Rolling in Brazil. Now on the island of Marajó. Interesting place--Lots of bicycles and buffalo. Pretty laid back. I will be heading to Belém, and then biking towards Sao Luis in Maranhao.

I am now in Manaus, Brasil. The plan is to head to the festival in Parintins in the next couple days. Manaus is huge. About two million people, and it has a 12 mile radius from the town center to the outskirts. We stayed with a family for a few days; my Portuguese is quickly strengthening. I want its level to become as strong as my Spanish, if not stronger. Some of my earlier impressions on arriving here were that Brasil has been hit with a massive wave of tourists in the last five to ten years, and this has changed their attitude and behavior towards tourists, including me. More Brazilians are learning English, and pretty much assume that a tourist does not speak Portuguese, and that they will not be able to communicate if they do not speak English. I surprise people with my Portuguese, or they just think I am Brazilian. My Portuguese is not perfect, but it is good, and I often get asked if I am a Brazilian. With the upcoming World Cup and Olympics, many people plan to learn English by the start of the Cup to be more effective in their jobs. I have been posting almost all my photos on facebook. Soon I will publish more photos and videos here, or make some more photos on Facebook public. I have uploaded many videos publicly on my youtube channel; see link above right.

I am currently in Iquitos, Peru. I arrived here from the border of Ecuador on a boat similar to this one and this one will take me from here to the border with Brasil. This afternoon, I will board this boat and travel to Brasil!

Water Park near Coca, Orellana, Ecuador

Estou em Coca/Orellana, Ecuador, a espera de um barco de Iquitos, no Peru. Vai chegar o 20 do Maio, quando iremos para Iquitos. Enquanto isso, estamos disfrutando Coca. Estoy en Coca/Orellana, Ecuador, esperando un barco de Iquitos, Peru. Va a llegar el 20 de Mayo, cuando iremos a Iquitos. Mientras tanto, estamos disfrutando Coca. I am in Coca/Orellana, Ecuador, waiting for a boat from Iquitos, Peru. It will arrive the 20th of May, at which time we will leave for Iquitos. Meanwhile, we are enjoying Coca.

I am in Puerto Francisco de Orellana (El Coca) in the province of Orellana, Ecuador. I enjoyed the festivities today celebrating the founding of Coca, this town, plus the inauguration of a large, beautiful bridge called Puente Mejestuoso Rio Napo, attended and led by Ecuador President Correa.

I am in Puerto Misahuallí, a town in the Ecuadorian Amazon Jungle. The coolest thing about this town is that Capuchin monkeys roam free through the town, and they are super entertaining to watch--always playing with each other, jumping through trees, running across the ground, climbing up parked cars and trucks, sliding down the windshields, climbing poles and buildings. They love to shake things, including empty restaurant tables, and knock them over. They use tools, including rocks as anvils, and they are adept at learning from imitation. They learned to use a lighter, turn knobs to open doors, turn caps to open bottles, break jars open against the ground or dropping them off ledges, etc. I plan to visit a natural, cultural museum of the indigenous tomorrow, and visit a waterfall with a swimmable pool a the bottom tomorrow. In two days, we plan to depart by bicycle to Coca (Francisco de Orellana), where we will eventually catch our first boat in a series of boats on the Napo and Amazon leading us across the continent, to Iquitos, Peru; Leticia, Colombia; Manaus, Santarem, and Belem do Pará, Brasil, at the mouth of the Amazon river, where we will then take to the roads of the coast of Brasil by bicycle.

Hey everybody, I am in Quito still. Well, actually now based in Tumbaco, at the other casa de ciclistas. A few things happened that made me stay here a few extra days. Our new plan is to leave this Friday towards Pifo, Papallacta, Baeza, Tena, Puerto Misahuallí, and later Orellana-Coca, Nueva Rocafuerte, Iquitos, Leticia, Manaus, Santarem, Belem, Fortaleza, Natal... I took a tour through Quito today, walking at first. I first went to the health clinic to see if they offered a shot I have read about and heard about that boosts immunity to malaria. They did not have it; they said only pills exist and I would have to see an independent doctor in order to get the pills. I walked out of the clinic and saw a store with sewing machines. My jacked needed a bit of stitching repair, and I asked them if they could repair it. They only sold machines there, it turned out. I asked a cop for a place where they do sewing repairs, a sastreria, which is so common in Latin America. The cop directed me a couple blocks away to a shop next to where they make fresh juices. I went there and first ordered a orange-grapefruit-carrot juice for eighty five cents. It was awesome. I soon found a repair shop for my jacket. The guy spoke Quechua to his coworker as he stitched my jacket, then my coin purse, and then my kindle case, expertly. He charged a dollar for the jacket and fifty cents for the purse. By the time he got to the kindle case, he had interviewed me about my bike trip and no longer cared to charge me. He invited me to a Quechua wedding on May 6. Though I don´t plan to be, I told him if I was still in town at that date, I would go to the wedding with them, near Cotopaxi. There will be a live band playing typical Ecuadorian music, and lots of traditional booze. Sounds nice, but unfortunately I believe I will miss that. We later found out that he is, coincidentally, exactly ten days older than I am. After leaving the tailor shop, I made my way to a restaurant that offered soup, a plate of rice, potatoes and gravy, chicken, and berry juice, for a dollar fifty. I left satisfied, and then poked my head into the entrance to a private highschool, in the Franciscan tradition, located behind the gorgeous San Francisco church. The campus has a beautiful backdrop of colonial oldtown Quito. The kids were leaving campus, and many hung out to socialize and participated in afterschool sports. I left there and headed towards Panecillo, which is a lookout point on a hill with a statue of an angel. Unfortunately, it is dangerous to walk up there due to muggings, a fate which one of my cycle touring friends still currently in Quito suffered recently when he hiked up there alone. I did not want to pay for a taxi up and back, so I then opted for a twenty five cent trolley ride to the historic, and still operational train station in Southern Quito. It did not disappoint. The station itself is impressive with its early twentieth century architecture--it was inaugurated in 1906--its tiles floors, murals. An more impressive still are the restored engines and traincars displayed on the tracks, and the gorgeous, green mountains, plus pastel colored houses in the backdrop. Later, I read my kindle in the coffee shop of the train station, then kept reading as I took the trolley all the way to the other, North end of town for just another twenty five cents. Now at the terminal I write you.

Plan is to leave tomorrow, cycling with Gary Tran, over the hills and into the Amazon! Provided I can obtain the package from customs today. Quito and Construbicis Ecuador has been an amazing experience. Thank you Carlitos, Mónica Coba, Ramona Toa, Santi, Daniel, Lorena, et al. Yesterday was the farewell to Javier Camacho Reviriego and Pedro Alonso--may you two have excellent trips heading South and perhaps we will see each other again in Rio at Gary's restaurant. Thank you, guys, for sharing the trip from Guatemala to Ecuador, from Maya Pedal to Construbicis Ecuador--it was a rich, enriching, and memorable experience.

Hello followers. I am now in Quito, and it is quite a nice city. I plan to be here a few weeks waiting on a parcel, enjoying the city, and building a bicycle blender at ConstruBicis. I will also be studying mathematics, reviewing and practicing, to be an online tutor, to earn some money, and to get back in touch with mathematics in preparation to continue technical studies at a university in Brasil.

Guallabamba to Tumbaco

I am now in Tumbaco, Pichincha, a few kilometers outside of Quito. Today, I rode from Guallabamba to here, starting at the firestation, and stopping for three hours at the zoo. The end of the ride was a beautiful, long stretch of trail over a former train track. It wound through the hills and across the ravines, passing through tunnels...spectacular. The train path is perfectly designed for bicycles as it follows a trajectory to minimize ups and downs.
In the end, I am hosted at a Casa de Ciclistas that has been active for twenty-two years. The owner is Santiago who runs a bicycle repair shop out of his garage, and he repairs the bikes of some of Quito's wealthy mountain bikers.
Tomorrow, we will pick up tickets to Manu Chao who will play with Calle 13 in Quito next Tuesday. In a couple days, we will move to the Casa de Ciclistas in Quito, ConstruBicis in the Mariscal Sucre district. It is looking to be an exciting next couple weeks here.

Otavalo, Ecuador

At the moment, I am in Otavalo, Ecuador, a town about 90 kilometers, or 55 miles, North of Quito. I am hosted at the firestation, along with my three traveling friends, Javier, Pedro and Gary. We will leave tomorrow morning towards Quito, and will likely stay at the "Casa de Ciclistas" in Tumbaco, just 15 kilometers East of Quito. Then we will head into Quito, and we will stay at "ConstruBicis", a bike store and shop, with complimentary lodging for cycle tourists (also a "Casa de Ciclistas). I will stay in Quito for two or three weeks to work as a volunteer at ConstruBicis, to get to know the city, to hang out with friends, and have a goodbye party as our group of four will separate after Quito--Gary and I will cycle East to Coca (Orellana) to board boats on the Amazon into Brasil, and Javier and Pedro will head on bicycle towards points South. Once in Belem do Pará in Brasil, I will continue on bicycle in the Northeast, heading South along the coast. I may settle in the Northeast, or keep heading South. Gary will make his way, first on bicycle and then bus, to Rio, where he will meet up with friends and business associates who are opening a restaurant chain.

Otavalo is a small town with lots of indigenous heritage. "Otavaleños", or people from Otavalo, retain much of their ancestral culture. The women dress with pretty embroidered blouses, and the men wear single-braided pony tails. The typical Andean music made famous by Paul Simon's El Condor Pasa (If I Could) is prevalent here, and is played in the central plaza over the sound system.

North of Otavalo, we visited Lago Cuicocha, a lake created in the crater of a volcano. The peak of the volcano to the north of the crater lake is snow-capped and beautiful. Just outside of Ibarra, we also visited Laguna Yahuarcocha, the lake of blood, named when the Incans dumped hundreds of bodies of a rival tribe into the lake, before the Spanish arrived.

Ecuador has been delightfully pleasant, with beautiful scenery and friendly people. I particularly thank the fire-people of the now four stations we have posted up at so far in Ecuador. They have been extremely pleasant, friendly, and interested is us and our stories.

One particular fire station experience stands out in Ecuador--participating in yet another search and rescue dog class. (The first one was in Pasto, Colombia.) It was simply fun to watch the dogs play the game of find the person hiding and then bark to alert the search and rescue worker. It is a game, that is, to the dogs, but serious work to the rescuers.

Well, thank you for following my blog. I know I haven't written in awhile, and I hope to get back to writing more consistently. Cheers.

Biking from Pasto to Ipiales and Las Lajas today. Viajando en bici de Pasto a Ipiales y Las Lajas hoy. Viajando em bici de Pasto ao Ipiales e Las Lajas hoje.