zachsmith's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member zachsmith on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/zachsmith en-us Copyright ©2012 TravelPod.com Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:46:24 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com La Paz — La Paz, Bolivia http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1275089133/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1275089133/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1275089133/tpod.html Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:46:24 +0000 Africa and South America 2009-2010
La Paz, Bolivia

Where I stayed
the point hostel
(La Paz hotels)









]]> Copacabana/Lake Titicaca — Copacabana, Bolivia http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1272072318/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1272072318/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1272072318/tpod.html Mon, 03 May 2010 04:03:32 +0000 Africa and South America 2009-2010
Copacabana, Bolivia

(Copacabana hotels)


Copacabana is small city on Bolivia's Lake Titicaca, one of the world's highest navigable lakes, and south Americas largest. At almost 13,000 ft. the suns intense rays beat down on Copacabana illuminating the water and the whole city. It's really an enchanting place. The Incas believed it to be the birth place of the sun and Isla De Sol (Island of the Sun) has over 180 Incan Ruins.

My stay was really relaxing with some nice hikes and beautiful sunsets. I met a really interesting English/French couple who I spent the day with talking about literature and cinema. It was nice to have some stimulating conversation with Martin, a journalist/Editor for McGraw-Hill, and Caroline the teacher.

Another great thing about Bolivia is it's really cheap. I had some wonderful Trout, rice, salad, potatoes and a drink for a little less than $2.00 US. My hostel was about $3.00 for the night. I could get used to that cost of living. Off to La Paz next.

Love.Joy.Peace.
Zach








]]> Arequipa — Arequipa, Peru http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1272072246/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1272072246/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1272072246/tpod.html Sun, 25 Apr 2010 13:48:15 +0000 Africa and South America 2009-2010
Arequipa, Peru

(Arequipa hotels)


Arequipa Pictures.
Love. Joy. Peace.
zach







]]> the Least of these — San Pedro Sula, Honduras http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1271691454/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1271691454/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1271691454/tpod.html Sat, 24 Apr 2010 04:20:33 +0000 Africa and South America 2009-2010
San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Talking about Social Justice has become in vogue. There has even been a paradigm shift in main stream media's coverage of social justice issues. Just look at the coverage the Gates foundation or U2's Bono receives. But I would argue that while it has become popular to talk about the poor, it still isn't popular to talk to the poor. LOVE IS ACTION.

I had the chance to spend a week in San Pedro Sula,Honduras with FCA and Orphan Helpers serving the marginalized and forgotten. We primarily worked with three groups. The first was a girls home, the second a detention center for boys 12-18 and the third an orphanage. Here is a little able each one.

The girls center:
Imagine a room full of 150 girls 10-17 years old. Now I want you to imagine you are looking at the face of each girl, You are looking her right in the eyes; you see the hurt; you see the sense of betrayal because a family member whose supposed to love her raped her; you see her cower away afraid that you might touch her; you see that she has no self worth because no one
has ever told her that she has value; you see a sense of hopelessness; you see that she's been robbed of her childhood because she's a mother at the age of 13 and every day the baby is a reminder of the evil that has happened; you see her starving and thirsty for love; you see a girl-a little girl scarred and scared. What breaks my heart is that I don't need to imagine- This is what I saw in Honduras- a room fulls of girls every single one of them had been sexually abused and many physically abused as well.

During the course of the week, we spent time with the girls. We played sports with them, we talked with them, but most of all we sought to earn their trust. By the end of the week we had to pry the girls off when we'd leave for the day. They longed so much for positive physical contact, a hug, a hand to hold, a arm to latch onto lite up their world.



The detention center:
The boys in the detention center were lock up for serious crimes. Rape, murder, grand theft auto, you name it, they have done it. The cell modules were divided to separate the rival gangs. Most of all when I walked around and visited with the juveniles I saw a bunch of scared boys. They were clutching to Mob Mentality with everything they had because they were away from
home and scared to death. We were able to give soccer uniforms and ball to them to have something constructive to do during outside time. It was amazing to see them playing a game and working together. It was as if we were transported outside the barbed wire walls and armed guards to where they were just boys again. (pictures were not allowed inside)


The Orphanage:
Chaos. Half clad children running around like little maniacs. When we showed up it was an all out attack to get some precious attention they so longed for. Within seconds from getting out of the van I had kids hanging on me like a jungle gym. It is an incredible feeling to look at a child who is dirty, with a runny nose, has ringworm all over their body and who knows what other kind of funk...and recklessly sweep them up in your arms not worrying about them being yucky or what your might catch.

They were barely supervised and with 30 out of 150 children with severe mental health issues, it is impossible for the staff of 2 or 3 to do more than damage control. I've never seen so many young children with scared up faces and heads in my life. While we were there a mental disturbed child threw a rock at the face of another boy taking a few stitches to close his brow. Out of anyone I have ever hugged in my life, these were kids who deserved a hug. When I hugged them I put every ounce of love in into it. I wanted them to feel my love flowing into their tiny little bodies, to know that I cared for them and that they were special.

















During the week we gave a lot of medical care with Doctor Gary and Nurse Pam and everyone else pitching in. We also had the chance to visit a school amongst other things. We finished the week by visiting the radical Copan Mayan Ruins. This doesn't begin to touch on my exigence but it's all I have time for now. My apologies for the ramble and any spelling mistakes/grammar/syntax/ and poor writing.











Love. Joy. Peace.
zs












]]> Pura Vida Costa Rica — Jaco, Costa Rica http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1271681989/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1271681989/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1271681989/tpod.html Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:19:47 +0000 Africa and South America 2009-2010
Jaco, Costa Rica















After finding out about my sister Summer's plans to go to Costa Rica, I was able to fly from Brazil to meet her and 4 friends for a week R&R in Costa Rican paradise. It was really great to spend time with her after being away from family and close friends during my travels. We truly lived out the Costa Rican moto, Pura Vida (Pure Living), with a week of laid back beaches, snorkeling, a waterfall, and no worries.















Places:
-San Jose
-Jaco
-Montezuma
-Isla Tortuga
-Santa Teresa
-Malpais














Highlights:
-Seeing my sister
- Watching Duke win the Nat'l Championship
-Pb&j sandwiches on the beach
-snorkeling and lunch, Isla Tortuga
-Jumping off Montezuma waterfalls
-Gathering mangoes/climbing mango trees/fighting monkeys in mango trees/eating fresh mangos

I hope the pictures transport you to a warmer place.
Love. Joy. Peace.
zach
ps. click on the picture to watch the video of my jumping from the waterfalls










]]> Rockin' Rio de Janeiro — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1271035625/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1271035625/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1271035625/tpod.html Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:02:18 +0000 Africa and South America 2009-2010
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil













The day breaks over the ocean horizon and the sun kisses Rio with her warm lips. Color everywhere. The heat and light are inseparable. I lay in bed thinking I have one more hour to sleep on top of these sheets. Sheets sticky with sand, salt water matted hair and the light perspiration that slowly seeps out of my every pore, I try to roll over quietly as not to wake up the other nine people in the hostel dorm room. Beach sleep; good sleep. Out side the world is coming alive in the light and like everything in Rio, with Passion and Rhythm.










The bakeries are rolling their graffiti bay doors up and they sound like a Guira (*instrument used in many Latin styles of music. metal tin perforated and played with a brush) as the metal slides up. They glide to Samba as they transform the chaos; stacked tables find their way to the side walks, A framed wooden menus unfold, ready for business. The blenders star buzzing and if food is the language of love, then the Brazilians speak fruit. The man at the counter talks to pregnant girl with the blue eyes as she wipes her brow with a towel. He's waiting on his granola, banana, and acci berries, she's waiting on her baby daddy to stop hanging out with his rat pack of no goods and be a man.










And then the horns start. Communication. Honk if you're happy. Honk if you're getting merged on. Honk at a friend on the street. Honk, just honk.






My feet hit the floor. 'Don't waste the day' I tell myself, it's a gift. I quickly grab the the bread, peanut butter and jelly from the foot of my bed where it stayed all night. It's not that I'm afraid of people eating or stealing it; I'm afraid of the girl who works at the hostel and cleans fridge like a heroin addict coming down with the tremors and looking for something to keep her mind off how bad she's jonesin'. She threw half a dozen of my eggs away, even after I wrote my name and date on the carton like I'm supposed to and I thought I had OCD. Not happening, the bread and PB&J, they stay with me.







In the kitchen I quickly down a glass of juice, eat a piece of toast, stuff my face with some melon and wish I had those eggs to scramble. I spread a ridiculous amount of peanut butter on two pieces of bread as on lookers are so pleased to have me fulfill their American stereotype. Evidently Americans loooove them some PB&J. Sunglasses- check, $1.50 for the metro-
check, apple, 2 pb&j's, water- check. I have everything. The sun is bright and I squint before I slide my electric green glasses down on the bridge of my nose. The soles of my feet let me know that my pain receptors are working as the street burns them up like a match, gasoline and an old hay mattress.

The door opens, I slide in the metro. AC. relief. I survey the crowd. This is Rio, a contradiction, normal-unusualness. In any other city the suits would be staring at me, but in Rio, no shoes and no shirt really IS no problem. The door opens, it's my stop. I shuffle out with the sea of people, we bottle neck through the turns stalls then the diaspora like sand in the wind.
I readjust to the light as I surface and get my bearing.










Man it's hot. This is the kinda hot that doesn't need to warm up, it just starts. No thermostat, just stuck full blast-the 'ON' switch. 'Just find the water, and quick,' I tell myself. Beach people fall into one of two categories, those who do, and those who don't. Of course I'm talking about getting in the water. In Rio, everyone gets in the water. I hop right in, Ahhh, the cool blue rush, I'm ready to sit on the beach and feel the tingle as the salt water slowly evaporates from my skin. I look around and quickly realize the Brazilians have a 1/3 rule. It's quite simple; at minimum take 1/3 of the amount of material of a normal swim suit and you've got a Brazilian Bikini or speedo. More is not optional, regardless of age or physical fitness or attractiveness, and of course less is always preferable and even encouraged.








I bake in the sun. A shirt covers my face, to block out the sun and to block eye contact with the guys who comb the beach selling hammocks, food, and lords knows what else. Is it lunch time yet? 11:00, Close enough. I crunch into the Gayla apple and juice runs down my knuckles. The slightly salty taste from the ocean really enhances the apples flavor. I inhale the two sandwiches. I look around, it hits me. I'm in Brazil. I'm in Rio. I'm on Ipanema.



















I stay until the last rays of natural light dance across the sky and give way to the artificial glow of steel and cement. Jungle. Rio's a jungle, lush green jungle, concrete jungle and maybe most of all a jungle of people trying to survive. With South Americas biggest slum (or favaela as the Brazilians call it) there are plenty of people who live an animalistic existence on a daily basis. The favelas sit high in the hills and serve as a ugly reminder that while life is good, injustice is
prevalent. I can't help but think about this on the metro ride back. How fortunate I am to be seeing and experiencing so many awesome places, but more than this, how invaluable and numerous are the lessons to be learned along the way. If this trip and these things do not have a profound impact on me it would be because I was incapable of feeling. For there has been
enough beauty in one sunset to convince me of God, there has been enough kindness in a stranger opening his home to give me hope for all mankind, and there has been enough love in eyes of an orphan to prove the perseverance of the human spirit. These and a thousand lessons are the souvenirs I will bring home.

What are you learning from the world around you? Don't miss out, it's speaking and waiting for you to listen.

Love. Peace. Joy.

zs




]]> Sao Paulo — Sao Paulo, Brazil http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1270600505/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1270600505/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1270600505/tpod.html Wed, 07 Apr 2010 04:06:46 +0000 Africa and South America 2009-2010
Sao Paulo, Brazil

Where I stayed
Rafaels apprt
(Sao Paulo hotels)


A quick rundown on visiting some friends in Sao Paulo and Campinas.












Rafael is a quirky Brazilian guy I met in my hostel in Buenos Aires. He graciously invited me to stay with him if I ever came to Sao Paulo. Little did he know I would be calling him a couple months later to take him up on the offer. Sao Paulo is a HUGE city. We are talking the 17 Million plus variety of mega city. SP is Brazil's modern couture cultural capital and has everything a city lover could want; art, food uniqe living spaces, entertainment ect. and people, people, people. SP is to people watching as biscuits and gravy is to food, it doesn't get any better. With giant cross sections of the populus from Africa, Portugal, Italy, and Japan
I've never seen so many different mixes of people. Think creamy capachino skin with emerald green eyes and a blonde afro. CRAZY.











Highlights- Apfel restaurant.Irabarapuda park. Hanging out with Raphael's friends and feeling like I was at home.






























After SP I made my way an hour away to Campinas to visit Carlos my tent mate from Mount Aconcagua. Carlos and his fiance, Laura, live in a ultra modern appartment that over looks the city. They were the most hospitiable host and went out of their way to make sure I had everything I could possibly need or want. After sleeping on the ground a lot over the last few months and in cheap hostels, it was great to have a bed/bath room of my own, and a fully stocked fridge. Carlos and Laura are both doctors with extremely busy schedules and yet they still made a lot of time to show me their city and more importantly took time to invite me into their lives. While I'm so grateful to be traveling, sometimes traveling can be exhausting and a few days vaction from your vacation is needed. Relaxing at their appartment was exceedingly pleasant.

Highlights- food food food (to many good places to list but the Brazilians know how to eat, and I got a tast of America by going to Outback Steak house. yes, it tastes the same), rock climbing with Carols and one of his friends, late nights hanging out watching old Die Straights concerts on DVD and talking about life.



That's all for now.

Love. Joy. Peace.
zs



]]> Igazu waterfalls — Puerto Iguazu, Argentina http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1270245025/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1270245025/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1270245025/tpod.html Sat, 03 Apr 2010 13:25:26 +0000 Africa and South America 2009-2010
Puerto Iguazu, Argentina

Where I stayed
Hostel Inn and Kliens Hostel
(Puerto Iguazu hotels)


Upon seeing Iguzu waterfalls, United States First Lady Elanor Rooevelt exclaimed, "Poor Niagara!"





With about 300 water falls stretching a staggering 2 mile span,the Iguazu water falls are nothing short of mind-blowing. To see such an awesome display of power is incredibly invigorating. I found myself grinning from ear to ear and giggling like a child. It's unbelievable, literally, after hours of watching I still couldn't believe the sheer volume of silty brown water that pumps over the falls and lands explosively like a continuous stream of bombs going off in the pools below. In the Devils Throat (Garganta del Diablo), the centerpiece of the falls, the force of water sends a heavy mist up to 500 feet in the air making visits to the falls a very hands on experience. I was soaked to the bone.





The Iguazu River is also acts as a natural border between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and their respective cities, Puerto Iguazu, Foz do Icgucu, Ciudad del Este. Both the Argentinean and Brazilian sides were awesome, but Ciudad del Este lives up to it's reputation of being a dirty, dangerous, and crowded **** hole. Hows that for alliteration.

Check the pics

Love, Joy. Peace.





]]> L+Shall+ 10 = El Chalten — El Chaltén, Argentina http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1269818484/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1269818484/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1269818484/tpod.html Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:36:26 +0000 Africa and South America 2009-2010
El Chaltén, Argentina



















For the record, I am consuming a massive quantity of peanut butter straight from the jar
with a spoon as I write this blog. If you must know, it's EXTRA crunchy. No, regular crunchy wasn't enough, it had to have the EXTRA preceding the crunchy. Yes, I am continuously double, triple, and quadruple dipping; but I'm sharing with my stomach and it doesn't care, so neither should you.

Now that I've cleared the air, Hello from Brazil. Spoiler warning * This blog is NOT going to be about Brazil, so without further adieu - El Chalten

Two rock walls. A narrow causeway leading to the Shangri-la of climbing. El Chalten is the ever growing gatekeeper town of the rock palace whose allure is legendary and whose beauty when not veiled by clouds, is breath taking. Cerro Torre and Mount Fitz Roy ominously hang over the city like boxer standing over their knockout victim. Tall, proud, an undisputed king with a fist full of dynamite.













El Chalten provided a much needed break from touristic exploitation of El Calafate. As town of 600 climbers and frontier forerunners, Chalten is a no frills jumping off point for many brave and adventurous spirits. Did you know Chalten is "officially" the trekking capital of Argentina? Well if not, now you do.












One of the best things about Chalten is that all the hiking trails origins are in the town. Once you lace up your boots it's only a 5 minute walk before the rubber meets the dirt. The first hike I did ended at a lookout point just below Cerro Torre. Once thought to be the hardest mountain in the world to climb, the impressive peak is capped by a mushroom of ice. Like all of Patagonia, the weather in Chalten is a harsh mistress, often veiling views of the mountains for a month at a time. I consider myself very lucky to have even gotten a partial views of Cerro Torre and the glacial landscape that surrounds it.
















The next hike I took was to the base of Mount Fitz Roy. A favorite of nature photographers and the logo Patagonia clothing company Fitz Roy has beauty that paralyzes and inspires. After a lovely hike through some nice landscapes we climbed up to Torres Laguna at the base of Fitz Roy. My eyes and spirit were completely captivated; I laid on a rock, lost in my surrounding. I am beginning to understand the weight of my smallness in light of these great spaces. We are but an infinitesimal drop in an endless ocean. I'm constantly learning that as we discover the world, it discovers us; it peels back our layers exposing our deep places to ourselves.




































As I leave Chalten, I'm a little tired. I would have loved to try to climbed the challenging ice & rock that is Fitz Roy, but at the end of the season, without a climbing partner, and after Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, Mount Aconcagua, trekking Ushuaia, Torres Del Paine and El Chalten my batteries low. I'm looking forward recharging while visiting some friends in Brazil in the next few weeks.


Last but not least... GO DUKE! I bleed Duke blue, through and through. I was pumped to be able to watch the game
between the Blue Devils and Baylor Bears tonight via Internet in Brazil. Gotta love Technology.

Always,
Love, Joy. Peace.





]]> El Calafate — El Calafate, Argentina http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1269299137/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1269299137/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/zachsmith/2/1269299137/tpod.html Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:45:45 +0000 Africa and South America 2009-2010
El Calafate, Argentina

(El Calafate hotels)



















El Calafate, Argentina is the classic case of a town that sprung up over night due to tourism. More Disney than anything else, the town is full of feux rustic log cabins, and stylistically is comparable to Aspen, Thaoe, or any other American Ski town.

For this reason, it felt a little pretentious and constructed for my liking. The big attraction besides the town itself Perito Merano Glacier. The hour and a half drive and park fee are well worth seeing one of the worlds last advancing glaciers. Al Gore eat your heart out.


With all the bus rides from Chile to Argentina and to the Glacier I got a chance to do one of my favorite leisurely activities, READ. With the free time I also thought about what I've experienced in my travels so far and the great people I've met. The longer I'm on the road, the more I realize how fortunate I am to be able to travel. With all the doomsay we see in the news, with all the natural disasters, with all the political strif over universal heath care, I can think of no better way to combat cyciysm then to go head first into the world. I am daily reminded that while problems exsist, so does a lot of goodness. I guess what I'm trying to say is, LIFE IS GOOD AND I LOVE IT.



Perito Merno Glacier Facts:

- It is the worlds third largest reserve of fresh water.

- At 3 miles wide and an average of 580 ft. high, the glacier is a monster. Just imagine a skyscraper made of ice and 3 miles wide and you'll get the picture.

- When even the smallest piece of blue ice breaks off, a thunderous sound and giant a wave of water are created.

- You can watch the glacier for hours and it's not boring. Seriously, I never thought looking at ICE would be so fascinating but it is.

- There are over 5 million shades of blue represented in the Glacier. Okay I made this up, but I wouldn't be suprised. The hues and shades of blue are endless.






Calafate was a nice two day reprieve from hiking and sleeping on the ground. Next up El Chaten.
Love. Joy. Peace.
zs


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