To see or not to see?

After finishing up my summer job at Rustic Pathways in Peru this summer I made sure to book my ticket at least a month after my end date for some imperative traveling, after a summer where all I did was travel. Yes, I was wiped out and tired after 60 days of nonstop traveling while being in charge of groups of 20 dependent, vulnerable, horny, non-stop question asking, high maintenance teenagers. It is a job where you are technically working 24 hours a day, however when you are whitewater rafting, zip-lining, bungee jumping and visiting some of the worlds most renowned historical sites it doesn't always feel like a job. However, when you are herding kids like sheep in foreign countries where they don't speak the language, translating, arranging meals, taking care of injuries and answering the barrage of questions about what we will be doing every minute for the next 15 days it can feel like a job.

Anyways, after these memorable 60 days I needed to jet-set myself and I only had a little over a month to decide where I was going to parade around in South America. My only restriction was my flight was leaving out of Medellin and that I was in Lima, Peru at the time. To some people this can seem like a daunting task. How will I get to Medellin? Where will I stay? Isn't Colombia dangerous? Is it safe for an American to go there alone? Most people would consider me relaxed in this aspect as I prefer to travel in this fashion and thrive doing so. In my eyes my trip was already a little restricted because I had a return ticket and I had to be in Medellin by a certain date. I enjoy the thrill of a showing up in a city or a pueblo by myself in the night time with my backpack and getting off the bus with everybody staring at me wondering why I am there. Judging me curiously with my sunkissed (or furiously burnt) face, my sleeveless shirt demonstrating my white gumby like arms,  my light colored long hair tied back into a ponytail and my shorts. If these clues weren't obvious enough to demonstrate that I was a gringo surely my 35lbs backpack shooting above my head like a linebackers neck protection and my smaller backpack on my frontside were. Not having anywhere to go and not knowing anybody in the town add an excitement as well. It is a great way to get a feel for the people are you speak to them and ask them if they know of any cheap hostels nearby. This is a great indicator of the people of the city and even the people from the country. There willingness to talk to a lost stranger and their receptive manner to this. So, as much as they are judging me, I am not only judging them, but their entire population. For this reason it is important that I do this often to get as many subjects as I can to have more of a wholesome experiment. It would be unfair if I judged all of Peru based off of the one person who was late for a date at 10pm on a Tuesday (and yes, chances are everyone is late, don't forget I'm in Latin America).

With a little over a month to myself and after visiting the two sites in Peru I had to before I left Peru (Huaraz & Iquitos) I was debating whether I should split my time between Ecuador and Colombia or just get to know Colombia really well. This is a tuff debate for a traveler and really depends on the type of traveler that you are. Also, of course, your budget. Should you see more countries and go to all of the places that you would think of going to on a pre-mediated trip, more of the tourist route (i.e. for Peru Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, Arequipa). OR, do you go to a country and really get a good feel for it. Not rushing through it and having time to visit small pueblos that you wouldn't have time to do. I don't like to rush, in most aspects of life, so I choose Colombia and only Colombia. This meant leaving from Iquitos (where the Amazon river basin begins), which is only reachable my plane or boat, I would have to fly into Colombia or take a boat. Distance wise it should be easy to fly to Colombia, but because Peru is so centralized it is cheaper to fly to Lima and the fly to Colombia than it is to fly directly to Colombia. I choose the boat ride 10 hours in speedboat rather than 3 days in slow boat further down the Amazon to Leticia, Colombia.

Look at a map of Leticia, Colombia to see that right there is where Colombia, Peru and Brazil border. It is interesting because more than really belonging to these countries these people belong to the amazon. They have beautiful, smooth, naturally moisturized mocha skin. The men don't have facial hair as an evolutionary trait of living in the Amazon. It is too humid to have hair in the amazon and I can confirm that statement with my ponytail and my Jewish, Italian genes having spent a good amount of time in the Amazon. Genetics are amazing and mine definitely do not come from there! Even though these people are more Amazonian than anything they still have a ton of pride for their own respective countries, especially in matters as important as futbol. On the day that Colombia played Brazil in the 2014 World Cup they closed land border shared between them that is typically free to cross. I'm sure this was necessary as they are both loquito for their teams. The border between Peru and Colombia has to be crossed by boat but between Colombia and Brazil it can be easily crossed by foot. I crossed in the Brazil just for fun while I was there and it is amazing how much 10 yards can make. All of a sudden things were in a different language, the people looked different, they were listening to Samba music, eating different food and drinking different beer! It is amazing to see the difference between 3 countries all within a confined area. This women I talked with in Brazil told me that most people there don't speak Spanish but that they understand it and visa versa with the Colombians and Peruvians. They cross the borders to buy things in the other countries such as electronics and clothes which are cheaper in Colombia and Peru than in Brazil.