. We have to replace both back tires (and tires run about $250 each). Our first red flag.

Highs

- After a very big shopping trip for all of our overland gear and groceries, we load up the vehicle and get ready for an early morning departure.

Lows

- The seal on the jerry can, breaks and as we pull out of the bumpy driveway the container spills diesel here and there. Coincidence, yes...but it just felt strangely like another red flag.

Highs

- We’ve given the vehicle a bath and we’re on our way to Mount Kenya. Shane has learned to drive on the left side of the road, sitting on the right side of the vehicle while shifting on the left side. Many people in Kenya drive like maniacs which is one of the reasons that the American Consular website refers to road safety as one of "Kenya’s greatest threats to travelers”.

For the record, Shane did a remarkable job of navigating around crater-sized pot holes, donkey-towed carts, wondering sheep, matatus (uber-dangerous minibuses) and bycicles that were often balancing 6 ft stacks of supplies.

Lows

- Two hours outside of Nairobi we hit our first long hill - our speed drops to 38 kms with Shane’s foot pressing the ‘pedal to the metal’. Red flag, red flag, red flag!!!!!

Highs

- Our first night camping near Mount Kenya under a massive sea of stars.

- We've arrived at Lake Bogoria National Park to find it nearly deserted of tourists. We have an incredible opportunity to observe, in solitude, hundreds of thousands of pink flamingos. While the clip below is recorded on our digital camera, it does capture the incredible spectacle.

Flamingos are skittish and often take flight at sudden movements or noises so while Shane was recording this clip I was waving my hands behind him which set off thousands of these birds into full flight.

Highs/Lows

Waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of a hippopatamus huffing outside of our tent. When agitated, these plus-sized animals won't hesitate to run over anything that weighs less than them. After an enlightened discussion about what to do when a hippopotamus is hanging outside your tent, we made a mad dash for the truck.

Lows

While heading back into Nairobi we experienced low engine power, overheating, a faulty 4-wheel drive system and an intense squealing noise when the speed drifted past 40 kms. We could barely see outside of the windshield there were so many red flags blocking our view.

Big Low

We confronted Tom (the mechanic) about the issues with the vehicle. He went right off the deep end - swearing, shouting, and suggesting that if he were to assault Shane, the police wouldn't do anything about it. His very kind accountant had to step in to cool him off. Yep, red flag.

High(ish)

With a very brief moment of regret for his Bill O'Reilly-style outburst, Tom agrees to address the issues with the vehicle at cost, which resulted in several days of work. He guarantees the vehicle will make it to South Africa and back, shakes Shane's hand and tells us to "have a great trip".

Lows

- Heading into the Rift Valley we notice low power and overheating. I try to rally our spirits by playing "Africa" by Toto on the stereo. Yes, so pathetic it brings a smile to your face.

- The roads into the Masai Mara have a reputation for being fresh hell to drive over. They were but, as we quickly discovered, our shocks were Pinto-quality and this made the experience even more harrowing. What the heck, throw in another red flag here.

Highs

- The Masai Mara: Kenya's world-famous game reserve that covers 1510 square kms of iconic landscapes. Being one of the few vehicles in the park that wasn't operated by a tour agency, we enjoyed the independence and privacy of a self-safari.

We saw fantastic wildlife including a leopard that casually walked 6 feet in front of our vehicle and the massive wildabeast migration where we saw hundreds of thousands of wildebeast making their annual march. You can pretty much add everything else to the mix including: lions, bufallos, zebras, elephants, crocodiles, worthogs and hippos. Awesome!!

Lows (yes, there's more!!)

- While driving in the Masai Mara we get stuck in the mud, attempt to engage the newly repaired 4-wheel drive...you know where this is going don't you? Red flag.

- Having successfully freed ourselves of the mud with a two-wheel drive option, we continue on our way for several more hours until steam begins to emerge from the hood of our car. The overheated engine has just burned through the radiator. Red flag.

- Having successfully repaired our rad with the services of two bush mechanics, and with dusk setting in, we head out of the park. We arrive at our campsite, park the vehicle, get washed up and return to find the entire contents of the oil pan leaked out onto the ground. Red flag.

- Having spent an entire day with a bush mechanic completing a welding job to address the leaking oil we prepare to leave the next morning. Destination: Tom's shop in Nairobi.

Lows

Two hours outside of Nairobi our engine starts revving and despite removing the keys from the ignition, it continues to rev until the exhaust pipe creates a 12 inch hole in the gravel as it blows. I think we're beyond the red flags by now.

The Final Low

Need I say more...

The Square Peg and the Round Hole

We tried. We did everything we could to make the trip but in the end with a lemon of a vehicle, we just couldn't get the square peg to fit the round hole.

We had tremendously bad luck but we also know it could have been worse - much worse. A few weeks after the final incident I had a dream that I was pushing Shane in a wheel chair and our Toyota Prado was resting headfirst in the ditch of the driveway to my house where I grew up. Probably nothing right? But it was good reminder that we were fortunate not to have learned the dire consequences of driving a lemon in Africa.

Highs

Once we had put the ugly incident behind us we started making plans for an early arrival to South East Asia. At the same time we met a fantastic couple from Canada. Paul and Lyn Kohls are missionaries in Nairobi and they spent plenty of time with us, taking us to sites including the giraffe sanctuary where we had very close encounters with the residents.

For my 31st birthday Paul arranged for a community activist of the Kibera Slum to give us a tour. Kibera is the second largest urban slums in all of Africa where upwards of 1.5 million Africans reside. We were grateful for the unique experience and it put our circumstances into rather harsh perspective seeing blatant poverty, where open sewers, that from a distance could be mistaken for small rivers, run between shacks as far as the eye can see.

Movin' On

As we taxied down the runway - our destination Bangkok - we had very mixed emotions. Disappointment, relief, but mostly excitement and anticipation for our next adventures.

Our stay in Bangkok was brief as we made plans to spend a month and a half in Malaysia and Indonesia (we're in Malaysia now) before returning to Thailand. From there we'll set off for a six-week trip through Cambodia and Vietnam. At the end of November we'll fly to the Philippines where Shane will meet his extended family for the first time. In case you didn't know or you always wondered - Shane is half Philipino and half German. Shane's mom is originally from a family of 17 children so we'll have a 'few' names and faces to memorize.

As always we hope this (epically long) blog update finds you well.

Shane & Colleen

Christmas is Coming...The Holiday Sequel

2010-12-21T12:42:00.000-08:00

Well, you are witnessing a true Christmas miracle: two Sondermann travel blog updates posted within 3.5 weeks of each other. Here is the sequel to the November 26th update: South East Asia: The Good, The Rad and The Ugly.

In the last update we covered Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia. This SE Asia snapshot will cover Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.

Vietnam

The Good: Củ Chi Tunnels (near Ho Chi Min City). During the Vietnam War, Viet Cong troops created a brilliant network of tunnels and booby traps that caused their enemies, mostly Americans, an enormous amount of grief (to put it lightly). It was fascinating and chilling to crawl through these tunnels, while gaining perspective on just how miserable it must have been for both sides to fight in the war.

*Anyone that fought in the 2002 Huber Christmas snowball fight should know that Shane took many notes for the next epic winter battle.

The Rad: Hội An. The tailoring capital of South East Asia. You pick the style and the fabric and a tailor will whip you up just about

anything that you set your heart on: shirts, suits, dresses and coats. All for the price of a pair of shoelaces.

My super-fabulous sister-in-law Jenn Huber gave me the heads up about this magical wonderland. I started my preparations several months prior to our visit which included collecting clothing pics from magazines and fashion websites. I also built a comprehensive budget to manage the expectations of the most patient man that I

know. How patient you ask? Over 80 lbs of clothing are on a boat headed for Vancouver right now.

The Ugly: The War Remnants Museum in Hanoi. Another reminder of how efficient and cruel humans can be at eliminating each other. If the pictures of combat casualties don’t turn your stomach, certainly the jars of disfigured, deceased infants will (displayed to show the horrendous affects of Agent Orange).

Thailand

The Good: Having lived out of each others’ back pockets for the past year, we decided to dapple in some solo traveling for two weeks. Shane filled his time trekking near the North Vietnamese town of Sapa with our Estonian friends Kadi and Kristjan.

From Vietnam he headed to Chiang Mai, in Northern Thailand, where he spent a week trekking, white water rafting, elephant riding, watching Muay Thai boxing, and learning to cook like a Thai chef.

My itinerary was a little less involved than Shane's. I registered for a 10-day meditation retreat at the International Dhamma Hermitage of Wat Suan Mokkh, a famous Buddhist monastery in Southern Thailand. This retreat follows a strict routine that includes a 4 AM wake-up call (a giant bell), eating two vegetarian meals a day with no dinner, and meditating for at least six hours.

Oh...did I mention that this was a silent retreat? No talking to anyone (including yourself) for 10 days. While many of the retreat participants floundered under these rules, I surprised myself by keeping it zipped for the duration of the retreat. I know, it’s just sooooo hard to believe.

The Ugly: When Shane and I met up again in Koh Samui we had similar stories about our solo sleeping conditions. Shane spent several, near-frigid nights in Northern Thailand clinging to a thin wool blanket on an equally thin mat on the floor.

My bed at the retreat was situated in a tiny cinder block ‘cell’ with a 6-inch slab of concrete and an 1/8 inch straw mat for extra comfort. The bedding was a thin wool blanket and wooden (yes wooden) pillow.

The only thing that I cared about though was my mosquito net. And it wasn’t to protect me from the mosquitoes...

I'd love to read a realtor's sales description for this room

The really ugly: Arachnophobia vs. Suan Mokkh. The grounds of the retreat centre were swallowed up overnight as record rainfalls flooded most of Thailand. The frogs thought it was terrific but the Huntsmen spiders decided it was time for dry ground. That dry ground happened to be in our cold, concrete rooms. For ten days arachnids, the size of lapdogs, moved from room to room terrorizing the women of Dorm Building 1.

To make matters worse, Buddhists don’t believe in killing anything and this includes spiders. Their only solution was to “send the spiders loving kindness”. I would have preferred to send the spiders my wooden pillow.

The Rad: Oh we love our friends Etienne and Sylvie. Firstly, because they are just wonderful/kind/superb human beings and secondly because they gave us a pass to stay at a five-star hotel in Koh Samui for one week at a rate of $12/night. It’s a bit of a long story but the short of it is that we went from staying in rooms fit for convicts to lounging in luxury, enjoying beautiful views of the island, a huge flat screen tv and a massive jacuzzi tub.

Not a bad view for twelve bucks a night

The Philippines:
The Final Leg of our SE Asia Travels

The Good: This is an easy one - Shane's relatives. Wonderful hosts, wonderful people. We spent our time getting to know the family, learning about the Philippines...and explaining why we had not yet 'populated' the family tree.

Sure your mother told you that you were special -
but did she ever make you a welcome banner?

The Rad: Lulu's Jungle House. Now before you start thinking of a Swiss Family Robinson-style house, think again. This is Shane's mom's dream home with 2 dining rooms, 3 living rooms and 7 bedrooms (with plans for additional 5 more).

Bonding with Shane's Mom (and her chicken)

More of 'the rad': Our visit to the spectacular beaches of Boracay. The beaches and sunsets were the best that we've seen on our entire world tour.

We swam until the stars replaced the sun

The Ugly: Well, just when I thought that I'd have nothing to write about for 'the ugly' I contracted pink eye. We spent time with Lulu's neighbors that were visiting from France. I followed proper French protocol with a cheek to cheek reception and got more than I'd bargained for. No, I didn't take a photo of my condition. Just picture a really white girl with a really red eye.

One Other Ugly: Having nearly recovered from my traumatic encounter with the Huntsmen spiders in Thailand I thought it was prudent to ask Lulu if she had any spiders in her home. Her reply was "no". Look what we found in our room...

I'm not an Arachnologist but this looks like a spider to me.

Well, that's it for this travel update. With South East Asia behind us we are carrying on with our adventures in Australia. Our plans include visiting our good friends in Melbourne and completing an overland trip through the Southern part of Australia.

As always we hope this blog update finds you happy, healthy and enjoying life.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Shane & Colleen

Christmas is Coming...

2010-11-26T05:44:00.000-08:00

Greetings,

Recently Shane asked me about our blog update for South East Asia. My two-word response was “it’s coming” and his 6-word response was “that's nice, but so is Christmas”. Alas, after checking the calendar, I had to relent that he had a point. Where the heck did the time go?!

It’s been three months since we hightailed it out of Nairobi and headed for the sun, sand, seas and sanity of backpacking in South East Asia. In that time we’ve travelled through Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.

I’ve created a mighty challenge for myself with this blog update. A lot has happened over the past few months, making it difficult to sum it all up (and lets face it, my track record for “summing it up” hasn’t been so stellar). In an effort to keep your interest, I've divided this update into two, separate posts using a format titled: “the good, the rad, and the ugly” (evidently, there aren’t many relevant words that rhyme with “bad”).

So for our 2-day visit to Singapore “the good” was clocking double-digit kms while we hoofed it around the city, taking in the fantastic architecture and checking out the mega-luxury shopping malls (we splurged on a snow cone).

The “rad” was basking in nostalgia as we returned to the sites that we had visited on our first backpacking trip together six years ago.

And “the ugly” was getting into a verbal brawl with a 7-11 store manager in Little India after he accused us of shoplifting from him two days prior. Ok, we may be unemployed but we’re not desperate!! It got really interesting when we showed him our passports, proving that we weren’t in the country at the time of the incident.

So that’s it for Singapore which, given the fact that we were only there for two days, makes “the good, the rad, and the ugly” a breeze.

Malaysia

The Good: A visit to the iconic Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. With a 40-story view of the city, we had no problem spotting Malaysia’s not-so-subtle national flag.

The Rad: The Perhentian Islands. Gorgeous beaches, water the temperature of a warm bath, and fantastic snorkeling.

Evidently Shane will be teaching our kids to cartwheel.

The Ugly: The Perhentian Islands. Not the islands specifically but our accommodations. After price checking every hostel on the beach we predictably settled on the cheapest place we could find for $10/night. Yes, you’re right, $10 a night is expensive but what really stunk, so to speak, was that the rickety floorboards of this shack sat a mere 2 feet above the sandy surface that the resident felines liked to call their litter box.

Initially we didn't think the room was that bad...but then, neither did the cockroaches.

Indonesia

The Good: (1) Visiting our friends Alecia, Dave and their son Tyus in Jakarta. (2) One week of sun, snorkeling, seafood & satays in the picturesque Gili Islands.

The Rad: Waterbom Water Slide park in Bali. One of our biggest splurges in South East Asia - $25 each to spend an entire day flying (sometimes literally) down the slides, rediscovering our love for slippery surfaces.

Would you believe it if Shane told you that he really missed being at the office?

The Ugly: (1) Garbage everywhere. From city streets to ocean beaches the disturbing accumulation of garbage, mostly plastic, is a glaring reality in this hugely populated country. We saw rivers clogged with garbage (and cats). On the ferry we watched children deliberately dumping their trash overboard while their parents watched. Sooner or later the garbage problem is going to catch up with Indonesians...and all of us for that matter.

(2) Oh, I won’t bore you with the details but at a DVD shop in the Gili Islands the shop owner pulled a knife on me...

Cambodia

The Good: Angkor Wat. Well, this is a given. To confess, we’re still recovering from overdosing on temples when we were in India. Nonetheless, Angkor Wat is a sight to behold.

The Rad: The Bamboo Train in Battambang!! At 5 bucks a person this was definitely a cheap thrill. Laughing nervously as you zip along the original one-way train tracks laid down by the French in the 1930’s on a train made from bamboo planking, a four-stroke engine and reused military tank wheels and axles. Safe? Sure.

The Ugly: (1)The Killing Fields. There aren’t too many words that adequately describe how depressing it is to wander over soil that was carved into hundreds of mass graves (often by the victims that lie in them) during the horrific, 4-year reign of the Khmer Rouge. As you walk along the paths that guide you between the graves, it’s hard not to tread over clothing, bone fragments and teeth that wash up with heavy rains each year.

(2) S-21. A high school converted into an interrogation and torture compound by the Khmer Rouge. Classrooms display torture beds and thousands of photographs of men, women and children who were part of the 1.5 million Cambodians that were systematically murdered during the regime.

With our travels in Cambodia complete we set our sights on Vietnam, Thailand and finally the Philippines. In the next couple of weeks I will post the second half of 'the good, the rad and the ugly'. 'Christmas Is Coming' - to be continued...

Wherever this update finds you in the world, we hope you are happy, healthy and enjoying life.

Shane & Colleen

The Square Peg vs. The Round Hole: Our First Visit to Africa

2010-08-27T15:28:00.000-07:00

Well, this isn’t exactly the blog update I was hoping to provide for Africa but here it goes...

Once upon a time, in the far away land of Kenya, the Sondermanns prepared for the biggest road trip of their lives. They bought camping supplies, travel maps, tools, road safety gear, extra tires and oh yes of course...their overland safari vehicle - a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado.

The good news is that every item on their shopping list, albeit one, was a good buy. The bad news is that the one item that wasn’t a good buy just so happened to be the Toyota Prado.

Cutting to the Chase

Despite the mechanical inspection and all assurances that the Prado would make it to South Africa and back, after two weeks on the road in Kenya our engine blew up.

While almost every Kenyan that we encountered was friendly, honest and genuinely kind, we managed to get stitched up with a very successful mechanic/businessman that had the moral and ethical fiber of a Pop Tart. It was strange that he decided to fleece us, given that most of his business comes from the United Nations and our friends that personally introduced us to him both work for the UN. And yes, word of mouth carries the same weight in Africa as it does at home.

So the engine blew up and after a somber tow-truck ride back to Nairobi, our friends issued some nasty threats. A lengthly wait ensued and finally some of the money for the vehicle was returned to us. Sadly we had spent far too much time and depleted far too much money from our budget to start over.

We could have used the remaining funds in our budget to fly to a few places in Africa but we knew that overlanding was the only way we wanted to see such an incredible continent. And so we weighed out our options and consulted the lyrics of a legendary, plastic surgery-addicted country singer:

“You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,

know when to walk away and know when to run".

In this case we heeded Kenny’s advice, and ‘ran’ for South East Asia.

Our time in Kenya was full of highs and lows. While the vehicle gave us mind-numbing headaches, sleepless nights, and heart murmurs, we also had really wonderful/incredible/inspiring experiences including self-safaris through three of Kenya’s National Parks. We also met and befriended some exceptional people and saw iconic landscapes. So all was certainly not lost.

To give you a snapshot of our trip, I've captured the highs and lows in a segment I've titled Highs and Lows. Admittedly the lows are pretty funny in a "man, that really sucks for you guys" kind of way. So, enjoy.

Oh but wait, before we get to that segment, I'm certain you'll want to take a moment to test your African animal identification skills. Because most of you saw The Lion King, you probably consider yourselves semi-experts in this area. That's nice. So to challenge you, we've thrown in a bit of a twist to this photo trivia that we've fondly titled: "Behind the Beast".

Note: If you click on any of the pictures
in the blog they should enlarge

Admittedly, it was pretty entertaining taking these pics because we were genuinely excited when an animal dismissed us by offering its backside. Yes, this photo trivia may seem a tad odd, it might make you uneasy, and may suggest it's time that Shane and I return to civilization, but just 'roll with it' and find the photo answer key at the end of this update.

And now for those Highs & Lows...

Highs

Spotting our first giraffe after landing at Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi at 1:30 AM.

Getting to know Megan & Patrick and their son Jacques, who generously offered for us to stay at their place while we prepared for the trip. Thank you to our magnificent friend Erin for putting us in touch with her relatives.

Finding two vehicles that appeared to be good options for our overland trip - both being sold by expats that worked for the United Nations.

More Highs

Tom Smith, the seemingly straight-shooter of a mechanic that Patrick and Megan introduced us to, reports that for various reasons (poor engine, evidence of roll-over, major mechanical issues), both vehicles were not viable options for the trip. Though our spirits are deflated, they’re quickly restored when Tom recommends a ‘solid, reliable Toyota Prado’ with a ‘solid, reliable engine’. We have the vehicle inspected, get all assurances that it’s a good fit for our needs and take the plunge with our biggest purchase of our world tour.

Lows

After investigating a slow leak in the back tire we discover that the rubber has been ripped by not one, not two...but five nails. We have to replace both back tires (about $250 each). Our first red flag.

Highs

After a very big shopping trip for all of our overland gear and groceries, we load up the vehicle and get ready for an early morning departure.

Lows

The seal on our jerry can breaks and as we pull out of the bumpy driveway the container spills diesel everywhere. Coincidence, yes...but it just felt strangely like another red flag.

Highs

After giving the vehicle a bath we're on our way to Mount Kenya. Shane has learned to drive on the left side of the road, sitting on the right side of the vehicle while shifting gears on the left side.

Many people in Kenya drive like maniacs. The American Consular website refers to road safety as one of "Kenya’s greatest threats to travelers”.

For the record, Shane did an exceptional job of navigating around: crater-sized pot holes, donkey-towed carts, wandering sheep, matatus (uber-dangerous minibuses) and bicycles balancing dangerously high stacks of supplies.

Lows

Two hours outside of Nairobi we hit a very long, steep hill - our speed drops to 38 kms with Shane’s foot pressing the pedal to the metal. Red flag, red flag, red flag!!!!!

Highs

Our first night camping near Mount Kenya under a massive sea of stars.

Ahhh...a peaceful moment: Shane, Colleen & their lemon

We arrive at Lake Bogoria National Park to find it nearly deserted of tourists. We have an incredible opportunity to observe, in solitude, hundreds of thousands of pink flamingos.

Highs/Lows

Waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of a hippopotamus huffing outside of our tent. When agitated, these plus-sized animals won't hesitate to run over anything that weighs less than a tractor trailer. After an enlightened discussion about what to do when a hippopotamus is hanging outside your tent, we raced for the truck.

Really??

Lows

While heading back into Nairobi we experience low engine power, overheating, a faulty 4-wheel drive system and an intense squealing noise when the speed drifted above 40 km. At this point we can barely see outside of the windshield there are so many red flags blocking our view.

Big Low

We confront Tom (the mechanic) about the issues with the vehicle. He took a swift step off the deep end - swearing, shouting, punching our vehicle, and suggesting that if he were to assault Shane, the police wouldn't do anything about it. His very kind accountant had to step in to cool him off. Yep, red flag.

High(ish)

After a very brief moment of regret for his Bill O'Reilly-style outburst, Tom agrees to address the issues with the vehicle at cost, which resulted in several days of work. He guarantees the vehicle will make it to South Africa and back, shakes Shane's hand and tells us to "have a great trip".

Lows

Heading into the Rift Valley, we sense that the vehicle still isn't 'right'. I try to rally our spirits by playing "Africa" by Toto on the stereo. Yes, so pathetic it brings a smile to your face.

The roads into the Masai Mara have a reputation for being fresh hell to drive over. They were but, as we quickly discovered, our shocks were Pinto-quality and this made the experience even more enthralling. What the heck, throw in another red flag here.

Highs (Big Highs!!)

The Masai Mara: Kenya's world-famous game reserve, covering 1,510 square kms of iconic landscapes. Being one of the few vehicles in the park that wasn't operated by a tour agency, we enjoyed the independence and privacy of our third self-safari.

We saw fantastic wildlife including a leopard that casually walked 6 feet in front of our vehicle (very unusual to see) as well as the massive wildebeest migration where over 1.4 million wildebeest and 200,000 zebras and gazelles make their annual 1,800-mile march into the park for rain-ripened grass. You can pretty much add everything else to the mix including: lions, buffalos, zebras, elephants, crocodiles, warthogs and hippos. Awesome!!

At the risk of including far too many photos in this blog update, I've only included 150 pics below for your enjoyment. I'm kidding - here are 9 of our favourites:

Lows

While driving in the Masai Mara we find ourselves stuck in the mud, attempt to engage the newly repaired 4-wheel drive...you know where this is going don't you? Red flag.

Having successfully freed ourselves of the mud with a two-wheel drive system, we continue on our way for several more hours until steam emerges from the hood of our truck. The pressure from the overheated engine has caused the radiator to burst. Red flag.

Having successfully repaired our radiator with the services of two bush mechanics, and with dusk setting in, we head out of the park. We arrive at our campsite, park the vehicle, get washed up and return to discover all of the engine's oil on the ground. Red flag.

Having spent an entire day with another bush mechanic, who fixes the leak with a welding job, we prepare to leave the next morning. Destination: Tom's shop in Nairobi.

Lows

Two hours away from Nairobi our engine starts reving/squealing and despite removing the keys from the ignition, it continues to rev until the exhaust pipe creates a 12 inch hole in the gravel as the engine blows. I think we're beyond the red flags by now.

I can honestly say that as we stood 10 feet away from the vehicle with local Kenyans, that had gathered to watch, I actually considered how much the insurance was worth and secretly prayed that our lemon would simply explode.

The Final Low

Need I say more...

The Square Peg vs. The Round Hole

We tried. We did everything we could to make the trip but in the end, with a lemon of a vehicle, we just couldn't get the square peg to fit the round hole.

We had tremendously bad luck but we also know it could have been worse - much worse. A few weeks after the final incident I had a dream that I was pushing Shane in a wheelchair and our Toyota Prado was resting headfirst in the ditch of the driveway to my house where I grew up. Probably nothing right? But it was good reminder that we were fortunate not to have experienced the dire consequences of driving a lemon in Africa.

Highs

Once we had put the ugly incident behind us we booked our flights and started making plans for an early arrival to South East Asia. At the same time we met a fantastic couple from Canada. Paul and Lynn Kohls are are missionaries in Nairobi and they spent plenty of time with us, taking us to sites including the giraffe sanctuary in Nairobi where we had very close encounters with the residents.

For my 31st birthday Paul arranged for a community activist to give us a tour of the Kibera Slum in Nairobi. Kibera is the second largest urban slum in all of Africa where upwards of 1.5 million Africans reside. We were grateful for the unique experience and it put our circumstances into perspective, seeing tremendous poverty, where rivers of sewage run between shacks as far as the eye can see.

Movin' On

As we taxied down the runway - our destination Bangkok - we had very mixed emotions. Disappointment, resentment, relief, but mostly excitement and anticipation for our next adventures.

We landed in Bangkok and stayed briefly to make plans for a month and a half in Malaysia and Indonesia (we're in Malaysia now) before returning to Thailand. From there we'll set off for a six-week trip through Cambodia and Vietnam.

At the end of November we'll fly to the Philippines where Shane will meet his extended family for the first time. In case you didn't know or you always wondered - Shane is half Filipino and half German. Shane's mom is originally from a family of 17 children so we'll have a few names and faces to memorize.

Before we sign off, we would be remiss if we forgot the answer key to "Behind the Beasts" photo trivia.

From top right to left: Ostrich, Rhino, Baboon, Impala

Zebra, Topi, Warthog, Giraffe

African Buffalo, Hippo, Elephant, Wildebeest

As always we hope this (epically long) blog update finds you well and enjoying life.

Shane & Colleen

From Backpacks to Bikes

2010-07-10T23:31:00.000-07:00

Well, we’re on to another continent. Having left our fantastic experience in Europe behind us, we’re now hours away from setting out to explore Eastern and Southern Africa.

While we’ve checked Europe off on our travel ‘to-do’ list, it left an impression on us that we’ll certainly never forget. Our experience was nothing like we expected. We’d planned for 7-weeks of train trips, visiting world-renowned cities, and of course seeing friends. We did this, but we also added over 2000 kms of cycling to the mix and that changed our plans pretty dramatically.

We owe our thanks to Geoffrey, a friend that we made in Bolivia who told us about his tales of cycling from his home town of Paris to Istanbul, Turkey as part of his 2-year world trip. We liked the idea immediately, and with three weeks remaining before we stepped off of South America soil and on to European ground, we started educating ourselves on buying bikes, gear (tent, sleeping bags, GPS, bike panniers, etc.) and cycling routes. And that’s how our story begins.

In a renewed effort to keep this blog update and our Euro-trip story from mirroring the length of a thesis dissertation, I’m going to return to the trip ‘stats and facts’ format. So here we go:

Shane & Colleen’s 2010 Euro-Trip Stats & Facts

Geography

Point of Arrival & Departure to Europe: Frankfurt, Germany
Countries that we cycled through: Austria, Czech Republic, Germany and a small part of Switzerland
Base camp for pre and post-cycling trip: the resort-like home of Rolf & Brita Zitzlsperger (aka: super-host parents of our friend David)

Endurance

Average number of kms cycled per day: 85 (our max was 115 kms)
Number of kms cycled for the entire trip: Over 2000
Average weight of gear & supplies for each bike: Shane - 50 lbs. Colleen - 30 lbs
Number of times we ‘climbed’ the same, freaking, monster-hill in freezing-cold, windy, rainy weather because of ‘faulty’ signage: 3
Number of pounds gained/lost from 2000 + kms of cycling with 30 & 50 lbs of gear: 0 (the stats below might give you a hint...)

“Nutrition”

Number of Ritter Sport chocolate bars consumed: 30 (and all of the flavours!!)
Number of Lindt chocolate bars consumed: 10
Number of cheese varieties consumed (and we’re not talking about a cheese plate here...we mean the full saran-sealed packages): 14
Number of stops for gelato: 20
Number of grams of gummy bears per bag that we consumed: 300
Total number of bags consumed: 15 (do the math...it’s disgusting)
Number of times we checked the fat & calorie content on food packaging: NEVER!! (and it was was awesome!)

Who needs a cozy cafe when you can dine in a TESCO parking lot

Shut-eye

Total cost of accommodations for 7 weeks in Europe: $35
Number of times Colleen knocked on doors, asking the resident(s) if we could camp in their yards: 25

"The Hubers" offered us a nice spot on their front lawn to set up our tent

Number of people that invited us to stay in their homes: 7
Number of rejections: 2 (number of minutes it took Shane to sooth Colleen's ego: 10)
Number of nights spent sleeping in barns: 1

When you sleep in a barn, be prepared to cook with the cows

Number of terrifying nights spent alone in a forest: 1 (see story below)
Examples of the incredible hospitality and generosity that we received from the super-host Europeans that we stayed with: beer, wine, bottled water, flask of tea, biscuits, chocolate bars and gummy bears, honey, strawberries, breakfasts & dinners, showers, fresh towels and bubble bath. And...the use of the family car, invitations to stay at private flats in Vienna, Prague and Berlin (we gratefully accepted).

One ‘terrifying’ night in the forest...
On our second night of the biking trip we 'free-camped' (sleeping alone in the forest). At 2AM we were woken up by a massive wild boar near our tent, screaming like it was hungry and had been searching for days to find stupid humans sleeping in the woods. We didn't know it was a wild boar (where do you read about wild boars in a travel guide?!). It sounded really loud with a deep-pitched squeal...like it was a big, kidney-eating monster. It turns out that these boars are not your typical pigs. They are up to 260 pounds, with 4 inch-long, straw-like hair, tusks...you get the picture here.

I can safely say I've never been so scared in my life. I almost passed out from taking such quick, short breaths. Shane was so tired from the 90 + km bike ride that he ended up playing dead...I spent the next 5 hours trying to stop him from snoring, fearing 'pig man' was going to eat us for breakfast. I should mention that the only weapon we had to defend ourselves was a three inch Swiss Army knife.

High point(s)

The incredible people that we met, the fantastic food, the gorgeous countryside, towns and cities that we cycled through, and of course, the coin-operated ponies that we rode (well really...it was just Shane).

Low Point

During their travels in Austria, the Sondermanns end up sleeping on a picnic bench in an information shelter (Shane using a bike tarp as a blanket). They ran out of time to find a place to camp because they opted for a late night meal at McDonald’s. Yes, a totally ridiculous loss of reasoning and perspective.

To sum it up
Hopefully these stats and facts give you a bit of a snapshot of our trip to Europe. If we had to rate our experience on a scale of 1 to 10 we could give it nothing less than a 100. The trip was incredible, the people overwhelmed us with their warmth and hospitality, the food was fantastic and the geography - from cycling along the Rhine, Danube and Elbe Rivers to traveling through farms, lush forests, and fields of poppies and canola - was gorgeous.

Gratitude

Before signing off on Europe we want to extend a HUGE thanks to our friend David and his parents Brita and Rolf. The smooth transition from backpacking in South America to cycling through Europe to preparing for Africa can be attributed almost entirely to their incredible hospitality and support.

We also want to thank our wonderful friends that we made, for taking a chance on a couple of door-knocking, helmet-wearing Canadians. Your kindness was extraordinary.

Africa: A new continent, a new adventure
Two weeks ago we arrived in Nairobi, Kenya where we were welcomed into the home of Patrick Fruchet and Megan Gilgan. Our friend Erin put us with in touch with her relatives when she found out that we were heading to Nairobi. Aside from the great conversations (they both work for United Nations and have lived in all sorts of interesting places including Afghanistan and Kosovo), Megan and Patrick have been instrumental in helping us fulfill our goal of purchasing a 4x4 vehicle to drive through eastern and southern Africa. In our next blog update, we’ll give a better description of this with photos.

Having completed the “zero-fun” task of buying a vehicle in Nairobi we're now ready to head out - our first stop is Kenya’s Masai Mara National Park where we'll see what is considered one of the greatest animal wonders of the world: the wildebeest migration. From there we'll visit several other parks and sites within Kenya before making our way south to Tanzania and ultimately to South Africa before returning to Kenya to sell our vehicle and board a plane for South East Asia.

Our Toyota Prado "LUVA" the Road Warrior -
Named after two women that define the word reliable: our moms Lulu and Valerie

The upcoming updates will likely be short (I know, you'll believe it when you see it), given the cost and accessibility of Internet in some of the African countries that we’ll be visiting. We’ll do our best to check in though, just to let you know where we’re at and where we’re heading.

As always, we hope that this blog finds you well and enjoying life.

Shane & Colleen

Oh boy...

2010-05-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

...this blog entry is way overdue. As much as I’d love to dream up interesting stories as to why it’s taken me 60 + days to write the following, I’m instead going to forge ahead, attempting to provide a snapshot of 2 months worth of highlights from our trip.

As I assessed this update I realized that keeping it concise was about as likely as Shane cheering for the Vancouver Canucks with a glass of Absolut Vodka in his hand.* Then it hit me (like a Zamboni) that I could use the alphabet to frame our trip stories (and include some other interesting but potentially irrelevant information about ourselves).

Before I do that though I’m going to provide a brief overview of some important trip geography points. I should note that the photos will enlarge if you click on them.

Let's see, according to the last blog entry Shane and I were in the beach town of Mancora, Peru working on Shane’s tan (it's hopeless for me). After 3 days we headed to Trujillo where Shane spent another 3 days writhing in pain from a nasty stomach flu. From Trujillo we made our way to the Andean City of Huaraz where we hiked and camped for 5 days, completing the Lake Churup trek and the Santa Cruz trek in the Cordillera Blanca and pushing Shane’s hiking shoes to the point of disintegration. From Huaraz we travelled to Lima and visited important sites including the San Francisco Monastery and Starbucks. Then it was on to Huacachina, Arequipa, Lake Titicaca and finally Cusco to make the all-important Machu Picchu trip.

After visiting the soaring heights of the ancient Inca ruins city, we headed for the word’s largest salt flats - Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. Ultimately our plans included a short back-tracking trip (long story) that brought us to the world’s highest capital city - La Paz, Bolivia sitting at 3640 meters. After La Paz, we made our way south to Argentina making several important stops in Salta, Mendoza and Buenos Aires. Finally, with less than a week before we said goodbye to South America, we set out for Rio de Janeiro, stopping in Porto Alegre for a visit that could only be described as spa-like relaxation and gluttony. As these things go, our time in Brazil was far shorter than we had first planned and despite this being our second visit to the country, we're already planning our return trip.

On May 8th we crossed off South America on our world tour 'to do' list and boarded a plane for Germany. I’ll wrap up the blog entry with a quick description of our plans for Europe. First though - the trip A-Z’s as promised:
P - for procrastination. Ok, lets just get this one out of the way now. I’ve been promising several of our friends that a blog update would be coming “in a few days”... for the past 5 weeks. What can I say, South America is an interesting place with plenty of opportunities to set blog-writing aside.

A - for already leaving SA. It’s hard to believe that South America is behind us now. It really is a fantastic place to travel and one day we plan to buy a vehicle and drive it from Canada to spend more time there. Sigh...one day.

B - for bananas. I love them...but only without freckles.

C - for cows. On our 4-day Santa Cruz trek in the Cordillera Blanca we spent the first 2 days and 25 kms enjoying stunning scenery and dodging what seemed to be a million cow patties (patties = moo poo). To make matters worse it was raining (and had been for several days) so there were loads of mud/manure holes to watch your feet disappear into. We spent 2 hours after the trek, scrubbing our shoes with an old toothbrush.

The Culprit

D - for dogs. What can we say, we love animals and seeing so many hungry dogs in SA, looking for a meal to survive was always a bit depressing.

E - for exercise. A lot of exercise. Over the course of the trip we clocked over 150 kms. Trekking, particularly in Peru, contributed to our double-digit weight loss numbers (see “J” in the alphabet). During our five days of trekking in the Andes we logged over 70 kms, and on our 3-day trek in the Colca Canyon we covered 15 kms, mostly switchbacks. As for Machu Picchu, please see “M” (isn't this alphabet business great?!)

The Santa Cruz Trek in Peru

F - for friends. One of the best parts about traveling. To name a few: Noémie from Luxembourg; Stéphane, Paula, Felipe & Solene from Chile; Smil from Peru; Sam & Jamie from England (traveling for 18 months), Geoffrey from France (traveling for 2 years) and Taran, Dani and Luci from Brazil.

Geoffrey, the French sign-pole dancer
Sam, Jamie and the Sondermanns in the Colca Canyon

G - for gambling. Despite winning a small jackpot of $7 at a casino in Peru (seriously, there were lights and sirens), I got greedy and blew it all.

H - for the horror!!! That’s the best way to describe the change in exchange rates from Bolivia to Argentina. A hostel room in La Paz, Bolivia is $7/night. A room in Mendoza, Argentina is $33/night.

I - for is that safe? Most of the hostels that we stayed at in Peru and Bolivia used a hot water system that heated a small container with electrical currents. In La Paz, no amount of electrical tape in the shower could save us from instant shocks that smacked your hand when you reached for the dial.

J - for Jenny Craig-like weight loss. We feel like traveling has been a bit of a human science experiment. What happens when you get regular exercise, eat less to save money (and you eat before 7PM), you get between 7-8 hrs of sleep a night and you have little to no stress? For Shane it meant losing 22 lbs and for me it meant losing 15 lbs (37 lbs in total!). Admittedly, we did put on 3 pounds each in Brazil but the human science experiment has yielded some pretty interesting results.

37 pounds lighter, the Sondemann's are ecstatic
in Salar de Uyuni

K - for Keane...one of our favourite bands and, while the spelling is off, a good way to describe our feelings about this trip.

L - for long. I know...this blog is really long! L also stands for Lima...where we had the best street meat (beef heart on a skewer) in SA.

M - for Machu Picchu. Sometimes saving money can be a thrill. Instead of taking the 2-hour $140/return train ticket to get to Machu Picchu we joined Sam & Jamie to follow two locals down the 29 kms of railway tracks and side trails until we hit the main centre. Two days later Shane & I left our hostel at 3:45 AM to walk alone for about 4 kms in the pouring rain up to Machu Picchu. The first 100 people to arrive at the entrance are allowed to climb Wayna Picchu. 3 hours later the sun was shining and the views were incredible. We were one of the first people to arrive and the last to leave, spending the entire day hiking around the ruins. Macchu Picchu far exceeded our expectations - we would definitely give it a 10 out of 10. The next morning we left with Sam & Jamie for Cusco at 4:50 AM, yet again walking 29 kms of train tracks.

N - for Nutella. Shane’s addiction and our way of making price comparisons on products in each country.

O - for Oilers. The best team in the NHL...in a couple of years.

Q - for quote of the day. How about this one: "You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth”

R - for raisins. Shane despises them.

S - for salesman. On one of our bus rides in Peru we watched a salesman hail the benefits of a colon-cleansing formula, with what could only be described as religious fervor. During his 2-hour pitch, he used the interior of the bus as a prop, referring to the ceiling lights as a digestive track. He also crouched down towards the floor to impersonate constipation. We’d recommend Musilix.

T - for Taran. We were so fortunate that our friend Heather, put us in touch with her son Taran in Porto Alegre, Brazil where we stayed for several days on the last leg of our SA trip. We visited the university and toured Taran’s lab, which included 40,000 specimens of frogs and other reptiles (awesome!). We had so much rest that at times Taran probably thought there was a carbon-monoxide leak in his apartment. We watched lots of Law & Order and filled our faces with Brazilian buffets and all you can eat pizza. I won’t lie, while we each gained 3 pounds for our Hansel & Gretel-like gluttony, it was awesome!!

U - for UNO. We prefer chess.

* V - for vodka. Having worked for a company that owns Smirnoff...you can be assured that you will never see Shane drinking Absolut.

W - for why does there have to be so many freaking letters in the alphabet?!

X - for xmas. I prefer the word Christmas though. By next month, like clock-work, I’ll be getting Christmas fever.

Y - for yankee doodle. A bit ridiculous don’t you think?!

Z - for “zooey”. A word that I learned 2 months ago from my friend Andrew. Admittedly I’m running out of ideas here...

So this concludes our South American A-Z update. Where are we at the moment and where are we heading?? We have been visiting friends in Essenberg and Mainz, Germany and have purchased bikes and camping equipment (tent, sleeping bags, stove, etc.) to cycle around Germany for 5 weeks, making stops in bordering countries including Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic and Denmark.

Before I sign-off on this update, I want to wish my best friend Jenn Fox a Happy Birthday. Jenn doesn’t like to be the centre of attention...which is why I’ve singled her out on our blog. : ) If you look up the words 'reliable', 'loyal' and 'super-awesome-friend' in the dictionary, I’m sure you’ll find her name there. She’s an exceptional friend and also an exceptional cook so, as a rather unconventional way to honour her on this travel blog, we're publishing one of her favourite recipes (hopefully she'll forgive me because I tricked her into giving me this):

Jenn Fox's "Fairest Wheels"

(it took me 10 minutes to figure out the pun which is why I've included it in quotations)
Tortilla pinwheels with chicken, cream cheese, and hot red-pepper jelly
1 cup finely chopped, cooked chicken
1/2 cup chopped lettuce
1/2 cup shredded, reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese (2 oz)
1/3 cup each chopped green onions and minced red bell pepper
4 oz light cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp low-fat sour cream
1 tbsp hot red-pepper jelly
3 9-inch flour tortillas

In a medium bowl, combine chicken, lettuce, cheddar cheese, green onions, and red pepper. Set aside. In a small bowl, beat together cream cheese, sour cream, and red-pepper jelly on low speed of electric mixer. Spread 1/3 cream cheese mixture over one side of tortilla. Sprinkle with 1/3 chicken mixture, leaving a 1/2-inch border at the top just covered with cream cheese mixture (so you can seal it closed). Roll up tightly, jelly-roll style. Wrap tortilla roll in plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Trim off the ends and cut each roll into 8 slices. Serve the 24 pinwheels cold.

On that note, Shane is hungry so we're going to forage for food. Take care and do stay in touch - as always, we miss you!!

Shane & Colleen

Ciao Ecuador, Hola Peru

2010-03-08T17:44:00.000-08:00

Greetings -

When I wrote our first blog entry in early February, I mentioned that I'd be posting the next message by February 15ish. Thank goodness I added the "ish". Time has raced by while we've been in Ecuador. There's a lot to talk about so to help keep things concise, I've included a list of stats & facts to give a flavour of the trip so far:

Days in SA: 38
Days in Ecuador: 34
Days in Peru: 4

# hours spent on overland Ecuadorian buses: 55
# of zip-lines completed through the Mindo Cloud Forest: 10
# of Galapagos marine iguanas sighted: 1428
# of volcanoes climbed: 1
# of minutes we swam in a murky amazon lagoon while being assured by the guide that the caimans, anacondas, and piranhas only stayed by the shores: 4

# of miles of oil pipelines extending from the Ecuadorian rainforest: endless
SPF # required to ward off the smoking-hot South American sun: 85
# of times we've answered a question in english, using a spanish accent: still counting
# of times Colleen thought the hostel caretaker might be a serial killer: 1
# of times Shane had to tell Colleen that the hostel caretaker wasn't a serial killer: 22
# of days with weather above 30 degrees: 28
# of times we've thought " we are so incredibly fortunate to be taking this trip: at least 4 times a day

And lastly, the number of times I thought to myself "I've got to get that next blog entry done": well, lets just say a lot.

So our time in Ecuador has come to an end. If we were to rate our experience on a scale of 1 to 10, we'd definitely be pushing a 10. Everything from the activities and transportation to the overall beauty of the country, has been pretty fantastic. While we’ve found every day of our trip to be interesting - in fairness, you might not - so we've opted to provide a few of the highlights of the trip: The Galapagos Islands, the jungle and Cotopaxi.

As we were promised, the trip to the Galapagos Islands was exceptional with stunning weather, landscapes, and a sea (pun intended) of opportunities to see marine life on the islands including scores of sea lions, lava lizards, marine iguanas as well as pink flamingos, penguins and blue footed boobies (and by boobies, I mean birds).

After the Galapagos Islands we headed out to the jungle - lots of monkeys, birds, and bugs...not to mention a whole 'lotta' vegetation. We weren't overrun by insects, albeit one cockroach in our room. We asked if it was ok to kill the cockroach but were advised that more would come in it's place . We opted for a relocation program (the cockroach, not us). Piranha fishing yielded a catch of 2 tiny razor-sharp toothed fishies with mouths big enough to chomp off your fingernail. No room for bragging rights but interesting nonetheless.

Cotopaxi is the world's highest active volcano with an elevation of 5,897 meters (19,347 feet). After hiking to the refuge site of the volcano, Shane encouraged me to climb to the summit. He headed to Banos, 3 hours away, to complete a 30 km bike trip and I waited to acclimatize for a couple more days before heading up to the summit with a group of 10 other climbers from Germany, Canada and the US.

The weather was perfect and after climbing for 6 hours, mostly by moonlight over a massive glacier, we made it to the top at 6:30AM. Exhausting but exhilarating.

On Friday we left Ecuador and arrived in Peru, heading to the beach town of Mancora where I’m writing this entry now. From here we'll make our way down to Lima, stopping in a number of cities along the way. Like many other travelers that we've crossed paths with, we're trying to sort out when we can trek the Inca Trail and visit Machu Picchu.

With 5 weeks of travel under our belts, our trip has met and often exceeded our expectations. I can't remember the last time that I saw Shane so rested and relaxed. We feel pretty fortunate to be here.

Well, that's all from us for now. Hoping this message finds you well. Please feel free to send us an email or you can post a comment below. Of course we'd love to hear from you.

Shane & Colleen

Made it.

2010-02-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

Well we’re here in Quito, Ecuador, learning to adjust without commutes, Blackberries, deadlines, and in Shane’s case, all-nighters at the office.

I've been designated as the trip blogger, responsible for documenting our travels. Shane has assumed the title of creative contributer. He's also responsible for ensuring that my perfectionist ways don't result in 2 blog posts for the entire trip (wish him luck with that). Admittedly, this isn’t my first attempt at writing this entry. Anyone who has spent more than 2.5 minutes with me knows that I generally have a lot to say (I call it sharing). So, I'm going to attempt to capture the interesting, funny and sometimes seemingly irrelevant elements of our trip in a short and sweet format. A couple of notes about the blog:

- The word ‘passport’ in the blog title will change according to the language of the country that we are writing from.

- The far, bottom-right area of the blog will not be trip-related. Just an area where we can post funny, odd, interesting info (first installation - “Mambo Dog”).

It’s hard to believe how much planning was required to take this trip. A common question that people asked us was how did we prepare. The answer: organized, detail-oriented and above all, rational planning. Pretty much. But we won’t lie, in the days and then hours leading up to our departure there were moments where being rational just didn’t seem possible. A simple travel soap purchase became an agonizing 20 minute discussion in Shoppers Drug Mart (at 11:30 PM) - soap bar vs. shower gel. In the end we accidently bought Dove shower lotion. It does nothing more than make you smell like a morning-fresh cucumber.

Setting all the decision-making aside, we made it to the airport, boarded our plane and after landing in LA, then Costa Rica, and then Quito, Ecuador we settled into our cozy, moldy hostel room. Well actually damp and moldy. We slept for about 12 hours and moved on from New Town Quito to Old Town Quito (no - ‘old’ doesn’t mean more mold). As we were shown to our bunk-beds (just like camp!), our hostel attendant informed us that aside from having the reputation as the second highest capital city in the world, Quito also has the highest rate of robberies and pickpockets in South America (mom, close your eyes and pretend you didn’t read this).

So what have we been up to?? A bit of relaxing, a bit of visiting with other backpackers (yesterday we told an interesting diving accident story to an avid diver and made her cry...), a 5-hour trek & 1-hour nap in the mountains at 4300 meters, and planning our 11-day trip to the Galapagos Islands on Friday. The boat is really great and the itinerary looks fantastic. The bonus - no bunk-beds.

View of Quito
4300 meters above sea level and a perfect place for a nap.

So that’s it for now. The next time we check in with you will be February 15ish where I'm sure we'll have some interesting pictures and stories.

One important date that I want to note before I sign-off is February 6th - my dear friend Julie Rogal’s birthday. Thru and thru she is one of the most beautiful people that I know. Happy Birthday Jna - for once I’m early...