While everyone back at home was stuffing turkeys, playing football, and spending time with family, I was sitting in class just like any other thursday would be. It was a rather weird feeling not being home for thanksgiving, as this is the first time in my life I have been outside the united states for the holiday. After somewhat of a crazy hectic week that seemed like the world was coming crashing to a halt, I was kinda bummed out not to be home. Fortunately however, through the use of technology I was able to skype with the hodge podge and hear all the stories and see everyone together. It almost felt like I was there. Couple that with a Patriots win and it felt just like turkey day. That night the gringos and their moms went to our programs Goodbye Dinner. We still have two weeks left but the advanced students are more or less done with their curriculum. It was a great meal at the Recreo Yacht Club and a perfect way to get my mind away from thanksgiving. Conversing with all of our chilean moms and seeing all the study abroad kids together one last time was fantastic. We got home and crashed that night because friday, it was our turn to put on a thanksgiving.
Friday morning Gabe, Anna, Nicole and I met at Jumbo to plan out and buy our thanksgiving feast; turkey, salad, mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, bread, and green beans and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. By 11:00 Gabe and I were preparing the bird, while Anna was putting the stuffing together, and Nicole worked on the potatoes. It was a lot of fun spending the whole day in the kitchen, making food, eating food, and every once in a while searching google for one recipe or another. None of us had ever made a turkey before but somehow we managed to pull it off. And we didnt even have a turkey baster. At around 4:00 our chilean families started trickling in and we were eating by 4:30. With plenty of food to go around and a table full of people, it felt just like a thanksgiving should. Except for the fact that we were eating on the patio wearing shorts and sunglasses, but thats beside the point. It was an awesome meal, and of course the leftovers were great too. After the meal we just hung out for a while. Neds family came and we were introduced to them, as we shared stories for the rest of the day. That night it was warm enough to take a swim in my pool and then hang out some more an relax. After debating politics with Emilio, Gabes host brother, I came home and passed out. A long day, but a great thanksgiving none the less.
Saturday morning I woke up to Anna's phone call and I forgot that we were supposed to go parapente today. I use the spanish word beacuse I dont really know what it is in english. Its either paragliding or hangliding or parachuting or whatever. All I can say is that it was absolutely amazing. They strap you into this onesie and then connect you to your guide who has a parachute on his back. Then you just start running and in about 10 seconds you are airborne and literally flying. The place we went was Maitencillo a little coastal town to the north of Valparaiso. It was the first time in my life that I actually felt like a bird. The guide controlled the parachute so I didnt really have to do much other than sit back and look around. What a cool experience. Other than a slight complication with the bus, me and anna made it back to Vina, exhausted after a specatular day.
Contrary to what many of you have read in this blog so far, the next two weeks will be rather difficult academically. From writing a ten page research paper to a fifteen page business plan all in spanish, while coming up with a 10 minute presentation on the interaction between the environment and the economy, I think I will have my nose to the grindstone. If I make it out alive its on to Patagonia for an 8 day backpacking trek. I cant wait for the Torres de Paine.
En un dia para decir gracias y recordar todas las opurtuniadades en tu vida, tengo que pensar en la experiencia aca en chile, mi experiencia en la universidad, y mis decisiones en toda mi vida. Hay buenos y hay malos. Aprender las consecuencias no es facil. Pero en realidad, la vida es la vida, y tengo un monton de cosas para decir muchisimas gracias.
domingo, 28 de noviembre de 2010
domingo, 21 de noviembre de 2010
Oh what a week it has been.
This past week I traded my student hat for the tour guide hat, as Amelia was in South America for a visit. It was absolutely wonderful to see her, and an amazing time was had by all, even though it was rather short.
She arrived on Monday so I skipped out of school and went to the airport with my mom to pick her up. We gathered her after a slight confusion, but never the less we were on our way to Viña. Amelia quickly learned who my mom was and within minutes they were chatting in french english and spanish about all sorts of fun things. We got home ate lunch and then decided to check out Viña. Amelia was introduced to the beaches of Chile as well as the beggars who come up to you and start playing the flute really loudly in your ear. Note to self, if ever asking for money, dont play the flute obnoxiously close to anyones ears. We went home for dinner and the Weissers definitely put on a show for her first night. Vivi pulled out the guitar and everyone was singing along including Christian who later did a rather interesting pearl jam impression. We finally headed to bed and crashed almost immidiately.
Tuesday I took Amelia to school, because I had to take a test, but also so she could see the beautiful Santa Maria campus. Then after school got out we went into Valpo. For lunch we of course went to the famous J Cruz, the sight of my recent TV fame, and then took an ascensor up to the hills of Valpo. We wandered around, made a new friend with Juan, an artisan at the top of cerro concepcion, and then met up with anna. That evening we took a boat cruise with Gabe and his parents so we could see Valpo from the water. Afterwards we shared a Girafa at our favorite local spot and then went home for dinner. That nights dinner table adventure included signing Frere Jacque in four languanges in a round. Like I said the Weissers really jazzed up the meals for Amelia.
Wednesday I cut out of class again so I could show Viña to Amelia. We first went to the fruit market in the river and picked up a kilo of strawberries for the low low price of a dollar. Then we wandered around all the way to the plaza of Viña before turning back home for lunch. After lunch we got a random driving tour of Viña Reñaca and Con Con from Vivi before meeting up with Anna and Ned at Quinta Vergara, the giant amphitheater and park in viña. We then wandered down Avenida Valparaiso and introduced Amelia to manjar, the best food ever. More exploring led us to the beach and the feria where we checked out all the local artisan crafts and Amelia picked up a pair of the very chilean pants that everyone wears down here. We went home for dinner, but were soon back out in Viña, hitting up the Journal with Ned. Journal was its typical great atmosphere, and we spent a couple hours just hanging out, talking, and sharing a few brews. A great night was had by all.
Thursday was a bit of a struggle because I had to get up at 7 to make it to my 8 oclock class and four hours of sleep just isnt enough, but hey, es la vida. Amelia went for a morning adventure with Vivi and we reunited after I got home from school. After sharing some delicious seafood empanadas, we went to Reñaca to check out the dunes. Id never been there and it was an amazing day. With just enough clouds and sun and everything, you could see all of Valpo and Viña and watch the sun slowly fading into the west. It was a really cool sight to see, I cant believe its taken me so long to make it out there. Thursday night we hung out and relaxed, preparing ourselves for the weekend. And oh what a weekend it would be.
Friday, we got to sleep in and then after lunch we headed back to Valpo. We went to the house of Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet and diplomat, who we have decided lived the coolest life ever. This guy lived such an awesome life, from traveling the world, to collecting all sorts of weird objects to designing his house in such a unique manner that no one would ever be able to replicate it. After that we did some more wandering through the hills of valpo, met up with Anna again and tried the most delicious lemon pastry ever. Yum. We then went back home and started planning for the nights barbeque. People started showing up around 1030 and the fun was on from there. Amelia got to meet all of our Chilean friends, and it was easy for her to fit in with everyone that was there. The mecanicos were great as usual sharing laughs and stories, and including everyone, even us gringos in with the mix. After the asado we decided to head out, and our first stop was the Casino. Unfortunately our favorite club inside the casino was closed so we did a 180 and went to Stingray. We got to skip the line by paying a pretty high cover, but it was well worth it. We all had a great time dancing and singing in an awesome club. Aside from the loud ringing in our ears as we left the club it was 100 percent worth it. A great night.
After a somewhat late evening (530 AM) we decided to sleep in on Saturday. Once we finally ate lunch and got motivated we went to the beach to hang out, and recount stories from the past night. It was a great time and a fun reflection. Also important note, the Viña water is definitely getting warmer, meaning that summer is basically here. We went home had dinner, and then relaxed, just talking and watching movies until we made the late night trek to the bus. Amelia hopped on and that was that. A week that seemed to go by in an instant was over, and I was back to being a student again. It was sad, but what an amazing week I had with Amelia. I wish she could have stayed longer, but Thanksgiving with the Mos is calling. Have fun in Vermont everyone I will surely be missing you down here. And thank you Amelia for a fabulous vacation in my home city.
La familia, que rico las relaciones con hermanos. Nunca en mi vida había una experiencia como esta. Solo hermanos juntos, disfrutabamos todos y todo el tiempo juntos. Me encanta la vida.
She arrived on Monday so I skipped out of school and went to the airport with my mom to pick her up. We gathered her after a slight confusion, but never the less we were on our way to Viña. Amelia quickly learned who my mom was and within minutes they were chatting in french english and spanish about all sorts of fun things. We got home ate lunch and then decided to check out Viña. Amelia was introduced to the beaches of Chile as well as the beggars who come up to you and start playing the flute really loudly in your ear. Note to self, if ever asking for money, dont play the flute obnoxiously close to anyones ears. We went home for dinner and the Weissers definitely put on a show for her first night. Vivi pulled out the guitar and everyone was singing along including Christian who later did a rather interesting pearl jam impression. We finally headed to bed and crashed almost immidiately.
Tuesday I took Amelia to school, because I had to take a test, but also so she could see the beautiful Santa Maria campus. Then after school got out we went into Valpo. For lunch we of course went to the famous J Cruz, the sight of my recent TV fame, and then took an ascensor up to the hills of Valpo. We wandered around, made a new friend with Juan, an artisan at the top of cerro concepcion, and then met up with anna. That evening we took a boat cruise with Gabe and his parents so we could see Valpo from the water. Afterwards we shared a Girafa at our favorite local spot and then went home for dinner. That nights dinner table adventure included signing Frere Jacque in four languanges in a round. Like I said the Weissers really jazzed up the meals for Amelia.
Wednesday I cut out of class again so I could show Viña to Amelia. We first went to the fruit market in the river and picked up a kilo of strawberries for the low low price of a dollar. Then we wandered around all the way to the plaza of Viña before turning back home for lunch. After lunch we got a random driving tour of Viña Reñaca and Con Con from Vivi before meeting up with Anna and Ned at Quinta Vergara, the giant amphitheater and park in viña. We then wandered down Avenida Valparaiso and introduced Amelia to manjar, the best food ever. More exploring led us to the beach and the feria where we checked out all the local artisan crafts and Amelia picked up a pair of the very chilean pants that everyone wears down here. We went home for dinner, but were soon back out in Viña, hitting up the Journal with Ned. Journal was its typical great atmosphere, and we spent a couple hours just hanging out, talking, and sharing a few brews. A great night was had by all.
Thursday was a bit of a struggle because I had to get up at 7 to make it to my 8 oclock class and four hours of sleep just isnt enough, but hey, es la vida. Amelia went for a morning adventure with Vivi and we reunited after I got home from school. After sharing some delicious seafood empanadas, we went to Reñaca to check out the dunes. Id never been there and it was an amazing day. With just enough clouds and sun and everything, you could see all of Valpo and Viña and watch the sun slowly fading into the west. It was a really cool sight to see, I cant believe its taken me so long to make it out there. Thursday night we hung out and relaxed, preparing ourselves for the weekend. And oh what a weekend it would be.
Friday, we got to sleep in and then after lunch we headed back to Valpo. We went to the house of Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet and diplomat, who we have decided lived the coolest life ever. This guy lived such an awesome life, from traveling the world, to collecting all sorts of weird objects to designing his house in such a unique manner that no one would ever be able to replicate it. After that we did some more wandering through the hills of valpo, met up with Anna again and tried the most delicious lemon pastry ever. Yum. We then went back home and started planning for the nights barbeque. People started showing up around 1030 and the fun was on from there. Amelia got to meet all of our Chilean friends, and it was easy for her to fit in with everyone that was there. The mecanicos were great as usual sharing laughs and stories, and including everyone, even us gringos in with the mix. After the asado we decided to head out, and our first stop was the Casino. Unfortunately our favorite club inside the casino was closed so we did a 180 and went to Stingray. We got to skip the line by paying a pretty high cover, but it was well worth it. We all had a great time dancing and singing in an awesome club. Aside from the loud ringing in our ears as we left the club it was 100 percent worth it. A great night.
After a somewhat late evening (530 AM) we decided to sleep in on Saturday. Once we finally ate lunch and got motivated we went to the beach to hang out, and recount stories from the past night. It was a great time and a fun reflection. Also important note, the Viña water is definitely getting warmer, meaning that summer is basically here. We went home had dinner, and then relaxed, just talking and watching movies until we made the late night trek to the bus. Amelia hopped on and that was that. A week that seemed to go by in an instant was over, and I was back to being a student again. It was sad, but what an amazing week I had with Amelia. I wish she could have stayed longer, but Thanksgiving with the Mos is calling. Have fun in Vermont everyone I will surely be missing you down here. And thank you Amelia for a fabulous vacation in my home city.
La familia, que rico las relaciones con hermanos. Nunca en mi vida había una experiencia como esta. Solo hermanos juntos, disfrutabamos todos y todo el tiempo juntos. Me encanta la vida.
domingo, 14 de noviembre de 2010
Playa Playa Playa
Oh what a weekend it has been. I realized I haven’t updated this guy in a while and that’s basically because life has been rather routine for a while here in Viña, but this past weekend me and all of the IFSA Butler students got the treat of spending a weekend in the beach town of La Serena on the programs tab. Always a good start.
So we were excused from classes on Thursday and instead took the 6 hour bus ride north. With a stop over for lunch we arrived in La Serena around 7. After going to the grocery store we moved into our cabanas and then went for a walk on the beach. That night, Ned and I went to meet up with some Germans and Chileans for a great meal and then went to a club. I realized the next day not only did I have a ton of fun but we also didn’t wake up wreaking of cigarettes. Win Win situation. Ned and I made it home around 3:00 and weren’t ready to go to bed so we decided to wake up Anna so she could enjoy our stories. After a late night taco we went to bed.
The next morning we slept in and then me and Ned decided to venture into town. We asked the bus driver if he could take us there and after he said yes we decided to go with him. Too bad he lied and actually took us to another city, but its an adventure right? The bus driver then forgot to tell us when we got to the plaza and continued to drive around. Finally when he realized we were the only ones on the bus he felt bad so he drove us to this awesome monument called the cross of the third millennium. It is a giant church, that you can go to the top and look out over the bay and the entire city. What a view. From there we could see into the world cup stadium from the 1950s and also we could see where we originally wanted to go. We decided it’s a lot easier to map ones journey from a birds eye view. We headed back down and into town passing through a vegetable market that was also selling baby ducklings for 2 dollars. We almost bought one. I made the interesting observation that at all the little vendor stands people sell the weirdest things. For example one person was selling kitchen knives, socks and door handles. If anyone can tell me the common thread between those three I will be very impressed. After the market we went to the beach for the first time, The sun was shining the water was warm and it ws a perfect beach day. There is something euphoric about floating in the ocean with the waves crashing all around you. We then decided to play some soccer on the beach and after our warm up game with Ned Anna and Jeff we were challenged by a couple of Chileans. It was so much fun to play an international soccer game on the beach. To cap off the beach day me and Ned surprised Anna with her favorite animal shell, a crap, on her back.
We ate dinner early that day so we could be ready to go to Valle De Elqui and see one of the biggest observatories in the world. It was a clear night and the stars were amazing. I have never really looked at the stars through a microscope and it was an awesome first experience. A cool fact we learned is that all the constellations in south America are inverted so everything down here is upside down. We finally made it home around 2:00 and everyone immediately passed out.
Saturday we went back to Valle de Elqui and ate lunch at a restaurant where everything is cooked with solar energy, either in solar ovens or using solar panels to cook the food. Needless to say it was rather hot and sunny. After lunch we went to a pisco distillery, which is the national drink of Chile. The next stop was the museum of Gabriella Mistral, the first nobel prize winner in South America. We made it home around 7:00 just in time for a quick evening swim. Perfect.
The night got going around 8:00 and it felt good to have a good old fashioned gringo fun night, filled with all our fun gringo activities. This morning we woke up and headed into town (the actual town this time) It was cool because we practically woke up the town. Never the less it was cool to check out the big market in town before getting back on the bus to head home. What a weekend, definitely one of the most exciting and relaxing weekends I have had in Chile. Gracias a Vivi y Pame y todo IFSA no puedo solicitar algo mas. Creaste el viaje perfecto este fin de semana y este semestre en total.
sábado, 6 de noviembre de 2010
Viernes
After a long three day week that seemed to last forever, I was in much need of a relaxing weekend. Friday kicked off in its usual fashion, sleeping in eating lunch. I then met up with anna and hung out on the beach for a bit before going to school to watch ned play soccer. It was a fun game and a good way to do nothing. On the way home, I was surprised to hear Rah Rah Rasputin come on the radio. Hmm thats a funny flashback to sophmore year of high school history. When I got home I talked to my brother and we decided to have a barbeque before going out. We grilled out with some drinks and good company. I am really starting to get close with my host brother and his friends. Our schedules kind of clashed when I first got here, but Im now realizing what a crazy and fun guy he is. We chatted for a while and then decided to go to the Casino because they have one of the best clubs in town. When we got there we were a little late to get in free and instead of paying the 15 dollar cover we decided to go to another club. Somehow we made it upstairs, never been there before, and were able to dance in what felt like our own bar. Highlights of the night include dancing to spice girls and my favorite Chilean song that I dont know the name of. The group had cut in half, but none the less, Anna, Weisser, some of his friends and I had a great night. I dont think I have ever danced like that in my life. Last night was definitely one of the best nights I have had in Viña.
En las palabras de Anna, me encanta que 5 hombres puedan bailar juntos en Sur America.
En las palabras de Anna, me encanta que 5 hombres puedan bailar juntos en Sur America.
martes, 2 de noviembre de 2010
When in the driest desert in the world...al seco
This past weekend, four of the gringos traveled up north to a tiny oasis town in the middle of the driest desert in the world, San Pedro de Atacama. It was a wild and crazy weekend, without sleep, but it was easily one of the coolest places I have ever seen.
To start at the beginning; our bus to the airport left at 5:00 am friday morning so naturally I decided not to go to sleep the night before. We hung out with some of our Chilean friends and then around 2:00 anna, ned, and I ventured out for some food. We found an awesome late night chorrillana place that was the perfect stop. Anna went home to get an hour nap in so I walked around with ned for a while until we headed to the bus. Once on the bus we all passed out and made it to the airport with ease. We were supposed to have a 7:55 flight but it ended up getting delayed until around 10:00. But hey we got free breakfast and hung out for a while. The plane ride was smooth and once in Calama, I realized I was in the smallest airport I'd ever seen. It is slightly the size of Norwood airport...and yes it will be an international airport by next year. A quick taxi to the bus station and we were on our way to San Pedro.
We arrived in San Pedro and because of the plane delay we were a little worried we wouldn't be able to make an afternoon tour so we rushed to our hostel to throw our stuff down. I would be lying if I said that I was not worried about our hostel as we were driving down this dirt road and all the buildings looked like they were gonna fall apart. But as I learned from my first ever trip to the desert, all things are not as they appear and the hostel turned out to be really nice, and comfortable. It was kind of funny though that the wireless network works 24 hours a day, but the water only works for 17 hours each day. After dropping our stuff off we headed back to town and started searching the tour companies for our first tour. We found a rather cheap one that took us to Valle de la Luna and Valle de la Muerte (Valley of the moon and Valley of the dead). We got an awesome tour guide named Leo and a bus that (mom close your eyes) we could ride on the roof for. Dont worry i was only up there for about 5 minutes. We hiked around, saw an abandoned salt mine and saw some of the coolest rock formations I have seen. Very similar to Arizona and Colorado with the red rocks. This part of Chile also has ten percent of the worlds active volcanoes and they scattered the landscape everywhere we went. We then hiked up this hill to watch the sunset, and oh what a sunset it was. With the sun reflecting of the rocks and sand it was absolutely amazing. We returned to town and ventured out to find some dinner. Our stomachs empty we wandered into the first place we found and were lucky enough to find amazing food. For 5 bucks I got half a chicken and a plate of french fries. Delicious and nutritious as mom always says. Tired and ready for the weekend we went home and crashed.
Saturday morning we woke up around 7:30 to get picked up by the bus to go to Lagunas Altiplanicas. We met our tour guide Fabiola, who was the nicest and most knowledgeable tour guide we could have asked for. Definitely a one in the definition of Ned. (The Altiplanic lagoons) Our first stop was the salt flats that surround the entire town of San Pedro. Here we saw flamingos in their natural habitat. It was pretty cool, but the amazing part of this trip was the salt flats. For as far as the eye can see the ground was made up of salt crystals. It looked like coral and felt like crushed snow. Our next stop was to another set of lagoons high up in the Andes. At 14,000 feet we came across these two gorgeous lakes in the middle of the desert. Its amazing to see the most faded brown, tan, and red rocks and then deep blue and green water right next to one another. With the mountains in the background, the scenery was amazing. Our next stop was the little town of Socaire where we ate a delicious lunch and hung out for a bit. Continuing on we made it to Turipa another oasis town that is pretty much abandoned today other than its tourism and picnic spots. Fed by a mountain stream, the water was clean enough that you could drink right from the stream: truly amazing. Because of the size of the river (roughly 3 feet wide) the soil fertility was only about 100 yards wide. It was pretty funny to see this strip of green in the middle of the desert. A quick stop in a little town with a 400 year old church and we were back to San Pedro. That night we made it an early night because we had to wake up at 3:30 the next morning, but that didnt stop us from grabbing a beer and having another great meal. The waiter thought it was hilarious that Anna is allergic to potatoes and proceeded to tell us that no one in South America has ever heard of a potato allergy. Que comico.
I was ready to wake up at 3:30 but instead I woke up around 3:15 to the sound of loud bass and a huge party raging next door. I wandered out into the main area of the hostel to see what was going on, only to find the hostel workers watching out the window. When I tried to open the door she screamed "no the cops are coming" so I just sat inside and watched the giant party break up. Half an hour later our bus came and we were headed up to the mountains to see the geysers. We had to get there before dawn so that we could see them in action, as they only are active when it is super cold. And cold it was. When we got off the bus it was around 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Bundled up in all the clothing we had with us, we wandered around this open field of geysers that was so cool. Every five or ten minutes different geysers would explode and steam was always pouring out of hundreds of craters. Once again a first time experience for this guy, and definitely worth the early morning. The tour guides hard boiled eggs in the geysers and we were ready for one of the most unique breakfasts I've ever eaten. A quick dip in the hot springs and we were back on the road headed to the llama farm. We were a little late and couldnt try the llama meat but never the less it was cool to hang out in a town that has only 20 inhabitants and 600 llamas. Finally we went back to San Pedro around noon but it felt like 5:30.
After a quick nap, we headed back into town to figure out our transport home. We thought we were gonna have to pay for a 25 dollar taxi but luckily we were able to barter with the bus company down to only 8 dollars a person. Me and gabe then grabbed a pizza and waited for the tour to leave. The first stop was a salt water pool similar to the dead sea. Floating was so cool and a great way to relax after an early morning. The water was cool to, for at the surface it was really warm but only a couple feet down the water was freezing. Our next stop was called Ojos del Salar (the eyes of the salt flats) They were two tiny lakes in the middle of the salt flats that we were able to cliff jump into. Fortunately Anna was taking pictures and we got some good aerial shots. Our final destination that day was the salt flats again where we watched the sunset with a Pisco sour. Another gorgeous sunset and a relaxing drink was the perfect way to end a weekend...or so we thought.
We made it back to town only to realize that we didnt have enough cash to pay the hostel and they didnt take credit cards. Anna and I went back into town and tried to use the ATMs but of course they were all out of money. All three ATMs were out of cash. Fantastico. At that point I tried to sell my newly purchased hammock to the hostel but they wouldnt take it. After a minor freak out session gabe came to the rescue with a travelers check. Now we just hope it works. Who ever said we could have a trip without a little stress here or there. We finally went to bed content after a great weekend.
The following day was just travel, waking up, bus to the airport, back on the plane, and back to Viña. In just two days I can now say that Ive seen a desert, natural geysers, and been in the highest elevation of my life. What a trip what a place, the Atacama desert. One thing I forgot to add. With no cities for miles and miles, the stars each night were absolutely incredible. One more thing, this is the link to all my pictures so that you can see everything I have described http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2067627&id=1239840389&l=77c8f83e3d
El desierto, un dia de lluvia cada año, 30 grados en el dia 0 grados durante la noche, el poder de este planeta es magnifico. Que impresionante San Pedro, nunca puedo olvidar el paisaje y las memorias de su tierra.
To start at the beginning; our bus to the airport left at 5:00 am friday morning so naturally I decided not to go to sleep the night before. We hung out with some of our Chilean friends and then around 2:00 anna, ned, and I ventured out for some food. We found an awesome late night chorrillana place that was the perfect stop. Anna went home to get an hour nap in so I walked around with ned for a while until we headed to the bus. Once on the bus we all passed out and made it to the airport with ease. We were supposed to have a 7:55 flight but it ended up getting delayed until around 10:00. But hey we got free breakfast and hung out for a while. The plane ride was smooth and once in Calama, I realized I was in the smallest airport I'd ever seen. It is slightly the size of Norwood airport...and yes it will be an international airport by next year. A quick taxi to the bus station and we were on our way to San Pedro.
We arrived in San Pedro and because of the plane delay we were a little worried we wouldn't be able to make an afternoon tour so we rushed to our hostel to throw our stuff down. I would be lying if I said that I was not worried about our hostel as we were driving down this dirt road and all the buildings looked like they were gonna fall apart. But as I learned from my first ever trip to the desert, all things are not as they appear and the hostel turned out to be really nice, and comfortable. It was kind of funny though that the wireless network works 24 hours a day, but the water only works for 17 hours each day. After dropping our stuff off we headed back to town and started searching the tour companies for our first tour. We found a rather cheap one that took us to Valle de la Luna and Valle de la Muerte (Valley of the moon and Valley of the dead). We got an awesome tour guide named Leo and a bus that (mom close your eyes) we could ride on the roof for. Dont worry i was only up there for about 5 minutes. We hiked around, saw an abandoned salt mine and saw some of the coolest rock formations I have seen. Very similar to Arizona and Colorado with the red rocks. This part of Chile also has ten percent of the worlds active volcanoes and they scattered the landscape everywhere we went. We then hiked up this hill to watch the sunset, and oh what a sunset it was. With the sun reflecting of the rocks and sand it was absolutely amazing. We returned to town and ventured out to find some dinner. Our stomachs empty we wandered into the first place we found and were lucky enough to find amazing food. For 5 bucks I got half a chicken and a plate of french fries. Delicious and nutritious as mom always says. Tired and ready for the weekend we went home and crashed.
Saturday morning we woke up around 7:30 to get picked up by the bus to go to Lagunas Altiplanicas. We met our tour guide Fabiola, who was the nicest and most knowledgeable tour guide we could have asked for. Definitely a one in the definition of Ned. (The Altiplanic lagoons) Our first stop was the salt flats that surround the entire town of San Pedro. Here we saw flamingos in their natural habitat. It was pretty cool, but the amazing part of this trip was the salt flats. For as far as the eye can see the ground was made up of salt crystals. It looked like coral and felt like crushed snow. Our next stop was to another set of lagoons high up in the Andes. At 14,000 feet we came across these two gorgeous lakes in the middle of the desert. Its amazing to see the most faded brown, tan, and red rocks and then deep blue and green water right next to one another. With the mountains in the background, the scenery was amazing. Our next stop was the little town of Socaire where we ate a delicious lunch and hung out for a bit. Continuing on we made it to Turipa another oasis town that is pretty much abandoned today other than its tourism and picnic spots. Fed by a mountain stream, the water was clean enough that you could drink right from the stream: truly amazing. Because of the size of the river (roughly 3 feet wide) the soil fertility was only about 100 yards wide. It was pretty funny to see this strip of green in the middle of the desert. A quick stop in a little town with a 400 year old church and we were back to San Pedro. That night we made it an early night because we had to wake up at 3:30 the next morning, but that didnt stop us from grabbing a beer and having another great meal. The waiter thought it was hilarious that Anna is allergic to potatoes and proceeded to tell us that no one in South America has ever heard of a potato allergy. Que comico.
I was ready to wake up at 3:30 but instead I woke up around 3:15 to the sound of loud bass and a huge party raging next door. I wandered out into the main area of the hostel to see what was going on, only to find the hostel workers watching out the window. When I tried to open the door she screamed "no the cops are coming" so I just sat inside and watched the giant party break up. Half an hour later our bus came and we were headed up to the mountains to see the geysers. We had to get there before dawn so that we could see them in action, as they only are active when it is super cold. And cold it was. When we got off the bus it was around 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Bundled up in all the clothing we had with us, we wandered around this open field of geysers that was so cool. Every five or ten minutes different geysers would explode and steam was always pouring out of hundreds of craters. Once again a first time experience for this guy, and definitely worth the early morning. The tour guides hard boiled eggs in the geysers and we were ready for one of the most unique breakfasts I've ever eaten. A quick dip in the hot springs and we were back on the road headed to the llama farm. We were a little late and couldnt try the llama meat but never the less it was cool to hang out in a town that has only 20 inhabitants and 600 llamas. Finally we went back to San Pedro around noon but it felt like 5:30.
After a quick nap, we headed back into town to figure out our transport home. We thought we were gonna have to pay for a 25 dollar taxi but luckily we were able to barter with the bus company down to only 8 dollars a person. Me and gabe then grabbed a pizza and waited for the tour to leave. The first stop was a salt water pool similar to the dead sea. Floating was so cool and a great way to relax after an early morning. The water was cool to, for at the surface it was really warm but only a couple feet down the water was freezing. Our next stop was called Ojos del Salar (the eyes of the salt flats) They were two tiny lakes in the middle of the salt flats that we were able to cliff jump into. Fortunately Anna was taking pictures and we got some good aerial shots. Our final destination that day was the salt flats again where we watched the sunset with a Pisco sour. Another gorgeous sunset and a relaxing drink was the perfect way to end a weekend...or so we thought.
We made it back to town only to realize that we didnt have enough cash to pay the hostel and they didnt take credit cards. Anna and I went back into town and tried to use the ATMs but of course they were all out of money. All three ATMs were out of cash. Fantastico. At that point I tried to sell my newly purchased hammock to the hostel but they wouldnt take it. After a minor freak out session gabe came to the rescue with a travelers check. Now we just hope it works. Who ever said we could have a trip without a little stress here or there. We finally went to bed content after a great weekend.
The following day was just travel, waking up, bus to the airport, back on the plane, and back to Viña. In just two days I can now say that Ive seen a desert, natural geysers, and been in the highest elevation of my life. What a trip what a place, the Atacama desert. One thing I forgot to add. With no cities for miles and miles, the stars each night were absolutely incredible. One more thing, this is the link to all my pictures so that you can see everything I have described http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2067627&id=1239840389&l=77c8f83e3d
El desierto, un dia de lluvia cada año, 30 grados en el dia 0 grados durante la noche, el poder de este planeta es magnifico. Que impresionante San Pedro, nunca puedo olvidar el paisaje y las memorias de su tierra.
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