Day 66

Ok so I just spent some of the best days of my trip in SA. My brother and I took a very small prop. airplane to Rurrenabaque or as it is poorly pronounced ¨rubberducky¨ Bolivia. We landed safely on a small patch of dirt known as the Rurrenabaque airport. Shortly after we booked a 3day trip to the pampas region of the Bolivian Amazon. After a 3 hour jeep ride (which we ran out of gas twice) we arrived at the entrance of the park and boarded a long narrow boat with a sweet 15hpr. engine and began our ride upstream. The river was only about 20ft. to 50ft. across and at its deepest point maybe 15ft. Not quite a river but a good stream. The best part about this stream was that there was literally an alligator or five every 10ft. along the bank and I AM NOT EXAGGERATING. Amongst the gators and caimen there were all sorts of birds and huge capybaras. Herons, giant storks, cranes, cormorants, everything. We arrived to our little shanty, complete with individual mosquito nets. In the morning we awoke quite early and took the boat downstream a ways to watch a most beautiful sunrise. Once we returned we ate one of the best breakfasts of the trip. Afterwards we hiked for 5 hours through the thickest tallest grass, nastiest bogs, thickest mud, and the most humid air. Don´t worry though there was good reason. We were snake hunting. After about and hour and a half we reached a small dry area of trees. We walked around for a few minutes and then our guide noticed something. He told us not to move and be very quiet. We did and what he found was a cobra. Yes a cobra. Though Brock and I didn´t actually see it we did try to get it out of its hole in a tree for about half an hour. No luck. So we marched on. As we trodged on we saw many black eagles, pampas condors, and giant storks. After about another hour our guide beckoned us to where he was. In the middle of a shallow muddy pond he found an anaconda. The three of us started circling the area in which it was spotted. Finally he stuck his stick in the water and revealed the snake. As soon as I saw snake I dove down and grabbed the beasts head. After wrestling for nearly a minute I had tamed the beast. A good sized snake it was too. It was about 7 or 8 ft and weighed nearly 50lbs. The guide helped throw the snake over my shoulders for a picture and then he took over. After a few more minutes we released the hog back to his home and marched on. Much like a garter snake anacondas release their waste as a defense mechanism and needless to say like a garter snake it is absolutely foul. One of the worst stenches I have ever encountered. When we retuned we had another amazing meal and watched the sunset from a small jungle bar on stilts. After the sunset we returned to camp and I began frog hunting. This was as easy as shooting fish in a cup. Frogs are about as abundant as gators. Almost as abundant. I caught and photographed many different species of frogs and I think I may have discovered a new one or two. The following day went to watch pink river dolphins and catch pirahnas. The pirahnas were small and very hard to catch but their giant jaws and teeth made it worthwhile. Soon after we returned to pack up and head home. On the way back from fishing within about 5 or 6 minutes we counted over 67 gators/caimen and that was only the ones we could see. We made it back to Rurrenabaque without incedent and are now awaiting trasport back to La Paz. Hope everyone back home is enjoying summer as much as me. Later.

Day 61

Ok so it has been a pretty wild ride so far. The journey is coming to an end and I still have much to write. The last 11 days have been quite fun for our group. After Mendoza, Argentina we traveled back to Santiago and took a bus to San Pedro de Atacama shortly after. We arrived in SP with no problems except one. It was nearly impossible to find accomidations. Apparently when the rest of SA is in low season due to winter it´s high season in the desert. SP is a very nice little desert oasis stuck right in the middle of nowhere. Hot, cold, dry, and dusty, four words most commonly used in this part of the world. Whilst in SP we took the moon valley tour to see a magnificent sunset and in the morning a tour of geysers and hot springs. It was no yellowstone but still quite amazing. A couple days later we started our 3 day tour of the Bolivian salt flats. Also known as Salar de Uyuni. The first two days were pretty cool apart from going as high as 5000 meters (16404ft) in which I became quite sick and could hardly breathe. That fortunatly only lasted one night and afterwards was mostly down from there. There is nothing that really compares to 3 days of off roading in a jeep in the deserted mountainscapes of absolutely nowhere. The third day we arrived at the salt flat known as Salar de Uyuni and were amazed at its sheer size and flatness. Imagine a giant lake or small sea that is entirely white and flat. In the middle there is an island of prehistoric coral and thousand year old cacti. This is where we made lunch and soon after departed for uyuni. On the way to Uyuni we stopped to take some very bizzare, mind bending pictures. Because of the flat all white surface of the salt your mind plays tricks on you and it really is different. Arrival to Uyuni. Not much to say other than Boliva is cheap and busses are horrid. We took a bus from Uyuni to La Paz and it was 10hrs of hell. The bus was cramped and smelled as bad as the people on board. My brothers seat had no headrest and istead there were two large metal spikes. There were no empty seats and locals forced their way on board just to stand in the aisle for the entire journey. People were rude and would force their way past you not caring whether or not they stepped on you or pushed you over. Once we arrived here in La Paz we booked our selves into a pretty nice hostel which happens to have its own microbrewery. SWEET. Brock is biking down the most dangerous road in the world today and I am booking flights to our next destination...Rurrenbaque for a couple of days in the jungle before we say goodbye to Bolivia and head back to Peru. Until then, go see Batman its worth it.

Day 50

So we are now in Mendoza, Argentina...Some will argue this as the Wine capitol of the world. I could agree. Its pretty cool here. Especially if you like wine. We are doing a wine and chocolate tour tomorrow, then its off to San Pedro De Atacama. We arrived safely in El Calafate and took a tour to the Perito Moreno glacier. One of the only glaciers that is still growing to this day. Hard to explain but it is magnificent. I never thought I could see shades of blue such as those in the ice. Only in the sky have I seen something this unnatural. After the glacier we took a bus to Puerto Natales, Chile. Puerto Natales is in the area known as Tierra Del Fuego or Land of Fire. We took a day trip through the Torres Del Paine national park. It was beautiful. Truly unspoilt beauty. Mountains, glaciers, multi-colored lakes, huanacos(llamas), rheas(ostrich), rabbits, foxes, condors,...amazing. The next day we decided to go horseback riding up a small mountain to get an overall view of the city and the fjords. This was the single worst experience of the trip. We got to the top of the fisrt of three peaks and the wind hit us like a truck. Icy cold wind blowing off the bay up the mountain. It only got worse as we moved along. We eventually made it to the top and made a small fire and ate lunch. On the way back down it started raining. So now we have 100mph winds with freezing rain. Great I forgot a hat. My entire body was soaking wet and my hair was starting to freeze to my head. I had to say fuck it. Hopped off my horse and ran the rest of the way back down the mountain. All that over and done with we got a flight to Santiago, spent the night and got a bus to Mendoza. Lets start this wine drinking.