That About Doesr’…

Wraps ‘er all up. We made it back to the states and are now easing our way into a groove as they say. What a sensational way to close out our travels! This entry will be substantially brief…honest! Well, maybe. We hope we can share stories and pics on a more personal basis now that we are roaming the 48 again.

We spent a majority of our European jaunt in Sevilla, Spain with my bro, currently wrapping up a year of study. He basically dropped everything and gave us a first rate tour of Sevilla…and well, the rest of Spain. We spent a solid early afternoon roaming the immense palace and grounds of Real Alcazar De Sevilla, a finely adorned stop (and home?) for nobility and administrators. We mustered up enough energy to leap fountains. One evening Ryan took us to see quintessential Spanish Flamenco. Something beautiful and quite impassioned.

Our next jaunt entailed renting a Peugeot, a ridiculously large map of Spain/Portugal and poop cookies. We set out from Sevilla late afternoon and headed towards the southern coast of Portugal. We camped out at a very posh camping community in Vila Real de Santo Antonio, just east of Faro and just west of the border and awoke early the next morn ready to see the coast. But alas, the weather was uncooperative, so we proceeded to head northeast, taking in some amazing scenery along the way. Lots of olive groves, rolling hills and open grasslands. We made our way to the Valle de Jerte, stopping at a few small towns along the way. We camped at the national park in Jerte, about 2 hours drive west of Madrid. We spent the afternoon strolling through the park’s trails and splashing around in the frigid, crystal-clear river about a 30-minute hike from camp.

The plan was to leave from Jerte early the next morn and pick up Mom and Dad from the airport in Madrid. However, Delta Airlines had other plans and their flight was cancel/delayed for a full two days! (We can wax airline industry incompetence and corporate welfare at its worst at some other time.) The three of us made it back to Sevilla to recalibrate our plans. Carrie and I took the next day to roam the fiendishly confusing and beautiful streets of central Sevilla and visit the Inglesa Cathedral de Sevilla …an enormous 12th century cathedral, that houses a spectacular wood-carved choir, beautiful stained-glass windows and the ashes of Cristóbal Colón (Christopher Columbus)…so they say. The three of us also checked out the Plaza de Espana, an enormous palace-esque compound built for the 1929 World’s Fair. (pic of us at plaza de espana).

After some serious brain scratching, we decided to wing it and continue with our plans to meet Moms and Pops in Paris. Paris in 42 hours…GO! Carrie, Ryan and I arrived Friday afternoon and roamed around the Latin Quarter, circled Notre Dame and grabbed some coffee before crashing at the hotel. The folks finally made it to the hotel late that night (2 days of shuffling around the airport!). We celebrated with drinks and a late night dinner at a café around the corner.

Saturday, our only full day, we awoke, threw together some plans and got after it. The first stop was the Eiffel Tower and the long walk to get there. It’s one of those landmarks that borders on a large hunk of iron and grand splendor. (After its construction for the 1889 World’s Fair, many Parisians wanted it taken down). However, once you can get close enough to enjoy the staggering engineering feat, it’s pretty spectacular. After ogling and snapping pics, we strolled across town towards the Latin Quarter and had a tasty bite to eat at a Lebanese joint named Al Dar. From here we skipped across the River Seine wander Notre Dame de Paris (second link) and admire the premiere example of French Gothic architecture. The stain glass windows were absolutely breathtaking. And those flying buttresses! Afterwards we shared some enormous chocolate crapes and proceeded to relax before being completely overwhelmed. Welcome to the Musée du Louvre my friends. Possibly most famous for housing Leonardo da Vinci’s peculiar and moving Mona Lisa, but maintains over 35,000 pieces spanning several centuries. We checked out the Mona Lis, some Greek sculptures, a room full of Louis XIV’s extravagances and called it quit-sees. A truly amazing experience, but utterly overwhelming. (pic of triangle at Louvre) Here’s a pic of the pyramid in the center of the Louvre created by I.M Pei





By then it was about 10 pm and time for some dinner. So we consulted the all-knowing guidebook and found a terrific, classic-French restaurant called Vins Des Pyrenees. What a perfect way to celebrate the rents retirement, their anniversary and a spontaneous family vacation. Great wine, fantastic food and chipper people.

The next morn we loaded all our gear and headed back to Sevilla. Carrie and I had a full day left and then it was time to head back. Mom and Dad had another five days to explore. The five of us took a leisurely stroll through town until we found ourselves at a cozy outdoor eatery. Ryan made sure we all had a chance to enjoy a Spanish tapa dinning experience.

All told, Carrie and I had a bang-up time. Looking back on it, it already seems as if we dreamt the whole thing up…the places, sites, history, people. We hope you all enjoyed the random updates and we look forward to chatting and sharing in person whenever and wherever.

What’s next? Well, Carrie and I will be heading back to Brat at the end of July. Carrie will be returning to work with Woodward Design and I hope to continue working on energy, environmental and advocacy projects. We’ll be cruising the state of WI throughout the rest of June and July visiting fam and friends. Stay in contact, virtual or otherwise.

Paz!

Carrie and Chad

Can't Shake the Cold

Holy candlesticks Superwoman! Surely the Pink Panther is jesting when he says we now exist in the June, 2007! Hope the one and all of you are preparing for sun and fun up thar’ in the north. We have been shivering and huddling side by side avoiding at all costs the chill in the air, not to mention sucking back on copious amounts of Vitamin C beverages in order to ward off this silly, lingering sickness.

Oh my, my...HURRAH, HURRAH to the recent SIT capstoners and grads!! Carrie and I are damn happy and missed you all last weekend... taking that long walk off the edge of Black Mountain and back into the frightening world of serene capitalist bliss. Apply and reflect, so it goes.

Of course, huge, obnoxious shouts out to Mum and Dad Simmons for wrapping up their careers and cracking open a finely aged bottle of “retirement.” Carrie and I are so proud and can’t wait to celebrate. I suppose it’s about that time to barrel-role down the new path you two have in front of you.

Carrie and I have played it pretty mellow the last three weeks making only two stops. We wrapped up our short stint in Cordoba, but not without putting our legs to work. Our last afternoon, I finally had a chance to check out the regional historical museum, which included a good deal of information about the deep Catholic influences and the genesis of the city’s scholarly reputation. We couldn’t leave town without returning to a fantastic gastronomical find, Mandarina!, a Italian and Asian fusion joint(super-duper for vegetarians).

We then took the 16 hour, ultra uncomfortable, but ùber cheap train to downtown Buenos Aires. Now, we will be the first ones to admit that we did not initially “get” BA during our first four-day stay. We crashed at the HI affiliated Milhouse Hostel located in the city center. This was a cool place to stay if you enjoyed the stale stank of week-long frat parties and ear-numbing, drunk, open-mic sessions. Our dorm room resembled a typical freshman dorm...musical bunk-beds yo. So many we met here traveled half-way around the world to sleep all day and stay blissfully numb until 9 am the following morn. This place was honestly our first big disappointment of the trip.

We pretty much tried visiting the sites, museums, cafès around the city center, but had a difficult time figuring out when the city came alive. Seems as if the big cover up is that while yes, BA can be a thumping disco queen, they make up for it by sleeping until 5 pm the following day. We were hard pressed to find museums, cafès or stores open during daylight hours in the city central (primarily between Plazade Mayo and Plaza de Congresso).

On the brighter side, we did take some fantastic walks, enjoyed the amazing 18th and 19th century architecture and enjoyed some stellar coffee at some of BA`s most notable and historic cafès (outside the center). Here Carrie ignores the musical advice of Evita and sobs uncontrollably in front of Casa Rosada at the helm of Plaza de Mayo (more about Evita, Argentina’s social revolution to come).

On Saturday night, we decided to splurge and find out why BA is the Tango capital of the world. We were not disappointed. We joined an eclectic group of other tango novices and headed to Complejo Tango. We began the unforgettable night by actually learning how to tango. These two were our instructors and by Jove, did they emphasize the sexiness of tango. After substantially dirtying Carrie’s shoes, we enjoyed a very tasty meal with Andrea, a fellow traveler from Holland. Dinner was then followed by a very intimate and stunning tango performance. Musicians above played beautiful tango classics while the dancers amazed and awed us below. It’s no wonder there is such a romantic allure to this dance. The performance itself consisted of numerous skits, large, grand numbers, as well as quiet, intimate pieces. I have to admit, I am a sucker for the accordion.

Probably our favorite afternoon was on Sunday, when we took a stroll through the Plaza Dorrego Antiques Fair. The street closed it’s outlets to vehicles and opened up to hundreds of street vendors selling antiques, crafts, artwork and not to mention a plethora of tango performers, musicians and street artists. By far our favorite street performer was a couple posing as mad city slickers. (Ask us to show the other pics...they are hilarious). I also had a chance to speak at length with a woman from the Sam Telmo neighborhood cooperative “Asambleas del Pueblo,” an organization working to improve the economic situation of people in the area through small business assistance and local activism. It was really interesting to hear about their work since the economic collapse of 2001.

We spent a better part of the day camped out at “Plaza Dorrego Bar y Cafè,” enjoying great coffee, the tango performance just outside our window and a whole lot of people watching. (I added a picture at the end of this entry). We chatted for quite some time with a couple now living in Chicago, but looking to retire in Uruguay. It’s no wonder why the cafès of BA are so well renowned...you walk inside and are instantly slugged with a rich sense of history and their significance as pillars in their respective neighborhoods. Here Carrie and I relax at another, Cafè Tortoni

Longing to return to warmer days, we decided to make an extended trek (two weeks!) to Puerto Iguazu, home to the Iguazu National Park and Iguazu Falls. The falls sit in the far northeast corner of Argentina, in the Missiones region, bordering Brazil and Paraguay. It is part of the Paranaense rainforest, a fiercely protected area...and rightfully so. We had both been anticipating this visit well before we left, as brother Ryan had visited the park a few years back and passed on to us it is certainly a must see.

(The blue spec is Carrie). Our first of two visits was wet and cold, but completely worth it (it rained the first 8 or 9 days of our stay in Puerto Iguazu!). We called this one the behemoth...it coupled with its little sister were actually called “Salto Dos Hermanos.” The main draw was certainly “Garganta del Diablo” (Devil’s Throat), where the force of the water is truly unbelievable. The falls were created over 200,000 years ago by an abrupt split in the below fault where the Iguazù and Paranà rivers meet (today now referred to the three corners...where you can see the corners of the three bordering countries). The park as a whole is a fantastic trip, where you can stroll through a maze of trails and elaborate catwalks weaving through the diverse forest and dizzying amount of raging rivers and falls. We had a chance to roam with the surprisingly friendly Coatis. At the end of the day, we watched a very playful Brown Capuchin monkey and his buddy enjoy an orange and roll his/her eyes at the growing number of on-lookers. We also met a farmer from New Zealand traveling through a farmer-to-farmer exchange program. We had a great chat with him about GMO’s (illegal in New Zealand, but he seemed to be a fence sitter on the issue), food production, and food security.

The second day at the falls, one week later, was much more pleasant and there was a whole lot more water to watch. Some parts of the park were closed due to flooding. I must have taken 75 pictures or more...how often to you get a chance to get a raging river, a tropical forest and magnificent falls in one shot?!

Puerto Iguazu was all about recouping, roaming around town, catching up on movies, reading, cooking, and splurging on a daily basis on moka´s and chocolate mousse cake. We stumbled across a quaint little cafè and quickly became regulars...Cafè D’ Melanìo (for those of you in the San Fran vicinity, check out the sister local... 1314 Ocean Ave. Apparently the coffee is just as good, they have a good variety of food and tango performances), We ended up staying at a super little find, Residencial Uno

After two full weeks in Puerto Iguazu, we were ready to once again take on Buenos Aires and see where we went wrong the last time. It all made sense the second time around. Upon arrival, we found a quaint hotel in the San Telmo neighborhood. We then stuck soley to the cities eclectic and diverse neighborhoods and found our niche. We took a long stroll through the La Recoleta cemetery. The cemetery is the final resting place for hundreds of famous Argentines...presidents, poets, colonels and the very wealthy. No joke this cemetery rivals some small villages. Some grave plots have their own mini cathedrals. From here we made our way to the National Art Museum, honestly one of the best art museums I have been in...and it was free! Aside from works by renowned artists such as Renoir and Degas, there was also a fantastic Argentine display including two feature displays.

The following day we spent the afternoon in the park-abundant Palermo neighborhood. Here, we visited the Evita Museum and took a deeper look at the life and work of Eva Marie Parón (Evita). In the few short years she acted as first lady of Argentina, she pushed enormous social programs through her foundation, focusing on worker rights, women’s rights, health and education...taking a very non-backseat approach to her position...more like a presidential position. She is an immortal icon here in Argentina. Carrie and I found interesting the slight differences between her actions and life and the myth surrounding her dramatic journey through political and social ascent. We ended the afternoon with a walk through the botanical gardens and Palermo Woods.

The past couple, we’ve been revisiting our favorite haunts and reflecting on the events and experiences of the past four months. Today was a perfect way to sign off from South America...a leisurely stroll through the Plaza Dorrego Antiques Fair and appreciating the first warm day in what seems like months.

What’s next? Well, before we head back to the states, we thought, you know...what the hell...why not visit bro? Who knows how long he’ll be there and I don’t see my bro enough. So...the states must wait and Spain, are you ready? Plus...ding, ding, ding, Mums and Dads will be visiting around the same time, so it all works out yo. We’ll be kicking it with bro and fam for two weeks and then, we assure you, we will be making our way back. Honestly, we are badly missing our people back home.

Enjoy the Democratic debate Sunday! I’m sure many significant issues will be discussed...caving on Iraq policy, non-existent environmental policy, no health care, unattainable education...Close your eyes and make a wish. Better yet...let's not vote them into office!

We hope you all were entertained by our scriblings and photos...we had a great time putting it all together. I have not yet decided whether to keep the journal going or not...Maybe one from Spain, yeah?

Merry June!

Carrie and Chad

Quality Time with Mama Earth

Check out our little buddy we met at Yacu Yura.

Brrrrrrr…We are certainly feeling the chill of fall this week. Today feels like an early November day in Wisconsin/Vermont…bone-chilling temps, drizzle and an all-around dreary ambiance. We are currently shacked up in the bustling college town of Cordoba, Argentina located in the north-central part of the country. We have yet to explore the plethora of historical and natural haunts, however, I hear Lockheed Martin operates a large military aircraft factory here. Do you think they would allow me to video record during the tour?

We just wrapped up our week at Yacu Yura and feel quite centered and refreshed. Essentially, YY is an “eco-village” with an “eco-tourism” slant. (This in no way slights the purpose of Yacu Yura). The community blends spirituality, consciousness, sustainable living, and a belief there is a dynamic relationship between people, spirit and the earth to create a multi-faceted experience for visitors. It is located about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Cordoba in over 400 hectares (over 1000 acres) of protected land. Getting from the nearest village, Cruz del Eje, proved to be an interesting task, as many taxi drivers were hesitant to drive down the narrow, rocky trail leading to the entrance. Upon arrival, we were gleefully greeted by James and Gabby (permanent residents and the individuals guiding the community’s activities) and 8 other globe-trotters calling YY home for various amounts of time. We were struck by the utter serenity of the area, the dynamic wildlife (oodles of birds), the diversity of the vegetation and the unfathomable amount of vegetables, herbs and other eatable plants.

During the week, we spent a large portion of the morning exploring the connections between the spiritual, human and natural realms…wondering conversations about consciousness and development. We then spent a good 3 to 4 hours engaged in various projects. Carrie spent most days working the land and supplying the sprawling gardens with much needed hydration. I tried a few activities, but really enjoyed helping Carlos with the maintenance and expansion of the village’s solar panel system. On Friday, Carrie and I spent several hours digging and snaking electrical cables from one building to the next. I suppose the big event of each day was lunch. Every morning, volunteers would prepare an amazing, diverse feast for all to enjoy. Of all the ridiculously fantastic food we have enjoyed thus far on our journey, the meals during the past week by far took the cake as well as the post-dinner drink. Here Carrie enjoys some of that scrumptious food with Sandra (fella Midwesterner) and Ido. We had a fantastic chat with Ido about his experience in the Israeli army. He also makes a wicked-good apple pie. The afternoons were left open for taking advantage of the collectively organized activities such as drumming and dance as well as enjoying the beautiful surroundings. Our favorite part of the day was most certainly our late-afternoon cat nap… enjoying the chatter of the insects and the numerous bird songs ...or was it lunch?

Quite the experience indeed. We both appreciated the tranquil surroundings. I was also intrigued with the overall philosophy of the community, utilizing an “Integral” approach… bridging the spiritual, human and physical worlds and attempting to use as much about reality as we know to pursue it’s purpose. Check out the link above if you are curious about Integral (I suppose I am a tad partial to this approach in part because of my experience with it while at SIT).

Prior to our stop at YY, we held up in Mendoza, Argentina (Argentina’s wine country). For a relatively large city, Mendoza seemed surprisingly relaxed. We took it easy most of our stay here… taking long walks along the wide, colorfully tree-lined streets; making headway on our respective novels, and sprawling out in San Martin Park. Here, we share a delicious bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon during a day-long picnic on a particularly spectacular fall afternoon. Of course, our stay did include a visit to the very nearby Maipù wine region…two in fact for me. Carrie was trying to lick the sickness that has yet to take a hint, so I decided to scope out the area for an inevitable return visit. I hooked up with a little business named Bikes and Wines started by a couple of guys with a love for, you guessed it…bikes and wines my friends. The bikes were by no means comfy, but that’s not the point, ey? I started out at the historical La Rural where I had the opportunity to explore a fascinating museum detailing hundreds of years of wine-making practices throughout the region. It was also here where I met up with several other dyads of wikers (winos+bikers=wikers). We all milled around, tasted some wine, shared travel tips and proceeded to form a rather boisterous biker crew.

Our next stop proved to be a delicious surprise. Historia Y Sabores is a small liquors, chocolates and conserves producer and wow, were they tasty! After a short tour of the family operation, the owner brought us to his tasting room where we enjoyed loads of liquors (my favorite was the “Tia Marie,” a Jamaican-rum concoction), conserves (my fave had to be the eggplant spread), and dozens of various chocolates (it would be perverse of me to only choose one).

Guilt free, we peddled south towards lunch and had our first opportunity to take in the phenomenal view of the Andes to our west. We crashed the gates of the very swanky Almacen del Sur, a little hideaway serving a scrumptious tofu/vege kabob in a perfect tranquil setting. We were all energized and alive. We polished off a few bottles of tasty Trivento Tribu Malbecs, engaged in a dizzying array of conversations and took off to the next local.

Tempus Alba turned out to be our favorite winery, offering a perfect sun-soaked patio, great views and a ridiculous number of good wines. My favo had to be the Cab Sav...or the Malbec...or the Tempranillo.

Our last stop of the day was the small Viña el Cerno located just across the street from Tempus. They did a good Syrah. We pulled up a few benches, struck up some more conversation and meandered back to the shop in time to see the sun fade. We hitched a ride back to central Mendoza with a really chipper gentleman (what a sight to see a gang of 10 pack into a covered pick-up). Carrie and I met the whole crew later that night for dinner, drinks and a whole lot more conversation. It simply is so refreshing to encounter perfect strangers from all over the globe and be able to hit if off as we did that day.

Two days later Carrie and I retraced the route, this time adding another winery, Bodega Carinae. The tour here was fascinating as it was one of the smallest producers we had visited. Here the two of us try a solid Prestige 2004 Malbec/Syrah

Have you had enough of the wine tours yet? Well...I’m not sure if we have, but I suspect there just may be other activities/places/people to enjoy over the next month. We’ll be enjoying Cordoba for another day or two then off to Buenos Aires for some sick night life and tangos. After that, Iguazu Falls, a spectacular array of really, really, really big water falls. Brother Ryan enjoyed them a few years back, so we thought we would see what all the hoopla was about. Looks like the last lag of our journey will be trekking back up to Perù to venture around the central and possibly northern parts of the country. So much, so much.

Of course, of course we are soaking up ever milli-second of this excursion, but truthfully, we are also looking forward to summertime back in the states…loads of concerts (we are already missing Arcade Fire, Bjork, Bloc Party, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Andrew Bird…), fam, friends, hikes, bikes and the like…live in the present I suppose.

Time to spend some quality time searching for a scrumptious local restaurant to fill our bellies.

Paz yo,

Carrie & Chad

CHILE WITH STAGGERING VELOCITY!

(i´ve been reading dave eggers as of late)

Crisp, fresh air… the smell of radiantly-painted leaves as they crinkle beneath our feet…the gleefully dizzying panoramic of the desert, the Andes, the glaciers and the pacific. Chile in autumn, yo. Apologies for the somewhat lengthy hiatus. April is rolling by and I have been anti-tech for awhile. We both read about and saw the events at Vtech...Our thoughts go out to the families and friends attempting to maintain.

The end of March and, well, most of April have been chalk full of painfully long bus rides and rambunctious moments with family and friends. One week left in April!!? We must be in a space/time slingshot.

After a short jaunt back to Arequipa to enjoy some of the night life, we descended and weaved our way to Tacna, Peru, a great place for long walks and acclimating ourselves to the fiendishly dry Atacama desert, which makes up a large portion of northern Chile. We also found our way to a local bodega (winery) just on the outskirts of town called Bodega Don Miguel. The wines were harsh, but that didn’t stop us from a chill afternoon in the desert roaming through the small vineyard and watching a fùtbol match between local cab drivers. Here Carrie attempts to engulf an entire stem full of grapes. She almost pulled it off.

From Tacna, we took a humble, old train straight from the 50's two hours south to Arica, Chile.
Two hours of sand and a beautiful sunset. Pretty much as soon as we arrived, the stark differences between Perù and Chile spanked us nice and sassy like: many more personal cars, rapid-fire Spanish and wallet-thumping prices. We cracked open our Lonely Planet travel bible and found a cool little backpacker joint near downtown called Hostal Jardin del Sol… a little hiatus until the next bus to Viña del Mar. Arica brought us back to the global world... McDonalds, blockbuster, etc. Aside from a raging coastline and some beautiful plazas we also enjoyed "El Morro de Arica", a 110 meter cliff that juts out from the city and provides a spectacular view of the valley and the coast.

From Arica, we braved a 30-hour bus ride to Viña del Mar to meet up with our pals Clay (Fellow PIM) and Petra (fella PPIM) and Jennifer (Carrie´s sis) and Christian (Jennifer's beau). We then unleashed a tourista fiery I doubt Chile has ever witnessed. Carrie, Jennifer, Christian and I took a mellow bus ride up the coast to a Viña suburb called Concòn to prance amongst the dunes over-looking the Pacific Jim Morrison-style. The low point of the afternoon involved Christian and I barrelling down a particularly steep dune, tasting fresh sand by the end. At it´s peak, we buried ourselves in the sand, sipping on Merlot and surveying the Burning One as it met the horizon. We continued our exploration of Viña del Mar and Valaparìso,
locating some tucked away eats and fantastic walks.

Next, we met up with Jen and Christian (apologies J & C, best pic we had) camped out in a little cottage 45 minutes south of Viña in a place called Quintay. From here, we dressed to the nine (cut-off khakis and t-shirts) and headed to the Casablanca Valley, best known for its white wines. The valley benefits from both the cool, damp coastal weather and the dry, warm mountainous weather. Our first stop was at the ultra-fine Casa del Bosque where we enjoyed a scrumptious lunch, a great Sauvignon Blanc and a yummy Cabernet Sauvignon. I took away a bottle of the Merlot Reserve for later consumption. We spent plenty of time here soaking in the intense sun and hearty breeze. We promptly bounced south to the commanding Indomita winery and zigzagged through the enormous vineyard to the entrance of the “castle.” I will be the first to admit, I was duped by the website´s flowery description…expecting a rustic, traditional winery. Instead, we found ourselves dwarfed by the castle-like façade and ford-factoryesque production layout. The tour, however, was fascinating as it is currently harvest time, so we got to see winemaking in action. The tasting itself was a bit disappointing…three mediocre premium wines, so we respectfully said our good-byes and headed south once again (We did meet a super-cool couple from England on holiday).

We ended the afternoon after a short bout with misdirection at the Emiliana vineyard, a beautiful, quaint vineyard that produces several lines of organic (this link is very western-centric and does a poor job describing “organic” from an indigenous or non-industrial perspective, but it was the best I could do) and biodynamic wines. Sadly, there was no tour available that late in the afternoon…so…golly-drab, we were left to try the outstanding wines, stroll through their impressive main house and take in the sun-soaked vineyard surrounding us. We all really enjoyed the Syrah/Mourvedre and Chardonnay, both under the Novas label…yeah, we got a couple of bottles for later consumption. We headed back to the cottage and cooked up a raging dinner, re-enjoying our favorite wines from the preceding afternoon. Yep, a delectable day indeed. The next morn, Jen and Christian headed to Santiago for their final Chilean memory.

Meanwhile, back in Viña, the nightlife stood at a standstill. We put a fierce stop to that and shook that dance floor like an anxious earthquake (we experienced our first earthquake last week). Of course, we were on Chilean time and didn’t return until the early morn. I awoke a couple of hours later and joined Clay and Nathan (Clay’s bro visiting from D.C.) in Santiago, where we commenced what seemed like a week-long voyage to “Monumento Natural el Morado,” a small park hovering on the Chilean/Argentine border showcasing a mesmerizing view of Cerro el Morado (a mountain jutting 4,490 meters (14,800 ft) above sea level) and its accompanying glaciers. We experienced an other-worldly sunset, waxed geology and sipped a couple of bottles of red to keep us warm.





After a full day of strolling down a practically deserted road and hitchhiking back to the nearest town, we joined the ladies for a stroll through the Concha y Toro winery and once again enjoyed some spectacular wine. By far our favorite was the 2004 Casillero del Diablo Carmenere. Here, the five of us toast to safe travels, our good fortunes, close family and friends.





A thought about winemaking…although I greatly enjoy a good glass of wine, our experience through Chile has dramatically reaffirmed how obnoxiously wasteful and unsustainable winemaking is. While many varieties of grapes need little water to grow (especially red grapes), large scale irrigation systems are utilized to provide the bone-dry, expansive vineyards with the necessary saturation, draining local aquifers. Waste water from the immense use of fertilizers and pesticides (winemaking utilizes more chemicals that many other forms of agriculture) and subsequent filtration process litters the valleys with tons of toxic water. The oak barrels used to age the reserve wines come from primarily American oak (South Dakota apparently ??) and French oak (how big can these oak forests in France be anyways?). Some trees take anywhere from 60 to 120 years to grow. Additionally, many of the vineyards are enormous and tend to push out small, local farmers with precedence given to the cash-crop-producing wineries over the subsistence farmers. All this put a bit of a damper on the whole thing. My hope is that consumers and governments will put pressure on wineries (especially the large-scale, wealthy ones) to practice sustainable, biodynamic, organic and earth-friendly winemaking practices in the future.

Over the past few days, Carrie and I ducked away from the bustling beach-front to the nearby “Parque Nacional La Campana” where we confronted the challenge of “La Campana,” a 1455 meter (4800 ft) climb straight up from camp with an unreal panoramic of the Andes to our East and the Pacific to our West. By far one of the most difficult hikes, the last 1.8 km took us over 2 hours to complete and finally relish.

From here, we’ll spend a couple of more days in Chile, possibly visiting one or two more vineyards, parting ways with Clay and Petra until wedding day 2008 (Ooooh-Yeahhhh!) and heading east. Our first stop will be to Mendoza, Argentina where we hope to partake in a couple wine tours via bicycle, enjoy some regional Malbecs and buck-up for our organic farm/eco-village volunteer gig at Yacu Yura, a burgeoning eco-village in need of help with eco-building (the use of adobe, cob, recycled materials and otherwise sustainable building methods to blend the natural world with our living needs…more or less), permaculture and organic-gardening. Yacu Yura seeks to combine earth-friendly living practices with a personal and spiritual connection with our one and only. It is a project of the Latin American Institute for Ecological and Sustainable Development, that seeks to build a coalition of ecological-conscious communities throughout Latin America. I’ll add more about this endeavor the next go-around.

John McCain…what a putz. Screaming bomb-Iran as a presidential anthem before one realistic thought of ending our current war has even been uttered (click HERE to view McCain make light of war). This coming from an ex-POW…gee, I am absolutely mesmerized by this “new” cowboyesque, GI-Joe leadership candor looking to take the nation in a new direction. Not 3 days after another school-shooting, amidst youngster-ravaging violence in Iraq (yeah, I can say youngster considering a good percentage of the US-troops dying are nearly a decade younger than myself and the Iraqi’s being mortally impacted the most are kids), and a $500 billion-and change price-tag (that we know of...) somebody is paying for… one would think this “presidential” hopeful would have something new to “joke” about. Ha-ha-ha, what a joke that your only born son is viciously killed when shrapnel pierces his skull more or less because a large percentage of Americans value an Iranian life less than their own. It’s hard for me to imagine an ex-POW has such a predilection for human destruction. This sad man needs to lose the primary in a big way to a pill-popping Rush Limbaugh cardboard cut-out and an adulterous Bill Clinton Blowup. Blahhh-not so funny. How refreshing it would be to read about a “representative” not foaming at the mouth to bomb the urine out of something…There I go again. Sorry for the expected diatribe. Maybe Argentina will bring hap-hap-happier news from states.

See you all east of the Andes. Happy Earth Day spring birds!!! Much love to all the peeps organizing and partaking in Youth Service Day activities this week!!

Carrie & Chad

ps. Sorry about the iffy layout. The website differs depending on one's computer and offers limited functionality. Please let me know if any of the hyper-links are incorrect

Lake Titcaca, Arequipa, Mollendo...Big Lake, Big City, Big Beach

Well, we are approaching the ½ way demarcation of our South American sojourn and what a better way to recharge our batteries than burying our feet in the sand. Currently, we’re shacked up in a little beach community in the south of Perù named Mollendo (between Arequipa and Tacna). It’s mainly a simple vacation spot for Arequipans. Our simpleton Spanish is more evident here...a lot of blank stares and missed explanations. Mollendo is a ways off the Gringo Trail, so there are very few foreign travelers here. It’s been a good spot to figure out our next move and save some loot. We’re preparing for the price shock once we hit Chile.

We begged off from the Cusco/Machu Picchu area on the 10th and headed south east to Puno and the Lake Titicaca area. The lake is either the first or second largest lake in South America (depending on the source), the largest lake above 2000 meters and the tallest navigable lake in the world....which makes for some unique ecological and cultural attributes. We joined a group of other travelers and took a full day boat tour of two islands. We first stopped at the Islas Flotantes “Floating Islands” of the Uros. While the whole experience was made possible only for tourists, it was fascinating to see how the people of these islands have been able to survive for hundreds of years on floating islands made of reeds. The Uros use “totora” reeds to build large, mobile islands on the lake just east of Puno. Primarily, they survive through tourism, fishing and hunting. Most all of their homes, boats and crafts are made from the reeds. Carrie caught this darling girl prancing around while make friends with the group.

From Islas Flotantes we made the two hour boat ride to the second island, Islo Taquile. This island had gorgeous panoramic views of the bluish/gray lake and was home to a small population of farmers and crafts people. The women wore beautiful, elaborately embroidered dresses and the men could be distinguished by their colorful, long hats (men wearing red hats were married and men with red and white hats were single...the bar scene pretty cut and dry). Between the two islands, we spent every cent we had on crafts from a cooperatively run shop and local artisans. A group of us sat on the top of the boat on the way back to Puno and shared our traveling adventures. That night we all went out and had a raging conversation about global economics and politics over countless rounds of drinks (no kidding, it was the Irish dude’s fault). If we all had not run out of loot, we probably would have stayed up all night. There was one free-market junkie amongst the lot of us, so it made the conversation quite colorful.

The next day we headed to Arequipa, a city of a million peeps towards the south west coast of Perù. Arequipa sits on the edge of the Andes and the insanely arid Perùvian desert. We really enjoyed Arequipa...tons of great restaurants, museums and two enormous mountains/volcanoes surrounding the city (Mt. Misti and Mt. Cotahuisi). No worries, there hasn’t been an eruption since the 15th century. We spent an afternoon roaming around the Monasterio de Recoleta, a large Franciscan convent for aspiring nuns that opened in the late 1500's . It had an enormous collection of religious art, primarily originating from the Cusco School of Art.

We also took in an exhibit describing the ancient Incan sacrifices that took place atop of the nearby mountains. Numerous remains of ornately dressed girls sacrificed to the mountain gods along with dozens of valued gifts have been found over the years. The tour and the exhibit was one of the best we’ve scene thus far.

That morning, Carrie had a few hours to kick back and stroll through town while I went on a little mountain biking excursion through some of the surrounding mountains. I hired a guide to show me around the area. Interestingly, my guide was Aldo Peña Altamirano, a three-time national cross-country mountain biking champion. He took me around the city, up into the small mountains sprinkling the city limits and through some spectacular countryside. It made me want to get back into mountain biking once we get back. We talked most of the way about Perùvian politics, economics and ecology. He had just seen An Inconvenient Truth and got pretty worked up about the lack of interest the U.S. has in doing anything about it.

Speaking of An Inconvenient Truth, did anyone catch the Oscars last month? Aside from nearly wetting myself after watching the musical-skit by Will Ferrell, Jack Black and John C. Reily, the big news was the big wins and big speeches for the movie. If you haven`t scene it yet, definitely go out and rent it. Regardless of the personal saga and baggage surrounding Gore, the content discussed needs to be common knowledge for all of us. Now if we could only get the dems and repubs to stop squabbling over how many more kids to kill in Iraq or what millionaire will "represent" us in 2008, and start taking some legitimate action. Check out the website above. It has some seriously good stuff on there, and most importantly, things we can do.

On Saturday we met up with two other trekers and our guide Pepe and began a grueling two-day hike through the Cañòn del Colca. This is the second deepest canyon in the world and exhibits a diverse ecological landscape. Saturday was a seven-hour, all downhill, 1200 m (3600 ft), switchback hike to the Calca River. We only saw one other group hiking, so it was amazingly tranquil. There were tons of birds, numerous kinds of cacti and we walked through several abandoned villages. That night we actually stayed in n oasis...no lie. It was this small, emerald green spot just off the river, sporting several thatch bungalows and a main hut for eating, drinking and what not. Seeing we had been up for 20 hours at that point, we crashed straight after dinner. We awoke at 5 am the next morn for the 1200 m hike... straight up. We were running behind to catch our bus, so our stops were just long enough to keep us from passing out. Once we conquered the cloud covered canyon, we took a bus to Chivay and spent an hour in the public pools fed by hot-hot springs.

The very next day...we love our adventures, was all about whitewater rafting. The two of us joined five others and rafted down the Chile river, a few clicks out of Arequipa. What a load of fun and damn what a beautiful day! We all stripped down and threw on some old wetsuits (very necessary for the frigid water) and goofy pink helmets. The guides did most of the work, we just tried to stay in the boats. For the most part, the river was raging, so there was a lot of excitement going on. They told us that some of the rapids were class 3’s and 4’s, but that may have been a bit overstated. Along the way, we chatted for awhile with two construction workers from Alaska. We ended up hanging out with them for awhile here in Mollendo.

We’ll be sticking around here for a few more days until we head to Chile. We may possibly wonder on back to Arequipa next weekend...who knows.The first week of April we’ll be rushing down to Viña del Mar (on the central coast of Chile) to visit our pals Clay and Petra and meeting up with Carrie’s sis Jen and her man. We still need to figure out our approach to Argentina. I’m looking for an organic farm we can volunteer at through the “World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms” . We also want to head to Buenos Aires and the Iguacu falls...not to mention the wine region surrounding Mendoza (what do you think? At least a week, yeah?) A lot to see, a lot of people to meet and a whole lot to learn. We’ll touch base in a couple of weeks. Happy spring up north gang! Say hi to the flowers for us.

Chad + Carrie = Charrie

Backpackin’ Inca Style

Oooooh, my knees! Back to bustling city-life straight from Machu Picchu. All told, it was an absolutely amazing experience…something that will be difficult to pass along by pictures and words. Although, I may be able to adequately sum up how wiped we were after finishing the hike. I’ll do my best to recap the 4 ½ day experience. So sit back, enjoy a nice cup o’ jo and start scrollin’!

What can I tell you about Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail? The Inca Trail is a part of the elaborate Inca road system that can be found connecting various communities across the Andes. The trail in particular was believed to be the primary route for the Incan ruler Pachacutec coming from Cusco to Machu Picchu. Interestingly, little is actually known about the circumstances of the majestic city’s construction, who actually stayed there, what its true purpose was and when it was abandoned. It seems the preeminent theory is that Machu Picchu was a destination for pilgrimaging rulers and used as a religious and administrative center. From what we saw, the description from the guide and what I’ve read, MP was obviously an extremely important place and it’s hard to imagine it was constructed, occupied, deserted and forgotten in less than 100 years.

Day 1

The day started early...ready to roll by 6 am. We ended up driving around Cusco for a couple of hours picking up other trekkers, porters and guides, so we didn’t even depart until 9:30. We then made the beautiful, dizzying drive from Cusco to KM 82, the current jumping off point for the trail (the original trail actually starts at KM 88). We had a chance to meet our eclectic group of trekkers and have a tasty bite to eat before setting off. There were six of us in the group, including Carrie and I. We also had one guide, Resel, one cook and four porters. Two trekkers were from Holland that just happened to meet while traveling in Perù. The other two, from France, also just happened to meet while bouncing around Perù. We were all quite an odd bunch. No language was predominant, so the conversations jumped around from Spanish, English, French to Dutch. Unfortunately, Reuben from Holland got quite sick about an hour into the hike, so he and his friend had to be escorted back by the guide. Just the four of us for the rest of the trek…Marie, Pierre, Carrie and I.

The trail starts off crossing the mighty Vilcanota River, Indiana-Jones style at about 2750 m (9000 ft). We had some balmy, sunny weather to work with, so spirits were high. Those crazy love birds from France said they were “just friends” bouncing around Perù before they head back to school in Aug, but the amount of flirting going on led us to think otherwise. After some relatively easy up and down and some fantastic views of the surrounding valley, we made our first short scramble up the trail…only for about 15 minutes. At the top, there was a small gathering of huts. Carrie and I looked at each other, out of breath thinking “oh snap, this is going to be rough!” Another 30 minutes down the trail, we made our one and only big ascent of the day.

At this point, there was a long line of hikers making the scramble up, so it was quite a sight to look back and see 50 porters and trekkers staggering towards the top. Once you got to the top, you had an astonishing panoramic view of a grand mountain directly in front of you and several snow-capped mountains in the distance. A few minutes down, we took in the most significant ruins of the day, Llactapata and Wilkarakay.

Llactapata was a semi-circle shaped community used primarily for agriculture and religious purposes. In the far corner, stood a well preserved building used for astronomy. It was difficult to see from as high up as we were, but the community had elaborate hydraulic and irrigation systems constructed utilizing the nearby river. To our left and looming over Llactapata was Wilkarakay, a military base used to protect the below community. Wilkarakay was strategically built on a ridge at the intersection of two rivers.

From here, we pressed on the longest section of the trail for the day. Just before 4 pm, we came across a small village just off the river. As we neared the village, you could smell the enticing, comforting campfire smoke floating from several houses. Resel explained that indigenous peoples still live off the Inca Trail even though the area was designated a national sanctuary in 1981 and is extremely remote. Most people rely on subsistence agriculture and tourism to survive.

We reached camp by 5:30 had some tea and crashed for a bit. The camp was located in a small village (about 3 or 4 homes), named Wayllabamba and in the middle of an enormous valley with a raging river below. Dinner was a fantastic, large 3-course meal of soup, potatoes, vegetables and fruit. We were in bed and out cold by 8:30…rest for the grueling day ahead.

Day 2

Day 2 started early… pancakes the size of a basketball, steaming hot mate de coca and on the trail by 7 am. Today, it was all about the wicked-ups and the painful downs. The trail started straight away with an intense climb and for the most part followed the river below. After about a 2 ½ hour climb, the vegetation changed from tall grass and shrubs to a dense, vibrant and ancient cloud forest. You couldn’t help but stop every 5 minutes and snap several pics.

We chatted with an older couple from Vancouver and continued to wobble up the enormous steps. Just as we were coming out of the cloud forest, the drizzle began and the temperature dropped quite a bit. We took a short break and started up the last 1 ½ hour ascent to the first and tallest pass (Warmiwañusca ¨”Dead Woman’s Pass” at 4,215 M or about 13,900 ft). Carrie and I had to keep cracking jokes in order to keep our minds off the brutal climb…I was stopping every 5-10 minutes. We started chatting with a father-daughter duo from Connecticut about hiking the White Mountains and her volunteer project in Cusco (She is considering going to SIT for graduate school next fall…small world but far from flat). We finally made it to the top, only to find it was absolutely frigid, windy and the visibility was next to zero. We snapped a couple of victory pics and headed down, down, down. Carrie and I chatted about our future plans and the weather started to clear…allowing us to see small waterfalls, tall grass and enormous boulders dotting the valley.
I wish I could say I was able to physically handle the downhill, but two-plus hours straight down just ravaged my knees. We made it to camp around 4 pm and I crashed. I had a wicked-sick headache. I woke up for din-din and a round of poker and crashed. It rained for several hours that night, so we didn’t get the best sleep.

Day 3

I awoke feeling surprisingly better, although my knees were stiff as 2X4´s. Our campsite was situated half-way up a relatively steep mountain and between two towering ridges. As we set off on what would be the longest day, the clouds floated through us, making for a spectacularly majestic view.

We again started off on an intense climb up to our first of four archeological visits. Carrie was feeling a bit ill from the altitude, so we took it pretty slow that morning. (All four of us got a little sick or physically struggled at some point during the trek). The first stop was at Runkuraqay, a small, clover-shaped complex overlooking the vast valley below. Just in front of the complex and just off the trail, we stopped to give a gift of coca leaves to the Mountain God of the same name.

This was customary for both Incas and present day locals alike in order to ask for good travels ahead. After about another hour of a relatively gradual ascent, we made it to the second pass at 3,900 m (12,870 ft). As the group cooled off on a group of boulders, I scampered up a small ridge and took in some remarkable ridgeline views. We made our way down towards the second site, Sayacmarca. The rain was pretty constant at this point and visibility was almost non-existent. Sayacmarca was a community primarily for agricultural workers and some nobility. The Incan empire was essentially a federalist system, ruled by a king (the Inca), with a class of nobility (engineers, administrators) below the king and farmers, builders and general workers at the bottom. Sayacmarca demonstrated the elaborate ingenuity of Incan engineers and how they housed a great number of people in small, hard to reach locations. As we descended from here, the rain picked up and the vegetation turned to thick jungle, showcasing various types of bamboo, orchids, and palm trees. We stopped for yet another gourmet meal and made our way to the third and final pass at 3600 m (11,880 ft). We were all pretty wet and already looking forward to camp (another 3-4 hours from here!!). We took a quick breather and prepared ourselves for about 3,000 steps…all downhill. I was so very happy. About 200 steps into the descent, we visited our third site, Puyupatamarca, an impressive, heart-shaped complex housing primarily Incan nobility. One interesting quality of this location was the unique door hinges carved into the massive rocks used to protect important rooms. Steep terraces and stairs led to numerous levels of the complex.

We then continued on down the remaining 2,800 steps as the trail twisted through dense vegetation and amazing views of the surrounding mountains. I can’t adequately describe the enormity of the Andes…Everything around you is beyond grand. It’s difficult to put it all in perspective. With each 100 m down we trekked, the temperature slowly started rising and the rain began to finally slow. By about 3 pm, the rain had stopped and the sun started to peak. We finally made camp around 4 pm. This was the biggest camp on the trail and the last one before Machu Picchu. The village was quite a bit larger than others and offered a discoteca for the relieved hikers to celebrate. After a quick nap, we hobbled to the final and most spectacular ruins of the day, Wiñaywayna.

This was an enormous complex used primarily for growing a diverse range of crops from coca, sweet potatoes and corn. From top to bottom measures and staggering 1000 m (3,300 ft.). The connecting city offered a labyrinth of houses, an astronomical building, rooms for sacrifices and spiritual cleansing, and a sun temple. It was hard to imagine how the Inca’s built such a complex with the mountainside’s steep terrain and the surrounding valley’s inaccessibility. Waterfalls plastered the surrounding mountains.

After leaving Wiñaywayna as the sun slipped beyond the mountains, we headed back for our last dinner and celebration for the porters. Unfortunately, the evening ended on a sour note, as we found out the porters rely heavily on backpacker tips…come to find out, they are not paid as well as the agencies had led us to believe. Resel, our guide, suggested we tip each cook and porter (5 in total) about $15 per porter per person. This put us in a ridiculously awkward position as we all felt the porters deserved that much and more, but each one of paid around $200 to make the journey and felt cheated that this was an unspoken expectation at the very end of the trek. (come to find out, most other backpackers went through this same situation, despite the laws supposedly protecting porters from being screwed out of fair wages). We all decided to tip the porters whatever we had in cash (which wasn’t a lot) and write a stern email to the company asking them to pay the porters a fair wage. This put an unfortunate damper on the day and we all headed to bed early…as the rains started.

Day 4

3:50 am…up and adams kiddies!! The scramble to Machu Picchu started wicked early with some chocolate covered pancakes, mate de coca and a drenched trail. The four of us were still a bit miffed at the events of the last evening, but we marched on through the drenched jungle. It had rained straight through the night and did not stop until about 5:30 am. The first clearing on the trail offered a spectacular and amazingly close view of a nearby snow-capped mountain…freshly snow-capped. The trail resembled something out of an adventure story…an ancient, uneven stone trail, surrounded by vines, palms, and exotic flowers. Admittingly, I was anxious to see MP and I seemed keenly aware of all around me…the mud sticking to my boots, the thick, damp air and the trees dripping from above. Five minutes quickly turned into nearly an hour. We finally reached the insanely narrow and steep steps of Inti Punku (“Sun Gate”) and there it was, the city of Machu Picchu, nestled on the seemingly uninhabitable ridge below…surrounding by towering mountains. Inti Punku was built so that on the morning of each summer solstice, the sun would shine through a tall rock formation and strategically strike MP to create a magnificent and exact ray of light. After joining the mob of other trekkers in some insane picture taking, we headed down the awesome final approach to the city. I caught myself stopping every few just overwhelmed with the enormity and brilliance of our surroundings. By now, the sun was bright and made everything shimmer. Thin clouds would pass through the city making it somehow look like a hallucination…or was that the coca I was chewing??

We arrived at the boundary of MP, took the standard county fair first-prize pics and headed down to the checkpoint to start the tour. At this point you could see the day tourist waltz in, decked to the nine looking like they were about to go out to brunch. Maybe it was just the fact we had been on the trail for over three days and smelled rotten. Well, Carrie didn’t…she always smells marvelous and pretty!

Resel took us on a 2 ½ hour, fantastically interesting tour of the enormous complex. Machu Picchu was “officially” discovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham as part of a National Geographic excursion in search of the lost cities of the Incas. The complex had an enormous urban center, with the sun-temple at its center. Directly underneath, was a tomb where supposedly Pachacutec and his family were mummified and laid to rest. The stone work around the sun temple and tomb were amazingly precise and very well preserved. We completed the tour at the “energy wall” were the Inca’s would pray and seek spiritual energy. Carrie and I said our goodbyes to the crew and walked around for another hour, checking out the various sections of the city. It was hard to leave, as there was so much to see and the weather was stellar…but now it was time to relax and recoup…

We took a bus to Aquas Calientes (the city below Machu Picchu off the commanding Urubamba). Admittingly, we pampered ourselves once we got to town…We stayed in a little place called “Gringo Bills” (owned by a guy named Bill from Michigan and his wife, a native of Perù). I chatted with Margaret (Bill’s wife) for a little while and we settled in for a day of complete pampering.

We took full advantage of the Jacuzzi…my knees were Clay Akin for a soothing bath. I watched the sun dip past the enormous mountains from our balcony as I caught up on some reading. The next day we just bopped around town. We spent a couple hours at the natural hot springs…although it looked like something you’d see in the Dells, it was mad relaxing. We met a dude from Tennessee and his son on an extended spring break excursion and chatted for awhile. We also chatted for awhile with a couple from Argentina about some great places to hit up there next month. As the afternoon whizzed by, we caught the train back to Cusco and marveled at the always spectacular Urubamba valley. We chatted with a couple of girls from England who just wrapped up university and on a round-the world voyage.

Wow…again, that was a lot. Hope you had enough coffee, juice or whatever tasty beverage to get you through it. We’ll be back with further updates to our travels. Off to Puno, Arequipa, Cañòn del Colca…Chile. All to come.

¡Chao!