The Fish Wizard

Last night, I found myself crowded in a boat's bow, crammed together with three other listeners--my children--and a dog, wrapped in a story read to me and the others by the Fish Wizard.

The Fish Wizard had driven us in the boat just after sunset to a quiet spot, nestled among several islands, the nearest of which was no more than a very large granite boulder, a bit of Canadian Shield, inhabited only by loons, mergansers, and other birds.

The Fish Wizard cut the engine and invited us all--canine and non-canine--into the bow of the boat, where she offered blankets to protect us from the growing cool of the night and a shoulder to lean on. I was nestled up against Tae and found Baker's feet in my lap. I rubbed his feet quietly as the Fish Wizard began her story.

"'The Lorax,' by Dr. Seuss," she said. She read the tale with ease, Riley's head resting gently on her shoulder and we all listened with interest as the Lorax warned the narrator against cutting the Truffula Trees, as he ignored that advice and the world fell towards an ugly future, and as the Onceler offered the narrator his one chance at redemption.

The Fish Wizard wore a purple cape and this hat as the sky began to fill with stars.

I admit to taking a moment away from the story to appreciate the larger magic that the Fish Wizard had created...not just the tale that Seuss wove so well. She had brought us to a place filled with beauty, with the three children that are not just near to our hearts but of our hearts, and at just the right time of day. As I looked around the lake and then more closely around the boat--at Henry's handsome profile (Henry the dog), at the way Tae cuddled into Baker, at Riley's complete relaxation and absorption in the moment, at Baker's still childlike appreciation of a good story, and at the Fish Wizard herself, dressed in her Cap and Cape, children surrounding her Mary Poppins-like; as I looked at all this, I felt the bliss and the blessings of that moment and this life.

I don't always have the right state of mind to appreciate my many blessings so I committed in that moment of appreciation to writing some of them down. Fish Wizard, I just wanted to let you know that you are number one among them.

The Fish Wizard (wearing a different cap)

Rewind - Volcan Totumo

A big highlight of our trip to Colombia was the Volcan Totumo--a 45 foot high pile of mud! Read on, if you dare.

One afternoon, against the suggestion of our hotel concierge, Baker, Riley and I grabbed a taxi out to the Volcan Totumo--what we had heard was a forty-five foot tall "volcano" full of mud. It sounded weird and weird sounded like fun.

The taxi ride took about an hour and along the way we passed through suburban Cartagena and the "George Washington School" (a private school primarily for expats) and a similar British-founded expat school. The kids and I discussed some of Colombia's recent past--drugs and violence. That was an interesting chat and reminds me of how travel provides the opportunity for so many lessons and discussions.

[By the way, a lot of people have asked us if Colombia was safe, given its reputation. We never felt in danger. Our understanding is that the president of the past eight years did a great job on reigning in the violence. While it may still not be entirely safe to travel to remote parts of the country, by all accounts the big cities (Cartagena, Bogota, Medellin) are quite safe. In fact, we did not even see a large police force, which I had entirely expected. There were not lots of AK47-bearing military police walking around to keep the streets safe. It was all quite peaceful.]

Fifty minutes down the road, we turned off onto a smaller road that soon turned to dust and gravel. And there looming before us--well, not quite looming, more like resting--was the mighty (not quite mighty, either--more like dusty) Volcan Totumo.

Volcan Totumo: Making a mountain out of a molehill, or in this case, a volcano out of a mudpile.

We climbed a rickety stairway to the top of Totumo and there our eyes met "the crater"--a 12' x 12' or so square pool of mud, inhabited by three people covered head to toe in the stuff. Turns out they were from Saskatoon. Really.

They appeared to be sitting on benches that I figured lined the side, the way benches do in a jacuzzi. I asked them about the benches and they said, "No. Were sort of just standing here."

"Well, how deep is the mud?" I asked one of the young Colombian men standing about to help people get in and out.

"Dos mil trescientos metros de profundidad."

"What? Really?"

"Si."

2300 meters deep! That's over 7500 feet. This thing was mud all the way down.

Back to the Canadians: "Well, it feels like we're standing. I guess it's more like we are floating."

They weren't treading or exerting any effort whatsoever. They were just there atop 7500 feet of liquid, standing.

Riley was the first to enter, followed by Baker and then by me. It is hard to describe the feeling of it, other than that it was very, very funny. We laughed most of the hour we spent in the mud. We laughed at the feeling of sitting in such thick ooze; we laughed at our vain attempts to dive under the ooze--we simply couldn't get down; we laughed at our looks, covered in the mud; and we laughed at our jumps into a 7500 foot deep pool.

It was a fun and laughter filled afternoon. When finally we decided to get out, we climbed down Totumo (with a bit more respect than when we summited) and were escorted to the adjacent lake where three local women helped us wash up--scrubbed us quite well actually.

I think in this case, in particular, photos are worth 1000 or more words; and video even more. See the photos below and check out this video on YouTube of our Totumo experience.

Three monsters emerge from the ooze of Totumo!

Baker in the batter.

Riley, hoping the cement doesn't harden!

Blue Man group ain't got nothing on us!

Baker looks particularly psycho in this photo, no?

Pura vida!

Rewind - Cartagena, Colombia

As I go to post this blog, I am sitting overlooking Lake Joseph, two hours north of Toronto. However, most of it was written while sitting in our hotel room in Cartagena Colombia in the middle of June. A great trip...

* * * *

As I write this, we are in the midst of a wonderful family vacation in and around Cartagena, Colombia.  We landed here late afternoon on Friday, June 18 and wound our way from the airport into the old walled city of Cartagena. Once inside, we were immersed in the colonial era architecture that is so filled with 21st century life. A great mix!

Brightly colored buildings line narrow cobblestone streets. Nearly every edifice sports its own balcony, often lush with bougainvilla or some other flowering plant.

A typical Cartagena street, with balconies above filled to exploding with bougainvilla.

The main highlights of our days in Cartagena have been walking the streets and, twice, cruising them in horsedrawn carriage, which somehow didn't feel quite as touristy as it normally does. Here are some of the other fun moments:

We ate delicious gelato before noon at Brianzola.

We shopped for emeralds--Turns out that Colombia produces 70 percent of the world's emeralds.

We toured the Palace of the Inquisition and had a close up look at the various ways that Catholic Priests tortured and ultimately killed alleged witches. (Credit to Pope John Paul II, however: He apologized for the Inquisition several years before his death.)

We had a fun lunch at Plaza Santa Teresa, where Tara and I danced to some Colombian favorites and where we drank illegal beers from coffee cups. Illegal because the presidential election was just a day away and a dry law banning all alcohol sales for the days leading up to the election was in force, if not enforced.

Tara and I had a fun dance to a mariachi-style quartet in the Plaza Santa Teresa.

Baker watched a painter make a very nice painting on a mirror in just five minutes and brought it home as a souvenir.
We had a nice dinner at the very tranquilo Club de Pesca, on the waterfront in Cartagena.

At the Club de Pesca, having dinner.

We visited Boca Grande, the upscale barrio of Cartagena, outside the walled city. Had a lunch there in a Medellin-style restaurant (not as yummy as Cartagena-style food--which was mostly fish with sides like coconut rice. The Medellin restaurant offered up more pork-based stew-like fare.) That same day, we also visited a mall and saw Toy Story 3, in Spanish. (This was a sort of final exam for the kids listening comprehension Spanish skills. They passed with flying colors!)

From the Convento de la Popa, there is a nice view of all Cartagena. The tall building in the distance are the upscale neighborhood of Boca Grande.

We went to el Convento de la Popa, a former convent located on the highest point in Cartagena. There was an interesting story about the chief priest in the convent being killed by an angry parishioner--speared through the chest--but mostly the convent offered a nice view of all Cartagena.

Riley inside the Convento de la Popa.

We watched Argentina defeat Greece in the Group Round of the World Cup in an Argentine steak house. In search of a TV showing the game (an easy search as the World Cup was ubiquitous in Cartagena), we were ushered up the interior steps of a sidewalk cafe to a small room full of businessmen in suits on their lunchbreak. The whole crowd was for Argentina, as were we, though our motivations were Korean in nature--Argentina's victory made South Korea's passage to the round of 16 certain.

Gathering with some business folks on lunchbreak to watch Argentina defeat Greece.

We visited el Castillo de San Felipe, a fortress set back from Cartagena's waterfront designed to protect the city from pirate attacks. We were somewhat confused by the fortress' location (away from the water) and its alleged purpose (defending from pirate attacks), but nonetheless it was a interesting and very impressive structure. Beneath the castle were a series of elaborate tunnels in which the Spanish could lay in wait for the English buccaneers, suprise them, and slay them. All that, however, in theory--as the fortress was so well defended that no enemy ever made it so far as the tunnels.

Riley outside el Castillo de San Felipe, with an impressive Colombian flag blowing behind her. Apparently, the flag was designed by a Venezuelan and the yellow symbolizes the blond hair of a woman whom he loved madly.

An ammo storage unit atop one corner of the castle.

Cannons and cannon equipment were moved strategically around the castle to create the impression that there were more men defending the castle than there actually were.

Castillo de San Felipe.

In the light of sunset at Castillo de San Felipe.

We had a nice sunset dinner and drinks at the very hip Cafe del Mar, right on top of the wall of  the old city. This was a spot for Cartagena's coolest people. We (quite unsurprisingly) were admitted with enthusiasm to this elite group.

Cafe del Mar seemed like the place to see and be seen in Cartagena.

We made an overnight trip to the Isla Rosario National Park--a marine park home that includes a number of islands. There, the highlights were a trip to a local aquarium where the kids had a chance to swim with a dolphin--really fun to watch!--and where we saw a shark show.

Cartagena, as seen from the water on our way to Isla Rosario.

Baker and Riley helped Tae meet a dolphin up close and personal.

Baker scratches the dolphin's chin.

Riley thought the dolphin's kiss was very salty!

The aquarium had a dolphin show as well as a shark show.

We also did about 45 minutes of snorkeling there in Rosario. Tae simply climbed on Tara's back and stuck his face in the water to see the fish and coral. What a snorkeler at age 4! Riley and Baker really enjoyed it as well, swimming and exploring.

Riley and I posing for a photo before snorkeling.

Baker goes for a dive.

Tara and her companion Tae.

And some more photos from the trip:

Baker let his long blonde locks grow during our time in Nosara. In Cartagena, he cut them for the first time in six months.

We went to the Cartagena Museum of Modern Art, where we found and recreated a painting called "El Beso."

We saw a portion of a school play/show by some local kids and snapped this photo of our kids with a girl in the show. She is a typical urban Colombian kid, dressed up in traditional clothes (the way our kids might dress as a Pilgrim...)

Our hotel had two toucans living right in the main dining area. Unfortunately for them, their wings were clipped--but it made for fun breakfast times.

Tune in again soon for the funniest thing we did in Colombia: Volcan del Totumo!

Pura vida!