Ecuador and the Galapagos

Traveling again!! It´s such a nce feeling to be out in the world again. The time I spent at home was great but seeing new places and experiencing some amazing moments is what inspired me in the first place to leave home. So far Ecuador and a trip to the Galapagos has been fantasic!



One of the differenes from my travels in New Zealand ealier in the year that made the first two weeks a great expereince was that it wasn´t done alone. The first two weeks I had my friend Angie from back in St. Louis traveling with me. At the end of the trip in New Zealand I was getting tired of traveling and constantly meeting new people and having the same conversation over and over again. With Angie traveling with me the first two weeks it was great to have someone I already new well. While we did get on each otehrs nerves at times we are both pretty easy going travelers and never really disagreed on the days travel plans.



Here are a few pictures from the first two weeks of traveling.




This photo is of Quito from the Basilica in the center of the city. Quito is an amazing place of old and new architecture that just doesn´t ever seem to end. The city is in a valley with mountains all around and when you think the city ends over one good size mountain it doesn´t and another valley covered in buildings appers. I´ve spent most of my time in Quito and it is a very busy city with some amazing parts with beautiful cathedrals. There are lots of people and bus rides that pack you in like sardines. Good fun really. The city of Banos, 3 to 4 hours south of Quito, is a major tourist destination. It´s a small town with hiking, mountain biking, white water rafting, and thermal baths to keep the tourists busy. While there got to take a dip in the thermal baths and took a day trip to the Jungle town of Puyo. Before the Galapagos this was the higlight of the trip as we got to take a tour of a small rain forest and learn about some of the indegenous Amazon tribes in the area and the plants of the forest. Really cool stuff. Just wish I remembered most of what was said.
The Giant Tortoises of the Galapagos. Amazing animals that can live up to 160 years. Wish I could bring one home.
The Blue Footed Boobie of the Galapogos. I just like the name so that is why this picture made the blog.

Sea Lion with Angie at Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos.

The best part of the trip in these two weeks has been the trip to the Galapagos. Just a stunning place with all the animal life, the geology of the place, and the historical significance. If I had to do it all over again I´d spend more time there. One of the days Angie and I went on a half day harbor tour of Puerto Ayora and we were beginning to think the trip was going to be a disaster when the guide for just the two of us didn´t speak English. Turns out our guide Felix was the best. While communicating in real basic spanish and given the context of the trip we were able to have an great experience and see quite a lot of the local animals and some very beautiful spots of the island. For me, snorkling was the best part of this trip. At first it was just a variety of tropical fish but it soon came to be a spot with thousands of fish swimming all together in a school. Then as it was getting close to the end of snorkling Felix led me over to an area where other snorklers had found sea lions in the water. So for a good 10 minutes we swam around with three sea lions and got close enough to touch them. Just a fantastic experience.

Since the Galapagos I´ve been in Quito again and am staying at a hostel. Angie headed back to the states and I´m for the most part on my own again. I say partly because I´ve met up with my friend Erica who I shared a hostel with in Wellington, NZ. She basically is forcing me to give a shout out to her in my blog so here it is!! Really though, It´s been awesome to meet up with her. While traveling and meeting new people I wasn´t sure if I´d ever see any of them again. So it´s nice to sit down and be able to catch up on travel stories and not have to go through all the same old information you repeat at every new hostel or at every new meeting of a traveler. I´ll be in Quito a little longer hanging out with Erica and her language classmates and plan on doing a bit of mountain biking and exploring. Should be great fun. More updates to come soon.

Off for another adventure

Ok, so, I did make it home. I know my last post way two months ago and I never actually stated I made it home safely. Well, I did make it back and home was everything that I was needing. I can't really give a great reason why I haven't written in the last two months. I've definitely had the time to write. I think part of it is that being home just isn't as exciting as being in New Zealand or living in Antarctica. I didn't have a whole lot to write about at any given time. Now that it has been two months a lot has happened that is noteworthy, just not really travel related. So here is a bit of a summary.

I got home at the end of May right in time for the Blossom festival in Chagrin Falls, which is really the town next to my home town. The family has been going to the festival since before I can really remember anything. There is a carnival, parade, and a 5.25 mile race during memorial day weekend. It's always a good time and having this as the first few days back was perfect. Lori and the Fed 5 came up for the weekend and we did the typical feeding the ducks at the park, getting ice cream, race running, and parade we have done for the last six years. I've run in the race the last six years and was really looking forward to this one since I felt like I was in pretty good shape to run it. After all the hiking in New Zealand I was faster and stronger than in past years and wanted to set a personal record of less than 40 minutes in the race. It was tough course with the hills and it was not an easy run but I made it and finished in 38.40. So each year I've run in it I've improved so the next time I run I'll have to do better once again. Although next year I may not be back in time for the Blossom run so I'm not sure when I will run it again. It may be never if the parents move sometime before I get back.

Speaking of my parents, being home also allowed me to spend time with them and I have to say how fortunate I am to have mom and dad. In a way I know what I've been these last two months. I've pretty much been a free loading bum. A homeless, no car, no job, freeloader. Maybe I'm not that bad but they have never let me feel like I've burdened them these last weeks and like they have done all my life, they treat me very well.

For the first two and a half weeks I split time between home in Cleveland and my sisters place down in Columbus. Life at my sisters is pretty much ruled by what the Federer kids are up to for that particular day. In my time there I got a lot of pool time in (which was fantastic), some T-ball (which really are brutal to watch), field day at kids school (where I got questioned by moms thinking I was kidnapping my niece), and lots and lots of the Disney Channel. For the most part, it was a fun time hanging out with the kids. It keeps things simple and they can be pretty darn cute.

In the middle of June I borrowed mom's car and did a little traveling in the states. In three weeks I hit Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, back to St. Louis, and Indianapolis to visit various friends. I spent two weeks of that time in St. Louis at my old condo. It was just like old times being back. I met friends at the same restaurants, got some golfing in, and got a game night in with the gang. I also got to play soccer during the three Sundays I was in town. Besides the people in St. Louis, soccer was probably the next biggest thing I missed about home. By the third Sunday I was injured and starting to get my groove back on the field. It felt great. While in town I also got to spend some time with a former co-worker that I just started to get to know before leaving St. Louis the fall before. Getting to know her more while I was in town was the highlight of the trip. In some ways it was a lot harder to leave St. Louis after the short trip there than it was when I left last year. I think it is because leaving the first time it was all about the new adventure I was going on and I had little time to really realize what I'd be leaving. Now that I know I will be away from a lot of really good friends and I had missed them all and will miss them again it was harder to leave.

On the way back from visiting friends there was a near week long stop over at Pokagon State Park in Indiana for the Ott Family Campout. The family campout has been going on for 34 years now and I look forward to it each and every year. This year was one of the best in the history of the campout as it was the first time it was going to be longer than just a weekend. Because of the campground rules changing a number of years back the only way the family could get the group camp in June, July, or August is to rent out the camp for the entire week. This year the family decided to do just that and bring it back to a summer event instead of a September event that a lot of people can't make. It turned out to be a good move. I got to the grounds on Tuesday of the week long camp and there were about 10 others as I arrived. So for the good part of two days it was a small group hanging out and catching up. More and more people arrived Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and the turnout was one of the best in years. Lots of kids running around and lots of time to fit all the activities in. Usually the campout runs at a frantic pace and it seems like I would arrive on Friday and in a flash it would be Sunday morning cleanup and pack up. The extra days allowed for some great volleyball, multiple trivial pursuit games (one a ultimate showdown resulting in a 3 am tie), the annual 16" softball game, lots of wiffleball with the kids, a round of golf with the godfather, and a lot of time to chat up all the aunts, uncles,cousins, second cousins, and on and on. Because of the success of the campout this last year the family is once again planning on renting an entire week. If things work out as planned I should be back just in time for it next year.

After the campout it has been three weeks of time in Columbus and in Cleveland. Not much really to write about. It was good spending more time with the family. At the same time though I've been really itching to go travel again. It was the right amount of time for me to stay home and recharge before traveling again. I leave for Ecuador tomorrow and am extremely excited to get going again. Since there is a lot of stuff still to get done today I'm signing off but I will start writing again more frequently as the adventure continues.......

Left New Zealand - Home Tomorrow

In Hawaii right now and will be flying on the red eye to arrive back home. It will be fantastic to be home again for a little while and just relax and reflect on the last 8 months. The last two weeks in New Zealand were a lot of fun and went by pretty quickly. I had a great time down in Dunedin visiting the college and a kiwi friend of mine from the ice. New Zealand students really know how to party and so it was fun to let loose and go out for three nights in a row. After Dunedin it was a quick week and a half of Christchurch(recovering from a cold), Wellington, and Motueka before leaving for Hawaii again out of Christchurch. Wellington is the second biggest city on the north island and it is a beautiful port city with a lot of cafes, restaurants, bars, and theaters. The feel of the city was like being back in normal civilization. There was a lot of hustle and bustle to the city so it was nice to be around after spending a good part of the trip in New Zealand in small towns or out in the bush. Right before flying out of New Zealand I was able to store little ivan for the next year. And by doing that it will have saved me from taking a significant loss on the van. I hope to sell it when the market is better as soon as I get off the ice next year. So I definitely learned from the experience of buying Ivan. If I do choose to travel New Zealand again for a long time and I'm alone I am hitchhiking or taking buses everywhere. So much cheaper that way.

It wasn't all that hard to leave New Zealand. I think it was just time for me to move on. I had an absolute blast in New Zealand and there are still a number of different things I want to see and do there. However, since it was getting cold, expensive to get around with Ivan, and thoughts of home became greater, it was a pretty easy goodbye to New Zealand. I know I'll be back and can hit those other places then.

Hawaii has been a good time. Great to warm up a little bit and get back to the states. It's odd how small things like using American money again, temperatures Fahrenheit, and being able to catch the NBA playoffs have been missed. It's great to be back to familiar things. I expect the next few weeks will be great as I will be able to cherish the little things that I've been without so long. Especially catching up with all the family and friends I've missed!!