That's all Folks!

Surprise, it's been just over 10 months and I've decided to pull the plug. That is, my trip is finished and this blog posting is coming to you from the comfort of my parents home in Toronto. Im a huge fan of Seinfeld, not just the show but also the guy. One thing ive always admired about Jerry was his decision to cancel the show after years of being the top comedy on TV. I guess he sensed it was starting to slip so he ended it. "It's better to go out on top then fade away". A few days ago i made the same decision with regards to my trip. The last couple of months have been absolutely amazing: the unreal beauties of the antarctic, my most amazing trekking experiences in patagonia, livin "the life" in my favorite city in the world and finally experiencing carnival with my long time buddy. And although central america would have it's own share of highlights, I realized that this was the moment to go out on top. What is interesting is that there were two events that were the tipping points in my thought process:
1) While on top of Volcan Baru, my camera decided to call it quits.
2) Stubbed my toes, loosing a couple toe nails. There is a great and lengthy story behind how this happened but ill save it for a good travel tale over beer.
Of course this meant no hiking for the next few weeks and of course no photography. In addition, I read through Lonely Planet Central america and there absolutely nothing i was dying to see or experience...everything i had dreamed about for so long, i had already achieved. Add to this the joy of returning to family after a long time apart made this one of the simplest decisions of my life (literaly was made in 2 minutes).

I hope you've enjoyed following me around for the last little while, reading my tales and soaking up the pics. Seems strange, but today is the happiest ive ever been. Maybe it's the feeling of accomplishing a dream, or the memories of experiences or the prospect of things to come. The feeling is similar to the day you graduate university...minus all the built up stress.

Finally, let me answer the question everyone keeps asking me "What was your favorite place?". It's very complex since ones enjoyment of a particular place heavily depends on many factors: your interests, weather, what languages you speak and most importantly the people you meet. That said, below is a list of my fav places broken up by the two legs of my trip:

Europe Leg
Amsterdam (it's amsterdam!)
Prague (best over-touristed town)
Sarajevo (best non-touristed town)
Granada (ultimate Andalusian experience)
Munich (feels like an amazing city to live in)
Poland (huge bias here)
Alps - French & Swiss (best hiking)
Morocco (most interesting culture)

South America Leg
Bolivia (undiscovered natural beauty, friendliest people)
Argentina (country that captured my heart)
Buenos Aires (in Argentina, but so amazing it's worthy of another note)
Cuzco (backpacker heaven)
Patagonia (best hiking)

Of course, if you got a bit of excess cash, then the antarctic is not to be missed!


Hasta la vista!

Carnival Vets

Well it´s Carnival time in the latin world, shawn and i are on an island off the panama mainland called Bocas del Toro. Last night was the first day of carnival and the entire island (along with plenty of tourists) was celebrating. We began early at a very cool hostel which had 50c happy hour beer specials. This was followed up by a street party and then a beach club. Shawn and i now consider ourselves carnival veterans.

Coffee & Strawberries

After leaving central america´s most modern city, shawn and i headed west to the mountain town of Boquete. A beautiful place, with panama´s best coffee. After spending the day organizing our trek we set off on a three day adventure. The first day, we climbed to the top of Panama´s highest peak, Volcan Barú (3750) where we camped a couple hundred meters below the summit. The volano has another interesting characteristic that sets it apart from all other peaks that line the pacific rim: at the peak, it´s the only place in the world, where on a clear day, one can see both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. After setting up camp the first night, we watched the sunset from the peak. The second day, we climbed over and down the backside of the volcano...witnessed one of the most breathtaking rainbows either one of us has ever seen and ended up in a small town on the other side. This small town (can´t remember the name at the moment) claims to have the worlds best strawberries. I enjoyed the best strawberry milkshake ive ever had that night. The final day, we trekked back to boquete around the volcano on a path this know to be the most beautiful in panama. Basically jungle, with tropical birds (that we could hear, not see) and a lone horse who followed us for half and hour. Tonight we rest in boquete and head for the coast tomorrow.


Last shot of me before my camera went kaput<

Diablo Rojos

One last note about argentina...our final night, Igor and i saw a Tango show at a famous BA cafe. Although i have no desire to learn, i must admit that the argentinian tango is the most suductive "classic" dance that ive ever witnessed.

Now onto Central America! Im in Panama City with my buddy shawn. Yesterday was his 27th birthday, so we promply celebrated by drinking large amounts of alcohol, chillin on our hostel patio. Today we visited the famous canal where we saw some boats go through the locks. One of the most interesting things we´ve seen here are the buses. All the city buses are pimped up school buses. You know the yellow ones from back home, spray painted with various designs (jesus seems to be very popular), chrome rims, huge exhausts (18-wheeler style), tinted windows, and massive sound systems pumping the latest latin beats. The local name for this buses on steriods is Diable Rojo (red devils). More chillin this afternoon, it´s really really hot here and tonight we´re off to the western part of panama for some trekking!


Tight squeeze

Can´t believe it´s over...

Its my final day in South America and i must say ive gotten really attached to this place. So many experience and memories, i smile everytime i scroll down my blog. Ive spent 5 months here and without hesitation i could spend 5 more. Places that i didnt have a chance to visit but will be dreaming of include venesuela and columbia. By the way, if you havent seen my brazil blog (from last year) check it out! Tonight we´re throwing a little party and hitting our favorite nightclub until the wee hours of the morning. Tomorrow i start the final (boohoo) leg of my trip...central america.

Devil´s throat from both sides

Igor and I just got back from a trip to Iguazu Falls. The only waterfall that ive seen in my past that is comparable is Niagra. Definetly not as strong or powerful as niagra, but iguazu is set in a national park, surrounded by rainforest and stretches much longer than it´s canadian rival. The highlight of the day was when we reached the boardwalk that was at the rim of the biggest waterfall called Garganta del Diablo (devel´s throat). A storm was starting to come through bringing in cold winds, while the devel expelled warm mist from its base. We were soaked with both warm and cold air hitting us from various directions...heaps of fun. The following day, we crossed over the the Brazilian side to get a different perspect of the falls. Now back im back in BA enjoying my last few days of south america.


Bit of the falls

Quinta

Quick update from Buenos Aires. Not much has changed, just enjoying the everyday, doing a little sight seeing and lots of nightlife. We took a tour of Theatro Colon, which due to its excellent accoustics ranks up there with the best theaters in europe. Night life has encluded: 1) an "afterwork" disco modeled after the opera house in sydney where we partied with a few thousand people until 3am on a wednesday night 2) a normal disco that had a full-blow transvestite dance show half way through the night (ask igor for the videos) 3) a quinta (argentinian word for house party in the country) in a pimp suburb of BA. Today, we´re off on a trip to Iguazu.


Only decent photo i was allowed to take on the tour of theatro colon

The Return of the Croc

Im back in Buenos Aires! Igor, a friend of mine from seattle has joined me for two weeks here. We´ve rented a penthouse apartment in trendy palermo and i get to lead a little more of a "normal" life for a while.


Goofing around in La Boca


Sushi restaurant just outside our apt

Last night was very tripy. After eating at an all you can eating sushi restaurant (muy bien) we went out to a popular irish pub downtown (monday night, what else can you do?). We were sitting by the bar and at one point igor went to the bathroom. While he´s gone, a guy walks up to the bar stands right next to me and orders a beer. I recognize him right away but im completely shocked, so all i do is keep looking at him. Im thinking maybe i had too much to drink. He notices me looking straight at him, he looks at me and then looks away again...no expression on his face. I keep staring, he looks back again at me (probably thinging "what´s this weirdo doing?")...and again doesnt recognize. Finally a third time he looks at me, then looks behind him thinking maybe im looking at something else. Finally i say "crocodile!"...and then it hits him as well "Bart you bastard!". Chris is a guy i hung out with for 4 days in budapest...one of the english guys i beat in the cold water challenge. He´s the guy who quit his job after hearing about my future south america travel plans and booked an overland trip of the continent...and they´ve stopped in BA for a few days. Ive heard many "oh my god, you wont believe the coincidence" travel stories before, but this one takes the cake. If you remember my little blog about A Few Fun Interesting People chris and i are on there...look for us wearing red shirts.

Reading update

Couple more books that i have not been thrilled with:

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. If you have knowledge of any of the following subjects: software programming, cryptography or chemistry then this book is worth a read for a good laugh.

If you like their ice cream and interested in business then Ben and Jerry´s Double Dip is worth a read. Got bored about half way into the book...im just not in that frame of mind right now.

Doin´ the Dabooya

Wow, just back from Torres del Paine national park. Over the last 5 days, ive "done the W". The "W" is most likely south americas second most popular trek (behind the inca trail). I did a slighly extended version, roughly 80km. Everyday was filled with highlights...sunrise at the famous towers (after which the park is named), watching distant avalanches in the Valle Frances and sunset at Grey Glacier. Its not all flowers and butterfies though, patagonia makes you work for it...a couple days i had severe winds, the kind that will knock you over if you´re not careful. Very gusty (the day before i arrived, 150km/h gusts had been measured), changing directions every few seconds...sometimes i felt i was a boxer getting his fair share in the ring. But no rain and lots of sun made everything, even the wind a pleasant experience. That´s it for patagonia! So, so, sad...


Me hiking in Frances Valley


Glacier at sunset


Torres at sunrise


Resting me feet


Beautiful even on a grey day...