“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open”. – Jawaharlal Nehru
We had reached our first test of adventure getting to the base camp at Condoriri Valley when we arrived at a collapsed bridge. Heavy rains that are common during the early summer season of November had washed it away and Javier, our guide, informed us that in rural Bolivia, infrastructure like roads and bridges are the responsibility of the village. Therefore, everyone in the neighboring community was required to spend the day repairing the bridge. No one in the community was excluded from helping out, even the women and children had a role.
Thankfully we had a land rover that enabled us to drive off road otherwise we would have been stuck. The bridge is essential for the community as is the gravel road that is a five-hour walk from the base of Condoriri Valley to the main highway. For those without cars, it is a long commute to civilization either on foot or bicycle. I learned that rural Bolivians are hardy people.
As we drove further and further away from the main road, the dramatic scenery became even more breathtaking. We passed traditional rural homes made of mud bricks layered tightly one on top of the other, covered with thatched roofs, and the brownish-green rolling hills of the glacier moraine that rest below the mighty Andes.
There is no blue without yellow and without orange. –Vincent Van Gogh
As the dog days of winter draw to a close and daylight savings comes this weekend, it is a reminder that soon our colorless white landscape will come to an end. There is nothing more I crave this time of year than color. Any color except brown, black or white which have been the main hues here for months.
When I saw that this week’s photo challenge involves color, I was thrilled. I’ve felt so incredibly deprived these last few months that it was fun to go through my photos and search for anything the color orange. While going through my photos, I realized that I have relatively few photos that feature exclusively orange and not many more that have orange as a predominant color. That surprised me given my blog currently has over 10,000 photos stored.
It made me realize I need to search for more orange next time I’m out exploring the world. For orange is a color that invigorates, enlivens and brightens up the day. Here is a gallery of some of my favorite orange hues. Hope you enjoy!
“Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.” – Anatoli Boukreev
There is something about leaving a big city and heading out to the countryside that truly shows the meaning of a place. Whenever I travel, I try my best to see both urban and rural parts of a country. While I enjoy the adventure and activity of a big urban city, for me getting out of it is the best part of all. I love the mountains, hills, and countryside. For it is within nature that I often feel the most alive.
Clouds thicken with rain at the foot of the Condoriri Valley in Bolivia.
Back in November, my father and I spent three days in La Paz, Bolivia acclimatizing to the high altitude and gearing up for our base camp at the foot of the Bolivian Andes in the Condoriri Valley at 15,500 feet. Landing in El Alto, the highest international airport in the world at a dizzying altitude of 13,323 feet (4,061 m), is not for the lighthearted nor is spending three days exploring the hilly, high altitude urban jungle of La Paz (which happens to be only slightly lower in elevation than her neighbor El Alto).
By the third morning, I was ready to leave the craziness of La Paz behind for a few days and go find myself in the beloved mountains. I’ve always loved the mountains as it is the one place in the world that I can truly find peace and reflection. Furthermore, I truly enjoy a good physical and mental challenge and that was just was I was about to get over the next few days hiking in Condoriri Valley.
When I first told friends that I was going to Haiti I got a lot of negative responses. “I would never go there” scolded a doctor friend of mine. “It is way too dangerous” warned another. Sadly the media has not painted a pretty picture of Haiti. Over and over again we have seen images and read articles about the devastation, poverty, political instability and disease, that makes Haiti sound like some kind of backwater, scary place. People thought I was crazy to go there.
As a seasoned traveler who has been to some rough places, I made sure I did my research. I talked to friends who had been there before and all of them said I had to go. That it would change me. And it did.
Now I want to share with the world the good things about Haiti. The stuff the media doesn’t cover because they want to sell a story. I’m not going to talk about the tent communities, the lack of infrastructure and health services. That will come later. Instead, I’m going to tell you about the spectacular art I saw on my trip visiting the artisans who work with Heart of Haiti.
Some of the amazing art produced in Haiti for Artisan Business Network.
One thing I learned is that Haiti is a nation of artisans. With a population of a little over ten million people, some estimates report that almost half a million Haitians rely on the handicraft sector as their primary or secondary source of income. No other sector employs such a high percentage of people in Haiti. Furthermore, art is an enormous part of Haitian life and culture and can be found nearly everywhere even in surprising, unexpected places.
The devastating 2010 earthquake that tore apart Port-au-Prince significantly hurt the artisan trade. Per Nat Tancrede, Executive Director at ABN (Artisan Business Network), the once thriving handicraft sector was almost destroyed. Before the earthquake it was reported that around 40-50 containers of artisan produced goods left Haiti weekly to the United States during the peak years of 1980-1985. Yet, in 2010 after the earthquake only six containers were being shipped a week. For a nation that depends on the handicraft sector, it had strong implications for the economy and the lives of the artisans. Today, the handicraft sector is continuing to grow and provide more sustainable incomes to both women and men, and Nat foresees even more opportunity down the road.
For a culture that is so strongly connected to art, Haiti is an art lover’s dream yet it remains relatively undiscovered. Art truly is everywhere in Haiti. Along the walls and sides of buildings and even on the side of the street lies handmade metal art, statues, papier-mâché and paintings. It was something that really surprised and amazed me.
The mountains are calling and I must go. – John Muir
In my opinion, there is nothing better than a good long hike to the top of the world. Getting there is half the fun and once on top, there is nothing more rewarding than a spectacular view. I have loved to hike my entire life and here are some of my favorite rewards through my journeys.
After ten days of hiking the world-famous Annapurna Trek, we arrived in gorgeous Pokhara, Nepal for a few days rest and enjoyment of the Diwali festival of lights. If only I had started my blog before this trip and understood the power of photography. Looking back my photos do not do Nepal justice as it is by far one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Pokhara, Nepal
Bolivia
I still haven’t finished writing my posts on our four day visit to the sensational Condoriri Valley in the Bolivian Andes. I hope to work on that this month because the photos are tremendous and it is a very special place. The pain of sleeping in a tent at 15,000 feet in below freezing weather was worth the incredible, rewarding views.
We arrived near the Champs de Mars in central Port-au-Prince a little after six for our night of music and light-soaked adventure at Carnival. Given the fact that there are very few tourists in Haiti, we had hired an additional security person for the night to help us arrive safely at our stand where we would watch the festivities from above. I admit that I was a little nervous about getting to the stand safely as the streets were already packed with people and getting across the street proved daunting.
We lined up in single file, placing our cameras and anything of value inside our shirts and wormed our way into the mayhem of a crowd-filled street. It wasn’t as bad as I anticipated but knew as time went by, the streets would only get more crowded and getting out of Carnival would be a challenge. But I decided to not think of it at the time and simply embrace the experience.
Getting across the street in this crowd proved challenging.
We made it across the street to the entrance of the Minister of Tourism stand, where we passed through a group of armed guards who insured we had our Minister of Tourism Carnival t-shirts on and a wristband. If you didn’t have one on, you were not let in.
The stand was already crowded with people and we found a crammed spot in the front overlooking the street below. By standing on a chair, I got a bird’s-eye view of the festivities and realized that it would never have been possible to attend Carnival if we weren’t in a stand. The streets were so crowded that it resulted in a lot of pushing and shoving and I’m shocked that more fights didn’t break out. The atmosphere was festive but intense. There were smiles across the faces but unfortunately my amateur photographic skills especially capturing movement and night scenes do not depict it.
“Piti piti, zwazo fè nich” –“Little by little birds build their nests” – Haitian proverb
Similar to the rest of Latin America, Haiti was colonized by Europeans who imposed their Roman Catholic religion on the people. While half of the island was colonized by the Spanish and became the Dominican Republic, the western, smaller portion of the island was colonized by the French and is officially known as the Republic of Haiti.
Haiti is the only predominantly Francophone nation in the Americas and also one of the only nations to practice Voodoo, a syncretic religion that blends African, European and indigenous Taíno beliefs. Haitian Voodoo originated in the Caribbean during the 18th century French Empire as a way for West African slaves to continue using their own religion and beliefs while they were being forced to convert to Christianity. About half of all Haitians practice a combination of Catholicism and Voodoo.
It just so happened that I was in Haiti during Carnival. In all my travels, I had never experienced Carnival before and given Haiti’s unique combination of Catholicism and Voodoo, I could only imagine what Carnival would be like. I had already seen a lot of religious influences within Haiti’s amazing art, music and dance during the first few days of my visit. I knew attending Carnival in Port-au-Prince would be one of those bucket-list life experiences.
As a stoke of luck, our Haitian friend Nat who is the Executive Director of ABN (Artisan Business Network) was able to get our group tickets to be in the Minister of Tourism’s stand. We would leave at six o’clock to beat the masses of crowds that would eventually make the Champs de Mars impassable until the wee hours of the morning.
As we left Pétionville and headed down the mountain into the heart of Port-au-Prince, traffic was intense and preparations for Carnival were well underway. Earlier in the day, we had stopped by one of the stands on Champs de Mars to visit one of the artisans that Nat works with at ABN. The finishing touches were going up all around us.
Going down the heart of Champs de Mars, where the streets are lined with stands for Carnival.
Last Sunday, I had the thrill of attending my first ever Carnival when I was in Haiti. It was a wild night like nothing I have ever experienced. Wall to wall people danced in the streets, while music blared and super-sized floats crept at a snail’s pace down the Champ de Mars in the heart of Port-au-Prince.
Thankfully we were able to get tickets to be in the Minister of Tourism’s stand or it most likely would not have been safe. Tragically the next night, one of the floats caught on fire spreading mass panic while 16 people got trampled to death and countless more were injured. It was more devastating news for a country still trying to rebuild after the near catastrophic earthquake five years ago.
It is even more tragic given the fact that Carnival is supposed to be a time of celebration and great joy. Even the protests over fuel prices (which almost canceled our trip) stopped the day before in honor of Carnival. Despite the numerous hardships most Haitians face, Carnival is a time to let go and have fun. To let the music mesmerize you and beauty of Carnival sweep you away.
When I arrived in Port-au-Prince last Thursday morning I had no idea what to expect. Danica, who leads the blogger trips for Heart of Haiti, handed each one of us a leather-bound journal with a personal note. My friend Leticia, A Heart of Haiti veteran brought along her eleven-year-old daughter Emily. Inside Emily’s journal was the Haitian proverb: “Dèyè mòn gen mòn” which means “beyond the mountains, more mountains.” Danica informed young Emily that her goal of the trip was to figure out what this proverb meant. She also said that it had not one but many meanings.
Entering the memorial at the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince where 100 people died during the January 12, 2010 earthquake.
Sunday as I was going through my comments and notifications on my blog I saw a little note from WordPress congratulating me. It was my fourth year anniversary since I began my blog thirdeyemom. I looked at the little symbol and reflected for a moment. Wow. Four years! Part of me was surprised that four years have passed so incredibly rapidly, just like a blink of an eye. The other part of me was almost shocked that I haven’t been blogging longer. Regardless, I realized at that moment what a profound impact my blog has had on my life.
Beautiful handicraft items made by Heart of Haiti Photo credit: Heart of Haiti
Not only have I received immense enjoyment and satisfaction from sharing my journey online, I’ve met countless fellow bloggers and have made some extremely good friendships with like-minded people from blogging. What started out as a simple place for me to share my travels and views of the world, has brought me into an entirely new path of global advocacy. I have learned about issues impacting some of the world’s most neglected, left behind people and have used my voice to try to create change. I have traveled to New York, Washington DC, India and Ethiopia all thanks to my blog. And, tomorrow I am leaving for Haiti.
Looking back, little did I know that taking a leap of faith would bring me to where I am today. All those self-doubts have been cast aside. At 43, I finally feel like I know my place and journey in life. It took a lot of wrong turns, mistakes and bad choices but somehow serendipitously I ended up here. I am confident that if I keep plugging away, that only more doors will open and I will continue to follow the path of my dreams.
So what does my family think? Thankfully they wholeheartedly support me. I am often asked how I do it or sometimes even get the comments such as “Wow, your husband must really love you a lot to let you travel.” I just shrug my shoulders and let them believe what they want. I know I’m fortunate to have a wonderful life partner who supports me and helps me (not lets me!) follow my dreams.
As I prepare for the 3 am wake-up call tomorrow and get my bags packed, I look forward to the next five days in Haiti. I have done my homework and know what to expect. It may be the western hemisphere’s poorest country that is still in deep recovery after the horrific earthquake five years ago. But it is rebuilding and there is hope.
Photo credit: Heart of Haiti
As part of the Macy’s Heart of Haiti program, we will be visiting the amazing women artisans who are working hard to build themselves and their families a better life. Women who five years ago were merely survivors who lost so much. I look forward to sharing more of their inspiring stories with you of hope, determination and a will to never give up. I will tell you about how Heart of Haiti was founded and why. How it has lifted these women up from hopelessness and poverty and has enabled them to create a sustainable living through art. I look forward to sharing their stories and offering a voice of hope.
Further reading:
Today, on Global Moms Challenge, my friend Leticia Barr wrote a guest post about our upcoming trip. She has traveled to Haiti before with Heart of Haiti and her post gives a bit more background about the program and what we aim to do.
The city of La Paz is one of the most unusual places I’ve ever been simply given its unimaginable geography. Built within the deep walls of a canyon La Paz snakes and sprawls down preposterously steep, narrow and congested streets making mass transit an absolute nightmare. The only way to get around is on foot, by cab (which is expensive for most Bolivians) or to ride in one of the city’s 40,000 over-packed minibuses.
High above Zona Sur and central La Paz, lies El Alto, a city within itself that has exploded over the years as Bolivians migrate from the countryside into the city. Today, El Alto has over a million people and getting from El Alto to the center of La Paz and Zona Sur (way down below at the bottom of the canyon) can prove to be a long affair especially at rush hour.
Understanding the great need for a better mass transit system, the Bolivian government set their hopes high on a rather unusual solution: The construction and implementation of one of the largest urban cable car systems in the world to be used for transportation.
As an avid skier, I have experienced the luxury and ease of riding a Swiss-made gondola high above the snow-covered peaks of the Alps. But I had never in my wildest dreams imagined the same kind of gondola would be used in a huge, chaotic city like La Paz.
When I first saw the cable cars in the sky I was stunned. Little dots were everywhere floating graciously up the mountains. I asked the cab driver if they were for sightseeing but he said no. They were for transportation. Instantly I knew I had to take a ride for myself and experience an urban gondola. I grabbed my camera knowing there would be many amazing views from above, and was off.
The Andes are an incredible mountain range passing from north to south through seven countries making it the longest continental mountain range in the world. There is something about the Andes that is simply magical. The grandeur, scale and scope of the Andes is mind-boggling. Over 4,300 miles long (7,000 km) and at points up to 430 miles wide (700 km), the Andes are immense and are blessed with some of the highest volcanoes in the world and largest ice fields.
I have been lucky to have set foot on the Andes in Peru, Chile, Argentina and most recently, Bolivia. There is no way I can pick favorites as each place has been unique and special in its own way. A four-day visit to the Cordillera Real in the Altiplano of Bolivia gave me once again a feeling of the enormous scale of the Andes. There are over 600 snow-capped peaks in just the Cordillera Real and we only hiked two of them.
On the first day at our camp as the morning sun rose high above the Andes, I shot these photos of what was to come. Judging by the immense beauty, I knew that the Bolivian Andes offered something special.
