Nina's Journey to the Bottom of the World

Phase 2 of this trip is over (though now there’s a bit of a phase 3), and it was amaaazing. Getting to know a country by riding across it on a motorcycle is an experience like no other. There was so much room for error, especially with the bikes we rented, but everything went even smoother than we could have expected. Even the things that technically went wrong ended up being lucky. It was the most adventurous adventure I’ve been on yet!

First off, we picked up the bikes and learned that shifting gears is the opposite in South America than what I’m used to back home. It also has a kick start instead of the convenient little “start” button that Big Red has. It took some getting used to, but I adjusted pretty quickly. Then there’s poor Ricky who got his motorcycle lisence a week before we left for the trip, and whose first time riding a bike on the street was when we picked up these motorcycles in the city. He did great, and it only took us an hour to go 10-20 miles back to where we were staying! The bikes we had weren’t the BEST but they got up to about 55-60mph, and while mine shifted properly, Ricky’s would pick and choose which gears to actually ride in. With tiny bags packed and strapped to our bikes, we set off last Sunday afternoon and rode about 4 hours to Punta del Este. I had to throw everything I knew about riding out the window, as things are very different here! You don’t get your own lane like I’m used to, which actually turned out to be nice since the cars just go right by and you can go as fast or slow as you please on the right side of the lane. So we certainly chose to take our time on this trip, which is what made it so enjoyable. Once we got into Punta del Este, which is a big, new, and very upscale city on the coast, we headed to Ricky’s friend’s beautiful apartment. We hadn’t even remembered that it was Valentines day until a moment where we were watching a beautiful sunset on the water, eating pizza and drinking a beer in the warm summer night. The rest of the night was spent hanging out with a bunch of his friends, playing poker and pretending to follow their conversations in Spanish. The next afternoon was Carnaval so we rode another 4 hours up to La Pedrera, arriving just in time for the crazy parade to start. Our hostel couldn’t have been more perfect, situated only 1 block from the main street and 4 to the beach. We dropped off our stuff, parked the bikes, and headed to the parade to experience my first Carnaval. As far as the number of people and crazy costumes and festivities, it was exactly what I expected! I hadn’t however realized that everyone sprays foam and water at each other in the crowds. Because we wanted to pack light I only had one sweater and 1 pair of jeans (it was a bit too chilly that night to wear a dress), so I had to buy a funny outfit from the side of the road. The bright pink plastic wig was to protect my head, not for fun (wink). Armed with hot pink pants and hair, we enjoyed the rest of the parade, had a beer back out at the hostel, then went back to main st for the party, which is also what 10,000 other people did. There are Carnaval parades in many towns in Uruguay, but this one is the largest by far. The town hosting it is tiny, with all dirt roads and one short main street. Very very cool vibe in this town. The streets were sardined with people (all with huge smiles on their faces), who were dancing, drinking, and having a great time. Like most nights in Uruguay, most people start coming out around 2:00 and party until about 6 or 7am. No matter how much time I spend here, I can’t get on that schedule, so I find myself asleep usually before the party starts. Even though I didn’t make it past 3 or 4am, and hadn’t had too much to drink, I still had a wonderful time at Carnaval! The next day was relaxing- napped in the sun (they had outside beds at the hostel), went to the beach, explored the little town. On Wedesday we were off for another 4 hour ride further along the coast to Punta del Diablo!

These next few days were my favorite. The landscape opened up to rolling hills, livestock, and just absolute beauty. The 2 previous trips were also very pretty, but the further into the country we got (and the fewer cars) the more peaceful it became. We passed farms that carried sweet aromas of mint and eucyliptus trees, horses and their calves standing neck to neck in front of a lake, as if offering to pose for a picture, and kilometer upon kilometer of green grass and blue skies. There were no cars to share this scenery with, and the bare road stretched all the way to the horizon- it was so welcoming! I loved feeling the freedom of being so close to the open road, taking in every ounce of beauty through all of my senses. While I was full of life, busy with happiness and tranquility, my motorcycle was running on empty. The towns are few and far between, and several kilometers off of the “highway” to the coast. We knew of the one town, Castillos, which had gas, so we were happy to finally make it there. As we pulled into town my bike kept stalling, and I pleaded to please make it just a few more minutes to the gas station (it was HOT and the last thing I wanted was to push my bike across town to wherever the gas station was). But she wouldn’t have it! No matter how many forceful kicks I gave, she would not start. However, I was at the top of a steep hill. How perfect! I put my bike into neutral and rode on! Wouldn’t you know, the gas station, the only gas station within 50 km, was at the bottom of that hill! So I rolled on in, as if everything was fine, and filled her up! Not even a moment of inconvenience and I got to experience my first time running out of gas on a motorcycle! My luck gets even better. I blew a spark plug. Finally got a full tank of gas and then my bike just wouldn’t start. The poor guys at the gas station were running my motorcycle in circles trying to jump start it, but once again, she wouldn’t have it! Great, in the middle of nowhere, my bike won’t start and I don’t know why. But once again, wouldn’t you know it, there were a motorcycle mechanic right next door. I took my bike there, he looked at it, pulled out the spark plug, told me to go to the parts store (about 15 ft away), spent a few cents on a new one, he pops it in and she’s running better than ever! 10 minutes later we’re back on the road!

We pull in to Punta del Diablo and I’m instantly in love. Although it’s very different, it has a similar vibe to Ocean Grove in its uniqueness and character. The houses and shops are all brightly colored and drastically different from each other. Again, all dirt roads, which are equally dangerous as they are romantic to ride on. Each little house looks like it was built by the hands of the people living in it, and all of them had at least one hammock on their porch. I just loved this town. It was so layed back and had such a cool vibe, I just instantly felt at home in this tiny nook in the world. I can understand why Ricky lived here so happily for a few months last year. We spent our first day there exploring the town, walking along the beach, etc. The next day we hopped on our bikes and road about an hour to the Brazilian border! The town right into Brazil is called Chui, and it’s not the prettiest place, but the shopping was great (we got a really nice 2 person hammock for about $10-15). After a few hours we road back down and enjoyed an evening on the hammocks outside of our hostel, drinking a little dulce de leche liquor. Did I mention dulce de leche yet?? I’m pretty sure I did, but my love has grown deeper. This deliciousness deserves its own paragraph, post, blog even. Hell, there should be a day in its honor!

Dulce de leche. Mmmm. This caramel-like treat is served EVERYWHERE here. It’s France’s nutella, Australia’s vegimite, and kicks all of their butter butts! People eat it on bread for breakfast, dazzle in its several ice cream flavors, eat it between 2 cookies, in an empanada, inside a churro, or simply with a spoon! They eat it in block form, cream form, and liquid too. I’ve used every item possible as a vehicle to get Dulce de leche into my body! Anytime I see something with it as an ingredient, sign me up! Don’t worry, I’m bringing a ton of it (in block and jar form) back for you guys. It takes up half my bag and is worth every ounce of pain to lug it around!

Moving on. We ride for 8 hours on Friday back to Punta del Este, where we have another fun night with Ricky’s friends, watching a raging storm over the water from the apartment balcony. At 9am on Saturday the storm remains, but we have to get back to Montevideo to return the bikes before the rental place closes for the weekend. We were supposed to go to one more town for a few nights along the way, but had to rearrange our plans to come back to Montevideo for a funeral today (Sunday). So we ride for about 5 hours being chased by some very angry looking clouds. The rain only catches up to us when we make quick stops to eat or use the bano, but we outrun it after about 20-30 minutes. After rushing to get to the motorcycle shop by 2, we get there at 1:15 to big metal gates around the place, very obviously closed. While we stood at the gate talking about how annoyed we were, a man in a nearby bodega told us that the woman who lived next door was the owner. Perfecto! We go next door and ask her if we can please return the bikes. She says that she owns the property, not the business. Darn. BUT, she says as we’re walking away disapointed, the owners wife owns a salon a block down the road. Stalker style, we show up and ask her to please call her husband. Ricky works it out so we can drop off the bikes there, and thus concluded our motorcycle journey! 8 days instead of 2 weeks, but we rode up to Brazil and back like we had planned, and had an amazing time doing it.

We had a nice time with family on Sat and Sun, and although the circumstance that brought everyone together was sad, this lively family had many more laughs than tears. With a week left in Uruguay, we plan to hop on an early bus tomorrow morning for 4-5 hours to hit up the town we passed over last week, Cabo Palonia. This is a hidden away little beach town with enormous sand dunes. You can’t drive into the town, you have get off the bus on the highway and take quads 20-30 minutes to the town. Looking forward to that!

Until the next time I have internets (or maybe I’ll just see ya’ll in a week!), chau!

It’s been quite a while since I updated the blog, and a lot has happened.  I made it to Antarctica!  It was a rather dramatic trip, but I made it.  Here’s a little bit about how it went:

Got on the cruise ship, and it was fancy as can be.  Enormous 11 story boat with 2 theaters, pools, a casino, the whole 9.  I never had any desire to go on a cruise before, but this was the only affordable way to get to Antarctica, so there I was.  Traveling for me is all about the journey, so being on a floating resort made me a bit restless, but it was also an opportunity to just relax and be pampered in a way I probably wouldn´t ever be again.

So day 1, the hot Buenos Aires sun is still out and everyone´s sitting around the pool enjoying themselves- very laid back and cheerful atmosphere.  Day two starts out the same way until we get an announcement from the captain that a storm is coming in so we´re not going to be able to go to our first port the following day  (The Falkland Islands).  The good news that we find out on day 3 is that we now get an extra day in Antarctica.  Great!  So we sail on.

The next few days consist of us crossing the Drake Passage, the most dangerous waterway in the world (this is due to the wind and currents that circle antarctica without any land to break them).  At times in the summer the Drake Passage can be relatively calm, but there was an abnormally low pressure causing a huge storm when we were in it.    Our days at sea are spent indoors, feeling sick and terrified, with waves that prevent everyone from being able to walk even in a relatively straight line.  The rocking is so intense that I didn´t know know which way was up, and I constantly had that feeling you get when you drop really fast in an airplane and your heart goes in your throat.  I was honestly terrified and all I wanted to do was B-line it northwest til we reached land.

Careful what you wish for.

After making it almost all the way across the Drake Passage, practically to the tip of Antarctica, the weather was so bad that we had to turn back.  I was gutted, even though the captain said we may be able to try again in a few days.  We reached Cape Horn Chile 2 days later, which was really pretty.  The next day we woke up in Ushuaia, Argentina(the southernmost city in the world) and got off the boat for the first time in 7 days.  I felt as rocky on land than I had at sea!  So what did we do? We took a 5 hour boat tour down the Beagle Canal, which goes between Argentina and Chile.  Along the way we stopped by a sea lion colony (sooooo cuuuuute, they were all cuddled on a mountain of rocks together), a comarands colony (birds that look like penguins but they fly), and a penguin colony!!  Finally!! There were literally thousands of little penguins waddling around, going swimming, napping, just being so darn cute.  We had an amazing time being photographers on this day!

So in the evening it was back on the boat, not knowing our Antarctica destiny.  The storm was still out to sea, but our captain had said he would try to go back.  So we head south for another 2 days.  With more trememdous weather.  The night of Feb 7 we went to sleep knowing that we may wake up in Antarctica, but we may also hav eto turn back in the middle of the night.  On Feb 8, at 4:00 am, we woke up to a glimpse of sun coming up (it´s light for about 18 hours a day in the summer down there).  We ran up to the deck and walked outside.  This moment was the most breathtaking and surreal moment of my life, making every thing up to this point so worth it.  We were surrounded by enormous white mountains as far as you could see, glaciers, and icebergs.  The stillness and isolation were profound and it felt like we were on another planet.  After a few minutes the shock of the freezing air left my body and I was able to just take in the scenes and start taking pictures.  It was absolutely spectacular . I never thought I could be SO incredibly taken aback by seeing a new place especially after having some amazing experiences already this year.  But this is like nothing I´ve ever experienced.  As crazy as it may make you seem to other people, I highly recommend going to Antarctica.  There really is no way to describle in words what the experience was like.  It was just amazing.  While we were there, we sailed through the Gerlache Strait and to Paradise bay.  We saw tons of penguins swimming in and out of the water like dolphins, and sitting on icebergs.  We also saw a whole bunch of whales and a few sea lions being lazy on icebergs.  The weather was perfect- clear skies, and the fog that had been surrounding the boat for the past 9 days was completely gone.  However, the weather changes drastically once you head back to the passage, and a storm was still waiting so we had to head back to land later that day.  Feb 8, 2010, the day I watched the sun rise over Antarctica, will certainly be a day I will remember for the rest of my life.

Getting back to land was incredibly challenging.  We thought it was bad the first 3 times we crossed the passage!  Changing the course midway because we couldn´t endure the storm, we experienced the worst trip yet during these days.  Waves hit the 11th deck, and the boat came up and crashed so hard it felt like we hit a giant wall.  Our glasses of water flew off the center of our nightstands while we slept, and a piano went sailing across one of the bars and through the wall.  All of the bottles of booze and glasses in the bars broke too, and there wasn´t a person on board that wasn´t at least slightly shaken with fear (except maybe Ricky, luckily for me).  All I can say is thank god for dromomine!

Eventually we made it to Puerto Madryn, Argentina.  This time I felt like we really earned being excited to come back to dry land.  We wandered the town a bit then took a taxi down a long gravel road to a sea lion colony, which was amazing.  Then back on the boat in the evening, and woke up in Montevideo, Uruguay yesterday.  We ended the cruise here instead of Buenos Aires because this is where our next journey begins! After a day visiting Ricky´s relatives, we picked up our motorcycles and had a good night sleep.  Today we begin the second half of the trip.  A very very different trip than rocky seas and feezing Antarctica.  We are now in 98 degree heat, with our bags packed and strapped to our motorcycles.  We will ride for a week up to Brazil, stopping in a few beach towns along the way, including La Pedrera where we will party for Carnaval!

That brings us up to speed! There´s so much more that I could write about, but it was long enough to just type up the basic events of the past 20 days!  I´ll try to write more from the road.

So the next journey begins!

Our hostel room balcony

Mile high ceilings

Well we made it to our real first destination! The flights were quite long, but having the long layover in El Salvador was a great way to break up the 15 hours in the air.   Our layover in Peru was short and a bit of a blur-  spent 20 minutes in line for security then we were already boarding!  We had the same seats in the same row, on the same side of the plane for all 3 planes, so it was funny always having a new person occupying the row with us.  The second flight was a man from Panama who played every instrument in the world and now lives in West Virginia.  Somewhere along the way a lady replaced him- I got confused as to where Alexis went, but then remembered it was a different flight.  Clearly a little groggy, we arrived at Buenos Aires at 4:00 am and got a taxi to our hostel just as the horizon began looking like a flattened rainbow silhouetting the tall buildings.  We were about 8 hours too early to check in, but luckily the boy at the hostel desk was really nice.  Our room wasn’t ready but we pleaded for somewhere to lay our weary heads, so he brought us up to the 3rd floor (through outside staircases), and let us sleep in a spare room that had a stack of bare mattresses, some bed frames, and one scratchy wool blanket.  Sadly I was too tired to get the words out before I drifted off to sleep, but I wanted to tell Ricky “this is how Jesus was born” (minus the animals and presents).  After 3 short hours of sleep, 3 girls and the new hostel staff gal walked in (the kid from the night before wasn’t supposed to let us sleep in this room and told us we had to scaddadle before 10, but it was only 9!).  We went from a dead sleep to putting on shoes to give the girls the room.  Luckily I finally got to take a shower and we walked a few blocks to a nice park.  Stopping for some fruit at a supermarket along the way, we sat under a tree and napped/read/people watched for hours.  On the way to check into the hostel around 12, we stopped by the famous cemetery which had enormous moseliums (is that what they’re called? we couldn’t remember- ricky kept offering up words like manicotti and Mussolini and we settled on moselium).  Finally, a real room to stay in! And not just any room, this room is amazing.  Although it’s approximately the size of a shoebox, the ceilings are 20 feet tall, with doors 3 times our size, and a balcony overlooking the beautiful street below.  The architecture and vibe of this city reminds me very much of Paris.  So beautiful, so laid pack, and just plain charming.  And much like Paris, I don’t understand anything anyone is saying to me so I just assume everyone is saying something very nice.

All in all the trip has gone off without a hitch except for poor Ricky’s sunburn- this sun is STRONG and there’s no escaping being drenched in sweat (careful what you wish for, now the brisk NJ air seems as refreshing as a popsicle!).   Janet asked how he was doing and I said “Red as a lobster but happy as a clam!”

We have a laptop with free internet until Sunday so expect plenty of contact from me for the next few days, then I’ll be dropping off the planet for 2 weeks! Adios for now!!

A picture of Ricky taking a picture of an enormous active volcano

I’m currently sitting in a coffee shop at the el Salvador airport. Who would have thought that this tiny country would be the 5th largest coffee exporter in the world? Too bad I don’t drink the stuff. So the flight last night was smooth despite a lack of sleep and a man who poured over halfway into rickys seat. We both liked how this large man kept his cowboy hat on his stomach at all times, like that’s just where his hat goes! Sadly the rhythmic melody of his snores brought me little relaxation so I turned over and over in my seat trying to get comfy. The flight itself was pleasantly smooth and if it weren’t for seeing night turn to day, it would have seemed relatively short as well. Arriving in el salvador at 8 am we were greeted by a warm sun, a swarm of Spanish men enthusiastic to become our taxi driver, and one friend of a friends who’s friend was sick so he sent another friend, with a vaguely-legible “Ricardo y Nina” sign. It was quite nice that his car couldn’t go over 35 mph, so there was ample time to sightsee and take photos. What an interesting country. It’s a blend between Bali, Costa Rica and Dominican republic. the scenery was beautiful- tons of trees and mountains. Lining the streets were small stands with an abundance of coconuts. I never understood how someone in the market for a coconut can decide which coconut sales person to give business to. I personally always like the ones who are fast asleep in their hammocks. So we drove around for a few hours, got bombarded at one point by a barrage of restaurant owners who desperately wanted me and Ricky to dine in his shack (which I was all about but due to their over-enthusiasm i was unable to get out of the car). We opted to grab lunch at a little hotel restaurant which was very colorful. Then we spent a bit of time getting our shoes filled with sand, our pant cuffs soaked and our shoulders burned on a beautiful and desolate beach. With sticky popsicles blowing all over us from the open window, we made it back to the airport. Though a little sandy and sticky, we made it back alive with memories of a beautiful central American country and a new stamp in our passports. All in all a good day!

Shortly we will reboard a plane for 10 more hours with a quick stop in Peru. Can’t wait for that thin springy mattress calling my name from the buenos aires hostel. Here I come!

Here I go again, 3 continents to go before my 25th year is up.  I hadn’t planned to do this whole escapade when I turned 25 in Paris… the goal was set after realizing I’d already been to 4 continents this year.  I like the idea of actually doing the things that we can dream up.  Yes, my savings account feels a bit abused, but I’m pretty sure spending all my money to see the world is something I’ll never regret.  So, I got this idea in my head to visit 7 continents after my Australia/Bali trip.  I did some research for fun to see if it would be an option to go to Antarctica.  This untouched continent at the bottom of the world is pretty much only visited by scientists, although a few cruise companies have begun sailing weirdos down who want to stare at ice and penguins.  The more research I did, the more intrigued I became- the photos show its incredible beauty, the idea of such isolation seems peaceful, and it would certainly be an experience to remember.  Most of the trips I found down there were quite pricey because you had to go with a scientist exploration, but I did find one cruise line that went down there for an extremely reasonable price.  I’ve never had any desire to go on a cruise, and the cruise itself is what I’m least excited about.  However, it’s the only way to get to one of my final destinations, so here I am.  This particular cruise leaves out of Buenos Aires Argentina and goes along the coast of South America.  The cruise itself was only 2 weeks, so I wanted to do a little bit of traveling around South America while I was in the area.  Originally I had planned to go on the cruise with my college buddy TJ and we were going to spend a week in Brazil beforehand.  After TJ was unable to come at the last minute, the change of plans lead to my new boyfriend Ricky taking his spot.  As disappointing as it was to not have that time with TJ, it worked out well to be going with someone who not only is a traveler, but is from Uruguay!  This lead to a whole new plan: 2 weeks riding motorcycles along the whole coast of Uruguay up to Brazil.  Not only will this be an adventure, but we also will be going during Carnaval!  Talk about an experience! Staying in hostels on beaches along the way, I plan to take lots of pictures, learn a bit of Spanish, experience a new culture, and enjoy the South American summer!

Packing for this trip was quite funny… from down jackets and gloves to bikinis and beach towels, to sequin dresses and motorcycle goggles.  What a diverse month this will be! Internet will be extremely limited especially on the cruise, so I’ll update this as often as I can.  9 countries in 1 month… let’s hope this trip goes as smoothly as the last 2!!

Here’s the general itinerary:

Jan 25- El Salvador

Jan 26-31 Buenos Aires, Argentina

Jan 31- Feb 13 Falkland Islands, Antarctica, Chile, Uruguay

Feb 14-26 Uruguay, Brazil

Feb 26-27 Peru, Costa Rica

Feb 28 Home sweet home!

Ciao for now!