MITCHELLS' BIG ADVENTURE @2015mba - Tumblr Blog

Reading from start to finish

(instead of finish to start!)

Now that we’re back home, and reliving the trip through “what were we doing this time last year” it’s been frustrating us that we can’t read the blog in chronological order. Have finally figured out a way to do that. Useful links below.

To read posts from 2015 in order: http://2015mba.tumblr.com/tagged/2015/chrono

For 2016, same idea: http://2015mba.tumblr.com/tagged/2016/chrono

Also, I might have some fun with this: http://2015mba.tumblr.com/random

The tumblr archive function is also pretty useful. You can search and filter by month or by type of post (photo, video, text, etc.) http://2015mba.tumblr.com/archive

7/16/16 - The End, Part 2 - Hopefully It's Just The Beginning

Yes, today is the last day of Mitchells’ Big Adventure. It’s the end of Week 54 and we will wake up tomorrow morning at home in our own beds for the first time since Monday July 6, 2015.

After 17 countries (excluding layovers in South Korea and Panama, and visits to city states like Monaco and Vatican City) 34 flights, countless buses, trains, boats, taxis and many other weird and wonderful modes of transport (the kids have a list of 31 including a mule, a zip line and a bamboo raft) it's time for the last leg - the trip home.

Knowing for months that this date was coming, I've been telling people for weeks that I'm mentally ready for the trip to end. It's been a good mindset because I've gone through the last few weeks without ruining it by being depressed that we're almost done. It's only been the last day or so that it's really sunk in that it's all over. And yes, it's a depressing feeling.

There is a sense of achievement though - we made it without any major disasters, very few family arguments, a couple of medical issues and one stolen phone. We're well under our original outline budget, and only about 10% over Mummy's final tighter "no frills" budget number (thanks, Nemo II).

A small sample of the things that we will miss.... - Reliable, inexpensive and often entertaining public transport - Spending so much time with the kids - Meeting fun, friendly, interesting new people almost every day - The cats, dogs, llamas, alpacas, camels, sea lions and all of our other animal friends - Looking out the window on a short trip and seeing multiple sights which in "real life" would be the most interesting things we had seen for months - Regularly checking off places on our bucket list (although the kids are aggressively pushing a Grand Canyon road -trip before they go back to school) - Watching and playing football in foreign countries - Seeing close up how "other people" live their lives - their culture, customs, challenges and communities - FOOD - all of it - Family card games - hundreds of them - at meal times - Being removed from the daily grind of "real life" (school and work) - Trying new beers / fruit juices and fizzy drinks - The relief of checking into a new place - it looks clean and safe enough, our bags didn't get lost or stolen on the way, the bus station wasn't too scary and we didn't get too badly ripped off by the dodgy taxi drivers - Regular interactions with nature and national parks - Seeing interesting new places ALL THE TIME - temples, volcanoes, skyscrapers, islands, cathedrals, waterfalls, castles, beaches, plazas, deserts, ancient ruins, colorful festivals, museums, jungles, Great Walls (they never work, btw), canyons, cemeteries, landslides, stadiums, rivers, canals, cliffs, bridges, mountains, tunnels and oceans.

So it's all coming to and end, but on a positive note, we are looking forward to: - Catching up with our friends, our family and our cats - Spending many consecutive nights in the same bed - Having a fridge and being able to cook for ourselves whenever we want - Familiar fast food - Applying the lessons we've learned to future travels, near and far - Having gadgets and toys and other stuff to play with - Seeking out or home-cooking some of the great new foods we discovered over the last year - Catching up on the best of the tv shows we missed - Having our own personal space (collectively and individually) - Couch time - Making life changes at home so we can continue to feel as happy as we've all felt for the last year

Travelling for a year has been great fun but also an amazing, life-changing experience. We've all learned a lot over the last year - the people who said the kids would get more of an education on the road than sitting in a classroom were definitely right. The grown-ups learned a lot too - history, geography, sociology and much more. Being rich with time (and cash poor!) for a year has made us look at many aspects of life in a new way. So we all have things that we want to do differently going forward. Hopefully we've planted a travel seed that will grow inside the kids for years to come. And as soon as the kids get through college, us oldies will definitely do another big trip, if not sooner.

The challenge starting tomorrow is making sure we don't feel too shitty about the adventure being over. It's about appreciating what we have at home, making some changes for the better and adding in a whole lot of positive experiences and learnings from the last year. The next big adventure starts Sunday July 17, 2016. - D

#MBA2016+#2016

7/16/16 - The End, Part 1 - Bidding a Fond Farewell to a Few Frustrations

Today is the last day of Mitchells’ Big Adventure. It’s the end of Week 54 and we have no regrets. There have been lots and lots and lots of really good times. And of course the occasional frustrating, painful or frightening moment.

Long-term / independent / budget travel requires a healthy sprinkle of patience, commitment to the trip and the occasional sacrifice. The bad stuff made us appreciate the good stuff even more, so we came up with a list of things we won’t miss after the trip is over: - Hand-washing clothes - Traffic (because that’s not going to be a problem in LA, right?) - Bad wifi - Paper thin hotel/hostel room walls - Cold/weak showers - Unexpected bad weather ruining our plans - Overly aggressive touts and hawkers - Entering every penny we spend into the TrailWallet app - Stomach bugs and Dengue Fever - Sharing a bed with your brother and sometimes having to sleep on the couch or floor - Having no actual physical books to read - Over-reliance on public bathrooms - Construction sites outside our window and round every corner

There are a whole lot of other things that might be slightly frustrating at the time but become part of the experience and end up becoming endearing and enjoyable.This is a longer list but would probably include things like: - Stray dogs and other “street animals” - Opening a menu and understanding very few (or none) of the words - Endless planning of accommodation, meal locations and transportation to the next place - Getting lost - Having to explain yourself - who are you, where are you from, why are you here? - Wandering around while hungry trying to find somewhere to eat that’s within our budget and isn’t completely shady - Living out of a suitcase (it has its benefits) - Non-English speaking TV channels - People touching Andrew’s hair (three of us really quite like this!) - Getting up ridiculously early to go on a day trip or catch an early bus or flight - “No signal”

Goodbye to all those things - we’ll see you again next time….

-D

#2016

7/16 - before (July 2015, at LAX, bottom right hand corner) and after (July 2016, at UIO, top left). A few differences on the outside. Many more on the inside!

#2016

7/16/16 - End of Ecuador

Hi guys, today I’m going to tell you about leaving Ecuador. Waaah grrrrrr waaaaaah grr. Ecuador was my favorite country on our trip, tied with Greece. I’m going to split this blog into two parts - the Galápagos Islands and mainland Ecuador.

Things I’m going to miss from the Galapagos: The wildlife everywhere is perhaps the biggest thing I’m going to miss. No matter where you went on the islands you would see an animal of some sort. Whether it was an iguana or a seal lion, or a bird or a turtle/tortoise, there was no escaping nature in the Galapagos. Other things I’ll miss include: The great food on the Nemo 2, the almost-constant sun, pristine beaches, watching the Euro and Copa America tournaments, playing soccer on Santa Cruz island, and finally snorkeling and hikes. Now for the things I won’t miss about the Galapagos…. The three things I won’t miss are trying to sleep on a boat/sea sickness, cold water (snorkeling), and how rage-inducingly expensive almost everything was. Grrrrrrr. Everything else was awesome though. Weeeeeeeeee!

And now for mainland Ecuador. The main things I will miss are - activities like zip lining, biking, and hiking - maiz tostado, a roasted corn snack that is small but yummzy - eating other yummzy food, and - playing soccer with locals. The friendly locals in Ecuador were enough to lift even Mr Grumpy’s spirits. I will also miss the Secret Garden Hostel in Cotopaxi. There they had the friendliest dogs ever called Mash, Milo, and Daisy. Every day they had fantabiastic food including pizza, chicken and beef. They also had a hot tub and a constant “help yourself” supply of bananas!

Here is the short list of things in mainland Ecuador I won’t miss. The almost-constant rain and clouds. The fear of getting dengue fever a second time from mosquitoes. And finally the crazy random disorganized modes of transportation.

Despite the minor cons mentioned here, the pros make Ecuador an amazing country, but sadly we have to say goodbye to it. R-🐷🇪🇨

#2016

7/15/16 The last cat???

Petting our final cat friend of the trip, Zishi at the Secret Garden.

#2016

7/15/16 - Taking out the trash

What happens when you need a ride starting in the middle of nowhere? In Cotopaxi National Park, your family and your bags get bundled into the truck which picks up the trash each morning. Team Mitchell, along with hundreds of banana skins and a few empty boxes, bumped and bounced down a dirt road for about an hour before half of the cargo was dropped off in the small town of Machachi, just off the main north/south road. The driver then proceeded to tie our bags together with a rope before we headed to Quito - we’re not sure if that was done to stop the bags from flying out the back of the truck onto the road or if it was an anti-theft plan to stop someone grabbing them from the back of the truck as we later crawled through Quito traffic at lunchtime on a Friday. - D

#2016

7/15/16 Sleeping in a Dolls house

This is the “Playhouse” at the Secret Garden. Believe it or not there are 2 levels and D and I slept “upstairs”. - L

#2016

7/14/16 Volcano View from the Secret Garden - Finally we caught sight of the majestic Cotopaxi at sunset.

#2016

7/14/16- Big Hike

Hello peoples, Today we did a (cue the unnecessary drumroll!) big hike (our last activity!! ⛰😭). We hiked ten miles round trip up a dormant volcano called Pasochoa (The Lonely Widower in Quechua). Unfortunately, Robbie was sick the night before (probably because he had too much dessert) and didn’t feel well enough to come. A cool thing: two of the dogs at the Secret Garden (Mash the sausage dog and milo the Dalmatian) follow the whole hiking group up the entire mountain! At the summit we were (approximately) 4,200 meters above sea level. On the way up, we hiked through a few muddy patches, a forest, a field of tall grass (which Mash absolutely loved to run around in and randomly pop out next to people), a cloud forest (guess why they called it that) which was the most difficult part in my opinion, and a steep, rocky slope that wasn’t as hard as one of the volunteers (Winny? Sorry if I spelled it wrong!!) said it would be. I was only carrying two jackets and a water bottle, but by the time we reached the top, I was completely exhausted.

The first forest was uphill for 40 minutes straight. Even though it was pretty cold out, everyone was wearing the minimum clothing possible (no, not naked!!!!). Then it was a straight dirt road for an hour (phew! Not much effort required), which gave everyone a chance to catch their breath. The next three parts were pretty much grassy hell, beautiful hell with trees, and short, barren hell. The first one is just as it sounds. The cloud forest (BHwTs) was muddy, had stinging nettles (EVIL!), and was all uphill. At least there were trees, so that made everything all right (not). The last one was a trail along rocks and very cold. On one side there were green hills that reminded me a bit of Scotland, and the other side was just white because there was a large cloud just sitting there.

It was so cold at the top that I drank about five cups of tea, which isn’t normal for me (unless it’s muña tea, that stuff is deelish!). Milo kept running off and chasing things (nobody knows what), everyone except me ate coleslaw sandwiches and banana bread (neither of which I like, which sucks).

The way down was slightly different and much easier. After the hike was finished, the dogs (and a few humans) curled up on their beds and rested after an exhausting hike. -A

#2016

7/13/16 Cotopaxi Biking and Trout Fishing

Our Secret Garden Day 2 activity was a mountain biking excursion in Cotopaxi National Park, followed by trout fishing at a small local sport fishing spot. You eat your catch for lunch! Ten of us crammed into a sort of Range Rover car that I think legally seated five. Off we set, not one seat belt between us. On route we picked up our mountain bikes (stacked on the roof) and a guide (now we are 11 in the vehicle!). Our slow bumpy ride ended at a small lagoon at the base of the mighty Cotopaxi.

Cotopaxi is an active volcano with a dizzy height of 5,897m (over 19,300 ft). Recent activity in August 2015 that involved only ash (apparently no big deal!! Sounds like a big deal to me), briefly closed the national park. The park is now re-opened but due to the activity permission is no longer given to climb to the peak.

Back to our bike ride… It was very windy, freezing cold and blowing through rain when we started our bike ride (at approx. 3800m) and we still we could not see the volcano peak. Robbie bowed out before it began and Andrew managed about the first 10 minutes and then retreated to the car (he did have shorts on!). I found the ride both exhilarating and scary. The view was stunning – the volcano in the mist, wild horses and wide open nothingness. The terrain was very gravely, rocky and sandy at points. I was by far the slowest rider, as I rarely felt in control of my bike. It was mainly downhill and I constantly felt like I was on the verge of falling off my bike. I was thankful of our guide’s tip of only using the back wheel brake (I’m a bit of a novice.) The ride was approximately an hour and I was thrilled (and proud of myself for not giving up) when we arrived at our destination – the sport fishing spot.

We were given homemade-looking “fishing poles” and shown to a small lake. Watched by a few cows, we all tried for around 30 minutes in the cold to catch a fish. Only David plus one other girl were successful fishermen. Those of us who were failing were directed to the “baby pool” where within 30 seconds you were able to catch your trout lunch. Grilled trout with rice, fries and salad made a rewarding meal at the end of our fun morning. - L

#2016

7/15/16 Shhh…The Secret Garden, Cotopaxi, Ecuador

Our last few days in Ecuador were spent in a great little countryside hostel called The Secret Garden just outside the Cotopaxi National Park in the central highlands, about two hours south of Quito. We originally heard about the Secret Garden from Irish Joe, on our Colca Canyon trek in Peru, and then from a German girl last week in our Quito hostel. It fitted perfectly as a stop en route from Banos back to Quito. An affordable, 3 night-4 day deal that includes accommodation, food and outdoor activities (hikes, biking, fishing), in a beautiful setting in the middle of nowhere.

We took a bus from Banos to Machachi, and were given amusing directions by the hostel - take a bus headed to Quito, not Machachi, but get off in Machachi....after the toll booth, pass the gas station, pass the pedestrian bridge and get off at the horse statue (sounded like an episode of Dora The Explorer!) Transportation organized by the hostel then met us at the horse statue and drove us up the bumpy country back “roads” to the gorgeous setting of the Secret Garden.

It turned out to be a great place to finish off the trip. The location was beautiful, a huge green valley surrounded by six dormant volcanoes and an active one - the massive Volcan Cotopaxi, which has been spitting out ash as recently as last year (though for much of our visit it was shrouded in mist/clouds). The activities were fun - daily trips in the mountains to see lakes, waterfalls and jagged volcano peaks. The hostel had some great common areas - long tables, comfy couches, hammocks and fireplaces made it easy and enjoyable to hang out and chat with other guests (and the boys loved the jacuzzi). Beds were comfy, showers were warm, beers were cold - all the essentials taken care of including coffee, tea, water and homemade banana bread all day and all night.

We met travelers from all over Europe, the US and Canada, all with their own fascinating stories from home (NHS scandals, dot com successes & failures) and from the road (from naked weddings in Nicaragua to Ayahuasca purges in Peru). Forty-five people were resident our first night. We met our third traveling family (from Oregon, with 2 kids - aged 8 and 10) who were heading home that night after a year-long trip. It seems that Ecuador is the common final family destination.

In addition to the environment, the permanent (and semi-permanent) residents helped make this a special place. The locally hired staff kept the place looking great inside and out, including a couple of very smiley Ecuadorian who ran the kitchen and kept us all well fed. The volunteer staff/guides make sure that guests constantly feel welcome and entertained (with everything from hikes and music to drinking games). We felt especially welcomed by one of the volunteer staff members Johnny who was from Crieff, Scotland! The non-human residents included three llamas (who seemed to pose for photos every time we walked past), cows (for our ultra-fresh milk), chickens (lots of eggs!), geese, a (low-profile) cat and three very friendly dogs.

Our first activity on arrival was a two-hour river/waterfall hike which was picturesque and lots of fun. Apparently we arrived on the best night “pizza night”. Twenty-three home-made pizzas were baked (in a cool looking pizza oven) and served. We were stuffed! My favorite was the mango salsa and mozzarella one. Delicious! Andrew consumed 8 slices plus a piece of Tiramisu and then felt sick. That was the impetus for us to retreat to bed. Since we booked so late, unfortunately we had 3 different sleeping locations in 3 nights. First night the shared dorms, second night the “cabana” and third night the “playhouse.”

The Secret Garden provided a very enjoyable few days filled with more than enough activities, fun, food and relaxation to make us forget that it's all ending soon. – D/L

#2016

7/9 - Baños to Rio Verde by bike

On our first full day in Baños we rented bikes to cycle the Baños to Puyo road, reputedly one of the most beautiful drives in Ecuador, known as the Ruta de las Cascadas due to the numerous waterfalls you pass along the way. Indeed, it was a very enjoyable day, though not without incident.

The route mostly follows along the River Pastaza, which has carved a deep canyon (the Pastaza Valley) through the mountains between central Ecuador and the Oriente. Along the way you see dozens of waterfalls, from small falls splashing from above the side of the road onto the bike path, to massive roaring cascadas hundreds of feet high. Enterprising locals have set up businesses which take advantage of the natural and man-made viewpoints along the route. These include several zip lines (across the valley and over the waterfalls), bungee jumps (from road bridges, with traffic driving by on every their side) and clunky-looking tarabitas (cable cars) ferrying passengers back and forth over the river hundreds of meters below.

The kids had an exhilarating zipline experience (see Robbie’s blog post) while the grown ups chose to take a cable car over the same spot. The weather was another typical four-seasons-in-one-day Ecuador experience - blazing sunshine at points, freezing rain at other times. We had to stop more than once for shelter from heavy rain - when added to the impact of the waterfalls the cycle route was pretty slippy. Other than the shady-looking zipline vendors, the most frightening part of the day was the traffic. The route had the occasional bikes-only stretch, but most of it was along the same two lane highway that the rest of the Baños to Puyo traffic takes. It’s a busy stretch most days since those are two of the bigger towns in the region, and this was a Saturday so there was even more traffic - tourist buses and delivery trucks in addition to an assortment of cars, vans and quad bikes.

The road winds back and forth with lots of blind corners - perfect for crazy Ecuadorian drivers to test out their accelerator and brake pedals. And since the road isn’t very wide, the traffic often passes cyclists with only a few inches to spare. One bus passed so close to Robbie that he swerved to the side to avoid it, only to crash into the ditch at the side of the road. His landing point was only a couple of meters past a huge gap in the roadside barrier that had been recently washed away by a landslide. The drop down was several hundred feet of steep rocks followed by a splash into the angry looking Rio Pastaza. We took a bit more care when buses passed after that!

When we arrived at our destination (Rio Verde) we locked the bikes and headed for a lookout point we’d been told about. We eventually found a couple of the shadiest looking suspension bridges I’ve ever seen which went back and forth about half a mile over the river to give visitors a close look at the Pailon del Diablo (“Devil’s Cauldron”) waterfall where the Rio Verde splashes down into the Rio Pastaza. My recently-developed vertigo was in full effect, and while I did make it back and forth over both bridges it was definitely one of the most unpleasant experiences I’ve had on the trip.

Once back on solid ground we grabbed lunch at a cool little place where the kids were able to catch trout from an enclosure at the side of a restaurant which were then cooked on a grill and served within a few minutes. Very tasty, especially when washed down with the large beer which was required to calm my nerves.

Our final adventure of the day was driving home - the bike route is mostly downhill so at various points there are enterprising truck-owners waiting by the road - all of which will happily throw a few tourists and their bikes in the back and take them back up to Baños for a couple of dollars.

-D

#2016

7/11/16 Run for your life, Banos-Ecuador

The town of Banos sits at the foot of the Tungurahua volcano. Tungurahua is one of South American’s most active volcanoes. In 1995, Banos was temporarily evacuated due to an eruption. A new lava dome has been growing in its summit crater since 2000. Last month, warnings were issued that a new eruptive phase might be in the making. The volcano has been quiet since its last eruption in March of this year, which sent ash 36,000ft into the air. (The above photo which I stole from the internet, was taken during the explosive activity in March - just 4 months ago!)

Thankfully there was no major volcanic activity while we were in Banos; sadly this meant that the organized tours up by the crater were not running as there was “nothing to see.” Apparently on such tours during active periods you can see plumes of smoke and lava, which would have been cool. We never actually even saw the volcano summit from the town as it was constantly covered in cloud and mist during our stay. We did however, take heed of the road signs showing the town evacuation route should any excitement start. - L

#2016

7/9/16- Fishing for lunch After our Banos to Rio Verde bike adventure, we were hungry (obviously), so we decided to go for lunch in Rio Verde. One place that really caught (forgive my bad pun) my eye was a place where you could fish in a small pool for trout. We said, “We’ll have two of those and a chicken, please.” (Too bad you can’t fish for chicken!). Robbie and I each got a bamboo stick with a piece of string and a hook attached to it. The guy running the restaurant baited the line and we began! It took no time for us to get bites, but the fish liked their home and refused to be yanked out of it. It took ten minutes for me to catch one, and Robbie another two or three. I named my fish Travis (the trout), and Robbie called his Grupert (get it? Rupert-grouper!). Boy, were they were de-fish-ious!! -A

#2016

7/4 - Marine Iguana vs Birds (video). We watched a marine iguana munch on a discarded tuna head at Puerto Ayora Fish Market while keeping a couple of birds (Lava Gulls?) at bay. All was going well until a big Pelican flew in and spoiled all the fun.....

#2016

7/10/16 Zippy zip zip line

Hi guys, today I’m going to tell you about ziplining upside down, backwards over a waterfall. I know that sounds completely awesome but we’ll get to that in a bit.

We are currently in Banos, Ecuador. On our second day here we rented bikes to go see waterfalls. Which brings us to our first phrase: “waterfall”. We were biking along the road when we suddenly came across a canopy zip line place that you can zip line from one side of the waterfall to the other. Remember our second phrase “zip line”.

We pulled into the parking and parked our bikes to take a look. After intensive conversation, we decided that Andrew and I would zip line there and back and Mummy and Daddy would take a weird green box, sort of like a cable car, there and back.

Before we started getting our harnesses on they gave us three options of how to zip line. There was sitting down, superman, and upside down backwards. Andrew, who is not crazy, chose superman. Me on the other hand chose upside down backwards. Yep that’s our last phrase “upside down backwards”.

We got our harnesses on and then went up to the tower where you launch. When the staff started strapping us in Andrew started to panic. I was so distracted watching Andrew panic that I barely noticed I had been put upside down. He was saying “no I don’t want to do this, no no no!” The guy who was strapping him in said “look at your brother he is really calm”. Andrew replied “he’s insane!” The guy managed to calm Andrew down a bit and the staff started counting down from 5. At one they pushed. It was amazing. We zoomed through the air at high speeds while Andrew calmed down.

Since I was facing backwards Andrew and I were able to talk to each other. The conversation went something like this. “Hey” “hey” “this is cool” “yeah” “see the waterfall?” “Yup” and then he zipped passed me.

When we reached the other side we had to walk up a hill to the next point to zip line. After the exhausting walk we made it to the top. This time Andrew was more calm. We were both going superman this time but I went first.

Compared to upside down this was a lot faster. I was going super fast most of the way, but gradually I began to slow down. I stopped twenty meters out from the cliff and had to pull myself in. Andrew came after me but he made it all the way across. One thing is for sure - you definitely wouldn’t be allowed to go upside down in the US (safety first). R-🐷🚡🚵

#2016

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