Crossing the Spine

I am now down in Coyahique, Chile after traveling across the Andes into Argentina, then south and then crossing these magnificent mountains once again. It is absolutely, amazingly mammoth. It reminds me a bit of the Montana Rockies but at such a greater scale. There are so many lakes - I can not believe the size of them either. They are huge - some of them are 500 - 900 square kilometers in surface area. As we were driving along, I kept expecting this one lake to end at each bend of the road, but no it kept going and going. I am utterly amazed at the extent of naturalness there is down here in Patagonia. I wish I had a better camera for you all and I apologize ahead of time for all the vistas and utter amazement from me. I had a 24 hour bus ride from Puerto Montt to Coyahique and luckily a good portion was during the day. But I must say the stars were also purely spectacular. I think I saw the southern cross. I also love traveling south because the sun is setting much later - 9:30 at night - I love summer!!! It is such a nice change. In Ecuador and Colombia the sun always came up around 6 in the morning and set around 6 or 6:30 at night.
Coyahique is surrounded by peaks - to the north and the west there are lots of peaks with snow on them :-) I love it especially since it is nearing the end of their summer here and there still is a good amount of snow. Enough for me to think about the possibility of skiing down. (Not that I really need all that much)
So as I already stated, we crossed the border twice - once into Argentina and then once back into Chile. It would be really easy for anyone with a tourist visa either in Argentina or Chile to quickly visit one country and then return. Anyway, I went through the police twice but I find it rather amusing that I only received a stamp for leaving Argentina. They did not want to give me a stamp for entering since I was only on a bus ride. It made sense to me but then I was surprised that they gave me an exit stamp. I also was not able to get a picture of the entering Argentina because it came up on one of the passes and I was not expecting it there. The station was at the bottom of the pass so I will try again next time. But I guess I never really entered the country officially anyway so it just makes sense that i do not have a foto.
Off to volunteer starting tomorrow. I have to travel another 6 1/2 hours south - close to Cochrane. I will volunteer with Conservacion Patagonia for 2 weeks (at least that is my plan now) and then continue south. I want to backpack in Torres del Paines and visit Parque Nacional Glaciars before the weather turns too much.

Chile

I love Chile - it has some of the most spectacular scenery and outdoor adventures possible in anything that I have seen in North America and the countries I have visited in South America so far. It is very similar to the states in that it has it all these different geographic regions (minus the jungle) in this long and narrow country. I must say I have breathed many a deep breath and sigh of relief to be back in amongst the deep green forests and mountains.

Santiago was a nice city. It probably has the cleanest, easiest and nicest metro or subway system that I have scene. It was a pretty city with many green spaces to enjoy. Granted i did not stay long in the city. I quickly went to Valparaiso on the coast. It was a great city right against the coast so i got to walk to the beach from downtown. There were a lot of artisans selling their crafts and food. I loved it. As I was walking around the city, a thought crossed my mind that I wanted to live abroad for a year. Now I know most of you are thinking, Laura, you are living abroad for a year and that is correct. But in Valpo, I now know, I want to live in the same place for a year - Get a job, make weekend trips and really get to know the culture and language. I am loving this year but I am being exposed to sooo much - different cultures, different dialects etc. I am starting to get the hang of Chilean Spanish - with no s's and only the beginning half of the word being said. In the North, I actually understood most of what the people said. But as I travel south boy oh boy, Vamo for vamose, ven for venga etc.

The bus trips have been long but much better than what I have experienced up north in other countries. The movies are much better - a lot less violent and more appropriate for people of all ages. I have now seen Avatar 4 times - twice in Spanish with Spanish subtitles, once in Spanish with nglish subtitles and ince in English with Spanish subtitles. Most of the long bus trips provide blankets and pillows (the blankets are actually warm and quite thick) and some provide some meals (they are decent but I can compare them to airline food). I have had some wonderful conversations on the long journeys with different folks and I am really thankful for the time to sit and share with people that I normally am not exposed to.

The food has been great as well - ceviche!!!! MMMMMMmmmmmm, fresh salmon, red wine - YUUMMMMMMM, olives, grapes, cheese. It is a good life!

I got to meet back up with Leslie before she returns to the States. She has one more week so we spent a few days together exploring the Lakes district - Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas. Gosh there are sooooo many mountains, volcanoes, lakes and hot springs around here. It really is an outdoor enthusiast's paradise!!! It was great seeing Leslie again and comparing/sharing our stories and adventures here in South America. The next time I see her will be stateside.

San Pedro de Atacama

WOW!!! San Pedro is a tourist town of epic proportions. There are so many wild adventures exploring this crazy, magical Atacama desert. The Atacama desert is the driest desert in the world. (They do like their superlatives down here in South America). Some of their weather stations cannot even report any measurement of rain or moisture for an entire year at a time.
The town itself is a bustling little pueblo bursting at the seams with tourists and not just gringos which is wonderful - but full of South Americans as well. The town is higher in feet in elevation (7,900 feet) than its population (around 5,000 people). Outside of town, there are so many adventures and places to see. We spent 3 days and 2 nights here and packed in going to Valle de Luna, El Tatio geyser field and Laguna Cejas. It was incredible!!
I will start with the pictures at the top which were taken at Valle de Luna. It has a moon like landscape (thus Luna) with ruins of salt mines and different phases of sediment and salt. You can see in one of the pictures (hopefully above), the salt almost looks quartz and crystal like. We were able to watch the sunset from there as the evening activity. Be - ewe - tea - full!
We then went to Laguna Cejas which I unfortunately did not have my camera for. We went swimming in Laguna Cejas which is a fresh salt water lake. It was hilarious. The only way to keep from floating was to keep moving your legs underwater. The minute you stopped, your body would just pop up to surface in any direction possible. I think it would be a great place to teach someone how to float or at least get comfortable floating on your back, stomach and sides. After I got out of the water, it was not more than 5 minutes and I was completely dry and had a coat of salt armor. My skin was tight and taut and white. We luckily next went to 2 fresh water lakes where we could jump in ( and we literally had to because there were sidewalls of about 2 - 3 feet, and rinse most of the salt water off. Lastly we drove to this salt flat - a huge lake area that is comprised of salt and a stream/river running through it. I guess in the winter it is covered with about 2 - 3 inches of water.But now in their summer here, it is hardpacked salt crunching under one's feet.
The last trip was to the El Tatio geyser field which has about 80 active geysers. It is the world's highest geyser field (yet another superlative) and the geysers are active at dawn. It is 2 hours from San Pedro so we had to leave at 4 am, drive out there, try and stay warm until the sun came up. I laugh at the differences in culture in how free people are to do and explore what they want. In the US, there are fences, pathways and lots and lots and lots of signs everywhere prohibiting you from giong anywhere near a cool spectacle like the geysers in Yellowstone. Now I understand prohibiting masses of people can help protect the natural wonders for others to see. i also think it saves a heck of a lot of litigation as well. Here only the boundaries of the parking lot were marked and we were allowed to get as close as we wanted. Granted we were warned that people have gotten too close and gotten burned or the earth had given way beneath their feet and people have died etc. But nonetheless, we were allowed to explore freely. After the geyser field we went to a hot pool which was geyser fed. It was incredible. It was a pretty big natural "pool" but the geyser was at one end of it. So at one point, our group estimated there were about 60 - 70 people in the pool but only at the end near the geyser. My group arrived earlier than most, so we had prime spots in the pool - near where the stream of hot, boiling water would float down from the geyser. Now this had some disadvantages because there were some points where the water was scalding so we had to be careful not to get burned! We figured out that if we just kept the water churning when it was incredibly hot, using our hands as churners, that it was awesome!!!!!!! The water temperature was really quite variable. There were even a few times where the water flowing down was cold.
After our whirlwind adventure, we took a 24 hour bus ride to Santiago. We left the desert about halfway through the journey and returned to greenery and lovely trees. I am a tree loving tree hugger through and through. I just breathe so much more deeply and am so much more at peace when I am near trees (and of course snowy mountains but they add a whole level of excitement and energy for me as well). From Santiago, I took a quick 2 hour bus to Valparaiso. AAAHHHHH this is more like home! It feels so good here! I did a little bit of exploring this late afternoon and will have another day tomorrow. Valparaiso is on the ocean so there is the fresh ocean water air mixed with lots of green trees and a terraced city up into the surrounding hills

The 3 Cousins

Okay so I think I have it figured out. There are 3 cousins in the camelid family: llama, alpaca and vincuna. All three are native and wild here. The llamas and alpacas are also farmed for their wool and meat. The vincunas are the easiest to differentiate and can be seen in the lower 2 pictures with the desert background. They are much skinnier, have longer necks and do not have as much wool. The alpacas which are pictured in the upper 2 pictures tend to be shorter in stature, have more colors in their fur - especially brown, and have shorter necks. Their ears also tend to go up and back at an angle as opposed to the llamas ears which stick straight up. I will try to get a picture of a llama as well to compare all 3.

I fell in love!!!!!

Chile, the last and longest country on the Grand Pacific Ocean here in South America. I made it to all 4 countries along our grand Pacific!!!! It is great to achieve even the smallest of goals you set. I remember being in my house in Eugene and showing my dear ski buddy Ed the world map on the back of my door and telling him how I wanted to see all the South American countries along the Pacific. I had no idea of how grand they would all be and I could not have planned my adventures any better. They have all been incredible!! But as I get to explore more and more of the outdoors, I understand why I wanted to come see the Andes.

Here is my latest love:


Volcan Parinacota












She is majestic and strong. Snow covers her back year round and she has an incredible, huge lake, Lago Chungara, at her base. The lake has flamingos calling it their home. I unfortunately was not able to get any great photos of them but was able to see them for myself! There were herds of llamas, vicuñas, and alpacas calling her land home as well. Back to my love, I started getting goosebumps, getting excited, hooting and hollering and my blood was pumping through my body as soon as I saw her. I know this is quite typical when I see snowy capped mountains, but it still was love at first sight! Then to see 7 -8 snowy peaks near and around her ahhhhhhh. How Mountains Girls Can Love!!! I just hope Mt Bachelor won´t take too much offense. Long distance relationships are hard - even after nearly 3 years of skiing on Bachelor´s back every month. I hope he will understand and I will do my best to make it up to him in July when I hope to ride on his back again!

Colca Canyon

What a beautiful world this is!! I just spent 3 fabulous days in the second deepest canyon in the world - Cañon de Colca. It was absolutely incredible. Mountains, a river, waterfalls, 5 small pueblos and great weather. I met up with one of my friends, Neil, from Alto Choco. We will be heading South together and explore Northern Chile and Patagonia together. It is nice to have someone else who likes to backpack and explore the great outdoors!!
The first day, Neil and I hiked for about 5 hours - down to the river and then up the other side to a little pueblo, Tapay. Tapay was a town I have always dreamed of. It has only 40 inhabitants, tons of beautiful, luscious clean water running in canals down from the mountains, tons of fresh fruit trees, animals and an incredible healthy lifestyle. It takes the locals about 2 1/2 hours to hike to the closest town and 1 1/2 for the younger ones. Gosh how fit they are. My back was sore after hiking in and the owner´s father of the hospedaje or hostal was 65 years old helped me out and did some adjusting for me as well as a back massage. During part of the adjustment, he lifted me up off my feet 2 times like I was a feather. Boy do I hope to be in at least three quarters that shape when I get to be his age! He looked great as well. He also showed me how to eat tuna. Not the same as our english speaking fish tuna but the fruit of the prickly pear cacti. MMMMNNNN YUMMMMM!! I attached a picture of some fruit on the cactus. Beware of the fine spines - clear the off with a knife before you pick the fruit. I was able to camp at the hospedaje and just had incredible views and a fresh spring running next to my tent.
The next day we hiked about 2 -3 hours, stopping to eat more tuna. MMMmmmmm. We hiked down to the river and I was amazed at how green it was near the river. It reminded me a bit of Hawaii. We stayed at another hostal where again I camped out. There were a ton of turistas but what was amazing is we all spoke spanish. I loved it!!!! Dreams do come true - you just have to put your thoughts and intentions out there and be patient! There were sooooooo many french here. If you want to find a frenchwoman - go to Peru. There were at least 8 at the hostal in Oasis and in the sign in book in Tapay there were at least 30 over the past 2 years.
We hiked up and out of the canyon in 3 hours - which was up the entire time. I was quite proud of ou efforts! Granted it takes most people 3 - 4 hours but I am glad I was on the low end. We took a bus back to Arequipa and saw some more amazing views. Herds of alpacas/llamas/vicuñas - I am not really sure because of the distance - grzing on the side of the highway. incredible vistas of canyons, mountains and river. Gosh mama earth is absolutely spectacular and these Andes are one of her treasures!!!! I loved how the bus would enter each town by laying on the horn to let the people know the bus is here. It reminded me of the train laying on its horn in Eugene at night as it was passing through Eugene.
In the pueblo, Cabanaconde where you start hiking down into the canyon, it was Carnaval. It lasted for 3 days and everyday they celebrated with music, dancing and parades. The first parade started at 6am with firecrackers and booms. You could here them into the canyon as well. They sure do know how to celebrate life down here! They even had parades outside of town as we were leaving. Incredible - life is grand and the people sure know how to appreciate it here!

It tastes so good!!

AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!! After 5 months, I actually have had a local made dark beer. It tasted great. In Peru, there are two local breweries - one from Cuzco and one from Arequipa. When we were in Arequipa on Sunday, we could not find an Arequipeña. Go figure. But we did drink a malt beer from Cuzco. The wonders of a beer!!!! Last night when we returned from the Colca canyon, we were able to the Arequipeña but unfortunately it was just another lager - local but a lager. It will be great to return to the great Northwest- the land of microbrews!

Hello Peru

I made it to Peru - my 3rd South American country. It is really quite different so far than Colombia and Ecuador because it is soooo brown. Everything is brown - at least along the coast. I imagine and I hope it will be different inland.

Lima was quite a pretty city with amazing parks and bike/walking pathsall along the ocean. There were lots of surfers and paragliders out and about along with walkers, bikers and people in the parkThe bus ride was actually really comfortable. They had food that was halfway decent and some good movies and much more room than on an airline. I love being able to see the landscape during the journey.

GoodBye Ecuador

So I was finally able to leave Ecuador. A country that i fell in love with - for the people who are so friendly, open, curious and helpful. Most of the people will go out of their way to help someone. I loved the ability ot explore the natural environments - whether it be the forests, the cloud forests, the mountains, the volcanoes and the coast. The land, the Andes are just incredible!

Here is one last photo of the Alto Choco Cloud forest. The river that i could hear all day and night from the cabins. AAAAhhhhhh luscious tranquility! I also found out that cloud forests make up only 2.5% of the earth´s tropical forests. They are cloud forests when they are at elevations of 1500 -3000 meters and are frequently or seasonly covered in fog or clouds. In the case of ALto Choco, we typically had cloud cover in the afternoons. Cloud forests typically have a realtively high humidity, low temperatures and lower levels of light penetration. These conditions make it possible for the incredible diversity of epiphytic plants (plants that live on tops of trunks and branches) such as orchids, mosses, bromeliads etc

I took a bus from Quito to Guayquil and then Guayquil to Lima. The bus rides were actually fun and quite comfortable. I was making some bracelets out of natural fibra and macrameing. Some of the people were really curious. So I ended up teaching the woman sitting next to me how to make one and then a 9 year old girl in the back. She was just super fun and it wasn´t only because she thought I was 21 and then 17 years old. HeeHee. Another woman asked if I was selling them so I might have a little business starting. For now, at least it will help cover the costs of the materials.

It is amazing to me how the people here do not like to have people traveling alone. On my trip down to Guayquil people showed genuine concern for my well being and were worried. Fellows here see a single woman and they instantly want to help. I have had 2 men help me and specifically say you shouldn´t be alone. They will take you anywhere you need to go just so you are not alone and then of course try asking for a date. Then I found out I will be traveling with a friend I met in ZooBreviven - Neil - and that I will meet him in Lima. On my 31 hour bus trip down to Lima, people again asked if I were traveling alone and when they found out I was meeting a friend in Lima - they were so relieved. This is quite a big cultural difference for me. It is quite funny at the same time because I feel like a samurai warrior with swords trying to keep the men back because they can not take no for an answer and because they believe that a woman should not be alone.

South along the PanAmerican highway, there were tons of bananas for kilometers and kilometers. Instead of corn, we have bananas. It is Ecuador´s biggest transport behind oil.

I want to thankso many people for making this Ecuadorian trip such an amazing journey! Marisol, German, Andresm Germancito, MaryPaz, Muñeca, Myriam, Ramiro, Santos, Rebecca, Elena, Neil, Mimi, Dylan, Krysi, Dennis, Julie, Klara, Nikki, Ben, Matteo, Miguel, and Diego. This truly was an adventure of a lifetime!!!!!

Mitad Del Mundo

Klara and I went to Mitad Del Mundo (half of the world). It is definately made for the turistas but was well worth it. They had an orange line painted down the middle of the sight which is supposed to be the hemispheric line but according to the Museo Inti Nan, an incredible museum rich with artifacts and a great guided tour, the actual equator is on their land down a few blocks from Mitad Del Mundo. Museo IntiNan was fabulous. They had great cultural exhibits and some fun experiments demonstrating how the water does swirl differently on either side of the equator. The guide was able to balance an egg on top of a nail on the equator line and he demonstrated that our strength is different when standing on the line then when off of it. I want
to return someday on one of the equinoxes because supposedly for about 2 hours of the equinox there are no shadows.

Here are some of my touristic photos





























The tower at Mitad Del Mundo















Some great totems from Museo Inti Nan
















































Here is one side of an ancient solar calendar. The other side is similar but used during the winter months. There really are only 2 seasons down here near the equator.














Yours truly