DOING EARTH!

We stayed 2 nights in Iquique, Chile. The morning after arriving, we were able to find boards to rent. We surfed a right point break, pretty good conditions but crowded with body boarders. I became close friends with the rock-reef and sea urchins that day (see pictures). Unable to actually buy boards in Iquique we traveled north to Arica hoping for better luck.

Arica is the driest city in the world. Literally. Located in the Atacama Desert nestled against the Peruvian border, Arica used to be in Peru until the Chileans took it by force in 1929.

Our first dinner in Arica was obscene. Giant sandwiches with hamburger, sausage, ham, eggs, lettuce and fries.  Eating half of this monstrosity was a feat. Chileans seem to really dig unhealthy food. The other local favorite is a hot dog completo. A foot-long smothered with guacamole, tomatoes, and sour cream… I will admit, they are actually pretty tasty.

Our surfboard luck did not get any better in Arica, however we were able to borrow one from the hostel owner. We took turns surfing a small beach break as the rocky El Gringo break was disappointedly off limits.

We crossed into Peru by taxi, first to the airport in the border town of Tacna. We found plane tickets to be quite expensive and decided it would be best to take a bus to Lima. That was our first mistake

It was about noon and the first available bus to Lima wasn’t leaving until 7pm. We bought the tickets and waited around the bus station. Six hours later the bus drivers of Peru decided it was a good time to go on strike… Nolie and I did not agree, however I don’t think they really cared about how we felt. This left us with two options:

1) Wait out the strike. This might take 2 or 3 days and we would be stranded in Tacna, Peru. Not exactly paradise.

or

2) Fly to Lima and dish out the money for a plane ticket.

In the interest of time, we returned to the airport and flew to Lima. We stayed in Miraflores, which is actually quite a nice area of town. We were able to buy boards from a local shaper and a travel bag. Nolie’s haggling skills were impeccable, getting us both really good deals.

The food in Peru is like a double-edged sword; delicious upon the palate and dangerous within the belly.  This is the first country where both Nolie and I have had trouble digesting, although I doubt nothing will stop us from eating.

Since we finally found some boards of our own, we made our way south about 40 km to Punta Hermosa. We stayed at a surf camp and, well, we surfed.

Okay.  Apologies all around, it has been awhile.  I know how anxious you get and how little assuagement I supply.  The last couple of weeks have been great and I will admit I have been a hedonist, keeping it all to myself.

The following picutes cover Bariloche ARG, Mendoza ARG, and Quintero, CHL.

Bariloche: Basically a continuation of Spring Break 2010. credit: Pierre.

Mendoza: English barely exists here, my Spanish skills were tested to the max.  Especially when it took our hostel´s owner 3 times to tell us that we could only stay 1 night, not 3 as we had reserved.  The multiple wine tastings attenuated our hostility and found us another hostel.  We spent Easter here, it was spiritual.

Quintero, Chile: We expected to find surfboards to buy.  We found it near imposible.  The water was cold but the waves were good.  Two days later we high-tailed it north to continue the search, unfortunately to no avail.

After El Calafate we headed to El Chalten, a tiny village in the Argentine Glacier National Park.  El Chalten is basically a brand new town, only 25 years old, existing only to house the thousands of hikers coming every year.  We stayed 3 nights and ate approximately 67 empanadas.  Nolie has embarked on a mission to find the best empanadas in South America.  So far, El Chalten is winning.

After three nights we headed north to Los Antiguos with our french friend, Pierre.  We found an organic farm and went strawberry picking.  Wow, that sounds gay.  The farm also let us taste test the various fruit liquors they make, they were delicious.

Enjoy the Pics!

I made into El Calafate yesterday around 1pm… It has a tiny airport with only one baggage claim and what seemed like 14 million people. The town itself is very touristy, but at the same time small especially compared to the surrounding landscape.

Did you know that there are Flamingos in Patagonia? Neither did I, until I saw them with my own eyes. Besides birds, I think there are more dogs in El Calafate than people. They all seem really nice though. Nolie and I were walking through the main street in town and two dogs decided to tagalong. We immediately named them Jonathan and Rodriguez. They tried to come into a bar with us, however to our disappointment they were turned down at the door.

Today we headed over to the Perito Moreno Glacier, about 80 km from El Calafate. It might have been the most amazing thing I have ever seen. The 100 square mile glacier moves about 2 meters a day, pinching a river in half, which makes for spectacular ice collapses falling 250 feet into the water below.

Argentina is the first spanish speaking country I have been to so far on this South American trek. I have been here for a little over 2 weeks now beefing up my spanish and learning the city inside and out. So far, this has been my favorite South American city and I think it will be really hard to beat (as far a cities go) in the next 2 months of traveling.

Nolie and I were both amazed at how cheap everything is, especially compared to Brazil. It is hard to spend $20usd at a classy restaurant in Palermo, even after wine and desert. Getting fat is the most dangerous thing about this place. And if I was a carnivour before, then now almost shamefully, I am a mega-carnivour. But it´s hard not to be, beef is sometimes the only thing on the menu.

I was taking spanish classes here, which was really helpful, and also really expensive. Then Dave came to visit and we celebrated my birthday. Which actually was Dave and I watching Nolie celebrate my birthday. The next morning I woke up with a decision:

1.) Go to Spanish class hungover and hate myself AND pay $170 for the week.

or

2.) Fall back asleep, save $170, and learn spanish somewhere where they don´t sound like Spaniards on Speed chewing on 4 pieces of gum. (No offense Porteños, it´s just way different then mexican, colombian, peruvian, or any central american spanish that I am used to). Also, did I mention that I was hungover? Naturally, I needed to be pissed off about something while convincing myself that sleeping was the best idea.

So I guess now, you could call me a Spanish School Dropout. But I plan to be the kind or dropout that goes on to become a Rock Star, Writer, or Multi-Billion Dollar Entrepreneur that have biographies written about them. And if not, it´s Dave and Nolie`s fault.

On Saturday I fly into El Calafate, Argentina in the Patagonia region to meet up with Nolie. I am really excited to get out into the wilderness and away from the city for a while. After Patagonia we´ll make our way North through the Lakes District of Argentina/Chile and then to Mendoza before heading into Bolivia and/or Peru.