Bolivia: Las Pompas

Welcome to Las Pompas, where mornings are met by the howling mating cries of jungle monkeys and afternoons are spent searching for anacondas.  It sounds like a movie, but no, its just Bolivia.  After finishing morning breakfast of fresh fruit, eggs, pancakes, and hot of the fryer doughnuts, we were ready to put on some tall rain boots and go anaconda hunting. 

Our group leader was a native Bolivian whose first language is Quechua (indigenous language of Bolivia).  He told us stories about being bit by an anaconda and what you need to do in case you’re bit (a good thing to tell your group when you’re sitting against a tree that has a sleeping anaconda in one of the open parts of the branch).  Anyways, I think it’s an important thing to know, so I will share.  In the case of an anaconda bite, you need to kill the snake, cut up the flesh and place it on the wound.  When the flesh turns black (from the poison) you need to replace it with a new piece of fresh flesh, and continue this process until the flesh of the anaconda against your wound turns red from your blood, indicating that the poison is gone.  You must also remember to STAY CALM (bueno suerte).  Good lesson for the day.

We trenched through some water that came up to a little below my knee, which had alligators and supposedly anacondas in it but we didn’t see any there.  On dry land there was an anaconda family sleeping in the grass and we gathered around it (with reassurance from our guide) and took some close pictures of them.  They were definitely not anything like the movie “Anaconda”, but I was told the ones that live in the Amazon River grow much larger than these ones. 

Later in the day we went piranha fishing with a little block of wood and spool of string with a hook on the end.  I didn’t get to catch a piranha like a few other people, but I did get some other kind of fish then quickly had my guide throw it back in the water.  All in all, it was a successful, non fish killing experience.

Our boat later stopped at an open field to watch the sunset and I got to play some sand volleyball with a few Dutch and Spanish people.  It was like a taste of home in the middle of Bolivia.  On the way back to camp, we used a flash light to look for the gleaming eyes of the alligators.  It was crazy to see how many sparkling alligator eyes were staring at me in the dark of the night. 

The following day we woke up at 5:30 am to watch the sun rise, which unfortunately was not visible due to the clouds.  We brought the tour to an end by a quick “swim with dolphins” as it said in the advertisement, but the dolphins forgot to show up.  Instead we just swam quickly in the alligator infested waters with a bunch of other tourists.  We then headed back to Rurrenabaque by another 3 hour boat ride and 3 hour bumpy jeep ride. 

            We had successfully completed the first half of the trip.  More importantly I had managed to be inches away from some of the deadliest creatures in the world, and didn’t trip or drop something.  I walked away with my head held high (well actually I was mostly with my head to the ground worried about where I was walking) ready to conquer the next adventure, the Amazon Jungle.

Bolivia: La Paz

It had been 3 months almost to the day that I had first stepped foot in the Santiago Airport.  Seeing it again gave me a rush of excitement sending signals that I was going someplace new, I was going to experience new.  It was a bit of déjà vu that I welcomed with open arms.

            After successfully getting a Bolivian visa, I crossed the border at about 4:30 am.  We grabbed a cab and drove through the highest capital city in the world.  This bowl shaped city sits at over 3660 meters (12,000 feet) above sea level.  I could feel the change of altitude through my whole body.  Walking up the stairs to the hostel left me panting and my ears were still trying to pop.  After finishing up my night’s sleep and getting a bit more acclimatized, I stepped out into the day light of La Paz.  The streets were busy, the sidewalks lining this city of hills were crowed, and there bright colors everywhere.  Bolivian men and women could be seen on every calle (street) walking up hills carrying things on their backs that could be the size of a large dog.  These oddly shaped packages were often wrapped in a very bright patterned fabric and thrown over the shoulders of the small Bolivian people.  It looked like the South America that you see in the books. 

            Everywhere you turned was a vendor of some sort.  If you wanted anything from dried pig skin to batteries, you could find it on the streets on La Paz.  Even better than the myriad of items was the fact that they cost next to nothing!  I was particularly in love with the numerous stands with an abundant number of fruits of all sizes and colors.  I first stopped to try a piece of the freshly cut pineapple, I wasn’t hungry but it made my mouth water just by looking at it.

These first two days in Bolivia were spent gathering and organizing plans for the much anticipated trip up north to the Amazon.  After visiting and pricing many different agencies, my friends and I finally settled on a combination tour.  We were going to spend 3 days in “las pampas” or the grasslands and 2 days in “la selva” or the jungle/rain forest.  This also included a 1 hour plane ride on a dinky little plane in place of an 18 hour bus ride.  I was happy to skip out on the bus after hearing the route follows the edge of cliff and the bus ride is usually spent praying for dear life. 

            After all the plans were made and preparation items were bought, we decided to find the best way to get a view of the city.  We hopped into a cab (which cost next to nothing about two dollars to go anywhere you want within city limits) and told the driver to take us somewhere to see a view of the city.  After about a 25 minute drive to the top of the bowl, we got out of the car and the entire city was literally at my feet.  This “vista” or view was breath taking with the snow capped mountains in the back and the overwhelming colors of the city standing out.

            The day was followed by a good dinner to prepare ourselves for the next few days.  I tried a silver of the restaurant specialty, filet of llama.  My review is that it was a lot like steak meat and definitely not bad when paired with a good sauce. 

            On the morning of day 3 we woke up to catch the 6 am flight to Rurrenabaque (I can finally say this town’s name correctly after much practice).  This small town in the North of Bolivia is completely dominated by tourism.  Everywhere you turn is a different travel agency along side a store that sells travel size packages of shampoo, toilet paper (they never provide any), and giant bottles of water (which I lived with).  Also every restaurant I went to was only occupied by other tourists.  All the menus were in English and everybody played old music from the states (a common theme I’ve found in South America).  It was a little sad for me to see that the face of this town revolved around pleasing the foreigners, but it looked like they were surviving. 

            The next step of the trip was not exactly a fun one.  We got into a jeep and made a three hour trip through the middle of nowhere on one dirt road with more pot holes than even road. There were no lanes and no correct side of the road to drive on and definitely no rules about passing.  After finally arriving, we were in for another 3 hour journey to the camp where we were sleeping.  This boat trip down a long narrow stream was a little more pleasant and filled with hiding alligators, sunbathing turtles, hanging monkeys.  This stream also features the largest rodent species in the world, capybaras. These animals were funny to me because they looked like giant hamsters just prancing around in the water.  They were my favorite for entertainment purposes.

When we made it to the destination of our sleeping quarters, everybody was ready to eat and sleep.  It had been a long day full of traveling and animal watching with much more to come.

Week 6 Argentina: The land of free rein and lots of beef.

               Mission of the weekend: get outside of Chile for a few days.  Friday morning was woken by my 6:30 am alarm to catch the 8:30 am bus to Mendoza, Argentina.  There was much anticipation as to what the other side of the Andes was like.  After strict advisement to travel during the day to Mendoza (I usually prefer the overnight bus so I can sleep) I hopped on a minibus and was ready to do my sightseeing.  The route from Santiago to Mendoza goes through the Andes Mountains.  Crossing the Andes isn’t as easy as crossing the street.  The incredible journey up the mountain was filled with many twists and turns uphill.  The sights were phenomenal.  I looked around me and I was literally surrounded my snow covered mountains.  There was nothing in sight but rocks, streams of the melting snow, and gigantic mountain tops in every direction. 

                After the epic 3 hour stop at customs (there is a serious lack of efficiency in these countries), we finally made it across the border.  First thing on the agenda was to find some food.  It was 7:45 on a Friday night and finding a place to eat was difficult.  Not because all the places were packed, but because most don’t open for dinner until 8:30!  Welcome to Argentina where they don’t eat dinner until 10:30pm, don’t go out dancing until 2:00am and don’t go back home until the sun is out.  I love finding out the little quirks of a culture.

                Day 2 of Argentina was filled with a wine and artisan tour.  I went to four different ¨bodegas¨ or wineries to taste more than just some good wine.  The first one was filled with chocolates (yes I tried to taste one of each) and flavored liquors.  The second and fourth were the traditional wines.  And the last (but definitely not least) was at a factory that makes olive oil.  Being a good Italian, I know what real extra virgin olive oil tastes like.  I don’t make my garlic bread with that other stuff and I certainly wouldn’t dress my salads with anything less than the best.  I will admit that this olive oil was exceptionally delicious.  There were different flavors poured over bread and decorated with the occasional sun dried tomato.  I was in all my glory.  The samples even convinced me to buy a bottle of this aciete (oil) with a hint of basil. Can’t wait to try it out this week!

                The day of wining was paired with a night of dining.  Although I’m not a huge red meat eater, I could not pass up trying one of Argentina’s famous steaks.  Dressed with a mushroom sauce, and cooked medium rare (a bit too rare, but still delicious) this steak was a little piece of red meat heaven in my mouth.  The Argentineans did not disappoint with the spread of food that was on our table.

                The next day consisted of an hour drive towards the mountains, horseback riding, and more beef.  It’s amazing how the view of the mountains in the distance never gets old.  Every time I’m in a car or on a bus I’m continually in awe.  This phenomenon was intensified as I climbed on my horse, Domino, and trotted through the trails of a small mountain.  Now I’m definitely not an experience horseback rider, so at first it was a little scary.  I was told I needed to drive the horse like it was a car.  I didn’t listen very well.  At first I sort of let the horse do what he wanted, after all he was the one doing me the favor.  Then after the galloping started and I almost fell off, I thought it would be best to show a little more authority. 

When we were done riding the horses, the trainers set them free into the mountains to go grave and sleep for the night.  I couldn’t believe it when our guide told us that the horses live in the mountains, and they just use them during the day.  I found it incredibly gratifying that these animals were treated with the dignity and given free rein as to where they want to go.  I was told that’s the Argentinean secret to their good beef. They allow their cows to graze and wander where they want, as opposed to living in a barn or being fenced in.  In the end I wouldn’t exactly say the cows are treated with complete dignity, since they are often seen on dinner tables around the world, but they freedom is definitely respected.

                On that note, the horseback riding was followed by “un asado” (a barbeque with out the BBQ sauce).  More beef, chicken, and sausage.  I preferred diving into the bowl of a fresh tomato, pepper, and onion mix with the homemade fresh bread.  The meal was followed by a guitar serenade from our guide.  We made it just in time to take the 10 pm overnight bus back to Santiago.  This weekend of good food, drinks, and horseback riding will not be forgotten any time soon.  I’ll be leaving this Thursday (Oct 7) for my Bolivian adventure…much more to come from South America.

Week 5: A look back

Do you ever wake up in the morning and your body doesn’t want to move but you’re mind can’t sit still.  Some mornings I have a million things going through my head.  In New York it used to be things like ¨what do I need to get done today¨, or ¨ how am I going to study for that test and write that 5 page essay tonight?¨.  I wake up in Chile and think ¨how would you conjugate that verb¨ or ¨what’s the correct way to say this sentence in Spanish.¨ My thoughts have suddenly been commandeered by the Spanish language.  My life revolves around communicating in a different language and learning a new culture. 

One day I thought ¨how did I even end up in this foreign place?¨  It all happened during that one afternoon at St. John’s University when I had the epiphany I was able to study abroad again.  It has changed my life and brought me to ¨La tierra final¨ or lands end as we call it in English.  Chile is a country where at its most southern point you can get in a boat and go all the way around the world without hitting another piece of land.  It’s pretty spectacular if you think about it. There is no other country quite like this one.  It has a remarkable variety of landscapes, including mountains, deserts, glaciers, and the ocean.   Some days I wake up and look out of my bathroom window at the clear view (if the Santiago smog has subsided) of the Andes Mountains and think ¨Wow I am so lucky¨. 

Its funny how a person’s life can change so dramatically and yet after a short period of time have it seem like nothing has changed at all.  We all get caught up in our day to day activities and time passes, but I’m at a point right now where it’s just about accelerating my adventure.  The clock is ticking very quickly, and I could easily sit back, enjoy the ride of the next 2 months in Santiago and sit in the sun…OR seize every single other opportunity that is possible.  Of my plan is the latter. 

After talking with two famous artists that have been staying at my house, I can recognize all of the opportunities I have in front of me.  Susana Wald, a woman of many talents including speaking somewhere around 5 languages, advised me to “aprovechar” or do everything I can in my short period of time here.  After a long conversation about where my life was going and where her life had been, I decided that I’m on a mission to ¨conocer Chile¨ or to experience everything.

On a quick side note, Susana Wald and Ludwig Zeller (the famous artists) currently live in Mexico, but spent many years living in both Santiago and Canada.  They were on a visit back to Santiago for an exhibition of Ludwig’s surrealist art.  When I met Ludwig, I didn’t know what a big deal he was, but when I walked into his exhibition which was purely dedicated to him, I was able to recognize immediately what he had dedicated a huge part of his life to.  It was pretty amazing to see how much one person is able to accomplish in their life. This warm hearted couple sparked me to go out and seize every opportunity.  They gave me more inspiration to dream big and not let any obstacles stop you from your goal.  I hope to remember these words of wisdom long after my South American adventure is over.

Week 4: Fiestas Patrias: Bicentennial Celebration

The US bicentennial was celebrated in 1976, 13 years before I was born.  I heard it was a pretty big celebration.  Lucky for me, since I missed my own country’s bicentennial celebration, I was able to share in the celebration of 200 years of Chilean independence.  From my perspective the Chilean people are already very proud of their country.  They wear their colors with pride, the flag waves on every street corner, and naturally they believe their soccer team is the best.  If you multiply this patriotism 10 fold, this is what the Fiestas Patrias (another name for the holiday) is like.

            Walking down the street days before the commemorated dieciocho (18) de Septiembre, you can feel the energy in the air.  Everywhere you turn there is a flag hanging outside the door, or pasted in the window.  People are on street corners selling Chilean memorabilia to wear during the holiday weekend or paste on their car.  The air buzzes with talk of the upcoming celebration.

            Lucky for me I had an invitation from a Chilean friend to spend the holiday with her in her home town.  My friend is from Viña del Mar, a small town on the coast about 75 minutes from Santiago.  She invited my friends and me to stay with her and spend the holiday in true Chilean fashion, eating and drinking to your heart’s content. 

We arrived in Viña del Mar Thursday afternoon to get an early start to the weekend.  After learning that every single store (including all grocery stores) would be closed tight for the next 4 days, we gathered every food item necessary to survive.  I will admit that I never go hungry, but the fear that a grocery store would be closed for 4 days straight was enough reason to panic about the thought of running out of food.  After the grocery list was checked off and the food was checked out, we were ready to do some celebrating.

The first day of festivities consisted of a family and friends barbeque at the local “botanical garden”.  This simple park with filled with scents of meat grilling, and the sounds of Chilean music.  Over the course of the day there were 4 courses of food, with some breaks of course for the traditional “juegos” (games).  First we did a three legged race, which my partner and I miserably failed at.  I’m convinced the Chileans spend all year practicing for these games because they made it to the finish line before I could get back up from tripping over my partner’s foot.  Then came the wheel barrel race.  I was the wheels of my team.  It was clear that I hadn’t been doing my push ups because we didn’t make it but 2 feet in front of the starting line.  It was a good laugh at least. 

The following day was the real deal, dieceocho itself!  My friends and I spent the day walking through the boardwalk along the water.  The beach was filled with people of all ages flying kites, which is a traditional this to do on the 18^th.  The boardwalk was filled with small vendors selling goods like striped hippie pants, long dangly earrings, and even small sticks that are said to bring a good aurora into the home.  Yep, you could buy or sell just about anything you wanted at this little market.

The day was followed by a night of fire works and the infamous “Fonda”.  A Fonda is basically any large are that hold small food and beverage vendors and places where people can dance.  All over Chile during this holiday weekend there were Fondas over crowded by people who want to eat empanadas and drink “terremotos” or “chicha” (traditional dieceocho drinks).  For me, it was a lot like the New York State fair, filled with rows of vendors under a temporary stand all selling food that looked and smelled a lot like their neighbor’s.  Anyway, my eye was on finding the stand with the best shish kabob mix of vegetables and meat.  We finally made our way through an endless stream of people to sit and I got to enjoy a good shish kabob and some chicha.  It was well worth the wait.

The dieceocho weekend ended with a small tour of the famous Valpariso, which is 10 minutes from Viña del Mar.  This chic town is filled with hills that look like the patch work of a quilt.  The bright colors of the houses on the cerros (hills) add to the charm and character of this Pacific coast destination point.  After we broke bread with some fresh sea food, I was ready to bid my farewell to a great Bicentennial weekend.  I had successfully completed this once in a lifetime experience and shared in the celebration of a monumental bicentennial weekend along with the rest of Chile.

Week 3: A taste of the Pacific Ocean

This weekend was met with a number of firsts.  After a short 4 days of classes, I was ready to get my weekend underway.  It began in traditional Chilean fashion, with a good empanada.  I´m not partial to this pastry type dish filled a variety of ingredients, but when you´re hungry, on a budget, and in a hurry to get the night started, it gets the job done.   We made our way to a chic salsa bar which was tucked away on a side street.  The conclusion of the night was: we NEED to sign up for salsa lessons.  This isn´t to say it was a disaster, but it would be a lot more pleasant if I knew which direction my feet are supposed to turn and when the flip is coming.  One more thing to add to the ¨to do¨list.

The following day came with an early morning and a new destination for the evening.  I FINALLY  found a pair of trekking boots that I hope to get a lot of use out of! You can´t imagine how difficult it is to find a pair of boots for a size 8 foot.  I would go to a store, pick up the model size 5 or 6 boot and ask for my size.  Without fail I would get the response ¨that’s the only one we have in stock¨.  Seriously who has that small of a foot.  And when I asked if I could order it, a common question in the US, they said it would take 2-3 months.  That response was then followed by a laugh from me, a ¨muchas gracias¨, and on to the next store.  Needless to say, it was a huge relief to find a good pair in preparation for my upcoming trip to Bolivia.

The hunt for trekking boots was followed by a 5 hour bus ride to the Chilean coast!  Pichilemu was the setting for the weekend.  This small town is a destination for world class surfers.  The intention for the weekend was to go relax on the beach and maybe watch some surfers.  Let´s just say the weekend turned out much different than anticipated.  Relaxing on the beach turned into squeezing into a wet suit, and watching some surfers turned into learning how to surf!

Being a water person I was thrilled to learn Pichilemu wasn’t an impossible place for a beginner to learn.  I guess I just assumed because people from all over the world go there to surf that it was out of the question for me.  Turns out the real waves are a few kilometers (yes I´m now forced to think in the metric system) up the road.

An Australian surfer warned us ¨these are by far the coldest waters I´ve ever surfed in¨, but we didn´t listen.  We suited up in our wet suits and booties, grabbed a board, and headed for the water.  There was a bit of hesitation with the talks of the cold water, but once I was adjusted to the 12 degree Celsius (54F) water there was no pulling me out.  With a little bit of help and instruction, I managed to get up on the board a few times.  That’s really all I needed to fulfill the weekend.  My friends and I finally got out of the water to brag to the Australian that it wasn´t THAT cold…only to determine we probably had to work a lot harder than he´d ever thought of just to get past a couple of waves and up on the board.

Eventually I regressed to Santiago late Sunday evening to satisfy my exhaustion with a good night´s sleep.  A weekend filled with dancing, shopping, and surfing served its purpose in getting me into the Chilean groove.  

Week 2: El Cajon de Maipo

Aló from Chile.  This past week has come and gone in the blink of an eye.  The calendar changed to Septiembre.  In Chile that means winter is over.  The days of layering three shirts, leggings under jeans, and heavy socks are behind us.  Nobody warned me about the winters in Chile.  Don’t get me wrong…upstate New York can get pretty cold in the winter, but there is a HUGE difference that I wasn’t aware of.  Most homes in Chile do not have a built in heating system.  They use a small space heater in one room at a time. 

You can imagine this came as quite a shock to me, coming from 80 degree summer days, but I adapted very quickly.  I did as the Chileans do…wore LOTS of layers.  On that note, I can happily report that since my cold arrival (8 weeks ago), I have spent countless days laying in the park with friends soaking up the heat that had been missing from my life.  Spring is definitely in the air.  All of the trees are in bloom, the birds are chirping, and the Chileans are out from hibernation.

My weekend was also spent outside enjoying all that spring has to offer.  It began at a Chilean vineyard about an hour outside Santiago.  I did a wine tour of Concha y Toro, one of the largest producers of wine in Latin America.  They make one of the most famous brands of Chilean wine, Casillero del Diablo.  Casillero del Diablo translates to something like “cellar of the devil”.  The story is that the label was started by the founder of the factory because the winery was being robbed by the employees. He framed a legend that the devil lived in the storehouse so the employees were afraid to steal the wines. So, began the legend of Casillero del Diablo.  The winery was beautiful with countless barrels of wine and an aroma of oakey vino tinto (red wine).  Not to mention that a bottle of wine that would cost at least $100 in the US was being sold for about $14.  From the winery we moved to the next adventure of the weekend. 

A quick side note. When I say “we”, it refers to Andrea and Anna or the two blonde girls from Germany and Holland.  We do our traveling together and none of us ever have a plan.  Weekends in the past have consisted of arriving at the bus station with our bags packed, and our destination is wherever the next bus is headed.  Hostels are always booked onsite, and we see the sites the Chileans recommend over any Lonely Planet. 

With that being said…the following day was an adventure in itself.  We slept at a hostel in San Jose de Maipo.  At breakfast we asked the dueño or owner of the hostel what we could do for the day.  He sent a Chilean man our way who said he could show us around for the day.  There was no doubt that we were in for a treat. 

Alejandro (the guide) and Carlos (the driver) brought us through a spectacular part of Cajon (canyon) de Maipo.  We drove about an hour outside of San Jose through breath taking views of snowcapped mountains, and rocky edged cliffs. When we arrived at the destination, we were greeted by snow, rocks, and a crystal clear reservoir with a surface as flat as glass.  Embalsa el Yeso, or reservoir from the Yeso River, provides the drinking water to Santiago. 

After taking in the tranquility of the sun, embalsa, and silence, we made our way to the grill.  Alejendro and Carlos took the liberty of buying an enormous amount of carne (beef) and cerdo (pork) to grill for us.  It must have been enough food for 10 people, but the five of us managed to do some pretty good damage to the meat.  We sat in the sun for hours conversing in Spanish, listening to Chilean music, and watching for a Condor (a famous bird Chileans go crazy over).  It was a spectacular day that will soon be followed by more intense trekking after I buy my trekking boots this week.  The following day we returned back to Santiago, a mere 2 hours away from the serenity of this paradise. 

Looking back on the past few weeks, I am able to see how my Spanish is finally developing at a more rapid pace.  I can have a full conversation with a person who doesn’t speak a word of English.  I can’t wait for the day when I begin to dream in Spanish!  On that note, I’m going to close this up and rest up for a new school week.  I will leave with the update that I just booked a 10 day trip to Bolivia in October!  No specific plans yet, but the destination is set. Until next time, Chau (thats the way the spell it here)!