Rurrenabaque Pampas Tour

Jane and I finally received a nice break from the cold. We booked a three day excursion to Rurrenabaque for a Pampas tour. We booked through Bala Tours and few out on a tiny plane (only a 45 min trip). After a three hour bumpy ride through a washed dirt road, we arrived at our oasis. Our accommodation was okay, complete with mosquito nets and private bath. The tour started with a boat ride up the Yacuma river. We were able to see fresh water pink dolphins, capibara (worlds largest rodent), caymen, monkeys, and various birds. The next day was spent walking through the pampas looking for snakes. We only found one anaconda which measured about three meters, but not much else. The afternoon was highlighted by piranna fishing. Everyone in our group caught one. After dinner we set off looking for caymen at night. We were armed with flashlights and insect repellent. It was very interesting seeing the eyes at night. They light up and you can see tons hiding in the water. Overall, it was a nice trip.

After we left, the tour gave us one last present. Jane and I both had stomach issues and it was not pretty. I spent the last 16 hours either in bed or on the toilet. It left me in a weakened stated for the bus ride to Copacabana.

I can post pictures now, but maybe later.

WMDR

I survived the worlds most dangerous road and all I got was this stinkin´T-shirt. Jane and I biked down the Bolivia´s death road yesterday. The ride started at about 4600 meters and ended at approximately 1100 meters above sea level. The scenerey was scary and spectacular at the same time. The road is carved out the side of a mountain which has 450 meter cliffs just a foot or two off the the left. The road boasts at least 300 fatalities yearly from people falling off the cliffs. Our tour company was one of the best in La Paz. The bikes were full suspension and made the ride very enjoyable. They intentionally geared the bikes so that you could not go extremely fast. Most of the time the pedalling could not keep up with the speed of the downhill. I had to tell myself not to look over the edge because I know that I would freak! The altitude change meant that I was dressed in full winter gear at the top, then stripped down to the T-shirt at the bottom. We ended the ride at an animal reserve where we were treated to the best home made pasta and organic coffee.

I´ll have a CD with pictures which I´ll post once I return to the states.

Now I´m in the airport getting ready to head to Rurrenabaque for a Pampas tour. Warm weather at last.

Arrived safe in La Paz

The three of us were able to leave Potosi on Saturday and we made it to Oruro without any problems. The drive through the mountains was beautiful. Jane and I parted ways with Justine in Oruro and took the next bus to La Paz. The view of the city as we entered was amazing. The city is quite large and it looked as if someone peppered the valley with a million lights. We got situated in our new hostel (which is gringoville) and perpared to see the city the next morning.

It seems like we have not done much except for eating, sleeping, and waiting for the past couple days. The good thing is that these activities are cheap. I don't think we have spent more than $120 in the past week. It is really nice to go to a place where you can actually do something. So, Jane and I went to our first cutural event in La Paz...Cholitas Wrestling!!!! We have VIP seating and got to see Bolivian WWF at it's best. I hope to post pics sometine soon.

Today, we are going to look for a pampa or jungle tour and book a ride down the worlds most dangerous road. What fun!!!!!

One last thing. Jane and I went high dollar for dinner last night. We went to the top floor of the Radisson Hotel and had an excellent meal for $12. This is 3X the normal amount we have been paying for meals, but it is still cheap. The views of the city from the top floor were spectacular (highly reccommended).

On our way out

The blockades were lifted this morning and the busses are running without restrictions. Things have really quieted down. So Jane, Justine, and I are on our way back to Oruro where Jane and I will catch a connecting bus to La Paz tonight. Justine will likely catch a bus to Cochabamba where she is doing volunteer work for a couple weeks. It was nice having her around since it really helped me with my Spanish. Jane and I should spend the next week in La Paz. It will be nice to wash our clothes and eat good food which is not llama or chicken.

Escape From Potosi

The last few days have been absolutely crazy! Jane, Justine, and I were able to get out of Uyuni by going to Oruro on an overnight bus. After a night in Oruro, we caught the bus to Potosi. The bus arrived at the blockade at 8 PM and we walked about 5K to the edge of town where a taxi drove us to a hostel. The first few minutes of the trek were fun since there was a full moon. However, our patience wore thin after an hour. Justine was swearing in French and I was a little irritated. Things would get better the next day.

Day1 in Potosi: We met some folks in our hostal who have been stuck in the town all week long. We joined one of the girls on a tour of the local mines. The conditions in the mines were terrible! It makes being a process engineer not a bad job after all. Our tour took us down a couple levels in the mine. We were crawling through tight spaces and there was dust everywhere. It is not for someone who is scared of tight surroundings. Before the tour, we bought gifts for the miners. These consisted of soda, coca leaves, and dynamite. You can buy explosives on ther street in Potosi! The youngest miner we met was 13 years old. And yes, these kids are buying dynamite for the mines. Unfortunately, mining is the only thing they know, so there are generations of mine workers in the same family. I could write so much more, but one must experience it first hand. On the bright side, I was able to take a hot shower and eat llama asado for dinner.

Day2 in Potosi: The morning started off with the miners setting of dynamite charges at 5 AM in the main city square. By 12 PM the center plaza sounded like a war zone with charges going off every minute. Did I mention that anyone can buy dynamite on the street?! The demonstration was very heated today. They set fire to one of the government buildings on the corner. Police in riot gear were everywhere telling people not to venture within a block or two of the main square. Note that our hostel is two blocks away from the main square. Jane, Justine, and I ventured out to the bus terminal later in the afternoon where we discovered no busses are leaving for La Paz, Sucre, or Oruro. Everyone is glued to the TV to see if the talks resolve anything. I can still hear charges going off every once in a while (It is 9:30 PM). We are going to hunker down tonight and try to look for a way out of this town tomorrow.

There is no danger to us at this point. The miners are not hostile to tourists. However, the whole experience is kind of sureal. I did not take pictures of the protest or the charred buildings.

It is cold all the time

It is cold all the time here. There is only hot water during the afternoon and water is scarce!!!!
The temperature has been under 5 deg C every morning since we have been in Bolivia. Jane and Justine are having a hard time with the cold. It is going to be like this until we hit Peru in a couple weeks. One good thing is that Bolivia is CHEAP! Our hostel is about $4 a day and the meals are about $2 per person.

They let me in the country

We made it to Bolivia a few days ago. From San Pedro, many tour companies offer a three day trip which ends in Uyuni. There is also a four day option which takes you back to Chile. Our trip started with a bus ride to the Chilean border. From there, we wer split up into groups of 5-6 people. Each group had their own Toyota Land Cruiser (fron the early 90s) and Bolivian driver. Our group consisted of an American couple from NYC, Justine (French girl), Jane, and me. It was really funny since Jonathan and Molly (NYC couple) saw us in San Juan about month ago. Also, Justine stayed in the same hostel as us in Mendoza back in May. All of us got along very well. We also made friends in another SUV which had a Scottish couple, a girl from Holland, and an American girl from San Fran.

Before this trip, we heard so many stories about how cold the temperature was going to be. He also heard stories about the altitude sickness. The first day, we got to see many high alpine lakes which were different colors. The scenery was fantstic. The highest elevation was approximately 5000 meters above sea level. We stopped at a place where gasses were bubbling out from hot mud. The place smelled of rotten eggs and this is where people started to feel the altitude. The first day finished at Laguna Colorado where we saw flamingos still on the water. Everyone took a ton of pictures at the mirador and hurried back before the sun went down. It was an early dinner, then bed. Our group was lucky because no one got sick that night. However, the Dutch girl and Scottish guy were throwing up all night long. It was the longest night since the room was at 2 deg C and we were at 4200 meters. Morning finally came, and we were off to the second stop at the salt lake.

The second day was like the first, we made a number of stops checking out the scenery. The highlight was a small valley filled with llamas. Jane was going crazy with the camera. Jon and I tried to herd a few closer to the girls so they could take close up shots. Our SUV reached the salt lake in the afternoon just in time for sunset. The pictures I have do not do justice to the views. The second night was not as bad since we were under 4000 meters and the rooms were a bit more insulated.

The last day of the tour was highlighted by a sunrise on the salt flats and a visit to Isla de Pescado. The two SUVs spent about an hour taking goofy photos of each other in different poses. Since the salt flat is totally white, it is easy to play tricks with the camera (no depth perception). We arrived in Uyuni at 1:00 PM, which gave us enough time to look around and find accommodations for the night. After getting my travel visa for Bolivia, we had a drink with the other group and said our goodbyes as the left to go back to San Pedro.

Justine decided to travel with us for a few days. She does not speak English so well, so we are communicating in Spanish. We are also stuck in Uyuni since there is a miner workers strike in Bolivia now. More on this later....

San Pedro de Atacama

Jane and I are almost done with San Pedro. There are a lot of excursions you can make from this tiny town in the desert. Yesterday, we decided to rent bikes and ride the 39K loop through Valle de Luna. It seems that every South American country attached to the Andes has a Valle de Luna. Each one seems to be a little different from each other. We were lucky that this park is small and could do the entire loop in one afternoon (stopping to take pictures). One good thing about not going on a tour is that you don´t always feel like you are being rushed to see things. Jane and I were able to take a few hikes in the park and snap some great picutres. I was fairly beat at the end since we were riding through a desert for about 5 hours and I was rather stingy with the 1.6 liters of water I had on me. It was worth it though.



This morning we did the dreaded 4 AM start for the geysers. This is the normal start time for this tour since it takes about 2 hours to get to the park on a VERY bumpy dirt road. At times I felt as though I was in a masage chair due to the vibrations. Jane was prepared for expected cold temps since yesterday´s trip had -14 degree C temps. However, we were in luck and it only got as cold as -2 deg. The steam pools were great, but probablly not better than those in the states. There were a couple pools (called killer pools) named after the countries of those who accidentally fell in and cooked themselves. Because of this, you must be accompanied by a guide. Apparently some people get too close and pass out either because of the altitude or fumes or being drunk. At 85 deg C, you immediately start to blanch yourself. After the geysers, it was off to a thermal bath, then a nice hike in gorge greated by two natural springs. Tomorrow, we are going sandboarding, then off to Bolivia.

Draw backs from too much asado

One thing I have learned from this trip so far is that you must add fiber to you diet when eating so much meat. I´ve been complaining to Jane that I have been stopped up since the horse back riding and yesterday it finally caught up to me. We left Salta for Chile at 7:00 AM. The drive to San Pedro de Atacama was awesome! I decided to use the restroom at the Argentina passport control which is at 4200 meters. The air is pretty thin up there and being stopped up didn´t help. I nearly passed out squeezing out a terd due to the lack of oxygen. Jane bought me a bag of dried fruit which thankfully were not confiscated by Chile customs. I´m back to my normal self ready to take on the desert. It is extremely dry in San Pedro and the temps can fluctuate wildly from day to night. It will be good preparation for our journey to Bolivia. The scenery is going to be spectacular, so I´ll be taking a ton of pictures in the next few weeks. Internet access is kind of hit or miss so I may not be able to post pics whenever I want.

I´ll post pics later since the connection here is REAL slow.

Too many excursions in a row

Jane and I have come to the conclusion that too many excursions booked back to back is not a good idea (at least without a rest day). We have spent the last 4 days waking up at 6:30 AM to get picked up for our tours outside of Salta. Tomorrow, we are going leave for San Pedro Chile at 7:00 AM. I guess we´ll get a lot of sleep on the bus.

The last two days have been packed with activities. Yesterday we went horse riding at an estancia named Sayta. This place was a very well organized ranch and the horses were easy to control. I highly reccommend this place for anyone, even for those like myself with no experience on horses. The entire package was a bargain. Breakfast with an all you can eat asado lunch (bottomless wine) and 6 hours of riding for about $65 US. The scenery was excellent and many people stay multiple days on the ranch. They even offer a multi day trek in the mountains were you camp out with the gauchos. The highlight was a lasso demonstration where I ran down the path and the gaucho tried to rope me. Met some really nice Aussies and a French couple who brought surf boards all the way from Europe (they are doing a west coast surf tour through Peru and Chile).

This morning we took a ride to a small town north of Salta named Humahuaca. This trip is geared for tourists. Every stop along the way has merchants selling their wares. I did see some really nice wood work, but it would probablly be destroyed in the backpack over the next six weeks. The tour stopped at many historical sights which may have meant more to me provided that I knew more about Argentina history. The highlight for me was the seven color mountains and a section of mountians called the palet.

I have a ton of picutures, but the internet connection is crap.

Cafayate and Cachi Circuit

Jane and I just returned from a two day excursion south of Salta. The tour began at 7:00 AM from Salta and we set off to Cafayate. The drive through the country was the best part of the trip. We made a number of stops to check out the scenery along the way. Also joining us on the tour was an old French couple who had a son studying in Cordoba for the next six months. They were very nice although the wife didn´t speak much English or Spanish. Once we arrived in Cafayate, we visited a couple bodegas for wine tasting. The only memorable bodega was Nanni which is an organic winery. The main variety for this region is the Torrontes (vino blanco). However, they do produce Malbecs and Cabs as well. Nanni does ship to the US, so look for the lable (in the Cafayate region). The Cab was the best wine from ones we tasted. Cafayate is rather small and you can rent a bike to get around the whole town. We met up with an Aussie guy in our hostal and went to a local parilla. It was basically all you can eat BBQ for about $7 US. The entire town seemed to be fixated on the soccer game after dinner was over.

The following day started before sunrise. We piled into the truck and sped off to Cachi. Along the way, we stopped a couple times to look at the rock formations created by forces of the tectonic plates. These walls seem to shoot out from the earth like the front of the sinking titanic. We also started to see the huge cactus which peppered the country side. The town of Cachi is quite small and most people are there for spice farming. For lunch, we stopped at a farm restaurant run by a retired engineering proffesor. The food was excellent. Homemade bread and goat cheese were served at the very start. I had the roasted lamb which came from the farm. Top it off with a bottle of local vino and we were off to Salta. The drive continued in the mountains until we reached the top at 3300 meters. Then we winded our way back down through the valley back to Salta. This trip is a must for all visitors to this region. I have never seen anything like this before in my life. I can´t wait for our northern tour on Saturday.

Three months is just peanuts

I though I would add an entry with regards to the people who I have met during the first month of my South American travels. For most people, three months on the road seems to be a long time. However, compared most people who I've met over the past few week, three months is the lower end of the range for travel time. I have not met many Americans down here. I expected to see a bunch of kids just out from school, but that has not been the case. Most of the people who I've met are people just like myself. Those who were tired of the day to day monotony and wanted a break to re-evaluate their lives. I have also met a lot of people who seem to be running away from problems. Who knows what these issues are, but I suspect that some amy be failed relationships, family issues, or the law. Most of the people we have met have been from Israel, Holland, Switzerland, and the UK. Sprinkle in a couple Americans, scandinavians, and Aussies too. Below is a list of funny things about the people we've met.

1. Even folks from Norway think Bolivia is really cold (this leads to another blog post).
2. I´m amazed at all of the women travelling on their own (especially Dutch girls).
3. Anyone travelling for more than four years in a row is actually running from the law.
4. Israelis ALWAYS find the cheapest accommodations in town.
5. At some point, everyone has had something stolen.

I´m surely missing some obvious points which I´ll add if they come to mind.

One last thing. I met the mother of the 2006 world's strongest man. Phil Phister brought home the title to the US in 2006. I roomed with his mother in a four person dorm in Chile. CRAZY!!!

It´s just like flying to Australia

After about 30 hours on the bus, we arrived in Salta. The place seems like any other small city in Argentina, but most of the things to see are in the surrounding countryside. We are going to stay for a while before heading back to Chile. It wll give me enough time to gather all of the documents I need to cross over into Bolivia. The agenda will include tours to neighboring towns including Cachi and Cafayate. We are also planning a day (or two day) horseback riding excursion. Then finally a yellow fever vaccination! Yeah!!!!