Shockhound Chronicles

Tomorrow we leave for Cusco, Peru and prepare ourselves for the Machu Picchu hike, which is a 4-day 3-night hike. The hike begins January 5^th. On the 4^th day we arrive at the ruins before the sun is up which allows us to watch the sunrise while we are perched up overlooking the mountains and the site. I am very excited about this hike and of the many travelers we have come across, most say Machu Picchu is in their top 3 places they have been. Cusco’s elevation is roughly 10,000 ft so altitude sickness is something that we have been warned about. We have been told its best to lay around for 3-5 hours so our bodies can get accustomed to the elevation.

Living in Colombia for the last 2 weeks has been an amazing experience. When we arrived the 14^th no one expected Colombia would be such a pleasant and beautiful area. I was a bit worried at first because of the 4 of us, only 1 had the appropriate skin color for the trip, making us obvious tourists/targets. I soon found out that was something we hardly had to worry about and the Colombian people are extremely friendly. From seeing the beaches to hiking the jungles, we have enjoyed our stay here but ready to move onward with this adventure.

Happy New Year,

SH

Welcome to the Jungle

Our Christmas was everything but ordinary. The 5 day hike which ended up being 6 because of violent weather definitely exceeded my expectations. Basic guidelines and rules were not discussed nor was in overview of anything that was yet to come from our guides. Which made it all the better. Walking into the unknown is scary, yet exciting, and it definitely makes the trip all that more memorable. Although I did not know our guides I did trust them with my life and they were simply amazing. Being told too much and what to do all the time is annoying but being able to figure it out on your own is that much more enjoyable and empowering. I would recommend the Lost City hike to anyone who is adventurous, can sleep outside in a hammock listening to the sound of rain, lightening, frogs and other animals I can not tell you what they were, open to dramatic changes in the weather, doesn't mind washing in rivers and doesn't mind getting eating alive by mosquitos. Peace out xoxo

The L :)

Getting Lost in The Lost City

We all have so much to say about our recent 6 day trek to The Lost City in Tayrona National Park. For starters the trek was supposed to be 5 days long, but we'll get to that in just a second. Since the 4 of us will obviously have 4 different point of views from the trek, we're going to break this post up into 4 separate paragraphs and let everyone voice there opinions, we'll include pictures and some great video at the end.

Big Cat:

Initially I was very pumped for the hike. We had heard a lot of great things about it and apparently the scenery and trail rivals that of Macchu Picchu. On the jeep ride up the mountain (12 km of winding awful roads) I was feeling a bit feverish, it was a feeling I would have for the first two days of the hike, it was miserable. I will say that the trail and scenery were definitely incredible, but I felt sick as a dog and I was hiking 6-8 miles a day uphill then downhill then through rivers and forrest. Luckily I was able to kick the sickness by the 3rd day... Just in time to get to the base camp at the bottom of the Lost City.

The camps were all very cool and our group/guides were incredible, I want to give a shout-out to our Aussie friends Greg and Liron ("Legs"). They made the trip even more enjoyable and we look forward to meeting up with them again in Cuzco in a week or so. Also a shout-out to our friends Bec, Simon, Andres, Ben & Brent, Alaska, Mel Gibson (our UK friend), "P," Mae, and Owens. I don't think I would have wanted to share a one room school house floor with any other people in the world. And last but certainly not least shout-out to our guides Eduardo, Javier, and the Cogi Indians you saved our lives when we were stuck in between two raging rivers as the sun went down and we were being pummeled by a tropical storm (video at the end of the post).

The Lost City itself was very cool, extremely old, older than the Incan, Mayan, and Aztec civilizations. Very green and we had to climb 1200+ steps to get up there, I believe that is more than the Sears Tower.

The ride back down was a bit chaotic. We left the mountain in some jeeps just as it started to downpour. We were driving through raging rivers in the middle of the road and landslides were happening frequently, I was scared shitless. Also we had to get out of the jeep a few times when it got stuck so we could get it out of the mud. We finally got to a small oasis at the top of the mountain where there was a small school house and two other tiny buildings where a family lived. Needless to say we made the decision to stop there for the night after a landslide happened in front of the school and the jeeps could go no further. This was on the 5th day when we had been getting rained on for the previous 3 days before that. Every inch of our bodies and clothes were soaking wet and there was nowhere to sleep but the floor of the school. We huddled together on the floor of the school house with a few blankets and tarps that were provided by the family... God bless Colombians and their incredible hospitality. We woke up at around 4 am and walked the remaining 10 km in the rain to the bottom of the mountain and VICTORY!!!

This trek definitely goes down in the top 3 craziest things in my life and the adventure and story is completely worth the suffering we went through during the trip. All in all I am a better person for having done it and I would definitely recommend it to anyone else... Although I doubt any of you will take me up on that after you see the videos Haha!

Big Cat Out

Damian Crossing The Flood

Jordan and Joey Crossing the Flood

Chaz:

Alright, I know your "daily shot with Chaz" has lately been more like your occasional glass of wine with mother during dinner, and for that I apologize, but as you can see we've been pretty busy with hikes, meeting people and just taking it day by day. So now that I've got some time and some internet, sit back, relax and let me drop some knowledge on you...

First of all, if anyone ever asks you to join them on a trip to the jungle DO IT! no questions asked. It's honestly one of those once in a lifetime kind of thing that you'll never regret assuming you don't catch Malaria or get attacked by an anaconda or something. Although I didn't see any snakes, the wildlife was surreal. I mean I may as well have been recording for Planet Earth in some cases. Crazy ant colonies, all different colors and sorts of caterpillars, bats and the most incredible spectacle of mating fireflies I've ever seen in my life. We stayed in four different locations during the hike all of which were on indigenous Cogi land. Here are some pics we took of the trip.

That's just a little taste of the more scenic ones we took (especially of Colombian Owens rocking the purple spandex) so if you want to see more just let me know, hopefully my mom won't be the only one taking me up on that offer. Anyways, I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas. We're definitely looking forward to NYE and Machu Piccu coming up soon so there will be lots to check out from us in the next week or so. Until then.

Starting to binge again,

-Chaz


Shockhound:

We stared death in the face and beat it back with a stick... twice.

Shockhound doing what shockhound does,

-Shockhound

Feliz Navidad from the selva

Santa Marta has been amazing these past few days. Great beaches, food, and overall the people that live here are awesome. They are so friendly, welcoming, and have a great sense of humor. You can see how tight-nit the community is and how they all look after one another. As Christmas approaches me and the gang decided to do this 5 day hike in the jungle to the Lost CIty in Tyrona National Park. From what I hear the hike itself is more impressive than the site itself fine by me as long as I can see an anaconda haha but seriously they warn you about them. Now I am thinking I should have gotten that rabies shot that was recommended to me... hmm... Well Merry Christmas from the jungle xoxo

Shockhound Chronicles

Tomorrow we will be traveling on a 5 day hike up to the Lost City and will be arriving at the city Christmas day. We weren't originally going to make the hike but everyone at the hostel we are staying at says its one of the most beautiful hikes to do. We are meeting a lot of other people from all over the world traveling just like we are, some have been here as long as 13 months and others as short as a day or 2. Many of our destinations we have been going to or are planning on going to is due to talking with the other travelers and listening to their stories. Since we have a long hike in front of us tomorrow, todays activities consist of going to the beach and soaking up the sun. How is the Midwest?

Shockhound

Big Cat Diaries

Last night we arrived in Santa Marta, a small beach town near Venezuela. The bus ride was quick and painless and let me tell you getting to the bus station was a hell of an adventure. We're staying at The Dreamer Hostel and have already quickly made some friends. We'll probably stay here for a quite a while, it's simply too beautiful and there's a lot of hiking and exploring to be done. We're eager for our January 1st departure for Cuzco, but one thing I will miss a lot about Colombia is the pace of life in this amazing country. Everything is done so much more slowly here, forcing you to take a minute and just relax and take it all in. It makes me think of home and how much stress I always put on myself to get things done so quickly without ever thinking about the stress I was putting on myself... But I guess that's how things have to be done in the good ol US of A.

Playa Blanca was absolutely gorgeous... but the bugs at night were not, my back looks like it was used to host a mosquito under age drinking party, they showed me no mercy. I'm in the process of uploading some photos onto facebook, but here are a few keepers to hold you over until the album is up. Yes that is Jordan getting Iced on a boat full of Colombian onlookers... and it won't be the last time.

Playa Life.. this is only the beginning

Today we left paradiso. Seriously Playa Blanca was by far one of the most amazing beaches I have ever been to and that says a lot considering I have been to beaches all over the world. We camped out in tents on the beach at Hugo's Place where you can rent Cabanas, Hammocks or just an area to set up a tent which we did. They make you a fabulous dinner with candles lit up over the property a palm tree decorated with Christmas ornaments and lights. At night the moon lit up the entire beach so bright with the reflection of the white sand it's luminous grandeur was simply epic. The water was easily 80 degrees which made for a pleasant midnight swim. Although the sand flies ate me up it was worth it! Waking up to crashing waves in the morning i walked right out of my tent about 20 feet and took a dip for about two hours :) We have now just arrived to Santa Marta another beach town where we plan on making our way up the coast to a few more beach towns. It has been said that people come to Santa Marta for a few days and end up staying for 2 weeks!! We will see :)

Big Cat Diaries

The sun finally showed its face, it's beautiful now. Last night was quite a good time, memorable moments shared indeed. It was a friend at the hostel's 24th birthday so we went out and celebrated at a bar on the beach. Good times were shared, and another Damian showed up at the hostel and tried to upstage me... not gonna let that happen! Honestly though he's an awesome Irishman who does the stereotype justice 10 times over, the man had a drink in hand at all times, even walking down the street at 4 am with nobody in sight, its like he had his own personal vendor following him around. A true champion indeed. After the bar closed we made our way over to a place that I was told I couldn't miss (I won't say by who but you know who you are), it goes by the name of Le Dolce Vita... I won't go into details do a little research and you'll know what I'm talking about. We're heading over to the walled city tonight to see some live music and walk around the plazas and snap some photos. Tomorrow is supposed to be another amazing day so we're taking a boat around the Caribbean and getting dropped off on an island where we will camp for a few days weather permitting.

Your Daily Shot With Chaz

Family and Friends,

The rainy season is no joke out here in Colombia. It's been non stop downpouring in Cartagena with not much sun to look forward to but we're obviously making the most of it. The people here are absolutely amazing so far too, not to mention the abundance of beautiful women and friendly street vendors who sell premium roasts for pennies until the wee hours of the night. Anywho, we're thinking about making the trek up to Santa Marta Friday because it looks like that will be the nicest day. And as far as our underlying objective for the trip (spreading the international word of our golden goddess), things couldn't be going any smoother with the doozie Meghan sent to everybody. I think I speak for everyone here when I say a future porn star is definitely in the making. I'll leave you now with this video of Ktan from the first night kicking ass in some good ol' fashion American shotgunning. Salud!

-Chaz

Day 2,

Everything is going smoothly thus far. We arrived in colombia around 3 yesterday and went straight to the North Star hostel where we had reservations. The colombian people are very nice and the coffee here is bomb. We witnessed a ZJ last night in our hostel.

More to come,

Shockhound

MEOW

First, we are traveling to Torres Del Paine, not Tierra Del Fuego.

Secondly..

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMM7ckbzDRY


Shockhound

A Week To Go

I figure I may as well put a post on this before we actually leave on this adventure. In two weeks we're going to be flying into Cartagena, Colombia with nothing but backpacks and unlimited options in front of us. If I said I wasn't nervous I would be lying. I think anyone would be. More anxious than anything. We've heard just about every question that anyone could think of regarding a 3 month backpacking trip in a foreign country, and we've answered them best we could. Sure it's dangerous out there, we're not looking for trouble we just want to see what the rest of the world has to offer, as least that's the plan. Of course I've got to speak for myself. Jordan, Joe, and Emily may have a completely different plans, but I know that we all have each other's best interests in mind, and that's why we'll succeed.

Many of you may not have an idea of where exactly we'll be or what we'll be doing so I'm going to lay out a basic itinerary so you could at the very least have a slight idea of where we are at any given time.

December 14th - January 1st we will be in Cartagena, Santa Marta, and the Rosario Islands. A trip to Bogota or Medellin may occur at some time between there, but for now we are sticking to the coast. We'll be staying at the NorthStar backpacking hostel for most of the time, Santa Marta's hostel is TBD.

January 1st - January 10th we will be in Peru staying at the Loki Hostel. Our Macchu Picchu hike is the 5th - 9th. We most likely won't able to update anyone on our status or conditions for those days, but we will be with a group on this hike, probably around 10 people, but no more than 15. We have two guides, porters to carry our things, a chef, and each other... we'll be just fine. On the 10th we'll be in a tiny town called Aguas Calientes which translates to "hot springs" and that's because the town is literally a hot springs town. After that we are heading back to Cuzco to do some white water rafting in the Urumbamba River. We plan on heading to Puno and Lake Titicaca shortly after that by way of train.

January 10th - January 20th will be a period of traveling. We don't have plans set in stone, but we do know that a few of these days will be spent on the coast of Lake Titicaca in Peru and Bolivia. Once we cross into Bolivia we plan on staying in Copacobana on the lake's Bolivian coast for a short amount of time. There we will make plans on whether we want to visit the famous salt flats or the "world's most dangerous road." Don't worry we don't plan on using it.

January 20th - ??? We will be making our way to Chile, by way of bus most likely. A visit to the Atacamba Desert may be in the cards or straight to Santiago to meet up with Joe's friends who are planning a trip to Tierra Del Fuego and the surrounding area which is in Patagonia. We also plan on jumping into the biggest pool in the world at some point which is on Chile's coast (it's actually the only reason we planned this trip... haha). After Chile we plan on heading to Mendoza and Buenos Aires in Argentina, here Jordan and I are planning to settle and try to get some fun jobs... we'll see what we can muster. I believe Emily and Joe may have similar plans, maybe for not as long of a time period but as I said you would have to ask them. Lollapalooza in Chile April 2nd and 3rd is definitely in the plans.

I have to guess that anyone who is reading this has got to be someone that I care about (or at least you care a little about me otherwise why waste your time). I miss you already, and we haven't even left yet. I created this blog so you can all follow us on our journey and so we could keep our sanity. I'm sure there may be times that we are going to be at each other's throats on this trip so this will help us blow off some steam and keep our thoughts in line.

I guess that's all for now, I'll try to get the others to post something before we all head out to get a little practice in because this blog stuff is new for all of us. I apologize for the abundance of links but my mother is a beginner with computer use and I want her to be as informed as possible... thanks wikipedia  : )~

Love you mom