Chile 2011-2012: March 2012

Hello lovely people! Many apologies for the delay but it has been quite an eventful summer for me here in South America. After a strenuous end of the semester I was so happy to have three months off to relax, travel, and prepare for the last leg of my journey here in Chile. My boyfriend, Eric, arrived to Santiago in the middle of December so I was lucky enough to begin my summer travels with him. It was so fun to show him around the city so he could get to know this place I now call home. We also visited Valparaíso on the Chilean coast and Mendoza, Argentina where we got to enjoy wine tasting, bike riding, and the breathtaking scenery from the other side of the Andes Mountains. It was quite strange to be having summer vacation in December, especially for Eric who was escaping winter for a month, but it was delightful to have a sunny Christmas day and a warm New Year’s Eve. I will be sad to leave this Southern Hemisphere living.

Just two days after New Year’s we began our journey north. Eric, me, and my friend Jessica, also visiting from the US, flew from Santiago to Arica which sits just on the Peruvian border. We bummed around Arica for a couple days, soaking up that hot Chilean sun while sipping fruity drinks on the beach and making all our final preparations before leaving my Chilean comfort zone. Then, with no plans or reservations, it was off to Perú. What a magical place, I finally felt like I was really in South America as Chile, especially Santiago, is very western and lacks the strong indigenous influence that is much more prominent in Perú. We crossed the border and began making our way to Puno which is on the western side of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. After adjusting to the altitude with lots of water and coca leaves we were able to visit the lake’s islands, some of which, the Uros Islands, are completely man made from the reeds that grow in the lake and the indigenous still inhabit today. We were also lucky enough to visit the Sillustani Pre-Inca ruins which gave an informative insight into this beautiful culture centered around the Pachamama, or mother Earth. From there it was easy to understand why the former Inca inhabitants celebrated the Pachamama as we stood in a colorful panorama of lush green hills, lakes, and herds of alpacas.

Then it was onto the former Inca capital of Cuzco, a picturesque city where we would begin our journey to Machu Picchu. As the biggest tourist attraction in South America it is quite expensive to go to Machu Picchu and only possible to arrive with a tour. After finding the most inexpensive tour offered, the accommodations explained why. We took an eight hour drive on mountain cliffs over unpaved roads and streams, and while it seemed as though we may tumble off at any moment I was able to keep myself preoccupied by gawking at some of the most beautiful scenery my eyes have ever had the pleasure of seeing. After the long journey, that was even longer after our van got stuck too deep in some mud to be pulled out, we began the three hour hike to Aguas Calientes which sits at the bottom of Machu Picchu Mountain. The tour food was scary and the hostel room even scarier, but when perched atop that mountain at 7am right as the fog cleared it was impossible to have any negative thoughts; what a spiritual place. Though it looked a lot like the pictures there was a very special energy at Machu Picchu that can be captured in no image. All history of this place rested high in the perfectly rigid mountains created a powerfully spiritual sensation that has been rivaled by no place I’ve been.

From Cuzco we made our way to Perú’s capital city of Lima. We enjoyed a few beach days and celebrated Eric’s birthday before he responsibly declined my pleas and got on his flight back to California. Jessica and I continued on together visiting national parks, weird archeological sites, and delightful cities before saying adios to Perú to start the next part of our journey in Bolivia.

We started our Bolivian adventure on the other side of Lake Titicaca in Copacabana. From there we were able to visit Isla del Sol where we hiked from one side of the island to the other enjoying the beauty of the vast lake, Inca ruins, and diverse plant life. The next stop was the capital city of La Paz, a most hectic and lively city. We made some friends and ended up staying longer than initially expected, the beauty of traveling with no obligations and no plans. We made the eighteen hour bus journey north to Rurrenabaque to get a glimpse of the Amazon rainforest. It was hot, sticky, bug infested and marvelous. The eighteen hour bus ride back to La Paz turned into a thirty three hour ride when all the week’s rains resulted in a landslide blocking the only road. And buses in Bolivia are not like busses in Perú or Chile; there is no food, bathrooms, heating, the seats barely recline, and at least one person usually has live animals. After that ride I feel as though I can handle anything. We very luckily arrived to La Paz the night before my birthday which I thought would be quite eventful but ended up being celebrated in my bed with food poisoning. Oh well, I was just happy to be off that bus!

After our first taste of the Amazon Jessica and I were determined to have more, so we headed east. From the pueblo of Buena Vista we were able to access Parque Nacional Amboró where we explored the edge of the Amazon Jungle with just our Bolivian guide and his machete. Within the first five minutes in the park were trudging barefoot through mud and rivers. Our guide, Mariano, led us to swimming holes, waterfalls, lookouts, and villages. We saw three different types of monkeys and many strange birds in addition to the dense vegetation, dramatic butterflies, and rainbows of fungi. It was incredible to be in the middle of this intricate, perfect ecosystem where each organism contributes just by existing; there were few people around yet so much life.

On the south side of Parque Nacional Amboró is the pueblo of Samaipata, our next stop. We were able to take a day trip to Valle Grande, the town where Che Guevara was assassinated by Bolivian forces (with CIA assistance, of course) during his attempt to spread a socialist revolution in South America. It was very educational and inspiring, We spent out last day in Samaipata swimming under waterfalls, enjoying the final taste of sunniness before heading back to the Altiplano later that night. We arrived west just in time for the Carnaval de Oruro, Bolivia’s biggest carnaval. I have never seen so many amazing costumes! The whole town of Oruro was swarming with people from all over the country and continent to see the famous parade that lasts all day and all night. It is full of dancers of all ages wearing colorful costumes and masks, each of which has a symbolic meaning correlating with the history of this city. Never have I witnessed such a vibrant celebration.

Our last stop in Bolivia was Uyuni where we visited the world’s largest salt flat. La Salar de Uyuni was such a bizarre natural feature with flat, white salt as far as the eye could see; I feel like it is the closest I will get to walking on the moon. From there it was time to make our way back to Santiago. After a month in Perú and a month in Bolivia I was excited to be getting back to Chile, it was strange how much I missed it like home. After crossing the border we decided to spend a few days in the Atacama Desert to break up the long journey home. I have never thought too much about the desert as I always expected it to be so plain and lifeless but after witnessing those psychedelic landscapes a new fascination has sparked within me and I look forward to exploring more deserts in my lifetime. After leaving San Pedro de Atacama we were on the last leg of our journey back to Santiago, it was a bittersweet return.

After that journey I shall never again take for granted the luxuries of home, I am thankful for every warm shower and for every night I sleep in a comfortable bed. Though I experienced more discomfort and frustration in those two months than any two months of my life, it was in exchange for more blissful moments than I could have ever imagined having in one summer; moments of gratitude where I cannot help but wonder what I did to deserve the honor of witnessing such marvelous things. After testing my physical and mental limits for these experiences I cannot help but feel that something has changed. As I so eloquently described it to Jessica, “it’s as though I’ve been wearing a really uncomfortable pair of underwear my whole life and now I’ve finally taken them off!” I feel happy, free and more comfortable with myself and my surrounds than ever before. There has always existed in me an uneasiness about the future but after this adventure I am feeling equipped to take on my life with new, deliberate goals and an exponentially broadening perspective.