El Fin

We are feeling very nostalgic as we reach the end of our long Latin American trail. We fly to the U.S. tonight. Both of us are feeling really excited to see family and friends stateside, to have a whole new wardrobe, to stop living out of our backpacks, to be able to find a good burrito, to enjoy the northern hemisphere´s summer and to share our stories and photos and wine. But we are also feeling a general, untangible melancholy as such an amazing chapter comes to an end. We have learned so much about the countries we´ve visited, ourselves and eachother. It´s hard to believe that we can spend 6 months of constant togetherness and still carry on a lively conversation over dinner in which we hear new stories about eachother. Looking back over the trip, our low points were few and far between and usually the result of being tired, hungry and not able to find a restaurant that is Emily friendly (a difficult task in any country, as most of you who are familiar with my odd aversions will already know!). We both agree that we enjoyed South American more and that Costa Rica was our least favorite country of them all. But choosing the best stop is much harder. There are definitely highlights- spending time with friends in Panama, Belize and Guatemala always gets mentioned when we talk about our favorite memories. National parks throughout the Lakes District and Patagonia get an honorable mention as well. Although we didn´t have a real plan, there were still surprises in our itinerary. Certain destinations were dropped due to time constraints, weather or money- the Galapagos and Tierra del Fuego. We never thought we´d spend time in Nicaragua or Bolivia, but both were unforgettable- for the hardships of life there and the amazing payoff.  We could write for ages and still not capture where this trip will land in our collective mind, so until we make sense of this amazing odyssey, here are some stats:

• 184 days
• 10 countries
• 62 cities
• 44 books read
• 286 games of Yahtzee (Final Tally: Andy 1, Jen 2, Drew 127, Emily 156)
• 22 hikes
• 21 days of Spanish lessons
• 15 border crossings
• 9 overnight buses
• 7 loads of laundry (5 pairs of underwear- you do the math…)
• 6 transportation breakdowns
• 0 robberies/assaults/lost passports/grave illnesses (diarrhea aside)
• 1 Rumspringa

Thanks to everyone who followed along our trip. We have appreciated all of your comments and emails and videos and care packages. Being so far, we still felt close to everyone that really matters to us. Now, we´ll start another chapter in Seattle as we search for jobs, an apartment, a dog and all the other trappings of real life off the road (Congrats Drew who got a job offer already to teach 2nd grade!). Can´t wait to hug you all in person.

Over and out. Hasta luego.

Good Airs…The Final Stop

Hard to believe we have arrived at our last stop. It certainly has not been a disappointing one. Buenos Aires is an incredible city, definitely world class. We have been very appreciative of all of it´s modern trappings: a cheap and easy subway system (El Subte), delicious ethnic restaurants, funky shopping districts and more. But it´s the old fashioned underbelly of BA that we will remember the most: the smokey tango shows and milonga dance halls, the ubiquitous street musicians- especially the accordian players, the ornate and crumbling Latin architecture, the mustaches…

A busker at the San Telmo street fair.

Buenos Aires grafitti in San Telmo.

2008 or 1950?

The biggest danger of BA so far has been learning to diligently watch where you step…

Evita Peron´s crypt at the Recoleta Cemetary.

Tango steps.

This is the last weekend on our nomadic odyssey. Monday night we catch a flight from Buenos Aires to Detroit. Don´t cry for us, Argentina…

 

Barnacles and Ballenas in Puerto Madryn

Yesterday, we met a living, breathing, swimming school bus; a black and white giant covered in parasitic barnacles and very curious about what exactly we were doing out there in a small boat in the middle of Golfo Nuevo, off the coast of central Argentina. It´s whale season and lucky for us, now is the time of year when thousands of Right Whales migrate from the cold storms of Antarctica to seek calmer, warmer waters at Península Valdéz, off the Argentine coast. Although you can see them from shore, we took a boat to get even closer. We didn´t realize that they would be just as interested in us as we were of them. We were literally surrounded by them- whale soup-, spouting, swimming with calves, mating, fending off the attacking seagulls, some were even jumping out of the water and landing with an enourmous splash once gravity kicks in. We have an amazing video of a whale who just hung around our boat looking at us, but technical difficulties are not allowing us to post it. So, instead, here are some photos of our close encounter, it was an unreal experience:

Drew and the whale, having a moment…

The pier at Puerto Madryn.

The marine version of Victor, basking in the sun.

Still checking each other out…

And an interesting land animal encounter, too.

We are still basking in the glory of such a great day. Soon, we´ll pack up and go for the last time on an overnight bus to Buenas Aires- the final stop of this whirlwind tour.

p.s: Happy Solstice! Hope all you Seattle folks are enjoying the Fremont parade. Any naked bicyclists this year??? Can´t wait for our first Manny´s…

¡Feliz Día del Padre!

In other words… Happy Father´s Day!

 

Unfortunately, the snow didn´t come as predicted and so we are without neon ski suits! Instead, we finished our week of studies with a tango lesson. I wish we had photos or better yet a video, because they would be throuroughy entertaining, I am sure. Let me set the scene at El Rincon del Tango in Bariloche: the dance floor was in the middle of an old smoky bar, probably dating back to colonial times. It was as sulty as a tango venue should be- think red mood lights, pulsing tango music, even steamy windows. In the middle of the floor, couples deftly swung and slid over the floor, the women balancing on high red stiletto heels… Then there´s us- a mix of military marching and bride of frankenstein, Emily in black rubber Crocs (for god´s sake) and Drew in hiking gear. We were a sight.  In spite of our complete lack of coordination and broken spanish, everyone was very nice and the Señora of the class was incredibly patient. Who knows- maybe we have more tango in our future in Buenes Aires, so all was not lost.

Now, we have headed a couple hours south to the little hippie enclave of El Bolsón. We are getting more and more nostalgic since tomorrow we will have only 2 weeks left. Better make them count!

Bariloche, At Last!

Hola from Bariloche, Argentina in the Patagonia!

We knew we would love it here, but we didn´t realize how much we would love it. The city is gorgeous- set on the shores of beautiful Lago Nahuel Huapi and completely surrounded by snowcapped Andean peaks on all sides. Best of all, there is hiking and skiing right outside of town. The only down side is that it´s cold! It hailed on us yesterday and somehow, even long underwear under our clothes isn´t enough. Drew is excited to have gotten two winters this year. The ski resort here- Cerro Catedral, one of the biggest in South America- is set to open on Saturday, June 14. We are already scouting the used clothing stores for his and hers ski suits, preferably in the most outrageous 1980´s neon we can find! Wish us luck.

Until the ski season officially starts, we are passing the time with homework- lots of it. Today, we both started a week of Spanish classes (www.spanishinbariloche.com) and already have enough homework to keep us busy all afternoon. Between class, tango lessons, an ice skating rink and lots of chocolate shops, this week may pass too quickly.

Us during the Bosque de los Arrayanes hike in the Nahuel Huapi National Park.

The dock of Lago Nahuel Huapi outside of Villa la Angostura, Argentina.

The church against the mountain backdrop of Bariloche, Argentina.

 

xoxo.

us

Pucón, Chile: National Parks, a Flat Tire and a Dog Named Scrappy

It is COLD! Since our last post, we managed to finally get out of Santiago. The southern highway bridge is still out due to flooding, but our bus was rerouted and we made it to the beautiful Lakes District of central Chile. Our home base is Pucón, where we are staying in a 6 person cabin with kitchen and living room all to ourselves! Unfortunately, there´s no heat and at night water condenses on the ceiling above our bed, dripping icy droplets on our faces from above. But, the price is right and it´s been fun being able to grocery shop and make dinner- even doing dishes is exciting these days.

In order to see the sights outside the town, we rented a car. Drew proved his mechanic skills in changing a tire after Emily went through a pot hole at 70kmph and popped the tire like it was a bubblegum bubble. Luckily we had a spare, so after some hard work and a little swearing we were back in action:

  

The car proved essential to get us to the two national parks in the area: Parque Nacional Villarica, which includes the snowy volcano peak you can see in the photos below, and Parque Nacional Huerquehue, a stunning park where we hiked between three lakes, past waterfalls and unreal views. They both are beautiful and, because it is off season, completely and literally empty. We´ve had the area all to ourselves.  

 

Us at the entrace of the park.

Our trusty steed for 2 days in Pucón, Chile.

A waterfall along the Tres Lagos hike.

Water from the waterfall coated everything below it in a few inches of crystalline ice.

Drew in a lava field with Volcán Villarica.

Chile?…or Switzerland?

Early morning frost on the drive to Parque Nacional Huerquehue.

A snowy peak reflected in the icy water.

Volcán Villarica and Lago Tuiquila.

Lago Toro, one of the lakes in the Tres Lagos trail in Parque Nacional Huerquehue.

Warming our toes in Los Pozones, one of the many hot springs in the area heated by volcanic activity underground.

The dog- nicknamed Scrappy- who followed us for three days around Pucón, Chile. If only we could bring her home…

 

Tomorrow, we will cross the border into Argentina to San Martin de Los Andes.

Getting Chilly in Chile

The leaves are changing and every bus ride brings us a little closer to snow- it´s a whole new autumn in south america. The vineyards are bright yellow as the leaves turn and there are pumpkins and squash available at the market. We almost feel like trick or treating. After leaving the desert of northern Chile, we are getting our fair share of rainy days in Santiago and the coast. We feel right at home… 

 

Drew and an Easter Island statue. Hard to tell who´s who…

Self-portrait in Santiago.

A rainy Santiago skyline from a cable car at Cerro Cristobol.

A colorful block in Valparaiso, Chile, on the central coast.

Mountain biking in Chile´s northern Atacama deser- the driest in the world.

An adobe church in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.

The autumn vines at Concha Y Toro vineyard, outside Santiago.

99 barrels of wine in the cellar, 99 barrels of wine…

 

On Monday, we are headed south on a night bus to Chile´s Lakes District to a town called Pucon. We´ve had a lot more time in Santiago than we originally planned because the only highway south has been closed due to flooding. It is a great city to find ourselves in (aside from when we mistakenly walked through a cloud of tear gas- we still don´t know what was going on). We could definitely live here… 

xoxo,

emily and drew

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

It’s hard to capture in words our trip through the bizarro world that is southwest Bolivia. We spent 3 days and 2 nights crossing the Salar de Uyuni to get to the northern Chilean border. The Salar de Uyuni and the surrounding area is the wierd byproduct of a dried-up prehistoric lake and lots of volcanic activity. With our group of seven (representing Swizterland, Germany, the Czech Republic and US), via a ridiculously burly Land Cruiser led by our driver/guide/chef, Pedro, we visited a train graveyard, the salt flats, deserts that look like a Salvador Dali painting, arsenic-laced lakes and a crazy landscape that felt out of this world. Here are some photos to prove it…

 

Our Trusy Steed for our 3 day trip across the Salar de Uyuni and into Chile. Thanks, Pedro!

The Road to Nowhere… (actually to Chile).

The sky put on a show our first night in the Salar de Uyuni.

“In need of an experienced mechanic,” at the Train Cemetary outside Uyuni Bolivia.

Ironically, we never got salt on restaurant tables in Uyuni.

A salt worker’s truck.

Upside down on the salt flats.

A blue-eyed llama.

The salt flats outside Uyuni, Bolivia.

Emily balancing a couple of Swiss girls…

The view of a volcano from Laguna Colorada, on the Bolivian side of the border.

A pat of flamingos in the mountains of Bolivia.

Giant cacti on an island marooned in the middle of the Salar de Uyuni.

Us in front of the Arbol de Piedra (Tree of Stone).

Finally warm in the hot springs after 3 days of freezing in the high altitude desert at 4,600m.

 

Now, we are in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. We are already astounded by the paved roads and hot water. I guess that’s what you get crossing the border into the developed world from Bolivia…

Some Photos…

Happy belated Cinco de Mayo (Scott Crawford, we hope you wore your Mexican poncho proudly)!

Here are some photos from the last couple weeks. We have a new camera, so more recent photos will be posted soon- consider this a catchup.

Angry llama…

Hiking from Copacabana to the ferry to Isla del Sol

The shores of Lake Titicaca, on the Peruvian side

Dried baby llamas at the Witches Market in La Paz, Bolivia

Alpine glow behind La Paz, Bolivia

The daily blessing of the cars at the cathedral in Copacabana, Bolivia

We are currently in Potosi, Bolivia, getting ready to head to Salar de Uyuni and the Chilean border within the week. We can almost taste the wine…

Blogging from a Rain-Soaked Bolivia

Things move slowly in Bolvia, this much we have learned. Transportation, internet, restaurants, you name it. Things move at a different pace here, assuming what you´re after comes at all! Considering that, our blog entries from here are just following a proud cultural tradition of being sporadic and delayed. Apologies!

Since leaving Peru, we have made a couple stops in northern Bolivia. First, to Copacabana and Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca, where the high altitude (4,600m!) keeps the weather sunny and cool. The highlight was definitely a 17km hike that wound though several small local villages and getting to see how the locals live. Spectacular scenery but we were truly amazed at the typical way of life in South America´s poorest country. We hope to post some photos soon of our hike.

Then down to La Paz, a gorgeous, modern, high city, surrounded by snowcapped peaks on all sides. Quirky may be the best word to describe La Paz.  If you are in need of a love potion or a dried llama fetus to bury under your house for good luck, then the witches market of La Paz is the place to go. Unfortunately, while we were there, Drew accidentally took a photo of a ¨witch¨ selling her wares, much to her displeasure. Since then we appear to be a bit hexed- a flat tire on the bus, a potential attempt at a purse snatching, food poisoing (since recovered), the sudden and inexplicable death of our digital camera (right before heading into the rainforest nonetheless) and now we are stuck due to torrential downpours in the middle of nowhere! But our spirits are high as we appraoch month four of our Rumspringa and hopefully this hex will be over soon.

We have also had more than our fair share of good luck. We just arrived back to mainland Rurrenabaque yesterday after spending 3 days upriver at Serere Ecolodge, right outside of one of the world´s most biodiverse national parks in the world, Madidi- a place that National Geographic features in 2000 as one of the must see parks of the world. It was unreal- we went fishing for piranha using chunks of beef, saw a toad the size of a basketball, listened to the howler monkeys wake up at dawn, killed far too many gigantic bugs and spiders in our lodge and generally just enjoyed the peace and quiet of the jungle from an ecolodge without electricity. It was lovely, but you´ll just have to trust us on that since our camera is dead due to the aforementioned hex.   

The best luck of all was surviving the bus ride a few days ago from La Paz to Rurrenabaque, a road known here as the world´s most dangerous due to the narrow cliffside curves and landslides.  After our rainforest guide told us that two buses per month goes over the cliffs, we have decided to seek alternative routes back to civilization. On his advice, we will take local buses through several small towns to get to the southwest corner of Bolivia. It will take a few days of overnight travel, but we don´t want to chance that dicey bus ride back to La Paz until we know for sure the hex is up.  There is an airport here, but with the rain on the dirt runway (yes, dirt runway), flights are grounded for a few days. Ahhh, the developing world…

Virtual hugs to everyone out there. Mom and Dad Bowerman- Have a great time in Norway! We´ll be thinking of you out there in the world as our fellow travelers!

Love,

Us