Caño Cristales, Colombia + Rochester, New York
We have a very entertaining episode for you this week, as we have Alison's ex-husband's girlfriend here with us as our guest googler. Long-time listener, friend, and shining example for blended families getting along, it's Laura Berube! She is seriously awesome. She is hosting Alison and Ash while we are all visiting NYC, and even had gifts for us she made, that you can get from her company - D Cups's - Facebook Page. She also was absolutely integral for our 100th Episode party coming together.
Alison is obsessed with Kristen Ess's "The One" shampoo. It's made for blondes, to keep the brassy-ness away. However Alison is worried its literally going to turn her hair purple - it won't - but until she's used it more than once, perhaps she will call this her "potential obsession".
Laura is obsessed with a pop-up pastry situation in Bryant Park's Winter Village - Aux Merveilleux de Fred. Hearing Laura attempt to pronounce the name is entertaining, while Lulu can say it with perfect diction. Specifically Laura is obsessed with the chocolate chip brioche. She has gotten them every day since her boyfriend introduced her to them. She is so passionate about this obsession, that after recording this episode, we all walk to Bryant Park to try one. It's delicious, by the way!
Lulu is obsessed with zucchini noodles, and while she's been buying the frozen version, she now realizes she actually owns a spirolizer, and can make them fresh anytime!
Alison is using her wish to take back an obsession. She wishes it wasn’t so hard to cancel a gym membership! While she was excited about joining 9 Round, but with all her work and travel, she can't get there often enough to make it worth it. She had been told she could cancel anytime, and when she went to cancel, was told she had to pay the rest of a year long contract. She has now discovered that there is a supreme court law suit against gyms, as they are the number one Better Business Bureau complaint. Alison is feeling feisty and hot under the collar about this, and if you have a good "quitting the gym story", she'd love to hear it.
Laura is wishing for more excursions in NYC, as she's lived there for 6 months and feels like she's done nothing. Lulu is going to be her NYC guide, so wish come true! Lulu feels like this wishlist could maybe be in reach if she got a really big paycheck. These cream linen pajamas from The Sleeper are her unisex wear-inside-or-outside wardrobe dream come true.
Alison picked this locale with our guest Laura in mind, as she had shared a post on the Bae page awhile back suggesting one of the girls pick it for one of their imaginary 10K days. Caño Cristales is also known as El Rio de los Cinco Colores, meaning The River of Five Colors, and is also called the ‘Liquid Rainbow’. During the rainy season (approx. September until January) the river takes on multiple colors, due to a type of algae known as Macarenia clavigera.
It is located in a rural area of Colombia called La Macarena, and though it is very off-the-beaten-path, there are ways to get to La Macarena via Bogota or Villavicencio, that don't involve any reenactments of the popular 90's group dance. You're hearing it in your head now, aren't you?
It is an absolute requirement that you have a guide to go to the river. One of the reasons is that the government closed off the area due to the risk of FARC activity (the FARC are the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). In the past, people had been kidnapped by the FARC and held for ransom and therefore, the area was closed to tourism as recently as 1989. Laura and Lulu think this is not recent, and laugh at Alison's cautionary tone. However, Alison's website of research preference, SouthAmericanBackpacker.com, mentions that it was closed to tourism since 1989, and according to further googling by our producer, it seems that the area was closed from 1989 until 2016, and is "mostly safe for visitors". So Alison's cause for concern was spot on. Guest Googler Laura suggested she hire a bodyguard, and what do you know, you can get Bogota's best in protection from Omnitempus.
If you feel like adventuring through this recently-deemed-safe area of Colombia, you can book multi-day all-inclusive tours to Caño Cristales, and if you are feeling really wild, you can follow this guy's advice on how to do the trip on your own (without a tour company booking everything that is, you still need a guide to go to Caño Cristales). It involves being comfortable carrying cash, booking accommodation on the fly, and emailing here and here for a permit. To those of you who go that route, we salute you!
The hotel that is commonly recommended is the Hotel San Nicholas, which has dormitory style rooms or a solo double bed room, and is equipped with air conditioning, tv, and breakfast. Pretty solid offerings for a remote part of South America. Of interesting note is the cash only policy, which Alison feels is too sketch for a 10K Day. To be fair, this is South America, and this is an adventure traveler's destination. Alison has found a way around this however, and is going to stay 7 hours south in the Chico Cabrera neighborhood of Bogotá. A bit of an upgrade from the hotel in La Macarena, this penthouse from VRBO with a balcony and views that are to die for. Four-bedrooms, all with their own en-suites, this stunning space also boasts a huge open kitchen, gym and spa access, and an in-building playground for kids! Except, wait, now that listing is no longer available?! Just look at the pictures below to see why we are so disappointed. And instead here are some good hotel options in that neighborhood of Bogota.
Alison charters a helicopter to get her back to La Macarena to experience the river. This helicopter service is normally a 3 hour tour of different landmarks in Columbia, but she's hoping they won't mind a simple transport flight instead.
Alison is very prepared for her adventure into the Colombian countryside. She did her research and knows all the vaccines she needs. She also knows that at the river it is forbidden to wear sunscreen or mosquito repellant, as the algae in the water are so sensitive that common ingredients of those products would kill the algae, thus destroying the "liquid rainbow". Perhaps some lemongrass essential oil to deter the bugs? To beat the heat (and the sun), Alison bought this Helen Kaminski "Armada" sun hat to keep her eyes and skin safe! The liquid rainbow definitely does not disappoint, and after Alison has spent the day exploring, she heads for dinner at Café De Lithos, where the menu lists items at $2-$5 each. She loads up before helicopter-ing back to her penthouse.
Lulu has been in research mode for where she wants to go, with google searches such as "most romantic destinations", "best places to get over a breakup", being just some of her efforts to find something unique. She then looks up the top places for singles. She came across some great suggestions, like Buenos Aires, Miami, Cape Town, Tokyo, and some cities that we've "been to" like London, and Madrid. The number one city was New York, which as a resident Lulu declares "LIES"!!! So Lulu thought of a single friend, where they are from, and decided to do a day there. So here we go, Rochester, New York
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Lulu books the 2100 sq ft Lake Ontario Suite at the Hyatt Regency Rochester, for one night, because in a budget boosting move, she is staying her second night in a luxury RV. The Prevost Outlaw H3 JS from Goss Luxury Motorcoaches, for $5300 a night, to be exact. This beast has surround sound, satellite tv, and "all the amenities you would find in a luxury condo".
She has breakfast at The Mad Hatter, where she goes for one of their many Eggs Benedict variations, the Hatters Benedict. Poached farm fresh eggs, applewood-smoked bacon, black beans, served on a house-made buttermilk cheddar cheese biscuit topped with out signature spicy salsa hollandaise. She gets an extra side of hollandaise sauce, and two types of french toast. YUM!
Next Lulu heads to the National Museum of Play, where she lets out her inner child as she explores the International Center for the History of Electronic Games and the National Toy Hall of Fame.
After she's played and played, she heads to another kind of toy store. The House of Guitars in Rochester is the largest guitar store in the world! She buys the Taylor 250ce-BLK DLX 12-string, whose description sounds very technical and flowery all at the same time. She doesn't understand the specifics of why this $1600 guitar is so great, but she's going to buy it, attempt to play it, and then give it to her dad who does play guitar. What a souvenir! To end her day she heads to Good Luck, where she gets a 32oz bone in ribeye steak, some sides, and the autumn sangria. Yes, you read that right, 32 oz. No, a puma isn’t coming to dinner, Lulu is making up for her forgotten lunch. Somehow she spent nearly all of her $10,000, by doing very little, eating a moderate amount, and spending what seems like such a high price tag for one night in an RV. So there you go, Rochester, New York.
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