So Very, Very, Very Cold

Understandably, it is Winter in the Southern Hemisphere and it's bound to be chilly but it's actually been rather pleasant at 8,000 feet. Yesterday, we took the first of two excursions that would take us above 14,000 feet. Salar Tara was a full day excursion that took us to the remote salt flats of Tara, close to the Bolivian and Argentine borders. It was an hour drive on a wonderfully paved highway then a very bumpy off-road adventure (in a Chevy 9 passenger van, no less) for another half hour. The landscape was incredible with huge orange monoliths of compressed clay, stone, and volcanic ash towering in wide open plains. Los Monkas (monks), as they are referred for they resemble large monks in habits, are like guardians at the gate to the structures referred to as las Catederals (cathedrals), radiant orange sheered-off rocky shelves which open to the Tara Salt Flats. Joe and I ventured to walk the kilometer road to the stone hut that would serve as our lunch area that day. The driver dropped us and our guide Charly (the accompanying passengers on the excursion who hailed from Santiago and Southern Chile chose to stay in the vehicle for a warm cozy ride) off to see and experience the landscape first hand. DAMN it was cold...not only was the temperature low because of the high elevation but the wind also howled through us, I believe it was a brisk 10 degrees centigrade (with wind chill). Now had I been at a lower elevation, I would have walked quickly to our destination. But because the air was so thin and there was a lack of oxygen, a walk which would have taken me 10 minutes, took twice that long. Oh, but we got to marvel at the beauty of the landscape which was spectacular. We learned about the flora and the fauna and even got some great pictures of the flamingos, yes Andean flamingos, feasting on the shrimpy brine of the almost frozen over salt flats. Today's adventure took us, again, above 14,000 feet. We rose at 4:45 AM to make the dark trek to los geysers. Joe had read on many a blog and travel forum that the temperature at the geysers went below 0 C. So We doned many layers of clothes, put on hats, scarves, two pairs of socks, in preparation for the low temperature. It was a dark and cold drive, but those blogs were not kidding when they mentioned the low temperatures. Even the German family, who are accustomed to the cold, complained how cold it was!!! It was -10 C!!! Thankfully, I had bundled my core body nicely and my ears were warm because of the new hat I had knit but I literally froze my ASS OFF! My ass has never been so cold! I've lived in Nebraska, it gets cold there in the winter, but I cannot recall freezing my ass off! Now, you may ask, what is the point of being at the geysers so early in the morning, even before the sun rises? It is to see the steam from the geysers juxtaposed against the beauty of the rising sun. Yes, it was beautiful and once again we took some great pictures...it was worth it, even at the cost of freezing my ass off. By 9 AM, I was peeling off my fleece and scarf for the sun was warm and cheery. We even had the chance to see wild fox and vicuña up close, so the morning was not misspent, though I did go back to bed when we returned to the hotel...4:45 AM is way too early to be up while on vacation. --Christine

Oh no! There's sand in my shoe!

So Christine is now officially recovered from her bout with acute altitude sickness. Well, recoved may still be a strong word, I think she's more like 80% of the way toward acclimatization. However it was still good enough to complete two very nice excursions into the Atacama today. The first, out to see the famed Valle de la Luna, and the other to take a hike along the cornisas of Valle de la Muerte.

And the was sand. Lots and lots of sand. And that is to be well expected, because Christine and I did travel to the desert. However just the sheer volume of the stuff was amazing. And the formations were simply incredible as well. I could describe oodles abut the spectacular and strange formations of the Atacama desert, but I think I will let the picture do the demonstrations.

However we had two very good, and very different, guides providing equally entertaining experiences.  First up I'm the morning was Alex, our guide from the previous evening. Nice guy, used to work for Princess Cruises and provided me the quote of the day: "I really like Americans as long as they are not on a cruise ship..."  Alex had us hiking all over the place and even took us past the red "peligro" tape to give us a better view of the salt canyons.

Salvador, our guide in the afternoon, was a more quintesentially Chilean outdoorsman.  Sal was very polite and somewhat reserved for most of our 3+ mile hike.  But upon walking down a sand dune and passing a dog who followed some sandboarders (think snowboarding, but on sand dunes - and imagine throngs of young Brits with names like Seamus on their gap year doing the activity...) I decided to tell the dog in Spanish (after all it was Chilean and probably didn't understand English - Juneau doesn't understand a lick of Tagalog) "Lo siento, perrito. No hay nada para tí", Sal immediately burst out laughing and engaged me in Spanish conversation. It's amazing how a few simple words can loosen people up.

Now Christine and I are waiting to head to dinner. Hopefully there are no misbehaved monster children from Brazil running around interrupting an otherwise sedate meal. If Christine has not yet mentioned, this place is crawling with throngs of misbehaved South American devil children intent on wreaking the maximum amount of havoc possible. Of course I armed myself with a Portuguese translation, using Google translate no less, of "Your children are very misbehaved and should be put in a zoo." Christine is hesitant to use it, but I am locked and loaded...

Atentamente,

El Señor Joe

At the Altiplano...and suffering from soroche...

So we've arrived at Tierra de Atacama in San Pedro de Atacama at an elevation of approximately 8000 feet...unfortunately, we don't have a special oxygenated room like that in Cusco so I've really suffered from the lack of oxygen. I have all the major symptoms of nausea, headache, fatigue, and a resting heart rate of 90bpm, suffice it to say I spent the morning trying to acclimate to my very high environment. It dawned on me that if I sit outside I have more access to oxygen so I've spent most of the day on the patio of my little room, fortunately it's been a rather warm and comfortable day. I did have to miss ut on the first of the many excursions planned by the excursion director Max. When I went to tell him that I was not feeling well and couldn't make it, he took one look at me and said "yeah, you don't look good at all." Well, thank you Max! Not only did I feel bad because of my altitude sickness, but apparently I also looked like death! Just what a girl needs to hear! Anyway, the hotel is very lovely, comprised of only a few rooms, and has a capacity of about 70 people. Just my luck, most of that capacity is being filled by Brazilian children on their Winter Break with their parents. Once the sun sets, the Brazilians are bundled up like a deep freeze has set over the region (it's probably about 40 degrees, so it's cold but not layers of scarves and large puffy down jackets cold!), in the afternoon they are running around barefoot and in small bathing suits (72 degrees). I'm trying to avoid them as much as I can, but the seem to be everywhere...I guess I'll just put in my earplugs and find a corner. We actually did attend an evening excursion to the Salt Flats...it was quite a beautiful spectacle to watch the sun set over the volcano and reflect its glowing rays over the white and pink salt. Hopefully, I feel better so I can continue to marvel at the geographical beauty of this region. Hasty luego!

El museo está cerrado, otra vez!?!?!

So now it's day 2 of our Chilean adventure. After spending a thoroughly relaxing day at the Matetic vineyard and inn (or as my parents would have called it, "sleeping to catch up" for the several hours of sleep we missed during our 18 hour plane journey to get here) Christine and I finally made it to the big city of Santiago. This entailed a 1 1/2 hour journey by car with a driver and guide who wanted me to practice my basic Spanish skills.  Between Christine and I, we're almost conversational. Christine understands for the most part, while I can speak. This time around, though, my listening skills improved and I had a better grasp of the language such that Chrisitne was left out of parts of the conversation.  Get this for complexity... "Estaba diciendo a mi hermana que Santiago se parece a la ciudad de Los Angeles."  Two clauses! That's progress for me!

We didn't get to see a whole lot today, but did ride the Santiago metro. I have to say comparing the Santiago subway with the good old Metro Red Line back at home, one would be hard pressed to tell which city was in the most industrialized nation in the world (hint: it's not the one in LA...)  the reason we took the subway was to go see the famed Chilean Precolombian Art Museum. I wanted to see it the last time I was in Chile, but it was Monday, and it was closed.  So this time around I made absolutely certain that the museum was open. I checked and rechecked the guide book and checked with the hotel concierge.  After wandering around the crowded city center for a good 30 minutes, Christine and I finally found it... closed for remodeling until 2013... To quote my cousin Jen I thought that was "pretty f**king s**tty!"

Oh well, I guess I just won't ever see that museum. Christine and I are just resigned to walk around the streets of the Las Condes neighborhood, seeking out other touristy activities before heading out to the Atacama desert.  Perhaps I'll indulge in the local Chilean specialty, an Italiano: basically a hot dog slathered in mayonnaise topped with tomatoes and avocado. Honestly, I think it's as unappetizing as it sounds, but that's just me.

I posted a couple of night shots of the neighborhood near our hotel. I could swear I was back in the states.  Hasta luego.

- Joe

Hola from Chile

After having traveled nearly 27 hours to get to South Africa last year, the 12 hours of travel time to arrive at our current destination seemed a breeze. Hola from Santiago, Chile . . . more specifically, we are an hour from the city at the vineyard in the Valle del Rosario, between the ports of San Antonio and Valparaiso, one of the largest and busiest ports in South America. We have decided to spend our first night at this lovely and secluded vineyard so as to acclimate to the time (a whopping 3 hour time difference!) and more importantly to recover from the red-eye flight that brought us here. Not much to report as of yet, other than we are the only people staying at the hotel, one of the many perks of traveling during off season, and the staff has only us for whom to care. We have the place ALL to ourselves! Yes, it is a bit chilly because it is winter here in Chile but I do enjoy sitting by a warm, toasty fire knitting or reading. Ciao for now, lunch is being served followed by a tour of the winery... --Christine UPDATE: JUST returned from a wonderfully educational and insightful tour of the Organic Winery...what did I learn? I like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir . . . A LOT!