Pictures of Buenos Aires and Puerto Iguazù

Some pics from Buenos Aires:




And some Puerto Iguazù party pics:

Volcano´s of Pucon

We have since left Chiloe after the trekking experience. Off to Pucon, which has the 3rd most active volcano in the world. 1998 was the last eruption. Esta es muy bonita. (This is very beautiful) As you can see my spanish is coming along slowly.
So Larisa and I came to visit Alan and Maria or coworkers from home who live here in the winters. We stayed with them and there Chillian friends who spoke little to no english. We spent 3-4 days with them and their entire family at a farm in the moutains. Having fun the Chillian way; hiking, chasing sheep, playing tradition games, and having an Osado, Chillian BBQ.

They also took us to the most beautiful hotsprings I have been to so far. All completly natural. We also went into a underground cave that was formed by the lava which melted away a tunnel throught the rock.
My last day in this really relaxed town was spent solo at the black lava sand beach, much like wreck beach in the summer with all the vendors, but most people were wearing clothes. Larisa had taken off back to Santiago after a new passport, as her last one was lost or stolen. I will now make my way for 32 hours on a bus to Bunoes Aries where I will try to get a express visa for Brazil. Larisa will hopefully be able to make her way soon so we can go up to Iguazu Falls before she leaves for home on the 4th.

Treking on another planet

We finally had the opportunity to do some overnight treks deep in the remote jungles of Chiloe. This is an island in the south of Chile in the lake district. What was supposed to be a nice 3 hr. hike, turned into a 9 hour adreneline-rush adventure. The hike started with a 3-4 hour walk along a very remote beach, rarly seeing other hikers. Thinking that the hike was supposed to be only 6 hours return, we really took our time, with little concern of nightfall. Our ´detailed´ map would ensure we reached the overnight refugio supposedly only 3 hours away.

Finally the rain had lifted and the sun was burning down on us as we walked through the desolate desert which crawled up towards the rainforest in the mountains. We stuck to the beach because it was easier to walk and could cover more ground.. The mountains and forest had very little in the way of a path. A couple times we had to take off our shoes and socks to cross a river. One of the last rivers seemed quite deep, but it seemed like there was no other option. If we didn´t cross we would have to sleep on the beach without a tent or shelter. Just as we started across the river we saw a Chillian man coming towards us and waving his hands. Pausing to interpret what he was saying, we noticed him trugging though the river up to his waist, and we could see he was wearing hip-wadders and boots. As he approached we could see him shaking his head [no]. From what we understood based on his actions our feet would have been cut up badly by the mussels in the river if we had made any attempt to cross. He led us up the river to a foot bridge and drew us another ´detailed´ map in the sand to show us the way to Cole Cole (where the refugio was). We were confident that we would be there soon enough.

So, now we were up in the hills hiking though an amazing area that looked like a rubarb patch, but with the biggest plants I have ever seen. As it started to head up into the hills, the foliage started to block out the light of dawn. It was about 8:30pm we figured that we had approx. 40 min. of light left, but the canopy of the forest made it seem much darker. Up away from the beach we go, through the dense forest up a washed out river bed. The path was not really what we would call a path at home. Up to a foot deep, the mud and water definately slowed us down. Knowing that the light would soon be gone it made it more of a race against the light of day. Thank god we packed our head lamps. The worry of loosing your shoe in the mud made it somewhat stressful, as well as the thought of getting wet which would be bad if we had no shelter during the night. The temperatures here could get down to 0 degrees on a cold night. Being pretty sure that we were not to far from the refugio our spirits were still up. Now coming up to 9:30 the sun had been down for 20 min. The head lamps were all we had to direct us. Finally we came around a dark corner and saw a big gate..... with horses poking there heads out. This was clearly not the refugio. And it didn¨t seem like the best idea to open the gate. Now completly dark and coming to the dead end, our spirits and hopes of finding shelter seems to dwindle just at the light had. Our only option is to turn around and backtracking in hopes to find another way down. Sleeping in the mud and the forest was not an option we considered, not knowing what kind of wildlife we may encounter.

Now the worry of hungry night creaters became a reality. We started to sing the 12 days of Christmas the only song that we could think of to keep our spirits up, and to scare away any hungry wildlife. 30 min. later now 10:30 we see occasional glimpses of the full moon to light up the night, and we come to a fork in the path that gives us a hope that this so called refugio might actually be might exist. Singing as loud as we can, it is the only thing that is keeping us going and distracting us from the possibility that we may have to sleep in the mud with the forest creatures. The path is starting to go down again and the sound of the waves is getting closer which gives us hope that the end is near. We come to a small opening in the trees where we have a wooden bench to lie down and the light of the moon giving us light. This seems like the only option for sleep, but we decide that we will continue for 10 min. and otherwise comeback if we havnt found anything. After 10-15 min. down we come upon a stray horse that nearly freaks out as he is startled by the ray of our lights, and we are equally startled but yet excited that we see other life. We sneak past the horse and now close to 11pm we finally come out to an opening, a pasture, an open field that we see as a great option to finally get sleep.

I think the lights on our head and the loud singing might have exposed us, as two men soon came wondering across the praire to give us some help. What a releif, they guided us to the refugio only another 15 min. away. That was enough excitment for one day. Its funny how it turns out to be a great story, but in the moment it was very scary. I am glad it happened but, I wouldn´t recommend the map to anyone else as it really gave us no help at all.

Santiago, Chile, Christmas Fiesta

Santiago Chile, a stop to see our friends and coworkers from Vancouver, Maria and Alan. Here we stayed for a few days to check out the big city and of course a Fiesta for Christmas, the Chillian way. They made us feel so welcome. The people here treat you like a family member. Wow this country is much more affluent then I expected. Here is a pic from one of the parks Santa Lucia, which is the best vantage point in the middle of the city of 6 million.

Rafting through Argentina

Here I am on a rafting trip, with another Canadian friend I met. They should not call this white water rafting, the river is more liked an iced frappachino.
We are in the moutains of Argentina. This mountain range has the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere. Aconcagua is over 6900 meters. It´s also over 2000 meters higher then the trek we just finished. I would love to climb it but you need around two weeks, and we have no time. Maybe next time.

Biking the Bodega´s of Mendoza, Argentina

Here we are checking out the wineries in Mendoza, Chile. We toured the wineries on Mountain Bikes. Maybe not the best idea after about the third Bodega. A little tipsy. This is one of the places that makes some of the best Malbec, Vino Rouge. The wine here is approx. $3-4 dollars per bottle. You can get a whole bottle at a restaurant for about 18 pesos. That´s about $6. And the steak here is amazing and cheap. You can even get it at the shopping malls, wierd I know. But we tried it and it was excellent. Steak dinner and a bottle of wine for $7 Canadian.

Vina Del Mar, Chile

Here is a picture of a beautiful castle in Vina Del Mar, the best place we have been in Chile so far. The one drawback was that it was very expensive. Prices here were almost the same as home in Vancouver. Chile so far is more expensive then I expected.

Lake Titicaca, Isla de los Uros, Peru

Here I am with one of the locals on the Isla de Uros. This is an island made completly of reeds. They pile the reeds that grow on the lake upon one another, sometimes 3-4 meters high. The reeds stay afloat for 6-8 months before they have to add another new layer. The reeds here are used to make there homes, like TP´s. They are also used to make there boats for travelling between the 100´s of little island villages. Each island has 4-8 families all of which live on the island in a communial. They even eat the reeds as an important part of there diet. Kinda tastes like the bottom of the asparagus.

Sorry for the lack of good quality pics. The day we finished our trek, the strap on the digital camera broke and the camera was smashed by a taxi. Luckly enough we had just got the pics put on a disk only 15 min. before. Many of these pics were from our temp. disposable.

Into the Desert´s of Peru

Since our last entry we have now travelled through the desert of Peru while making our way to Santiago Chille for Christmas to visit our coworkers from Vancouver, Maria and Alan.

We are now in Haucachina. This place is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Muy bonita. It is the biggest desert I have ever seen. The sand dunes are hugh, up to 2000 meters.
Here we rented sand boards and a dune buggy ride to take us through the desert flying over the dunes at crazy speeds. Our driver Chopong is the best driver in the desert. It is crazy, how we race the other buggies over the dunes, cutting each other off and nearly crashing into one another. Here the sand dunes go as far as the eye can see. Over 100kms, and right in the middle of the desert there is an amazing lagoon which is the most beautiful oasis. Our hostel is on the Lagoon, and with a pool and pool bar, surrounded by hammocks. $5 each per night. Sweet deal.