Santa Isabel

Yesterday I signed up for a one day trip to go on a hike with a tour agency. We had been traveling in Colombia for two weeks and felt comfortable enough for me to leave for the day and Amy to have the girls on her own. I didn't really know what/where I was going, so I signed up for whatever day trip was available. The entire process was in Spanish so the details were a little fuzzy, but I knew it involved some 4 wheel driving and hiking to a high altitude. They said to be ready by 5 am and I should wear pants rather than shorts.

I woke up at 4:45 and went downstairs to a dark hotel lobby. There was a receptionist and an armed guard, both in ponchos. As the three of us waited in silence, a taxi pulled up. I thought it might be for me, but an extremely drunk hotel guest staggered out and did his best to make his way to the hotel elevator without falling over.

An old Toyota 4x4 prerunner equipped with shovel and pick ax on the roof rack pulled up I figured that was for me. It already had 8 passengers, so slid into the last seat in the back. Four people had to get out for me to get in. Heaven forbid they let me have the next open seat.

I assumed that the other clientele would be American or European so I wasn't sure to whether address the other passengers with a buenas dias or good morning. I always feel a little silly speaking Spanish with other Americans knowing full well we are butchering the language. But the vehicle was completely dark and i couldn't tell who I was gonna spend the rest of the day with. I went with a Buenas Dias and got several back.

Damn, I forgot to brush my teeth. I'm gonna be crammed in close quarters for the next 3 hours with stinky breath. Oh well.

The guide began introductions. I quickly realized I was the lone extranjero. The other passengers were all Colombians from either Meddelin, Bogota, or Manizales. This surprised me. When we led hikes in Guatemala, all the clients were foreigners and hikes were almost always in English , unless they clients were for Spain. There were hardly any Guatemalans The price of the trip was 170,000 pesos ($57). I thought the cost of the trip would be cost prohibitive to Colombians, but I was obviously wrong.

The prerunner stopped at mini mart about 10 minutes after I was picked up. At 5:15 in the morning it was still pitch black. Old men in ponchos smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee from plastic cups were sitting out front. I went in to get water, but came out with peanuts, a homemade granola bar and my own plastic Dixie cup with tinto.

After pounding the sweet coffee we loaded back into the prerunner and set up for the 3 hour drive. As the sun rose, the landscape of steep green cliffs were illuminated. The radio played a mix of 80s, 90s, and 2000s songs. De la Soul, Rick James, Jamerique and Micheal Jackson interspersed current Spanish hip hop.

During the 3 hour drive I found out 19 year olds I was sitting next to were both college students studying social work and economics. The student studying social work was concerned that her job would involve too much paper work. What she really enjoyed was working with kids. The Econ student hoped to get a job working for the government doing some kind of project.

As we climed higher into the mountains and we left the city behind I felt a renewed faith in humanity. I was sitting next to two young adults who were studying careers that would help others. The road became rougher as we passed fields of berries, coffee and small dairies. We would not have made it very far without the four wheel drive.

We stopped for breakfast after 3 hours. Scrambled eggs with rice, arepa, cheese. Hot chocolate for the adults and sugary coffee for the kids.

We drove another 20 minutes through a spectacular canyon and began our assent to the glacier. We were given bamboo hiking sticks and plastic ponchos by the driver. I chugged a bunch a water because I knew staying hydrated was good for the altitude. I guess it helped, but also made me stop and piss about 5 times. The rest of the group probably thought I had prostate issues.

The scenery was spectacular and the pace of the hike was painfully slow. We were a group of about 14, half male and female. The youngest were two high school students and the oldest was a college professor probably on his late 40s. With a group that size and at that altitude its important to go slow.

At one point the teenage boy's shoe came untied and for some reason his mom was tying it for him. He had shaggy hair with highlights that made him look like he could be a star on Latin American Disney Junior. Later on his mom wanted water from his backpack. He refused to walk down the hill 10 steps on give it to her. He was struggling with altitude and steepness of the hike. He was heckled by the other hikers for his laziness. One guy said "your mom carried you in her belly for nine months and this is how you treat her."

After these interactions I was questioning just how much of an adventure this really was. It seemed like a very sanitized experience of Colombian outdoors. Three weeks ago I didn't know if it was safe or possible to hike in the Colombian wilderness. Now I was on a group hike with bratty teenagers and middle age college professor at a painfully slow pace.

As we reached the summit of our hike we approached a shrinking glacier. The temperature dropped and we could feel the rain/ sleet/ snow from the glacier blowing toward us. As we approached the glacier the terrain went from rocky basalt to a giant snow covered block of ice. We were able to climb about 25 feet onto the glacier. It was frozen and slippery.

The guide told us the glacier was 1 km square and shrinking at a rate of 30 meters per year. The glacier was shrinking due to global warming and other factors. I was happy to have had the chance to see the glacier, but was sad that by the time Lola and Gwen were old enough to make the hike it might be gone. I need to get an electric car and become a vegetarian were my next thoughts. Reduce my carbon footprint.

The hike down was a piece of cake and the drive back to the hotel was tortuous. Overall a great experience. Thanks to Amy I was able to take a day and have an adventure.