Mendoza, Santiago... Overview

So we have made one giant loop and here we are back in Santiago, Chile. We just got back from spending 4 nights in Mendoza. To answer the question i know all of you are asking... YES! Yes i did have steak literally for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and it was amazing. Kara got steaked-out by the 3rd night and gagged when she saw me eating the leftovers in the the morning...mmmmmm.

We have just finished making our bags airplane ready and are about to crack open our last bottle of fine cheap Chilean wine, so don´t feel too sorry for us, we will see you guys hopefully soon. Thanks for keeping up with the blog, we are glad that you all could be apart of our 5 month adventure, and thanks for the updates home.



Overview-

-Favorite single experience of the trip- Potosi, Bolivia Mine Tour w/ Freddy Silver

-Favorite specific location- (Kara´s) Cusco, Peru. (Galen´s) Mendoza, Argentina

-Favorite Country- (kara´s) Peru. (Galen) Bolivia

-Place we are want to live-Mendoza

-Favorite color- Blue



Thanks again

Galen and Kara

Our trip coming to an end

Well we currently have two weeks to go so we are trying to pack in all of our final adventures. Last night we brought our host family out to dinner, kids and all, which to say the least was interesting.

Kara is spending her last day in Chocco today, finalizing some loose ends on her project. We gained valuable insight into the development world. We learned a great deal about their culture, education and the role it plays in a small community such as Chocco. I think we can say that we are pretty satisfied with the work that we have done here.

Tomorrow we take a bus to Oyantaytambo where we will do a short 5 hr hike before hopping the train to Aguas Caliente, which is the town at the base of Machu Pichu. The following day we will explore Machu Pichu and take the last train back to Cusco. With the remaining time left we are going to go as fast as possible back down to Santiago, Chile. Then, go to Mendoza, Argentina for the remaining few days we have left. We have chosen this path because we have only gotten the chance to see the Patagonia part of Argentina and Mendoza has come so highly recomended to us. On our way down from Cusco we´ll stop in Arica, the northern most town of Chile by the Peruvian border for a couple days before getting back on the bus for Santiago.

We look forward to making a full circle, ending in the city where we began our 5 month journey.

LAST MONTH- Cusco, Peru and community project

Cusco, Peru- Plaza de Armas

side street in Chocco

Chocco

Hello Followers!

We are currently in Cusco, Peru and have started on our volunteer projects. We found ourselves a great host family, they have 2 girls and 2 boys, all under the age of 7.

The program that we decided to work with is called Hampy. It is a very small, but very well run organization run by this guy Gorge. What makes this program so special is that you are brought to the community that you will be working in, from there you have to decide what needs to be done and write a purposal. So, its putting all the responsibility in our hands which has given us much more drive towards our goals.

The community that our focus will be in is called Chocco about a 20min drive northwest of the main plaza. It is located in a beautiful hidden valley untouched by the effects of tourism. The community is very poor/primitive, but rich with culture.

Kara is doing a health communication campaign, where she is addressing some of the most prominant health problems in the community through multiple communication medians. She is focusing on basic hygiene problems and promoting healthier cooking habits by working with specific members of the community.

I have chosen two community projects to do. The first one is teaching basic computer skills/programs to the elementary school teachers. They teachers in the community supposedly don´t even know how to turn on a computer and they have two computers which were donated to them a year ago. The second project is a continuation of a program that was left off by another volunteer which is building healthy, efficient stoves. Most stoves are made of mud and the smoke vents out into the houses leading to major respatory issues, so we would be building specific stoves that use less wood and vent outside.

Like I said above we are living with a host family of 6 in a community just south of the main plaza. We are learning slowly how to live with the family, which has been quite entertaining not mentioning sharing a bathroom with all of them.

PS- on a much different note we hope this weekend to have our first Guinea pig feast. We have a few typical choices- 1) in a bun, 2) fried, 3) baked. I think i´m going to go for baked and maybe throw a little BBQ sauce on that baby! Kara differs in opinion, she chooses the Guinea in a bun with some avocado and picante sauce.

Guinea in a bun!

Baked Guinea!

Fried Guinea!

YUM YUM YUM... IN MY TUM TUM TUM!!!

Next to La Paz, Madidi National Park (amazon) then Into PERU!

capybara (looks like a ginny pig/ rat


Howler Money
Parates

Looking for Camon at night

A last minute camera click as Fredrico Lunges at me almost taking my hand...

Bad..Bad... Fredrico

Isla Del Sol, Lake Titicaca

The Donkey that would not shut up (kara had never heard a Jackass before)
Well we left you off back in the Capital of Bolivia (Sucre). Since then we have put in our fair share of bus time, 13 hrs here 5 hrs there and a 20 hr we hope never to repeat...EVER! From Sucre we finally made it to La Paz after Kara got over her ´bug´. We connected with some old friends and immediatly bought 4 tickets to the BOLIVIA vs. ARGENTINA ( ranking- argentina second to the top and bolivia second to the bottom) so Bolivia had a lot to prove. We grabbed a taxi and drove across town only to make it about 8 out of the 20 blocks. Infront of us stood hundreds of people wearing the green jerseys (Bolivia) and a few wearing white and blue (Argentina) who were walking off to the side of the streets hoping not to be stoned. As we walk around the corner and the stadium came into site it wasn´t hard to see how prominant a role Coca Cola played in their culture, there were dozens of huge inflatable drinks, soccer balls, shirts, banners, flags.... an much more. We manuvered our way through the crowd and into the stadium and found our seats which were located about 13 rows up and near the home opposing goal(Prime Seats!). The game was incredible Bolivia outplayed Argentina in every way. We were amazed that Bolivia wasn´t ranked higher. When all the fans stomped the stadium shoot and the chants grew louder and louder. After an amazing game Bolivia won 5-2.

The following day we left for Rurrenaburque on a cheap flight we had found. We arrived at the airport and soon after took off. It was a beautiful flight, for we saw the sunrise and were flying at the same level as all of the snow capped peaks, which were not more than 500 yards away. All of sudden we banked hard left and turned around. We found out later that since the runway in Rurrenaburque is dirt and there was recent rain, it was too muddy to land. After getting back to the airport and waiting another 4hrs we were finally clear to go. ROUND 2- was a go, we blasted off in our tiny twin prop 15 seater. About 45 min later we flew over i guess what they considered the landing strip because they started to bank and turn around after flying over a little town. Flying straight now they started to decend, kara and I looked out the window wondering where the strip could be, lower and lower, the plane dropped, we were only 20ft above the tree line. Kara and i freaking out now, wondering were the strip was. All of sudden we could see grass and little patches of dirt below us with only about 20+ ft of clearance on each side of the plane. The wheel touched down and we immediateley started to swerve violently to the left and right teasing the edge of the forest with our wings. Another couple hundred yards down the road the plain thankfully came to a stop and the Pilot turned around with a wide grin looking at the 15 white faced, horrified Gringos.

The following day we grabbed a Jeep transport and headed out on a 4 hr ride to the Madidi National Park (Amazon) . (The park is about 5,750 square miles which covers everything from mountains to the jungle, it is one of the largest protected areas in in the world.) The ride was rough and the road was bad, but nothing much else to report. On arrival we met our guide, Jamey, a native to the jungle and a real character. Our group consisted of us and 3 other Kiwi´s who were a riot. We all loaded into a long canoe and headed up river for 3hrs. On our journey we saw dozens of species of birds, pink dolphines, and a bunch of monkeys. We were there for 3 days and 2 sleepless nights (warning kiwi´s snore like no other). We did a wide range of activities like walking through the jungle, searching for anacondas, swatted at millions of mosquitos, swam with the dolphines, and swam with an 8 ft camon(named Fredrico) that was on the enbankment only 15 ft away ( one eye on the water and one on Fredrico). Fredrico almost got a tasty little hand. The guide and I were teasing the Camon so i could take pictures of it, so my hands were out infront of me clicking away when the guide caught my attention for a moment, making a funny face when all of a sudden his eyes got wide and out of the corner of my eye i see nasty Fredrico lunge out of the the water toward me. At the last second I lunged backwards with Fredrico clamping down inches away from my right hand. Lesson learned- Do not tease the Camon.....

The day we left the Pampas (the section of the amazon we were in), was when our road adventures truly started. When we awoke it was relentlesly pouring rain. We packed our bags and got in the canoe to do a very wet 2 hr canoe ride. Once at the take-out we loaded up our jeep, which was 2hrs late. Our driver was laughing and laughing saying, ´ready´...´are you sure!´we hopped in and within seconds we found out why. The roads coming in when it was dry were terrible but now with almost 7 hrs of constant rain, the roads were lethal, despite the fact we were in a 4 wheel drive jeep with big treaded tires. We were all over the road, it was like driving on pure ice. twice we almost rolled the car with the left wheels taunting not to return to the road. In addition to the road conditions our car kept breaking down every 30 min. What took us 4hrs before took almost 8 hrs to return. It was truly a ride to remember.

The following day all flights were cancelled because the runway was too wet and the forecast wasnt looking good. So, we made the decision to take what was a 14hr bus but, would be a 20-24hr bus because of the roads. For the sake of the relationships some of the readers have with us we are omitting this story. But, to sum it up i can honestly say that this bus trip scared me far beyond anything i have experienced before, fortunately kara was knocked out due to her mega strong sleeping pills.

We arrived back in La Paz around 6am and hopped a bus straight to Copacabana, which is an island on Lake Titicaca, right off of Bolivias mainland. We hopped a boat out to Isla Del Sol (island of the sun) and spent the day hiking from one end of the island to the other.

That night we snuck over the border into Peru because we had both been robbed and had no money...(just kidding). We crossed over trying to save time and utilize our days more efficiently. Using Arequipa as a place to store our bags, we hopped a 5hr transport to Colca Canyon, which is more then twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, but they look nothing alike. Colca Canyon does not have the vertical walls like the Grand Canyon does. From were we started our decent about a half mile outside of the tiny town we dropped over 3,000 ft to the river bed. The trail was quite steep and zig-zagged down the mountain side. Unfortunately we were given bad directions and did the treck backwards. We decended just over 1,000 ft per hour and were very thankful to reach the bottom. I must say Kara was a Champ!! and carried our overnight bag down the whole way because we were afraid of my knee. ( the pics are not ours, unfortunately our camera got stollen on the return from this trip) We continued up the river valley about 4km. We reached the village just as nightfall set in. Kara and I were very happy at this point not to be hiking. For a total of about 5 dollars kara and i had an amazing Alpaca stirfry and a good nights sleep. We awoke the following morning about 430am to try to beat the heat as we climbed back up towards town. Unfortunately, that never happened because first we got quite lost after we found ourselves a local who offered a donkey ride to the top, which we denied so he messed with us and sent us hiking off in the wrong direction. We cursed his existance for hours as we finally got to were we started our climb 3hrs late and at the beginning of the heat. It was a long 4hrs up over the 3,000 ft we had decended the day before.

From Arequipa we went to the coast. After so much traveling kara and I decided we needed a vacation from traveling so we found ourselves this little beach hotel en route to Lima and relaxed by the beach and read for 3 days.

After that much needed rest we headed further north to the Nazca Lines. The night before our flight over the lines we went to the planitarium where we saw a presentation on the lines which gave us a much better understanding and appreciation for this phenomenon. We were told not to eat the morning of the flight and Kara and I were VERY happy we didnt. The plane banked so hard left and right circling round and round over all the figures that we would otherwise had been in trouble. The flight was totally amazing. We saw a total of 12 figures. There are many theories behind the origin and motives of the lines. Researchers postulate that the lines and designs were created over 800 years.

From Nazca we headed North to the City of Ica. Ica is surrounded by sand dunes, actually the worlds tallest dunes. In the middle of two massive dunes on the outskirts of Ica lies a desert oasis called Huacachina. It has become a touristy little spot, but is a lot of fun. Our last day there we did a tour on a dune buggy and went blasting out over the sand dunes. The ride was much like a rollercoaster with sharp turns and they would slowly crest a massive dune that shot pratically straight down for a 1,000ft. We found a fairly steep dune and were dropped off at the top to ´sandboard´down. Sandboarding is much like snowboarding but slower and harder, most peope opted to lay on their stomachs and descend the hill in this manner.

We have to be in Lima on the 30th to fly to Cusco so the next 6 days we will be taking another vacation from traveling and reading on the beach....LIFE IS HARD!!!!!!!!

San Pedro Atacama North into Bolivia (Uyuni, Potoci, Sucre)

Death Valley

Valley of the Moon

Salt Lagoons

San Pedro Atacama

We last left off with our experiences in Pucon down in the lake district of Chile. From there we hopped way up north to San Pedro Atamaca which is the driest dessert in the world so it was a bit of a shock to us. The entire town was made up of one story Adobe mud buildings, as seen in the picture above. Like Pucon and Puerto Natales in Chile, this town evolved around tourism, but was subtle because of the towns rustic look. We went and visited the death valley, and the valley of the moon. Both valleys were nice, and we were glad to see them. The following day we paid a driver to take us out to the local salt lagoons, which turned out to be a riot. We got in and were amazed by how buoyant we were. You actually ´bob´like a buoy. When I stood up straight and just floated my heart was just at the surface, and when you try and swim...well it was nearly impossible because your feet came out of the water and your face would threaten to plunge into the salty solution. So for 2 hours or so Kara and I ´bobbed´. Once home and desalted we spent our night from 9-1 taking an extraordinary astronomy class out in the desert. This part of Chile is known to have some of the clearest skies in the world and in 2011 they will have finished building the worlds largest telescope, which was a big deal and the community was very proud of this. The program we attended was called ´space´run by a French couple; they taught us about the stars, light travel, constellations, and planets. They had about 10 different telescopes set up for the evening. One of the more powerfull ones was pointed directly at the moon from which craters could easily be seen.

The following day we started our 2 night 3 day 4x4 journey from Chile into Bolivia which is actually the only way to get into the country from where we were. For Kara and I, this was really the start of another trip. We hopped in a bus early in the morning which took us to the Bolivian border where Kara and I had to leave possession of our passports until we paid the obscene entrance fee at our destination (Uyuni). So, until then our trust worthy driver held onto them, who ended giving Kara and a couple panic attacks as he had misplaced them several times throughout this journey. Our trip brought us by beautiful lagoons set at the base of massive mountains, up to 14,700 ft accompanied by a piercing headache and down across salt flats further than the eye could see. But details of this I think are best left for verbal description.

Salar de Uyuni

Largest salt plain in the world

Once out of no-mans land and in Uyuni we spent a quick day exploring then connected with some friend and took a 7hr white knuckle trip to Potosi. This city is spread along a massive hill.. I guess more like a mountain. It is the highest city in the world for its size, resting at 13,451 ft. It’s well known for its mining and has 250 entrances and employs over 8,000 workers. The following day we made arrangements with a guy named ´Freddie Silver´, an ex-miner to give us the tour; he asked if we wanted the tour or the ´extended tour´. We chose the ´extended tour´and Kara, myself, and our Irish friend, Ken took off. Our first stop was to gather up the appropriate gear, then we headed off to the miners market where we had to buy ´gifts´for the miners... the word´gifts´now has a whole new definition. We bought them Soda, Cigarettes, Coco leafs, 98% Alcohol, Dynamite, and Ammonium Nitrate (its makes a VERY big bang)... you know just a few ´gifts´. As we walked up to the entrance of the mine three men (the bosses) walked up to us and we bribed our way in with a couple bottles of hard alcohol, coco leafs, and a few sticks of dynamite. The walk into the mine was .7 miles, Kara could stand upright but I had to bend the old knees and feel ´the burn´. Our guide ´Freddie Silver´taught us about the process of mining and the minerals they were mining (tin, zinc, silver) . Since we opted for the ´extended tour´ Freddie pointed to a deep dark hole which would take us down six levels (300ft). I saw Kara bend over the old wooden latter and start down, her head lamp became dimmer and dimmer and soon I couldn’t see her at all. I turned to our friend Ken and said, ´I am so happy her parents didn’t just see that´, we laughed and went down ourselves (there is a video of her doing this below). I wondered how they got a ladder so long and it soon became clear, the last foot of each ladder was bound together to the next ladder by a piece of thin rope (so comforting)... Once down at the bottom (the devils layer) we crawled on our stomachs for about 100 feet with the deafening sounds of the drills ahead getting louder and louder. When we got to the opening where the miners were drilling there was so much noise and dust being kicked up it was hard to think or breathe. We literally stood inches behind the miners watching them drill the holes for the dynamite, then we watched them clean the holes out, then we watched them put the dynamite into the holes, then ... ¨shouldn’t we be leaving?¨... then they shove the holes full of Ammonium Nitrate.. then they lit the torch.... Our guide yells at us to get ´MOVING.´ We throw ourselves back on our stomachs slither rapidly back down the passage, fly up the ladder with the miners at our feet yelling, finally get up to the main level sit down then.... BOOOOM! The first charge blows, the shock wave vibrates our bodies and re-jump-starts our hearts, then blast 2.3.4.pause,.5.6.7.8. and then 9. We all look at each other in absolute disbelief at what had just happened. For the second time that day I was thankful neither of our parents where there. As we walked out of the mine and into the day light each of us was dazed over, I was thinking this was probably one of the most incredible experiences I had ever had.

Ladder down to the Devils Layer




Kara climbing down into the ´Devils Layer´

Miner blowing Ammonium Nitrate(explosives) into the holes

The next day Kara, myself, and our two other friends hopped a taxi to Sucre (the capital 9,000 ft) a three hour drive (total cost $10 dollars). Sucre, the capital, is very much a Spanish city, the narrow streets of the city centre are organized in a grid centered around the main square. The culture is embodied in the architecture of the city's great houses and numerous convents and churches spread throughout the city. Sucre remains the seat of the Catholic church in Bolivia, and a common sight is members of religious orders dressed in traditional costume. We spent two days walking throughout the city and eating the amazing food. Kara also got her Yellow Fever Vaccination so we would be able to go up into the Amazon jungle. The night of the second day we hopped an over night 10hr bus to Cochabamba which would act as a pit stop on our way to La Paz (northwest). We hopped on the bus and got on a rocky start with grinding gears and Kara with an upset stomach. Little did we know both would seemingly get worse... a LOT worse. After an hour the bus broke down at the top of a hill. Phone calls were made and there were other buses but no bus drivers to bring a new bus. We had no choice but to turn around and drive back to Sucre. Seeing how we only had first gear it took us about 4hrs to get back. We made it back quickly grabbed a taxi and got into a hostel not a moment too soon. Kara spent the next 2 days draining her system and another 2 days recovering. Exhausted and hungry I spent the first 2 days taking extra good care of Kara, examining hourly for the symptoms of yellow fever, thinking that her body couldn’t fight the live strain of the shot she had gotten. Within four days she was back on her feet and here we are today about to leave for La Paz.

The past couple of weeks we have spent in Bolivia have been incredible; it has filled in the space in our travels that we have been looking for. Hope all are well back home and send us some news of what you all are up to, we are eager to hear anything.

Sucre

The Lake District.. Heading further North

Rafting on the Trancura river, Pucon Chile

Class 5 rapid called the Diablo...

Galen and I have been exploring the Lake District of Chile for the past couple of weeks. From Chiloe, we travelled to Puerto Varas to Valdivia to Pucon. We stayed in Valdivia only for a night, but got to explore the highlight of the town, their outside Mercado (market). The market was right on the river where there were loads of sea lions that would perch themselves up on the rocks beside the market to beg for fish scraps. It was quite the site. These were not your ordinary sea lions...these sea lions were ENORMOUS! They were about 8 feet long and Galen could probably wrap his arms only half way around them. We got to see them up close when we rented a little motor boat for 45 minutes to cruise the river that cuts through the town. Galen who loves his boats, was on cloud nine. He had a permanent smile on his face the whole time he drove it.

The next destination was the fabulous Pucon. Pucon is known as the vacation hot spot for Chileans and now we know why. The town itself is much like a ski town that you would find out west in the states, but it offers much more than skiing. The first full day in Pucon we bumped into our friend Alex from England that we befriended in Santiago. That afternoon we went white water rafting with him and his friend who is visiting from England. We had an absolute blast crashing through the waves of this class IV river.

The next day I woke up early to climb up the Villarica Volcano that is about 20 minutes from town. When I arrived to the Volcano with three other tourists, our guides told us there was a possibility that we would not be able to hike to the very top because of the strong winds. We decided to take our chances and started hiking. Thankfully, the winds had subsided enough for us to continue past the midway mark. They handed our crampons and with our ice picks in hand, we started trekking up the snow. After five hours, we finally made it. It was unbelievable to be on top of an active volcano. We got to look inside the hole with smoke billowing out of it! For part of the way down we got to slide down with these little plastic spoon like sleds.

Galen with his bad knee, made the wise decision to go downhill mountain biking with Alex instead of hiking the volcano. Heres Galen: Hey guys! Our trip from start to finish was great and painful. Our guide showed up in a ´kitty truck´which is a short bed and a tiny cab. the driver and guide sat up front and they put us in back and stacked the bikes in our laps and away we went. for 45 minutes we bounced up an old dirt road listening to the poor engine wine and groan. once at the top we strapped up with helmet and the most pathetic looking knee and elbow pads i´d ever seen. A couple strips of duck tape to keep them on and off we went. Mind you, none of us have all that much experience rocketing down the side of a Volcano on a down hill bike before so it really wasn´t all the graceful to watch. It was some of the most technical riding i´d ever done and within a few minutes every person in our group of four had at least one bloody gash. We found out quickly that the rocks really weren´t all the forgiving. the ride took a total of 4hrs and was probably one of the most fun and most painful thing i´ve done yet.

The following day kara, myself and friends went ´hydrospeeding´. This sport is quite different from most river sports, you have a wetsuite, flippers, helmet, and a giant foam board similar to a ´boogy board´but with more depth where you can hold on inside. We went down the ´Bajo´class 2 and 3 rapids which was the same river that we had rafted but the lower section. Despite the fact that Kara isn´t the biggest water person and doesn´t like to be cold, she didn´t wipe her huge smile off her face even even after flipping over dozens of times.

Today at 5 we catch a bus to Temuco about 2hrs North where we will fly out tomorrow to go to the Northern tip of Chile to a town called San Pedro Atacama. This town is in the middle of a giant desert, actually the worlds driest desert. The area is also known for having some of the clearest skys in the world so we hope to do a SPACE program where we will be learning astronomy.... Afterwards we will enter into Bolivia and start...... who knows!

PS- For all of you that don´t know Kara got accepted to the Emerson graduate program!!!!!!!!!

North to Chalten, Argentina then South to go North to Chiloe

Kara got to see her ugly little midget Panguins

Lago Torro, Chalten Argentina (patagonia)

view from our campsite in Chalten

On our way to Chalten

Lago Torro, Chalten Argentina, Patagonia

Galen- Here is a small video clip from our hike in Chalten, a glacier park in Argentina. i managed to haul myself up the 4hr trail with the help of some hiking poles, I don´t think those poles will ever be the same again. The hike up there was amazing. The first 30 minutes was a little steep but soon we crested onto a ridge which overlooked the valley below which was divided by another ridge that we would have to pass over about a mile away. There was a total of three of these valleys and each one was very different from the next. Unfortunately that was my last hike for a while.

Long story short we went to leave Chalten to go 36hrs North, only to be bounced between two travel agencies. At first it went from waiting a few hours to a day then next thing we knew, it would be a week before we could leave.New arrangements needed to be made! Our final destination would be Chiloe (an island in Chile). Option A) Take a 36 hr bus on a horrific dirt road north to Bariloche and then take another 16hr bus to our destination, OR, go back south the way we came 8hr plus another 3hr bus ride to Punta Arenas (one of the most southern cities in South America) then take a 2hr flight to Puerto Montt, the gateway to Chiloe, and save in the end around 50 bucks and 3 days. Much to karas dismay (she hates backtracking) we took the flight. My only bargaining tool was she would get to see these ugly little penguins. Well, we took the flight but we didnt realize that the penguin trip took 5 hrs and we only would have 3hrs before our flight....Ooops.

So we finally arrived in Chiloé, which is a beautiful little island about 3/4 the way down the coast of Chile. In my opinion is has been one of the most cultural experiences that we have had yet. The island is 118 miles long and about 41 miles wide. Kara and i took a bus to the middle of the island to a town called Castro where we made our base. From there we took day trips all over the island to small fishing villages. Each one was unique in itself, but the whole island had churches that were especially interesting. They where untouched, with original paintings that hung to the ceiling cracked and chipped, while the outside was weather beaten and stained by the sun.
Kara and i enjoyed our daily dosage of seafood. We ate crab, various fishes, shell fish and Mussles that were bigger then my had, I kid you not!

And, Yes Chiloe also had Penguins which, yes kara dragged me out to. These little critters stand about 18 inches high and as far as i´m concerned do nothing but feed the sharks. The two most amusing parts of this little excursion was after kara had talked with a travel guide who connected us with a boat captain. We hired a taxi and Kara and I got in the car with our captain and the travel guide. About 45 minutes later once at the coast we had to cross a river to get to the beach which dragged our taxi further down river stream then we went across. We were dropped off at a boat only to see our guide and captain drive away down the beach not to be seen again. A little man came running up to us with life jackets and rushed us out to a boat that we hopped on and started our tour. I must admit i wasn´t all that excited about paying the fair of two other people only to see some fat little flightless birds but it soon all became worth it. Kara was having the time of her life pointing and laughing at all these little penguins marching in a long row down to the waters edge when all of a sudden a massive wave leaped from the ocean and pummeled the little guys unexpectantly. I watched in total fasination as they where flung like bowling pins. As the way receeded a dozen or so heads popped to the surface in utter panic.

The next blog will start with Puerto Varas

Hope all are well

Adios Santiago, Hola Patagonia!

Greys glacier (Chile)- this is where i abondoned Kara

Frances Valley

Karas solo hike

Main st in Calafate (Argentina), really not much to look at but if you look carefully you can see

the price-tag hanging off of everything (haha)

Perito Moreno Glacier, Patagonia (Argentina)

PS- None of these photos are ours, internet is expensive here so its faster to download photos. But we have some awesome pictures of Patagonia (Chile side) and Patagonia (Argentina side), especially of falling glaciers!



So Kara and I made it down to Puerto Natales/Patagonia on Saturday the 14th. Here is a little background info: For those that are not familiar with Patagonia, it is a region that spreads throughout the southern area of Argentina and Chile. Patagonia comes from the word ´patagon´ used by Magallen which he used to describe the natives whom he thought were giants (spaniards at the time were small (5ft +)and the natives where about 6ft).

Anyways, we arrived in Puerto Natales , the gateway to Torres del Paine on Saturday. We spent Sunday gearing up for our trip gathering what tasty light food we could find. After supplying ourselves with enough oatmeal to make me cry and kara druel (i dislike kara´s oatmeal) we grabbed some pasta and peanut butter and called it good. The bus we took to Torres Del Paine National Park left at 730am and took us 2 1/2 hrs North. There are a number of routes you can hike, but the two most common are called the ´W´(5 days) or the Circuit(9 days). Because of weather conditions it was heavily advised to do the ´W¨ which kept you on the south side of the mountains because the north side was washed out due to rain. So, it made the choice easy.

Day 1- In an informative meeting held by a local hostel on Sunday, we leanred about an extra day that we could add on by walking into the park . It was a 10 mile hike to our first camp site but it was well worth it. We got to see the all three towers from a distance even though the peaks were being stuborn and hiding behind clouds. The walk in was fairly easy despite the gal force wind blowing at us. At times i´d look back and see kara leaning as far forwards as possible so not to be blown away. After sunshine, rain, and wind, we arrived at the campsite and quickly set up our tent when the rain paused. We were really lucky to have chosen that night to stay at that particular camp ground because a film festival happened to be presenting extreme sports films that night, which was fun to watch.

Day 2- We packed up our tent, made our outmeal that Galen cant get enough of, and headed toward Grey´s Glacier, the first part of the three part ¨w¨ hike. During the hike, Galen tweaked his knee. After a couple of hours, we got to the camp ground and were relieved to find that the camp ground was on the glacier lake where a boat comes a couple of times a day. Galen reluctantly got on the boat and headed back to Puerto Natales. As he prepared to board the boat, I saw a couple who we had met at the school in Santiago. They were on the same flight as us and we spent dinner together for our first night in Natalas. So I hiked to the look out point with them to see Greys Glacier, which was surreal. We then hiked back down to the camp grounds we were at the night before.

Day 3- I woke up early the next morning to give myself plenty of time to hike up frances valley and get back to catch the boat back to the bus. As I waited for the kitchen (a round building with a few tables, chairs and a sink) to open I saw the most beautiful sunrise over these unbelievable mountains. After making my oatmeal, I began my trek. I was soo appreciative of the sunny, warm day. After hiking and camping in the rain, you have a new appreciation for the sun. I made it to the top, snapped a few pictures of the magestical mountains, made a quick sandwhich and headed back down. On my way down, I bumped into the same couple as I hiked with yesterday and they decided to turn around and hike down with me. Once I reached the bottom, there was a huge line waiting for the boat that brings you back the bus. I was only a few people away from getting on and had to wait for the boat to make a second trip. I finally made it back to Puerto Natalas around 10:30 and was so relieved to see Galen waiting on the sidewalk...


We woke up in a mad rush (2-21, Saturday) this morning, for we had slept through our alarms and had to make a mad dash for the bus station. Today is our travel day from Puerto Natales, Chile to Calefate, Argentina. It was crazy that after 2hrs of driving the landscape totally changed, despite the close proximity. Argentina was small rolling hills as far as the eye cold see covered with a tanish/gold grass. We spent this 5hr trip in the back of the bus next to constantly occupied toilets ( it was GREAT!). Once we arrived in Calefate and got situated we had the chance to take a walk. The town is located next to a beautiful giant glacier lake, which the wind rips across. The main attraction here is the Perito Moreno Glacier,

The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that are

not retreating. The terminus of the Perito Moreno Glacier is 5 kilometres (3 mi)

wide, with an average height of 60 m (200 ft) above the surface

of the water, with a total ice depth of 170 metres (558 ft).

It advances at a speed of up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) per day

(around 700 metres (2,300 ft) per year), although it loses mass

at approximately the same rate, meaning that aside from small

variations, its terminus has not advanced or receded in the past

90 years. At its deepest part, the glacier has a depth of

approximately 700 metres (2,300 ft).

It costs a fortune to see, so Kara and i rented a old piece of junk and drove up at 6am before the park opened so we would escape the overly priced entry fee. It was AMAZING, the photos speak for themselves, and even they dont do justice. The sounds of millions of tons of ice crumbling shifting under preasure is indescrible. We saw some great pieces of ice falling from the top of the 50 meter (150ft) glacier and becoming icebergs.

Were getting a bus tomorrow morning to El Chalten, another national park in Patagonia on the Argentinian side. Well we have written a novel for this blog... we heard from a lot of you guys, which was greatly appreciated along with the pictures. Keep them coming!

Pichilemu

its been a while since we have put up a blog but here is the update. since the last blog our days have been filled witha lot of studying with not as many outings, but don´t worry we have still been having fun! We met some more travellers when our school partnered with a hostel in hosting an asado (bbq). It´s always helpful and fun to hear about others´ experiences and stories. Last weekend we went to Pichilemu which is the surf destination in Chile. We had a little scare when our bus was stopped by the police who asked each person on board for their identification. We were a little confused in the reason behind this, but as the police officer with his dog came on to the bus and searched the isles, it became clear. When we set foot off the bus in this beautiful beach town we were rudley greated by a burst of freezing cold air. the temperature on the beach was probably 65 degrees plus wind chill so none the less it was cold. We met up with a friend from school and quickly made friends with two guys from Norway and a irish guy. The second and last day we were there, I suited up in a wet suite with boots two sizes too small, and headed out for a surf in 52 degree water. Since they didn´t offer heated dry suites Kara found a nice cozy spot on the beach to write poast cards. After two hours of surfing i came ashore half drowned and freezing. this pretty much sums up Pichilemu. below is a the link to the areal view of the town and surf spot.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

On saturday the 14th kara and i fly to Puerto natales which is located in central Patagonia. From there we will continue on to torres del paine, a national park about 4hrs north, where we will hike the ´w´which is a famous hiking route. it takes about 7 days in total. Afterwards we will make our way into Argentina specifically Calafate, where there is a national park that is home to a massive glacier. Then we will make our way further north then back into Chile to visit the lake district, consisting of puerto mont, chiloe, and pucon. From there we shoot up to the atacama desert in the far north of chile, there we´ll hopefully do some sand boarding at night, and check out the ´valley of the moon´.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl


From this point on plans have changed and instead of staying in chile we are going to go into Bolivia and Peru, details will follow.... trying to take it one day at a time.

Hope you guys are all doing well if you get the chance shoot us an email and tell us what is new back home the news would be well recieved... ps only good news... galenemerson@hotmail.com, kara.obrien@hotmail.com

At a typical Chilean Asado (BBQ) hosted by a student´s host family

Galen created his own pisco sour (unique chilean drink made with a chilean liquor distilled from grapes) mix, which was called, ¨gringo sour¨

Obama´s inauguration party in the american owned, Basic Bar.

We promise, despite these pictures, we really have been studying spanish...and really immersing ourselves in the culture... We have been taking advantage of the many excursions organized by the spanish school we´re attending. This past weekend we drove to the mountains with a few other students and hiked to the San Francisco glacier. The Andes are breathtaking with the wide array of colors and open landscape. Galen has found the link to the googleearth site:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=sanfrancisco+glacier,+Chile&sll=-33.584164,-70.473948&sspn=0.0271,0.077248&g=maipo+river,+Chile&ie=UTF8&ll=-33.758384,-70.066638&spn=0.013522,0.038624&t=h&z=15&iwloc=B

On Sunday we went to a Chilean BBQ at one of the student´s host family´s home. We have been having a great time getting to know students from all around the world. We have befriended students from Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Brazil, England, and Australia. After enjoying great food from the BBQ, we headed into the center of Santiago where there was a night performance on one of the open plazas. The area was covered with people and the sky was filled with blinking lights. It was quite the show with acrobatic performances taking place within a 30 foot tall gigantic glowing wheel.

We have been overall very pleased with the Spanish classes. We are both amazed with the progress we have made in such a short period of time. We are starting to actually make out words when people speak to us in their rapid Chilean tongue.