Posts in the South American Trip (2007) Category

November 27, 2007

A Very Sad Day

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I randomly checked my email this morning before hitting the road for a 10 hour journey to the Grand Canyon and found out that one of most dynamic people I have ever met died in an automobile accident in Bolivia.

Lola Almudevar and I met in Sucre, Bolivia last May. We were sitting with our laptops back to back at a restaurant with wireless capability. She was working on a deadline for BBC news, I was probably working on a post about how tremendously terrible I was at speaking Spanish.
Before we both knew it a drunken Irishman crashed into our completely covered table sending everything flying including our laptops. I was fortunate. Lola was not as lucky as her laptop did not make it through the night. Nonetheless, that crazy Irishman helped forge a friendship that I will never forget.

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Bolivia, People I've met along the way, Southern U.S Cross Country Road Trip Comments( 9 )
August 13, 2007

The Colombian Jungle, a Cocaine Factory, a "Lost City", and a Scorpion Attack

“The Lost City”

Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City) was discovered in 1973ish in the northern Mountains of Colombia called the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Archaeologists believe that the settlement was built sometime between 800 AD and 1400AD. In truth, nobody seems to have the foggiest clue about the Lost City. Different reference points give completely different information. Its builders were the Tayrona Indians and they did not keep any written records. Eventually, they were destroyed by the Spanish in the 1500s. There are a few remnants of the Tayrona indians still in the region. They seem very unhappy. This probably has something to do with the fact that a bunch of gringos are trekking through their land every single day of their lives.

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Colombia, South American Trip (2007), Top Life Travel Experiences, Treks Comments( 5 )
August 3, 2007

Cartegena, White Linen Pants, and the Pirates of the Caribbean

Historic Cartegena

For many travelers, the end of extended world trip can be difficult. You start to thing about going back home. You wonder how your friends and family are doing, and really start to miss them. I would not say that “homesickness” is the right word to describe the feeling. I think for me more than anything I would call it travelers fatigue.

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Colombia, South American Trip (2007) Comments( 4 )
July 30, 2007

The End of a Vivid Cuban Dream

For Sale at the Havana Airport

On Sunday of my dream, day 5, I basically came to the point were I became totally and utterly broke. Nonetheless, I still had a very good time and made the most of my broken experience. I felt what it must be like to be Cuban (at least the not having any money part of being Cuban). This is a much different experience then the tourist vibe. The differences are vast. By and large, I spent the last three days of my trip in my Casa Particular watching movies, working on ideas for future projects, and walking to and from cheap places to get food.

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Cuba, South American Trip (2007) Comments ( 0 )
July 27, 2007

A Vivid Cuban Dream- Part Deux

Vivid Cuban Dream Days 1-4

Washington DC.. Or wait a second… Havana, Cuba….

I started out my dream (for those of you that know me well) in true Dave Ford fashion at the five star Parque Grande Hotel in the best part of Havana.

Sidenote: This proved to be dumb. Not just a little bit dumb but extremely, idiotically dumb.

Everything in Cuba revolves around money. When you are American everything revolves around you “NOT” having access to any money.

So, in the first four days of my dream I spent a ton of money. I brought $1000 bucks (in my dream) thinking that it would plenty. After traveling for the last 6 and a half months in South America I though that I would have some sort of an idea about how much everything would cost. I was “as wrong as the day is long”.

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Cuba, South American Trip (2007) Comments( 3 )
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