welcome to the jungle (a little late)

here are some pics from our boat trip into the bolivian amazon.

the first is us fishing for piranhas (which we then ate for dinner). the second is kieran with his new monkey friend. the third, our guide goyo at a swimming hole that puts all others to shame. the last, us at the local jungle airport.

i´m lazy...

okay. so it´s been a long time since a blog update. liv kept saying that she wanted to write the next one but we haven´t really gotten around to it. and things have just been so incredible the last few weeks that i once again find my descriptions terribly inadequate.

fortunately, a few weeks ago we started traveling with a charming (and hilarious) englishman, kieran. we met him on the jeep tour of the salt flats and he has traveled to la paz, the jungle, lake titicaca and peru with us. and he keeps a fantastic blog with fantastic descriptions and fantastic pics.

so. check out his blog. it´s awesome and you´ll get a great low down on what "the american girls" have been up to.

http://getjealous.com/kieran1981

words to follow

asi es la vida

land cruising to the moon and back

this morning i considered quitting the blog because in the last four days we have seen things that even the wildest imaginations cannot concoct. sights so surreal and so beautiful that even the attempt to describe through words and pictures is not simply inadequate but disgraceful.

we´ve been flying across the bolivian south west in an old-school land cruiser with our guide, his wife (who made us amazing llama tamales) and a new team of three from, you guessed it, colorado. passing through lunar landscapes fit for cowboys and bandits from other worlds. liquid skies stretched out over red dirt deserts, home to no fewer than 12,000 flamingos. driving over an antarctic ocean of salt that, instead of disappearing in the horizon, fades up into the morning clouds at sunrise. land covered by blankets of a thousand different shades of brown. pueblitos of homes the same color as the earth dotted by teal doors and the magenta tassels on ears of the passing llamas.

our first night we stayed in an itty bitty pueblo. a guy from the other jeep brought a soccer ball so we started up a game with all the kids in town. needless to say, the elevation paid its toll and the kids ran circles around us (fortunately we had size on our side). for the majority of the trip we hovered around 12 to 13,000 feet above sea level. our third day we were at 15,000 feet. last night we passed through an actual town and one of the guys from the other jeep had to be taken to the hospital. one of our colorado compatriots had been battling a serious bout of altitude sickness as well and this morning we too had to make a stop at the hospital. they hooked him up to an IV and he´ll be recovering there for the next few days. fortunately, we three are going strong.

now we´re just killin some time before we catch another night bus north to la paz. i´ll post pics from the city.

a run for the border

it was time.
it was time to say farewell to argentina and head into bolivia and we couldn´t have been more excited. our bus left a 10pm from salta and we were to arrive at the border at 5am. the bus stops at the border at which point you have to get out and walk over into bolivia. then you head to the train or bus terminal to buy you next ticket to your desired destination. before we left salta, the man at the station assured us that we would be able to buy another ticket at 5 in morning. so, off we went. the bus ride was well....a bus ride from hell. once again, movies blasting at illegal volumes for the ENTIRE trip, not to mention a 3:14am latin dance party. there was also a delightful little kicking screaming child that was humorously positioned directly behind olivia. and if kicking and screaming weren´t enough, the kid also had a recorder and wasn´t afraid to play it...all....night....long. what parent thinks giving a kid a recorder before a night bus trip is a good idea? hmm?
in the pitch dark we rolled into the argentinian border town and jumped out of the bus ready to walk into bolivia. that was, however, until a nice man informed us that the border doesn´t open until 7am. awesome. so, we chilled in the very chilly dark. when 7am came our way, we followed the other folk over the border. from there we were planning on jumping on another bus to uyuni in western bolivia. no such luck. upon crossing, we were informed that bolivia is currently in the midst of a transit strike. no buses. no trains. blocked roads. lovely. the border town was far from appealing so we found a cab driver that would drive us the two hours to the gorgeous town of tupiza. unfortunately, before we made it to tupiza, the road was blocked. he told us that it was just a ten minute walk to town. sweet, no prob. we hoisted our packs and started moving. ten minutes later we asked someone how far it was to town, ten minutes was the answer. ten minutes later, rinse and repeat. ten minutes later, give up and just keep walking. an hour later, we made it to town. victory was ours and worth every minute.

tupiza is stunning. absolultely, jaw-dropping,"am i in a movie?" stunning. it is the town were butch cassidy and the sundance kid finally met their maker. a good place to be an outlaw. we went horse back riding today and tomorrow set out on a four day jeep tour through the bolivian salt flats. i´ll post pics when we get to la paz. much love to all.

little bit o´ salta

so salta is pretty sweet. quite beautiful. colonial. lovely. here are a couple pics from our time here. also, by popular demand, pics of the tats.

tomorrow night, we´re headed to the border! bolivia here we come....

mendoza part II

us + team colorado + a ton of randomly acquired hostel peeps = really really ridiculous fun.

we continued our religious dedication to hanging out, drinking, laughing, and asados. the pic of mac and me is from an all-day wine tour. our last night consisted of an epic asado at our hostel. a huge family of travelers gathered around several tables. i still can´t get over how much i love the traveler community. coming together for a couple days, maybe even a week, at this hostel or that, to become friends and family and then scattering in every different direction to do every different thing.

ah mendoza. what fun. "bad chances". tool belts. are you crazy? snoring. drunk mr. jones sign-alongs. mariano and the itaka house. jigs. stellar rapeling skills.

for team colorado, jodi headed back to the states for school while brett and slade met up with a climbing friend to pursue another climbing adventure.

mackay, liv and i jumped on a 18 hour bus north and arrived this morning in salta in the northern part of argentina. the bus ride was...um...interesting. um. almost too much to say. bingo andes-mar, an italian movie dubbed in french with spanish sub-titles, cher being played at an almost illegal level over the speakers. OH! dear god, i almost forgot to mention the cinematic triumph "Cursed". if you haven´t seen it, do. uh. yeah. charles in charge of our days and our nights. holler. it is in times like these that i am so very grateful to have friends to laugh with...