tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89961108597249001572023-11-16T10:04:52.332-03:00Aventuras de SudaméricaKristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-18185070634550204932011-05-26T18:49:00.017-03:002011-05-27T14:35:41.335-03:00Our 2200km Road Trip<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiY5Hw8Ovu4zZGSFBt_VV03B-RM8GZCFwTMf8KStT758BHQ3y8Ai7lH4nR7OoEQaqn_vu6yO05_gYzu0JJdSSSn1f5Or3wRHIV-FLrXA6nYnurF9dtyMbVnRSJQbTjoUN49Q4JL505shI/s1600/DSC_4662.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiY5Hw8Ovu4zZGSFBt_VV03B-RM8GZCFwTMf8KStT758BHQ3y8Ai7lH4nR7OoEQaqn_vu6yO05_gYzu0JJdSSSn1f5Or3wRHIV-FLrXA6nYnurF9dtyMbVnRSJQbTjoUN49Q4JL505shI/s400/DSC_4662.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611257408323353538" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">The Steed</div><br /><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Our road trip started on May 14<sup>th</sup> from the busy streets of Quito where we hopped into our rented 2010 Chevy Vitara and started to meander through the honking traffic towards the South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Ivan was driving and trying not to let his road rage get out of control, and Kristin was calming his nerves down as well as spotting the poorly placed roadsigns (if any at all) to get us out of the city.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Steve was being a really good sport in the back of the car, or likely, reluctantly surrendered his life into the hands of the speeding motorists around him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Breaching the edge of the city was a relief as the dirty city blocks gave way to lush green mountainous farmland all around us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We drove about 4 hours and arrived in the city of Quilatoa – known for the massive volcanic crater in everyone’s backyard.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The city was incredibly cold (we were at about 4000 meters, or 13,000 feet), but we found a cozy hostel with decent food and fireplaces in our room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We woke up early, geared up, and headed towards the crater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Ivan met a couple young students from a neighboring town who ‘interviewed’ him for a school project and let him snap photos of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It was a fun exchange.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Heading down into the crater, we continually had to stop to snap more photos of the turquoise water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It was steep, but a great hike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>On the way up Kristin and Steve were able to hire a burro and a horse to hike them out of the crater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The young boys leading the horses were very energetic, but would hang on to the mangy animals tails to help pull them up the hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It was an enigmatic 3<sup>rd</sup> world procession back up the trail, with lanky gringo Ivan struggling to keep up despite the lung-heaving elevation.</p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI69TsNHz7Qs8E8pH9zPXx4LqTFtM5tSVKvy9Mm4ZYicIK2IlLMapjOJAv7r2Mr3ceGHuTwJAeM9HouxXQjLqiHVCC1KqpaRuMY6Mc9EG-LY4u6DuauzhW_AL0YtfOqunfbGt2co46_gk/s400/DSC_4664.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611257408212366754" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">Driving to Quilatoa</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmm2Yzs9xebLAZhjljEoGa7JxZ_p9h_V-d1vaHXvXlL7LxjPNEhyn7wmuD8czrTuIt-5MaEtfwebRc0Gx4HcGmbwFBFUXry5mN_eqy1VjfOiwB6pr9gKQqUCti_B4x2C3g0nucvipjSA/s400/DSC_4739.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611257867684250802" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcjXUb1U3Ll1ecpOVMP4824WGkR8HH0mmnJ7VKBs8N7EB33NLHBPoaUoYKTcAAZt9UI_YHRe4AvzXnjtLMrxhzN2qpmzroEEcmU5lvqUZVtTtBqkYczf0cPyDt47_BoOlB7RGQoJDaOcg/s400/DSC_4673.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611257413359446274" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">Young Mery</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCkoCoWH-mnySKXGnpdk7JtzhfZibvENJE-JRk94ozVPM5ZO4GJXg256e5ofrE0mrku2Yd3VGYIiuIgjPcH313I-gJb09giwGMQMww25wTCVLRKB_BY_Ys5hq-E9o3A6AYYIYs8GA7icA/s400/DSC_4684.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611257419900730786" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiffnyj0cosffvul3PCaawzk5uLWIgZsMyDCb9TNskWaGGqd6EqFh4Ck5WHVDspAEZQeEFxI2H46O8w5XhZCTfTV8e_5VpDZYuiV9TND9ks0x9PCOK1uGcmttpupj4Vn5q_1PVSgK_xfPE/s400/IMG_6350.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611261490363579186" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></span></span></p><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhErYs6m9P7zHRjDlRpVu4onu7XZUBBW_0VHotCJZIpzxYo4sovNGm4fIAk3uD3RJ42OKPY1HBXIF8sBxrEb-aivswp0JarLad_8JrNGQJlJK4TtZmVZ05KBlEYcC6FJmxBUKFUNClk87s/s400/DSC_4710.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611257856676227922" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHFeFAz5Qh47gNPDnDXsHEJSfA9SZBtSdODXM1vaOsvG56R6FNJHVahCY4mqS8oOvudEKasSInWBUcH-z1WzCM9CSpjoOCmCwVURBcWOqzkUn2BM_hMjx7cpYKB8mBhuHDqvB3u50L5Q/s400/IMG_3618.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611261091959268434" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px; " /></span></span></span></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9J9SZ5TYMwwRlg2YsHbThxrLulsmhLzQ1o25wqFFPda9DbVOaQ_jF2uf_VIF-oWKbwoKfy6LMkZ2GEe7pH5ALOEUv5ToAmLjbTwoEXGox9ri9lQ_gqTkSk4yz6cmUyJDY9htvd8Us6-M/s400/DSC_4690.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611257854044219570" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></span></p><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmd6fvBgYCI3ttZee173azRX3flwwk1ZoDiNScje-OOzkCIVGaJ9bVMg8M-JNCrf8aODKyZoOzVINlIFo-u55k84LTfvFgtjj65Grp1fNn5u2MEm8ufXz6H_w_OQYvS00AQeApx7opK8/s400/IMG_6330.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611261488342402466" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkCXffrtj8DNRzxXCHriiL9Srv4zFfo0Gj98eHPPZ_5p3LuywfOd7NCM5CrbGrvHFzlHbZYTI-Og8LzH87gNXmIwnWsFORKS1fQGxF01VXMtI1hZUT7GbwUGPP8VqVn8SieEZK19WtP0E/s400/DSC_4687.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611257422150447618" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px; " /></span><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikU76bjTsTysx2mnXgBj-nV2xN6S2YAs5-Lr6HsCbQvB6OwynoNuYw1nDD8sFfzbhpxKa_GqBZnQ7VnH5if3Nh7lGTcAm-VuiSN8rAXE97yUWfxb8E2NX6FI2vf1hiLbahVWWESI43QAI/s400/DSC_4716.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611257855224962402" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></p><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOOLTXYrYLKBRsETMMh2Ajrrd0xqr9hw6QWsE4btjfkBCg4TN17dPfmvmlKlWGaOE44NsC-TlvcqrjQSlxtJf4ulxmOkVNFU8ddUZx5GP9jaBi4n6a1T8kUmMvAFheyUXYLjNdTs0-6A/s400/DSC_4722.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611257867254875106" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">The Crater Transport</span></span></div><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizPhV3vEXycwKNNQFbgxhPJ3u2kTjE5LclHxAOX_WEDAg6ZvpZjwpsZHPtlBDpjR3arJH5dvYKAlqnZ2S2UchTWowU2qLXHD7TeXQy6-q8eCQ4bAuTJq006pevLW6V5zPw7betUextGvg/s400/DSC_4754.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611258261981405474" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">Roadside Graveyard</span></span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>After the crater we drove back to the Pan-American highway and headed south towards Baños – the city of geothermal baths and relaxation.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We decided to stay in a more upscale place with thermal baths and a nice cabaña that had a view of the city.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A great way to mellow out and soak in some sulfur.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhnCO7WFyIHm_Yoeb_NEO0NsPUiGXeeQzqRIkdW1941D9gprWyAcpfk8tX0SjqyfY2k_Lbz-261edBDAnUXK8pQ7jwpoeoiGkC1imr0Txo2owksxA_KWHFlTcoPCuE12SdDhVUAsm8GoI/s400/DSC_4771.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611258258616857090" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px; " /></span></p><div style="text-align: center;">One of many waterfalls</div> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Instead of continuing down the Pan-American, we decided to drop down into the Amazon basin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The drive down from the Andes (we went down about 2,000 meters in elevation) was incredible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Despite the buses passing on blind-curves and giving us repeated heart palpations, the drive was stunning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There were waterfalls cascading from rock outcroppings on almost every corner, and the vividness of the green mountainsides can’t be described.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We stopped many times for photos, and even some <i>comida tipica</i><span style="font-style:normal">.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We continued east until Puyo, and then bee lined south through the middle of the jungle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It felt as though the jungle would reach in and devour the road – the energy of the </span><i>jungla</i><span style="font-style:normal"> was impressive!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A highlight on our drive south was seeing countless young children lining the roads (not the best playspot…).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Wondering what they were doing, we soon got our answer when we passed an ice-cream truck, and every child after that point was happily slurping on their bright pink refreshing cones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A small taste of jungle life!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We continued on for many, many kilometers, passing small communities, men with machetes or rifles, women carrying heavy loads of cane sugar stalks (almost everyone was chewing the raw cane), and countless children working or playing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After a full day of driving, we arrived in Mendez, a small nondescript town, where we found a small hotel with a swimming pool to escape the humidity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The night swim was a great way to wind down from the drive.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_zRJNGpFdjFalpF5WiuPRFfMsH5MSCQQ9RdekJEdtja1sym7W5RlbKuhx9srYo0sOKXDVgYToccGjnEf-XAntO2Wne-lPmr4py9U68gUPPzc14ziNCmZr2rHDFKBss2KDO9i7DHv34SQ/s400/IMG_3643.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611261094469017986" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">So much good fruit!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwmx97nFo-hbMBkYSZDdecDRomq5_mGvmxi1RWxQ66hwD0345K0f1vf2zTkDzmWcEdFZHV11ZNQyZcZVD-K38ngZftS2UDucgOox-GornmDW2K2duDctuLublbovNrFZgdOK51rhVWA7U/s400/IMG_3692.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611261498644559266" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></div> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>The following day we got an early start and continued South towards Zamora.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Unfortunately we encountered heavy road construction, which transformed our smooth jungle road into a 250km bumpy ride through mud, streams, and speeding dump trucks.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was quite a process to witness, but would have been more enjoyable if it was shorter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We all heaved a sigh of relief when we rediscovered the pavement and sped with windows down towards Zamora.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We made a stop to get some cane taffy and the raw stalks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Our dentists will likely groan when they see our teeth from chewing on the juicy raw <i>caña</i><span style="font-style:normal">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We passed through Zamora and continued on to Loja.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Unfortunately we didn’t have time for the beautiful city of Loja, but we instead headed south into the ‘valley of longevity,’ also called Vilcabamba.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We saw more gringos than wrinkled ancient Vilcabambinos, but the valley was stunning, and the hostel Kristin directed us to was phenomenal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>That night was grabbed a bottle of wine, toasted the progress of our long journey, and enjoyed a really great dinner while overlooking the small city of Vilcabamba.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHR7sOijPhaRciWNgav8RX_VYcKwdhar2_v20KxUmgr2zmUrouSS3BD1LLGhXuAvbNQtFOylVwRsSLaH6xxSIA7Tj3Tzxtd_2J05FaO4vg5cBLonsf0kk1tCmNWLEKQENaUWxjNPgoCVk/s400/DSC_4792.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611258270961847250" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">The Valley of Longevity</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUaRBrWHuYkW_v3o4lbYW7LDngECUSz6XoztPIUdCHi6I_dZV9exi2X_VfPj_Tp_aekZpCNoGfFMTeO5_Cj7_RICFq1yGsAXzdYS7GHluKWU_ShGb8ag2QhvK3aSO-V7eO4ZGVSqVNCZo/s400/DSC_4773.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611258264588745538" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></p><div style="text-align: center;">Time to relax!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8MTL7vyI5THou_uTAKMGb8vk0IeIwv1_E6SNLmLU1tj5CJUzy6g9ep03WkR5YAGSpEaOOokvBlnRHodz-GZJPZE8ga-SO3C5mWjVJ3KQWHy7ICCkDGSzjA8FDua3JoJ8XDl8-2SgiIxk/s400/DSC_4776.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611258264212712498" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguFnmnCA_hPTtU0WiNZi6h8ik9DWoK-XHMZ9dLzl1p5TzV2IeX9sqWoc9S_81I-fBYNYg-bY8xOMRbBmt5XwMMll5hsiTYsTib08EAwDP8nDjGw_OA4-XzMv2bs5o9Hn2fHnFqkq19PHU/s400/IMG_6594.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611261863475993122" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px; " /></span></span></p><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Our first morning, Ivan and Kristin took off for the mountains to do some exploring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The hike was hot and exposed, but it was very impressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The mountains we a light shade of green, and very steep, but reaching the top was rewarding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We did read in the trail guide that there was a good chance of getting lost, oh, and death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>How bad could it be?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Well, for someone with debilitating vertigo (ahem, Ivan!), it turned out that death was in fact a very likely outcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Kristin danced along the narrow ridge trail, completely unaffected by the steep drops on each side of the trail – meanwhile Ivan was either crawling or walking hunched over with eyes fixed straight ahead…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In the safer areas we were able to take photos and enjoy the phenomenal panoramic vista around us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Pura Vida!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>After an exhausting 5 hour hike, Steve surprised us was a couples massage – our first one on our trip!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>How could it get better?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>After our muscles got royal treatment, we drove down into Vilcabamba town and ate some decent Mexican food (decent because it has nothing on authetic Mexicano food in Cali, but probably the best Mexican food we’ve had in our 8 months of travel).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The good company was even more fulfilling that the fajitas and burritos!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNVumF0WSmZKRcWIPQ0vgWgoTfDqE9vZImHFCt48BJ2pY4H60kIjGxhfbqtKBRofbhAs0yyDSxJAIZkhRLqMaE11Ki345xsYnUo2MoacahAR9-1y6SkaeR0t_ioOLYMP8KqgE0CMCmK8/s400/DSC_4821.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611258640426191618" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></p><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaNlWrNGzIGc04d1nPZd9N9cRgGfjKCbTAghMvRthDLv7HlhRpWvAjoqhOqm85G9INK_ws3TCEzsjeASb7uyhQWD-JBIejPa5Th-RC4jINeCCCft8Xvm2ynaDkVMudZrZFb5qgbCI5uuY/s400/DSC_4825.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611258647410664002" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></p><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQt2nIj2SBp05M_HAf9xsWft4155goQCXbePILTEoIaKdUZQXVMTGxcJTqzVNq1_xnueZmo132Pahoi3uacE-EGh9V7WQnRYHmkU8MH0VjLdgBd2CGkhLn1euS-V_PbTmejd0Kv1vL0XU/s400/DSC_4819.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611258643263370242" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3FBjtbQOi7vQMn41Wa7CmwA-JqbJeYDs6fbpQZndKhCPS2u0_xa2A-p2NWg1KkeCrMwZYsA5KMcYBsvwq8OaCUSQuUrmLKexydIpv234ZdckeJgCKvzR77VFCCjuPFnsR1XPTpt8TimM/s400/IMG_3712.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611261496407089698" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></p><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBYBYa3UCdXbXhpCJkUfWhdx5OsK7g_QSnoBY_bDqwtDugP0kHkWSIczwJcP_rzGyj71XE0ZGUirVLBBDiWbfGjD9rKOhAloJWMwknWakjGDNi-6NYr07ABDPgJyx3Fg0JXaY3Sk8UHo/s400/DSC_4803.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611258639304981554" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>The following day we drove 40 minutes down the road to check out Parque Nacional Podocarpus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Unfortunately, the there aren’t any more of the namesake podocarpus trees (likely made into the furniture we sat on during breakfast that morning), but the cloud-forest park was stunning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We had the gravel road that snaked its way up the steep mountain all to ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The trails were well marked, muddy, and teeming with all kinds of beautiful plants and trees.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We hiked up to the panoramic view at the top and were able to see Loja to the north, Vilcabamba to the south, and many other small towns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A very beautiful part of our green planet!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbaop2uDyTCDpGRBnaOJMVug_0kvfxK5QDOwk4NQhHRV20sN6Aahyphenhyphen14ISQeKT-ljpWT-AcKv2Y_BrGhsvto02EAI5fET0aBUFPe5m94ePnRYeUWFta-kHpxDKYb5pm7OWPuoa6V809Fw/s400/IMG_3754.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611261495305251794" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_Ef4wLYdJGkOyWGuKh9DWbclV6X6emg9VWrmLm7WsISSWuf1szdw5EIzT6CQGMxZ_4oliEvK9HO5EeyDIMZVM8v0CxYmNWI2nRW29783ZxU2wYp9zddt1tXMQHMxtpGYZO1b5j58t2E/s400/DSC_4841.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611258650626997090" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmp0czpObzm2M9Lo0dbeDN12lLzTnqA3fBzCA2d2LHFzsSVAXlj7CHPTww8YNYUSeMyqYS7HbhrGDFsuBxBWm4Z1GnTphYVCTFGxoM-8dZ1tx_1z8_kWOIW3wOr5q6hixvrt4NFWh_GA4/s400/DSC_4886.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611259479731963874" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4FvDziJJ53J7__wpRE1dFMFUAXS78ToaCaTAdTTdHnnKwhpgA34Wvf4FlRcNuTZsu15JJlCm1rBknrqiiwoL_FonO90TiaR7l-oG9b820BujEfAveeNJrZW9ySPC-NfvZOHI9m4eP2wA/s400/DSC_4851.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611259467015303506" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">So many cool plants!</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie64EKYn3enRQHTxKCL6qrzxDEzE7pa6fM5B_PJZ3fBvMt0JU12DTBiYo6Qyw-4lqTCrG7E3K19E2FprwERCE6fS_oRDpFK9s9h5u0rMP60eYI7BX76_W9TMhQ1YxqUyNwCy03aWHkQ18/s400/DSC_4881.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611259469769105922" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-IhE6e3VpnxlG23MxXozI4xxFxWUPHnzHoolNoTNy-COA5WORW4kjj3uLBERLc6qRbmvYgLSQiDQwGsz5dMf8n4M1BbOLagPavWQHYObyDyFqjFBNd76ueAgqrDTGIrWXzR8gvknQyKs/s400/DSC_4876.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611259469021727794" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px; " /></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVX6sAqhyphenhyphen4ZBkwrnLUrGKBxNSz7T3VOPnlmXJuVciJtw9rRTQE8FOWMHYQxON1_h_8BKzKYdiQVq2Lg8Tua0Dp2dyHZJkiMH8eiVdWp71_iCT0lmQnzb8AM9nkSrxOvJ-QkaxmHE8DN0Y/s400/DSC_4901.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611260127054794978" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Gang symbols and camel baks</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZfKOu7dm585mJNoYkrjNocCjThpC3WgoN7CwwiGKmo0BDzY29Ozxiz4w_MYUd7kHzSpdBZgAb2IVNLZWtC8gxkkPLJb14AIk1Jk8XQQS9PiZ5eruy1ZQW_BidHj9cZxc7F3kD8VvSDtQ/s400/DSC_4892.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611260127965333314" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTIVMrGXiz7xI5tHUu_jOuv7bZXPCAfyEDemDVXKrHHSqlw3fLguScjVw7qhA6_LEzKdU3A8gbDbAiGF3HgR6dbzefDW09PJCiRSf1ofCGH8w8e5Bzuc3G4RNLCnThA5o_lJZyXRvJg4/s400/DSC_4884.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611259475449211586" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></span></div> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>After 3 nights in Vilcabamba, we hopped back into our gutless Chevy steed and headed north to Cuenca.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The mountain drive was typical driving for Ecuador, but nothing like was we have in California (CA’s highest point is Mt. Whitney at 12,500 ft, and we were driving far above this altitude with many more mountains reaching much higher than that all around us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We arrived in Cuenca by noon, and grabbed a great typical lunch in the main plaza.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Steve was very impressed with the colonial architecture and beautiful churches.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Cuenca is Ecuador’s oldest city and has evidence of the Spaniards heavy-handed influence in every brick in the <i>centro histrorico</i><span style="font-style:normal"> of the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>After lunch we walked through the Cathedral Nuevo, which is the endemic giant brick structure with the bright blue tiled dome roof.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There was a mass taking place when we entered, which made it all the more impressive.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Heading deeper into the city, we took Steve to our Otovalo connection – a very friendly vendor of </span><i>artesanias</i><span style="font-style:normal">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Antonio, his daughter, and his small granddaughter were all very grateful for our repeat business, and Steve was wide-eyed excited about the beautiful rugs, blankets, tablecloths, and other handmade goods he got for a phenomenal price.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Our last stop in the city was the Panama hat museum, where Ivan and Steve got some stylish new headgear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It was a fun day of shopping in one of Ecuador’s most authentic cities.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>As much as we wanted to stay, we had to jump back into the car and continue north.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We found a small valley city were we stopped out of exhaustion and spent the night in a seedy hotel with loud music and dirty towels.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Sleep tends to make things pardonable….</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_nsW52DUFUCKn0QgsVd5VGnn1heZCVOJUYL5bmHhwAN76aIMQAjKTOcm6kJsyJQVZuKCzULOP539VNLEPRKur9x4IATRov8JHTqKDJ_7tP8G3tY1SC5M1gz0WgulaQCi_OuAJflVRWo/s1600/IMG_3667.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_nsW52DUFUCKn0QgsVd5VGnn1heZCVOJUYL5bmHhwAN76aIMQAjKTOcm6kJsyJQVZuKCzULOP539VNLEPRKur9x4IATRov8JHTqKDJ_7tP8G3tY1SC5M1gz0WgulaQCi_OuAJflVRWo/s400/IMG_3667.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611261099710951922" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1">Andean Sunset</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Our last morning we woke up and looked in shock at the place we had stayed in… Oh well!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We packed into the car and headed with excitement to Parque Nacional Chimborazo.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Unfortunately, our excitement soon turned into frustration as we got lost in the hills around Riobamba from lack of signs and bad planning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Taking a collective deep breath, we did as we knew best, asked 25 different people for directions, which led us to Ecuador’s highest peak (asking less the 10 people is a statistical risk since most people have NO CLUE but will give confident directions anyway).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When we pulled into the parking lot at the top of the park, we where at an impressive 4800 meters (just shy of 16,000 ft!!!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Putting on all the warm clothes we had, we started hiking up the steep trail.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The trail was just over a kilometer long and gained 200 meters of elevation, it was a struggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Steve, being the strong mountain man of the group arrived at the top first, while Ivan brought up the rear wheezing like an asthmatic sumo wrestler running the hundred yard dash with a wad full of cotton in his mouth and snot streaming down to his chin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It wasn’t pretty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>At 5,000 meters we got snowed on and also had the equatorial sun beating down on us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Who would have thought there could be snow on the equator?!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The <i>refugio</i><span style="font-style:normal"> at the top had a smoky fire and some delicious hot chocolate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Ivan befriended a hardcore hiker who was trecking up to the summit that evening with 3 of his friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The summit is over 6,300 meters (21,000 feet)!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Pretty hardcore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We hiked back down, and low and behold, the clouds cleared for 5 minutes and we were offered stunning views of the glacier at the top of the mountain!!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It couldn’t have been timed better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We felt very fortunate and accomplished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Hiking back down we then drove down the massive mountain, waved goodbye to our furry vicuña pals, and headed up the road to Quito.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Craving a hot shower and comfortable beds we bit the bullet and drove all the way back to the Peñaherra household.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>What a trip!! </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi33TJ5YBSGdtQtD8hubalE7UP-1853LAlp7BcKfv0RjCCUg9ZjQQuac1I0tUyviYgU_wLCLTk0sDtruFQlU0Bds-Gc2gADjeqcO44xJBewm1Big_8zlWFFHZsV0V1Jc4QppjyNqqRj3W8/s400/DSC_4922.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611260125503012994" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></p><div style="text-align: center;">4800 meters and grazing</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXPhUH0Krz74hW1uJ-uFzyIimN3WIYaghHFV31zs7sSSVvT4rzr2OuJyEqXAgIhB7O8mo8Z_MtrtN8wdRglUtUODr-RbZt6WX2TSDtAAHO9qVmJWm2yEdlcgfpTwYj9UmaLu8BtabrI1A/s400/DSC_4965.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611260634474308498" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">El Refugio</span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4tZTsat0kdZHbPWG1rYew8QSaeOQH-0T9Gf19dSS_yJZPMJXq9JiQHAczuQxSvIhsKS1KQvqPwe7xEaYXWOG5Gex20TWsRLCPr8eS8i0gVcp7E0PDHZz7pHsLmVTNJ-UE1J2IFLiNPmk/s400/IMG_6954.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611261863758140802" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">brrrr</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbF7UcJzESUpqDxE4s6Tsb16gHX81ggZA9xICwI83SPhp9Sll4PjR9pQ-vX6gBlsTWl2xj-7natQ7P8W_qVOGiU1Xkg6iQn8DTDa-fAioyfuoXOFPmyJGN0KadtoUagPLmyG_bWlXN940/s400/DSC_4990.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611261082056280866" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">The sun came out!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpRqhC_q_zgYpQbfx2PodGAB1rTCn44k4QzYJ_pnNq0a5qtr_SsocotEBHUI6Jj5xyLTlsLk6BVRrtaphlCUBlPcKRM2Lsk3kHsLCf2sSgWlKfyJwl66X5fUOHyrHl3L7reJr2O-PmW9s/s400/DSC_4986.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611261080318528450" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9iZunyVeXdD6gTboHcO3L3VvJQBKmTQlZe47dulUojmT8oIOLU0EJm5xg0NnRV9RkOxklNVGdoAgHA0UG35QsgkeFDSODVyxK_cD1zyUKp4rdo7U3x-ocpnEph2VVl9IPTV1dpM5yJA4/s400/DSC_4970.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611260633998472482" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2l_3_wC4J4CnmsXEgbQ_MX1slltF_3G52szrYwlWFBfqYYW6J0uklHPlulRmyIJT03YNKMT0lN7p0a97DK33-EmEqLA5ZoSuPluB3GBNiZIywJAogzBYDNuUQg-dxYd-BwOU35AdEXg/s400/DSC_4954.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611260631049510770" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMAft-VK5m95fotHeltUJi-uMFlJdjr_3vJ5QGz-5k2RiVjoLelqTuWVtMHKg1NuZhhxtYKW48lELo3qRJDX36_V6GRIJID42-2cBA2YtJuEETPXejYOytynWhgVSimflamWJIRj0cGYQ/s400/DSC_4943.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611260632746206546" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ7TcgIsEWNBCoB1qw1lla25SCfEa6KWiKwX2mQ43hEvwDAto-qO4KmyFR22EAOmNcb_6_FMNVWu3KO48p881A_O6nifksy6m8omjLuLdzgmxxEs8Dyd5uke5aNFkq1ciuC83quvfng0Y/s400/DSC_4928.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611260119106952082" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">The tough mountain man</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAeGzX185raZIiB6QAk2HPPSKZvxFhI9aFllUCtWPFJdwNjC4h_40ywktuF5xDkFBzZUJN3V3U625C4WM546GGBckAJ-3vNZnnBoiiKL12AZWd4s-h2KJB2gLYni5uCuN4xk67fzPErsM/s400/DSC_4938.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611260119523858354" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwnV_QgLvgC1zeL2R751Q3cxwTYHyiRcOAVK25oenGs7Ha7AUhRMq7PM8PzwtljkrVqVoDy4G4OjvQjeh21rBLq4MaFGhgYz3mIxfH11OgegWAfdRdRw8UdqCXae5MgFryv0iTj9zIFAA/s400/DSC_4981.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611260638520131442" border="0" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div> <!--EndFragment--> </div>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-36509043758979061302011-05-11T15:40:00.000-03:002011-05-13T17:47:15.326-03:00Quito, Ecuador dos<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglz41cUCTVg1SRiHhQj35krv8BjGpl0hjVAWlBlQNPR2BRC-x5YrIW8dEP1WX7G-OVPBc_3JPU-LjiIXF-5HATlme33xxFttvpUn3RS7a0TlQMygpxJIn6pGRjwzp9mjZyxrZ10aS_J2s/s1600/DSC_4507.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglz41cUCTVg1SRiHhQj35krv8BjGpl0hjVAWlBlQNPR2BRC-x5YrIW8dEP1WX7G-OVPBc_3JPU-LjiIXF-5HATlme33xxFttvpUn3RS7a0TlQMygpxJIn6pGRjwzp9mjZyxrZ10aS_J2s/s400/DSC_4507.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605549694497967266" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> After a fun week in Cuenca, we got back into Quito (after our plane circled the city for nearly 3 hours due to seriously rainy weather) on April 17<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was nice to be back, however the rain was very intense, and our school had flooded.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We arrived at school with bilge pumps running and people running around with squeegees.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Unfortunately, the entire neighborhood was flooded under water – including the Cuba embassy, so there were nearly 200 Cuban immigrants milling around on the muddy street waiting for visas and a dry building. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We definitely got to experience the wraith of an equatorial Andean rain storm, which even had hail-balls about the size of large marbles (yikes!).<br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjctcOARawLVrTA5P17w-b59QUzjTONAjLkEB8BtBNZAnTDn2Xze5k6MBMzinNhTzlK8F6sUQPAq8se25C-_zblTuSrg6NnZpqoz23w8u_7yWyp8WKi3cGkAQN7VjiOgUecQn0-0HbDfY0/s1600/DSC_4494.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjctcOARawLVrTA5P17w-b59QUzjTONAjLkEB8BtBNZAnTDn2Xze5k6MBMzinNhTzlK8F6sUQPAq8se25C-_zblTuSrg6NnZpqoz23w8u_7yWyp8WKi3cGkAQN7VjiOgUecQn0-0HbDfY0/s400/DSC_4494.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605542378799511762" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Hail outside our window<br /><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> We got back into our routine fairly quickly, and did another 3 weeks of intense Spanish school.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was a bit rough with the mold and cleaning equipment, but the school and the students made the best of it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The weather made for great study conditions!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>During our first week back, the country had their “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Semana Santa</i>,” which is a very intense catholic holiday.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The mestizo interpretation of Catholic doctrine was so interesting, and truly endemic to the post-colonial Spanish world.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Imagine 3,000 people in purple robes (very much like the KKK robes, of course no actual correlation) marching barefoot with heavy crosses, thorns, self-flagellation, candles, as speakers droned the Stations of the Cross every block.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This was a very unique experience!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>More importantly during this week is the food.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Ecuador has its prized <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">fanesca</i> dish, which is a creamy fish stew with 10+ different kinds of lentils, beans, corn and grains.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Needless to say, its incredibly filling and hearty, and takes nearly all day to make (or multiple days!!).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We helped a little bit by shelling the skin off of some of the beans (so its not as ‘heavy’) and did a little prep work.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But in the Penaherrera household, Rosie and Lola and Salome did most of the grunt work on this special dish.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Even more fun was sitting around the table with everyone and digging in to the dish – complete with fried plantains, empanadas, and other <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">menestras</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>¡¡Que Rico!!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitg0j1apE70UmJmvskqXfGZrw5UovA39IM9XRzi5pDpAZsxcuIwnAalpjf90-C0GfKqun7PBLQgYHSf1Tp01vZ_4cLbNGt2dnlYoC1FMABPnna0nhs8yPqLHaDYZaISk67-o2qtxrroMU/s1600/IMG_3547.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitg0j1apE70UmJmvskqXfGZrw5UovA39IM9XRzi5pDpAZsxcuIwnAalpjf90-C0GfKqun7PBLQgYHSf1Tp01vZ_4cLbNGt2dnlYoC1FMABPnna0nhs8yPqLHaDYZaISk67-o2qtxrroMU/s400/IMG_3547.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605543966371017682" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubdjF0vPRCqmaegGPc6DitgwxRavThv2c070vlt1O4tyGGiYkXNcoC0_pp5vSpzKZuIXgtX9Om_0wEbjjmVyYAhXezuxHe9prDVhrkF9yOffDsRRvunsbdwNFEfgT-_IrGYFOaw9x90M/s1600/IMG_3543.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubdjF0vPRCqmaegGPc6DitgwxRavThv2c070vlt1O4tyGGiYkXNcoC0_pp5vSpzKZuIXgtX9Om_0wEbjjmVyYAhXezuxHe9prDVhrkF9yOffDsRRvunsbdwNFEfgT-_IrGYFOaw9x90M/s400/IMG_3543.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605543951046288466" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Not your typical Friday afternoon...<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipV6FyjMFgO4s91row848rHuYKLOGAoNd4mTqp7nA7b0r3h9_dcJkvkgg4odlGPgpRTV8taYV8nufHYqqXYNZKPYjtAVngTpyD11zKWpcXq-bm9Ykm-JtlAWRlRhmTSrIblxzVRy9H7bY/s1600/IMG_3545.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipV6FyjMFgO4s91row848rHuYKLOGAoNd4mTqp7nA7b0r3h9_dcJkvkgg4odlGPgpRTV8taYV8nufHYqqXYNZKPYjtAVngTpyD11zKWpcXq-bm9Ykm-JtlAWRlRhmTSrIblxzVRy9H7bY/s400/IMG_3545.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605543958949089282" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk66ugrPIGucAiJ4vyehjctZLjf2B8YRrhirom64TERwO-OigWPGD0MRliriZHpMt8kZrDX0JfCxe9fYAY6HsjAljaOTUA-iGX1Sh26_WZNNObE5Miv99QB7HzFRel-ct5ELLD8HfvhhU/s1600/IMG_3538.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk66ugrPIGucAiJ4vyehjctZLjf2B8YRrhirom64TERwO-OigWPGD0MRliriZHpMt8kZrDX0JfCxe9fYAY6HsjAljaOTUA-iGX1Sh26_WZNNObE5Miv99QB7HzFRel-ct5ELLD8HfvhhU/s400/IMG_3538.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605543954039644034" border="0" /></a>wow, we are stuffed!<br /></div><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEMnyOjAOckDcLsujJUsg8U-JTkMmbIObOQ75KWbF9dcJGTlC8N0TOEDfSyIdUpfZls7fD0MD0wzDvSsi0ZUKbYO29xj_71EHymOlCHyHg0ney2Vx5tXtENAjuPHirjVUvr_RDl2NTzXU/s1600/IMG_3567.jpg"><br /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7dpB7xQMrnn3Sg2Pr_yuDggy5rkR33cInRZ76mlc_6tEdlj9_XSumLIoxznInOA6FVty3Mfn-hGbJTYYtEtCWsEkF5mO3xYLVX00WgSKc_xChGKro98Rqm6UJCQBmNCohudD5X7coSVk/s1600/IMG_3534.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7dpB7xQMrnn3Sg2Pr_yuDggy5rkR33cInRZ76mlc_6tEdlj9_XSumLIoxznInOA6FVty3Mfn-hGbJTYYtEtCWsEkF5mO3xYLVX00WgSKc_xChGKro98Rqm6UJCQBmNCohudD5X7coSVk/s400/IMG_3534.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605543430326291810" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Rosie and Lola hard at work</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY9rA4tlU44yHY9a3A1oOPd8JbXjN0txnU_ts8_dwRGdrSiN81y89J6O3i5iv92W9oZ5bPQmGKrNhTBS9VTmV9FUaS3lo00EWLn5-NY1E09-O3JT_7Q8wOcHJe3IxBfZcopYx93bveLd8/s1600/IMG_3529.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY9rA4tlU44yHY9a3A1oOPd8JbXjN0txnU_ts8_dwRGdrSiN81y89J6O3i5iv92W9oZ5bPQmGKrNhTBS9VTmV9FUaS3lo00EWLn5-NY1E09-O3JT_7Q8wOcHJe3IxBfZcopYx93bveLd8/s400/IMG_3529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605543419375423634" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMO21yIsZtHlAK1rTlrmvCOnmUIDilGi-EYDbsKoOMgrx1DSp498v-LrD7i13qzU0zznLoiStwHK5DE8z_I4_k0i9HOnfsnK5cfMl925Y5tGUvEbo6SqgTadPuz0v0loOpek58CI65eLk/s1600/IMG_3537.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMO21yIsZtHlAK1rTlrmvCOnmUIDilGi-EYDbsKoOMgrx1DSp498v-LrD7i13qzU0zznLoiStwHK5DE8z_I4_k0i9HOnfsnK5cfMl925Y5tGUvEbo6SqgTadPuz0v0loOpek58CI65eLk/s400/IMG_3537.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605543451325940626" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMO21yIsZtHlAK1rTlrmvCOnmUIDilGi-EYDbsKoOMgrx1DSp498v-LrD7i13qzU0zznLoiStwHK5DE8z_I4_k0i9HOnfsnK5cfMl925Y5tGUvEbo6SqgTadPuz0v0loOpek58CI65eLk/s1600/IMG_3537.jpg"><br /></a><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Closely followed by the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">fanesca</i> and the parade was Kristin’s BIRTHDAY!!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The weather was still pretty rainy, but we managed to get out to a big <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">artesenal</i> market and find her a really nice alpaca sweater.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Kristin also scored a yoga mat to keep living the healthy life-style (much in contrast the ever-deteriorating Ivan…).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was a nice relaxing day, which was completed with a home-cooked Thai dinner by Ivan.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was quite the pig-out, and we even got Salome to eat some spicy coconut soup.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Gabriel then handed Kristin a really nice purple shirt for her golden-year birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Such great friends (and wine!).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The following day (Easter Sunday), the sun pulled-through and we walked through the park and watched spandex clad Quitenos pump some aerobics, and many artists doing demonstrations.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Parque Carolina is really incredible when its in full-swing, and such a great place for 100’s of families.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEMnyOjAOckDcLsujJUsg8U-JTkMmbIObOQ75KWbF9dcJGTlC8N0TOEDfSyIdUpfZls7fD0MD0wzDvSsi0ZUKbYO29xj_71EHymOlCHyHg0ney2Vx5tXtENAjuPHirjVUvr_RDl2NTzXU/s1600/IMG_3567.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEMnyOjAOckDcLsujJUsg8U-JTkMmbIObOQ75KWbF9dcJGTlC8N0TOEDfSyIdUpfZls7fD0MD0wzDvSsi0ZUKbYO29xj_71EHymOlCHyHg0ney2Vx5tXtENAjuPHirjVUvr_RDl2NTzXU/s400/IMG_3567.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605543971648635266" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Happy Birthday KK!!<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIzM3pGi7ANQBwj777_I9LZdQoEoL0nhJFyICZx_SnX2mn5uUbbFGCKNMTS06aCo13L5xQLRhTD_0UxJ2nXA2plydBITGEoi7jMhWdQJOACUHZwQ9O3EuVqthwaLma5XlHFIBZZ9Fke2k/s1600/DSC_4491.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIzM3pGi7ANQBwj777_I9LZdQoEoL0nhJFyICZx_SnX2mn5uUbbFGCKNMTS06aCo13L5xQLRhTD_0UxJ2nXA2plydBITGEoi7jMhWdQJOACUHZwQ9O3EuVqthwaLma5XlHFIBZZ9Fke2k/s400/DSC_4491.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605542374447783522" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">The Birthday bakers</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> A bit later in the week, a really nice surprise was seeing our Canadian pal Fraser (see El Bolson blog) with his girlfriend Amanda.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We met up one evening and went out with Nick for some good company, a couple drinks, and some dancing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Nick gave us the VIP treatment and we all had a blast in the Mariscal clubs.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The following day we took Frazer and Amanda to some of the hot spots for tourist items and shopping in Mariscal.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Eventually we said our good-byes and were sad to see them go.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhodd762IEmHnEYyyKy35MEQP1ue-YJcbNZayU-bFZBvUKCk1lbHJZqRiISDhu0YhhJnGx_vfjJ61Ke-ic0FbXLTBYfS1omBDDlsog3_KUsgNPbHw4MIN-_P3kh3Bva7HeXBFvm5XULSp8/s1600/IMG_3575.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhodd762IEmHnEYyyKy35MEQP1ue-YJcbNZayU-bFZBvUKCk1lbHJZqRiISDhu0YhhJnGx_vfjJ61Ke-ic0FbXLTBYfS1omBDDlsog3_KUsgNPbHw4MIN-_P3kh3Bva7HeXBFvm5XULSp8/s400/IMG_3575.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605544240549571458" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">A fun group!!</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Throughout these weeks, we also did some day trips to museums and historical sites of the city.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We went up to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Panecillo </span>to get a phenomenal view of both northern and southern Quito (she has her back to the south though – intentionally…).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The view was great and the weather was crystal clear (we could see the Cotopaxi volcano!!).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Another stop we made were the colonial churches and cathedrals – some of the alters were even covered in gold leaf.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The history behind these structures is fascinating, but also brutally violent.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9UKe6WHI4nuVY67rVRNncrB1giDJJP8XcDCxm-SWM4SpQEsVgGDJZYQq7KElWOVVTimmMBMHTzdsfkZMdc5rtsBhNc_H2jxCvgDDT8kAYD1unO53SGagEfZlIb9CiZywbWOWXzRWfaoM/s1600/DSC_4522.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9UKe6WHI4nuVY67rVRNncrB1giDJJP8XcDCxm-SWM4SpQEsVgGDJZYQq7KElWOVVTimmMBMHTzdsfkZMdc5rtsBhNc_H2jxCvgDDT8kAYD1unO53SGagEfZlIb9CiZywbWOWXzRWfaoM/s400/DSC_4522.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605542630655336098" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Can you spot Kristin?!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Xx_6DDV4o7A46Kc6n0ACaB_2f3jGBRFA5qELNGDvbthy2Uh2Bywk0MLsSHUZ10tKW_72HHR0rgKPxYjUhyphenhyphenqw4Ye0E-jKWQJBkQWeDTTehb55adC5CeIIlvng63VtZOyBaOIzaVHEsXc/s1600/DSC_4512.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Xx_6DDV4o7A46Kc6n0ACaB_2f3jGBRFA5qELNGDvbthy2Uh2Bywk0MLsSHUZ10tKW_72HHR0rgKPxYjUhyphenhyphenqw4Ye0E-jKWQJBkQWeDTTehb55adC5CeIIlvng63VtZOyBaOIzaVHEsXc/s400/DSC_4512.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605542393362692706" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3o8TVW0-XAEuhOmT599FSXVGTC4TzEPWglLCUrAHZ12-8kumQUjyNCGl4_uGhoD2tt50KNAy7MW3U8e5BEZAhzOtNq4RWUyxTDLLwBbecAgadYYER1YSTpB0sNobf0fVkaAa62xzh1Xs/s1600/DSC_4503.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3o8TVW0-XAEuhOmT599FSXVGTC4TzEPWglLCUrAHZ12-8kumQUjyNCGl4_uGhoD2tt50KNAy7MW3U8e5BEZAhzOtNq4RWUyxTDLLwBbecAgadYYER1YSTpB0sNobf0fVkaAa62xzh1Xs/s400/DSC_4503.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605542390612252530" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Plaza San Francisco</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1j0YAKwPlqqSkiQkpViUqtHaisP0lkg8KuduciRN7FauD4PtH0956f6XrCgiJE2DLksjN89o9ZSdeAOuKL0bfHfw862qcjebPe9AHjUqnu0Iep1MT9r1W5ezaquCbLrPLDmD-asMjW8/s1600/DSC_4516.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1j0YAKwPlqqSkiQkpViUqtHaisP0lkg8KuduciRN7FauD4PtH0956f6XrCgiJE2DLksjN89o9ZSdeAOuKL0bfHfw862qcjebPe9AHjUqnu0Iep1MT9r1W5ezaquCbLrPLDmD-asMjW8/s400/DSC_4516.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605542399381270850" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Another adventure was going to the two Guayasamin museums – an Ecuadorian painter who portrayed the plights of the impoverished, and was very much into socialism and communism (he had lots of photos with Castro, Hugo Chavez, and many other typical leaders of this turbulent political ideology—made all the more interesting by the fact that he had loads of money, 2 Rolls Royce’s and a giant house… power to the people..!).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>His paintings are incredibly emotive, and even grotesque.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We liked them enough, that we bought some replicas in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">artesania</i> market! Interestingly, he is buried next to his house under the Tree of Life. A very eccentric and popular artist.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVl69ilCBe8gq0ZZ9BzpTAXuyj5ZfhcRi37WqT430n6MyP4_Oq8SbJ94iGDQe_PhZ9FsyYKaUL_buRAzRWfepVI1FTR53r1c3ztMV_6SoUCIjrPAev1WnmdI_lUd_aBQTZMyAwcXp79yA/s1600/DSC_4618.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVl69ilCBe8gq0ZZ9BzpTAXuyj5ZfhcRi37WqT430n6MyP4_Oq8SbJ94iGDQe_PhZ9FsyYKaUL_buRAzRWfepVI1FTR53r1c3ztMV_6SoUCIjrPAev1WnmdI_lUd_aBQTZMyAwcXp79yA/s400/DSC_4618.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605542720291833026" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJYlDUFcD1VzdcrCam7YkYDAvTs7KNKUXBcHxiRY5HeFGLeqQ-ZromxNMaQDAUpcvtXZAkaiRlAgIg3cyDKzX1fmEP8emcdqfDmJ4Anq_2NfowF873pXwcV2X1Jg-p15RZtYJLauWBlk/s1600/DSC_4616.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJYlDUFcD1VzdcrCam7YkYDAvTs7KNKUXBcHxiRY5HeFGLeqQ-ZromxNMaQDAUpcvtXZAkaiRlAgIg3cyDKzX1fmEP8emcdqfDmJ4Anq_2NfowF873pXwcV2X1Jg-p15RZtYJLauWBlk/s400/DSC_4616.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605542632714616130" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKB6A3xxVF8kGJKPZMb5cP2LdzA4rBOQN58LGZZD1qEyHE8V6WJF8Mg7Mt8r8ZoxHUf4P4sA79Tzt4gedU3KeZP5LZxXCMHVhzN81RaKX1LqyfqugPohPh1UWwC6VhnM08x7V-VWqqCZo/s1600/DSC_4611.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKB6A3xxVF8kGJKPZMb5cP2LdzA4rBOQN58LGZZD1qEyHE8V6WJF8Mg7Mt8r8ZoxHUf4P4sA79Tzt4gedU3KeZP5LZxXCMHVhzN81RaKX1LqyfqugPohPh1UWwC6VhnM08x7V-VWqqCZo/s400/DSC_4611.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605542632881854882" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">The Potosi miners - not quite how we remember it... But very powerful painting!</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> One of our daily activities is strolling through Parque Carolina. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This is a massive park across the street that houses soccer fields, basketball courts, volleyball courts, a track, museums, playgrounds, work out equipment, and more…<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>One afternoon we visited the beautiful Botanic Gardens, we got lost in the depths of the Mediterranean gardens, the bonsai gardens, the tropical gardens and having a picnic in the sunshine.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This park is a great asset to the city and a great way to spend a few hours outside.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjAWWIY_lKZ-uRcrYlM3qC2o1WySV7rwW4_l0ljGmDsZH7I21FABdR3CebokywUtSfX-rnJFbfgAnidF1YwplJBwJYU5er8cmyEXFIaf9dc0P-igBl_rKiIm9JDqkqREQocjCM0WfKEcY/s1600/DSC_4656.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjAWWIY_lKZ-uRcrYlM3qC2o1WySV7rwW4_l0ljGmDsZH7I21FABdR3CebokywUtSfX-rnJFbfgAnidF1YwplJBwJYU5er8cmyEXFIaf9dc0P-igBl_rKiIm9JDqkqREQocjCM0WfKEcY/s400/DSC_4656.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605543400894339250" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RfkNUkWTRBWcqglOEZpImvBtDSkXK-2yvoYjbsJYV8bFEA_O5MPCg0_5y7ROxjm1pei7DQ2hsvMRigq_M4is7RtQQMqt_MVFDDQq94zfVupa8HwkSAS4SSYJkZGkgLcVlxyEQVVMXtM/s1600/DSC_4648.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RfkNUkWTRBWcqglOEZpImvBtDSkXK-2yvoYjbsJYV8bFEA_O5MPCg0_5y7ROxjm1pei7DQ2hsvMRigq_M4is7RtQQMqt_MVFDDQq94zfVupa8HwkSAS4SSYJkZGkgLcVlxyEQVVMXtM/s400/DSC_4648.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605543398875616370" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Kristin camouflaged<br />She makes a sexy leaf!<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwz07E9lE8LGqLt3REYNzy3NWUG2z-aezgMgKDXq_25-5hE6Yzsbb6T5H9Q5Wy5YLiirLhfO4VieTjtWmwkm1xtiQFMeX7kd18imE6n44A1en6Z3ldX8GPaGuwXX_DzV05b8QZu1rKV1k/s1600/DSC_4640.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwz07E9lE8LGqLt3REYNzy3NWUG2z-aezgMgKDXq_25-5hE6Yzsbb6T5H9Q5Wy5YLiirLhfO4VieTjtWmwkm1xtiQFMeX7kd18imE6n44A1en6Z3ldX8GPaGuwXX_DzV05b8QZu1rKV1k/s400/DSC_4640.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605542724536669042" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Hand in hand with our experiences in Quito, we have continued to drink the worlds best coffee, chocolate, and fruit.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We are both very excited for the arrival of Kristin’s father Steve tomorrow, and are planning some great adventures along the volcanic Andean landscape.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Below are some pictures from our delicious Mother's Day brunch. Yummmm!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDKJqU0crwbwoL8esMlPf9p7ngoPR1Ob4WBgZAICgtGr3JRBfD0uSrUXjIypR5C7vj4Pvw1Jymd69wsKkyx79NENzV8bPgXvQKpLi78gTul792iSitFmug06mY3hCgzqJugDCKwxyYI0/s1600/IMG_3597.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDKJqU0crwbwoL8esMlPf9p7ngoPR1Ob4WBgZAICgtGr3JRBfD0uSrUXjIypR5C7vj4Pvw1Jymd69wsKkyx79NENzV8bPgXvQKpLi78gTul792iSitFmug06mY3hCgzqJugDCKwxyYI0/s400/IMG_3597.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605544245358311426" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCyQS3M3WApDlkxCjxATXTLGgAcpOlfK8lNDIt0XXg5rG9_Zr34Y-8uXAnvNce6puMHBfklwjZHoaNEcYbE24pK5VZpNxat4pTZfdhZ_aZ9f3G45DL6gsuEcNZBl_JPQY5DvzlLoBuLc/s1600/IMG_3600.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCyQS3M3WApDlkxCjxATXTLGgAcpOlfK8lNDIt0XXg5rG9_Zr34Y-8uXAnvNce6puMHBfklwjZHoaNEcYbE24pK5VZpNxat4pTZfdhZ_aZ9f3G45DL6gsuEcNZBl_JPQY5DvzlLoBuLc/s400/IMG_3600.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605544339925673682" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB6p5KcniVGhY2DzQaOk-5KzbGTWjQ9Rc7jku0JxYes4AL5Hgl8zfgGWOmTtOXbIeZI9Y-5ON-EH1wJ3gxgRXlGO8Oy17EB-MDLonGPz1ZMtsT02FpjeuVMIwY146-S5IuYiZeMNNF7Ys/s1600/IMG_3602.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB6p5KcniVGhY2DzQaOk-5KzbGTWjQ9Rc7jku0JxYes4AL5Hgl8zfgGWOmTtOXbIeZI9Y-5ON-EH1wJ3gxgRXlGO8Oy17EB-MDLonGPz1ZMtsT02FpjeuVMIwY146-S5IuYiZeMNNF7Ys/s400/IMG_3602.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605544363179129794" border="0" /></a><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-13656069708144217922011-04-27T17:40:00.003-03:002011-04-29T18:39:37.669-03:00Cuenca, Ecuador<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRB2FDfNVReFa45hHnMBjaTVvErSnx7cq1Et3j3dy0E5WicxlRJNJAWezAsES980eUgxfcgLZsvwquRkWo91BGCO_fWyzAMHVbdn6ShnICcSxHrNZNudycr20wpaHuCeDPPEWOtrE7hsM/s1600/IMG_3379.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRB2FDfNVReFa45hHnMBjaTVvErSnx7cq1Et3j3dy0E5WicxlRJNJAWezAsES980eUgxfcgLZsvwquRkWo91BGCO_fWyzAMHVbdn6ShnICcSxHrNZNudycr20wpaHuCeDPPEWOtrE7hsM/s400/IMG_3379.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600788892128610306" border="0" /></a></p><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]-->On April 11th, our fearless travelers took a short flight from rainy Quito down to Cuenca (southern Ecuador).<span style=""> </span>The city was very bright, surrounded by green mountains, and the sun was beating down with a vengeance on the exposed gringo’s.<span style=""> </span>We stayed at a small backpackers hostal a short walk from the busy downtown, which helped the zzz’s since the city was fairly alive at night.<span style=""> </span>Our first day in the city, Ivan got his shoes shined, and Kristin was immediately enamored by the artesenias.<span style=""> </span>We had a typical lunch of seco de pollo, which is basically a marinated baked chicken with loads of white rice.<span style=""> </span>It turned out that the city was in the midst of a festival to celebrate its founding in 1557.<span style=""> </span>It is the oldest colonial city in Ecuador, and was the hub for the Spanish Church until very recently (there were about 2 churches and/or cathedrals per city block throughout the city).<span style=""> </span>We decided to check out the main Cathedral that’s in all the Cuenca travel brochures.<span style=""> </span>It was impressive, and even had modern catholic pop music playing in the inside (probably why its called El Cathedral Nuevo…).<span style=""> </span>Outside of the cathedral there were tons of flags and propaganda to commemorate the city’s 454 years of mestizo history.<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRB2FDfNVReFa45hHnMBjaTVvErSnx7cq1Et3j3dy0E5WicxlRJNJAWezAsES980eUgxfcgLZsvwquRkWo91BGCO_fWyzAMHVbdn6ShnICcSxHrNZNudycr20wpaHuCeDPPEWOtrE7hsM/s1600/IMG_3379.jpg"><br /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoaiMJKnGM6UXI49yWkFJbd1lMzBHl6pCfcN-iygSc2_ju7HERu7654EarCqqp-x2YV5_xAIGM1dEfdLpOMFlNFia4aqdGylus77wz7ME4jxDTnpok-9A91UuUjt44BQl7Lr4Rw06X4yE/s1600/IMG_3356.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoaiMJKnGM6UXI49yWkFJbd1lMzBHl6pCfcN-iygSc2_ju7HERu7654EarCqqp-x2YV5_xAIGM1dEfdLpOMFlNFia4aqdGylus77wz7ME4jxDTnpok-9A91UuUjt44BQl7Lr4Rw06X4yE/s400/IMG_3356.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600778352646491890" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">The Front of Cathedral Nuevo</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk3wqgMdnL-n5oYO2lcWNouDNbjF4RVFH1pi4cgiZwQgeqlSpW88IDayMQ9qPIAKdlA4Cw1-rEcFLF2E3VIs6_QGpQ1M4SQMVyXE0i0UMHRanw8MdbMciasD2oXLTfpWJ-IJPsxtpcbW0/s1600/IMG_3380.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk3wqgMdnL-n5oYO2lcWNouDNbjF4RVFH1pi4cgiZwQgeqlSpW88IDayMQ9qPIAKdlA4Cw1-rEcFLF2E3VIs6_QGpQ1M4SQMVyXE0i0UMHRanw8MdbMciasD2oXLTfpWJ-IJPsxtpcbW0/s400/IMG_3380.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600788894014133634" border="0" /></a><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Our second day in the city was a intense shopping day (yay for Kristin!), which was actually pretty fun since we found some cool stuff.<span style=""> </span>Ivan’s favorite was the panama hat museum and store, even though we didn’t buy one.<span style=""> </span>Kristin sure looks good in them though!!<span style=""> </span>Later in the day we decided to head to the nearby town of Banos known for his thermal baths (not the famous tourist city in the volcano lands). We relaxed by the thermal baths, saunas and soaked up the sun all afternoon. Eventually our pruned bodies were begging us to get out so we left the small town and headed back to Cuenca for some dinner. That evening we went out for a night festival, which of course had more artesanias, and a giant delicious dinner for a whopping 2 dollars (soup, chicken, rice, beans and drinks!).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLOEPNKR9uEELKwrTXPjh4jXUxncCFyimsvGWMjMeSk8bjXHz2I2YCCNAhHzsrRBrahcd1mQyjJQ1C7gKusZpCwnqNSao_72TVWzuJynrRAM-RViriCqupgwMxHYBwa7mHhMdkQrbwJG4/s1600/IMG_3383.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLOEPNKR9uEELKwrTXPjh4jXUxncCFyimsvGWMjMeSk8bjXHz2I2YCCNAhHzsrRBrahcd1mQyjJQ1C7gKusZpCwnqNSao_72TVWzuJynrRAM-RViriCqupgwMxHYBwa7mHhMdkQrbwJG4/s400/IMG_3383.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600788898643030098" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wHfCP5g9RVoOnaqTPgjqtjd96E_9hZk-vBR1a0gAdUp7sWeAzRerYavsRACSS_9y1I1dlNC1cyS4jGEfpJbWlFLql-B_Tl5eScQ2rM4hkC0g2ANOItknIuFYqFCZYCEkiFrtO-DdgrA/s1600/IMG_3368.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wHfCP5g9RVoOnaqTPgjqtjd96E_9hZk-vBR1a0gAdUp7sWeAzRerYavsRACSS_9y1I1dlNC1cyS4jGEfpJbWlFLql-B_Tl5eScQ2rM4hkC0g2ANOItknIuFYqFCZYCEkiFrtO-DdgrA/s400/IMG_3368.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600788884611488018" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Hat Press</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4hpP2XqAmjVQHgPpt8Zg3uc381ngG1798EHk-ShqM5CQPSyzkTDQy6Rhcy_RFXrDzlrYY4-MO-Bj7ESmzHqVo6Xgw5yJMCp1XMGtbaH_ctr25PDkUCAQKKm082c5LBE4ca7Jrh193HI/s1600/IMG_3361.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4hpP2XqAmjVQHgPpt8Zg3uc381ngG1798EHk-ShqM5CQPSyzkTDQy6Rhcy_RFXrDzlrYY4-MO-Bj7ESmzHqVo6Xgw5yJMCp1XMGtbaH_ctr25PDkUCAQKKm082c5LBE4ca7Jrh193HI/s400/IMG_3361.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600778366832714418" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi98jcKslnp4hdLkywwdCWkBNo9bPc09mFAmYuE3LYgE20LCd92zsD-1rv3cgYXsFOsVuPDUsAtvXt-bmcZye_2pXwdHhtSus7ewZpgArhee9czvx1TZM86KlG2zt20YEyijLeCGtGcyGA/s1600/IMG_3369.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi98jcKslnp4hdLkywwdCWkBNo9bPc09mFAmYuE3LYgE20LCd92zsD-1rv3cgYXsFOsVuPDUsAtvXt-bmcZye_2pXwdHhtSus7ewZpgArhee9czvx1TZM86KlG2zt20YEyijLeCGtGcyGA/s400/IMG_3369.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600788883009754498" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzeLUxZ97r9XVtk1kNyAV3zJsdonaSqN4fkxhYYS0dVbCphjKgBHGTcXx0OXbb0Qb-n14dAimqKv3nvJrGKDoeZA4ufQq2YYf1zniuQsYwWvr8nFpNTmHyPUquuJ_IcIcJlCWgppU5-Yc/s1600/IMG_3360.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzeLUxZ97r9XVtk1kNyAV3zJsdonaSqN4fkxhYYS0dVbCphjKgBHGTcXx0OXbb0Qb-n14dAimqKv3nvJrGKDoeZA4ufQq2YYf1zniuQsYwWvr8nFpNTmHyPUquuJ_IcIcJlCWgppU5-Yc/s400/IMG_3360.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600778358937820082" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The following day we went to Gualaceo, a 1 ½ hour busride from Cuenca.<span style=""> </span>The town is known for every kind of shoe, as well as orchids, pork dishes, and ceramics.<span style=""> </span>Small town, but lots of charm.<span style=""> </span>The central market was impressive also.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgBF7gKM8KpOF8QUWWWu2ZhIsviTUUq8GKhWE-PAlLJlWnX7EN13FcXqMRbhGkejjK7NnpJakM7cC0UvZy74xpNtumULtmjYW9a_-FXwQrZnMIXz3aCm__CGnEnDcNUViOW-0mScyZT-E/s1600/IMG_3442.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgBF7gKM8KpOF8QUWWWu2ZhIsviTUUq8GKhWE-PAlLJlWnX7EN13FcXqMRbhGkejjK7NnpJakM7cC0UvZy74xpNtumULtmjYW9a_-FXwQrZnMIXz3aCm__CGnEnDcNUViOW-0mScyZT-E/s400/IMG_3442.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600814829611368338" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">After some time in Gualaceo we hitched a short ride down the road to the town of Chortaleg.<span style=""> </span>The tiny town boasts about 55 jewlery shops (just in the main plaza area) that sell gold and silver, but a wide variety of all kinds of jewelry.<span style=""> </span>It was a but of a Lonely Planet trap, but was still very fun because it was Chortaleg’s birthday today!<span style=""> </span>We didn’t bring a gift, except spent our gringo money at some of the stores.<span style=""> </span>Interestingly, the town has a disproportionate amount of women since most of the men are of in Spain or the U.S for work.<span style=""> </span>Not everyone is cut out for jewelery… The town had lots of charm, and the people were incredibly friendly.<span style=""> </span>Kristin, amazingly, didn’t buy any jewelry….<span style=""> </span>Still puzzled by this…(I think Ivan was hoping to score an easy birthday present for KK)<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUWv1kO1Mm7247bfREscOCI9bNU_Bn9CVo3LPutrafS2UIx6j0ByHGFJJy4nYCimi_6tmxLXYNrZnow6rc0ltY9JZkwInyUBurQ3jyKo96zXwb1TrdFODByg6Ra_mslGlsOZw2JIh0i4g/s1600/IMG_3455.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUWv1kO1Mm7247bfREscOCI9bNU_Bn9CVo3LPutrafS2UIx6j0ByHGFJJy4nYCimi_6tmxLXYNrZnow6rc0ltY9JZkwInyUBurQ3jyKo96zXwb1TrdFODByg6Ra_mslGlsOZw2JIh0i4g/s400/IMG_3455.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600815300176985218" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6URwhqkDTGHTsZdHcaLlavfmS-zDc5l_NjNfSp8VZI4mT-gjcJLML_xzsLYRmaAutHRJ5YoGs3facRtuOxnL7_U-8kaU94r44seb-R0C-l2iSO1cyhPMxGh5VZpr39Kz5hOCbE4zreE/s1600/IMG_3390.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6URwhqkDTGHTsZdHcaLlavfmS-zDc5l_NjNfSp8VZI4mT-gjcJLML_xzsLYRmaAutHRJ5YoGs3facRtuOxnL7_U-8kaU94r44seb-R0C-l2iSO1cyhPMxGh5VZpr39Kz5hOCbE4zreE/s400/IMG_3390.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600814257819157650" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJEPeDo88ix-XAPOK3nq9bU6V6znrHS6BP749GJj0JsPI0fk_NRs9Pk45uplBThy3TyAvwS3FgNUhzV_VDuwwxnjTghsfcEuqK9IsWZYAs0Vt-FNrvIlEL1Nn8ks1VrsyNhKHVXZYcV6M/s1600/IMG_3451.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJEPeDo88ix-XAPOK3nq9bU6V6znrHS6BP749GJj0JsPI0fk_NRs9Pk45uplBThy3TyAvwS3FgNUhzV_VDuwwxnjTghsfcEuqK9IsWZYAs0Vt-FNrvIlEL1Nn8ks1VrsyNhKHVXZYcV6M/s400/IMG_3451.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600815293038367506" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">After Chortaleg we went to a orchid farm outside of Gualeceo.<span style=""> </span>It was very impressive.<span style=""> </span>It was fairly large scale, clean, clearly lucrative, and had a fantastic tour.<span style=""> </span>We even got a few mandarins while walking around the property with the young guide.<span style=""> </span>Not a flower business Ivan would consider, but really great to see the Ecuadorian grower making a killing on a beautiful product.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6G8R3U7zSXqWh7r7Dq5ph_t3Duq1001sSlO08pHmgO2XH7b6nS-j_VICe46u0dGuEMmwH9X0Mo3s6sBQ20jIulj-nYQohN2uXZ95wAeNM-LYFKa0pG2hyphenhyphenTnOtdFttidC5Ovzo0dyXsBc/s1600/IMG_3483.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6G8R3U7zSXqWh7r7Dq5ph_t3Duq1001sSlO08pHmgO2XH7b6nS-j_VICe46u0dGuEMmwH9X0Mo3s6sBQ20jIulj-nYQohN2uXZ95wAeNM-LYFKa0pG2hyphenhyphenTnOtdFttidC5Ovzo0dyXsBc/s400/IMG_3483.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600815350403847490" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEityLb_wQr1FciX6-_zWje5d5R-U6GxQE4FRsmbI6q5DKXTRQ9TZIRrVUJ7-MMQpmc_aYb9pGbK40UUvA_obs3Lbi1dJZp-AJImrv6NyBUM3dYmHeFEVXwUMjTkUbaEv_-pTm2P6MNtslw/s1600/IMG_3466.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEityLb_wQr1FciX6-_zWje5d5R-U6GxQE4FRsmbI6q5DKXTRQ9TZIRrVUJ7-MMQpmc_aYb9pGbK40UUvA_obs3Lbi1dJZp-AJImrv6NyBUM3dYmHeFEVXwUMjTkUbaEv_-pTm2P6MNtslw/s400/IMG_3466.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600815347596997298" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">The tissue culture of the orchids<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3t9Ojwy0Fc66W-YvF4LRybuVf8hF7vUcVFrKlCgOdkFjRCz5xMFNrueMzHgUjLi834RyyilluSQS8mfj0Ub6aDO9OW3km_gGCpgWS1g2WLDv49qhk-jCIWkHc0ReOL832Fq3p_i-OfcM/s1600/IMG_3460.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3t9Ojwy0Fc66W-YvF4LRybuVf8hF7vUcVFrKlCgOdkFjRCz5xMFNrueMzHgUjLi834RyyilluSQS8mfj0Ub6aDO9OW3km_gGCpgWS1g2WLDv49qhk-jCIWkHc0ReOL832Fq3p_i-OfcM/s400/IMG_3460.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600815304917520098" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN0PXea8Jf5vyQwCgSoFdeeINj034nUMfdcBStcICSOJX3P43mwSlO-ng5wHI1LKLlfpRXL0jZljNO91mNFa5ix3dKOd4YYyMoMIuDu5cLxlrKqPkST6Tddv8BsFP6SscCwCzQW-1A71U/s1600/IMG_3500.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN0PXea8Jf5vyQwCgSoFdeeINj034nUMfdcBStcICSOJX3P43mwSlO-ng5wHI1LKLlfpRXL0jZljNO91mNFa5ix3dKOd4YYyMoMIuDu5cLxlrKqPkST6Tddv8BsFP6SscCwCzQW-1A71U/s400/IMG_3500.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600815733093644786" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm_Oiv03TL2LRTEyfWgl76zX_cUQg5_dDONcdtL8E775ZonFlk6-518T8hluXRfRHehFtDiRRUWtw5djlE58rSRQymJhZgGjQcwJvOZTY7GHJ8yZgIXB8yGHcueapwJ1xxOu1QUIpBmSs/s1600/IMG_3496.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm_Oiv03TL2LRTEyfWgl76zX_cUQg5_dDONcdtL8E775ZonFlk6-518T8hluXRfRHehFtDiRRUWtw5djlE58rSRQymJhZgGjQcwJvOZTY7GHJ8yZgIXB8yGHcueapwJ1xxOu1QUIpBmSs/s400/IMG_3496.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600815729672975746" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Wacky Anthurium</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">On our third day in Cuenca we decided to hop on a bus to an Inca ruin site called Ingapirca. The site was childs-play compared to what we saw at the heart of the Inca empire in Cuzco, but it was still beautiful none-the-less. The temple of the sun had seamless rock work and had astrological significance. Lucky for the enamored and totally obsessed Kristin, there were llamas munching there way through the ruin... mehhh! The site required a lot of imagination, but we got the basic layout of the old city. Unfortunately, the Spaniards used most of the stone to build their ubiquitous churches nearby, so the site was basically a floor-plan. Luckily the sun temple was almost able to be restored to its original state.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-06A1vayLM6yy_MjYxvjLbZ4w59EfJPBUQgmKXMYUvKmZyQbXkj4k6T-AsHIRm2FWVrCp4Ggd1osZkDe7AI0gxb9wdBVfE2nPXrjNrZTxXdSAzWRXJGeAZahoRt4LmCoSsfo1EBc8L90/s1600/DSC_4351.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-06A1vayLM6yy_MjYxvjLbZ4w59EfJPBUQgmKXMYUvKmZyQbXkj4k6T-AsHIRm2FWVrCp4Ggd1osZkDe7AI0gxb9wdBVfE2nPXrjNrZTxXdSAzWRXJGeAZahoRt4LmCoSsfo1EBc8L90/s400/DSC_4351.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600776436177030770" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYhTou-7uHOX58rObRV43S3KxZeCBa-1YOUIX9q6ke8pkchVrEG6uNMjwnTItwS-Dr2sIWXOM_ujCVipeNwG1a_vOR1kkWrSSTQLDWAabCJ97AOI39AKrEAwlG5Cd_I6UPeBFF7rm7QUY/s1600/DSC_4352.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYhTou-7uHOX58rObRV43S3KxZeCBa-1YOUIX9q6ke8pkchVrEG6uNMjwnTItwS-Dr2sIWXOM_ujCVipeNwG1a_vOR1kkWrSSTQLDWAabCJ97AOI39AKrEAwlG5Cd_I6UPeBFF7rm7QUY/s400/DSC_4352.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600776434583499666" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPAh7g3n5VOeVyXkX0THG5znCt8hz-KZ3QLd0ICemJzQZmRpXCQqQXmRK2qYdfXE_ftFVzpknH5B0XNLZ8ZSZ0lZfMzPn3UCydunppfH5Um2zvJOIFmyhCc2ue8VU42rO9OgVhWti3iWE/s1600/IMG_3396.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPAh7g3n5VOeVyXkX0THG5znCt8hz-KZ3QLd0ICemJzQZmRpXCQqQXmRK2qYdfXE_ftFVzpknH5B0XNLZ8ZSZ0lZfMzPn3UCydunppfH5Um2zvJOIFmyhCc2ue8VU42rO9OgVhWti3iWE/s400/IMG_3396.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600814262618937090" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Nyj7Fm1yOCom1wZRvDATvPFeoqeDvlvpy4C2azepPpsmj67pbfWGJfV_nMDI2OvrhqNCCu34xP2ZHRYsrZwlScDprfX0wCmNYz0Y4zeWkr42MWEa-CsWz176UiHC-u1dJXtAATjrug8/s1600/DSC_4371.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Nyj7Fm1yOCom1wZRvDATvPFeoqeDvlvpy4C2azepPpsmj67pbfWGJfV_nMDI2OvrhqNCCu34xP2ZHRYsrZwlScDprfX0wCmNYz0Y4zeWkr42MWEa-CsWz176UiHC-u1dJXtAATjrug8/s400/DSC_4371.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600776438406759858" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Llamas!</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiigS9sFHP5DHf1lzavA6CpNbsVv_0GuIzVktcyU3Vt2h7p43fXRP7v09yZKRNjQ3DsUCRX5SAS6sCjM3Y3rexIpBL-lmu3BIx5f6-d6qH6XpMtZtowX8l6uIa8mMUhcCBhCuLXgM68Ds/s1600/DSC_4378.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiigS9sFHP5DHf1lzavA6CpNbsVv_0GuIzVktcyU3Vt2h7p43fXRP7v09yZKRNjQ3DsUCRX5SAS6sCjM3Y3rexIpBL-lmu3BIx5f6-d6qH6XpMtZtowX8l6uIa8mMUhcCBhCuLXgM68Ds/s400/DSC_4378.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600776458595485138" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Sun Temple</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The following day we took a tour into Cajas National Park.<span style=""> </span>It is a very, very rare type of eco-system, and was perched at 4,400 meters, aka very high!!<span style=""> </span>Most interesting about it was the old-growth forests, and the paja (the beautiful grass in all the pictures).<span style=""> </span>It was sunny and nice for the first few hours, but we soon learned why the park earned its name.<span style=""> </span>Cajas are boxes in Spanish, but the name didn’t originate from the unoriginal Spaniards, but rather from the Quichua who traversed across the harsh terrain to cross from the lush coast to high-altitude Cuenca.<span style=""> </span>“Cajas” is a bastardized Spaniardism for the Quichua word for “hard” or “struggle.”<span style=""> </span>Which halfway through our beautiful nature hike, we found to be a very apt name.<span style=""> </span>The rain came down in sheets, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped, and the once beautiful golden-brown paja became a slippery 4-letter word.<span style=""> </span>The cameras were tucked away and our full concentration was set on not slipping.<span style=""> </span>It was phenomenal how the landscape transformed.<span style=""> </span>Our guide joked that in Cajas you get a taste of all 4 seasons in less than a days time.<span style=""> </span>After 4 hours of hiking and drenched in every pore and crevice, we were very grateful for the car heater and the promise of hot food because at this point Kristin could hardly move and claimed she had hypothermia!<span style=""> </span>As an aside: Ivan was quite the gentleman giving Kristin his dry long underwear – an article of clothing she <i style="">laughed at</i> when he packed it.<span style=""> </span>At least she didn’t get the awful cold…!<span style=""> </span>What a great boyfriend. ;)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeiIwxd7Z_J3esBEishiwPnvUSUBXeb6s_CZpQ9tYUp32rhH3RAwVrJLDbtZMRwbqUq282oRfHjg-QhDsxnvfsm0k-Pt_8cY_zo9CQj33dBd949eABF8708LPkXxR3kAI_6EeStdnVs1E/s1600/DSC_4420.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeiIwxd7Z_J3esBEishiwPnvUSUBXeb6s_CZpQ9tYUp32rhH3RAwVrJLDbtZMRwbqUq282oRfHjg-QhDsxnvfsm0k-Pt_8cY_zo9CQj33dBd949eABF8708LPkXxR3kAI_6EeStdnVs1E/s400/DSC_4420.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600776819469602162" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsNbx0LcCOwL-GSYO6aiK0UFn7-3ZJqmTdRGw1fHbP1lSFuxJx9bU8O-pSllZtQVv-IcolUGUdeKut_lpwBnqnwrFYROsq32bEQ-GF9chabUl2znsjui4eLQLzU1oAnKaMJD8zJcGYYIQ/s1600/DSC_4410.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsNbx0LcCOwL-GSYO6aiK0UFn7-3ZJqmTdRGw1fHbP1lSFuxJx9bU8O-pSllZtQVv-IcolUGUdeKut_lpwBnqnwrFYROsq32bEQ-GF9chabUl2znsjui4eLQLzU1oAnKaMJD8zJcGYYIQ/s400/DSC_4410.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600776463124315330" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">View from the road</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc985HLsOv2JuSNQsQxW08dAwGHvnAmHEXnREmYdwQw8ElkaZofxemzbU08PRg7d3yNTP7kF6bHjbOpgFUeAxzlAMOwmT-iU7J-3JmFQhYCan-j-dGmEnQxQS66pZRHdjSa1mriJBG4sY/s1600/DSC_4419.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc985HLsOv2JuSNQsQxW08dAwGHvnAmHEXnREmYdwQw8ElkaZofxemzbU08PRg7d3yNTP7kF6bHjbOpgFUeAxzlAMOwmT-iU7J-3JmFQhYCan-j-dGmEnQxQS66pZRHdjSa1mriJBG4sY/s400/DSC_4419.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600776817417484562" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">llama crossing<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFQUAON8m2-DjDc6j1HsKsMVpvH8j548ib7iWIpmZhaD2piz5L38MerPcIouO-Phqi7Zw2LOVS58-OYpIm6q7i3rpA3IMSsnJNufpQUgCE5-gd_iuujnq4D3wAdM06i9iOcjHgu3oIH4k/s1600/DSC_4429.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFQUAON8m2-DjDc6j1HsKsMVpvH8j548ib7iWIpmZhaD2piz5L38MerPcIouO-Phqi7Zw2LOVS58-OYpIm6q7i3rpA3IMSsnJNufpQUgCE5-gd_iuujnq4D3wAdM06i9iOcjHgu3oIH4k/s400/DSC_4429.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600776828195841394" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">One of 250 lakes</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghipChuEJsqRtpKHNoEz2ot5YhhK224ac8gYP7c0HyNqS0afQt2X5180zHhlHBDk8qfeRp1UhTNmBORXkZJp-KQVp8wb3OjEg5127seDdJSzzinAzuzJmsPYRpw4esb2HCsXXZxOpvkwM/s1600/DSC_4423.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghipChuEJsqRtpKHNoEz2ot5YhhK224ac8gYP7c0HyNqS0afQt2X5180zHhlHBDk8qfeRp1UhTNmBORXkZJp-KQVp8wb3OjEg5127seDdJSzzinAzuzJmsPYRpw4esb2HCsXXZxOpvkwM/s400/DSC_4423.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600776823409913890" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUi8l8cln2hpdg8TAOd64w0Z-pV-A_EJUKu4Y9OJu7Qfu7V1liz4GJiL22D-_Ykd_XXPHL8ZMHiMnPboShacjqZYNqSxUN8sd5WKIv8AsY6-0az288JFitUvwcSX9rMeW7TEF0Uv3h6E/s1600/DSC_4421.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUi8l8cln2hpdg8TAOd64w0Z-pV-A_EJUKu4Y9OJu7Qfu7V1liz4GJiL22D-_Ykd_XXPHL8ZMHiMnPboShacjqZYNqSxUN8sd5WKIv8AsY6-0az288JFitUvwcSX9rMeW7TEF0Uv3h6E/s400/DSC_4421.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600776821444305138" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaNU4Y_QY9DjEh54pvBnJhHvVMZ-n6p68jBZ8Iugt7bmRi1sHz0bBVRjsxqzr_3R6l5E-s3RAW7bVYBr5sRRs1oyqydh0pMO-xV-lJ_1anVZAmHQU_ohMy9-kPHs_aCxeBKYyBlmO3dVc/s1600/IMG_3398.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaNU4Y_QY9DjEh54pvBnJhHvVMZ-n6p68jBZ8Iugt7bmRi1sHz0bBVRjsxqzr_3R6l5E-s3RAW7bVYBr5sRRs1oyqydh0pMO-xV-lJ_1anVZAmHQU_ohMy9-kPHs_aCxeBKYyBlmO3dVc/s400/IMG_3398.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600814271755511442" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6GQKbWtA0sv9aR4PHdR2xkiqOOX6p33uc2noXWAivoc31IPPdexdaaZaQY5PvXYXWemFab7cr1zkWBajBnJ0rS8DYKQBmNkilN4IYlmaselhIIKI9MUlXtrGJZz5_8C2t0fBzd0buHs0/s1600/IMG_3408.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6GQKbWtA0sv9aR4PHdR2xkiqOOX6p33uc2noXWAivoc31IPPdexdaaZaQY5PvXYXWemFab7cr1zkWBajBnJ0rS8DYKQBmNkilN4IYlmaselhIIKI9MUlXtrGJZz5_8C2t0fBzd0buHs0/s400/IMG_3408.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600814280593016466" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE9vkhUq8-1xKZqHR5y6eRwmSEVOggtvs35pjB461yFmx-PxjbSv60r41jqKsXkhRYNb-UBsJCVD1m0PMYuxrKknRuzWKOavvcpRaJ84VShZsA5g0nE38pUgGC-o7epsglKsTE7tz0HYs/s1600/IMG_3406.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE9vkhUq8-1xKZqHR5y6eRwmSEVOggtvs35pjB461yFmx-PxjbSv60r41jqKsXkhRYNb-UBsJCVD1m0PMYuxrKknRuzWKOavvcpRaJ84VShZsA5g0nE38pUgGC-o7epsglKsTE7tz0HYs/s400/IMG_3406.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600814275418204418" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBW0PYYXnyrvSHDLz1PbGl1lrqa49jIu4cbKDncpB9qXgbRKuSjn44QexWeYWZXM-Gy6ljC3tRDubfPF9dimtU8mA5tlqZyxUJ0L9UYaGVSAAMqsdz_HMxbKCInwfJHRwFauuFEWaL_MA/s1600/DSC_4451.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBW0PYYXnyrvSHDLz1PbGl1lrqa49jIu4cbKDncpB9qXgbRKuSjn44QexWeYWZXM-Gy6ljC3tRDubfPF9dimtU8mA5tlqZyxUJ0L9UYaGVSAAMqsdz_HMxbKCInwfJHRwFauuFEWaL_MA/s400/DSC_4451.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600777739030079634" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Our sloshy footpath<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlWGZLMKHY3AuTSfuo1a9yG0Kmz7c0aKAsQcaGoxVq_NggAVDhcEtZfZsSYYhS9ftvYbBnXnbji6csVdT3OMwY7zZdtJIGGDi9XnlNM6e88S8xTqijzdf4tDfwKhlKuewyeTye1MIPUI/s1600/DSC_4435.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlWGZLMKHY3AuTSfuo1a9yG0Kmz7c0aKAsQcaGoxVq_NggAVDhcEtZfZsSYYhS9ftvYbBnXnbji6csVdT3OMwY7zZdtJIGGDi9XnlNM6e88S8xTqijzdf4tDfwKhlKuewyeTye1MIPUI/s400/DSC_4435.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600777720692790258" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Bzd_BAkkammeWaQTr5AT266ebsgLkyZ_OxzY10-kS-ioU2U7hSDTRb815FmppIZc_i4lGC8qsSL2BB1Yrlh3WXlgoRMvu2cyqJxHILCSxlMxBKwn7nGdaRT82lCRyChoZIQiPaTPY58/s1600/IMG_3414.jpg"><br /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj21j0OycqTK9g7TdA9j2JyCYiZtCbVefFmbpjqHTSShP1d4lG7N4CZO4X9OQC5AWhrSrS0cjnPBNZJtGlzo27bg4_F6Lu0VDBX5Sx9XOp6Mk2U_eCgCaUeAQH7P6L69RS7xe8ALoT_vo0/s1600/DSC_4474.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj21j0OycqTK9g7TdA9j2JyCYiZtCbVefFmbpjqHTSShP1d4lG7N4CZO4X9OQC5AWhrSrS0cjnPBNZJtGlzo27bg4_F6Lu0VDBX5Sx9XOp6Mk2U_eCgCaUeAQH7P6L69RS7xe8ALoT_vo0/s400/DSC_4474.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600777759609069330" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Bruja's forest</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeQAAmNHUqUTca4EIkWqgx7VpxRuHq2XO_65Qgu0gkbOa0AMOlHBJV9noFGJgDu_UvcCg514M0BumT4RlI1Wh2ATwNHYxfchGLl1e6SMWFIusfhD44Q6AnMyDoU7lyuwh9Y6rpUF58mk/s1600/DSC_4471.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeQAAmNHUqUTca4EIkWqgx7VpxRuHq2XO_65Qgu0gkbOa0AMOlHBJV9noFGJgDu_UvcCg514M0BumT4RlI1Wh2ATwNHYxfchGLl1e6SMWFIusfhD44Q6AnMyDoU7lyuwh9Y6rpUF58mk/s400/DSC_4471.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600777751482521986" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipgz0yUFBlkhqISsniQCPo04NEH8K3kRv4NGut4lQNWNzRhmWeZPOvOtEcfJcI29nXdCjCvkgGeEZ4hRxK25psT1nfEWnNuXNWqsMuPDLJiAKfjafIDMUfpHxcoOc6mlZr5UMFlaPfmd4/s1600/DSC_4469.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipgz0yUFBlkhqISsniQCPo04NEH8K3kRv4NGut4lQNWNzRhmWeZPOvOtEcfJcI29nXdCjCvkgGeEZ4hRxK25psT1nfEWnNuXNWqsMuPDLJiAKfjafIDMUfpHxcoOc6mlZr5UMFlaPfmd4/s400/DSC_4469.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600777743259216626" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGXzzSAOLSo-VJAPmQEX0BGfk9aRjWyQWSiKarNNENdiyRwnEjNg7x7QnKDek9UnIoj_d6FLDlZ2I4CWjPgJwIoGXEXy1zesm6ILiOG1qTta7uk2x1nIc5sz_JM9RFpB5dR3znMl1Jm0/s1600/IMG_3432.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGXzzSAOLSo-VJAPmQEX0BGfk9aRjWyQWSiKarNNENdiyRwnEjNg7x7QnKDek9UnIoj_d6FLDlZ2I4CWjPgJwIoGXEXy1zesm6ILiOG1qTta7uk2x1nIc5sz_JM9RFpB5dR3znMl1Jm0/s400/IMG_3432.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600814778851463058" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Bzd_BAkkammeWaQTr5AT266ebsgLkyZ_OxzY10-kS-ioU2U7hSDTRb815FmppIZc_i4lGC8qsSL2BB1Yrlh3WXlgoRMvu2cyqJxHILCSxlMxBKwn7nGdaRT82lCRyChoZIQiPaTPY58/s1600/IMG_3414.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Bzd_BAkkammeWaQTr5AT266ebsgLkyZ_OxzY10-kS-ioU2U7hSDTRb815FmppIZc_i4lGC8qsSL2BB1Yrlh3WXlgoRMvu2cyqJxHILCSxlMxBKwn7nGdaRT82lCRyChoZIQiPaTPY58/s400/IMG_3414.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600814777809997746" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNOmyFCcBqy9r6UwW6OyfobZx9eNlUno5cJvd6b0p4L5LRqjY-oT0NNDa79yTm5WvVSR3ay5qT-wl9lD90pL2HmiTyNUYlLkQHYhZbCRxtLEHweA9C_kTohD2e-jTjUmtjfq7O4hbT6E/s1600/DSC_4480.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNOmyFCcBqy9r6UwW6OyfobZx9eNlUno5cJvd6b0p4L5LRqjY-oT0NNDa79yTm5WvVSR3ay5qT-wl9lD90pL2HmiTyNUYlLkQHYhZbCRxtLEHweA9C_kTohD2e-jTjUmtjfq7O4hbT6E/s400/DSC_4480.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600778339437271954" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Harsh but beautiful landscape</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioa29cty64yI1TYYuqtaLf6iUyY4sxvSC6KciHzRHIpf7q3F1-CaVJuxXog0sLVcXoGMGRJYe0Tnk7VWBxAWletc2hD-A6-KhP-DAWwQf5nmjIpBTykwwbAljt-i21HyUlb-KkqYxQXPc/s1600/IMG_3438.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioa29cty64yI1TYYuqtaLf6iUyY4sxvSC6KciHzRHIpf7q3F1-CaVJuxXog0sLVcXoGMGRJYe0Tnk7VWBxAWletc2hD-A6-KhP-DAWwQf5nmjIpBTykwwbAljt-i21HyUlb-KkqYxQXPc/s400/IMG_3438.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600814811521311762" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">The Holy Llama<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">After our fairly exhausting day, our frozen bodies craved the promise of a hot shower… which our hostel didn’t fulfill.<span style=""> </span>The cold shower banished Ivan to layers of clothing and every alpaca blanket he could get his hands on.<span style=""> </span>He didn’t emerge for quite a while…</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">That night we brought a wonderful bottle of wine that Ramiro and Salome generously gifted us and polished it off at a sushi restaurant. <span style=""> </span>It was a really great evening with sushi rolls and tipsy-turvy icecream (no, the banana and ice cream did not fall onto the table. <span style="font-style: italic;">see photo</span>)<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtEVfsxWmxfMmv3DOSqE_f7b-9rRyh4NLVXoTWiN5lhekGL1TBjuOnjI-iN3cdLH5gi7TfJxUcLrl8km2AhZNqUg0dZGLIH_ZFYb-y4KkD7Tem2iF8L6sq4KQq9Vd33St9Da6QN8jBr7E/s1600/IMG_3507.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtEVfsxWmxfMmv3DOSqE_f7b-9rRyh4NLVXoTWiN5lhekGL1TBjuOnjI-iN3cdLH5gi7TfJxUcLrl8km2AhZNqUg0dZGLIH_ZFYb-y4KkD7Tem2iF8L6sq4KQq9Vd33St9Da6QN8jBr7E/s400/IMG_3507.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600815744824055426" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Almost a fail..!</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJL0MHjNpwG8Xc39DNz3PC6akx4nG0Ox58WyMnb4lPat8DTB4jPH9svRV0BM-qEJd8yDfKhfsMfgYljQ4YV7NmYyeauN1JPAeMfLcYjYM7EcGmf6z1wxwAGwLXWM94M1bwyi9itB7SVj8/s1600/IMG_3506.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJL0MHjNpwG8Xc39DNz3PC6akx4nG0Ox58WyMnb4lPat8DTB4jPH9svRV0BM-qEJd8yDfKhfsMfgYljQ4YV7NmYyeauN1JPAeMfLcYjYM7EcGmf6z1wxwAGwLXWM94M1bwyi9itB7SVj8/s400/IMG_3506.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600815744064430802" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Our trip to Cuenca was pretty fast and furious, but we had a great time! Now back to the books for another 2 weeks in Spanish school in Quito!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWYO7nRawb8qp99-8Cd4bqe5JnqY350qqGAR1HljT5p-G0c_2Kaw7Pk0wf383cDghA_E18-SxCC_Iu7zFKsmkFbjwAGEkXieZ8le7FGN5xJOLrap9sUwmgUGQkO1tycJyhxgD68T9UlAQ/s1600/IMG_3512.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWYO7nRawb8qp99-8Cd4bqe5JnqY350qqGAR1HljT5p-G0c_2Kaw7Pk0wf383cDghA_E18-SxCC_Iu7zFKsmkFbjwAGEkXieZ8le7FGN5xJOLrap9sUwmgUGQkO1tycJyhxgD68T9UlAQ/s400/IMG_3512.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600816003574625266" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJkYnWNDkX3ZUDA4-ytLNFZLrFRH9X2nU3NFWB_jcoNYU5tGKMV65GU2q0vSq-4qQSrmXfibkCRgvpqlh6MQ5Ggw9Od5d6TR5RFwHFkQ7p-UFfOZKG5LZp-fne8HVUZ8RpXI0LIUjusmE/s1600/IMG_3511+%2528Large%2529.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJkYnWNDkX3ZUDA4-ytLNFZLrFRH9X2nU3NFWB_jcoNYU5tGKMV65GU2q0vSq-4qQSrmXfibkCRgvpqlh6MQ5Ggw9Od5d6TR5RFwHFkQ7p-UFfOZKG5LZp-fne8HVUZ8RpXI0LIUjusmE/s400/IMG_3511+%2528Large%2529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600815785943375090" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Would you date her?? Yes!!<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-36834116445920368802011-04-16T15:38:00.010-03:002011-04-16T18:47:55.867-03:00Quito, Ecuador<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKRx6FMGI7aeYf1oYt4Cv82LXvIfIVqZnDvNf8LRZmQ65m2vlRel02ymgEnrlXXJvRmRyG7RkQ0FyRlZDk3umU1ZzdgqPsSRFQVmI9yV48Vx5i5Cxyb3uQx78rSUiemNqZDb_UETqeeIQ/s1600/photo.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKRx6FMGI7aeYf1oYt4Cv82LXvIfIVqZnDvNf8LRZmQ65m2vlRel02ymgEnrlXXJvRmRyG7RkQ0FyRlZDk3umU1ZzdgqPsSRFQVmI9yV48Vx5i5Cxyb3uQx78rSUiemNqZDb_UETqeeIQ/s400/photo.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596291791564045858" border="0" /></a>Kristin, Salome, Gabrielito, and Ivan<br /><br /></div>After a long-haul from Santiago, the comforts of the Peñaherrera home was a wonderful welcome. After an 8-fruit smoothie, Ramiro's home-roasted coffee (amazing!), and some oatmeal, we were ready to explore the city. We scheduled some Spanish classes for the following weeks and then headed into the Old Town (we are living in the newer, more metropolitan part of town).<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnqMbmcBMiiY8GojaD7syHQG9t2YTXlcR086QTgqp4kvBQlhS7Pt57nlN1gUR7y0k_B1UjHG7JVNzJ1uFwz6QkqU9O8Yr7cAolSGynMjEE_KSVN1kXKBvVsjK2Nsn2Lsm2-8ulrRbK2I/s1600/DSC_4214.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnqMbmcBMiiY8GojaD7syHQG9t2YTXlcR086QTgqp4kvBQlhS7Pt57nlN1gUR7y0k_B1UjHG7JVNzJ1uFwz6QkqU9O8Yr7cAolSGynMjEE_KSVN1kXKBvVsjK2Nsn2Lsm2-8ulrRbK2I/s400/DSC_4214.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596289703933236162" border="0" /></a>The Fambly!<br /></div><br />We decided to scale the massive Basilica, which afforded a pretty incredible view of Quito. Kristin had no problem climbing the steep stairs and sketchy ladders, but Ivan was veritably peeing his pants and swooning with vertigo. It was a bonding experience. The views of the city were phenomenal and the building was very impressive inside and out. We also went into the cathedral, which was massive, and had lots of technicolor stained glass, gold leafing, and lots of candles to set the holy mood.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8nPaf-8fgsAQ18_T9IUBpAGatmSSnkEBNXWKgzonr3AQVWL18yAJKr-judoMjlQjsG2ha_iCmzd98kTe6Jbl2QDA11MTv4njGRMV6AJ-tCwZQ4a8_WPfunsxPEf1Us-hyPX971yQq308/s1600/IMG_3226.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8nPaf-8fgsAQ18_T9IUBpAGatmSSnkEBNXWKgzonr3AQVWL18yAJKr-judoMjlQjsG2ha_iCmzd98kTe6Jbl2QDA11MTv4njGRMV6AJ-tCwZQ4a8_WPfunsxPEf1Us-hyPX971yQq308/s400/IMG_3226.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596290096497787714" border="0" /></a>Plaza Grande<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTx5GOb5mV5DDZWTVebGzV12QnA1Tk-3pYIcfqo5fMa-S4LlmBQUZiSk0V-xO4h3rK02PUIbP2qb0xIm_RAAaTePVJJ3OhxnvxkZW2Pni6rfEIwXJQkLArGGPV6qq6JBhAY2aVb-H0uw/s1600/IMG_3197.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTx5GOb5mV5DDZWTVebGzV12QnA1Tk-3pYIcfqo5fMa-S4LlmBQUZiSk0V-xO4h3rK02PUIbP2qb0xIm_RAAaTePVJJ3OhxnvxkZW2Pni6rfEIwXJQkLArGGPV6qq6JBhAY2aVb-H0uw/s400/IMG_3197.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596290074087493234" border="0" /></a>La Basilica<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiANtAoetKxD68sCzDKbq1VVj0YK3V-6QfNboXJ5dr6EjV2_IuTRUAqcyqhJEFk78yEozAr3-MjmMBUTAybBVUFQ3PbBbR4JIGK-KCiz3nEPZoz_6TC6XaC02OpOHAFR80dVrpi_YYpW-E/s1600/IMG_3208.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiANtAoetKxD68sCzDKbq1VVj0YK3V-6QfNboXJ5dr6EjV2_IuTRUAqcyqhJEFk78yEozAr3-MjmMBUTAybBVUFQ3PbBbR4JIGK-KCiz3nEPZoz_6TC6XaC02OpOHAFR80dVrpi_YYpW-E/s400/IMG_3208.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596290087793345042" border="0" /></a>A couple hundred stairs to work those thighs!<br /><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU898NjEop6P8Cco5hkqYqOw5dOL0uBdp6fVMZJABzQQplYweT8Nl7JnJpRStTtDnU4nKdX4xm0N4cNQFx99zwuhFh2-vAQ60FYQNYxBJhzRUN74llRr6gRO5X0XHtCRIFOH3ozvCuGDY/s1600/IMG_3212.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU898NjEop6P8Cco5hkqYqOw5dOL0uBdp6fVMZJABzQQplYweT8Nl7JnJpRStTtDnU4nKdX4xm0N4cNQFx99zwuhFh2-vAQ60FYQNYxBJhzRUN74llRr6gRO5X0XHtCRIFOH3ozvCuGDY/s400/IMG_3212.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596290091617820962" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5CVDthZ1ATI36DSIeibPitxsPacT7xpiiXGVqZDx3-il3EnDz40q4nciQGzcacNt5h2Jv3R4_mq_8xeDcdDpBuD3rTxc4nmFZ7tfFdfFueDMxJ7B2HY1RZEcWw2R_dKNbKFRlLed7pk0/s1600/IMG_3200.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5CVDthZ1ATI36DSIeibPitxsPacT7xpiiXGVqZDx3-il3EnDz40q4nciQGzcacNt5h2Jv3R4_mq_8xeDcdDpBuD3rTxc4nmFZ7tfFdfFueDMxJ7B2HY1RZEcWw2R_dKNbKFRlLed7pk0/s400/IMG_3200.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596290082810536434" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We then walked into Plaza Grande and Plaza San Francisco. Ivan couldn't believe how much it had changed in the short 4 years that he'd last been in the city. We basically just cruised around and appreciated the architecture, and also the whole-wheat empanadas. Ecuador is refreshingly healthy and has so many food options!! (not that a juicy rib-eye is a bad thing... just not everyday...). The equatorial air and the good food has made a remarkable recovery for Kristin's knee!!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMS82j9m9xd5xUdUDUMhMbLqNrc4B6Xw8KXgm90rUAvgOPpf6WUEEKAaqkSKkweL9hX-Y_Foy2f9K60-mTwcxjRddFuK-AU_MSaMaeoIX_JPBtgx3iY0RgL3YUswGoAuQDqVpRaAhhLPE/s1600/IMG_3228.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMS82j9m9xd5xUdUDUMhMbLqNrc4B6Xw8KXgm90rUAvgOPpf6WUEEKAaqkSKkweL9hX-Y_Foy2f9K60-mTwcxjRddFuK-AU_MSaMaeoIX_JPBtgx3iY0RgL3YUswGoAuQDqVpRaAhhLPE/s400/IMG_3228.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596290314524760514" border="0" /></a>Empanada Boy<br /></div><br />Speaking of amazing food, a favorite outing for us is to go to the bustling local mercado that displays goods from all over the diverse country. The pictures should be able to paint a fairly accurate picture of the variety and abundance of their produce. The 8-fruit smoothie has many different combinations!!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk3FhylIIY6WxN3iHsIsGZMloBk237GijYfi-V8mny-t17UjmIRWA6_PaLokDWpQ496dSCTqx1EnBaDd3AOVgaafTyzo0cxqo1C6uuOhyDz68oV7qMDOiQCa4b3xhQGQUbQilOu6yXboo/s1600/IMG_3231.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk3FhylIIY6WxN3iHsIsGZMloBk237GijYfi-V8mny-t17UjmIRWA6_PaLokDWpQ496dSCTqx1EnBaDd3AOVgaafTyzo0cxqo1C6uuOhyDz68oV7qMDOiQCa4b3xhQGQUbQilOu6yXboo/s400/IMG_3231.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596290316045522610" border="0" /></a><br />Just a little bit to choose from...<br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIcZKIbcPW0zpXE1eGQ_iariZhC9ALtAp50cRexUxwb6LWyE6ryPCOt_nUlwGuCik_MUZ4KYiiZssNTeZOBjENM2E6rb9dHZSM0zDiVv8Uw34q0bPH-YKz0Ex2ATF73xyfTNDiFWgxljs/s1600/IMG_3244.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIcZKIbcPW0zpXE1eGQ_iariZhC9ALtAp50cRexUxwb6LWyE6ryPCOt_nUlwGuCik_MUZ4KYiiZssNTeZOBjENM2E6rb9dHZSM0zDiVv8Uw34q0bPH-YKz0Ex2ATF73xyfTNDiFWgxljs/s400/IMG_3244.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596290569793820258" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI5hiO9MSn6c2ixM5EaN8zVgVT8MDzbdCjAvB1kJtfaqHQasFL6KrkVAl6Wjo0WmSfZ13kL7k8lJHRtxxJtDULA87QLV1bDkTGgwJuPpbUtOILIwDcrLvSOR9HuXpTxj5fMOpbkLqmFpQ/s1600/IMG_3243.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI5hiO9MSn6c2ixM5EaN8zVgVT8MDzbdCjAvB1kJtfaqHQasFL6KrkVAl6Wjo0WmSfZ13kL7k8lJHRtxxJtDULA87QLV1bDkTGgwJuPpbUtOILIwDcrLvSOR9HuXpTxj5fMOpbkLqmFpQ/s400/IMG_3243.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596290329392997330" border="0" /></a>Bartering<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrRQdy1V1sd56_kJ_xqLmbHDo0fhlSXw9XGzy-pRCW-jyvR7MpLbcF5PhsN1Q01GFvCD34Chi8HH0yz-y7zpARimBIZrmhYYO0_qT_Z4CVZzifTcX3r3YBeESM3JTQtv7-IOq6V9b3Iw/s1600/IMG_3237.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrRQdy1V1sd56_kJ_xqLmbHDo0fhlSXw9XGzy-pRCW-jyvR7MpLbcF5PhsN1Q01GFvCD34Chi8HH0yz-y7zpARimBIZrmhYYO0_qT_Z4CVZzifTcX3r3YBeESM3JTQtv7-IOq6V9b3Iw/s400/IMG_3237.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596290328443046626" border="0" /></a>aji<br /><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKqGXIT7a3zvsAkr-2J9dkpMzH61jNcZaNSJk0JLdxCJS7Vzd-Ja2XN8w6KpO7MMhl2IHWi_EvpQAsgfBowaA6zOyFgCrkvLX1jZOCnSAVL3jC9Ya842U9jggsvfr0McZB6qsnbl_5YtM/s1600/IMG_3236.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKqGXIT7a3zvsAkr-2J9dkpMzH61jNcZaNSJk0JLdxCJS7Vzd-Ja2XN8w6KpO7MMhl2IHWi_EvpQAsgfBowaA6zOyFgCrkvLX1jZOCnSAVL3jC9Ya842U9jggsvfr0McZB6qsnbl_5YtM/s400/IMG_3236.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596290322061795938" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We also have been taking 4 hours of Spanish classes 5 days a week. We are both really improving our conversation and understanding of the language. Also fortunate, Ecuadorians are fairly easy to understand (basically, the opposite of the rapid-fire slang-laden Chileans!!).<br /><br />Another great outing was to the cacao finca towards the coast. We went with Ramiro's partner Fernando, who was relatively soft-spoken, but wonderful to chat with (which was good since we spent over 9 hours in the truck together that day). The finca is only an hour from the coast, which is where all our subsidized bananas come from. There were banana trees as far as the eye could see. Fascinating to see how one of America's favorite staple fruits was grown (as an aside, a fresh tree-ripened banana is in a totally different league than the yellow logs we've become accustomed to up north. A fresh banana is an amazing thing). It was obviously incredibly hot and humid, but the bugs weren't too hungry -- even the blaring sun seemed to much for them. The finca is around 22 hectares and borders an impressive river at the lower end. We walked the perimeter of the property with Fernando, Edgar (the foreman), and a GPS. The Garmin GPS was pretty nifty, and after our walk we could see the perimeter of the property, and measure its area. Lots of banana and cacao trees, as well as some corn and rice that had been left behind by the previous owners. The cacao trees looked very familiar -- kinda like a tropical avocado, but with a giant oblong star-shaped fruit that is filled with one of our favorite seeds -- chocolate!!!. We were very grateful for the opportunity to see the production of bananas, cacao, and some other tropical crops. On the drive home, we bought 15 pounds of fresh tropical fruit for $5.00 -- pineapples, mangos, coconuts, papaya, etc... A very productive, delicious, and beautiful part of the world.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9IDupYzwy5bRPGC8Qh533WUP2adwhfC_PoPFKNsKKFnl8f2XmtGFwdjaa6YdKrFaFrEedlPuwqI1wwRNHGMqf8c0efxu8QGKL-WccivUtpDUdSQIHmg8Ttgv0064gLnnYTvNQdDGtJ8/s1600/IMG_3291.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9IDupYzwy5bRPGC8Qh533WUP2adwhfC_PoPFKNsKKFnl8f2XmtGFwdjaa6YdKrFaFrEedlPuwqI1wwRNHGMqf8c0efxu8QGKL-WccivUtpDUdSQIHmg8Ttgv0064gLnnYTvNQdDGtJ8/s400/IMG_3291.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596291112737412898" border="0" /></a><br />Since chemicals are so expensive, farmers use these perforated blue plastic bags to protect their yellow gold. <br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4Y4_vKlTVR8KXWWHw6QLTDnrhnJugz-6dIEMcDJkhZBCwxXy9mwibmIDM-txy7u-b11K9coJa18yzbVh6d1T_fNEmulqKxM5gfZfe86ToR0ryKGhmUs4AFL5bt7_cWtuXsKCL-avZuk/s1600/DSC_4158.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4Y4_vKlTVR8KXWWHw6QLTDnrhnJugz-6dIEMcDJkhZBCwxXy9mwibmIDM-txy7u-b11K9coJa18yzbVh6d1T_fNEmulqKxM5gfZfe86ToR0ryKGhmUs4AFL5bt7_cWtuXsKCL-avZuk/s400/DSC_4158.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596289690252188466" border="0" /></a>Banana and cacao trees<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDiunlZXnZ8FySm_fZz32w_qocFJZEDdrFL-PCrcSde7vgYXAVC_28fdVEIWY-6PWC8ymOW1U7sS_7NBVd-05I93WbEL7dWGDa8gOOVY2B1hO0JS8KlADzGWfEKA0zL0l767K2Q7xTaA/s1600/IMG_3295.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDiunlZXnZ8FySm_fZz32w_qocFJZEDdrFL-PCrcSde7vgYXAVC_28fdVEIWY-6PWC8ymOW1U7sS_7NBVd-05I93WbEL7dWGDa8gOOVY2B1hO0JS8KlADzGWfEKA0zL0l767K2Q7xTaA/s400/IMG_3295.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596291126085333954" border="0" /></a>Very dense vegetation<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGqe8ml9QskroO75Nuvq9KA_fh04yjzSh7K6PFFMfSuWL69cbJMUeh46jA_uddaO9P3AVRaentZrgIoCFQocsV5rBC6kbCIanYWqc6jHfw0h7f2ToFkojwAfG0txfByFUB2XmIjar_Kg0/s1600/IMG_3294.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGqe8ml9QskroO75Nuvq9KA_fh04yjzSh7K6PFFMfSuWL69cbJMUeh46jA_uddaO9P3AVRaentZrgIoCFQocsV5rBC6kbCIanYWqc6jHfw0h7f2ToFkojwAfG0txfByFUB2XmIjar_Kg0/s400/IMG_3294.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596291121733557394" border="0" /></a>Rice at bottom, and corn on hillside<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTAcvfjNbGBPocBhw9E3SuevKeftsOzrNQjKUH1K80Ru9d56yOTjVvgaIFq1J8rc0DaR5zv5tYlojO4aaXefvKM6fi6drQAY7ZK0x-xGxT20lzpqIPZEhAD3GqFaMau7en-h5cH_LeFZY/s1600/IMG_3305.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTAcvfjNbGBPocBhw9E3SuevKeftsOzrNQjKUH1K80Ru9d56yOTjVvgaIFq1J8rc0DaR5zv5tYlojO4aaXefvKM6fi6drQAY7ZK0x-xGxT20lzpqIPZEhAD3GqFaMau7en-h5cH_LeFZY/s400/IMG_3305.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596291127304646450" border="0" /></a>The cacao fruit<br /><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56pNBjDK6TpKXe0E_MyW3O38ulKAGedOSu1GLumoQoBRttYboqNuCqG30QXFu__tcdNT1cOKfGy4GEZr5lyrRriTrIPrD12P0fhHUQQASEJyIeMKIna39hnoza58vKNGtHZJJuGYR7gc/s1600/DSC_4185.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56pNBjDK6TpKXe0E_MyW3O38ulKAGedOSu1GLumoQoBRttYboqNuCqG30QXFu__tcdNT1cOKfGy4GEZr5lyrRriTrIPrD12P0fhHUQQASEJyIeMKIna39hnoza58vKNGtHZJJuGYR7gc/s400/DSC_4185.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596289700304192322" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPBssrR9fxwahyphenhyphen_hpQIlZ33a5QshnXriouYKV7bsf9_iqf7o9HbIWMvnM_WKYb0SNjsGINDmM2QBxRDMe8pXg3KY1VhdoYORZUJz5hEiwS5O8oPPXicJQdP21PVsjzQhTJ0g3ShbFvco/s1600/IMG_3279.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPBssrR9fxwahyphenhyphen_hpQIlZ33a5QshnXriouYKV7bsf9_iqf7o9HbIWMvnM_WKYb0SNjsGINDmM2QBxRDMe8pXg3KY1VhdoYORZUJz5hEiwS5O8oPPXicJQdP21PVsjzQhTJ0g3ShbFvco/s400/IMG_3279.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596291110148395730" border="0" /></a>Lets eat one!!<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRU0VU00R5QskbRqkPhptxBEtwP0MAtxPkNW7-S9-w0ABHXrxU3MXJZzJ0e7HTlfry959_jMTCIV9CvXa7_iGbkMYmNdG2uToJWB62WTkHfeiZEKskOn7gioUBQGN33FUX6nWdJQgxkcM/s1600/IMG_3320.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRU0VU00R5QskbRqkPhptxBEtwP0MAtxPkNW7-S9-w0ABHXrxU3MXJZzJ0e7HTlfry959_jMTCIV9CvXa7_iGbkMYmNdG2uToJWB62WTkHfeiZEKskOn7gioUBQGN33FUX6nWdJQgxkcM/s400/IMG_3320.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596291535059471394" border="0" /></a>Banana delivery<br /></div><br />Another outing was to Cotocachi, where Kristin and Salome where on a mission to buy some of the town's renowned handmade leather goods. The leather products were remarkable, and of top quality. Kristin looks pretty sexy in her new black boots!!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBchINCj3YI_rz6jXi6uoYkB0VRMz5oTT-O_PmLi0vnOQCWUvkThlBp3Hhfa3CsLltGTPtslTZFEPtQR42Bj8gwv1St4dUw7WJCi0GgHegQd_5RHsi1gKesjSI8Oc1Vt9DzXuahnRPrP4/s1600/IMG_3338.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBchINCj3YI_rz6jXi6uoYkB0VRMz5oTT-O_PmLi0vnOQCWUvkThlBp3Hhfa3CsLltGTPtslTZFEPtQR42Bj8gwv1St4dUw7WJCi0GgHegQd_5RHsi1gKesjSI8Oc1Vt9DzXuahnRPrP4/s400/IMG_3338.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596291545820583362" border="0" /></a>Grabriel, Ramiro, and great great Grandpa<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie1fLbwT65HTbXVFEQW0v9xbEJNgSWS0rD_lhiOTFsrZsjvczemqVzPQjK-vlxXaH-DNE9sLU3tAIEPggF72wEInFA5bKKA1xBBYFDAhnHc4NalVfk8vJahrQgLSmQVR7roWJomfQpk-A/s1600/IMG_3343.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie1fLbwT65HTbXVFEQW0v9xbEJNgSWS0rD_lhiOTFsrZsjvczemqVzPQjK-vlxXaH-DNE9sLU3tAIEPggF72wEInFA5bKKA1xBBYFDAhnHc4NalVfk8vJahrQgLSmQVR7roWJomfQpk-A/s400/IMG_3343.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596291553034004322" border="0" /></a>Kristin's new kicks<br /></div><br />Salome gave us a taste of her business (pun totally intended), which is the botique-style honey business. The Ecuadorian Honey Company has many unique honey flavors from all over Ecuador, and displays them in a beautiful box too. The honey tasting was sensational - our senses were put to the test by the very exotic and unique honey's. There were radish, avocado, eucalyptus, tropical flowers, wildflower, and many many more. Salome works with many different bee keepers and puts their collective efforts into a beautiful box that she designed herself. Maybe we'll bring some home -- if we don't eat it all first!!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3araF49AK0kNhovGDKy0IK-3K6WqRteiJG3temaj23kztyeUe2mdnoEE22sKTq_ABH4d-Ay9Fpbm4gbDeayJPRYZnsAvxACzt2sY_R3qCsv94zALTr1FXpuobP_iKTQ4JhEnCGM4LtuM/s1600/IMG_3269.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3araF49AK0kNhovGDKy0IK-3K6WqRteiJG3temaj23kztyeUe2mdnoEE22sKTq_ABH4d-Ay9Fpbm4gbDeayJPRYZnsAvxACzt2sY_R3qCsv94zALTr1FXpuobP_iKTQ4JhEnCGM4LtuM/s400/IMG_3269.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596290580480588962" border="0" /></a>Salome's beautiful honey assortment (only some of the flavors)<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzxwadHkJaanwJXgj9fTKFxbiXosg6S5ZYzTs2-zWd6gkaZdLG-XUlsz1-doPYKmOtis5qzPbNxz99ygGK2PQtpzA8wQgIX47UPlW7rIAuIpcyMMMzAN8Qb3mhjOrevEGXTMMVuhyphenhyphennvl8/s1600/IMG_3268.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzxwadHkJaanwJXgj9fTKFxbiXosg6S5ZYzTs2-zWd6gkaZdLG-XUlsz1-doPYKmOtis5qzPbNxz99ygGK2PQtpzA8wQgIX47UPlW7rIAuIpcyMMMzAN8Qb3mhjOrevEGXTMMVuhyphenhyphennvl8/s400/IMG_3268.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596290577155263986" border="0" /></a>Gourmet tasting<br /></div><br /><br />Every Sunday is exercise/bike day in Quito. The main street, Las Amazonas, crosses from one end of the long city to the other, and is used exclusively by walkers, joggers, and bikers. It was a great way to see the city and not have to worry about the crazed taxi drivers that rattle and belch at unreasonable speeds.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPM41XxdDfkfnFeFgfi-4WW4MnX8Xs5eMNAEyOJl0hcp8xHD-CV0Qj2yXdR8uwpyLzIJuuFKB_979-l7MBHkCOgnnIWybCTQkmlp7fRi7wVl_Gns-nsuofwb_wKXhpCu5GIFroqeTlfsI/s1600/IMG_3328.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPM41XxdDfkfnFeFgfi-4WW4MnX8Xs5eMNAEyOJl0hcp8xHD-CV0Qj2yXdR8uwpyLzIJuuFKB_979-l7MBHkCOgnnIWybCTQkmlp7fRi7wVl_Gns-nsuofwb_wKXhpCu5GIFroqeTlfsI/s400/IMG_3328.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596291539618605090" border="0" /></a>Safety first!!<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rb5NRJyaPff__5gRJhKN_c9lby7eYZKsRWDjtNUiE60S5NxewZf9XCBU60erPykINGc-rAz2YN5Kohtv-OFtc5saorfeneyVLwKas_YWeanTnB8Gp2Qa5MERAYoA-U47wJ7s-qg1Gv0/s1600/IMG_3252.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rb5NRJyaPff__5gRJhKN_c9lby7eYZKsRWDjtNUiE60S5NxewZf9XCBU60erPykINGc-rAz2YN5Kohtv-OFtc5saorfeneyVLwKas_YWeanTnB8Gp2Qa5MERAYoA-U47wJ7s-qg1Gv0/s400/IMG_3252.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596290572486166018" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXWByp4e-m1AEjXB0IjFHbjigGSZS9SVmH-rcRvywARIaees0f5Ory4n9mJ5WwuuhEY-jLzHOw3OA_1iVmZjO14JFDhw1D9f3MQ0s5xnweU6zwjucVlpuoRHrPX7nx9Br3D-hNBXKIK4/s1600/IMG_3249.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXWByp4e-m1AEjXB0IjFHbjigGSZS9SVmH-rcRvywARIaees0f5Ory4n9mJ5WwuuhEY-jLzHOw3OA_1iVmZjO14JFDhw1D9f3MQ0s5xnweU6zwjucVlpuoRHrPX7nx9Br3D-hNBXKIK4/s400/IMG_3249.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596290571012045042" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />As part of our fantastic immersion in the Peñaherrera household, we have been introduced to some great cuisines. We have had many traditional dishes and soups, as well as some favorites from the neighborhood. We have already indulged at the Indian restaurant 4 times. yummm! We have also been baking and cooking a lot, and it is so great to have a fully stocked kitchen to create in. Ramiro and Salome are also very grateful recipients of our creations. Pretty awesome!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUla2bQAQtyYSah-qBlf5qQ97AVZwzk7Q8R_at-Zwmh0VCrWncM8Dx4weMk5MvL8skMe2FCswHgjpTxiSxthghpkf9ZjEa-Jj04o97J7B4Gyer7rKvFFn5kyHDCBU0w3wb9rv9Di9VhFI/s1600/IMG_3352.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUla2bQAQtyYSah-qBlf5qQ97AVZwzk7Q8R_at-Zwmh0VCrWncM8Dx4weMk5MvL8skMe2FCswHgjpTxiSxthghpkf9ZjEa-Jj04o97J7B4Gyer7rKvFFn5kyHDCBU0w3wb9rv9Di9VhFI/s400/IMG_3352.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596291784421004882" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07bOI23uEFlOivcKvJBjUQOzi_2YYpO-xYVPv84cXukWXZ3Bkpvf0lzMRoh3BfTSHPgXgVn6c-9ecZWDroDzACW0fRPtJbgjWEyVaUv1_f4n9qZev0I8PKHxW5xeTssGsKU-n5i61LeY/s1600/IMG_3350.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07bOI23uEFlOivcKvJBjUQOzi_2YYpO-xYVPv84cXukWXZ3Bkpvf0lzMRoh3BfTSHPgXgVn6c-9ecZWDroDzACW0fRPtJbgjWEyVaUv1_f4n9qZev0I8PKHxW5xeTssGsKU-n5i61LeY/s400/IMG_3350.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596291557256073186" border="0" /></a>Hungry hippos!!<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwaaw7YxbINuMLq_GNQNK1m-uIknGPzULdmhow2P2clpVSjObWK58Kg43_w-6u0cTZpsePEIYxKvnUKw6PZwFf1XzTXrBMjkgOa3Sz1KVz1keMBU1Oo20-305m6o8s6gJTGBXNsdwbSxU/s1600/DSC_4209.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwaaw7YxbINuMLq_GNQNK1m-uIknGPzULdmhow2P2clpVSjObWK58Kg43_w-6u0cTZpsePEIYxKvnUKw6PZwFf1XzTXrBMjkgOa3Sz1KVz1keMBU1Oo20-305m6o8s6gJTGBXNsdwbSxU/s400/DSC_4209.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596289702784543282" border="0" /></a>Harvesting coffee (don't worry, its Fair Trade with Gabriel's help)<br /><br /><br /></div><br />After 3 weeks at school and around Quito, we decided to hop on a plane and spend a week in Cuenca for a little 'spring break!' Pura VidaKristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-17009324971335352102011-04-03T17:52:00.012-03:002011-04-04T00:40:27.186-03:00Chile - Vina del Mar and Valparaiso<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGtQfyBWfL0CtUyFyeqlR_iwsUTOOqetNfcJTay_OjdHck4XvN-Wy2dPXH6rOPOMoeJ2yAEM04_kBNamtKGAXdzvAqyik3Mh6ymsTC9E6MnekpqT-itg-cytzHUU6yDK_K5bdLrPF7b0o/s1600/IMG_3108.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGtQfyBWfL0CtUyFyeqlR_iwsUTOOqetNfcJTay_OjdHck4XvN-Wy2dPXH6rOPOMoeJ2yAEM04_kBNamtKGAXdzvAqyik3Mh6ymsTC9E6MnekpqT-itg-cytzHUU6yDK_K5bdLrPF7b0o/s400/IMG_3108.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591492081596636290" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbXBRTGlY9wscq6zj4MM5VUR68CSVuywhZ_ozbTHI2nWGR5POuB4Q8e9nfcAB9-irkN09jmFji_mP9lhr2gd5KUDCljCF2K1Apn2BNBhcQ1gAqccnZi9KT50Su-Z4Vx0c9EHQdX5AckSQ/s1600/IMG_3104.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbXBRTGlY9wscq6zj4MM5VUR68CSVuywhZ_ozbTHI2nWGR5POuB4Q8e9nfcAB9-irkN09jmFji_mP9lhr2gd5KUDCljCF2K1Apn2BNBhcQ1gAqccnZi9KT50Su-Z4Vx0c9EHQdX5AckSQ/s400/IMG_3104.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591492078852168722" border="0" /></a><br /><br />On March 17th we crossed through the impressive Andes from Mendoza to Vina del Mar. The trasition from the fertile arid basin of Mendoza to the bleak high Andes, and then dropping down into green coastal Chile was impressive. The border crossing was straight forward and we even felt the distant ripples a 4.2 earthquake while we were up there! The first thing we noticed about Chile was their superior roads. Definitely a huge improvement from the mediocre roads we were accustomed to on the Argentine side. The roads were wider, smoother, and wound around the mountains with far more grace. The difference between the two southern cone countries was immediately apparent. The drive from the mountains down to the coast was beautiful and the impact of development was pretty obvious as well. The Chileans take pride in their progress..!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHvTs4frRAQjZm3j28ocdNZkv_1IIl_aL8E0o9ncMeIjfIXLeG-0PWVWS1nXA7Wvv2p0WhTwDJOv0kTrFGmpfhLKRu-mmLmG02u2jDBIxKlaoP1oPOdYj32Urxc3rqwQKRgG8hfuNW46k/s1600/IMG_3102.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHvTs4frRAQjZm3j28ocdNZkv_1IIl_aL8E0o9ncMeIjfIXLeG-0PWVWS1nXA7Wvv2p0WhTwDJOv0kTrFGmpfhLKRu-mmLmG02u2jDBIxKlaoP1oPOdYj32Urxc3rqwQKRgG8hfuNW46k/s400/IMG_3102.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591492072044102690" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXhMKOYQULd-O0erg-nnMkPIxPL4DL5a8VAq-w3b-DLCvY5_6xxUdJTS8q4fNvTcUaL2adDtoXnbTkpr45UijRT0q3ABygCjbVdzUui9Uey2lX4DpooLRqbER1IVSEESIzkCZmfvgiLPM/s1600/IMG_3111.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXhMKOYQULd-O0erg-nnMkPIxPL4DL5a8VAq-w3b-DLCvY5_6xxUdJTS8q4fNvTcUaL2adDtoXnbTkpr45UijRT0q3ABygCjbVdzUui9Uey2lX4DpooLRqbER1IVSEESIzkCZmfvgiLPM/s400/IMG_3111.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591492080283975522" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Ivan had the great insight to get off the bus in Vina rather than Valparaiso, so he got to pay an expensive taxi ride for that mistake... But once we got to our charming hostal by the busy port, all was forgiven. Lucky for us, that night we were invited to visit Stas's host family that she had lived with for 4 months last year. Sandra, Fiorella, Stefano, and Francesca were wonderful hosts and they welcomed us with open arms. After a long bus ride, it was really great to be in such a happy and welcoming household. We spent the evening sharing stories and munching on a tasty array of treats. Pretty incredible to see someone so close to Stas on the other side of the globe!!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoUfeySLYye5Rk9kLfg0nTja2uDZhh0rkmt0qaLYlgVCs8zptjOXaPNSI6UEr8HoNwlO7OuqsB3cv3DAwC8FVGpp3gtWgWZ4eo-8W1RDp5SGxJkqL4Xc21e5qalzCMA2vAaLDDp2bd9s/s1600/IMG_3118.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoUfeySLYye5Rk9kLfg0nTja2uDZhh0rkmt0qaLYlgVCs8zptjOXaPNSI6UEr8HoNwlO7OuqsB3cv3DAwC8FVGpp3gtWgWZ4eo-8W1RDp5SGxJkqL4Xc21e5qalzCMA2vAaLDDp2bd9s/s400/IMG_3118.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591492090469936754" border="0" /></a><br />A feast was prepared in honor of us<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0XTy2JebShy9eh75YBhMhoorW1LPm9tHEZNqetA1iExN8KrstXXb8cy7B3PSu5NACaWsCFnuTQxIYEc9xQxH8f3vzprnl-_zHwMP0XLKZYCOjSn3leBweFqT1c1_tB4rbvVa4K-_KvQ/s1600/IMG_3119.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0XTy2JebShy9eh75YBhMhoorW1LPm9tHEZNqetA1iExN8KrstXXb8cy7B3PSu5NACaWsCFnuTQxIYEc9xQxH8f3vzprnl-_zHwMP0XLKZYCOjSn3leBweFqT1c1_tB4rbvVa4K-_KvQ/s400/IMG_3119.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591493264374727954" border="0" /></a><br />Only missing Stas!<br /><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyoZUjUxhKK6iaVhEgTu86INl4zI9M9KA4jchaxmkt9hDKJDAhF22C8Mpp12hAVeX-HFzHGhtK6GBthK1I47FEyrUzlH914ZP0y7XC4XvliyVqw4qk5MGzSt4XrdU__RAX-8GQpQBvak/s1600/IMG_3263.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyoZUjUxhKK6iaVhEgTu86INl4zI9M9KA4jchaxmkt9hDKJDAhF22C8Mpp12hAVeX-HFzHGhtK6GBthK1I47FEyrUzlH914ZP0y7XC4XvliyVqw4qk5MGzSt4XrdU__RAX-8GQpQBvak/s400/IMG_3263.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591494910837720418" border="0" /></a><br />A wonderful gift from a loving, warm family! Que Suerte<br /></div><br />The following day we walked all over Valparaiso, and climbed some roads whose steepness might even rival those of San Francisco..! Actually, the city really did remind us of San Fran, with the huge port, the breezy coastal winds, colorful buildings (mostly graffiti), local mercados and a good chance for a devastating earthquake. The hills offered some incredible views! The highlight of the day was walking through Pablo Neruda's house and seeing his quirky collections, interesting architecture, and his poetry haunts. A very memorable tour. Afterwords, we walked to an amazing restaurant and each had a world class fish recipe. yumm!!!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh82T0t6yxan8hd3Eve7hcKu5zOcpHRT6FIZsHOBvl71k__YlXI0yJZchDcqbpQ6TjWXFFiP670KE0a3JySuwC0EOn4X_dXBQ6oPIQ71pLeuG91wcQRQWqmCYmPitZiQC5dQSdaStq6fnQ/s1600/IMG_3170.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh82T0t6yxan8hd3Eve7hcKu5zOcpHRT6FIZsHOBvl71k__YlXI0yJZchDcqbpQ6TjWXFFiP670KE0a3JySuwC0EOn4X_dXBQ6oPIQ71pLeuG91wcQRQWqmCYmPitZiQC5dQSdaStq6fnQ/s400/IMG_3170.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591494344090547570" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKz-4xNN9ya5sWhuaTUC2CK0WpN4docmcpkM_vakHGcd2nwY2iP6gh0uKX9BY5GeGBUPcbvsbkbc44Oo0FWK0oc2fimV-N7up99GhMiWtfz5baC-CmQWXqNy4NS4yOgsNjuhfHgEVeto/s1600/IMG_3130.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKz-4xNN9ya5sWhuaTUC2CK0WpN4docmcpkM_vakHGcd2nwY2iP6gh0uKX9BY5GeGBUPcbvsbkbc44Oo0FWK0oc2fimV-N7up99GhMiWtfz5baC-CmQWXqNy4NS4yOgsNjuhfHgEVeto/s400/IMG_3130.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591493271854923138" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd8fv7pGfa0gSuFsgUL6FmYrN165Ebvqt-nFJj6dpjGBqdf0gjypuLNaeCARYNPCauy1lav22NsO0rwWvDA9BOW7q4lgD6cPOi1zZRgC1ai-YJ2bB1GL_7a52Y31RyJoT3s01s2Ut8r3o/s1600/IMG_3128.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd8fv7pGfa0gSuFsgUL6FmYrN165Ebvqt-nFJj6dpjGBqdf0gjypuLNaeCARYNPCauy1lav22NsO0rwWvDA9BOW7q4lgD6cPOi1zZRgC1ai-YJ2bB1GL_7a52Y31RyJoT3s01s2Ut8r3o/s400/IMG_3128.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591493266910811698" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Tram ride up the steep hill<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ee48mPfUSs_ZhTRqYg0cQIriV6rvHckOxMLMk4ZEUPLM7TE1uh-IAZqQZ8s_uBfL0sYf_5eNSW4NFUWxlhOu4PDx6tdCj1oHW3Qs1v-XNCRRcRZj7CPSfqzk4WyOp044DsWXzGl1a48/s1600/IMG_3159.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ee48mPfUSs_ZhTRqYg0cQIriV6rvHckOxMLMk4ZEUPLM7TE1uh-IAZqQZ8s_uBfL0sYf_5eNSW4NFUWxlhOu4PDx6tdCj1oHW3Qs1v-XNCRRcRZj7CPSfqzk4WyOp044DsWXzGl1a48/s400/IMG_3159.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591493867465367778" border="0" /></a><br />Sooo excited to be visiting one of her favorite poet's homes!<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8E28EjbBbVp0QSixXGwVT2OkUxkB4X7KmbRab9ClBZ1UzYLsdTrJHhI65hQNpv0FqTpxBW4fKzAKw193XlWRs7-rQ82HoMq-rMHMdUUu_woD_fM71WqClCTg035-VIH7dj1c70YEFYPk/s1600/IMG_3158.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8E28EjbBbVp0QSixXGwVT2OkUxkB4X7KmbRab9ClBZ1UzYLsdTrJHhI65hQNpv0FqTpxBW4fKzAKw193XlWRs7-rQ82HoMq-rMHMdUUu_woD_fM71WqClCTg035-VIH7dj1c70YEFYPk/s400/IMG_3158.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591493863877875058" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Pablo's 5 story funky-colorful-antique house<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFcY9uc-4qlGRTtyXONONkKwCBdD2NsNbh8gOoGzGe6eocei4FB_xf6pZRs61MYxfStuJJFbCIggT6ajng21Jzer_S4vrRFDe3vFnQcBuh2FTrwdaNJLZ7tRtSjC4NRCZVC54SCgUndTg/s1600/IMG_3156.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFcY9uc-4qlGRTtyXONONkKwCBdD2NsNbh8gOoGzGe6eocei4FB_xf6pZRs61MYxfStuJJFbCIggT6ajng21Jzer_S4vrRFDe3vFnQcBuh2FTrwdaNJLZ7tRtSjC4NRCZVC54SCgUndTg/s400/IMG_3156.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591493862014747410" border="0" /></a><br />The view from Pablo's living room (first name basis...)<br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSLVCbQgWj2v3rcuXMMiL1Pzx5EckP18Lc3QYjLuw1Db0BxR7mCsM1EFbY0-mITosxuZSy3A0vBUZExE1XQFgVS-JabWrYiQVRtaU0ZRXj8cNviAdgh5j3P1Le0ejjPpINvN0jHRFKslY/s1600/IMG_3140.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSLVCbQgWj2v3rcuXMMiL1Pzx5EckP18Lc3QYjLuw1Db0BxR7mCsM1EFbY0-mITosxuZSy3A0vBUZExE1XQFgVS-JabWrYiQVRtaU0ZRXj8cNviAdgh5j3P1Le0ejjPpINvN0jHRFKslY/s400/IMG_3140.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591493275687519218" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggiK3Us59oNRopwkBZxP1pFrqg7SR-ABw_uwhSS7ocVQh9pBkLraWKVdLLRtlhbOjMHQfcSiOEnTuj9QUqZzjd5WRpNEX1i0lpilVYKtDTMmEM512zGyjFVkZGoaaWI0tF9sdJ5zA4Ne8/s1600/IMG_3139.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggiK3Us59oNRopwkBZxP1pFrqg7SR-ABw_uwhSS7ocVQh9pBkLraWKVdLLRtlhbOjMHQfcSiOEnTuj9QUqZzjd5WRpNEX1i0lpilVYKtDTMmEM512zGyjFVkZGoaaWI0tF9sdJ5zA4Ne8/s400/IMG_3139.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591493276701580338" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Port Valparaiso<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />After sharing a bottle of wine and licking our plates clean we walked down through the winding streets. We even saw part of the Valparaiso Cerro Bajo course (an extreme urban downhill race). Too bad Ivan didn't have a bike..!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmVlRZs9kLGn8Ci9nFdSP3m2g4Lho9KhoDkNBfvgmR21hEDw5bp7nRfR6g3ECuFfPyvN3nt3lsl984fKqYnAJKXwDixL2I8lKnEQUTvFOf2nn0wA_8vwc5AHKqKXptDk_H_VC8pk1uGMI/s1600/IMG_3162.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmVlRZs9kLGn8Ci9nFdSP3m2g4Lho9KhoDkNBfvgmR21hEDw5bp7nRfR6g3ECuFfPyvN3nt3lsl984fKqYnAJKXwDixL2I8lKnEQUTvFOf2nn0wA_8vwc5AHKqKXptDk_H_VC8pk1uGMI/s400/IMG_3162.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591493874946210162" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNQNNFM_UtX4gmQbYhrE-yck3yx4U4baHIFR-m1CnFtFm3T0wdkZnIR3LX1uyj5LZo_dPwy0pmv2edYHWSB_fc0Y38jo8mJcNPWSh7oqDypvIov7x2UgQeXgQv0bAT1KTV1u7umFZPb5s/s1600/IMG_3166.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNQNNFM_UtX4gmQbYhrE-yck3yx4U4baHIFR-m1CnFtFm3T0wdkZnIR3LX1uyj5LZo_dPwy0pmv2edYHWSB_fc0Y38jo8mJcNPWSh7oqDypvIov7x2UgQeXgQv0bAT1KTV1u7umFZPb5s/s400/IMG_3166.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591494341926335122" border="0" /></a><br />Ivan's Swordfish with spinach alfredo and veggies<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDhrbqqd4ownbskRXcYPiA1ag5kynFXwmrhqDrVpKbJc3f79H6A0_03fI2lo_duc4_4z7xufpDynYJIA18yrYUUhNOkEzmbMu0oLsaZvvV164Vy_4fnXQUBEg5FfAHDgzjwOH1j1cfv2I/s1600/IMG_3164.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDhrbqqd4ownbskRXcYPiA1ag5kynFXwmrhqDrVpKbJc3f79H6A0_03fI2lo_duc4_4z7xufpDynYJIA18yrYUUhNOkEzmbMu0oLsaZvvV164Vy_4fnXQUBEg5FfAHDgzjwOH1j1cfv2I/s400/IMG_3164.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591494335876131138" border="0" /></a><br />Kristin's Curried Rockfish with wild rice<br /><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMa6819xtFyGnIfhVxkj9Dx2myqHkMR6jLWP9x8I9oFdmn0AyunqqCTn2yPSIiD-aScGOmGPtqmnxEaFloKO73bQ_vEsKF1-um-b8nRfWVFD1LZycEWx1QBo8o-F6ZkwQjrNR9ggypCiM/s1600/IMG_3172.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMa6819xtFyGnIfhVxkj9Dx2myqHkMR6jLWP9x8I9oFdmn0AyunqqCTn2yPSIiD-aScGOmGPtqmnxEaFloKO73bQ_vEsKF1-um-b8nRfWVFD1LZycEWx1QBo8o-F6ZkwQjrNR9ggypCiM/s400/IMG_3172.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591494344233351042" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />The following day we toured around Valparaiso some more, discovered some great markets, and took it fairly easy. We soaked up the smells and tastes of the Pacific Ocean that we had been missing for the past 6 months. Which by the way, March 18th marked the 6 month travel anniversary of Ivan and Kristin traveling together through South America!! WOW!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhraFVSjTpurEBUuZJ-v9hkjsyJBOMwM4hsvfkZlKV-OcF6XswkooapeuEnYQAL-VZVP_MyNfPTT6ryRuo99O1ndsHWfzl4QJ-cSUvz0Iss6x3pcq-UrBaomEw7vsRYniLmCzOY7L40MVA/s1600/IMG_3179.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhraFVSjTpurEBUuZJ-v9hkjsyJBOMwM4hsvfkZlKV-OcF6XswkooapeuEnYQAL-VZVP_MyNfPTT6ryRuo99O1ndsHWfzl4QJ-cSUvz0Iss6x3pcq-UrBaomEw7vsRYniLmCzOY7L40MVA/s400/IMG_3179.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591494752048993250" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Dl3bld7SZ9zqVWEbp4Kxkqqzkon8OjbF-9_HNx6ePb_ixpCc06jMnPnucSyk9AlHHW-XlMj9XnYUvWRxQhe5kCHvoi6DwUuUCEvePIRrDA_lZK0EwMIl6466YiVuLIup9uL3XsVVp8M/s1600/IMG_3181.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Dl3bld7SZ9zqVWEbp4Kxkqqzkon8OjbF-9_HNx6ePb_ixpCc06jMnPnucSyk9AlHHW-XlMj9XnYUvWRxQhe5kCHvoi6DwUuUCEvePIRrDA_lZK0EwMIl6466YiVuLIup9uL3XsVVp8M/s400/IMG_3181.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591494759535937522" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsSb8DkDcHxw6I04Dq4CqVljbSAqWcoawkABfzFc0Dbt7zj11EFHdWWWWtrWSV_RHs7DW40QD7B4XV-ijtjnQSMkki2aO7uabbEYCWMyErTxPfYGXcEOkE5ILCOpuFoseQWrIapIDVc1I/s1600/IMG_3176.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsSb8DkDcHxw6I04Dq4CqVljbSAqWcoawkABfzFc0Dbt7zj11EFHdWWWWtrWSV_RHs7DW40QD7B4XV-ijtjnQSMkki2aO7uabbEYCWMyErTxPfYGXcEOkE5ILCOpuFoseQWrIapIDVc1I/s400/IMG_3176.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591494348490954354" border="0" /></a><br />Kristin getting her foreign "Chico and Teigen" fix<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFJof5m7MrdYBgARjIgizMdkaVE0EQOJt4GAodX7RpH6TYSasmNw8Wyk6sUVEbEN7_2pTbT3cIn0jsk3aQ1iFIpzBnLXHX_6ZtuGaec1pvfHIm8QOrLG64pUxWRSReEw5bMOHo4ldrnz4/s1600/IMG_3144.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFJof5m7MrdYBgARjIgizMdkaVE0EQOJt4GAodX7RpH6TYSasmNw8Wyk6sUVEbEN7_2pTbT3cIn0jsk3aQ1iFIpzBnLXHX_6ZtuGaec1pvfHIm8QOrLG64pUxWRSReEw5bMOHo4ldrnz4/s400/IMG_3144.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591493855153105042" border="0" /></a><br />amen...<br /></div><br /><br />On the 20th we said our good-byes to the lovely city of Valparaiso and headed to the Santiago Int. Airport where we spent the night! Early the next morning we awoke from the metal chairs with kinks in our backs to board the plane to Lima and then Quito, Ecuador. Lots of layovers, sleeping in airports, and finding silly ways to pass the time. So excited for what lies ahead in Ecuador!!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1oYcU8bc02fRVDik_yze8O8uqBt-UXM8m964UNeccJ1Y7LjGm72LMEHGZFQU7T3vQBiTYMoEXqHMlv7B_dZ1-8Y72sZnJ9Bf5YOEFL0b4ZhnGJMJY2kvmfP9zIxcjq0WkT7VvJwGofmk/s1600/IMG_3186.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1oYcU8bc02fRVDik_yze8O8uqBt-UXM8m964UNeccJ1Y7LjGm72LMEHGZFQU7T3vQBiTYMoEXqHMlv7B_dZ1-8Y72sZnJ9Bf5YOEFL0b4ZhnGJMJY2kvmfP9zIxcjq0WkT7VvJwGofmk/s400/IMG_3186.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591494767676113858" border="0" /></a><br />mmm, Cusquena!<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNFOBqFkxun43hRKiLYcKJPwgOur6gEqChejCHhKiD11lx0NTGXp3mEcnIZDmbVwGCRz0NHs-Yutpf5ZTPdK9b54A8ekOJcNDpj2bjALk0yGOWu9W-ERtVZLP6jJPLCJnIygmh8w-SCLo/s1600/IMG_3187.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNFOBqFkxun43hRKiLYcKJPwgOur6gEqChejCHhKiD11lx0NTGXp3mEcnIZDmbVwGCRz0NHs-Yutpf5ZTPdK9b54A8ekOJcNDpj2bjALk0yGOWu9W-ERtVZLP6jJPLCJnIygmh8w-SCLo/s400/IMG_3187.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591494774103750018" border="0" /></a><br />mmm...ceviche in the Lima airport! YUMMY<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMO9RPGLFWFheW_ls1KGob-DVj8u8KvBm90r8omHpEqTE_HMDMD8xa7hy2tqCI7x9r_nt-RUixr-skLHZHxgCBWhYIc9vgeaK27XD5jSJGNwaSX_SNFAlgdFgkExqDWeIrqzO6xKUbJL0/s1600/IMG_3183.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMO9RPGLFWFheW_ls1KGob-DVj8u8KvBm90r8omHpEqTE_HMDMD8xa7hy2tqCI7x9r_nt-RUixr-skLHZHxgCBWhYIc9vgeaK27XD5jSJGNwaSX_SNFAlgdFgkExqDWeIrqzO6xKUbJL0/s400/IMG_3183.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591494766192244002" border="0" /></a><br />Too many hours...<br />but somehow manages to still look pretty!<br /></div>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-30128155793692786312011-03-19T14:47:00.012-03:002011-03-19T15:26:44.876-03:00Mendoza - Wine Country!<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjf9lLOizbLc8h_wy8ShiStQ0ty28UGrTSenZmJjfYwNEtFYY_OjWTJABLQJXhssy4S64SQ1VlAwSb_SRq2sN1Wn-Pz_BeEaMoVKZjT5jSTYd9ioTUJVKv9spkSgq0HvXTfJa7OX4G-a8/s1600/IMG_3090.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjf9lLOizbLc8h_wy8ShiStQ0ty28UGrTSenZmJjfYwNEtFYY_OjWTJABLQJXhssy4S64SQ1VlAwSb_SRq2sN1Wn-Pz_BeEaMoVKZjT5jSTYd9ioTUJVKv9spkSgq0HvXTfJa7OX4G-a8/s400/IMG_3090.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585849557711907010" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: center;">General San Martin<br /><br /><br /></div>After a 23hr bus ride, Mendoza was a welcome sight for our sleepy eyes and soar gluteus maximus’s.<span style=""> </span>We checked into our hostel, had a short coma, and then walked the city.<span style=""> </span>Mendoza is Argentina’s 3<sup>rd</sup> biggest city, but has a relatively nice feel to it.<span style=""> </span>There are countless shops that sell wine and local knick-knacks, café haunts, patio restaurants, wine bars and lots of plazas.<span style=""> </span>Our first day was spent walking the streets, discovering a really neat local mercando and soaking up some sunshine.<span style=""> </span>Later that evening we went to out to a nice café on a <i style="">camino peotenal</i>. <span style=""> </span>It was a fun place to spend a few hours eating, sipping wine, and people watching.<span style=""> </span>We both slept heavy that night since we were still bus lagged from the previous 20 hr bus ride…<p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRh4zpZRJWakxEfjsRy0i-k8cH5wJQ74TwEKPCMQ5GcchwOBxt6jlT-Zi_0jacruxlfYpt36NwWEPb5AU1NN1WaI9UZQFje6NJPVDoD8xOX52NTQK4SZ5guHaHjNumgOIzv_-VKZ5z8QE/s1600/IMG_3005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRh4zpZRJWakxEfjsRy0i-k8cH5wJQ74TwEKPCMQ5GcchwOBxt6jlT-Zi_0jacruxlfYpt36NwWEPb5AU1NN1WaI9UZQFje6NJPVDoD8xOX52NTQK4SZ5guHaHjNumgOIzv_-VKZ5z8QE/s400/IMG_3005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585849550320190690" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Fish! At long last..</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXp3bUDMJskFS2JE-Eud7_HkzMiStgX4WlZofQQ45zaNpaTRlasVpz5WrDUogOy5pwHeJgvSIg0oT7d3Ic6pzTuTX7_vvzi0p1nggz7CvJWwUcUqi8xFIXJ-Hj3mRSEzjg9SHYZoqjN18/s1600/IMG_3003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXp3bUDMJskFS2JE-Eud7_HkzMiStgX4WlZofQQ45zaNpaTRlasVpz5WrDUogOy5pwHeJgvSIg0oT7d3Ic6pzTuTX7_vvzi0p1nggz7CvJWwUcUqi8xFIXJ-Hj3mRSEzjg9SHYZoqjN18/s400/IMG_3003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585849552121351378" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Best way to cure a long bus ride! (10:30 am...)<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The next morning we ate a quick hostel breakfast and then hopped on a bus to the small city of Maipu.<span style=""> </span>Unfortunately, the city wasn’t very accommodating to tourists without a vehilcle, so we ended up wandering on dirty roads hoping to find a vineyard or a cab.<span style=""> </span>Eureka! A cab showed up, who must have been Argentina’s slowest cab driver, stopping at every intersection rather than burning rubber through, stopping to ask for directions even though we knew the way, and double guessing every turn. Argh! Fortunately we made it to the famed Cecchin organic family vineyard before the meter ran up to anything too ridiculous. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6-jyQJ7MTx1kfFUP4a6bvjL3ky1QXgwhpfKRHHtoncXTubhsa4YjcPjwSGrBF1mLqILKOPHRQNByv6WQaMIqTnGnJ1vWdhVZGEEcNGEJmVMOvz5ZEmt4o7Zmp0FjhZ6UdE0FF03drMxI/s1600/IMG_3034.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6-jyQJ7MTx1kfFUP4a6bvjL3ky1QXgwhpfKRHHtoncXTubhsa4YjcPjwSGrBF1mLqILKOPHRQNByv6WQaMIqTnGnJ1vWdhVZGEEcNGEJmVMOvz5ZEmt4o7Zmp0FjhZ6UdE0FF03drMxI/s400/IMG_3034.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585852012187824066" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The fertile vineyard resides in the arid valley of Mendoza at the base of the impressive cordillera de los Andes around 75 hectacres.<span style=""> </span>We were fortunate to get a personal tour right away through the beautiful vineyard.<span style=""> </span>First, we visited the vines themselves, where we saw malbec and cabernet sauvignon vines, and learned how to differentiate the two.<span style=""> </span>We also learned about Mendoza’s very strict irrigation laws – only x-amount of water per hectare (but it was barely enough to keep the vines alive – which actually worked out in their ‘favor’ for the taste of the grape).<span style=""> </span>Interestingly this was one of the only vineyards in the area that grows organically: no fertilizers, plowing weeds under with a horse-drawn plow, and no pesticides.<span style=""> </span>The vineyard looked very productive and healthy, but we found it very odd that they watered with furrows and trenches rather than drip irrigation.<span style=""> </span>Answer: drip hose technology is very expensive in Argentina, and furrows are ‘easier.’</p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgx-IdXWCOtBfqFLwszSUGCfpYqBnDe4MdwdAnKww4UJ15DXp2Ba7IU0ww-38iKRIBAjGthEKd37GSLxxYDN-KZOCeqRGRmhXCNqljG5BOIftcL0jfMs7L6g2fNGE5TnDaDXYXypdiC5w/s1600/IMG_3022.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgx-IdXWCOtBfqFLwszSUGCfpYqBnDe4MdwdAnKww4UJ15DXp2Ba7IU0ww-38iKRIBAjGthEKd37GSLxxYDN-KZOCeqRGRmhXCNqljG5BOIftcL0jfMs7L6g2fNGE5TnDaDXYXypdiC5w/s400/IMG_3022.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585852009277747042" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">left = malbec , right = cabernet<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">On the way back from the vines we got to try some very rare grapes hanging from a trellis that were AMAZINGLY sweet!!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYilbFqDZnl948HAPwIgOGJo6PL5CZDv7gCHfSSCAhZCQDUvYJ-kxgyTUBDAmvQzE-9V6c4X9Pw519ksNjZYbJBs7y0zvM9Q-WmALxOcqyUzRz5WkRWEEGQi98azvTrGa6wnlzZxWYM4/s1600/IMG_3025.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYilbFqDZnl948HAPwIgOGJo6PL5CZDv7gCHfSSCAhZCQDUvYJ-kxgyTUBDAmvQzE-9V6c4X9Pw519ksNjZYbJBs7y0zvM9Q-WmALxOcqyUzRz5WkRWEEGQi98azvTrGa6wnlzZxWYM4/s400/IMG_3025.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585852005153007682" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">We then walked into the processing room that had a relatively small processing facility for separating the seeds from the fruit and then 2 hydraulic presses for the crush.<span style=""> </span>The wine is then fermented in cement cisterns (they claimed they used the cement for a certain ‘taste’, but we were quite sure that big stainless steel tanks may have been too expensive…).<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-cDyQgRZj4TBP73hkBvWfw1P3r8I4TKP_lhsnD5cryT0aSmCVZcnghFAPIikZY7_l1ENguaa95Nlev7tgO8NzdNQ3vROps1HJgdcpoivRsHVBYWPXyyuONz2BVIzLsua2kpVEKzDPVmk/s1600/IMG_3028.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-cDyQgRZj4TBP73hkBvWfw1P3r8I4TKP_lhsnD5cryT0aSmCVZcnghFAPIikZY7_l1ENguaa95Nlev7tgO8NzdNQ3vROps1HJgdcpoivRsHVBYWPXyyuONz2BVIzLsua2kpVEKzDPVmk/s400/IMG_3028.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585851018182622962" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">After the short tour we went to the tasting room and tried 2 of their wines.<span style=""> </span>First we had a really great Muscatel variety which they proudly claim comes from Africa, which reminded us of a much sweeter almost dessert like version of the famed Torrontes.<span style=""> </span>It was a first time ever trying this ancient varietal and we plan to try it again in the future (maybe with a bit of vanilla ice cream!) Second, we tasted their 2007 Melbec, which was good, but didn’t have the same lasting impression as the Muscatel.<span style=""> </span>All in all, it was a great organic bodega experience and possibly a future imported bottle will be fun to have with dinner once we are back in the states.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYqZUq9QgW48zqIqWrR-V9Dbv65W7lfgJrQ5O_aaOGKMjlKFzOg0Cob0IqLc9w_KP5kwgtrYD3TuqMj5djJELSdK0FBUQaPCvmikOOFWEGoyarZsVk2etAbDcinfWlKYM9tTh2KCO-Rg/s1600/IMG_3031.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYqZUq9QgW48zqIqWrR-V9Dbv65W7lfgJrQ5O_aaOGKMjlKFzOg0Cob0IqLc9w_KP5kwgtrYD3TuqMj5djJELSdK0FBUQaPCvmikOOFWEGoyarZsVk2etAbDcinfWlKYM9tTh2KCO-Rg/s400/IMG_3031.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585851008813836466" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMihQkPJ_XGbOU0nSxYfYwqfmBuSZnTJ-BHuknmxDiuENvcySzV54-7GNWz1l2ktfSA2B8uG3wWWhbWBWav5_VbC4EsH8AGM_7XEM8fK8KG8fPrfU7bfT2ugFjQqOx3R7TP763WLUrh04/s1600/IMG_3030.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMihQkPJ_XGbOU0nSxYfYwqfmBuSZnTJ-BHuknmxDiuENvcySzV54-7GNWz1l2ktfSA2B8uG3wWWhbWBWav5_VbC4EsH8AGM_7XEM8fK8KG8fPrfU7bfT2ugFjQqOx3R7TP763WLUrh04/s400/IMG_3030.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585851002010923122" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">To be exported to US or Europe</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTEceXzUaCdDk4Y-nBMySu60gh7lKqK2Oe6hSa2bhk2Sd4t8pCM1mzl25SPwj8aNWCsHk5oK9-XLHFWjbe4TAv0buXZsIYTUwpRXr4oJoSLRjEoMLpKa8mDgO4J397iscBhqw6pNJaUc/s1600/IMG_3033.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTEceXzUaCdDk4Y-nBMySu60gh7lKqK2Oe6hSa2bhk2Sd4t8pCM1mzl25SPwj8aNWCsHk5oK9-XLHFWjbe4TAv0buXZsIYTUwpRXr4oJoSLRjEoMLpKa8mDgO4J397iscBhqw6pNJaUc/s400/IMG_3033.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585851020643449010" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7CYgy5Z18AL3b2E2Z9Elm2-okiTJZ2ywWFUAShXmzYnLCjPk1MS1vC_PADJa9sjrmK8W9AF7Cm4f-6j85NmL8FosTVz5mT_WUJmQB0MIpIctmyA181fVnFeiyIL4-3SNYs6I4_ev4RMU/s1600/IMG_3036.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7CYgy5Z18AL3b2E2Z9Elm2-okiTJZ2ywWFUAShXmzYnLCjPk1MS1vC_PADJa9sjrmK8W9AF7Cm4f-6j85NmL8FosTVz5mT_WUJmQB0MIpIctmyA181fVnFeiyIL4-3SNYs6I4_ev4RMU/s400/IMG_3036.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585850997285856722" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">After wine tasting, we walked a kilometer down the road to an olive oil processing facility.<span style=""> </span>It was the oldest facility in the area and was started by Italian immigrants in 1920.<span style=""> </span>The olives are harvested around April/May (follows right after the wine grape harvest!), and then go through a fascinating ‘cold-press’ process.<span style=""> </span>They explained why cold-press is so difficult, and why it tastes sooo much better.<span style=""> </span>This process begins when the olives are crushed by two large rolling stones, which separated the seeds, and then the leftover olive mash is laid out in metal wire disks to be stacked and crushed in a hydraulic press.<span style=""> </span>Olives are about 20% oil and over 50% water.<span style=""> </span>The ‘cold-press’ method can only extract about 15% of the oil.<span style=""> </span>This is less efficient, but considered the “pure” method because the oil is extracted without the use of chemicals.<span style=""> </span>The pressed out oil is then put in settling tanks for 24 hours to allow the liquids to separate by the process of decantation then the oil is ready to be bottled.<span style=""> </span>Quite a process!<span style=""> </span>Interestingly, the mash that’s been pressed, but still has some oil left in it goes to another facility to be separated the conventional chemical method.<span style=""> </span>We also learned the differences between “extra virgin olive oil”, “virgin olive oil” and “olive oil”, which has to do with the fatty acids called OMEGA’s. Before we left, KK stocked up on nice lotions and creams, and Ivan grabbed some delicious olive oil.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw4gAJ5iz7fdZvuZ33MTTQNIgctyYErO5yBefmbBO_eQBPBEEqhFafzUnxukKdUMzOQVIQcofHGLDKN1j1CijyPhstxitvuRCaEFPtFvebKQoa2aOjsAKJQUtHLJhup-mQIcIxNGzzk-U/s1600/IMG_3055.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw4gAJ5iz7fdZvuZ33MTTQNIgctyYErO5yBefmbBO_eQBPBEEqhFafzUnxukKdUMzOQVIQcofHGLDKN1j1CijyPhstxitvuRCaEFPtFvebKQoa2aOjsAKJQUtHLJhup-mQIcIxNGzzk-U/s400/IMG_3055.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585852848838374034" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_Ty1-XLBAC-0OZpxAmiz8yib9Z0HIgfBFf7kXzF2SqaqD2hItGJrEKGD-Jsz4CAaoi_xLW9kMpJWvjKew0dSzS-MGpWnG3d3Aktir8c_aOfj3M3V8L4UzL6MoiEo1HyaS6L-IgfDjfc/s1600/IMG_3024.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_Ty1-XLBAC-0OZpxAmiz8yib9Z0HIgfBFf7kXzF2SqaqD2hItGJrEKGD-Jsz4CAaoi_xLW9kMpJWvjKew0dSzS-MGpWnG3d3Aktir8c_aOfj3M3V8L4UzL6MoiEo1HyaS6L-IgfDjfc/s400/IMG_3024.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585853561093676082" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Almost ready to harvest!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjPJCe20_hLnqBAIGDx9-REXOp-DhOATN37KAz7nT-rtkVF5jRoEZTIw8JXlZtJuLGnA0J37a8cZ7PGyVryaRHW3Q5mf-ivxmePo5Be9bzGoWCsq5Sc8B3GLWh2Ry_TPE_T0aD2KNpjFM/s1600/IMG_3051.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjPJCe20_hLnqBAIGDx9-REXOp-DhOATN37KAz7nT-rtkVF5jRoEZTIw8JXlZtJuLGnA0J37a8cZ7PGyVryaRHW3Q5mf-ivxmePo5Be9bzGoWCsq5Sc8B3GLWh2Ry_TPE_T0aD2KNpjFM/s400/IMG_3051.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585853554821840754" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOUtMgDs9NEnLqu1avPKjnyD4IgXlEyftt3fi1vVnJ6JqfC7rIgiF-WL25P67jaiVXROUNTytA81sTrZu_yzEds5KIv_B3THPKfrh_3A6uyPHFjgDZSOsO1eWmeWJ-7v4oafqzs6erIX4/s1600/IMG_3048.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOUtMgDs9NEnLqu1avPKjnyD4IgXlEyftt3fi1vVnJ6JqfC7rIgiF-WL25P67jaiVXROUNTytA81sTrZu_yzEds5KIv_B3THPKfrh_3A6uyPHFjgDZSOsO1eWmeWJ-7v4oafqzs6erIX4/s400/IMG_3048.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585853548362186994" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Stone crush<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitOxqIjdnTWYFKhlBXrRSxK_NBZF4nNQ2k8FE3JnKUF8BgkdobwThAFTThNwmwZT4eXjnbjd7SXIflqBqXn7qOrT4Bt7dAThXhyHAZxbjaAox3EPDVdKuv90zYZSVvoS_plOZ2PbWJNM8/s1600/IMG_3050.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitOxqIjdnTWYFKhlBXrRSxK_NBZF4nNQ2k8FE3JnKUF8BgkdobwThAFTThNwmwZT4eXjnbjd7SXIflqBqXn7qOrT4Bt7dAThXhyHAZxbjaAox3EPDVdKuv90zYZSVvoS_plOZ2PbWJNM8/s400/IMG_3050.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585853548252677090" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Settling tanks</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy706YH6gtF2mK6Dfi3xcdLcGm7lV3iFwz8y_M82o8OdjcywV08Ix2Tswk8GbMczjzo-D8lp-XOjRM3R19Anl0c15vaT71X4dCuDHfbtaYObBWzg2Py03A4vYACFntsHwLgGvuGi3bq3k/s1600/IMG_3053.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy706YH6gtF2mK6Dfi3xcdLcGm7lV3iFwz8y_M82o8OdjcywV08Ix2Tswk8GbMczjzo-D8lp-XOjRM3R19Anl0c15vaT71X4dCuDHfbtaYObBWzg2Py03A4vYACFntsHwLgGvuGi3bq3k/s400/IMG_3053.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585853542469396722" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Samples!!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtuPB8_pSuXlMTMpoUy0jJ5Zz5vZgxqJG_sav3Wht-OABBrgBT4ApTJ5ZE1wbQRMJdrAqd__B97PlR9IrZkVOk3TcabCRCFa8qtcjTQa0dvrxWjlcaRhwUgl6MwLvfxNQChSs5z0-eUc/s1600/IMG_3039.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtuPB8_pSuXlMTMpoUy0jJ5Zz5vZgxqJG_sav3Wht-OABBrgBT4ApTJ5ZE1wbQRMJdrAqd__B97PlR9IrZkVOk3TcabCRCFa8qtcjTQa0dvrxWjlcaRhwUgl6MwLvfxNQChSs5z0-eUc/s400/IMG_3039.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585852868875652258" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtaA3IDSGfkbBdLoaliSZqvlJdvHYK4YiALI7nKp_ai8Sza8_GIZ3dfFs-4O7Fmd7oSEPH_oQV7gZh-Fgbgzib486xFGODw6VGx11K1bTdhbAAJNaY0qaiABYZY-0ill2BWNEkIKzoHwE/s1600/IMG_3040.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtaA3IDSGfkbBdLoaliSZqvlJdvHYK4YiALI7nKp_ai8Sza8_GIZ3dfFs-4O7Fmd7oSEPH_oQV7gZh-Fgbgzib486xFGODw6VGx11K1bTdhbAAJNaY0qaiABYZY-0ill2BWNEkIKzoHwE/s400/IMG_3040.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585852857603370210" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-B8MDIjS0n6P3p9pdZ1_U7ZriGUJ9SbgGQe5-2WJMht61bpUXGeSnqwDEWRiLGRnZPpVvFWmVWiOah4yhJDoIXx6cYgmKV4VIhrRDfrXsMHvEr1XLi8wjLesMjSkLojNIBpCGKSw6nUo/s1600/IMG_3042.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-B8MDIjS0n6P3p9pdZ1_U7ZriGUJ9SbgGQe5-2WJMht61bpUXGeSnqwDEWRiLGRnZPpVvFWmVWiOah4yhJDoIXx6cYgmKV4VIhrRDfrXsMHvEr1XLi8wjLesMjSkLojNIBpCGKSw6nUo/s400/IMG_3042.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585852860930413298" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHymVs3EKeuGawJ3p1XyUHOOK91DfALHZDMTsJ8ggXTsHFEKTbCymLDSHK-WDrcyEIRzaa_z1hlz96rflilpe1pPl164sCtsEfAzZXMGo5O4p_LqTUkUmTK15P5S__u31HwjoxL0Fa1Sw/s1600/IMG_3041.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHymVs3EKeuGawJ3p1XyUHOOK91DfALHZDMTsJ8ggXTsHFEKTbCymLDSHK-WDrcyEIRzaa_z1hlz96rflilpe1pPl164sCtsEfAzZXMGo5O4p_LqTUkUmTK15P5S__u31HwjoxL0Fa1Sw/s400/IMG_3041.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585852853627162226" border="0" /></a><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">After a day of walking and hot sun, we were both very excited for our fancy dinner at Argentina’s best restaurant: 1884 by Frances Malmann.<span style=""> </span>Back in September Sue, the main manager at Ever-Bloom, generously gave us some ‘fun money,’ with explicit instructions that it be spent on something really memorable and enjoyable.<span style=""> </span>We decided this dinner would be the best way to do it!<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">When we arrived, we grabbed some drinks from the beautiful bar and sat out on the nice patio – <span style=""> </span>a glass of 2006 cabernet sauvignon from Bodega Escorihuela for Kristin, and a nice artisan beer for Ivan.<span style=""> </span>In true Argentine fashion they had a giant parilla right on the patio for cooking up the fantastic cuts of meat!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Z5byqSYaF40NCTBkE0jUtLe9N3q67Nl7YQRRzPNqj-4bOvZAp3gTiEafjWpsdwUaiI2t8z9GTp5FPtFKM8YUl8S2_XeziN9C3P40peBLV-3IAbt7WBI9KkEeUExaDv5sVhS7ctkWiwE/s1600/IMG_3058.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Z5byqSYaF40NCTBkE0jUtLe9N3q67Nl7YQRRzPNqj-4bOvZAp3gTiEafjWpsdwUaiI2t8z9GTp5FPtFKM8YUl8S2_XeziN9C3P40peBLV-3IAbt7WBI9KkEeUExaDv5sVhS7ctkWiwE/s400/IMG_3058.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585856298344151634" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2UlzBZZNPGZaeFKh3Pa0k8MuHqvKtd0WYL6gXEsUomvI5FAjUZYA840dN65OgdkmPnJ9jc2BaViRdMrVzikR51W3TcGxZcnyLxfaz6rkG1bPUznHKGwb6dIqpEzyNRo7zgLEHHmWYic/s1600/IMG_3060.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2UlzBZZNPGZaeFKh3Pa0k8MuHqvKtd0WYL6gXEsUomvI5FAjUZYA840dN65OgdkmPnJ9jc2BaViRdMrVzikR51W3TcGxZcnyLxfaz6rkG1bPUznHKGwb6dIqpEzyNRo7zgLEHHmWYic/s400/IMG_3060.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585856295124804866" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgecf-cP-a7aNWfZ0nGRB3Z9otF-3gZHrFGXahLXyPcMUTYwk3sjL054XdGtqhAvxVbkGNlAhzTttnzvtUlq4VUTrnSWbApxAAKwwd3wmx5mQC4rq8R5IvLuMl4y-JAwtjXvFBJgMw1mcw/s1600/IMG_3061.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgecf-cP-a7aNWfZ0nGRB3Z9otF-3gZHrFGXahLXyPcMUTYwk3sjL054XdGtqhAvxVbkGNlAhzTttnzvtUlq4VUTrnSWbApxAAKwwd3wmx5mQC4rq8R5IvLuMl4y-JAwtjXvFBJgMw1mcw/s400/IMG_3061.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585856293388028770" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">The host escorted us inside and we sat at the nicest table/atmosphere that we have yet seen in our travels, and the absolute best service to boot!<span style=""> </span>Ivan started with a sizzling prawn dish, and Kristin had a baked pumpkin arugula salad with pecorino cheese and walnuts. Yummm!<span style=""> </span>For wine, we decided on a really fancy Malbec from Bodgea Urraca (this was quite a difficult part of the evening because there were about 400 different wines to choose from...).<span style=""> </span>By far the best Malbec we’ve had in Argentina!<span style=""> </span>Also, they had fantastic selection of homemade bread (not just plan white bread!!) that we could dip in local artisan olive oil and balsamic.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-mU1Q8hEdu_kcW830PPZu7eZq9vLBnB-lKByCjeMb8NUQGuCuvuLjoZBFRH2BYhghNuQJBtES-T06ogC0eoaWoY5dbMh6kY2rMy1zajv0U-6ZDOBK20O6l2GXxCmlIEf6q6y9Pwz2qk/s1600/IMG_3064.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-mU1Q8hEdu_kcW830PPZu7eZq9vLBnB-lKByCjeMb8NUQGuCuvuLjoZBFRH2BYhghNuQJBtES-T06ogC0eoaWoY5dbMh6kY2rMy1zajv0U-6ZDOBK20O6l2GXxCmlIEf6q6y9Pwz2qk/s400/IMG_3064.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585855932140338642" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Fancy! (but divide by 4)<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-mI86bokwoTjckRw2c0bQQfm8gfau1p2OKfxlipdrLoL2y_NKj16OUZOwNhFb2P3lckda7NenEJsNOwHbWGQr_yJyOzoGjoXeX90PCnytqBwbgoY87lQToxZdsv8gYnqzGrcuSc0Czw/s1600/IMG_3069.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-mI86bokwoTjckRw2c0bQQfm8gfau1p2OKfxlipdrLoL2y_NKj16OUZOwNhFb2P3lckda7NenEJsNOwHbWGQr_yJyOzoGjoXeX90PCnytqBwbgoY87lQToxZdsv8gYnqzGrcuSc0Czw/s400/IMG_3069.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585855934207478002" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRsCHlRzEgqgsJDXWbxLOoeQ4meILrZIHQMfk4HWBGb3Lu0C-1BrVfAu60he0SjG7pCfwul5dRpqFt7zv0ZajcKyo7cGM6bjxEx_aKtXA7q-axj-gpB1UvUeVcnHl6EOHU_p-wW9_xM1o/s1600/IMG_3071.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRsCHlRzEgqgsJDXWbxLOoeQ4meILrZIHQMfk4HWBGb3Lu0C-1BrVfAu60he0SjG7pCfwul5dRpqFt7zv0ZajcKyo7cGM6bjxEx_aKtXA7q-axj-gpB1UvUeVcnHl6EOHU_p-wW9_xM1o/s400/IMG_3071.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585855928133854402" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">For our main courses, Kristin had salmon with tomato and watercress, and Ivan had the best ‘ojo de bife’ (rib-eye) steak in the world.<span style=""> </span>The food was the best we’ve had since we were last spoiled in Nevada City and Santa Barbara!<span style=""> </span>¡Gracias Sue!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb2PiUJJfbABNggQAqxqAS2SPDNb4Toanc96DDZd6O1fCLoTNcEIVt195Alj3oFgACLJqu9rPFFM4edzOsMNYPIzTBR08VeHeG6Xh-jhW4ksXv39Dm5-wkWMKcQgERTsLVGOH0mOWHib0/s1600/IMG_3077.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb2PiUJJfbABNggQAqxqAS2SPDNb4Toanc96DDZd6O1fCLoTNcEIVt195Alj3oFgACLJqu9rPFFM4edzOsMNYPIzTBR08VeHeG6Xh-jhW4ksXv39Dm5-wkWMKcQgERTsLVGOH0mOWHib0/s400/IMG_3077.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585855414441972514" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">So goood!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3tsPYJBqA_E61ASx-KJuf-O2FGfzxkDWZ9vLMW8x_-NRBE-xAXWzEsuXGQZZ1NXXUVzFzDrGp4oTdkRfZ3b3WLKQeej86ZHCzJ8v26th4Gx0rk1D8FO6X_zDxOHkSoOOF3_4J1zexVsU/s1600/IMG_3074.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3tsPYJBqA_E61ASx-KJuf-O2FGfzxkDWZ9vLMW8x_-NRBE-xAXWzEsuXGQZZ1NXXUVzFzDrGp4oTdkRfZ3b3WLKQeej86ZHCzJ8v26th4Gx0rk1D8FO6X_zDxOHkSoOOF3_4J1zexVsU/s400/IMG_3074.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585855406219881586" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJgQxaO7agMjHxu-lOSEceTAKVS_Esz52iiw9gfn5GfY_o9YXZWwTkvB84-wEiGGYXDchwN7fjL3Nl9Jzmgw2sbIFgCflFssDAns21AVVU_sHn5EE18E2RZxJ-r9oRn6CdZUqlRxj8Gjg/s1600/IMG_3075.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJgQxaO7agMjHxu-lOSEceTAKVS_Esz52iiw9gfn5GfY_o9YXZWwTkvB84-wEiGGYXDchwN7fjL3Nl9Jzmgw2sbIFgCflFssDAns21AVVU_sHn5EE18E2RZxJ-r9oRn6CdZUqlRxj8Gjg/s400/IMG_3075.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585855407113313570" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyWiAEFvg1naDX9NvCQ3aQDgVUymaiDE8lS_zAsxgdnDMh_4D1pZN1QKGky7rHnNO0ZPy0eS9euGgJv7bPGJj1FpYFYYpZjxXjcgblI83j-h212r6qFIj3YrXDrjVAl2S2BW8NSAGHYw/s1600/IMG_3081.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyWiAEFvg1naDX9NvCQ3aQDgVUymaiDE8lS_zAsxgdnDMh_4D1pZN1QKGky7rHnNO0ZPy0eS9euGgJv7bPGJj1FpYFYYpZjxXjcgblI83j-h212r6qFIj3YrXDrjVAl2S2BW8NSAGHYw/s400/IMG_3081.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585854935986013026" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg4XtoTm4-W9dHXAr5xD0M08z03vuRmIdvXuumnT-ieLGNhohF9ZAkpxboiMtpyLBTpY6MprGVOnLj-jffkpHo7EPf6ywHD8XdZwSPNI6w7e4G_uSlKtwNvI-_XNVT8OLo6rZXO9gevn0/s1600/IMG_3083.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg4XtoTm4-W9dHXAr5xD0M08z03vuRmIdvXuumnT-ieLGNhohF9ZAkpxboiMtpyLBTpY6MprGVOnLj-jffkpHo7EPf6ywHD8XdZwSPNI6w7e4G_uSlKtwNvI-_XNVT8OLo6rZXO9gevn0/s400/IMG_3083.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585854933982567410" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsVq61ttfNoON0GIYTKOiufQlT2YK0sOTJbyjZL7PkfBx-LEv0Hw6pK-Bu8ZUZW-DgMtBcZmkJYCezixQFKqV2aK3zI_6lLeRc-s5iDetOdubZfrDIwk0ij1UGbrPOofwCUPu84_RwPms/s1600/IMG_3082.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsVq61ttfNoON0GIYTKOiufQlT2YK0sOTJbyjZL7PkfBx-LEv0Hw6pK-Bu8ZUZW-DgMtBcZmkJYCezixQFKqV2aK3zI_6lLeRc-s5iDetOdubZfrDIwk0ij1UGbrPOofwCUPu84_RwPms/s400/IMG_3082.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585854933933487858" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIHbRAyto_u3GK9ouGX18srsNUfIh0pdYVOo47xJUB9iiY6Ah42Utv-j9HgP_2E2iK8FAPjTp3OSK_RaFh4uhVudpC4is8Bh-NYF55txW4kj4lRsU2k9HbJmi4FStk17SbKSgetPBuQU/s1600/IMG_3089.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIHbRAyto_u3GK9ouGX18srsNUfIh0pdYVOo47xJUB9iiY6Ah42Utv-j9HgP_2E2iK8FAPjTp3OSK_RaFh4uhVudpC4is8Bh-NYF55txW4kj4lRsU2k9HbJmi4FStk17SbKSgetPBuQU/s400/IMG_3089.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585854931309367714" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The following morning we were very excited for our wine tour up into the Andes, but, in true Argentine fashion we received word (5 min after it was supposed to start) that it was cancelled… So, we decided to take it easy that day and walked the city, enjoyed a beautiful picnic in the large park (reminded us of the Golden Gate Park) and did some silly tourist shopping.<span style=""> </span>Later that evening we decided to go out for a nice meal and order a bottle of wine since it was our last night in Argentina.<span style=""> </span>For our meal that night we went out to a really great café and shared a nice bottle of Torrontes with some bread.<span style=""> </span>It was a great way to enjoy a bottle of wine for 2 hours, people watch, and soak in the Mendoza culture.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyB8lsCydbYNNLUlTBZuzAzhrTe50v6OaE1qXwBSylftF7fhEOviGkoGcDHHKhbmGrswOl0k3l86cH3IF49pJIyRQjJpd-Md6KXmMKP4slDycelZNlKevQVbz-cspbUF4FqtRTuQDHsjo/s1600/IMG_3098.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyB8lsCydbYNNLUlTBZuzAzhrTe50v6OaE1qXwBSylftF7fhEOviGkoGcDHHKhbmGrswOl0k3l86cH3IF49pJIyRQjJpd-Md6KXmMKP4slDycelZNlKevQVbz-cspbUF4FqtRTuQDHsjo/s400/IMG_3098.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585849558449731810" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQvMR45wahAF_mAFMXpwRtcBrjPCJNtwKqbcPoiAPpPoxjoOxZcqyHjhDdNJI0_TFoeVpLhkzWGpMiRGme9xA0QfdbrzHXj1MhIb7SkYL9ik6fBXRmCyJbx69RvBemFztQv1YtmlvMtQ/s1600/IMG_3015.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQvMR45wahAF_mAFMXpwRtcBrjPCJNtwKqbcPoiAPpPoxjoOxZcqyHjhDdNJI0_TFoeVpLhkzWGpMiRGme9xA0QfdbrzHXj1MhIb7SkYL9ik6fBXRmCyJbx69RvBemFztQv1YtmlvMtQ/s400/IMG_3015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585850407660620706" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJcLelPfsct0sNwJiQ1TzAJ2w1LqaG-S0ZU6Yi_wDxg8vt9DXwtYuhghgFGuHyIQdcM_JGswK_gokz44qYKoOOmOd44RJSMCabIwfpJ_WaaRs4k1H8E3QJXHrpqlo0R010pxs7szD1Xw/s1600/IMG_3018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJcLelPfsct0sNwJiQ1TzAJ2w1LqaG-S0ZU6Yi_wDxg8vt9DXwtYuhghgFGuHyIQdcM_JGswK_gokz44qYKoOOmOd44RJSMCabIwfpJ_WaaRs4k1H8E3QJXHrpqlo0R010pxs7szD1Xw/s400/IMG_3018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585850405841200786" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_23Dcewh-83NIBEzEggFWXRmsNYTNUC57sRvCYJ0ybXS0EJnp-G7CTxrkWzbB3Y9DoKO3N7w2d0qaVPFJgqpStd0iyt-5UkfU5i0fFlPE8X-_8ve518O6AvMjItKJXbjky9chyphenhyphenYom8y4/s1600/IMG_3012.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_23Dcewh-83NIBEzEggFWXRmsNYTNUC57sRvCYJ0ybXS0EJnp-G7CTxrkWzbB3Y9DoKO3N7w2d0qaVPFJgqpStd0iyt-5UkfU5i0fFlPE8X-_8ve518O6AvMjItKJXbjky9chyphenhyphenYom8y4/s400/IMG_3012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585850402613804194" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYWiAiUJzuyNdl5scAUIWZy4rkllifdtoqcOlY5mQUj8GLSNe7RcNJ1_eSq_Z_XKAnAFyMnJzxfCD6aLcL0NaRGdkxuTjjltTP_i3hXJTMpWwM75-keujpQnHCtTVRCNReDNJUYiqRHM/s1600/IMG_3009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYWiAiUJzuyNdl5scAUIWZy4rkllifdtoqcOlY5mQUj8GLSNe7RcNJ1_eSq_Z_XKAnAFyMnJzxfCD6aLcL0NaRGdkxuTjjltTP_i3hXJTMpWwM75-keujpQnHCtTVRCNReDNJUYiqRHM/s400/IMG_3009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585850400946416258" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The following morning we hopped on the bus for Valparaiso, Chile.<span style=""> </span>Adios Argentina!<br /></p>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-64538104991477043432011-03-13T19:27:00.012-03:002011-03-13T21:21:45.179-03:00Campo Cielo Grande<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhftjXwgcLYSJ20_W9VgHb_ZX6u897IkQRzEsq5RJBdqjLYh-R4B9lqEskBZgIc3MslxQ4-Sizi5Gv79-psUHHQRc1iJjwekapYCn8hEJhA5t8bUVJb3bHX2xT-YuVwZTmHKWWC1_kD8Jk/s1600/IMG_2943.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhftjXwgcLYSJ20_W9VgHb_ZX6u897IkQRzEsq5RJBdqjLYh-R4B9lqEskBZgIc3MslxQ4-Sizi5Gv79-psUHHQRc1iJjwekapYCn8hEJhA5t8bUVJb3bHX2xT-YuVwZTmHKWWC1_kD8Jk/s400/IMG_2943.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583708497131417570" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Welcome to Camino de HUBER, the lovely road to Lago Rosario where we spent the past two months working at Campo Cielo Grande.<br /></div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoMAd_rpk6knBeufilN2ZJVPSIyjcPByJ70g0kXJuRxVRviplRmauXhy-U0pTSoRnQ2FPRl-ZMFTE9fbdRhz9St0hxKFUiUuQ4B_KSJpEnHe7KjKeHIFNBpp0Gc0etXCCBj2RCVPAhwCg/s1600/IMG_2837.jpg"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEfMuquFiqVe3Zl8Na1GilW9hsNitfDnu36N2IJheEsN5dVLddTkLqqnUxIHjiYyqP6zCGrzfDOoM7xmHoWfGhM7qzGXy7bdPQqCmFEcjzJqFaTNs6cI4xXaVtbxBuoP8xnIsHKsucVrg/s1600/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+032.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEfMuquFiqVe3Zl8Na1GilW9hsNitfDnu36N2IJheEsN5dVLddTkLqqnUxIHjiYyqP6zCGrzfDOoM7xmHoWfGhM7qzGXy7bdPQqCmFEcjzJqFaTNs6cI4xXaVtbxBuoP8xnIsHKsucVrg/s400/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+032.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583707986290471890" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYAutZQuPegdf9UY__MfhPVGA0JYQ9wRTo7pzzmdYtuh-ubw_nTbPjNF7Q4WGVLNLp5-81LC0c8qdZGyCV3kYiP3jGCuNB-ZpXUyZ9PBC0SwPVAX4TqM0jgdbx1pvmvcyPZJDQt0iO3Xo/s1600/IMG_2861.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYAutZQuPegdf9UY__MfhPVGA0JYQ9wRTo7pzzmdYtuh-ubw_nTbPjNF7Q4WGVLNLp5-81LC0c8qdZGyCV3kYiP3jGCuNB-ZpXUyZ9PBC0SwPVAX4TqM0jgdbx1pvmvcyPZJDQt0iO3Xo/s400/IMG_2861.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583707751635124738" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">We worked with the owners: Trey and Shelby Scharp and their obedient bird dog, Rio. The 5 of us made the Campo Cielo Grande Team. CCG hosted 6 sets of guests throughout the 2 months who each stayed between 4-7 days. We enjoyed meeting the diverse sets of guests and hearing their wide-ranging stories and experiences.<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixb-ylp4JJQL9LbUSH7TWho-fRY3t2ewqY5V8WBuAwOqL8p1O5adIJ6Cddg8gtpNo8cThziIQtGtXQSSDnLcvWhqSOTlgfsBHyPXnbShMoHLYpkY8hLrWEqSaM2WkQ68dmmHtmPlLCy7E/s1600/IMG_2853.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixb-ylp4JJQL9LbUSH7TWho-fRY3t2ewqY5V8WBuAwOqL8p1O5adIJ6Cddg8gtpNo8cThziIQtGtXQSSDnLcvWhqSOTlgfsBHyPXnbShMoHLYpkY8hLrWEqSaM2WkQ68dmmHtmPlLCy7E/s400/IMG_2853.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583707745822447202" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Trey playing with his new "toy" the disco<br />(made from tractor discs)<br />Almost every evening Trey would man the Asado fire for the guests dinner.<br /><br /><br /><br />As days turned into weeks we began getting into a routine of working. Some of our daily work routines included:<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMIF7iBjESyG5wYjayl_F0-pCMZ1PnhpjBjRBXZ-1QSa9wLCYEbGLskdHn5G53QANt36CmP3WV2rwU-edZhwz50GPVZThc167SiCguv0o6CxudySnUUyj0Tje00hQj18mNDIti0LsYxc/s1600/IMG_2855.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMIF7iBjESyG5wYjayl_F0-pCMZ1PnhpjBjRBXZ-1QSa9wLCYEbGLskdHn5G53QANt36CmP3WV2rwU-edZhwz50GPVZThc167SiCguv0o6CxudySnUUyj0Tje00hQj18mNDIti0LsYxc/s400/IMG_2855.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583707746364749362" border="0" /></a><br />Kristin prepped and cooked all the meals for Trey, Shelby and their guests.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Kristin was known for making awesome Californian salads -<br />lots of veggies and CA love<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxFoOJfzGbKkVJHk6QmBH7AfWjm5f1YwGPxuk1jRvju7vDkmd2u6WK0-c2H0qNFlROmF9NCiqFJEOsq-csHj4yfT017ApI1ooOtwanzjAcCkbXSTbQ0INKSZbe8f6Et04MUodMz4NUFzs/s1600/IMG_2858.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxFoOJfzGbKkVJHk6QmBH7AfWjm5f1YwGPxuk1jRvju7vDkmd2u6WK0-c2H0qNFlROmF9NCiqFJEOsq-csHj4yfT017ApI1ooOtwanzjAcCkbXSTbQ0INKSZbe8f6Et04MUodMz4NUFzs/s400/IMG_2858.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583707736372148914" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Ivan would start the blazing Asado fires<br />If you can't handle the heat GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN!<br /><br /><br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-JDUX0j_OZcvtfDYAO9Nm2JkG2Bu8iHp3Yi6tI37b4ltWoRVWrFqp2tiQgNL9lJtYGO3bf0qcInKoCJ1AezUCxMWuvBja7vwEeVMNBKaBLRCTeA8A78xxyx5jRLXS_86Hl77ohRLzADs/s1600/IMG_2844.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-JDUX0j_OZcvtfDYAO9Nm2JkG2Bu8iHp3Yi6tI37b4ltWoRVWrFqp2tiQgNL9lJtYGO3bf0qcInKoCJ1AezUCxMWuvBja7vwEeVMNBKaBLRCTeA8A78xxyx5jRLXS_86Hl77ohRLzADs/s400/IMG_2844.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583707739613238178" border="0" /></a>Choppin wood<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhllXGg16NWt5CAPyjttJVr0Ohuh7uAeXnmZ3YQgzXdMXCtDEdcwvF5D0mGiOkEX6U_4tAg5RmkDT-ZF3Tfa0WQiesMVBlSiHfp3Zklt4z3nkDiPJRM_wbbjSPl8ostKxjn21KfsNI8IQ0/s1600/IMG_2848.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhllXGg16NWt5CAPyjttJVr0Ohuh7uAeXnmZ3YQgzXdMXCtDEdcwvF5D0mGiOkEX6U_4tAg5RmkDT-ZF3Tfa0WQiesMVBlSiHfp3Zklt4z3nkDiPJRM_wbbjSPl8ostKxjn21KfsNI8IQ0/s400/IMG_2848.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583707266224434658" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Stack it high!!<br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaBjcg7z2Lu_3kvtMEr3GcVsEM9mv_-9JLIaCT-IylUmU3nVpDIhwDxJ0rPOk5XoAJOTleyqNV8EX3o-stnptcai9AJZ8tbHLWQSWDtkUiki5H5JPzbLFSqg8Evk-PtE43lO6pYQJ3eMs/s1600/IMG_2915.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaBjcg7z2Lu_3kvtMEr3GcVsEM9mv_-9JLIaCT-IylUmU3nVpDIhwDxJ0rPOk5XoAJOTleyqNV8EX3o-stnptcai9AJZ8tbHLWQSWDtkUiki5H5JPzbLFSqg8Evk-PtE43lO6pYQJ3eMs/s400/IMG_2915.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583707258127138178" border="0" /></a><br />Clean enough for the Virgin Mary herself to eat off of.<br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP_niSutWQZgq3hwrMQSjLJkO2CHQ6AoaOoFWrHXO1biyNmSCyKONDWlbcZUT_VDzfiS1rPAxuXvop-9Hm7ckEq2rFV3isQq5a1GCxmwEOdMElV01MkcX32s7i2cVeyldNwLaDczR3YK4/s1600/IMG_2926.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP_niSutWQZgq3hwrMQSjLJkO2CHQ6AoaOoFWrHXO1biyNmSCyKONDWlbcZUT_VDzfiS1rPAxuXvop-9Hm7ckEq2rFV3isQq5a1GCxmwEOdMElV01MkcX32s7i2cVeyldNwLaDczR3YK4/s400/IMG_2926.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583707250493573778" border="0" /></a>Inspired and interpretive irrigation<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcpR24WexcoDWS9C3rmePKkzQyRz9ErMr0EFIiGxfs94LcPFycFLqVQzFHIT0zA6VGIFYOtT6w4wHVdhr3tCayeDvs7FJnlupVuqke6kj9Z38XhXEEMSREgRU94zt9RkPtEokIcSCnfX4/s1600/IMG_2930.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcpR24WexcoDWS9C3rmePKkzQyRz9ErMr0EFIiGxfs94LcPFycFLqVQzFHIT0zA6VGIFYOtT6w4wHVdhr3tCayeDvs7FJnlupVuqke6kj9Z38XhXEEMSREgRU94zt9RkPtEokIcSCnfX4/s400/IMG_2930.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583707252381599250" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Scouring scat streaks<br />ewwwwww<br /></div></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggzTs7l1RgEBR4IjGIxCq6lckCN1PH4sck0IxGgUm9p_vhDyJCSTXRTWmYFBvKN2ascNYSDmA67J7VbRilZg-NqZEhJjdkqSeCO7RDwm7Z5tnePvPeawfB-2sbWzU8sBHQzGICnRTuE-0/s1600/IMG_2956.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggzTs7l1RgEBR4IjGIxCq6lckCN1PH4sck0IxGgUm9p_vhDyJCSTXRTWmYFBvKN2ascNYSDmA67J7VbRilZg-NqZEhJjdkqSeCO7RDwm7Z5tnePvPeawfB-2sbWzU8sBHQzGICnRTuE-0/s400/IMG_2956.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583707249668415810" border="0" /></a><br />Making it right as rain<br /></div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42a6PFlVHNnC8dktmzmrJV3wVNSt9AJEFYwcSD-4rsXVZUG2cQryVeTi0iGKHrRBzwhnkM9iVGZhyphenhyphenMzKfOsjrA6WqHBlvABQJ_ldCAOy6FCHln1Y5e8PUfMKjq5jCyzSEpecfmWFrafc/s1600/IMG_2955.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42a6PFlVHNnC8dktmzmrJV3wVNSt9AJEFYwcSD-4rsXVZUG2cQryVeTi0iGKHrRBzwhnkM9iVGZhyphenhyphenMzKfOsjrA6WqHBlvABQJ_ldCAOy6FCHln1Y5e8PUfMKjq5jCyzSEpecfmWFrafc/s400/IMG_2955.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583706904971463906" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Putting compost where nature intended it<br />dirty hippy!!<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJV9oeprIIwrIT9KABe92WVhwsHskA865GcoUq-nPTl2DSmAZbteW4Cfbeyr8GyZKNGSaHmmV8YSJ93zZ7-5p2b6TvuYMzFTYOxt3H1ZHKVIvd9ArY2OqSbfDPRi09mSzoZ2-g84TfWVU/s1600/IMG_2957.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJV9oeprIIwrIT9KABe92WVhwsHskA865GcoUq-nPTl2DSmAZbteW4Cfbeyr8GyZKNGSaHmmV8YSJ93zZ7-5p2b6TvuYMzFTYOxt3H1ZHKVIvd9ArY2OqSbfDPRi09mSzoZ2-g84TfWVU/s400/IMG_2957.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583706902124275874" border="0" /></a><br />Proud Laborer<br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNQQDX6kiJnOcJR1mvGf_xsl9zF5MJxnGYCAdOhxfD4U_UPhfodbEz7Gj-FTiS4L_Abglt9VFyNJ_e4p8aVJUk-Y3abEy6NhqnQy6jcUkee0eJRmWngoyzPrTdKlDdPR8Oqf4WXBz0MeM/s1600/IMG_2960.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNQQDX6kiJnOcJR1mvGf_xsl9zF5MJxnGYCAdOhxfD4U_UPhfodbEz7Gj-FTiS4L_Abglt9VFyNJ_e4p8aVJUk-Y3abEy6NhqnQy6jcUkee0eJRmWngoyzPrTdKlDdPR8Oqf4WXBz0MeM/s400/IMG_2960.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583706899058074722" border="0" /></a><br />Little Tykes wheelbarrow<br />Industria Argentina<br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_q-aXp4CDhX-sydmzLfmcdQOjyCKLGHLE5Y5QUBuBbNndOfUbaQWbsoS7LtV9tuDHHWVmUpxE_mW4GLlgSgupkn2Ju_0le4-owYabot6mMggmOlpUk1OOMxjZsAhCB77QWh1S7NAH0qA/s1600/IMG_2990.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_q-aXp4CDhX-sydmzLfmcdQOjyCKLGHLE5Y5QUBuBbNndOfUbaQWbsoS7LtV9tuDHHWVmUpxE_mW4GLlgSgupkn2Ju_0le4-owYabot6mMggmOlpUk1OOMxjZsAhCB77QWh1S7NAH0qA/s400/IMG_2990.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583706896904363106" border="0" /></a>Queen of delectable desserts<br />This bread pudding was made in a wood-burning stove with a dutch oven<br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Though we didn't mind hard work and having long work days, it was nice when we received some down time. During this time we would:<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPDQi65yS1vqZ9pXw7ss44xST3DWpieSeNpoVxP2gQ35VlJEOYVSYdljDu0qYd07rz3UaANAog2rLMHu9mQ3MeMsZfs-cvdcGl3sLaeEgOQIk0Jo_dOruagFXSHk_tOrm4CpEGgFI4WiY/s1600/IMG_2981.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPDQi65yS1vqZ9pXw7ss44xST3DWpieSeNpoVxP2gQ35VlJEOYVSYdljDu0qYd07rz3UaANAog2rLMHu9mQ3MeMsZfs-cvdcGl3sLaeEgOQIk0Jo_dOruagFXSHk_tOrm4CpEGgFI4WiY/s400/IMG_2981.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583706895887037346" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Spend time together by the peaceful lake<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKK8JLbUNjlx-AXeiy1YJZkTurGvbwexdwN5R8JhdxYJSGeXNK9ujsD8uduI7uT1cIr1MsoSMDK-tWQF5wumJKhYAIUarf6DIxyF9D17D5RN5rSBHQeVsoc7Ml96F9c5VZgCsIXYAnZPE/s1600/IMG_2924.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKK8JLbUNjlx-AXeiy1YJZkTurGvbwexdwN5R8JhdxYJSGeXNK9ujsD8uduI7uT1cIr1MsoSMDK-tWQF5wumJKhYAIUarf6DIxyF9D17D5RN5rSBHQeVsoc7Ml96F9c5VZgCsIXYAnZPE/s400/IMG_2924.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583706280287183874" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Making Gianna proud - working on Yoga skillz!!<br />Trying to stay fit and healthy<br /><br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk5p2V7QhNjS_C6RLHhMiPDOOBS4M-eZP3hXSQRI7g9g2rAFdhMrK7e-jPF7zfYUExGh6YLxtz8XH1DEVx9C997V6uZZsMuRSMmwscZsdGiFNyE7clWyLiGm0-ef1nTydut5ms9IGev_Y/s1600/IMG_2974.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk5p2V7QhNjS_C6RLHhMiPDOOBS4M-eZP3hXSQRI7g9g2rAFdhMrK7e-jPF7zfYUExGh6YLxtz8XH1DEVx9C997V6uZZsMuRSMmwscZsdGiFNyE7clWyLiGm0-ef1nTydut5ms9IGev_Y/s400/IMG_2974.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583706279193287458" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Collecting delicious wild mint for tea<br />yummm<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoluLbDBO3h7KEfz5R44GMemtXyoOEsqQWwtCUFe6pgaY54UjA7fDwDJ3EE6oMvEUjzfC9PRXCKK7bzfoKAOHIhNhmWKiUKR0GQEUlK93gO9I9F8DcvYtGgBdlU7eAhuEY8NrKpZ5kya0/s1600/IMG_2948.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoluLbDBO3h7KEfz5R44GMemtXyoOEsqQWwtCUFe6pgaY54UjA7fDwDJ3EE6oMvEUjzfC9PRXCKK7bzfoKAOHIhNhmWKiUKR0GQEUlK93gO9I9F8DcvYtGgBdlU7eAhuEY8NrKpZ5kya0/s400/IMG_2948.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583706272651629346" border="0" /></a><br />Playing an honest game of cards... Gin/Rummi!<br /><br /></div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMj85nF2yz5qGml0NQbH7mp6nRS9ReplruLfPMR5z3mzMVD0MaaPL-Az6nGxPxHdRsjFLBGiSKqE2jNOyXkO6hnvKX-39PU5zmGiWBJG23miyjQl3yZppS8RNMTHj4TH8aSz2I1WhetgA/s1600/IMG_2945.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMj85nF2yz5qGml0NQbH7mp6nRS9ReplruLfPMR5z3mzMVD0MaaPL-Az6nGxPxHdRsjFLBGiSKqE2jNOyXkO6hnvKX-39PU5zmGiWBJG23miyjQl3yZppS8RNMTHj4TH8aSz2I1WhetgA/s400/IMG_2945.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583706274617419810" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Building brain cells - Jared Diamond = Hero<br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ-EtWxYk4pTejrc8zgSzGkGiLInid5NagqxhReXsJgzdZZjir2aNXq172JBZkO28v78Rw_3YBntKWzJ-cQenZLn1GsVUQxQwLXfLXyVGB9HTigoU6O5m0oZiPabkrKAA5KWciFxPW670/s1600/IMG_2952.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ-EtWxYk4pTejrc8zgSzGkGiLInid5NagqxhReXsJgzdZZjir2aNXq172JBZkO28v78Rw_3YBntKWzJ-cQenZLn1GsVUQxQwLXfLXyVGB9HTigoU6O5m0oZiPabkrKAA5KWciFxPW670/s400/IMG_2952.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583706268486244658" border="0" /></a><br />Spanish Yoga in the sunshine<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiso9HliZDDfJryk7Thhl1-vHaRniaz3kuOWgrkkFdIfYiHa0nwSTWBkSBPZ6OTQn4UV_yN07ZYR3z8zBoUVLrkdT5PMdISvVUdsGvb3VyjOZx23mWQe4nj5pFZekU5aXaypfGOB6T3KoU/s1600/IMG_2972.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiso9HliZDDfJryk7Thhl1-vHaRniaz3kuOWgrkkFdIfYiHa0nwSTWBkSBPZ6OTQn4UV_yN07ZYR3z8zBoUVLrkdT5PMdISvVUdsGvb3VyjOZx23mWQe4nj5pFZekU5aXaypfGOB6T3KoU/s400/IMG_2972.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583707991568918722" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoMAd_rpk6knBeufilN2ZJVPSIyjcPByJ70g0kXJuRxVRviplRmauXhy-U0pTSoRnQ2FPRl-ZMFTE9fbdRhz9St0hxKFUiUuQ4B_KSJpEnHe7KjKeHIFNBpp0Gc0etXCCBj2RCVPAhwCg/s1600/IMG_2837.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoMAd_rpk6knBeufilN2ZJVPSIyjcPByJ70g0kXJuRxVRviplRmauXhy-U0pTSoRnQ2FPRl-ZMFTE9fbdRhz9St0hxKFUiUuQ4B_KSJpEnHe7KjKeHIFNBpp0Gc0etXCCBj2RCVPAhwCg/s400/IMG_2837.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583707984738022450" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">During our work experience one of our favorite days was visiting Marcelo's Estancia just down the road. This was our true "Argentine" unforgettable experience. He has tons of sheep and vaca's full of 'personality'<br /><br />When we arrived we were immediately encouraged to give him a hand and help round up the 20+ vacas for delivery.<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiniscEYA_QE1mFk3eUsYIA5_54F3JsqrJPEiSQXGpvGc69T4UhQJtnjY28nVuH1TK4P2eK-zshkwWru8DlPyQMDlStuxG9oAXJppQ4io15GfTuGmGZzah7BwzAvb_nmuXnzaUT5KGxpZs/s1600/DSC_3890.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiniscEYA_QE1mFk3eUsYIA5_54F3JsqrJPEiSQXGpvGc69T4UhQJtnjY28nVuH1TK4P2eK-zshkwWru8DlPyQMDlStuxG9oAXJppQ4io15GfTuGmGZzah7BwzAvb_nmuXnzaUT5KGxpZs/s400/DSC_3890.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583705302042059906" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Herding the hell-bent herd - they did not want to load up the ramp into the truck!!<br /></div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsZvQ3GAWHOwN82_ZW2wulGUzTQROhJ3JQs3VQ6l0PCkbdiFh555WJUY7TY47zDsrGizJXHvOBUMiPkylNrkUdJ1HbmXHaI_jByZlOrglhmGMpEg6yiaI_Wpxws3IcNKtWh6CxPgyENfw/s1600/DSC_3894.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsZvQ3GAWHOwN82_ZW2wulGUzTQROhJ3JQs3VQ6l0PCkbdiFh555WJUY7TY47zDsrGizJXHvOBUMiPkylNrkUdJ1HbmXHaI_jByZlOrglhmGMpEg6yiaI_Wpxws3IcNKtWh6CxPgyENfw/s400/DSC_3894.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583705304167292242" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Marcello moving the beasts<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9gEjdA9yubdM1zScu9gk-k4I19TYMULJTSRqFT7yhH9KaJYiUpV5dN7paArTPdJ23gq-2U1sa29NmmQRZoplNa4Sn1bFneRU4XkVxkO9_yS_C4xavMOx2MzmUwmsSQZeL7Lm4XLb_L3U/s1600/DSC_3899.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9gEjdA9yubdM1zScu9gk-k4I19TYMULJTSRqFT7yhH9KaJYiUpV5dN7paArTPdJ23gq-2U1sa29NmmQRZoplNa4Sn1bFneRU4XkVxkO9_yS_C4xavMOx2MzmUwmsSQZeL7Lm4XLb_L3U/s400/DSC_3899.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583705298840679442" border="0" /></a><br />The vaca's with cernos (horns) seemed to know they could misbehave.<br />This scared feller is running away (mid-defecation) and inciting all his dense cronies to turn around and follow. Arghh!!<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCOI-JBQO1Jp2j6rkju8SDYwTvIzTLvTF5dW2zIR8BuUeGxDO1oLD0to-jYf9gBrBeGL1NTEJuJfnPchP6GQ2gG8xM2BIw95vMw9rNOY-axXkvZjjTysgkVp5VfBHSYJZq5bmaFXeRcpU/s1600/DSC_3901.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCOI-JBQO1Jp2j6rkju8SDYwTvIzTLvTF5dW2zIR8BuUeGxDO1oLD0to-jYf9gBrBeGL1NTEJuJfnPchP6GQ2gG8xM2BIw95vMw9rNOY-axXkvZjjTysgkVp5VfBHSYJZq5bmaFXeRcpU/s400/DSC_3901.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583705006726874018" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Getting ornery. Carajo!!<br /><br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5UHds_S3EdfCxL3iIt01hDXxFC0JygFukXAMXP71LHssYyCYlXO8RwMVe-xX9UoqqELuWo2dWnrTqSwLV86HIaZADIxomPdEDwDE2lqsofcjFAn_tPZaBXio78ikDZrsP2Cuz725z-8/s1600/DSC_3917.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5UHds_S3EdfCxL3iIt01hDXxFC0JygFukXAMXP71LHssYyCYlXO8RwMVe-xX9UoqqELuWo2dWnrTqSwLV86HIaZADIxomPdEDwDE2lqsofcjFAn_tPZaBXio78ikDZrsP2Cuz725z-8/s400/DSC_3917.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583704999679632306" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Moving Bessies up the ramp...<br />Ivan is a true gaucho now! not!<br /><br /><br />Later that day we got to 'help' Marcelo slaughter a defenseless 3 month old baby lamb.<br />Campo Cielo Grande planned a 'cruz' asado for the Cordero lambie later that evening. Kristin remarked that she had never witnessed and tasted meat within hours of life to death...<br /><br />Warning! the following pictures are not for the faint of stomach, or for anyone subscribed or of like mind to the organization PETA...<br />but if you would like to see the "real gruesome" photos send us an email and we'd be happy to share the first hand experience (but you'd have to be a total sicko to want more ;).<br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQCEfZZBxhC4Z1z4vbFBIxwIrbWf5LtdJA4xcub3VF2l6sXITdNAQR7vHTTTvgM2EV6mXNKS7CIO8rccIRA6CJaBO5Bgb2JbodnWfi-QQszExV1YFB8FgdX3rh7-g6yQSBu8DYh9umu0U/s1600/DSC_3920.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQCEfZZBxhC4Z1z4vbFBIxwIrbWf5LtdJA4xcub3VF2l6sXITdNAQR7vHTTTvgM2EV6mXNKS7CIO8rccIRA6CJaBO5Bgb2JbodnWfi-QQszExV1YFB8FgdX3rh7-g6yQSBu8DYh9umu0U/s400/DSC_3920.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583704994053747906" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Gruesome, but humane.<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQOImwkiMA1UkEzpfFuvIjfYYkdE5eCZJppbMop_IrwyXUJq56TWqZU4C6jhRwp4Gp7JkqwoeSI7SPZIglCtNd1NBg1MTgxUB7O2ChY2CH-BXpA0YBD0CcoxvnjYvEctevpUIz3C6H-yI/s1600/DSC_3925.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQOImwkiMA1UkEzpfFuvIjfYYkdE5eCZJppbMop_IrwyXUJq56TWqZU4C6jhRwp4Gp7JkqwoeSI7SPZIglCtNd1NBg1MTgxUB7O2ChY2CH-BXpA0YBD0CcoxvnjYvEctevpUIz3C6H-yI/s400/DSC_3925.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583704987267692130" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Starting the intricate process of skinning.<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwbcnxlPhJZCKkTNxbwHOWxqohSEF3K02Dy0KzO7MYKr4XkXh57zzGZ5kmfVZjMzjXQH23crQH5P8qf_qQsyrLKzJaTrCRQhdcM2-_2ijuyy9rJGdqcBSviLRKchqC5lTquA1G4XoUXPU/s1600/DSC_3927.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwbcnxlPhJZCKkTNxbwHOWxqohSEF3K02Dy0KzO7MYKr4XkXh57zzGZ5kmfVZjMzjXQH23crQH5P8qf_qQsyrLKzJaTrCRQhdcM2-_2ijuyy9rJGdqcBSviLRKchqC5lTquA1G4XoUXPU/s400/DSC_3927.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583704988731859426" border="0" /></a><br />Kristin and Norma (Mama Marcelo) proudly watching Marcelo's expertise<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixWWzCWKPRe65b2iPBd66kQi0-bMPsucY2_Mmfhu6DipmqHGSm1JCFpKbD48XM1fo_W8Pq_WIv9em5190Ktq4NdrXvAYQc7xHtP_UxtQ2XAXoaQMoScwWjzIGKA5oo8bXFM276I2Z_I0Y/s1600/DSC_3931.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixWWzCWKPRe65b2iPBd66kQi0-bMPsucY2_Mmfhu6DipmqHGSm1JCFpKbD48XM1fo_W8Pq_WIv9em5190Ktq4NdrXvAYQc7xHtP_UxtQ2XAXoaQMoScwWjzIGKA5oo8bXFM276I2Z_I0Y/s400/DSC_3931.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583704214143567602" border="0" /></a><br />"Taking off the clothes"<br />Lucky lamb, cause it was a hot day!!<br /><br /><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSsin0E-SbPQJPHZ1aUxIk8cib_WupvfG_LZLgqkIlZugfGALpg0oV2ylu6uQF37GWPJfqOYxLXka9hFQ2QPOZ243N1eBo_y-w-I7blAEI53I035uA6RnETJo14yZ-AZR0nb0I6Wq_Yw/s1600/DSC_3937.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSsin0E-SbPQJPHZ1aUxIk8cib_WupvfG_LZLgqkIlZugfGALpg0oV2ylu6uQF37GWPJfqOYxLXka9hFQ2QPOZ243N1eBo_y-w-I7blAEI53I035uA6RnETJo14yZ-AZR0nb0I6Wq_Yw/s400/DSC_3937.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583704206018584194" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcAoG5Rak0r83JxGysWGJFRecBb0Z7zkibS4JPMncyneEXe_qFTyj_3un7OKcjFPe1ktdq-J1oclc-BPxfEVQcc_EaZtkNH5xQ3q_WJxwfW0P-eO_bBHaBfAQBD_Xkq8md0RFF7Ax5fjI/s1600/DSC_3948.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcAoG5Rak0r83JxGysWGJFRecBb0Z7zkibS4JPMncyneEXe_qFTyj_3un7OKcjFPe1ktdq-J1oclc-BPxfEVQcc_EaZtkNH5xQ3q_WJxwfW0P-eO_bBHaBfAQBD_Xkq8md0RFF7Ax5fjI/s400/DSC_3948.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583704202996598562" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVT3wX5P_LCKZb0ZVcofNLWDemtdO8sLbczeOtBTtvI7P5AC7gHNABH_Zxw5zTajf5h7Dg7woQq_J1ucDeCWQsNlFORjIARaTBGKqbp5lpxYGmgDkLCHI0pPCbq07_GSPdMZYZZUopFx8/s1600/DSC_3956.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVT3wX5P_LCKZb0ZVcofNLWDemtdO8sLbczeOtBTtvI7P5AC7gHNABH_Zxw5zTajf5h7Dg7woQq_J1ucDeCWQsNlFORjIARaTBGKqbp5lpxYGmgDkLCHI0pPCbq07_GSPdMZYZZUopFx8/s400/DSC_3956.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583704202949242146" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">wowzers!!<br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBti92DjJagzchRJn-juRbXgwHNV2Arnvnksh-050XzNVPp2S-IYmF7Jm2YM2sdba8ABqB9uTAF23KyycdxS5AcjfgeTO7reelI6ADnAFwFvQFTQFMqEDDuPrvTQtEQ1NHVFN3-IquJ6E/s1600/DSC_3957.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBti92DjJagzchRJn-juRbXgwHNV2Arnvnksh-050XzNVPp2S-IYmF7Jm2YM2sdba8ABqB9uTAF23KyycdxS5AcjfgeTO7reelI6ADnAFwFvQFTQFMqEDDuPrvTQtEQ1NHVFN3-IquJ6E/s400/DSC_3957.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583704197259300098" border="0" /></a><br />That's some sexy meat!!<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Our work experience at Lago Rosario was a nice break from the rigors of constant travel and time on the road. We were grateful for the chance to have a work routine and some time to see some stunning parts of Patagonia. What an experience!<br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhky-4yKLIgwTv1TfLZz1woxub2McCDtubxYM3VB1rUUIRhhyphenhyphenANwZqqSIKB7eE9hC72j8LdnEYcUQllp4UGQqK-ICGJ1WvXhi6s-_pi8xPk16sFcVFZwZrtIWXarlh_hiFWWxpi1oyTd8w/s1600/IMG_2995.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhky-4yKLIgwTv1TfLZz1woxub2McCDtubxYM3VB1rUUIRhhyphenhyphenANwZqqSIKB7eE9hC72j8LdnEYcUQllp4UGQqK-ICGJ1WvXhi6s-_pi8xPk16sFcVFZwZrtIWXarlh_hiFWWxpi1oyTd8w/s400/IMG_2995.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583707997470031410" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The camera shy Shelby<br /><br /><br />This blog was posted with the help of a yummy meal and local wine here in Mendoza Capital. We are excited for this next leg in our trip with a bit of relaxation, good wine/food and spoiling each other. As we get back to the rhythm of the road our blogs should increase in frequency (we hope!)<br /></div>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-85554832404428439012011-02-28T12:27:00.004-03:002011-03-02T16:26:17.420-03:00El Bolson, El Parque Alerces y Casa de David<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_oapSsfMItiJgmAGjbrBSW6ODmZJWPY50mmxgZS6eYN3R-27dOmjmuGWXHoKFfOA-lE64fqR95Lf4nw0Ooksn7duU4FhbNt4CeuE2xDMuXDO7k4jjOZu6psd784Img1wRWoE8CBTlQA/s1600/DSC_4052.jpg"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh5BKUbswCSGbP5yzwkVEcvHMdrQ7Ex0AP-RGoN_k2TbYnjzNKsOb3SnS7gRY2k0v-aQDvj5OsS3cmyGGFv2j82wjE3Gxpi8DPsw91epMkd8v8Z8ZQ7Ry_W-9iALbXUt2BEmyrpRZrjfw/s1600/DSC_4051.jpg"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYIxD8aqmQmpToPubwu01ORMY3tMsDeLHEOQYswtPvCU5XKbXm94rIFmJAXgflVLrq1YieTywTO0XtjqzOwE2MitVF1sYyqStmJFcKihAjitHX5Pc5NODJ6x3aygnZUOn6zRYtrSi_fRU/s1600/DSC_4049.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYIxD8aqmQmpToPubwu01ORMY3tMsDeLHEOQYswtPvCU5XKbXm94rIFmJAXgflVLrq1YieTywTO0XtjqzOwE2MitVF1sYyqStmJFcKihAjitHX5Pc5NODJ6x3aygnZUOn6zRYtrSi_fRU/s400/DSC_4049.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554090146430898" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">On February 22nd Kristin, Ivan, and Fraser (a decently radical Canadian) hopped in (Tio) David's off-road machine for a road trip up to El Bolson. This small city boasts the greatest hippy-ness of any other city in Argentina, which makes it a pretty fun place for us to peruse and get dirty along with the other “dirty” hippies. After a short 2 hour drive, we arrived in downtown El Bolson and walked through the famed tri-weekly Mercado, which features food, organic fruits and veg, organic lotions and beauty products, jewelry and many other kinds of homemade trinkets. We found great empanadas, veggie quiche, fresh delicious berries and fruit, and artisan beer. We only spent a bit of time at the mercado because we were in a hurry to drop into the mountaineering office, find a hiking route and begin our hike.<span style=""> </span>Once we found our route, we romped up a steep gravel road to a parking lot perched on the side of a mountain, which overlooked the city.<br /><br />We started walking from the parking lot with 6 pounds of food and twice as much water, so we were ready for anything the trail threw at us - (Fraser and Ivan were well-matched eating buddies). Since we started at a high point on the mountain already, we were immediately gratified with a great view of El Bolson. After an hour or so of hiking we made it up to the Refugio, were you can sleep, camp, or grab an expensive lunch. Kristin decided this was a good stopping point for her due to her bummed knee and stayed behind and did a lot of yoga and exercises.<span style=""> </span>It definitely was not a bad place to stop because she had the Refugio spot practically to herself with sunshine, green grass and an overlook of all the mountain ranges and El Bolson below! Que Bonita! And the lovely company of a nice kitty too!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPIyaOLT88eSQQWzjC69WbmO1LBowB4kblvArV8R_3NQWIcbNZmuNFEjcotzffnqqEz8l4m0Rvp2YenjI5smVPdFxHQ7oxAHQUsRCYx-Z6fFjUQP1Iygf1b-5S6bfoMtrkV15eVbGCVw/s1600/24-2-2010+Fraser+018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPIyaOLT88eSQQWzjC69WbmO1LBowB4kblvArV8R_3NQWIcbNZmuNFEjcotzffnqqEz8l4m0Rvp2YenjI5smVPdFxHQ7oxAHQUsRCYx-Z6fFjUQP1Iygf1b-5S6bfoMtrkV15eVbGCVw/s400/24-2-2010+Fraser+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579550101184453618" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qjQAMABGOjtJ5CvKy7-K38o8tA9R5hdS7-EHRgPbeVuqIF8pDONpsEkaEB6BCD5_pqL6oykv7X4ugeVe92Hmxm7uOQVPzkNRqddJ9z7jWeWgdEKX6358zAmifWmgx8BURESTFCXShRo/s1600/IMG_2885.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qjQAMABGOjtJ5CvKy7-K38o8tA9R5hdS7-EHRgPbeVuqIF8pDONpsEkaEB6BCD5_pqL6oykv7X4ugeVe92Hmxm7uOQVPzkNRqddJ9z7jWeWgdEKX6358zAmifWmgx8BURESTFCXShRo/s400/IMG_2885.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554990469087938" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Refugio<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMwYe_wQ15NznPM85f0cHRw3DfCqgfbBxVvsZ6tzXacbR95I76u5GkYJWVK50_O4MNx7olKnbG4zCICCPHo8myULYF8MwWFhhk5MHuiUSp7ihex92s54mt_5exw0YpioWZGHR4XICiag/s1600/IMG_2888.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMwYe_wQ15NznPM85f0cHRw3DfCqgfbBxVvsZ6tzXacbR95I76u5GkYJWVK50_O4MNx7olKnbG4zCICCPHo8myULYF8MwWFhhk5MHuiUSp7ihex92s54mt_5exw0YpioWZGHR4XICiag/s400/IMG_2888.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554995901496482" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Meow! Kk's new hiking partner since Teigen is in SB<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMn4LXxpVmjter-YpllM2bc67v9E4aa5uo45tLukKdw56MuOHlV4F6KYcVY1VnVRV-dP74hiQy0Yy84KX8IPRKYU-UcNJM7579jjEXYWkcPRJ9E1EqbvtjmF_9veDIeZR7GvGePmhE5EI/s1600/DSC_3971.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMn4LXxpVmjter-YpllM2bc67v9E4aa5uo45tLukKdw56MuOHlV4F6KYcVY1VnVRV-dP74hiQy0Yy84KX8IPRKYU-UcNJM7579jjEXYWkcPRJ9E1EqbvtjmF_9veDIeZR7GvGePmhE5EI/s400/DSC_3971.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579552759404605922" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Our new pal</p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonZuHjPu4TmRNZ2oSGSrTaJc9-GqSvBa31ZUvoqscuxaKXeK85Nu16LZ8e6SD-xnBn4iAHSwHTnWgf-RxQiktb-YomoFx3O5dCmJ0lXmYKMmfPWuCOTwpnLcSV_MPg5PRHkzBUKfoQfI/s1600/DSC_3962.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonZuHjPu4TmRNZ2oSGSrTaJc9-GqSvBa31ZUvoqscuxaKXeK85Nu16LZ8e6SD-xnBn4iAHSwHTnWgf-RxQiktb-YomoFx3O5dCmJ0lXmYKMmfPWuCOTwpnLcSV_MPg5PRHkzBUKfoQfI/s400/DSC_3962.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579552759515542370" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTvaJxH3RQk-AFKdREHJdrXl7odschlbIpIb3f-NXFbX6V_iX45EzMp1MX9yycArc0wAPuYvRFI_MGDuE-agG15mHu4QKukNXmEjNeZm0NEWYGGKvXvbcmaogt4rnEHU4ezY8cJ1V89eU/s1600/24-2-2010+Fraser+040.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTvaJxH3RQk-AFKdREHJdrXl7odschlbIpIb3f-NXFbX6V_iX45EzMp1MX9yycArc0wAPuYvRFI_MGDuE-agG15mHu4QKukNXmEjNeZm0NEWYGGKvXvbcmaogt4rnEHU4ezY8cJ1V89eU/s400/24-2-2010+Fraser+040.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579550104649596594" border="0" /></a><br />Ivan and Fraser continued up the trail past an antique chairlift, and abandoned metal bits. Within 20 minutes, they were past the Alpine-line and out on the exposed mountainsides with incredible views. We took several detours for photos and different vantage points off the main trail. Later, the trail went straight up a steep scree slope to the point of the mountain. With every laborious step up, we slid down a half step. The last 2 hours of our ascent was pretty determined and sweaty, but definitely a great reward at the top. Fraser, being the tough BC mountain man got to the peak first and nearly lost his balance when he realized we had hiked to a cliffs' edge!! Both tired climbers quickly sat down to allow time for their dizzy vertigo to subside - yikes! (it was about 300 feet straight down to the next outcrop, and another 500 or so to the ground).<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOJEoAmzjipOvgpXZtr1NagbjrmkfL2rHv2UtdL5W4Km7cK1_56RGhiNIsdPNsuHa1CySSuOE4NyaXLnjAHY36GgZvO7HLmtC8ve3meOajeFY2NNJRAJ-SSUXzD_gxNicUmEFZL5RfAFo/s1600/DSC_3995.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOJEoAmzjipOvgpXZtr1NagbjrmkfL2rHv2UtdL5W4Km7cK1_56RGhiNIsdPNsuHa1CySSuOE4NyaXLnjAHY36GgZvO7HLmtC8ve3meOajeFY2NNJRAJ-SSUXzD_gxNicUmEFZL5RfAFo/s400/DSC_3995.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579553653296139938" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvCjGHINJ8XCo5LR85OlPJWtiHoD9pArFLv4WmnYDAKfyRrX3FKuXsFC0wWSOscuyQmCR3bB-zg_m1wtYuVoQbKh6TW7qje44EuwD4K00KCkp0BgiBxRhoLPBUJfs3DECajexPOjFRhpk/s1600/DSC_3991.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvCjGHINJ8XCo5LR85OlPJWtiHoD9pArFLv4WmnYDAKfyRrX3FKuXsFC0wWSOscuyQmCR3bB-zg_m1wtYuVoQbKh6TW7qje44EuwD4K00KCkp0BgiBxRhoLPBUJfs3DECajexPOjFRhpk/s400/DSC_3991.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579552767250073218" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-iqCfVZ9VepWfK9jbyob0lBVOGU11J-u0GRGC32targhpt7SzLJnosrk0d4exlcYL0ey0N6ThbmljiuJol-H1Fi4CqfYFJvLlTQgEegcxAeL67t4jtL3eP_ljGQr-DPJUDYQ-iOkf1oM/s1600/DSC_3985.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-iqCfVZ9VepWfK9jbyob0lBVOGU11J-u0GRGC32targhpt7SzLJnosrk0d4exlcYL0ey0N6ThbmljiuJol-H1Fi4CqfYFJvLlTQgEegcxAeL67t4jtL3eP_ljGQr-DPJUDYQ-iOkf1oM/s400/DSC_3985.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579552765543897682" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn6TJd9y3qV7BGWCmfdEf2i2qzwKF8pZnj3bHeHqJhwaR1leZwiy3zefQjgsR1Z7Xob9ucCxdRM3FGWMeltZ2dt5U1lk0zn4g7jnhz72vE1pmNJD8Kc9LR8PM2JUSwSaqIfr3y-HdrfLc/s1600/DSC_3981.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn6TJd9y3qV7BGWCmfdEf2i2qzwKF8pZnj3bHeHqJhwaR1leZwiy3zefQjgsR1Z7Xob9ucCxdRM3FGWMeltZ2dt5U1lk0zn4g7jnhz72vE1pmNJD8Kc9LR8PM2JUSwSaqIfr3y-HdrfLc/s400/DSC_3981.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579552765315066546" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Canadians think they are funny, eh? jk!<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xMebYQCrmkNVcIoM4cPnixV3cRSnuE0kz6MIX5b8fxlSzZIKEBJJtPEJEEXIUAqT3Bc_fW7wYe1qL08_C3w-Fp6II6uwcoI1idk5Ww5fB8UkXxnEGAFi0iOVhNbnMzZGH2q8B8hJ554/s1600/24-2-2010+Fraser+087.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xMebYQCrmkNVcIoM4cPnixV3cRSnuE0kz6MIX5b8fxlSzZIKEBJJtPEJEEXIUAqT3Bc_fW7wYe1qL08_C3w-Fp6II6uwcoI1idk5Ww5fB8UkXxnEGAFi0iOVhNbnMzZGH2q8B8hJ554/s400/24-2-2010+Fraser+087.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579551430992835106" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv99NILGvIZoVYnKHhyBmC6kZ8y8tQ8f0je4B6Xg4PNtmJuiBqZYIhIn4zekSxmpn4Rjdv7l-IXGBUDQhQJu4du70WPEN0XabXOsV55dh-ZF9oR7_QscSP07yorgdNOgOPSj6Zyk9pOzM/s1600/24-2-2010+Fraser+071.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv99NILGvIZoVYnKHhyBmC6kZ8y8tQ8f0je4B6Xg4PNtmJuiBqZYIhIn4zekSxmpn4Rjdv7l-IXGBUDQhQJu4du70WPEN0XabXOsV55dh-ZF9oR7_QscSP07yorgdNOgOPSj6Zyk9pOzM/s400/24-2-2010+Fraser+071.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579551423518614290" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">soooo steep!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1MOGaoiz1sDuMWH2mtpbgW75PNDr4xzJpmZTVH-EdQcCZWIHDSaUcaUAiJDa98qouGQeHCtAZoBelufSV_M3nJdI_-MWaBYQl11SE1b8xINlmQd79yFLEVx9B62RuU0A7ayxqs1Mpn8/s1600/DSC_4002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1MOGaoiz1sDuMWH2mtpbgW75PNDr4xzJpmZTVH-EdQcCZWIHDSaUcaUAiJDa98qouGQeHCtAZoBelufSV_M3nJdI_-MWaBYQl11SE1b8xINlmQd79yFLEVx9B62RuU0A7ayxqs1Mpn8/s400/DSC_4002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579553661236911410" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-aFGMYRRwFcM-hwlEg_7LR2wXbE0Dg5sQYWBKBnUPCzZ5wo2RhOBMDwGuOmZRTMJ1f2KVRlA_W7EvotKHvJsV7E7UUY44bswAg54dPf646avmaL0De-lKTrU-v3Xx4SDeT1lI1xyuis/s1600/24-2-2010+Fraser+051.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-aFGMYRRwFcM-hwlEg_7LR2wXbE0Dg5sQYWBKBnUPCzZ5wo2RhOBMDwGuOmZRTMJ1f2KVRlA_W7EvotKHvJsV7E7UUY44bswAg54dPf646avmaL0De-lKTrU-v3Xx4SDeT1lI1xyuis/s400/24-2-2010+Fraser+051.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579550107648356066" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>The valley<br /></div><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNNob-n9g5rsZvZWhHs11c3YlzyrhOxTweYh_v5s5OxXl3z1M_Bl7hs5-RAgSxHtTLWEzVOx0TBxB0sq5u9YxjoeHhdDh11wN_HUe0HhWPZXukxFogX-intb-J5FabRA85NZBbeTKqSY/s1600/24-2-2010+Fraser+091.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNNob-n9g5rsZvZWhHs11c3YlzyrhOxTweYh_v5s5OxXl3z1M_Bl7hs5-RAgSxHtTLWEzVOx0TBxB0sq5u9YxjoeHhdDh11wN_HUe0HhWPZXukxFogX-intb-J5FabRA85NZBbeTKqSY/s400/24-2-2010+Fraser+091.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579551443630994386" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br />After a quick snack and lots of breathtaking pictures within the clouds, we headed down. This was actually quite a bit of fun since running down scree is like clumsy skiing downhill. The 2 hour ascent was only a 20 minute descent!! Being the super studs that they are, they ran back most of the way to the Refugio so Kristin did not have to wait too long. After the boys joined Kristin and told her about their steep adventure she was greatly reassured that staying behind was the best idea as her knee would have been completely dislocated from the sounds of it ;) Tough guys!! The 3 of us headed back down the mountain and headed straight to the cerveceria artesenal de El Bolson!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgctGS0yL-zSWVe3Ik0gFG69p6Yk6YYj1n2hvo-2occiP25KDSO-B_DTIsK5diX20fCgRu9wM7Ewacol3sgfSZZZo_MKCMO5mndmUcBgSRU_CD3b5K_5wf8RWLTptx46auNUWMRBNuxG7Y/s1600/24-2-2010+Fraser+093.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgctGS0yL-zSWVe3Ik0gFG69p6Yk6YYj1n2hvo-2occiP25KDSO-B_DTIsK5diX20fCgRu9wM7Ewacol3sgfSZZZo_MKCMO5mndmUcBgSRU_CD3b5K_5wf8RWLTptx46auNUWMRBNuxG7Y/s400/24-2-2010+Fraser+093.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579551440483504962" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Made it!!!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Lo_taeNMuUaRkPUi00qZ3MFi5p6ij5qfh024Vz_3Yi8r3UQDHJNCqt9HRv9_nIr7zUlYrzkOjPQIqCnCBM3TfV7u3GbAn2jYRqcAoAcuKDLOfbXhjsZ4ePcqcBsSBd-8341NF860jS8/s1600/DSC_4017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Lo_taeNMuUaRkPUi00qZ3MFi5p6ij5qfh024Vz_3Yi8r3UQDHJNCqt9HRv9_nIr7zUlYrzkOjPQIqCnCBM3TfV7u3GbAn2jYRqcAoAcuKDLOfbXhjsZ4ePcqcBsSBd-8341NF860jS8/s400/DSC_4017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579553661752383026" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAsZI0KQzGtAmu_YaJb4Bfdh76kqcsCvqBi3xCRUElQDXJwEX6SlEfYer1TGZgvYISsiauE-hMVaMCJabaiAL5GTEDoNlWxMJNwgOKEUYGqxpcjvjbLl0ITwxT7u0JZpVyNbJeEJY3kAs/s1600/24-2-2010+Fraser+084.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAsZI0KQzGtAmu_YaJb4Bfdh76kqcsCvqBi3xCRUElQDXJwEX6SlEfYer1TGZgvYISsiauE-hMVaMCJabaiAL5GTEDoNlWxMJNwgOKEUYGqxpcjvjbLl0ITwxT7u0JZpVyNbJeEJY3kAs/s400/24-2-2010+Fraser+084.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579551427282460322" border="0" /></a></p><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl4rzfGD-RRXVXfJklRhix5EUsnqZr2eHbdqIPglOmcwwQhUwvvSfZ0vhAO62vYV67nMeP_1W7Nk00QmkhwlNouNOnByYBoOnrI_YYLD6Xlltp58_HGEuyzp-AH87L8Q8MSlZ2uK-iZdY/s1600/DSC_4030.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl4rzfGD-RRXVXfJklRhix5EUsnqZr2eHbdqIPglOmcwwQhUwvvSfZ0vhAO62vYV67nMeP_1W7Nk00QmkhwlNouNOnByYBoOnrI_YYLD6Xlltp58_HGEuyzp-AH87L8Q8MSlZ2uK-iZdY/s400/DSC_4030.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554072746167682" border="0" /></a><br />Wow! A bit of vertigo!<br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOdFEpz63aSs6nEv13u_cRePfkuTd1X8b5OyZk-HzG6bephDb7GaUkVHXFJDZK10h2XWfy-o571Q_UZiIfWhjuQrFsd5hfFqcf19jXkg4b_Z-DZNdHI7NXnIUkFpO_2QbJhTaaHwLWnE/s1600/DSC_4022.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOdFEpz63aSs6nEv13u_cRePfkuTd1X8b5OyZk-HzG6bephDb7GaUkVHXFJDZK10h2XWfy-o571Q_UZiIfWhjuQrFsd5hfFqcf19jXkg4b_Z-DZNdHI7NXnIUkFpO_2QbJhTaaHwLWnE/s400/DSC_4022.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579553666429750674" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj08qP9m6MeQSRLMLxVq3c_0Le488WUUPI9Ueiy9Y7ygfnA9LN_bUBskLZquMFKerwLCvemnzJGZ6bhZ8q2baUuEE5ARiZfScc5M6WdVnBUZoFeREwc1nHsVzBrUbfbnwu9mNo4Wax9-J4/s1600/IMG_2895.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj08qP9m6MeQSRLMLxVq3c_0Le488WUUPI9Ueiy9Y7ygfnA9LN_bUBskLZquMFKerwLCvemnzJGZ6bhZ8q2baUuEE5ARiZfScc5M6WdVnBUZoFeREwc1nHsVzBrUbfbnwu9mNo4Wax9-J4/s400/IMG_2895.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554999343716946" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: center;">That's where the boys hiked to!<br /></div><p class="MsoNormal"><br />The cerveceria has an interesting selection of beers, but the best part is pairing it with their great pizza. We decided to split a veggie pizza with whole wheat crust (a rarity) and a pitcher of ale and rubia. A perfect way to reward ourselves for a day full of hiking! YUMMM! After our dinner we hobbled (less from drunkenness, but from sore muscles!!) to our tents and slept like stones.<br /><br />The next morning we packed up and headed to the panaderia for some facturas and coffee.<span style=""> </span>Once we felt we could face the bright sun, we drove to Lago Puelo or National Parque Lago Puelo and explored some of the shoreline there.<span style=""> </span>We ate some lunch and enjoyed the scenery.<span style=""> </span>After about two hours in the warm sunshine, we hopped back into the car and headed to Parque National Alerces.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKp991KSWO95dsnEsdWFmsnCNiGtNMpbuBTMkbk_WCMDUIHCRqkLXt-Nsc_gVVQRrAY_P7Pz1AHwe2HC_B-5BMQDlovIIH2Ivo5Vvcg-GkY_lkkvT5uA4Ipe6zBzVK26qoN7jMUhg_B4/s1600/DSC_4032.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKp991KSWO95dsnEsdWFmsnCNiGtNMpbuBTMkbk_WCMDUIHCRqkLXt-Nsc_gVVQRrAY_P7Pz1AHwe2HC_B-5BMQDlovIIH2Ivo5Vvcg-GkY_lkkvT5uA4Ipe6zBzVK26qoN7jMUhg_B4/s400/DSC_4032.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554077826401266" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Lago Puelo<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtjwHQouKx_ymYOZeNJTiGGszS-eT9kbW6yeO8Xe7kd9plwwroEDLTtAVIZrhwL0v8fE7uoYfg-gj8mdG8DH2SwwuLnM-x98Coi9GxXSjVrmW-npxu6T4ULbZc78NIVZKO2X2Ta258wU/s1600/IMG_2897.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtjwHQouKx_ymYOZeNJTiGGszS-eT9kbW6yeO8Xe7kd9plwwroEDLTtAVIZrhwL0v8fE7uoYfg-gj8mdG8DH2SwwuLnM-x98Coi9GxXSjVrmW-npxu6T4ULbZc78NIVZKO2X2Ta258wU/s400/IMG_2897.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554999428745858" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Did you know Ivan is running as an independent!?!<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The rain started up and we realized we were all pretty much starving after a long drive.<span style=""> </span>Seeing a small sign on the side of the road, we pulled in to a ‘restaurant’ – someone’s kitchen that had a large window open at the back—and though they were incredibly slow to serve, the <i style="">milanesas sandwiches</i> were huge!<span style=""> </span>We continued on to the park, thoroughly enjoying the drive.<span style=""> </span>We all thought it was superior to the famed ‘7 Lagos Route’ (2 or 3 blogs posts down).<span style=""> </span>The lakes were absolutely untouched, the water was crystal clear, and the greenery was only interrupted by the road we were driving on.<span style=""> </span>An amazing park with nobody in it!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUr49CO2jmbtV3_LoTDoYMrD20OQFLwqeWPUK2e5AyZOv1fm1wUc_ra1J676-JloFcNJnAucKh_nUnoKtE4rreoJ4D5YoG1Gtor1TE2FOZ7vJDOjNncP6Nn9LYBllJ5VCBZeUumdRA9D0/s1600/DSC_4056.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUr49CO2jmbtV3_LoTDoYMrD20OQFLwqeWPUK2e5AyZOv1fm1wUc_ra1J676-JloFcNJnAucKh_nUnoKtE4rreoJ4D5YoG1Gtor1TE2FOZ7vJDOjNncP6Nn9LYBllJ5VCBZeUumdRA9D0/s400/DSC_4056.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554320454221010" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_oapSsfMItiJgmAGjbrBSW6ODmZJWPY50mmxgZS6eYN3R-27dOmjmuGWXHoKFfOA-lE64fqR95Lf4nw0Ooksn7duU4FhbNt4CeuE2xDMuXDO7k4jjOZu6psd784Img1wRWoE8CBTlQA/s1600/DSC_4052.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_oapSsfMItiJgmAGjbrBSW6ODmZJWPY50mmxgZS6eYN3R-27dOmjmuGWXHoKFfOA-lE64fqR95Lf4nw0Ooksn7duU4FhbNt4CeuE2xDMuXDO7k4jjOZu6psd784Img1wRWoE8CBTlQA/s400/DSC_4052.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554310504812898" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh5BKUbswCSGbP5yzwkVEcvHMdrQ7Ex0AP-RGoN_k2TbYnjzNKsOb3SnS7gRY2k0v-aQDvj5OsS3cmyGGFv2j82wjE3Gxpi8DPsw91epMkd8v8Z8ZQ7Ry_W-9iALbXUt2BEmyrpRZrjfw/s1600/DSC_4051.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh5BKUbswCSGbP5yzwkVEcvHMdrQ7Ex0AP-RGoN_k2TbYnjzNKsOb3SnS7gRY2k0v-aQDvj5OsS3cmyGGFv2j82wjE3Gxpi8DPsw91epMkd8v8Z8ZQ7Ry_W-9iALbXUt2BEmyrpRZrjfw/s400/DSC_4051.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554305224503954" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">David's Beast!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZNbqwu641_V11hifVstflJZzTqTfFkEVt_1cdNA58XPYVgX43h-ki8KJbxG6QVthVjWy2YP2oT7kPd1J69MrhNyE02SgIgGKGRTCjbhb4PWXSRxF3R8moQ5SzufPhrMy5WiiQNSlNdl4/s1600/DSC_4039.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZNbqwu641_V11hifVstflJZzTqTfFkEVt_1cdNA58XPYVgX43h-ki8KJbxG6QVthVjWy2YP2oT7kPd1J69MrhNyE02SgIgGKGRTCjbhb4PWXSRxF3R8moQ5SzufPhrMy5WiiQNSlNdl4/s400/DSC_4039.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554082259417410" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8bGdrfGR4tSmnynusNge0yzJ0Fh_xZ7Xd99iZ7_nrKqj325vNy7CQ4-THzJ6zZnm8XPGKMYrRa5tJ3fYJFMNQCe8HRzu-DEuu1b-7lZRviqnqYx0Aw3ppNccNe33rCAQE4v1aHcHzXk/s1600/DSC_4038.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8bGdrfGR4tSmnynusNge0yzJ0Fh_xZ7Xd99iZ7_nrKqj325vNy7CQ4-THzJ6zZnm8XPGKMYrRa5tJ3fYJFMNQCe8HRzu-DEuu1b-7lZRviqnqYx0Aw3ppNccNe33rCAQE4v1aHcHzXk/s400/DSC_4038.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554083348821666" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Snack break<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKp991KSWO95dsnEsdWFmsnCNiGtNMpbuBTMkbk_WCMDUIHCRqkLXt-Nsc_gVVQRrAY_P7Pz1AHwe2HC_B-5BMQDlovIIH2Ivo5Vvcg-GkY_lkkvT5uA4Ipe6zBzVK26qoN7jMUhg_B4/s1600/DSC_4032.jpg"><br /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">We did 2 hikes in the park, all totaling about 20 minutes each (and our legs were still pretty sore!), and both went to <i style="">impresionante</i> waterfalls.<span style=""> </span>And, of course, no one around!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNKyyS2gaChv4oB6dFoj3lqEzdD3XpLDYYaSe0zQZ_wOaAijoi6okVMZ3JP38gAye_oCKMjvCgzBmpKUXsRAYrQcl24tI9spPwlK_y61PnpAcd3v1SIakHlxeOKgyVxFlghRu1QkZ0l8/s1600/DSC_4080.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNKyyS2gaChv4oB6dFoj3lqEzdD3XpLDYYaSe0zQZ_wOaAijoi6okVMZ3JP38gAye_oCKMjvCgzBmpKUXsRAYrQcl24tI9spPwlK_y61PnpAcd3v1SIakHlxeOKgyVxFlghRu1QkZ0l8/s400/DSC_4080.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554678809501074" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMoiFTp122_ZaLDF1RPa5Z71m8CspKgNGLT_OBMbDs3cFNwT7JvKgRN2dErHddf4Pg0a2kP-V52-E7oT4Lg7vwQdxFYleHB_Dp3gdap23zztMqa6t4P4i4Vxkfe4baqVVVXTycaXvVR7U/s1600/DSC_4070.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMoiFTp122_ZaLDF1RPa5Z71m8CspKgNGLT_OBMbDs3cFNwT7JvKgRN2dErHddf4Pg0a2kP-V52-E7oT4Lg7vwQdxFYleHB_Dp3gdap23zztMqa6t4P4i4Vxkfe4baqVVVXTycaXvVR7U/s400/DSC_4070.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554329374447986" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Do you recognize this? KK pointed out that its a native here in Patagonia, Argentina. COOL!<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguPabkZM2k78UtY0_Zw4U3e1aVLjmri0bJldYrMUGt5nzjU-n6awOmhTfC1yzFqBoYuQpl_9M91y86pldyesX7O8v83SyANvkZ-1Ac1vdZOrxWOmvsn_J8YjQiHN-5kUX7Z58f3pCpDAU/s1600/DSC_4063.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguPabkZM2k78UtY0_Zw4U3e1aVLjmri0bJldYrMUGt5nzjU-n6awOmhTfC1yzFqBoYuQpl_9M91y86pldyesX7O8v83SyANvkZ-1Ac1vdZOrxWOmvsn_J8YjQiHN-5kUX7Z58f3pCpDAU/s400/DSC_4063.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554322778013746" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Instead of camping in the rain, we decided to drive the remaining 2 hours back to Tio David in Trevelin.<span style=""> </span>We were grateful for a warm bed and a hot meal, and rested up for another hike in the morning to the southern part of the Parque Alerces (a mere half-hour drive from David’s doorstep).</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The southern part of the park is just as beautiful as the northern, except for a huge hydro-electric dam that created a large artificial lake and completely changed the watershed.<span style=""> </span>We decided to do a short 5 km hike up to a hidden laguna, which turned out to be a 10 km hike and over 800m of elevation change.<span style=""> </span>We’ve since learned to read signs a little more carefully, and to pack more food – an apple and banana each didn’t seem enough!<span style=""> </span>The <i style="">laguna</i> hike was pretty hot, but we were fortunately hiking under the shade of many trees and bush-whacking up the wild trail.<span style=""> </span>The laguna at the top was beautiful!<span style=""> </span>It was at the top of the 800m ridge we hiked up, and was framed by a huge glacial mountain behind it (to be hiked another day…).<span style=""> </span>After our longer than expected amazing hike, we drove farther down the road to jump into some ice-cold pools to cool off and relax our muscles (Kristin was stoked to put her knee in some glacier water) and see the giant hydro-dam.<span style=""> </span>We then bee-lined it home to eat a 2500 calorie lunch to appease our growling stomachs!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghKZbCGarMQY4ma6oFgUtom8861b3lyqWZqXBxYg7GnbKpmo4AHA5WUjb7UtPpFG3nlxSQgF5RiuwG42OzLGij0jOYScYo4Rt7MPEc4hT3HOrmxMAzwv-E6CQxq32Nb12BucuElCvs1fw/s1600/DSC_4094.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghKZbCGarMQY4ma6oFgUtom8861b3lyqWZqXBxYg7GnbKpmo4AHA5WUjb7UtPpFG3nlxSQgF5RiuwG42OzLGij0jOYScYo4Rt7MPEc4hT3HOrmxMAzwv-E6CQxq32Nb12BucuElCvs1fw/s400/DSC_4094.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554684572107954" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXpX7U5RgUX8aSQkkNlECtSgq4JhblBeoarak1Wv2cDFIcfPv7SXkvdvYOYC36xp828fkeAnrke_grsWm10eAzRO9mS10189nzOYhCulFCjHlo_uZqaJ0k7r6TKWgHTewOhf5C9r9vG0/s1600/DSC_4103.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXpX7U5RgUX8aSQkkNlECtSgq4JhblBeoarak1Wv2cDFIcfPv7SXkvdvYOYC36xp828fkeAnrke_grsWm10eAzRO9mS10189nzOYhCulFCjHlo_uZqaJ0k7r6TKWgHTewOhf5C9r9vG0/s400/DSC_4103.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554691349467554" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnyPKgNBv8T28D86nuARGV5SvqroMpAbaVp9SlCtzVcRKFhidijUlui3DgWd9WTP-BiWidoZ6_wxrGqzqE_fVkus30Bq6FbhKLsbAQVYHkNEcS6yaCczcq_nH8LNkOLqOB8TIUb42DJk/s1600/DSC_4091.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnyPKgNBv8T28D86nuARGV5SvqroMpAbaVp9SlCtzVcRKFhidijUlui3DgWd9WTP-BiWidoZ6_wxrGqzqE_fVkus30Bq6FbhKLsbAQVYHkNEcS6yaCczcq_nH8LNkOLqOB8TIUb42DJk/s400/DSC_4091.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554680408873890" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">The hiking duo<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxcbvrkdHQIjNQMwXsvY6gnxz9ZZNR9jjBImVoOB1InhmBE56RkKmboGiYmrvhOnleNqbnPi4qW1oCvcY04xKyRgvn6G15c-CDUZCDywgHhy8uRjKiHPoR4VUbRx0PzbAhCnQjifm1H8k/s1600/DSC_4117.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxcbvrkdHQIjNQMwXsvY6gnxz9ZZNR9jjBImVoOB1InhmBE56RkKmboGiYmrvhOnleNqbnPi4qW1oCvcY04xKyRgvn6G15c-CDUZCDywgHhy8uRjKiHPoR4VUbRx0PzbAhCnQjifm1H8k/s400/DSC_4117.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554988493909826" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj607ETxzlLLtDBqKxrSmm5DzVRFP1VqwbCdqEzvOImfmqlklzXEos2gN1OK8h16HpVIkXLsujkqrQWlYHsRdtKV45fsRbvkUTcoSbG1YtMhb1tMklqLjBjAWLZWEssuMXDfyD7t3dRSs/s1600/DSC_4110.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj607ETxzlLLtDBqKxrSmm5DzVRFP1VqwbCdqEzvOImfmqlklzXEos2gN1OK8h16HpVIkXLsujkqrQWlYHsRdtKV45fsRbvkUTcoSbG1YtMhb1tMklqLjBjAWLZWEssuMXDfyD7t3dRSs/s400/DSC_4110.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579554696178887170" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Since this day in the park, we have been exploring different sites around Trevelin and Esquel, and enjoying very relaxing schedule with Tio David.<span style=""> </span>Sunday we prepared quite an awesome Asado as a farewell to Fraser since he was taking off the next day(Monday). We helped cook and clean to prepare for this feast of 15+ people. Chicken kabobs, carne, pork and veggies al disco, salads and desserts! Ooh and you can never forget the good Argentine wine to go along with it. It was quite a Sunday Asado! Now that Frazer is gone, Kristin and Ivan are hanging out until Thursday and taking it easy with David.<span style=""> </span>We have been cooking great food, having fun discussions with David, catching up one a few movies (The Kings Speech!!) and relaxing before we head back to the <i style="">campo</i> for one more week of work.<span style=""> </span>We are both looking forward to Mendoza wine tasting in mid-March and then heading to Ecuador where we will spend a few months!!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSDJ804M4UAzqkU0JdIT55SVt9q55D9zbuWqwQ23Pk6ArQwLQnq_T0YZLBoruqWTCabbI42grBKTtlBLzC2ZiqD39rDmFpGPTK3PeVigvKenHLJaGGEEPKp0VJhnJPajrT1eQnf3TXj4/s1600/24-2-2010+Fraser+001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSDJ804M4UAzqkU0JdIT55SVt9q55D9zbuWqwQ23Pk6ArQwLQnq_T0YZLBoruqWTCabbI42grBKTtlBLzC2ZiqD39rDmFpGPTK3PeVigvKenHLJaGGEEPKp0VJhnJPajrT1eQnf3TXj4/s400/24-2-2010+Fraser+001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579550098231788194" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Casa de David</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">L to R: Quincho (guest house), David's house and David's caretakers house.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdM78vqb4MSTM7mTqIrJh64S1hoTYQ2nAvGE_lPnc9RSw3vxv6ZQWj5pzOu-HBqJspb17OcTmm9qyfCnHPLwhwMJj3Iz_wiyCnSY0E2F8KPxt7bBwfL0-sK9uSQoLQji3xVinrxowCxq0/s1600/IMG_2904.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdM78vqb4MSTM7mTqIrJh64S1hoTYQ2nAvGE_lPnc9RSw3vxv6ZQWj5pzOu-HBqJspb17OcTmm9qyfCnHPLwhwMJj3Iz_wiyCnSY0E2F8KPxt7bBwfL0-sK9uSQoLQji3xVinrxowCxq0/s400/IMG_2904.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579555171341648402" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">A local concert in Esquel<br /></p>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-83797350006332791712011-02-05T16:41:00.030-03:002011-02-07T15:59:50.445-03:00Northern Patagonia Road Trip<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEafFv94Z_EhYF0oOQYDt9kgJ4MHlZ-pXtzp2QancEDxNZy8PUeYytD_3gDkk3gpf-4YnJo5zPknObxCO1YNr2S7PWHJP8T87n-hC3VW4xASDNkcZNUS9fnP26c8uVF8fVbuBfiMvCsmY/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+165.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEafFv94Z_EhYF0oOQYDt9kgJ4MHlZ-pXtzp2QancEDxNZy8PUeYytD_3gDkk3gpf-4YnJo5zPknObxCO1YNr2S7PWHJP8T87n-hC3VW4xASDNkcZNUS9fnP26c8uVF8fVbuBfiMvCsmY/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+165.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570990487392816850" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">We left Esquel on Tuesday the 25<sup>th</sup> and headed up to Bariloche by bus with the intentions to rent a car in Bariloche and head North camp, trek and explore some of the National Parks and hundreds of nearby lakes.<span style=""> </span>Just the landscape from our trip up was getting us super excited to travel to the different lakes, peaks, and volcanoes.<span style=""> </span>Our first evening in Bariloche we toured the city and saw the Alpine-esque architecture, Swiss influence (meaning lots of chocolate!!!), and many tourists flocking the ritzy streets.<span style=""> </span>Our greatest find in the city was the Todo Integral Panaderia, which had only whole wheat products without animal fats (a true rarity in Argentina..), as well as Mamushkas chocolateria.<span style=""> </span>After walking the bustling city streets we finally settled on a car rental company and made reservations on a ‘carro economico.’</span><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ru96TxU2uyMntPjEMN9IJ456F6Q6LMvkI-ETlGtjM-h9FsA3-2z1rn2qf00awpMvlt92kdEyjokiVQ4Nz8XDcWsym8URXIg1NcaBYoEl8fl0M27cmcyGjiYxLLQFYEKM__vxUlp3_sQ/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ru96TxU2uyMntPjEMN9IJ456F6Q6LMvkI-ETlGtjM-h9FsA3-2z1rn2qf00awpMvlt92kdEyjokiVQ4Nz8XDcWsym8URXIg1NcaBYoEl8fl0M27cmcyGjiYxLLQFYEKM__vxUlp3_sQ/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570980735181356898" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">The White Beast<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Wednesday the 26<sup>th</sup> we ate a quick breakfast at our hostel and then ran errands for food and other supplies we would need for a week long camping trip.<span style=""> </span>We picked up our super rad Chevrolet Corsa and headed off into the great green unknown.<span style=""> </span>As a note, we learned that a Chevy Corsa is a fine piece of machinery.<span style=""> </span>It has no-power steering, rattles like tin cans behind a ‘Just Married’ vehicle, has 4 inches of clearance, and purrs like an old lawnmower.<span style=""> </span>We revved our 68 hp beast out of commercial Bariloche and headed for the Siete Lagos route (Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi), which has a series of glaciated lakes and beautiful vistas for many twists and turns of the road.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Lago Nahual Huapi<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfMMUSbqDj4y_MN9YXlDfYVcRflqSX5Dbu8Nku7YmEmcuvm8psDsxVsre4eU5UEPHU-yKA-WoHZlZR4pB5hY-4ZMfA5K1Dflk8-Ny0OnsY4whJavhTpagcwKLPlfpWrY6-C0r_uxn9wrE/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+043.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfMMUSbqDj4y_MN9YXlDfYVcRflqSX5Dbu8Nku7YmEmcuvm8psDsxVsre4eU5UEPHU-yKA-WoHZlZR4pB5hY-4ZMfA5K1Dflk8-Ny0OnsY4whJavhTpagcwKLPlfpWrY6-C0r_uxn9wrE/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+043.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570986533211943138" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcI8IQ8pnOBRqKKQshoDhYkpOmXWQNhyJ40ruG49JN0UfDNDfyU05PrBrTZPW0XnJZgaZYTleC-Ve2rl76PH4dNyQ7LERDRCq5Af0J-yyC2mGnfbvjQZaWhZbwdNsR50sZejxnV7vY9Q/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+042.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcI8IQ8pnOBRqKKQshoDhYkpOmXWQNhyJ40ruG49JN0UfDNDfyU05PrBrTZPW0XnJZgaZYTleC-Ve2rl76PH4dNyQ7LERDRCq5Af0J-yyC2mGnfbvjQZaWhZbwdNsR50sZejxnV7vY9Q/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+042.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570986531008181074" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPCx9wOfKfm7d9YM41q6rQAxbS9_UWk34ZBzPuFZH4LDgc35LGwT93GW2PVIPSNPJCtLzlf6u8Rh9Za2_H81QGlwMRAI6Ngmka652oWXxPTdpnuvR2A_VpH78Vk7LdtRANJ7UrDCUac0Q/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPCx9wOfKfm7d9YM41q6rQAxbS9_UWk34ZBzPuFZH4LDgc35LGwT93GW2PVIPSNPJCtLzlf6u8Rh9Za2_H81QGlwMRAI6Ngmka652oWXxPTdpnuvR2A_VpH78Vk7LdtRANJ7UrDCUac0Q/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570977309319808946" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ34bWrtAvyyE06X4azM0d428zDaKA36lZhN7D_bmwtITdX9i4D7xRcChZRhacd3SvOkzl9LQn2sbhLJUdJCyrpQ6109P0UPsMkbWvUoWkM8fO3ZwSL3cb1_msUpjAjSBpd4jdzK6v6TU/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+015.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ34bWrtAvyyE06X4azM0d428zDaKA36lZhN7D_bmwtITdX9i4D7xRcChZRhacd3SvOkzl9LQn2sbhLJUdJCyrpQ6109P0UPsMkbWvUoWkM8fO3ZwSL3cb1_msUpjAjSBpd4jdzK6v6TU/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570980746106438434" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQGUkiu97Sacmwj8IgY39u8wlwgdBdbCJps0QxAgviCexX34Rt3GbwCEk8rQbV2k96sY7-CJHed_3FHdV7-8pLywfrnpp70itSTzs3ZZi3PYfhPTlamqn6y5Xa7DmJiekEV1kkwVpFyo/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+007.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQGUkiu97Sacmwj8IgY39u8wlwgdBdbCJps0QxAgviCexX34Rt3GbwCEk8rQbV2k96sY7-CJHed_3FHdV7-8pLywfrnpp70itSTzs3ZZi3PYfhPTlamqn6y5Xa7DmJiekEV1kkwVpFyo/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570977304563326082" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">After stopping at many viewpoints and miradors, we decided to take a ride down a bumpy road, which led us to Villa Traful, which is a small town on Lago Traful.<span style=""> </span>Here we had one of the best campsites for our trip, complete with hot water, fogones, and even electricity that we never used.<span style=""> </span>We threw a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken on the parrilla, opened a bottle of wine, and had it with some pre-made veggie salad prepared by Kristin.<span style=""> </span>Not a bad dinner considering we had no dishes (besides a small Tupperware container) or even cutlery, beside our 3 knives we brought along!<span style=""> </span>In the morning we packed up camp and headed down the dusty gravel road to a short hike to an impressive cascada waterfall.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYxJuZRLVGHeUjumqKqZvV8IqaPB70MJw4wsi9Pk5i085eOz2zcEPiNt94aJq8SLNGxUPo7Ay2TtJBT4UCCRiJyBWVvWRxU5PAf_EU10Ifur_Vtru6x3GYuMnz5GiHOjUZgepvhGnKpt4/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+064.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYxJuZRLVGHeUjumqKqZvV8IqaPB70MJw4wsi9Pk5i085eOz2zcEPiNt94aJq8SLNGxUPo7Ay2TtJBT4UCCRiJyBWVvWRxU5PAf_EU10Ifur_Vtru6x3GYuMnz5GiHOjUZgepvhGnKpt4/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+064.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570978475060834178" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqqaFlwbqKCLN26izl7eVmEgcyosqpt_C2zpJKgACkxJ2-JZlh9weLCCG8HtLpRfmO2kCBiioYJKrZJAAVRqM4cg_Uau7PRpBF7R6py3G3duL0r2VtOdP9NWyxVl4XmGIevKgbGARK2b4/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+023.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqqaFlwbqKCLN26izl7eVmEgcyosqpt_C2zpJKgACkxJ2-JZlh9weLCCG8HtLpRfmO2kCBiioYJKrZJAAVRqM4cg_Uau7PRpBF7R6py3G3duL0r2VtOdP9NWyxVl4XmGIevKgbGARK2b4/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+023.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570977313469640546" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBAYW300q3QzSV29ydFKjwmCcWvYJ95kTozUWj-CnzrKsVO8eHavIjDxmMugrC32Z3RGREvN-vpapVTkER7k4eO0jAxxNIC_HFs_SN3VWxnNJk3vs-Ss7rSVrX3ckYsTX9sjWxBBXsL4/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+027.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBAYW300q3QzSV29ydFKjwmCcWvYJ95kTozUWj-CnzrKsVO8eHavIjDxmMugrC32Z3RGREvN-vpapVTkER7k4eO0jAxxNIC_HFs_SN3VWxnNJk3vs-Ss7rSVrX3ckYsTX9sjWxBBXsL4/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+027.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570977313155322322" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgykm8Lgs8Mi2rpC-Yglvpt63ihUtA9NdXHnn-ZM8Nsb0dRCbQD0ByDPh85s8X5JVivOa6erOQ_RhSr-PmzgQikddWxd5ozuyhPCAXYa9ZGx3NwlwTIa85JxwjarpH9FC_yume3f6x-zeE/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+048.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgykm8Lgs8Mi2rpC-Yglvpt63ihUtA9NdXHnn-ZM8Nsb0dRCbQD0ByDPh85s8X5JVivOa6erOQ_RhSr-PmzgQikddWxd5ozuyhPCAXYa9ZGx3NwlwTIa85JxwjarpH9FC_yume3f6x-zeE/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+048.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570977322299365138" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">We continued through the Siete Lagos and saw even more lakes and green mountains set beneath a bright blue sky.<span style=""> </span>Impresionante!!<span style=""> </span>We passed through San Martin, had some yummy tea, grabbed some more food, and then headed off to find another campsite.<span style=""> </span>We decided to stay on Lago Lacar and headed 60km down the road from San Martin.<span style=""> </span>The road was rough on our brave 4 cylinder roadster which clomped and banged down the pitted gravel road at a whopping 40km/hr.<span style=""> </span>A speeding truck coming from the opposite direction suddenly, and without warning, flung a baseball-sized rock (at 60 km/hr) that soared right for Ivan’s head.<span style=""> </span>The rock deflected off the windshield, leaving a spiraling crack about a foot across right smack in front of Ivan’s field of vision (it should go without saying that a creative stream of expletives and epithets where shouted with great amounts of spittle and gusto regarding horrible Argentine driving, shitty American cars hecho en Argentina, and anything else that came to mind).<span style=""> </span>This put us in a pretty poopy mood since we didn’t fancy the idea of putting a new windshield on a plastic box.<span style=""> </span>However, once we arrived at our free campsite on the banks of the Lago Lacar, our moods definitely brightened as we shared a beer on the rocky banks and watched the sun go down over the Chilean Mountain Range (we were 5 km from the border).<span style=""> </span>For dinner, we hill-billied it with some wieners stuck on whittled sticks with a few squirts of mustard. Faaancy and yummmmy!</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXeKquOMz7FExLeyCme7kbppcCdrJXvyV9fR0Q503vfP3UVVFTF-EWN6zNdgzyZBj6UtOjLCNzRrys2lNPLbLrKLVws-bnStasAPZn_idOODXB2BR_dbcF4pX-8rrEE5Uy8efPRlOKfac/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+074.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXeKquOMz7FExLeyCme7kbppcCdrJXvyV9fR0Q503vfP3UVVFTF-EWN6zNdgzyZBj6UtOjLCNzRrys2lNPLbLrKLVws-bnStasAPZn_idOODXB2BR_dbcF4pX-8rrEE5Uy8efPRlOKfac/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+074.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570986796706967218" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Free Camping!!</p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq_lqjk1lXX__dJ8850a3CEphOaxaw6hyxwszQjqFTISftpDWNHi7Dr0J4_etSrGtjmT8Erh0chcReOHFkPOw5viiTxCGRs-Q3mLznlLpFHPeTALT83zYAkIf_g2ZzExxdLQU1JoAHDng/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+073.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq_lqjk1lXX__dJ8850a3CEphOaxaw6hyxwszQjqFTISftpDWNHi7Dr0J4_etSrGtjmT8Erh0chcReOHFkPOw5viiTxCGRs-Q3mLznlLpFHPeTALT83zYAkIf_g2ZzExxdLQU1JoAHDng/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+073.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570986790864174738" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Lago Locar<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8eoi8OvqT6bZZkzP-oFOuaMsgRhC8h_WIX4cIgxU-gy-6VwwZsFebKA7KvgupFKfcSwNfYNUneakygXzxqb7rVv8ubBi1t2DHOlumJe44-AY24IEU3e9MEghjszBKG6YssSaOnExKh48/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+070.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8eoi8OvqT6bZZkzP-oFOuaMsgRhC8h_WIX4cIgxU-gy-6VwwZsFebKA7KvgupFKfcSwNfYNUneakygXzxqb7rVv8ubBi1t2DHOlumJe44-AY24IEU3e9MEghjszBKG6YssSaOnExKh48/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+070.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570986793606336418" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Roughin it<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyF6s5TY4_Ba6ZnMqtN2_kzAjU_yDGxxQt5pUgP3czDxZwJ97QwCjLl0WpB2M698z680FdZD_Jk5hPgXquNh-7lVkk3Y5mS00LiylhxCfh3owIgO_wvS2o0rvBJSrOLb9BrwJY67yh6RA/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+078.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyF6s5TY4_Ba6ZnMqtN2_kzAjU_yDGxxQt5pUgP3czDxZwJ97QwCjLl0WpB2M698z680FdZD_Jk5hPgXquNh-7lVkk3Y5mS00LiylhxCfh3owIgO_wvS2o0rvBJSrOLb9BrwJY67yh6RA/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+078.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570986801214140882" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIS8PtQ7G5DFUPxTywSLzKI80ZOicEju6m_003WwMPYarrgzHVL7470OJOuHuKRqOK2sis11EZCXcFh5pVlXMdfaaEgljMsLLTnVtUOfrYKhJz9I_BFuh5JY68_EorNFBf7w3cdZk__U/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+084kk.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 228px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIS8PtQ7G5DFUPxTywSLzKI80ZOicEju6m_003WwMPYarrgzHVL7470OJOuHuKRqOK2sis11EZCXcFh5pVlXMdfaaEgljMsLLTnVtUOfrYKhJz9I_BFuh5JY68_EorNFBf7w3cdZk__U/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+084kk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570987621439144882" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTCpslus9kWtty0c0QJSUr6CSB0Fqguci96QrWb5Ou7B1Fh2VrsuTbccjsk_wcO-RRutSZTA4khy3qoyb9NfPhYOJPKg77aQGvfplAhCNswoJ56jAkEU4m-O5UfPY297aI28HE-9-KNM/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+083.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTCpslus9kWtty0c0QJSUr6CSB0Fqguci96QrWb5Ou7B1Fh2VrsuTbccjsk_wcO-RRutSZTA4khy3qoyb9NfPhYOJPKg77aQGvfplAhCNswoJ56jAkEU4m-O5UfPY297aI28HE-9-KNM/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+083.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570987617014951122" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyLaHoaf3fLC2sG3x4f1ZIX-KSeycA7M08akDUrF41QE-QFnWJjxLP8bhTP8ZGBg_2e9Y-TTUfEmVKZYshTWENtFeG48v14Tqv55Ds-jyjA1MQ_hobVFTnnOwQhQqsmbr2wqb8p91chU/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+081.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyLaHoaf3fLC2sG3x4f1ZIX-KSeycA7M08akDUrF41QE-QFnWJjxLP8bhTP8ZGBg_2e9Y-TTUfEmVKZYshTWENtFeG48v14Tqv55Ds-jyjA1MQ_hobVFTnnOwQhQqsmbr2wqb8p91chU/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+081.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570986803264760194" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Alstromeria - nonDutchified<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuguqV8VdNHugxhTBoh7iUimIbUjKSm7YxNvgurTdBvb8x7qpG4ru7aXvl_YuupyIWDO26IpHOrxtK5ycW_LAlTW0NpWH9hDrfC3yqfPxIc7RsuX4DP_L2t7e2K-iH6Z-K-rIr7cmZsg/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+079.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuguqV8VdNHugxhTBoh7iUimIbUjKSm7YxNvgurTdBvb8x7qpG4ru7aXvl_YuupyIWDO26IpHOrxtK5ycW_LAlTW0NpWH9hDrfC3yqfPxIc7RsuX4DP_L2t7e2K-iH6Z-K-rIr7cmZsg/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+079.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570978479728483682" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Hidden Laguna hike<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">The following morning we drove up through Junin de los Andes and grabbed some more groceries and supplies.<span style=""> </span>Junin used to be a logging town, but the “damn” hippies over-ran it, so now it’s a charming fishing town that thrives on tourism.<span style=""> </span>After passing through, we drove to Lago Huechulafquen, now in Parque Nacional Lanin.<span style=""> </span>We found a nice little campsite on the eastern bank of the Lago (once again only a few km from Chile).<span style=""> </span>We accidentally (Kristin, that is) grabbed a can of sardines rather than tuna, so Ivan was left to eat the ‘ewww stinky fish.’<span style=""> </span>Like a true Ukrainian, Ivan sidled up to the fish Kristin deboned and threw it on a cracker with chunks of garlic and mayo (a bit of a desperate meal…).<span style=""> </span>We turned in early and prepared our bodies for a big day of hiking.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBHuL1weg7xbboVemTqQJSsqROIaMdr1Aru9Jyqvt4U-2-njrsWaBrTyF7QpgLA2lUOfzJJDjN8i7aX32xgoNHyxr68YwbaZ6OQR9SXl4QHmrqRjHjoKDbq9jag8hKqs_xVgG_JyRrFI/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+092.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBHuL1weg7xbboVemTqQJSsqROIaMdr1Aru9Jyqvt4U-2-njrsWaBrTyF7QpgLA2lUOfzJJDjN8i7aX32xgoNHyxr68YwbaZ6OQR9SXl4QHmrqRjHjoKDbq9jag8hKqs_xVgG_JyRrFI/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+092.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570987623535729314" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_8pkIFaERakhqI28Sr-qNseX32lXEXSI8Re2goGo1z3_h3XXz2XJEmS0GZga1Awr3SII8gCNacQs2riCDV4y2CJ4z4Kcs6_G3444r-zY69YyFwsMbZbivJLYgvX9kwYPeSAVNnUisLI/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+082.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_8pkIFaERakhqI28Sr-qNseX32lXEXSI8Re2goGo1z3_h3XXz2XJEmS0GZga1Awr3SII8gCNacQs2riCDV4y2CJ4z4Kcs6_G3444r-zY69YyFwsMbZbivJLYgvX9kwYPeSAVNnUisLI/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+082.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570978479385538738" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Lago Huechelafaquen<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">We woke up with frost on the ground all around us and a chilly wind whipping through camp.<span style=""> </span>We were the only ones awake at the ungodly hour of 8 am (most Argentine campers don’t even stir until 9:30 – likely attributed to all the asado they have to digest over the night…).<span style=""> </span>We packed a great lunch, lots of water, and headed down the road to the trailhead.<span style=""> </span>The sun started to come out in full force and it looked like it was going to be a great day for hiking.<span style=""> </span>Volcan Lanin (3776 meters) is the Mount Fuji of Argentina, since it is a near perfect cone and has a cone of ice at the top.<span style=""> </span>We ‘checked in’ with the mate sucking park ranger and headed up the trail.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVGgRBI9RiQGMlaBQnZAXAwp2UecFhwE2891kxgcHnuRnAu-uH48JIxOgApeohJVMOmM2WTygykvYxLvPanDGnLerlAHN6YGIMc9zvpPZn9vueJidMZ0O_2WSYnMpVKEnsp65v-6pRGeg/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+057.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVGgRBI9RiQGMlaBQnZAXAwp2UecFhwE2891kxgcHnuRnAu-uH48JIxOgApeohJVMOmM2WTygykvYxLvPanDGnLerlAHN6YGIMc9zvpPZn9vueJidMZ0O_2WSYnMpVKEnsp65v-6pRGeg/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+057.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570986539572423778" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKIHgi_W8SnJqS3yquR4J3Ec4q6FHa8qKzgu6Mxvmx1Qo8ekZdQZ4m6cOxO0I3HgRvL7vbLPnWnJ9r9OE0DjNu77eZvw3WV9g-QO3IVhUMBcm6QrP3aTqzjqr_L5LkLZhZoW5_pcMfVQ/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+047.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKIHgi_W8SnJqS3yquR4J3Ec4q6FHa8qKzgu6Mxvmx1Qo8ekZdQZ4m6cOxO0I3HgRvL7vbLPnWnJ9r9OE0DjNu77eZvw3WV9g-QO3IVhUMBcm6QrP3aTqzjqr_L5LkLZhZoW5_pcMfVQ/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+047.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570986536786297842" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqPgsvULO8O-BkUhFPoZ88xAmHG-XcC8v86kz-GoxKo2a_ozk4BhLUtSyWZrSDOIgrBp7xHbsoN1QLYJXVtGnQaFXH8TWgqjxHtoduJ5wfqXmKidymBQlsOufpKwegAHfXfY-syAhWd28/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+109.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqPgsvULO8O-BkUhFPoZ88xAmHG-XcC8v86kz-GoxKo2a_ozk4BhLUtSyWZrSDOIgrBp7xHbsoN1QLYJXVtGnQaFXH8TWgqjxHtoduJ5wfqXmKidymBQlsOufpKwegAHfXfY-syAhWd28/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+109.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570989552201197714" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4UPLd8VfyM-6lbsLaojE1xPl6ppJb0c4EoVZEFSZhfAejJw5yXQ6y5SwHR-4RciPbVHQ7YKuSRnPNEbJaP25_ZXomiZSHS_dp7kXdpMjg5oLx-l6IAqChTDQL3qB_JVMFxeoogxCjvg/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+091.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4UPLd8VfyM-6lbsLaojE1xPl6ppJb0c4EoVZEFSZhfAejJw5yXQ6y5SwHR-4RciPbVHQ7YKuSRnPNEbJaP25_ZXomiZSHS_dp7kXdpMjg5oLx-l6IAqChTDQL3qB_JVMFxeoogxCjvg/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+091.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570987624421876738" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Lanin<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9ZDyDVDiYU-HqmH7LZhyt7ZFaWTI-7b5Q6oHKWS6OpqhSm3gTJZDNMAPnI5wKSOw6PwNgwH6xYT7nvaQJQUEaAYy03JEKfNDRyblrf0gZGDGKgU7k0db-BE8RKkPV3zIprGlWxiEqow/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+087.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9ZDyDVDiYU-HqmH7LZhyt7ZFaWTI-7b5Q6oHKWS6OpqhSm3gTJZDNMAPnI5wKSOw6PwNgwH6xYT7nvaQJQUEaAYy03JEKfNDRyblrf0gZGDGKgU7k0db-BE8RKkPV3zIprGlWxiEqow/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+087.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570987619841912866" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">The hike was posted as 4 ½ hours up, which we fortunately did in 3 ½.<span style=""> </span>The sun was very intense and bright, but we were under the diverse foliage and trees for most of the hike (please notice the pehuen ‘monkey puzzle trees’ – the prehistoric looking spikey trees).<span style=""> </span>After 3 hours of walking, the top of the impressive volcano could suddenly be see from over the tops of the trees.<span style=""> </span>Another 40 minutes of walking and we were at the base of Volcan Lanin.<span style=""> </span>We decided to have lunch in the crisp air and stare at the huge white-capped volcano.<span style=""> </span>We could see why the park service required so much gear and safety equipment to summit it.<span style=""> </span>We were perfectly content at the base of it!<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjODpbmQtSkIhnlpTMFW3yHjHuHnuLsGPF0DPVvRk_ESsnTnyyQp291QWgo_3pUSNW4B6i5jm2m0ybx1O2xQf4KDoSah_vePGVmL0eL-QVsPmiPpHpGxhNb_hi7SUfQq5z85nMKyQiEa0c/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+098.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjODpbmQtSkIhnlpTMFW3yHjHuHnuLsGPF0DPVvRk_ESsnTnyyQp291QWgo_3pUSNW4B6i5jm2m0ybx1O2xQf4KDoSah_vePGVmL0eL-QVsPmiPpHpGxhNb_hi7SUfQq5z85nMKyQiEa0c/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+098.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570988822385782802" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXRmfsV3L_53eosQldYL88s4MbsrJZbStH2AtLiqDsFlKVoQuCTgJ31U8RVnWizSzg5YA_RiTWDV6PXsENJ0tljeL6vuqN5-k3R9dQToYQNo6vDZn-5phFvQuTdYuXH2cG1_lkoy1YFDQ/s1600/kk.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXRmfsV3L_53eosQldYL88s4MbsrJZbStH2AtLiqDsFlKVoQuCTgJ31U8RVnWizSzg5YA_RiTWDV6PXsENJ0tljeL6vuqN5-k3R9dQToYQNo6vDZn-5phFvQuTdYuXH2cG1_lkoy1YFDQ/s400/kk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570980736951700226" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIchElmlS49IwlOCFJLDYTfxTsGocttRvaAFTA7MRwyPtMRdEZs1qanyxxXb6O6QZIjWYXf__YjUagZLN5rWOKWjoOmziZOM6wLFCEokwTZ6zQ3DkdQPzqd8nITTU2CRSoUCw1X4uqE5Y/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+110.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIchElmlS49IwlOCFJLDYTfxTsGocttRvaAFTA7MRwyPtMRdEZs1qanyxxXb6O6QZIjWYXf__YjUagZLN5rWOKWjoOmziZOM6wLFCEokwTZ6zQ3DkdQPzqd8nITTU2CRSoUCw1X4uqE5Y/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+110.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570989555732070226" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6_Apevq3vHA2YRAhQ9gb8XiPAoW9OM_2e3-iTOLFIjC0RiU-TbrEtoFE0daxgi7zGdq28uF514oCmxSk2On4ycUsMXY_GIzykvDzkolfHWl2gBJXK7IbDo07LFfpAbHnxAOnmy8sBjsg/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+108.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6_Apevq3vHA2YRAhQ9gb8XiPAoW9OM_2e3-iTOLFIjC0RiU-TbrEtoFE0daxgi7zGdq28uF514oCmxSk2On4ycUsMXY_GIzykvDzkolfHWl2gBJXK7IbDo07LFfpAbHnxAOnmy8sBjsg/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+108.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570989554683576210" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yhyMib90qxoXVoOQ6tdpvpGT0Ijz8Jn0M54RoJApYYHwWRgi4PDLa6RX9jC-vUe-DO_reYrZOGVhyphenhyphenwUYPYJjqx75zcjuZysfrsP99dXC99ix_olX-xiYLzUQmOCB7h-v3TI6J662LLo/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+105.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yhyMib90qxoXVoOQ6tdpvpGT0Ijz8Jn0M54RoJApYYHwWRgi4PDLa6RX9jC-vUe-DO_reYrZOGVhyphenhyphenwUYPYJjqx75zcjuZysfrsP99dXC99ix_olX-xiYLzUQmOCB7h-v3TI6J662LLo/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+105.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570988831023662194" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFwkFQ2wkJzpmQ96js0AMs7-42cpONhMJhBrT6FKzmjcEHV2_mSDjlYatRZNv_3YUkLZr14nDm99gq_jURtSNJ4FfBO2Mh8UMDodQCnovD8dmKeysOwRSnfo3bxgMDHG0X3n3_giZxDyE/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+097.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFwkFQ2wkJzpmQ96js0AMs7-42cpONhMJhBrT6FKzmjcEHV2_mSDjlYatRZNv_3YUkLZr14nDm99gq_jURtSNJ4FfBO2Mh8UMDodQCnovD8dmKeysOwRSnfo3bxgMDHG0X3n3_giZxDyE/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+097.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570988820540656178" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbDf_UtczdBdSFLj0GwZb5qimLwKsi3_xgxquvHxQhqsmWbzLsPQoGutfrDFkohU5mgpWYlQukrpNYIrjE6TcWaLduxr3WKz0Kl9Xubx1AlB5AyspzdlC-25pWpN6jGuHM7S-bzpF8kGE/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+095.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbDf_UtczdBdSFLj0GwZb5qimLwKsi3_xgxquvHxQhqsmWbzLsPQoGutfrDFkohU5mgpWYlQukrpNYIrjE6TcWaLduxr3WKz0Kl9Xubx1AlB5AyspzdlC-25pWpN6jGuHM7S-bzpF8kGE/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+095.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570988820252407922" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFGVA3Q4Vjv8j-YUW9E-qyNWxC1LnOCek6eo4cMMHu3k6UiHxCjuTAFfQ3CYLusVxuKeUAg0dbSHB57dXl_QAY-_iSBIhJ-Myma9AG41EkPhhSLdCNVAhfqrfNSugTeRcHi2xCnPNKVoo/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+119.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFGVA3Q4Vjv8j-YUW9E-qyNWxC1LnOCek6eo4cMMHu3k6UiHxCjuTAFfQ3CYLusVxuKeUAg0dbSHB57dXl_QAY-_iSBIhJ-Myma9AG41EkPhhSLdCNVAhfqrfNSugTeRcHi2xCnPNKVoo/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+119.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570989556591142034" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xBknjc1j_AeJg7KrBrnssq6UfcgqbuyQ641zbcEJHIsTBrQfKg-bRzx6gVfkEfr6h15zKmUAhbLOy-CEjQ_8uJt8NbH4pDKBlHRmbsgsfc9dLash92GHxGugu_5tKO6SkZrubG2LHjs/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+154.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; 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display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZYctbeNqkiH-jmXaQug96ZbXRFQj0GmMy6SqV51DQIhgr0gvGQGA2-I5tzF6VcaWVY2H5fMB_22aG8slbONvBWI_129GEF9zl3B9JKz5E0N_vLWcosOXiEOrDoCsg93TQlp__hpm-5Dw/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+152.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570989795175784754" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinW8P1ERNrmtXuUQIX0CECxQtkvhKlLE-x_QrPGzmMAlDZZRJTv5GbW9v41kNNWbESJGqDo50HUG8PF0lLJ8tESHVXKHfAflw_Com2D48Pb4Lwj1SUHHyenzMKnCvd9LTb9aLlFOmzFec/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+130.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinW8P1ERNrmtXuUQIX0CECxQtkvhKlLE-x_QrPGzmMAlDZZRJTv5GbW9v41kNNWbESJGqDo50HUG8PF0lLJ8tESHVXKHfAflw_Com2D48Pb4Lwj1SUHHyenzMKnCvd9LTb9aLlFOmzFec/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+130.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570989787283338994" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNC98XHcJLLAKKX7kzfsHqaNZgy1ain31wLav19ariJX0eJorW6csayArRlkpBLq9tn1-NQimG0ltDuVi5cirpQICq9SFOzJScOQ58jJuBqVoBg1BRDkG7c8LMB0BE7O5yjpdXVrjUp0/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+126.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNC98XHcJLLAKKX7kzfsHqaNZgy1ain31wLav19ariJX0eJorW6csayArRlkpBLq9tn1-NQimG0ltDuVi5cirpQICq9SFOzJScOQ58jJuBqVoBg1BRDkG7c8LMB0BE7O5yjpdXVrjUp0/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+126.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570989784711219554" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_R3QxbfEQ6mT4c9WILQO69crD5jSL8sePNrtZrKGluHqSjNUsztCeYvbtdX82PCfdF2uUELDmAJ1Cv5I5y818KJ-iTqjuDMdPsYJsW1ezjnBYerRBYl6IbjBsiRHHR7HiyerwfSBylCo/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+143.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_R3QxbfEQ6mT4c9WILQO69crD5jSL8sePNrtZrKGluHqSjNUsztCeYvbtdX82PCfdF2uUELDmAJ1Cv5I5y818KJ-iTqjuDMdPsYJsW1ezjnBYerRBYl6IbjBsiRHHR7HiyerwfSBylCo/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+143.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570989798270482594" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgneAZbw3-_M2FdOQNtV6vOJjMCzhkuk12NLn9bx2COWqr5S7K7brCytIz2opxOeBtl8M0ZahnjB4nFZABuUfMFe_fRsluc-0aW1VjHVQdncslY1ta9CShjQ51SDyJBi3JxRKdvA_oKISs/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+123.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgneAZbw3-_M2FdOQNtV6vOJjMCzhkuk12NLn9bx2COWqr5S7K7brCytIz2opxOeBtl8M0ZahnjB4nFZABuUfMFe_fRsluc-0aW1VjHVQdncslY1ta9CShjQ51SDyJBi3JxRKdvA_oKISs/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+123.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570989560353799410" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6BilVHR1fZOrNZ82D4WbFPfNRIrJ_X_j9ny1x_qrt8Dyww2DgP3VKwiRVzYSAPERjCx_STKeXS4x2LTBTdPHtPqYhEQAxvLBOsQeF9HmzemJjKMzQf9WWko4vmwqOFv4dpP772aIz2-c/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+155.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6BilVHR1fZOrNZ82D4WbFPfNRIrJ_X_j9ny1x_qrt8Dyww2DgP3VKwiRVzYSAPERjCx_STKeXS4x2LTBTdPHtPqYhEQAxvLBOsQeF9HmzemJjKMzQf9WWko4vmwqOFv4dpP772aIz2-c/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+155.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570990230375206098" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHXbdtoixj9841jZ2jm2yRYZbkdSOmur3zDBqXprCjRamHB9wWZMNyEklPYS8X5MIzCXAOjNz5ETSM_8M8j6lW8nYrYsquRAEeaJCNL_Wotc9REpDYGJCRh0Em3iLc1HbAHK3gZ5R9uGc/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+157.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHXbdtoixj9841jZ2jm2yRYZbkdSOmur3zDBqXprCjRamHB9wWZMNyEklPYS8X5MIzCXAOjNz5ETSM_8M8j6lW8nYrYsquRAEeaJCNL_Wotc9REpDYGJCRh0Em3iLc1HbAHK3gZ5R9uGc/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+157.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570990236394138962" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">There were several creeks snaking down from the volcano, down into the valley that we had just hiked up.<span style=""> </span>Very, very cold!!! Ivan hiked up to the ice and got to see it slowly drip dripping into one of these small frigid creeks.<span style=""> </span>We hung around for a nit to take in all the beautiful scenery and then headed back down the mountain.<span style=""> </span>All in all we walked about 16 km that day, not bad for 2 overfed gringos!!<span style=""> </span>We got back to camp and cooked up some salchichas over the fire and were in our sleeping bags before 9:30.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkonlwGKbIrdfAWippAnIN5C129j1a9V5fmpejV7QTIODCujn4ENSc4oWyxcWlWkNVRNaNt8xLweLiU1vMhCnA-9zkDNwoaa-uq8FpXHIH_zAfTVC4G0v5y-3MdrQV0B8-EeOF3tY-mDg/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+161.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkonlwGKbIrdfAWippAnIN5C129j1a9V5fmpejV7QTIODCujn4ENSc4oWyxcWlWkNVRNaNt8xLweLiU1vMhCnA-9zkDNwoaa-uq8FpXHIH_zAfTVC4G0v5y-3MdrQV0B8-EeOF3tY-mDg/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+161.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570990251239357234" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Hiker's tan<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckTSeIr5M5STx5RLpu3PG-hSFz-EHUa09FA922clSHIXWsQqmqg_-g1pcXaVAjRV-Nly1ZNy0HuI0cv2m2AiLBa9JAGJnqy51EYgM_64-KVuLQrNjWx-GggZfJ1GsDCWQ3k8xFZXMsLI/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+163.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckTSeIr5M5STx5RLpu3PG-hSFz-EHUa09FA922clSHIXWsQqmqg_-g1pcXaVAjRV-Nly1ZNy0HuI0cv2m2AiLBa9JAGJnqy51EYgM_64-KVuLQrNjWx-GggZfJ1GsDCWQ3k8xFZXMsLI/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+163.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570990248898228786" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">The following day (day 5) we drove back towards Junin de los Andes, had a horrible over-priced slow service lunch at the only diner in town, and then drove 200km down the road to a quaint campsite outside of Bariloche.<span style=""> </span>Wasn’t ideal, but when its 9:30 and freezing out we settled.<span style=""> </span>When we arrived Ivan asked the owner if there was hot water.<span style=""> </span>He replied that there was, and then a little later Ivan asked again (to make totally sure before deciding to stay).<span style=""> </span>Well, he said, if you want cold water you can jump in the lake!<span style=""> </span>Okay, okay, you got hot water.<span style=""> </span>Turns out he was a total shyster and we didn’t have to step any farther than the cramped shower to find freezing cold water (arrghh!).<span style=""> </span>We disconsolately ate some crackers and fell asleep on our off-camber tent site.<span style=""> </span>For breakfast we had smoky veggie burgers (leftovers that had to be eaten to due to no-ice cooler) and tea.<span style=""> </span>We left the site as quick as we could to find a change of scenery.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUwPSaIwtTnJNc_xCccMBY6LW9ToqC3fdxm6u0BPKdzuHL952GwDLiKM9WKX-a6bVw0vFIQsVMPHExZ9UIgc_ERCX1evXyDa-gSN3dBdOnKYKEwFn9DsK9pF3H5fioGEhccmCTHjQIs8/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+100.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUwPSaIwtTnJNc_xCccMBY6LW9ToqC3fdxm6u0BPKdzuHL952GwDLiKM9WKX-a6bVw0vFIQsVMPHExZ9UIgc_ERCX1evXyDa-gSN3dBdOnKYKEwFn9DsK9pF3H5fioGEhccmCTHjQIs8/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+100.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570979565173931586" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi72HfRflUSpPUyKb4G-wKjcxTLZ1qNvqoCNQ3t4yW5vk-CJpfiBZc4Hbyz44cHBK2NXHWdFK5N30B7DJFmHt0KWE4ApGcUFl2MISfelp1rW_U4F_s0CLA9W0srN6v_FmOpab1QP3Ri-nM/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+091.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi72HfRflUSpPUyKb4G-wKjcxTLZ1qNvqoCNQ3t4yW5vk-CJpfiBZc4Hbyz44cHBK2NXHWdFK5N30B7DJFmHt0KWE4ApGcUFl2MISfelp1rW_U4F_s0CLA9W0srN6v_FmOpab1QP3Ri-nM/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+091.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570978485355307698" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Out the passenger window...<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jCBWmUtyMGURndOnSSqOau8skokA6c93T7raUBNVyWNdtZhJujzcjRrx1eqVl3oMUDpMrshxb6lEcjuyR4UfUcjK2BSBvf-8ukOlYx4i914wto_imChTfUe2NOjgjTPTofvlQD8QNv4/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+167.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jCBWmUtyMGURndOnSSqOau8skokA6c93T7raUBNVyWNdtZhJujzcjRrx1eqVl3oMUDpMrshxb6lEcjuyR4UfUcjK2BSBvf-8ukOlYx4i914wto_imChTfUe2NOjgjTPTofvlQD8QNv4/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+167.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570990488003037602" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYi0DT2WLzaspYCpD-EEXPaf4JfbXYKrvIGcDYuQ6A_-XrC49K2KI2-Ukhac9Y8gDlkG_uJFBA-Xy412Ole4PjGvTFV9VYl12r3hmU_2sK_xOE3-dGSjAIYISxKwerEnRaPJlu5lAouVw/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+097.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYi0DT2WLzaspYCpD-EEXPaf4JfbXYKrvIGcDYuQ6A_-XrC49K2KI2-Ukhac9Y8gDlkG_uJFBA-Xy412Ole4PjGvTFV9VYl12r3hmU_2sK_xOE3-dGSjAIYISxKwerEnRaPJlu5lAouVw/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+097.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570978488884926562" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqSyZleXl8PuwVhjyU1Aiytad6LVEMxewq2_nWh316unzDUnyJO3scJ5VVXhZV96awv-cpKur0vQUFQQt_INxpdaVnBHY0BUiMAa_OgagOQvyDewuxFXYFrRmApZat2l-xnMCsHtzojdg/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+105.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqSyZleXl8PuwVhjyU1Aiytad6LVEMxewq2_nWh316unzDUnyJO3scJ5VVXhZV96awv-cpKur0vQUFQQt_INxpdaVnBHY0BUiMAa_OgagOQvyDewuxFXYFrRmApZat2l-xnMCsHtzojdg/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+105.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570979563832799906" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">We only had to go a bit down the road before we decided to enter the Northernmost part of the Nahual Huapi National Park. We paid the outrageous gringo entry fee (Argentines only had to pay 10 pesos, compared to the 50 we each had to pay!).<span style=""> </span>It turned out to be totally worth it since the end of the road the bumpy gravel road led us to and incredible spot.<span style=""> </span>It was pretty cold (really cold, actually), but we decided to brave the hike and see the pristine valley.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQhoeS_mGZfZUJgD1Hf-a9Vddlv7k7sn89vJm9KFrgW_YeLuPrSIDrXHxA4VjQPhdbsf4AxNSFMKFAxAZKvto_vvWSN14mTla0gHEg9yJo3qK4JpFDNnNLYbpigFjgpUxrqqqLPBeeaw/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+137.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQhoeS_mGZfZUJgD1Hf-a9Vddlv7k7sn89vJm9KFrgW_YeLuPrSIDrXHxA4VjQPhdbsf4AxNSFMKFAxAZKvto_vvWSN14mTla0gHEg9yJo3qK4JpFDNnNLYbpigFjgpUxrqqqLPBeeaw/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+137.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570980733614108402" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL1s5UwIrf-DGsqgcj5lC1g-Op0Nncogvxp_T4LKF71F-ylo7nB54R0E8RUdLWYU6mdM2OS3wXb3DJnicPStujOk-hhdgbMHT3h2y3uThf4V51QSN4H2dlgIqdIE1qfnxYY3vd2KyTBEs/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+112.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL1s5UwIrf-DGsqgcj5lC1g-Op0Nncogvxp_T4LKF71F-ylo7nB54R0E8RUdLWYU6mdM2OS3wXb3DJnicPStujOk-hhdgbMHT3h2y3uThf4V51QSN4H2dlgIqdIE1qfnxYY3vd2KyTBEs/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+112.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570979568147818898" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7TCh7khJAXc42oKC0DR6zHnMiF0j2FRPocMSSjhRVx4bMpLvWOne7SV6BaU_n_Yy0jW8EDDCQ4zOco9YIH4wOjUoSqgDxoCgKZsJUqI1_mcOmXVsf9cvLw1qp-oRzLiVijoromixN_Ps/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+113.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7TCh7khJAXc42oKC0DR6zHnMiF0j2FRPocMSSjhRVx4bMpLvWOne7SV6BaU_n_Yy0jW8EDDCQ4zOco9YIH4wOjUoSqgDxoCgKZsJUqI1_mcOmXVsf9cvLw1qp-oRzLiVijoromixN_Ps/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+113.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570979580603655394" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2wK5EUUFmtc1R76OEJxWc7kvyek9TU4TrmQZ9XzXX1KUsX4qsV52Y2R8IemXn9pLyFR6a1WfHSasH_W6VXNlaf1HUP0ZCLxMCmkgfUUOxyCDw95e-uWzK7T3fTir9KfRUZObUKT9z4vA/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+177.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2wK5EUUFmtc1R76OEJxWc7kvyek9TU4TrmQZ9XzXX1KUsX4qsV52Y2R8IemXn9pLyFR6a1WfHSasH_W6VXNlaf1HUP0ZCLxMCmkgfUUOxyCDw95e-uWzK7T3fTir9KfRUZObUKT9z4vA/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+177.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570990495386513778" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""> </span>Unfortunately Kristin’s right knee got really strained (still not exactly sure how, POOP!), so it was a painful ascent up the hilly parts.<span style=""> </span>Luckily the trail was pretty well groomed and not too hard to traverse.<span style=""> </span>After 2 hours of hiking Kristin decided to turn around and take it slowly down to give her knee a rest.<span style=""> </span>Ivan powered up the hill and went about 3 km more to see his very first glacier! It was perched on top of a cliff and was sending down countless, small freezing cascades to dribble in the valley below.<span style=""> </span>Wow!</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoDiWcoye3jtJlufsrnizBTf05tUpZrR-PhviULhXYqKAQdLHKz2LHRBme1-uTaVX-qJiv0FPQm9lJBLWq35WC6pmYvc0Qm-CoJAlAzeiwR_mPvyT3bOQSd04YDIOM-Jg6iiiDCIz19Q/s1600/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+133.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoDiWcoye3jtJlufsrnizBTf05tUpZrR-PhviULhXYqKAQdLHKz2LHRBme1-uTaVX-qJiv0FPQm9lJBLWq35WC6pmYvc0Qm-CoJAlAzeiwR_mPvyT3bOQSd04YDIOM-Jg6iiiDCIz19Q/s400/Ivan+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+133.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570980729600366066" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Worried about Kristin, Ivan ran down the hill and caught up to her near the base of the trail.<span style=""> </span>Both super cold and not wanting to camp in such a chilly spot, we drove back down the road and found a campsite at the base of the mountain.<span style=""> </span>Ivan asked 3 times if they had hot water, with a promise for our money back if it didn’t heat up our chilled bones.<span style=""> </span>Kristin came back with a huge relieved smile on her face – we finally found hot water!! Hooray!<span style=""> </span>We enjoyed some leftover lunch, hung out in the quincho and had some tea, then crashed early in our bags.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fb8VIm57XufLqfuP9uGDS6qI2btVWzktZLnQQ3WwSRy4h4_Oy_bTHW5cleAGIibdmv2kNKvfujnBElXnY0HCb2gmHuDDRwlJr_Rr0Wxer-uBVWiYDxf6beEPkEh2mOLl2SavLyMZw9Y/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+179.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fb8VIm57XufLqfuP9uGDS6qI2btVWzktZLnQQ3WwSRy4h4_Oy_bTHW5cleAGIibdmv2kNKvfujnBElXnY0HCb2gmHuDDRwlJr_Rr0Wxer-uBVWiYDxf6beEPkEh2mOLl2SavLyMZw9Y/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+179.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570990498566930738" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">The next morning (day 7) we drove 100km down the road to El Bolson, the hippiest of all hippy towns in Argentina, and had a great time.<span style=""> </span>We walked to feria, enjoyed some local treats, and people-watched at a café.<span style=""> </span>We decided that we could spoil ourselves on our last night and stayed in a nice cabana next to the ‘famous’ El Bolson brewery. The brewery was good (best we’ve had in SA so far, but a far cry from the micro’s back home), and we tried 5 different beers.<span style=""> </span>The ‘ale’ was our favorite, so we got a pitcher of it and paired it with the saltiest pizza on earth.<span style=""> </span>All in all though it was a really fun, relaxing evening.<span style=""> </span>On our walk back to our cabana it started to rain, and we were so grateful to have a solid roof and warm blankets when we got back.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3beRC9OTVzAAJ2M5TeGyBL_o-I7AoThm7aK0UR2dOhmq9FiylgYIqZNmMO8Tm3F67vNJljkuOeZslJFuGOm9wZhYCWIq9ey8QWFm3Fz61-Rd99LtEFh7-mEncepCteX_OiRcAkuslcFY/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+187.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3beRC9OTVzAAJ2M5TeGyBL_o-I7AoThm7aK0UR2dOhmq9FiylgYIqZNmMO8Tm3F67vNJljkuOeZslJFuGOm9wZhYCWIq9ey8QWFm3Fz61-Rd99LtEFh7-mEncepCteX_OiRcAkuslcFY/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+187.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570990621238789090" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Wlj90ND2eucEN007Nc6Pdzs5_C0EiJ0YDNJZHboeYAGDfds4KeRtMYgEnDF1D2MEq8Kpj_B8fYb4pyCeht5bEh-njSVG_xZSF-6yUl8zqx05t-AdodhwtGCapuzt4Ko-ruc5I3KYB4g/s1600/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+185.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Wlj90ND2eucEN007Nc6Pdzs5_C0EiJ0YDNJZHboeYAGDfds4KeRtMYgEnDF1D2MEq8Kpj_B8fYb4pyCeht5bEh-njSVG_xZSF-6yUl8zqx05t-AdodhwtGCapuzt4Ko-ruc5I3KYB4g/s400/kk+Feb+4+2011+Bariloche+185.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570990498315835410" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Our last day we drove the 120km back to Bariloche to catch our bus that never showed and pay off the stingy renta car company (A-Open Rent a Car sucks!!).<span style=""> </span>On our way back we talked about all the great things we had seen, and how many adventures we crammed into 8 days.<span style=""> </span>Whew! We think we saw well over 20+ crystal clear lakes throughout our travels!!<span style=""> </span>Our wallets still stung from the inflated Bariloche and surrounding area prices, but it was an unforgettable experience we had with each other.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:";font-size:100%;" >Well, back to work at Campo Lago Rosario!<br /><br /></span>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-12475350709982490432011-01-26T08:46:00.016-03:002011-01-26T11:16:29.877-03:00Gualjaina and the Valley Chubut<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMgH_RoxD2Kw_4rlzGPMcR19x59CS0EM6vwvUjqELX2ty1SKLb37NcVVM8hD8w2ErsOwZzFngaZL7qCl5fF9sPYOT-WO_fYkzK_y1YsgDtynfXl13RzFIPGsyIZWOFYQzsn57fOA5ik08/s1600/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+033.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMgH_RoxD2Kw_4rlzGPMcR19x59CS0EM6vwvUjqELX2ty1SKLb37NcVVM8hD8w2ErsOwZzFngaZL7qCl5fF9sPYOT-WO_fYkzK_y1YsgDtynfXl13RzFIPGsyIZWOFYQzsn57fOA5ik08/s400/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+033.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566493510524780498" border="0" /></a><br />After 12 or 13 days of working on Trey and Shelby's Lago Rosario property, the four of us decided to splurge on a trip out to Gualijaina with some local Trevelin friends. Around 6 pm we started our caravan out into the dessert where <span style="font-style: italic;">guanacos </span>roam and the <span style="font-style: italic;">mara mara </span>hops. The landscape was rugged and uninviting if you planned to walk, but a beautiful drive along a bumpy gravel road. The town was celebreating its birthday (we can't recall how many years...), and it was a veritable rural shindig, with loud music, stands selling <span style="font-style: italic;">choripanchos</span>, and the people were walking around in something better than their Sunday's best.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglO8q5a475Onyz3S2k_MTIRY5u_5UadS_GZqiwQ5Ab_eoBB36lq_sO1MH-yj3BPCkDzOb8VRHdCGH6l5dqIGv3hVZL9NhlYJfd0EycTBg2p6pRPmh86drsVMBQ5-ThfYx1pAiGTBPqF_Q/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglO8q5a475Onyz3S2k_MTIRY5u_5UadS_GZqiwQ5Ab_eoBB36lq_sO1MH-yj3BPCkDzOb8VRHdCGH6l5dqIGv3hVZL9NhlYJfd0EycTBg2p6pRPmh86drsVMBQ5-ThfYx1pAiGTBPqF_Q/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566492051834814626" border="0" /></a>Cacique - our mascot(a)<br /><br /></div>We stayed at the only hotel/motel in town, which fortunately was very nice and had very personable owners who took good care of us. After we checked in and cleaned the road dust off, we walked into town and explored the happening town square. Kristin looked at <span style="font-style: italic;">artesania</span>, Ivan was mesmerized by the many cook tents, Trey was asking questions on a hand-crank well pump, and Shelby was rocking to the music. After 20 minutes in the square, we waded past the ruby-cheeked giggling adolescents and smiling parents and made our way to the towns only <span style="font-style: italic;">parilla</span>, which fortunately also, was very very good.<br /><br /><br />The <span style="font-style: italic;">parilla</span> was a fun experience because Jeremy, a Patagonia historian and writer, was not only great fun and entertainment, but also had brought a trunk-full of wonderful wine. Also joining the 4 of us at the table was Jeremy's wife Christina and their beautiful 7-month old son Tomas, David (el Padrino), and Nadine (a local poet and filmwriter). The owner of the <span style="font-style: italic;">parilla</span> fit the part beautifully with his inviting personality, but also his immense authority next to his <span style="font-style: italic;">asado</span> fire. While the dinner and conversation was amazing (salchichas, cordero, and ensalada!), the dinner didn't really start happening until Jeremy started singing a many different songs ranging from hilarious, bawdy, patriotic, and historical. Some of us were able to join in - like Charlotte the Harlotte, sung beautifully by Jeremy and Shelby - and The Star Spangled Banner belted by Trey and Kristin. However some of Jeremy's Scottish drinking songs were the favorite of the night. Throughout our vast display of vocal talent, the other local patrons were looking at our table as though we all had 'two heads.' I think in the end, though, they were grateful for the profusion of international talent that floated through the small 5 table <span style="font-style: italic;">parilla</span>.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmQ3sJi0-ArHisv2wAlpx-se60-l5hKe-Dc-QgLjIHI2Fun65zWjLrXNYD6b_uMOlY4UnpqfXtcFIlHZ99pO4gk8Gr7_H9Gg2SJr7ZHae1fifMCl82UpW3_Md9jL1tffqtTbVsIAez6s/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmQ3sJi0-ArHisv2wAlpx-se60-l5hKe-Dc-QgLjIHI2Fun65zWjLrXNYD6b_uMOlY4UnpqfXtcFIlHZ99pO4gk8Gr7_H9Gg2SJr7ZHae1fifMCl82UpW3_Md9jL1tffqtTbVsIAez6s/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566492056648073442" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ElwVy_anhv-FGln6tBdlIXPe6RxuBhFaKGIPcZu7TgCOuv8MhEED4gufLhsTL_qFEEZ9Z5Q2K3nTvGeFRm32TL2pnr8g3jPZIN9mxiRH7q547Cu66ftI3U7Eq2chP2Xtt8IEXSFUSMA/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+102.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ElwVy_anhv-FGln6tBdlIXPe6RxuBhFaKGIPcZu7TgCOuv8MhEED4gufLhsTL_qFEEZ9Z5Q2K3nTvGeFRm32TL2pnr8g3jPZIN9mxiRH7q547Cu66ftI3U7Eq2chP2Xtt8IEXSFUSMA/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+102.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566493329679607970" border="0" /></a>Rockin Out<br /><br /><br /></div>After the coffee dispelled the horrible headaches the 'lamb' gave us, we hopped into an awesome diesel Mercedes camper-tank. The 12.25 members of our expedition started off with Daniel our professional guide and driver and headed into the upper Chubut river valley. Not only was the scenery completely pristine and stunning, but we had it all to ourselves -- Jeremy proudly noted that their likely wasn't another tourist within 100km. Our first stop was to admire the flow of the river valley, which has been formed by destructive/constructive volcanoes, tectonic plate movement, and the erosive forces of water. The bright blue sky was held in incredible contrast against the dark reddish-brown volcanic cliff faces that jutted from both sides of the valley. We'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQawAJF1FMZ1rytKRb7SUyGFrslut7e_M42wlpVAItVIu1KyMGvfB8I2-LRa1rmd7hcUn7b27I_Xq5OdB-Xd4HwKao_NXd3FKUhorUBdmZKAj1JM3E5EuIO6JJgwc1LhC0iGytr1Xykkk/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+095.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQawAJF1FMZ1rytKRb7SUyGFrslut7e_M42wlpVAItVIu1KyMGvfB8I2-LRa1rmd7hcUn7b27I_Xq5OdB-Xd4HwKao_NXd3FKUhorUBdmZKAj1JM3E5EuIO6JJgwc1LhC0iGytr1Xykkk/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+095.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566493322819165186" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEwnO6GcaHRXZPtC93faEWG2TXE2mUe8nBHxI9o0pkbt9koZroUr68y_3mgt7rIToSAYfuXwdL81DG7z4VN2hP2RrHRSo8pk0P3DWw-yvXaCXJ0NqwQopmywaA4oz4xspmdOtcoj8Rim0/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+057.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEwnO6GcaHRXZPtC93faEWG2TXE2mUe8nBHxI9o0pkbt9koZroUr68y_3mgt7rIToSAYfuXwdL81DG7z4VN2hP2RrHRSo8pk0P3DWw-yvXaCXJ0NqwQopmywaA4oz4xspmdOtcoj8Rim0/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+057.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566492820588774642" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnasI_pFvuUXy9oTbG0JIRakuUX_-wYeU9F7KXvf8VDtvgNN6zvjOdkZKVIBONW_fspv44kp5MpXmLECt_cPrdsBSDRfO4z9KvlgWVCig0aQq3A4uFtgfi5AUZjF9UR2ITV8kRETb9yI/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+036.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnasI_pFvuUXy9oTbG0JIRakuUX_-wYeU9F7KXvf8VDtvgNN6zvjOdkZKVIBONW_fspv44kp5MpXmLECt_cPrdsBSDRfO4z9KvlgWVCig0aQq3A4uFtgfi5AUZjF9UR2ITV8kRETb9yI/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+036.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566492452991150306" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQgI_eYwBESQwRrsRiPeayPXoUpfwKYgFhrQX4n4KAvmJhwDqLrKbB5lKFvwzCSZy-M2RlG0PKqQ5-oIVgmRBgTwVY8b7BAF4JE0Hwuhu6zQBXRIwAp0jC2o-pjZVnhvpuh9CuhMdrHs/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+022.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQgI_eYwBESQwRrsRiPeayPXoUpfwKYgFhrQX4n4KAvmJhwDqLrKbB5lKFvwzCSZy-M2RlG0PKqQ5-oIVgmRBgTwVY8b7BAF4JE0Hwuhu6zQBXRIwAp0jC2o-pjZVnhvpuh9CuhMdrHs/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+022.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566492445536257890" border="0" /></a>Our Fearless Employers Trey and Shelby<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYX-r8f-dXHu9fWjJr6cjNckV_lmebYGi_yr4YHwmuQASBtzFZdzcDZot1Qh2_R1uOfJ6OcYfxOyrZaSG5GyB6jbn2JFX5RZow9aa1ESnelkLpb5qgtXs5DRrw72nb7m3ypTOukuNSC3g/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+026.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYX-r8f-dXHu9fWjJr6cjNckV_lmebYGi_yr4YHwmuQASBtzFZdzcDZot1Qh2_R1uOfJ6OcYfxOyrZaSG5GyB6jbn2JFX5RZow9aa1ESnelkLpb5qgtXs5DRrw72nb7m3ypTOukuNSC3g/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+026.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566492444169767090" border="0" /></a>Petrified Wood!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4vHEEsPfu5cxEaJ3e1KC-IxMPIMRniqoN-4s-R6ybFsbgI6b2bFfWh-ZVDuU62jNRrqUKG_pecdFeFh_zUhuvOoZ_hHCMiCMBFfLDXdn422-kwUXc-Pa5UmwTkA21k52xaR1jzn47FIo/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+011.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4vHEEsPfu5cxEaJ3e1KC-IxMPIMRniqoN-4s-R6ybFsbgI6b2bFfWh-ZVDuU62jNRrqUKG_pecdFeFh_zUhuvOoZ_hHCMiCMBFfLDXdn422-kwUXc-Pa5UmwTkA21k52xaR1jzn47FIo/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566492051879943554" border="0" /></a>Rio Chubut<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJHPKJFouUO0sgPaYch_vflgTh4z1ple7MfaLsxDHDmGaI1NJtlRprZoHo32Z0_BWAz2tSpuc28VptZ5HUS7vjzkhsKNC4DKymssemsarRiMN84WmYvJEkdh4SUM2HGKWjcJhVRPABp8/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+037.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJHPKJFouUO0sgPaYch_vflgTh4z1ple7MfaLsxDHDmGaI1NJtlRprZoHo32Z0_BWAz2tSpuc28VptZ5HUS7vjzkhsKNC4DKymssemsarRiMN84WmYvJEkdh4SUM2HGKWjcJhVRPABp8/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+037.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566491477233541570" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDCvvq6alOQRR530G90Gje8P4x-10UdDr4SYdQWk4f4OeamYDjQg8I3-Lq-pHOkXycek1iHAONiBYVF9oOxWx_SCt1O96qxMyD6XZr6Uva6tYGuWYN7aMRft38Wk1foGMxTlnF_abjdp4/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+032.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDCvvq6alOQRR530G90Gje8P4x-10UdDr4SYdQWk4f4OeamYDjQg8I3-Lq-pHOkXycek1iHAONiBYVF9oOxWx_SCt1O96qxMyD6XZr6Uva6tYGuWYN7aMRft38Wk1foGMxTlnF_abjdp4/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+032.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566492441626541890" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Our next stop was the <span style="font-style: italic;">piedra parada</span>, or the standing stone, which is a huge 250+ meter stone that survived the angry volcanoes surrounding it. Trey was just about drooling during our walk around it, since it is one of many climbing destinations in Argentina (he plans to do it before their season is over here). The massive rock was bright, sunny, and hot on one side, and chilly, shaded, and very windy on the other. It was an amazing landmark in the rugged terrain. After our walk around the behemoth rock we stopped for a yummy lunch, courtesy of David (our Padrino).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWI6onTzbi6GCzIq_Vvet9Fk7I7yDfBod6oIfeKpp-sz5e2q9CfWbIStF8aZ3fajNTsIke9qYksEORD5wVahPlBHy-QrdbC0lHk6MOSEiVlTClfR4V6Ef19flRBuMB3sj-npQet3jZivo/s1600/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+019.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWI6onTzbi6GCzIq_Vvet9Fk7I7yDfBod6oIfeKpp-sz5e2q9CfWbIStF8aZ3fajNTsIke9qYksEORD5wVahPlBHy-QrdbC0lHk6MOSEiVlTClfR4V6Ef19flRBuMB3sj-npQet3jZivo/s400/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+019.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566493332636413554" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCF29GPO60bWK9E6nMDli3j8VAA12VmjAq8r_wnySZcln7bl7d4PzjSs4VkPGU_AeGSozIuOYV6B3UohaKh6PTmWks1JYXXvm3cxjgUbTRnXa37AkCo9n33MNUHgD6p9Wcl7HSQwY0gv8/s1600/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+030.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCF29GPO60bWK9E6nMDli3j8VAA12VmjAq8r_wnySZcln7bl7d4PzjSs4VkPGU_AeGSozIuOYV6B3UohaKh6PTmWks1JYXXvm3cxjgUbTRnXa37AkCo9n33MNUHgD6p9Wcl7HSQwY0gv8/s400/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+030.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566493503377614162" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirB_4vjTNVLLTCVUffpGPzSm65DAlziHcFViVN8zA7wUaZrPNQktjHvDmzGlr3ZsewJr4lzuAD574NlNsjw3411NhIhjgloe4SnT6Zyi9Q57mAoefEWLL3U6MAvEewpVPlAFzr6osaUds/s1600/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+021.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirB_4vjTNVLLTCVUffpGPzSm65DAlziHcFViVN8zA7wUaZrPNQktjHvDmzGlr3ZsewJr4lzuAD574NlNsjw3411NhIhjgloe4SnT6Zyi9Q57mAoefEWLL3U6MAvEewpVPlAFzr6osaUds/s400/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+021.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566493336291708946" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvN5-bvNyoLd89Z10z-Mrsg2yPJeKKnR6tUoNaZdetZ5oggKzr1btbatlSqhwhUPpPImcKyCshdtrWA4gtJDevtWOMZkyIQicqkR2Z2kwEIeC0_XG_-PJ8GXOutkvnPz0j6cf-5DocFtY/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+075.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvN5-bvNyoLd89Z10z-Mrsg2yPJeKKnR6tUoNaZdetZ5oggKzr1btbatlSqhwhUPpPImcKyCshdtrWA4gtJDevtWOMZkyIQicqkR2Z2kwEIeC0_XG_-PJ8GXOutkvnPz0j6cf-5DocFtY/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+075.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566493061430822066" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSrBzniIZop_5MhdKC7CUHovojDvMOoxCCsYjCyGR-bbpbqHG86DHpgRIWgF9sl2lXfn3VBH5cpRBybH-V1xWrAFQP7nOVpwbl4449Jr9zRrWMzvi3FlOL9OWjDGDlNQqYZmoFTSQfaE/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+050.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSrBzniIZop_5MhdKC7CUHovojDvMOoxCCsYjCyGR-bbpbqHG86DHpgRIWgF9sl2lXfn3VBH5cpRBybH-V1xWrAFQP7nOVpwbl4449Jr9zRrWMzvi3FlOL9OWjDGDlNQqYZmoFTSQfaE/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+050.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566492822363930050" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngcsK3kAa-JnbukLbCQPyF02605chf4CmF6D42Rz-GvcJWe19O5Zws1UjdHPJrj7Du512RMf3e6av157sCBWODGcHRQpTArBzjiBTHTg6Km20A0g58uPVsuWX61IMhPKomwTkYNlAqbs/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+040.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngcsK3kAa-JnbukLbCQPyF02605chf4CmF6D42Rz-GvcJWe19O5Zws1UjdHPJrj7Du512RMf3e6av157sCBWODGcHRQpTArBzjiBTHTg6Km20A0g58uPVsuWX61IMhPKomwTkYNlAqbs/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+040.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566491475920930402" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc3V9KdBC8zI2Iepxq6hs4UF_uJR9DoQF3hnwH4-hkLp_Kv0whra-hdFvJY6ekBVqiBnEbWuE2HQ7algVjKNv1EGIhZLsp4YQvN_DwNsx_6hxWkuR6hmqG1wgztcKpplEV5EL2FRKdKyo/s1600/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+030.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc3V9KdBC8zI2Iepxq6hs4UF_uJR9DoQF3hnwH4-hkLp_Kv0whra-hdFvJY6ekBVqiBnEbWuE2HQ7algVjKNv1EGIhZLsp4YQvN_DwNsx_6hxWkuR6hmqG1wgztcKpplEV5EL2FRKdKyo/s400/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+030.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566491472471890946" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEaYH5WLlAreFqrMYVTdrYLenOYlEsstEcwtZ3wQ_fp5SY10NoCyBwCP6Ezh5c9mI56lblKEYo6BBkXVZ5onVB0kxZyrZ9xtQEmrc4E7YEp6jKz77U68Ed-s2mHZzKM-uopTAI38ex0qU/s1600/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+020.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEaYH5WLlAreFqrMYVTdrYLenOYlEsstEcwtZ3wQ_fp5SY10NoCyBwCP6Ezh5c9mI56lblKEYo6BBkXVZ5onVB0kxZyrZ9xtQEmrc4E7YEp6jKz77U68Ed-s2mHZzKM-uopTAI38ex0qU/s400/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566491473441319330" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3FzqRZUSCsiP_PpyYpwoOI-3Rjte6yT5a1OUTRIcF_sUUXmZl2XOe8FZA1gH4HPRmAIRsviPts8VXxl51Cfs-I-AEyfUXJDRXG9XN7ZU8S7XhbXU91NoyD8s9ui9AlBq2AjwFhgUtNqs/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+044.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3FzqRZUSCsiP_PpyYpwoOI-3Rjte6yT5a1OUTRIcF_sUUXmZl2XOe8FZA1gH4HPRmAIRsviPts8VXxl51Cfs-I-AEyfUXJDRXG9XN7ZU8S7XhbXU91NoyD8s9ui9AlBq2AjwFhgUtNqs/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+044.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566492450590788130" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEise_mstwjDCEwgikBCIFcmmVFNqS7xywPMvHd8TXClcR8wPwjdofdIRUmBn9DjK7mLvEJGUYpeG-7l8IpTC4fcFDwWsiv1DhHNMAhUt29WUzjko7NiY1QBcd5qluV7-B1cOihKXbrHJhc/s1600/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+030.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEise_mstwjDCEwgikBCIFcmmVFNqS7xywPMvHd8TXClcR8wPwjdofdIRUmBn9DjK7mLvEJGUYpeG-7l8IpTC4fcFDwWsiv1DhHNMAhUt29WUzjko7NiY1QBcd5qluV7-B1cOihKXbrHJhc/s400/kk+23+1+2011+Patagonia+030.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566491466202248978" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After lunch we crossed the river and hiked into a stunning valley that Daniel told us had been split apart after the lava started to cool. The valley had a cave with Tehuelche paintings, petrified forests as well as preserved petrified animals and animal pellets and a cave belonging to a puma (fortunatley not inside). Also in the valley were some aussie rock climbers who were trying their hands at the steep faces. It was one of the most memorable walks thus far in our SA journey because it was filled with history, geology and many facts, and took our breathes away many, many times.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCg7LWauumG10cwF-yegQtzChL2YUug7TzQOHiWSZOjlwgxR8IvmsoEgCLq_Hz9FQB7On8WvrKZfl_bTeYjWvXFljH_XAdCSBHlzAt7VUjy2T9TCdo8RD5YGmAPlmsHgsmGPO7Ek2WujQ/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+078.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCg7LWauumG10cwF-yegQtzChL2YUug7TzQOHiWSZOjlwgxR8IvmsoEgCLq_Hz9FQB7On8WvrKZfl_bTeYjWvXFljH_XAdCSBHlzAt7VUjy2T9TCdo8RD5YGmAPlmsHgsmGPO7Ek2WujQ/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+078.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566493063433770770" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip1O7HM-h82a-FNjaJz5aLoVw-I-8XInr2ogfVW69QjYknd5DSyA8CFtkdN5KkKSivRvG1nnyAZbZHWyz6RBgyIYPE0x1Rakojtevf6xeCHvKmM3QnVrDjkPkpTzdrLbi9MAohQ-sCil0/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+070.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip1O7HM-h82a-FNjaJz5aLoVw-I-8XInr2ogfVW69QjYknd5DSyA8CFtkdN5KkKSivRvG1nnyAZbZHWyz6RBgyIYPE0x1Rakojtevf6xeCHvKmM3QnVrDjkPkpTzdrLbi9MAohQ-sCil0/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+070.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566493051468222802" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqHnzKAJPhyphenhyphenFMEG4D7Q8ULYqrP3ik5FJd2Xqs3OxWk7mJxs101YZcSAo2RqHxSI50Eo6RWiL_g6DiQTyhvx_4tJ47C43Pq-1Pz3Z4aRGHw8A2pHqLunT_tP5U2EL1foo9xFk9oBkNrt8/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+067.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqHnzKAJPhyphenhyphenFMEG4D7Q8ULYqrP3ik5FJd2Xqs3OxWk7mJxs101YZcSAo2RqHxSI50Eo6RWiL_g6DiQTyhvx_4tJ47C43Pq-1Pz3Z4aRGHw8A2pHqLunT_tP5U2EL1foo9xFk9oBkNrt8/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+067.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566493047470088498" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7QI53zmlzmVEs64ny7bUJHYO1GUcdLtNmEqmYoW9zqCtunKwJGQXuyR7uwwn_2vAwOozshu9nKtRubKFXd9EvCH5SQ_C0EtZqpclShV5V5HULI2yyJ25qzhyRWwVEoK2_LPtCVRa2t7Y/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+066.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7QI53zmlzmVEs64ny7bUJHYO1GUcdLtNmEqmYoW9zqCtunKwJGQXuyR7uwwn_2vAwOozshu9nKtRubKFXd9EvCH5SQ_C0EtZqpclShV5V5HULI2yyJ25qzhyRWwVEoK2_LPtCVRa2t7Y/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+066.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566493045747761586" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdrmcYA1cbVnu4GELhDBJE0EvgKMvbbHDuoKS4-vXOJfbi6SdL1qpw3pGo8sptWFGHUJBdy0Y196eHplAHU055PK2V-XtrGO_Z2rJyCJUZS9kxF2CPj5EMmicrlQjBueZILWvphc_Wdw/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+063.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdrmcYA1cbVnu4GELhDBJE0EvgKMvbbHDuoKS4-vXOJfbi6SdL1qpw3pGo8sptWFGHUJBdy0Y196eHplAHU055PK2V-XtrGO_Z2rJyCJUZS9kxF2CPj5EMmicrlQjBueZILWvphc_Wdw/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+063.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566492829626632738" border="0" /></a>"La Piedra para la Suegra"<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSm-W731Rf-AfU6M7ioC6724uUb7eRqvNyTQu1MYm2Z-ngixxbTmvVGeEEw2Z9C32dKjOg_ol1aSR1mdCCkvTvYyRuCmcQs1DsRHdf8Rc0TwOqWoGLFVsesspm4PHzOhmTOd2X18VQNQ/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+062.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSm-W731Rf-AfU6M7ioC6724uUb7eRqvNyTQu1MYm2Z-ngixxbTmvVGeEEw2Z9C32dKjOg_ol1aSR1mdCCkvTvYyRuCmcQs1DsRHdf8Rc0TwOqWoGLFVsesspm4PHzOhmTOd2X18VQNQ/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+062.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566492831834895826" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8u5ENqxbvU0tF8mcIPdjx248qyrrIn2DWKgCxUhzZfd4jUI8BZPDBrFH4HmNdHdZVslRy_olzubvmbLWI1UVhUnDU4vZxZ3kEAQPnVdPRYWxUxg_DTtyIkPo2QcyxDZSqmsH534PrBt8/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+060.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8u5ENqxbvU0tF8mcIPdjx248qyrrIn2DWKgCxUhzZfd4jUI8BZPDBrFH4HmNdHdZVslRy_olzubvmbLWI1UVhUnDU4vZxZ3kEAQPnVdPRYWxUxg_DTtyIkPo2QcyxDZSqmsH534PrBt8/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+060.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566492829253239010" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Once we returned to town we showered off and seated ourselves back in the <span style="font-style: italic;">parilla</span> for some more wine, and a delicious <span style="font-style: italic;">lechon </span>(suckling pig). It also had delicious fried empanadas and a potato salad. YuM! Throughout the meal we were reminiscing our stunning tour through the extinct volcanoes, petrified forests, unexplored canyons and the cave paintings of the Tehuelche natives (about 3000 years old!).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfHdop50PT4VrkiLyLu6RPp5e9Iq5vBQONQw7lC0t-qCII8124kW1PzSq0-DtRg5555RnPKyIgEvd-3RDkmpbs29dATjdm3L1K6f4e0ruPgjeW5q2gqe6K1i8m7PPsOyknHGSQ5etgC7c/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+104.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfHdop50PT4VrkiLyLu6RPp5e9Iq5vBQONQw7lC0t-qCII8124kW1PzSq0-DtRg5555RnPKyIgEvd-3RDkmpbs29dATjdm3L1K6f4e0ruPgjeW5q2gqe6K1i8m7PPsOyknHGSQ5etgC7c/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+104.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566493328304049586" border="0" /></a>The world's largest owl!!<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4lLt4CbgDgvBQBAQO3N6xRD3c7oQq_8h5EZ1PgS1GonKagm_HmIl4oYlFs5sox19H7k3PidmRngxcg1Ybcfp7qU_EdEkUeUX9sAXGx7VFbBkWVoeGfL_8b2TuoUCAJ006bG50-8yY1YI/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4lLt4CbgDgvBQBAQO3N6xRD3c7oQq_8h5EZ1PgS1GonKagm_HmIl4oYlFs5sox19H7k3PidmRngxcg1Ybcfp7qU_EdEkUeUX9sAXGx7VFbBkWVoeGfL_8b2TuoUCAJ006bG50-8yY1YI/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566492067285017202" border="0" /></a>Peregrine Falcon<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqRoX7-xyxLC8BU-eL9BYyHlYF9XdT1Mr9zQOdmxMSQrwdzTPOnqrcp06WUUVIkdMXdBTucRcfC5zxsKlKkk2fT-_zv7AXMCZCFiKg2goDqEGRqDDEmIiJvoAPFjo-CTt-ht3HKCl0WI/s1600/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+016.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqRoX7-xyxLC8BU-eL9BYyHlYF9XdT1Mr9zQOdmxMSQrwdzTPOnqrcp06WUUVIkdMXdBTucRcfC5zxsKlKkk2fT-_zv7AXMCZCFiKg2goDqEGRqDDEmIiJvoAPFjo-CTt-ht3HKCl0WI/s400/Ivan+23+1+2011+Patagonia+016.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566492058909664386" border="0" /></a>Petrified Wood<br /><br /></div>The following morning we caught a ride back with David to Trevelin and then back to camp with Trey and Shelby. After a long weekend away it was great to get back to camp, especially since the weather changed to sunny and hot! On December 26th, the 2 of us are heading off to Bariloche and beyond for a 7 day camping trip through the Lake District of Patagonia. Que Lindo!!<br /><br />A note to our vast and varying fan club (:-), we have been working a lot recently, which is why the blogs aren't as frequent as before. We should have a great blog up soon on our trip to Barilocheex, as well as our experiences at Lago Rosario (where we have no electricity!), where we will work until the middle of March. Too Much Good Stuff!Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-36020775507192298132011-01-08T14:10:00.017-03:002011-01-09T07:49:01.383-03:00Puerto Madryn - Salva las Ballenas<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSM_cPZ1OkBjcyAa5MQUFwiRoQFQRAvAWkGD2l0qC2Hhb_8BXGiW21BkegQhsTBH1doTuE-ltWKUzOfRgHKAm1o1O6Acr-xBe75INkva5LAJLtRboKoiud0T1Cf7tBlYXRfvqEZbuCHig/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+093.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSM_cPZ1OkBjcyAa5MQUFwiRoQFQRAvAWkGD2l0qC2Hhb_8BXGiW21BkegQhsTBH1doTuE-ltWKUzOfRgHKAm1o1O6Acr-xBe75INkva5LAJLtRboKoiud0T1Cf7tBlYXRfvqEZbuCHig/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+093.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559956554968172626" border="0" /></a><br />We toasted the New Years in Necochea with our goofy fun hostel. There were about 20 of us crowded around the table all digging in to the yummy potluck. Kristin made an awesome broccoli salad (momma Pam's recipe!); Santi, the Hostal owner, bbqed some delicous chicken; and another guest made mashed potatoes. We also brought a small shopping cart full of champagne, beer, and of course, Fernet - a herb liquor that they love to mix with coke. After the delicious dinner we all convened on the roof with some champagne and watched hundreds of fireworks exploding around the city. It was a fun, romantic evening for us!!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJkn33BmLJRStP1mn01NIjem5ALsgsk_iNW7rHjirg_aNI4Vq_NjJGyKWolelCzNrlO58wAatmhtH-VTz-wFOCdGkZYeQmXGtKLjt0tcDXCF_gL-ulKmi-YklhAHdc5x3jecqn-TImvbY/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+089.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJkn33BmLJRStP1mn01NIjem5ALsgsk_iNW7rHjirg_aNI4Vq_NjJGyKWolelCzNrlO58wAatmhtH-VTz-wFOCdGkZYeQmXGtKLjt0tcDXCF_gL-ulKmi-YklhAHdc5x3jecqn-TImvbY/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+089.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559956559935205698" border="0" /></a>Happy New Year!!<br /></div><br />We took a 16 hour bus ride to Puerto Madryn, which officially put us in Patagonia. The city sits in a bay below the Valdez Peninsula and is basically dedicated to tourism and its booming aluminum industry. Our hostel was predictably expensive, but it was a great jumping-off point for different tours.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiILIdBJu8R6FpOH_6F3iowJJN7Vy-ZVOp_SJkiiXYDYTmENZ7aouvvPaqxqKmWNWyXq_1n4vKG8oLp8elM4r7tnmGsrJJHNwRrbGsOuYSqRE7f_Zct0O4nwDhG4rvDP95Pyi4QxeHD2tw/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+044.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiILIdBJu8R6FpOH_6F3iowJJN7Vy-ZVOp_SJkiiXYDYTmENZ7aouvvPaqxqKmWNWyXq_1n4vKG8oLp8elM4r7tnmGsrJJHNwRrbGsOuYSqRE7f_Zct0O4nwDhG4rvDP95Pyi4QxeHD2tw/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+044.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559910787968249842" border="0" /></a><br />Our first tour was an all day bus-ride around the Peninsula Valdes. We hopped into a van with about 15 other people and started off. Our tour leader had the mic volume all the way up, so she was basically screaming through the small speakers, which was at first humorous, but later quite painful. Our first stop was a visitor center where we saw a whale skeleton, some good info, and a lot of pictures. There was also a lookout tower where we could see both sides of the peninsula into the north and south bays. Continuing on into the bulk of the peninsula we saw many animals and beautiful sights. We stopped at Puerto Piramides, where the majority of our group hopped on a boat to go whale watching. Kristin and I opted out of the tour since it isn't whale season, and instead walked around the small town. We had 2 hours to take photos, walk the beach, and check out the over-priced tourist shops. Our group returned with smiles, but they hadn't seen any whales...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNy32iQEPz_1Eu-sl8oon7EW6i0-fT8gnBaP5zDlliOf-koVY9jWcBctfy5t4Jx0-b4ip5Z_XstszXWfZSYguIwFlxYwStaPL0olVA-gxg-_5aK0bOrYllgJyifIzWxOT58hSS8VJsp4/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+015.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNy32iQEPz_1Eu-sl8oon7EW6i0-fT8gnBaP5zDlliOf-koVY9jWcBctfy5t4Jx0-b4ip5Z_XstszXWfZSYguIwFlxYwStaPL0olVA-gxg-_5aK0bOrYllgJyifIzWxOT58hSS8VJsp4/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559911676330460242" border="0" /></a>Giving Moby some love..<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi63O61klkA02gIqpF3NToX7FIy00P0w4HZxkSrdAZF3lJNtCJG1ZooEkfMlH1Qf_8EqEG9I6x4KMGHh4xJ8UmQGssjuu1Vxm23UCXxxhpyAbVIJh9NoDPKo9Q7bxj-ZFKq4WNuIXgVHgU/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi63O61klkA02gIqpF3NToX7FIy00P0w4HZxkSrdAZF3lJNtCJG1ZooEkfMlH1Qf_8EqEG9I6x4KMGHh4xJ8UmQGssjuu1Vxm23UCXxxhpyAbVIJh9NoDPKo9Q7bxj-ZFKq4WNuIXgVHgU/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559911675087027618" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOyTOXUSQUSBJFuIsc2E_MJ-fKDWoE0RlhLiMwBpwln4fXHcjB4pSCyN17UK47exnBxBoLNvVLjAcyoJfqTXGTmJfzWsprFC6Jg4gWbjXEcZWCtQVsbZ4VAVF2e1tCGhwM29QYt62dFLo/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOyTOXUSQUSBJFuIsc2E_MJ-fKDWoE0RlhLiMwBpwln4fXHcjB4pSCyN17UK47exnBxBoLNvVLjAcyoJfqTXGTmJfzWsprFC6Jg4gWbjXEcZWCtQVsbZ4VAVF2e1tCGhwM29QYt62dFLo/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559910764929600130" border="0" /></a>Power Pose!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDFBGDpK3eq0RCbIQLuRoslVHekFRiCDxm3q4aIypCorC5AWon9kuRZ05XbADn53_Ll-VS3fbWI4GJok9pExX2uxag_150MXBM9YKsneoQkYbMYPYyDYnidceZDRbOFx4WInCUfQ_NCw/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDFBGDpK3eq0RCbIQLuRoslVHekFRiCDxm3q4aIypCorC5AWon9kuRZ05XbADn53_Ll-VS3fbWI4GJok9pExX2uxag_150MXBM9YKsneoQkYbMYPYyDYnidceZDRbOFx4WInCUfQ_NCw/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559910763881917842" border="0" /></a><br /></div>We continued on to the eastern edge of the island and saw some Magellan penguins, as well as some sea lions and elephant seals. The penguins looked bored/tired/stoned on land, but in the water they were little torpedoes that rocketed through the small surf and were amazingly agile. The sea lions, or lobos marinos, were making their usual racket of barking and belches. Kristin wasn't amused with Ivan's enthusiastic mimicking which attracted some curious stares.. We were excited to see the elephant seals, but they didn't do much of anything since summer is their 'dormant' season. Basically they just sit on the beach in a big blubbery mound of harem and its angry alpha male.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCbMPUbzCXDKUmzrPzfKQRkNl63RxEQ6FMwjlYxBKgw8jU9LjkCslveW8gSor8CJM4FYW-6rVFn0dz43RCSivTH5_zuFVlCkyYRkI8Wz2f6wTVJzEfgnQf3OQ-E17BMx3kzyJBjvYnd8/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+034.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCbMPUbzCXDKUmzrPzfKQRkNl63RxEQ6FMwjlYxBKgw8jU9LjkCslveW8gSor8CJM4FYW-6rVFn0dz43RCSivTH5_zuFVlCkyYRkI8Wz2f6wTVJzEfgnQf3OQ-E17BMx3kzyJBjvYnd8/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+034.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559955611088143074" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJSRRcBaKQqy36Q4WMzHo3iEHlBohdulVj-N4ZGzlgOeon93Sfbv89xOE2Q2_K_DSWkKStYYaUHTd1cHWR9YxoXCR4nfaSh-d_gparjy_BHxpLJ2AEJ5Ug7n5fooXHOh9cVi3f6825Zk/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+028.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJSRRcBaKQqy36Q4WMzHo3iEHlBohdulVj-N4ZGzlgOeon93Sfbv89xOE2Q2_K_DSWkKStYYaUHTd1cHWR9YxoXCR4nfaSh-d_gparjy_BHxpLJ2AEJ5Ug7n5fooXHOh9cVi3f6825Zk/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+028.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559955606954978722" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYoyHwFwF1lGe6bq0HuwZoMHH6CvelADaHWw1xNLhN5Bxco82l859vtLHtxa8uqpeAEde3oRNktZ5PX2dWAzV4u-MT_hD5w535ONeuuUY9KzC9YR1ww1sv0dmal3GNgSG_3i5y-r1CrlA/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+055.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYoyHwFwF1lGe6bq0HuwZoMHH6CvelADaHWw1xNLhN5Bxco82l859vtLHtxa8uqpeAEde3oRNktZ5PX2dWAzV4u-MT_hD5w535ONeuuUY9KzC9YR1ww1sv0dmal3GNgSG_3i5y-r1CrlA/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+055.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559911063722765714" border="0" /></a>One alpha male and his harem- player!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2M3wBgguA0_klwLmitagLltJXX0GxAgkuxWIB5PP5eS3fFbYMJE6ga76SEccZAwNTDjf1DNf1LEH1coAEhIHSoii-juqkDRRMjJFgdXN93mGAnsQBDyyKBPYF8ZQTtLs_9os5C_ON_z4/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+047.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2M3wBgguA0_klwLmitagLltJXX0GxAgkuxWIB5PP5eS3fFbYMJE6ga76SEccZAwNTDjf1DNf1LEH1coAEhIHSoii-juqkDRRMjJFgdXN93mGAnsQBDyyKBPYF8ZQTtLs_9os5C_ON_z4/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+047.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559911057885659170" border="0" /></a>Lobos Marinos<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjseac_UyC3hr41Dbc23loin7W3nGNvQ7ghjYzm6OTK1F-URP-YkXkbGZa94yBG4zP5tyHoRhw1-p2GPAUUgxgM03bce8LY-cq2HHPEVQnv4PVckhJd_0KQ1655l8J2E-uhRrwzMLtaQ08/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjseac_UyC3hr41Dbc23loin7W3nGNvQ7ghjYzm6OTK1F-URP-YkXkbGZa94yBG4zP5tyHoRhw1-p2GPAUUgxgM03bce8LY-cq2HHPEVQnv4PVckhJd_0KQ1655l8J2E-uhRrwzMLtaQ08/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559910772150576354" border="0" /></a><br /></div>After this we drove up the coast to Punta Norte and saw some more of the same. The landscape was fairly monotonous, but incredible dramatic. It was nice to see that the droves of tourists have little affect on the landscape and it is monitored well by the park employees.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_DlMOHRT1wKHK7sTsLRGWaAEJ7BXFk_0-zIJbBGdd2rP4mNBdVQyLTcdak-SBMHqaKduls4miLLFp2ZkJaOP5Ul59dmDEHndCY9EdvriVn5rSunXRZaKndQEyESWeLRe5zCldH5HA1jA/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+020.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_DlMOHRT1wKHK7sTsLRGWaAEJ7BXFk_0-zIJbBGdd2rP4mNBdVQyLTcdak-SBMHqaKduls4miLLFp2ZkJaOP5Ul59dmDEHndCY9EdvriVn5rSunXRZaKndQEyESWeLRe5zCldH5HA1jA/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559910786128878498" border="0" /></a><br />On our second day we went for a bike ride through town, and then intended to ride to Punta Este, about 17 km away. After an hour of riding though, Ivan's seat was giving him unspeakable pain in unspeakable places, and so we made a slow return back to town. Kristin was a good sport with all his griping about bad bike seats (and likely every other piece on the bike..), and we still managed to find a yummy restaurant to enjoy some cheap empanadas and such. We also biked to a remote beach and watched the boats move around the bay. Even though we seemed to have a painful day, we made up for it with a delicious meal with local white fish, steamed brocolli, and ravioli (of course the ravioli was for the hungry man) and a bottle of wine. Our meal was so extreme (for a hostel) we were receiving compliments, even from a French guy sniffing it with his prestigious nose! After we watched a great Al Pacino movie with some people at our hostel and recovered from our day of (painful) exercise.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDvYVCZrhLNVYNmTpEmRgGMk_2BKIkcgNAa2YXxZAuvKLlgu5NSuIu2FkSMBu71mG7pCVtCHJWSclgPeAvk2WlfA9PaMrMzg4DV4xJki4wlreAGVWkdY52nMRh1XFkyc7Rr-z8RrtSbA/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+041.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDvYVCZrhLNVYNmTpEmRgGMk_2BKIkcgNAa2YXxZAuvKLlgu5NSuIu2FkSMBu71mG7pCVtCHJWSclgPeAvk2WlfA9PaMrMzg4DV4xJki4wlreAGVWkdY52nMRh1XFkyc7Rr-z8RrtSbA/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+041.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559955628465134466" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDoojfkUs_efspF1V54s34lcSqtKNXMyLOv6Rt-THs6CPAJFDBXawi_3UXjxfE1vDxlrVFrQEqffmEOGE9pqBkp0_WDBv3nKU0lxyeaeoB1HHS7KybkhS-Wug76ERlTIs2txCN-2JqeXg/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+039.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDoojfkUs_efspF1V54s34lcSqtKNXMyLOv6Rt-THs6CPAJFDBXawi_3UXjxfE1vDxlrVFrQEqffmEOGE9pqBkp0_WDBv3nKU0lxyeaeoB1HHS7KybkhS-Wug76ERlTIs2txCN-2JqeXg/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+039.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559955617056129986" border="0" /></a><br />On our third day we hopped in another tour van with about 12 other people and headed to Punto Tombo. Our first stop was at Puerto Rawson where about 40 people got into a large zodiac and headed out into the open sea to observe the Tonina dolphins. This is the worlds smallest dolphin, and is endemic to the Patagonia region. Our glided past a flotilla of rusty shrimp boats and then headed for the harbor mouth. We were all a bit worried to see large surf heading into the harbor. The swells were ranging from 2-4 meters, and Ivan's stomach immediately resented him for hopping on the boat. The boat only went out 2 km and was bouncing up and down, up and down, until we reached a group of the tiny dolphins. Their coloring is white and black, and they are very graceful and playful in the water. Kristin was able to take some great pictures with her little camera, while Ivan caught glimpses of them between heaves from the back of the boat. Fortunately the tour was only an hour long, and was plenty of time to see the majestic little sea mammals.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-HO_EIT7VIe8ZQPEtebTZgP4qYZd-_T2NpY_BC3fIrNf6zl7S16IuKtWsXgm_SMbm5HxWuBN_v7SXxBYL0FSvPakM__stOBGSgbPB_eQFBckaGvGpM53igaibp0MddrZjhwz7-EcBuAQ/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+045.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-HO_EIT7VIe8ZQPEtebTZgP4qYZd-_T2NpY_BC3fIrNf6zl7S16IuKtWsXgm_SMbm5HxWuBN_v7SXxBYL0FSvPakM__stOBGSgbPB_eQFBckaGvGpM53igaibp0MddrZjhwz7-EcBuAQ/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+045.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559956023899005858" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbcI34nixcJW3SlIWUwh6htVH0HdXJLqQFn6YVo_3RpAKOPhF5d-94YEF0ZOm3mgwQaj9vzZixuwvl9-sTFzyfPNL_9ZGISrS_tnNg4pH4PCssXgSna5VDgNBwTfrob1IWX-cxc3xATw0/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+044.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbcI34nixcJW3SlIWUwh6htVH0HdXJLqQFn6YVo_3RpAKOPhF5d-94YEF0ZOm3mgwQaj9vzZixuwvl9-sTFzyfPNL_9ZGISrS_tnNg4pH4PCssXgSna5VDgNBwTfrob1IWX-cxc3xATw0/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+044.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559956020268959378" border="0" /></a>Jacket rash..!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz2jZ5r8cxh1ME5Dlhf2WJcntMFPsm-FSCCFGSWNC2VkL8UrGB0OTF3WoKxPVvBp3ePdg9tQVTFW0ZvsFodlpdKb3NWyCaxkPZjxLwHk909iPXA7y0tq4pqUgThYvcQjRCQgGFoE00nDM/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+058.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz2jZ5r8cxh1ME5Dlhf2WJcntMFPsm-FSCCFGSWNC2VkL8UrGB0OTF3WoKxPVvBp3ePdg9tQVTFW0ZvsFodlpdKb3NWyCaxkPZjxLwHk909iPXA7y0tq4pqUgThYvcQjRCQgGFoE00nDM/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+058.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559911071326388114" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi5RPSJY1mucRV_eh2_SPcoC5fg1AnxPQ4GtGieGPwPLK_gkCzCf2I8Ug_LzWeJ1_inksyB_A5qHmiZ-auDmeZi6Lw-2Z0Ts_EaWXLAATdS_yjkkGF0Q0-GYWRGhL2WpmL7s7uw_OXKbc/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+048.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi5RPSJY1mucRV_eh2_SPcoC5fg1AnxPQ4GtGieGPwPLK_gkCzCf2I8Ug_LzWeJ1_inksyB_A5qHmiZ-auDmeZi6Lw-2Z0Ts_EaWXLAATdS_yjkkGF0Q0-GYWRGhL2WpmL7s7uw_OXKbc/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+048.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559956021362739618" border="0" /></a>Starting to feel the motion of the ocean<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsoA_oT32xlrbbiS8J7wW5BtkRBzbCimlboaC1IrGdYTeySrXc636UeVdxsGfQlcjv-3NsgHBlpXX1qntsCdK62i3AajpYlKEkvNwmUHAC1ya8ynVQgFuIi_Qsj7ScJBbk-k4yzMJ40fM/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+068.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsoA_oT32xlrbbiS8J7wW5BtkRBzbCimlboaC1IrGdYTeySrXc636UeVdxsGfQlcjv-3NsgHBlpXX1qntsCdK62i3AajpYlKEkvNwmUHAC1ya8ynVQgFuIi_Qsj7ScJBbk-k4yzMJ40fM/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+068.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559956297971436082" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1h7BAb4c0Fmgcbf3YmnO7BG8IFOHQY9ZOudn_9FkhuxXzJ8pGvaO94-_16lmhcvt6VLMgn4Gt3dKZcxqfIVotFRWTGOmq4qh2dCOIaLMOOuXLb7n4QN6-L6imfPP_Xxvck2XqtoJDf0/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+056.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1h7BAb4c0Fmgcbf3YmnO7BG8IFOHQY9ZOudn_9FkhuxXzJ8pGvaO94-_16lmhcvt6VLMgn4Gt3dKZcxqfIVotFRWTGOmq4qh2dCOIaLMOOuXLb7n4QN6-L6imfPP_Xxvck2XqtoJDf0/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+056.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559956035506312434" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4U51uTQjnO4bpUoyqAyjecd3fGR8XvgPPZBimYPBZes4vXb7G6gEsj-4QNiYg-IN7eGatcU5eaoxkeTP6iQaQVtgXpZt8GXuokNwxn4paqLIh1ktvNcdM6LBAK84omYXk6MDOy4GulY/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+053.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4U51uTQjnO4bpUoyqAyjecd3fGR8XvgPPZBimYPBZes4vXb7G6gEsj-4QNiYg-IN7eGatcU5eaoxkeTP6iQaQVtgXpZt8GXuokNwxn4paqLIh1ktvNcdM6LBAK84omYXk6MDOy4GulY/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+053.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559956028218724994" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Another hour and a half down the coast we were in Punto Tombo. Before entering the park though, we enjoyed a yummy lunch of fresh tomato, baguette, jamon crudo, cheese, and cucumber. Even the snooty cruise tourists eyed our lunch enviously (their gurgling stomachs brought their thoughts away from the natural environment around them to the distant buffet table on their big boat ;).<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1uCkXwOr5jaEO6KCXdSX6XYAxYZYRNNFXA6HDu4MGkwmvQhczu1Hl7PlKpfBIqfnDVXO3yBvcWmpWlMv81qHTil0LST-2_19Jr5wQMtRBZn3sT0Ljwkzqgwmt18Px8kln01rIbE1W8B0/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+074.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1uCkXwOr5jaEO6KCXdSX6XYAxYZYRNNFXA6HDu4MGkwmvQhczu1Hl7PlKpfBIqfnDVXO3yBvcWmpWlMv81qHTil0LST-2_19Jr5wQMtRBZn3sT0Ljwkzqgwmt18Px8kln01rIbE1W8B0/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+074.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559956298037337938" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The penguins did not disappoint!! This is the largest Magellan Penguin population in the world, with over 1 million birds milling about the stretch of coastline. We had such a nice walk, being able to see the penguins from up close. The birds seemed very lazy and were content to stand in various positions trying to cool off and pass the time. While they seemed docile, some were actually quite aggressive, hissing at passing tourists, getting in bloody fights with each other, or even pecking at rodents that hopped through the vegetation.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJwgvksLk0t3JGF5nEckGA3VrJy91c4oItHBojC6gyVFJC6MTYUGW_cbLQ9cpb-11hF-WP8IOBSdnxgdVirz4DBgXAHJnG-KZ1X-G28FEtmdNahb2YKSTTmQtUPGW4ssXwHSinqDxQec/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+130.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJwgvksLk0t3JGF5nEckGA3VrJy91c4oItHBojC6gyVFJC6MTYUGW_cbLQ9cpb-11hF-WP8IOBSdnxgdVirz4DBgXAHJnG-KZ1X-G28FEtmdNahb2YKSTTmQtUPGW4ssXwHSinqDxQec/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+130.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559911667016226242" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixfoaNfghg4I5MsWG8t7mS75Fj7ULsujMUM82Q4yiOPHrld4yGpeivQUdDg5Oxk3C0FkrOfXstGZp2QgobA3DeRffFpEaL0xIYjEfR7BC_BemiCXfudXiEkKdD9kmI-3xugzbi0nviUr8/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+119.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixfoaNfghg4I5MsWG8t7mS75Fj7ULsujMUM82Q4yiOPHrld4yGpeivQUdDg5Oxk3C0FkrOfXstGZp2QgobA3DeRffFpEaL0xIYjEfR7BC_BemiCXfudXiEkKdD9kmI-3xugzbi0nviUr8/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+119.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559911666542411266" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwROpxdu1T0YdQ5kUdRE1TA_84RrhNu3WkYqPnndbVPpv2IKkZAcXiP1puBNJ9_7i6Th_sk5FNFmoFp22qbh2a2orDTMpyz3iHsCbqd5Y6CmYbZjteGFbN200D8I170b1sToGhs91aVc/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+111.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwROpxdu1T0YdQ5kUdRE1TA_84RrhNu3WkYqPnndbVPpv2IKkZAcXiP1puBNJ9_7i6Th_sk5FNFmoFp22qbh2a2orDTMpyz3iHsCbqd5Y6CmYbZjteGFbN200D8I170b1sToGhs91aVc/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+111.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559911408528212482" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Unlike most animals, the penguin baby is perhaps the ugliest youngin in the animal kingdom. The young fat birds looked like the embodiment of the bird-flu virus - if it could be defined by a particular bird specie. It was adorable to see the penguin couples, monogamous through life, necking, beaking, walking wing in wing, and awkwardly copulating in the dirty underbrush. Kristin was very much at home with the little guys!!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8ptgbUhPzFRHpoqzzLXOpxST1FJD8trYJmN_ZTJQbd0lMVHVBOWPPfHVdBCd0fruNIzERahr_cFg3K16y1HusD0UMBULNXNqekiQ0wzunHpzlCW4-r8zqAPmQFacc9TMUNvuqH-z-q4/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+107.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8ptgbUhPzFRHpoqzzLXOpxST1FJD8trYJmN_ZTJQbd0lMVHVBOWPPfHVdBCd0fruNIzERahr_cFg3K16y1HusD0UMBULNXNqekiQ0wzunHpzlCW4-r8zqAPmQFacc9TMUNvuqH-z-q4/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+107.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559911401015862866" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXINjOyfiO4lBT1IgDamM6XxSCawezxFlh8iDGblm44y-wXybvC0-r2byRkGWPtJGG6t4VsmnMzAfDmBkrkjRywZZ1275CZXobg-4g6LBfu1T9Q2LWvxMbtu_cuTJ8eCD5gkE0Rb2O0yQ/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+103.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXINjOyfiO4lBT1IgDamM6XxSCawezxFlh8iDGblm44y-wXybvC0-r2byRkGWPtJGG6t4VsmnMzAfDmBkrkjRywZZ1275CZXobg-4g6LBfu1T9Q2LWvxMbtu_cuTJ8eCD5gkE0Rb2O0yQ/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+103.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559911391822145666" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivcQFZoyK0E6Sn-kUce1do-rp33QuQnXdwnaQe5E6sfycRzSygP7LhTFunP5ir5Y5m6WWbRutdvfYf0kKDq2C_XuCHmaxISxJpl21NYz5J_rceKwPKMJQXDvfurjx2BrbSkKXfTXjAGpg/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+112.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivcQFZoyK0E6Sn-kUce1do-rp33QuQnXdwnaQe5E6sfycRzSygP7LhTFunP5ir5Y5m6WWbRutdvfYf0kKDq2C_XuCHmaxISxJpl21NYz5J_rceKwPKMJQXDvfurjx2BrbSkKXfTXjAGpg/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+112.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559956312583053634" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLvYnRs4kxKRELN3KMOrZY0gJcsyGFylGGJP8XhyphenhyphenBmvUJHbXvoHB-xXI_qRD-FwAKY_vLZfTIfQYkoIbn7IzYmZvg_btOHQdDX6ZOWfoqGsvMDYahub-CHL67ertoKrfuFLquTJ1YM4OM/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+118.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLvYnRs4kxKRELN3KMOrZY0gJcsyGFylGGJP8XhyphenhyphenBmvUJHbXvoHB-xXI_qRD-FwAKY_vLZfTIfQYkoIbn7IzYmZvg_btOHQdDX6ZOWfoqGsvMDYahub-CHL67ertoKrfuFLquTJ1YM4OM/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+118.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559911663920156066" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfRA8lhBzDYhX3ekaXz9120oC_LmM_QAq-NzOf_YbLJEHNEy6HBnq1rfSBGaGkgwA6sK4afcH6CY4Rxc6ulkyI-0QQClWqretEH127FzULlG4nHq7DNeUv3bDqeH5jFn4iZ-Jfa6F8ujE/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+098.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfRA8lhBzDYhX3ekaXz9120oC_LmM_QAq-NzOf_YbLJEHNEy6HBnq1rfSBGaGkgwA6sK4afcH6CY4Rxc6ulkyI-0QQClWqretEH127FzULlG4nHq7DNeUv3bDqeH5jFn4iZ-Jfa6F8ujE/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+098.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559911385022001890" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz9A2_ludvwATVnm0li1gyE7_GTIF8OoJGoBewCY_dVvjJrYVIeWoADLind_piOA7QjW09TlRXidzT_yiWVY_Qw3P0Zm9kEzR1hWhFq4VURrrYEHbqk37QjbYwRQBSqbLPQEFrx6OR-jQ/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+094.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz9A2_ludvwATVnm0li1gyE7_GTIF8OoJGoBewCY_dVvjJrYVIeWoADLind_piOA7QjW09TlRXidzT_yiWVY_Qw3P0Zm9kEzR1hWhFq4VURrrYEHbqk37QjbYwRQBSqbLPQEFrx6OR-jQ/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+094.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559911383710506754" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We also loved watching the penguins walk, which is very similar to that of a young human toddler, where their pudgy body sways side to side as they laboriously put one foot in front of the other. It must take them ages to make it to the water!! After a full day of watching penguins, we cooked ourselves some garlic lemon rosemary chicken with brown rice. With many more jealous hostel mates eying with their curious noses.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfd8zihCBlI4tm4x6dqCYIycP_7wdTekWReP7VhhIY6FqndFJOxdAH9_run9OcbNBSFFQVVgn9admAY8PU3LDYndOGQh3B_QNTAJhX4Q4R1qLIF1vc9i5Wg7tJVzL0JXQM6DOMEstqkyQ/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+119.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfd8zihCBlI4tm4x6dqCYIycP_7wdTekWReP7VhhIY6FqndFJOxdAH9_run9OcbNBSFFQVVgn9admAY8PU3LDYndOGQh3B_QNTAJhX4Q4R1qLIF1vc9i5Wg7tJVzL0JXQM6DOMEstqkyQ/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+119.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559956313356500562" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3fF-3lQqhtidrhSoT-l-o2i8W4d5btxbTKZzamodEudyjTsZsZK5PSGLPlS-dor-K7-6SBoih4glAoF2WOGtq_ypmWh_m97nhJmqDmh1xllXXvLUQtQaOmDs9h0B9YEEjh_3_to6Nk0/s1600/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+082.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3fF-3lQqhtidrhSoT-l-o2i8W4d5btxbTKZzamodEudyjTsZsZK5PSGLPlS-dor-K7-6SBoih4glAoF2WOGtq_ypmWh_m97nhJmqDmh1xllXXvLUQtQaOmDs9h0B9YEEjh_3_to6Nk0/s400/kk+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+082.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559956307508030402" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWDViGGF2iLs8jT4WdhC-zvtjyZH_CtCiVlgOj8yfhI7tALmt_6T1tah8l3tYgL_YvRnqG_eHgC0tPldbjyvQ5fEKO8YnVy2fuXy06BXdUfSWfJ8RjocZb56qC3_DyLgmqMAfItpqLKHA/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+079.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWDViGGF2iLs8jT4WdhC-zvtjyZH_CtCiVlgOj8yfhI7tALmt_6T1tah8l3tYgL_YvRnqG_eHgC0tPldbjyvQ5fEKO8YnVy2fuXy06BXdUfSWfJ8RjocZb56qC3_DyLgmqMAfItpqLKHA/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+079.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559911085563259474" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTnHu4wrIMNJVbDGUBMX81VojQZZmk6sYu1fRqMqV-vjPNZSZh8qh3Hkmph5-NhhW_2WUk-mDBec7Qg3eKOCdzvVkaWKtinT8aSPjworDcLakYvcwemhVFlcP1SYYR_i2r5XC7t6gJlpQ/s1600/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+078.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTnHu4wrIMNJVbDGUBMX81VojQZZmk6sYu1fRqMqV-vjPNZSZh8qh3Hkmph5-NhhW_2WUk-mDBec7Qg3eKOCdzvVkaWKtinT8aSPjworDcLakYvcwemhVFlcP1SYYR_i2r5XC7t6gJlpQ/s400/Ivan+6+1+2011+prto+madryn+078.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559911078300528354" border="0" /></a><br />The pattern of our journey is changing as of January 9th, where we anxiously anticipate working for Trey and Shelby Scharp at the Three Seasons Adventures lodge in the heart of Patagonia. We are both happy for a break from long bus-rides and hostels, and ready to get our hands dirty with some work in paradise at the Campo Cielo Grande!!<br />http://campocielogrande.com/index.htmlKristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-90647082981687039212010-12-31T16:19:00.012-03:002011-01-01T11:11:01.052-03:00Two BA lovers in BA barrios<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQh-JkY7K9m4q_bI-cDF_HLxn4b5qnKOr1jDu0MyQg6ieJJtn3rSKnBQw03_oJuPeHAGp2ybBy6b9vRyMTXfyq2EGZNJdOMV4JaJmXjWFv1UpltnHzRSLwo_HxaYxOLV-SVf_172RUNJQ/s1600/obelisco.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQh-JkY7K9m4q_bI-cDF_HLxn4b5qnKOr1jDu0MyQg6ieJJtn3rSKnBQw03_oJuPeHAGp2ybBy6b9vRyMTXfyq2EGZNJdOMV4JaJmXjWFv1UpltnHzRSLwo_HxaYxOLV-SVf_172RUNJQ/s400/obelisco.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556971894999810290" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Our stay in Buenos Aires was a hot one. We took the ferry across the channel from Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, and landed in the middle of busy BA. The ferry was pretty big, and reminded Ivan of the ferries that cross to Vancouver island. We crossed the channel in a short hour.!<br /><br />After stepping out of the harbor, just the short walk to the taxi had our clothes plastered to us. The taxi driver said it would be cooler today (only 35 degrees!), which was still stifling. We chose to stay in the Tango Hostel, which didn't have any Tango in it, but it had a fun enough vibe - if stifling hot at all hours of the day.<br /><br />*so we don't have to repeat ourselves, just assume that if we are inside or outside, irregardless of time of day, we are sweating profusely and drinking 4 liters of water/hour. It was between 38 and 42 degrees on most days..!*<br /><br />Our first day in the city we walked the street bazaar of barrio San Telmo, which was about 15-20 blocks of street vendors selling antiques, crafts, artwork, and all the things that gets Kristin very, very excited. After arriving at the hostel Kristin was jumping with excitement that we would have a <span style="font-style: italic;">couple hours</span> to peruse the street fair (of course Ivan was equally overjoyed!!). During our time we discovered Ivan fancied shopping a bit more than Kristin because he ended up purchasing a very stylish leather cowboy hat and a new knife. Where Kristin only purchased a small Christmas gift to bring home. The street fair lead us to the Plaza de Mayo, which has centuries of history. We were very lucky to get a tour of the Casa Rosada and see the presidential offices and anterooms. The interior was beautiful, and still a very functional part of the government. Unfortunately we missed the mother's of the Disappeared, who march every Thursday around the Plaza de Mayo dressed in white with photo's of their missing loved ones. After the tour, Kristin dragged Ivan through some more street shopping, and by 9:00 we made it to our oven of a hostel for a small dinner and some fruit.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD83nfkZNFGDPE59ZUAexOEPvNpjF7gmpkG9VvHdpaQDiO-v-2zgZsf85hFfy1nJiypp0JhNNiLfvH7maQVtgl4YMNgit8iUebcC_18squ6eoVl6nWXfUNeaj0WXac9YrPo2TYhjfcgeQ/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD83nfkZNFGDPE59ZUAexOEPvNpjF7gmpkG9VvHdpaQDiO-v-2zgZsf85hFfy1nJiypp0JhNNiLfvH7maQVtgl4YMNgit8iUebcC_18squ6eoVl6nWXfUNeaj0WXac9YrPo2TYhjfcgeQ/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556957944573604242" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">San Telmo's Famous Sunday Market<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8_CcKMM8CKIkxz6c6AKI7lZ9gdrmBnJJtbQcTfOKzJM78cAXBNNDDv-yEM0l1IIm2hl8RcU2xl-8HPvjviqJn2diYoZ5UCbVBFUGprmW4Y1qrMkp4C9VsWanKBVilrNaIlJugchoJCo/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8_CcKMM8CKIkxz6c6AKI7lZ9gdrmBnJJtbQcTfOKzJM78cAXBNNDDv-yEM0l1IIm2hl8RcU2xl-8HPvjviqJn2diYoZ5UCbVBFUGprmW4Y1qrMkp4C9VsWanKBVilrNaIlJugchoJCo/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556957936308894530" border="0" /></a>Giddy Up! This Cowboy is ready for BA!<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifMWtheHIG1La9AE0YnvbtuSBYaIc3V9bEvYcdCvKVAzNqVvBaQLWgqAa8vmqIV6wwrfdsrLfCX5wkIH-1CqaQssjG2AaPYv1N7IQ_jAF8HO8XaZRqgboYy_VKRHZ9bi1Im2Pz3qLTDWU/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+007.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifMWtheHIG1La9AE0YnvbtuSBYaIc3V9bEvYcdCvKVAzNqVvBaQLWgqAa8vmqIV6wwrfdsrLfCX5wkIH-1CqaQssjG2AaPYv1N7IQ_jAF8HO8XaZRqgboYy_VKRHZ9bi1Im2Pz3qLTDWU/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556957935527331042" border="0" /></a>Casa Rosada<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87ITurYJZ183BCINYW-uP0PK3fHTZcSGy3-mLGeHBppPZkdixP3dmjNjMg7HFlqq5risDmcLraI5MfRTK52sw07bCCsfGJaC4kc-VtTkZ8yssZpttiRNz3Tq1uFPHugtp8FGFzpAix0Q/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+011.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87ITurYJZ183BCINYW-uP0PK3fHTZcSGy3-mLGeHBppPZkdixP3dmjNjMg7HFlqq5risDmcLraI5MfRTK52sw07bCCsfGJaC4kc-VtTkZ8yssZpttiRNz3Tq1uFPHugtp8FGFzpAix0Q/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556957930977765314" border="0" /></a>By the end of the day Ivan (yet again!) had lobster feet!<br /><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hSQkWje7rkInGCyZjzTwlYcuY9udmo-o4-mD7hKUm9VUIi6dGul4pdJevG8UU0hyphenhyphenIi4cC8bVdTYJXN4i4Fe85c_nR7ow0B9ooIwr5y2d8aGtF7p_0ZL8FzDx05uGjS_p9v8jBxbV18M/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 328px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hSQkWje7rkInGCyZjzTwlYcuY9udmo-o4-mD7hKUm9VUIi6dGul4pdJevG8UU0hyphenhyphenIi4cC8bVdTYJXN4i4Fe85c_nR7ow0B9ooIwr5y2d8aGtF7p_0ZL8FzDx05uGjS_p9v8jBxbV18M/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556958967072938754" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtTvKUOsVKp7tY5Hr_y6r2TJXqo7oiEbmClQqvrlOntJZ0JUqmrRPDbdtcNfQ51U-QM9FPxM7gs1DwwkGWJA81Tuu-1SsOLV_Kyaw-SvpPfDt_jI_qojLgrnLWMDYLOOEjxnuShrZIbFM/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtTvKUOsVKp7tY5Hr_y6r2TJXqo7oiEbmClQqvrlOntJZ0JUqmrRPDbdtcNfQ51U-QM9FPxM7gs1DwwkGWJA81Tuu-1SsOLV_Kyaw-SvpPfDt_jI_qojLgrnLWMDYLOOEjxnuShrZIbFM/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556957075596989394" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNXzE6lidogK2E_7nX2Ot0cL8sI-egIN7bV7qmVpsahqvpF_Xak1sar8bzlKD_VRAlc6rnQBruRbO-EiP0SX3m1k3PiozewLEsjfPU02PDm0oDwl1_uWah-z4uW1Vnr0QwXBWXyyHMM8/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+020.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNXzE6lidogK2E_7nX2Ot0cL8sI-egIN7bV7qmVpsahqvpF_Xak1sar8bzlKD_VRAlc6rnQBruRbO-EiP0SX3m1k3PiozewLEsjfPU02PDm0oDwl1_uWah-z4uW1Vnr0QwXBWXyyHMM8/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556957067371379778" border="0" /></a>The Presidential Office<br /><br /></div><br />Our second day in BA we walked to the famous barrio Recoleta, which has the Recoleta cemetary, or dead people shrines for the super-wealthy. We both decided it was a beautiful cemetery, but it wouldn't be our preferred style of resting place... The cemetery has blocks, much like a city, with many unique and often over-the-top shrines. Like most cemetery's, the epitaphs were very optimistic impressions of the people inside the marble boxes, but it was pretty cool seeing different presidential, aristocratic, and ecclesiastical shrines. The black marble radiated the sun, so we decided to catch a cab to a popular mall nearby to escape the heat. We ended up seeing a movie called Unthinkable, not the best film, but a great way to enjoy some AC and cheap popcorn! After the film we walked to the obelisk and the congressional building, both emblematic sites of the old city. Ivan loved the architecture of the massive congressional building, which he thought was much more impressive than our own white house (blasphemer??)... We noticed that many of the buildings had seen better days, but they were still majestic in their own way - even though they constantly dripped AC condensation on us.!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQUlEDpOzyYsUQ-qdjF4x_B0hGkAPQcCvGbXcJPRnqdzXsY_CSPFss2vF-kicvo37oTnxtpiPPgshVksR3wlqS0FB3rh8EHkfm5ZNqmVzdIDKB-QRPuMtYfg69-dFynG7NGcdzAXM3pA/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+040.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQUlEDpOzyYsUQ-qdjF4x_B0hGkAPQcCvGbXcJPRnqdzXsY_CSPFss2vF-kicvo37oTnxtpiPPgshVksR3wlqS0FB3rh8EHkfm5ZNqmVzdIDKB-QRPuMtYfg69-dFynG7NGcdzAXM3pA/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+040.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556957067890423650" border="0" /></a>La Recoleta Cemetery<br /><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xVv7rGRyuZyR1lhbZwukatM4sNn1r9aAm6C1TN4iAvXqQwoT4VlBngxmu6_elF6L6wsN0CD47uMAZ4Z6nZG6V4jVJq3rvBztOfGu7lq-7IYEAh7Ni6NiT2WD_dZcoLJWi7fUPWPsZVQ/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+032.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xVv7rGRyuZyR1lhbZwukatM4sNn1r9aAm6C1TN4iAvXqQwoT4VlBngxmu6_elF6L6wsN0CD47uMAZ4Z6nZG6V4jVJq3rvBztOfGu7lq-7IYEAh7Ni6NiT2WD_dZcoLJWi7fUPWPsZVQ/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+032.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556957060670506578" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwsNuMArmSiT0J8N0H8iX0o3DRUc-p5havCBw9uWuXC8h2WQjt6-rJLtSZe4CzMpyp5xUWOquWNo_2LWq69dFU0skJcmKxnzyC0S9CW2-APGUCLJm6ryS1dn9S8Z0WK1fFz78djmyKdE/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+036.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwsNuMArmSiT0J8N0H8iX0o3DRUc-p5havCBw9uWuXC8h2WQjt6-rJLtSZe4CzMpyp5xUWOquWNo_2LWq69dFU0skJcmKxnzyC0S9CW2-APGUCLJm6ryS1dn9S8Z0WK1fFz78djmyKdE/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+036.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556957056443062642" border="0" /></a>Peeking in<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9rrXkUXZxwrYFo_XXPmZbpTx2mEghq7F8toYOkawGI0JZKh23d4JWfZv2fZEC5NYO8bKmsQWjXwhQRcYbuufpyItm2P6dccX3HnkfJBp-A7n10Z5vtQlerZjgZNFC5K23FEa3dA2CRbI/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+052.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9rrXkUXZxwrYFo_XXPmZbpTx2mEghq7F8toYOkawGI0JZKh23d4JWfZv2fZEC5NYO8bKmsQWjXwhQRcYbuufpyItm2P6dccX3HnkfJBp-A7n10Z5vtQlerZjgZNFC5K23FEa3dA2CRbI/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+052.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556956037939142226" border="0" /></a>The Obelisk<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5i7DYLOt4dlrg5KDmZ_hKioDEP2aG0adcVYrpNw9FTPNrNrEZ3oLnTnpmK-ghG1zjdlAa24-lbKMbdvwDXEXppuxFMhZF804-6C61ggc0189WUxvNwkW5sgp06wI84DpwjJriDOELDg/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+046.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5i7DYLOt4dlrg5KDmZ_hKioDEP2aG0adcVYrpNw9FTPNrNrEZ3oLnTnpmK-ghG1zjdlAa24-lbKMbdvwDXEXppuxFMhZF804-6C61ggc0189WUxvNwkW5sgp06wI84DpwjJriDOELDg/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+046.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556956036039047938" border="0" /></a>The Famous Congressional Building<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>The next couple days we toured different barrios of the city. A memorable one was La Boca, which is the Harlem of BA. The poorer barrio has the richest culture of the city, and is the birthplace of the sensual and passionate Tango. It also has some of the goofiest buildings, which are all painted with the colors of the rainbow. It was over-fun with tourists, but still a fun place to cruz around. Supposedly it transforms at night and is very sketchy, but during the day it was very lively with Tango shows, live bands, and lots of artists selling their touristy wares. Of course, La Boca is also famous for its soccer stadium, where fans make crazed American Football fans look like tame puppies... The arena isn't very big, but it packs the people in, has cheap and bottomless kegs of Quilmes beer, and many of the fans bring their noisemakers, facepaint, flags, oh and the other noisemakers: guns.... We talked to some tourists that went to a futbal game, and they both said it was an unforgettable experience, because they were sure it was thier last experience... Just make sure you cheer at the right times.!!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhabggNy2rEL1Yhzuyoq1io5zuQ4aro32m5B1rxaEeN1NsrYb1Jgt1Lwql4VuOdQsyf2sUvlVnrG3BXNpPslsQaMn4eQGYigckt_ouapt3JvPXOHwxvMKw1m9B1UmQePyPg5PzeNZ5AWqc/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+060.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhabggNy2rEL1Yhzuyoq1io5zuQ4aro32m5B1rxaEeN1NsrYb1Jgt1Lwql4VuOdQsyf2sUvlVnrG3BXNpPslsQaMn4eQGYigckt_ouapt3JvPXOHwxvMKw1m9B1UmQePyPg5PzeNZ5AWqc/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+060.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556955162683057042" border="0" /></a>La Boca, que lindo!<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZkytpbwYHLKAVaIw4o7oCPGd5iwRRbHz1QldaxYrsHd5NlLeDU8m6qVmXo851kvjdWSp4GPQOV32zMOEdjulIU5VmXRStJ704eg6hAl5mzxmTK8l6m-xllwjbO6rWHepGkjcJFiUJiw/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+063.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZkytpbwYHLKAVaIw4o7oCPGd5iwRRbHz1QldaxYrsHd5NlLeDU8m6qVmXo851kvjdWSp4GPQOV32zMOEdjulIU5VmXRStJ704eg6hAl5mzxmTK8l6m-xllwjbO6rWHepGkjcJFiUJiw/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+063.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556955157961437394" border="0" /></a>rebel.<br /><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcETYKOote4IRixHDoFX6BkiDWkKUxQTWnVXys0xVm-mp52q-F6Z49ArovRXcM7ZJXroVsVDGS9FLWqLHmlFe15SdhenWTT9PWOjrsJSewXEzVypPOJFu4MIB6WrO1o37-lOrMH_y8yRM/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+068.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcETYKOote4IRixHDoFX6BkiDWkKUxQTWnVXys0xVm-mp52q-F6Z49ArovRXcM7ZJXroVsVDGS9FLWqLHmlFe15SdhenWTT9PWOjrsJSewXEzVypPOJFu4MIB6WrO1o37-lOrMH_y8yRM/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+068.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556955157145165314" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqrxQzjd6APcWq-L9y4nbDFCk97GpuJU2HnuvmqkwRB9xYgkFks-c6miAhOzwiwQci3q2rvclVKNYbDHp856JcOJSFc5lPEydX7X8AnPr2IE3iTepQSDMzPLbaBtjz_VDwbCQtHZriXCE/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+070.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqrxQzjd6APcWq-L9y4nbDFCk97GpuJU2HnuvmqkwRB9xYgkFks-c6miAhOzwiwQci3q2rvclVKNYbDHp856JcOJSFc5lPEydX7X8AnPr2IE3iTepQSDMzPLbaBtjz_VDwbCQtHZriXCE/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+070.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556955153354585618" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8y5JL4egM8iYiinaL7-uAdWP4owi89DsZL5IVzC-hO7Q00AqPtoMxR9VB0_ZZmj3Tk_NXpk-YhZd299Ft1SBSh6IDGjoAqHiq9fTaVdFKywZVxROARM0YOwarloAq8gz7KIg3YZ6uDIk/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+076.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8y5JL4egM8iYiinaL7-uAdWP4owi89DsZL5IVzC-hO7Q00AqPtoMxR9VB0_ZZmj3Tk_NXpk-YhZd299Ft1SBSh6IDGjoAqHiq9fTaVdFKywZVxROARM0YOwarloAq8gz7KIg3YZ6uDIk/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+076.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556955148883658242" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We also splurged on a Tango show in a prestigious night club. The show had an option for dinner, but we decided to eat dinner at a cozy cafe beforehand and then enjoy the show with our own (included!!) bottle of wine and empanadas. The show was incredible!! The band was very talented, and the dancers were equally gifted. The show was 2 hours of Tango, singing, and even folkloric pieces. We had heard that Tango is "vertical lovemaking," which is a very apt description - with kicking and maybe even some clawing in between.. The dancers all had fantastic costumes which complemented their coordinated movements. Our favorite part of the show was during the flokloric section, where the muscians played a charango, zampona, cow-hide drum, and a guitar. On top of their wonderful music, a gaucho came out with boots, pampero pants, and a giant belt. The best part of his routine were two different strings with a ball attached to the end of each one. These he swung around in fast repetition and dizzying patterns, and then started to strike the floor while stomping his heels with the beat. The percussion that came out of these 2 swinging strings and his heels was jaw dropping. It reminded Kristin of her tap-dancing days, but on steroids. All in all, it was an unforgettable evening with great music, beautiful dancing, wine, singing, and clapping. Definitely a must-see when in BA!! After the show we were going to continue the night at a local Tango club, however big foot Ivan stubbed his foot earlier that day and claimed he wouldn't be able to dance...(good excuse, huh?!)<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibIIoWFApEj7Ccl0ZOZyKOmJiZzfgehCaF9DJdM9DGSXzYmxc3W5XlcNmwGW759_3o8iYNHKd41SYnQXCqiX72PbaqVlWK4ShGPjfe3SoJDBmAg_6UoTl2IjSORGVd_SQMYaMXSBrplFY/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+066.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibIIoWFApEj7Ccl0ZOZyKOmJiZzfgehCaF9DJdM9DGSXzYmxc3W5XlcNmwGW759_3o8iYNHKd41SYnQXCqiX72PbaqVlWK4ShGPjfe3SoJDBmAg_6UoTl2IjSORGVd_SQMYaMXSBrplFY/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+066.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556956021485194146" border="0" /></a>Surprise! We actually were the feature dancers of the show! Imagine that, two gringo's stealing the show!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-07QVbCq8DmzkgyBGWCFSoTQ_hscVoXJ7ipJlnjb-do5IeE0FUKLRoHOnSE3FPQxRbVIU8ZEidbyoEXQdFdhSirMBuKVJTu_TnZu3_ShWODtSROkkdmu5pl28f6QXFKbtSngV4co3u0/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+084.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-07QVbCq8DmzkgyBGWCFSoTQ_hscVoXJ7ipJlnjb-do5IeE0FUKLRoHOnSE3FPQxRbVIU8ZEidbyoEXQdFdhSirMBuKVJTu_TnZu3_ShWODtSROkkdmu5pl28f6QXFKbtSngV4co3u0/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+084.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557219519633037506" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyIQfqu_AskVkMxKVudWTas9sXDDQmT6B7HIDc0YwxMsXSOD9FP_04XXkRld_p6ldEZgE5MXQSeh4xRhccRkE6bWIggiaCJZd7NERuizwkydhGCrwWOLzEM2a6R2NCq3B9qgcYmgKLQgM/s1600/kk+29+12+2010+BA+085.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyIQfqu_AskVkMxKVudWTas9sXDDQmT6B7HIDc0YwxMsXSOD9FP_04XXkRld_p6ldEZgE5MXQSeh4xRhccRkE6bWIggiaCJZd7NERuizwkydhGCrwWOLzEM2a6R2NCq3B9qgcYmgKLQgM/s400/kk+29+12+2010+BA+085.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557219524283624082" border="0" /></a><br />After 4 nights of losing 5-10 pounds of body fluids to relentless sweating, we decided to celebrate the New Year in Nechochea, a city perched on 72km of beachfront. While it is hot here as well, the ocean is beautiful, and the air is fresh, and the waves are the best in all of Argentina (just no swell yet....). Feliz Ano Nuevo! And a Happy, Health, and Prosperous year to everyone!<br />We will be back to BA in March, once the heat settles down!Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-3168480074225474102010-12-30T11:52:00.010-03:002010-12-30T13:16:05.282-03:00Uruguay (not "ur-a-gay")<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG88xfgrfi8qAtDoN-qdG8G2Y0hCX4w9zHM2FGMWr3rp85WJk58p9pDEc13LAa7-UGUpHDAoVDsESeZWcPRL4Q_IN1OkhRmtOyYbVoqM8rldrmha0Lkwn6VbM0D1is0u1_YFooHI0ywYE/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG88xfgrfi8qAtDoN-qdG8G2Y0hCX4w9zHM2FGMWr3rp85WJk58p9pDEc13LAa7-UGUpHDAoVDsESeZWcPRL4Q_IN1OkhRmtOyYbVoqM8rldrmha0Lkwn6VbM0D1is0u1_YFooHI0ywYE/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556505734956026626" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After a quick and painless border crossing from Argentina, Uruguay maintained its laidback attitude for the 8 nights we were there. Seventeen hours of bus rides and transfers deposited us in Montevideo, were we found a small hotel in the middle of the city. 1.4 million of the 3.5 million people of Uruguay live in this capital city. Though we were only there for a day, it proved to be a beautiful and fairly mellow colonial city with baroque architecture and lots of limestone walls/sidewalks. We walked by the congressional building and got to see soldiers all dressed up in there fancy uniforms taking down the blue and white flag, with a trumpet dictating the folding and marching. The next afternoon we caught a bus to La Paloma, which is directly on the Atlantic on the the eastern side of the country.<br /><br />La Paloma was a super mellow beach town that lived on the sand. Locals were laid back and were all about getting work over with (or postponing it) so they could lay on the scorching hot sand. Our little hostal was basically on the beach, and had a very fun sleepy environment. After a fresh breakfast of fruit and mermelade covered baguette, we would usually just curl up to a book, go to the beach, siesta, take a walk around town, take a cold shower, and reapeat all of the above as necessary... Quite a nice way to spend our 'xmas break!'<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQc3lRMmLO-19p6XoNkzyyvMhHu2vE40UB7507d6N55xG8jlADNPvm8pHk25PYOlISzPnP7Wh8eHNltKtOCdb8lhuCiQr1vhR3uWkB5HxUkX4R1v6-Tlc0aeqrCW1hKWlt0Cp89ZolyKg/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQc3lRMmLO-19p6XoNkzyyvMhHu2vE40UB7507d6N55xG8jlADNPvm8pHk25PYOlISzPnP7Wh8eHNltKtOCdb8lhuCiQr1vhR3uWkB5HxUkX4R1v6-Tlc0aeqrCW1hKWlt0Cp89ZolyKg/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556505735745162530" border="0" /></a>Shreddin the gnar<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSFa7cHerb7cD9aVka1z43AzLkTme_B0WnOMF_VVcHAoyDajOrWDi5bFKGOQ9v9Lv3OCUFeayC45MsHs7knUQJjaGkCm4_MHpd0qN20ahbB-RTeYFDuFPQF52MTk9mjSVHUu0k42X0wLs/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSFa7cHerb7cD9aVka1z43AzLkTme_B0WnOMF_VVcHAoyDajOrWDi5bFKGOQ9v9Lv3OCUFeayC45MsHs7knUQJjaGkCm4_MHpd0qN20ahbB-RTeYFDuFPQF52MTk9mjSVHUu0k42X0wLs/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556505721133685458" border="0" /></a>Evoloution<br /><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxsbmwxtj1pL5629BkbrnjqoWbU8pH5000OD8u_xeM2mOPWePnrT1IRkfrC22Q-i_Y8Z48LiV2KWq8FqRRsuknaRbTSLW1oL_7j5stUZWa_ByJV3tffgdTHOxqtMpve-vMwPFQzXf8WM/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+021.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxsbmwxtj1pL5629BkbrnjqoWbU8pH5000OD8u_xeM2mOPWePnrT1IRkfrC22Q-i_Y8Z48LiV2KWq8FqRRsuknaRbTSLW1oL_7j5stUZWa_ByJV3tffgdTHOxqtMpve-vMwPFQzXf8WM/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+021.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556505715612717202" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6vyzQIkp9Fs-1J1vXQq7W0mbZ-huFvtVn5AT4PTDvzF2o_9K_akbvwHGK4OJzDoZrOKDSy3mHN1gXQuk26U9Wogp9SrLR7ydZLf7pymz2fJRx5mMhrVUDakGyFSgxKwSxvyIPwAt_y6U/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+072.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6vyzQIkp9Fs-1J1vXQq7W0mbZ-huFvtVn5AT4PTDvzF2o_9K_akbvwHGK4OJzDoZrOKDSy3mHN1gXQuk26U9Wogp9SrLR7ydZLf7pymz2fJRx5mMhrVUDakGyFSgxKwSxvyIPwAt_y6U/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+072.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556506836028236898" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUWpkgYojmFUFgxJ1jRmeNN6hWqzOLmtTa2f_ZotAS7k3_0Qn7P8Xlq5IbwrXASDfi91NhzYjRg7PkIZOFn5qYC1d7PumByk6IUOBVe-8A72hjHJw7pmYUtPGW0cwGkP6YcvOzJHpzgyo/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+016.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUWpkgYojmFUFgxJ1jRmeNN6hWqzOLmtTa2f_ZotAS7k3_0Qn7P8Xlq5IbwrXASDfi91NhzYjRg7PkIZOFn5qYC1d7PumByk6IUOBVe-8A72hjHJw7pmYUtPGW0cwGkP6YcvOzJHpzgyo/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+016.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556505713521765826" border="0" /></a><br />During our stay, a friendly neighbor of the hostal drove us out to the Rocha Laguna, which was a large freshwater lagoon with a whole lot of crabs and riparian life. We got to frolic on the dunes around it that divided it from the sea. Of course, the neighbor was carrying his termo and mate (We found that Uruguayans imbibe the mate tea more than any other culture, and in all likelihood have thermos-elbo--much like the tennis-elbow, but caused by always having a thermos in the crook of the arm). We also got to see the remote neighboring towns that support themselves by fishing and harvesting eucalyptus trees for timber. Though it can't compare to the Pacific, there are waves here. Don't tell any Americans, but this would be the place to retire!!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qHQf6hph3UjWYC0Sv1WxXqvVstn6OxhQ-fyyCfCnExeGrqw_y8f2YcAO0uNhPWeDCIjWIvcD2QhjNdTQOjlACgElLg5ioDVZlyugArc_bvwKWmj0IBMX0DVbkXGroY4EMMGpyI1o4sE/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+041.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qHQf6hph3UjWYC0Sv1WxXqvVstn6OxhQ-fyyCfCnExeGrqw_y8f2YcAO0uNhPWeDCIjWIvcD2QhjNdTQOjlACgElLg5ioDVZlyugArc_bvwKWmj0IBMX0DVbkXGroY4EMMGpyI1o4sE/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+041.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556506834963182562" border="0" /></a>Stand back!!<br /><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWZzrp__HrQt8pLH34EOgc2DNfofKl1gOOxEv1KN_1QtrrdWxTTizIYvzq-3K1vTQfLD3ECv2xS7dyQbUL0H5_DUGNnbMedbMh2JJWvkYM3x8r2bAPLRCL443Ev1c0IwcGgafZAXzk_k/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+046.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWZzrp__HrQt8pLH34EOgc2DNfofKl1gOOxEv1KN_1QtrrdWxTTizIYvzq-3K1vTQfLD3ECv2xS7dyQbUL0H5_DUGNnbMedbMh2JJWvkYM3x8r2bAPLRCL443Ev1c0IwcGgafZAXzk_k/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+046.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556506834110650914" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Kristin had to make a call to Bank of America, and after several minutes, she finally got through to customer support. Trying to explain she was out of the country "in Uruguay," the mid-western sounding representative was incredulous and asked, "is that a country or something?!" Controlling our laughter, she patiently repeated that she was in Uruguay. "ah! so its called ur-a-gay. Um, can you spell that for me?" By now the entire hostal was in complete stitches, and we could barely answer him. Not the nicest thing to do to the guy, but he kinda asked for it! ;)<br /><br />After 5 days in the restful La Paloma, we caught a slow bus across the tiny Holland-sized country to Colonia del Sacramento, which is the oldest city of the country. We stayed in a small bed and breakfast style hostel with a very matronly and friendly owner, Maria Teresa. Colonia has a fascinating history of Jesuits, pirates, Spaniards, Portuguese, Italian, and many other influences. The town has retained a lot of these previous cultures, and is quite the friendly mixing-pot. On Christmas Eve we had a big lunch downtown, and then found a moto-rental place that rented a small scooter for $15.00 for 3 hours. We got to see a lot of the small city mounted on this noisy gas-spitting vacuum cleaner. It was the perfect day to toot around, since most people were on vacation with their famalies or BBQing an Asado, or hanging out on the beach. After we felt our butts had had enough vacuum vibration, we split up to get 'useful' gifts for each other as Christmas gifts in the small downtown.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMoP96-mJZanu7WkiXuiQDhbJr7HfUgEl1H3Al_L-75222nD3iBXltj69vvpj2baOK48sKJUUjdWI3FmbfOKeTkw0uZ2ff0qLuSm8F08p-XtkTqHaPHiu5hV8TLUanMd-hMwuyovTKhc/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+096.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMoP96-mJZanu7WkiXuiQDhbJr7HfUgEl1H3Al_L-75222nD3iBXltj69vvpj2baOK48sKJUUjdWI3FmbfOKeTkw0uZ2ff0qLuSm8F08p-XtkTqHaPHiu5hV8TLUanMd-hMwuyovTKhc/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+096.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556507363549587282" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRn5aWwoKG8bxCMEBlIWSMGfC59Dn9LX94Nhr_AW6sl_Q7slpNaILM9UHcfmmqsv52ALwOTQ5Tjmz7gLxb2ggG8Kvndb7a3HhHjFAnXI0nkLbzEIAFRLWx5n8cQC9F0fhCHX3kMWVdDJw/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+095.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRn5aWwoKG8bxCMEBlIWSMGfC59Dn9LX94Nhr_AW6sl_Q7slpNaILM9UHcfmmqsv52ALwOTQ5Tjmz7gLxb2ggG8Kvndb7a3HhHjFAnXI0nkLbzEIAFRLWx5n8cQC9F0fhCHX3kMWVdDJw/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+095.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556507359287760290" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAtGaqjMZIwCCPnc2sRngMIaanniKfd4v6303KvP-qO50UqaFsBJaO9nMhM84GzfcIigh7q64-Wyp_xxY2VPXtcnGehVN3znC-ChKZQH4uzholKtGW3qafTUmJhoskOAXd40B0q97kafs/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+094.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAtGaqjMZIwCCPnc2sRngMIaanniKfd4v6303KvP-qO50UqaFsBJaO9nMhM84GzfcIigh7q64-Wyp_xxY2VPXtcnGehVN3znC-ChKZQH4uzholKtGW3qafTUmJhoskOAXd40B0q97kafs/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+094.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556507357092557570" border="0" /></a>Matando los munchies!!<br /><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis06S_77RFfgiee1f1ZUQeiER9vWwqYcseBLWyB_UwcMLKu2nQGBCc8rUh4zbafkSJ3ngmv0L2WQOLuyHQpD4Uq59tNMjThYv9xathF7J9aQVWPwWRslqif7yIS6MtK7AayCevmux_u20/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+100.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis06S_77RFfgiee1f1ZUQeiER9vWwqYcseBLWyB_UwcMLKu2nQGBCc8rUh4zbafkSJ3ngmv0L2WQOLuyHQpD4Uq59tNMjThYv9xathF7J9aQVWPwWRslqif7yIS6MtK7AayCevmux_u20/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+100.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556508106272447442" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmfAD-B9qzIr6NQ9ixrd26qObICF8TiexOOJ47glgntcep__K-HK87rgEGLk4546rq-A0LD5j2GCJC2SCUnKWzydBz8hOPgGw0fV-XGKdX2GLrx-pJrdYGpQHgbGlpXO8Db2gsNxZuiOM/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+115.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmfAD-B9qzIr6NQ9ixrd26qObICF8TiexOOJ47glgntcep__K-HK87rgEGLk4546rq-A0LD5j2GCJC2SCUnKWzydBz8hOPgGw0fV-XGKdX2GLrx-pJrdYGpQHgbGlpXO8Db2gsNxZuiOM/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+115.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556508102929708626" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOK5fkkOlAd2bf8elsI_a_vhfmyQwxS2A-ku8tf5y0UE0yKr7iGp5CR2Qfb1Q1PTSNQKBzmbXAwjhGgpMMPsN3MEQRF4l7mxt2HJe9aA2vU4Ge-xXZxYd_HuIv1312IXJPzzWN79Wh9QU/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+099.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOK5fkkOlAd2bf8elsI_a_vhfmyQwxS2A-ku8tf5y0UE0yKr7iGp5CR2Qfb1Q1PTSNQKBzmbXAwjhGgpMMPsN3MEQRF4l7mxt2HJe9aA2vU4Ge-xXZxYd_HuIv1312IXJPzzWN79Wh9QU/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+099.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556508101938206514" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsHiYF0n-oUCGbw9EytG_XXRMhRMu69A8y13R7V2-tmN-7CMjJt8xoV3vEzz2c8LxBWpYb4G9tQjqJ4Fpcjo29C1cMtIXRApF2QW8UpKsG_lrgWe4vnHPITtfT8nf8VMEEIIzwo4jAbi0/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+098.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsHiYF0n-oUCGbw9EytG_XXRMhRMu69A8y13R7V2-tmN-7CMjJt8xoV3vEzz2c8LxBWpYb4G9tQjqJ4Fpcjo29C1cMtIXRApF2QW8UpKsG_lrgWe4vnHPITtfT8nf8VMEEIIzwo4jAbi0/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+098.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556508097943608418" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK2S_S9RqG9IaK7abtcmQT4KdJND9cpGc_0ASVyoJFE23FYDmwAdSO19vZuGS5XGqgqgUwmUMj0XOSU82SyYWF1G2gMMZHFxVMI__rA2SEroIKoGYp9_uSxAjhes15h9bavCxYiGUY-V8/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+111.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK2S_S9RqG9IaK7abtcmQT4KdJND9cpGc_0ASVyoJFE23FYDmwAdSO19vZuGS5XGqgqgUwmUMj0XOSU82SyYWF1G2gMMZHFxVMI__rA2SEroIKoGYp9_uSxAjhes15h9bavCxYiGUY-V8/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+111.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556508098155594178" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPt4D2-53kToG0o12Qf6O6_5UIcZ_O6o5dOQZfDFOkn4nnTiu8VJ_iDvVGGN197YQTRGqcdZLHQ7OUhYkVs-dZNYDbyvutS7LRP2BqV5lLsKoBPLS5y2nUk5p0iHZILR__c2bM3EJeLTQ/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+061.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPt4D2-53kToG0o12Qf6O6_5UIcZ_O6o5dOQZfDFOkn4nnTiu8VJ_iDvVGGN197YQTRGqcdZLHQ7OUhYkVs-dZNYDbyvutS7LRP2BqV5lLsKoBPLS5y2nUk5p0iHZILR__c2bM3EJeLTQ/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+061.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556507360106229714" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Christmas morning was very relaxing with coffee, books, and fruit; then we exchanged our small gifts. Ivan got some schmancy writing pens, a Uruguayan flag, some dark chocolate (a real treat here), a traditional alfajore cookie and toothbrushes. Kristin got a nice leather wallet to replace the infuriatingly small and awkward money pouch that had Ivan's fingers in a knot several times. She also got a bombillo straw and some alfajore cookies (which Ivan ended up eating anyways...). All useful stuff that should be easy to carry!! After some calls home we did some walking around town, and a lot of relaxing.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHfWHW5NQr_JnrZjwyMLya5gH0kJM81cdSL3T4xJytjgYMpCBhL_N4zKertZggILr_CyEJxGLSK-zoqE0iHp0wEfX4VNQdaoanU0Q8Nn5N3wGtAx7EX2n2Tgl2d6iGmOQS7h1wJWoeRDk/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+125.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHfWHW5NQr_JnrZjwyMLya5gH0kJM81cdSL3T4xJytjgYMpCBhL_N4zKertZggILr_CyEJxGLSK-zoqE0iHp0wEfX4VNQdaoanU0Q8Nn5N3wGtAx7EX2n2Tgl2d6iGmOQS7h1wJWoeRDk/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+125.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556508707908376018" border="0" /></a><br />High rollers (divide by 20...)<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgLqqc_WqpPXZuXt7NtD4CHYS8-IRVyrh93dDSiFMdP-T61x4FH3RPdbWZGfOoakOiWhcYSDG38EDVrrdSyzV9nQ2a36eXteyunFNb3MSH2sii7909xrILP0x1KIFo0MCJdhAijo0PCo/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+128.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgLqqc_WqpPXZuXt7NtD4CHYS8-IRVyrh93dDSiFMdP-T61x4FH3RPdbWZGfOoakOiWhcYSDG38EDVrrdSyzV9nQ2a36eXteyunFNb3MSH2sii7909xrILP0x1KIFo0MCJdhAijo0PCo/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+128.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556508703471125458" border="0" /></a><br />Christmas dinner<br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjedO5ZO3Ur3OAabug9YIFj-8RxsqMtxrOoVBUtYfJTXxFtemtHTtNVVEHjniOqtwHz16QeIR9gEwF4W917jD3-N3X1ijPV5wxm0R6jLx04OJ9-FKnhEo_iG0fy0qCSFEc0MUBo44baHZA/s1600/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+133.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjedO5ZO3Ur3OAabug9YIFj-8RxsqMtxrOoVBUtYfJTXxFtemtHTtNVVEHjniOqtwHz16QeIR9gEwF4W917jD3-N3X1ijPV5wxm0R6jLx04OJ9-FKnhEo_iG0fy0qCSFEc0MUBo44baHZA/s400/kk+24+12+2010+Uruguay+133.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556508703166947042" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Uruguay was a great way to recuperate from the intense traveling we did in Northern Argentina! On December 26th we caught the ferry across the bay to Buenos Aires into Dante's porteno inferno! BA blog coming soon..!Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-68880926525170152992010-12-17T12:32:00.020-03:002010-12-17T14:56:51.355-03:00Esteros del Ibera and Rincon del Socorro<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLmxjk-BTiGvrTmGAceT9DEzetht-BNZzt4-ZqwGKiunBqH7d8v2eL6FkfQQemnV_jG_a053gokuJ1LTa93-GLZFYHe9zlvqdAzBPoWhH0Y3jv7jrHX0PqpPtPtlc9pj280V9Kc77fjCw/s1600/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+028.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLmxjk-BTiGvrTmGAceT9DEzetht-BNZzt4-ZqwGKiunBqH7d8v2eL6FkfQQemnV_jG_a053gokuJ1LTa93-GLZFYHe9zlvqdAzBPoWhH0Y3jv7jrHX0PqpPtPtlc9pj280V9Kc77fjCw/s400/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+028.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551702591681950018" border="0" /></a><br /><br />On December 14<sup>th</sup> we arrived at the Rincon del Socorro, another beautiful property owned by the Tompkins.<span style=""> </span>This beautiful Estancia shares a space with some of the most stunning and well-preserved wetland habitat in the world.<span style=""> </span>We immediately fell in love with he wild space, and wished we could have stayed for more time!<span style=""> </span>The staff was very informative and a lot of fun, and jobs and opportunities here were almost as diverse as the habitat around us.<p class="MsoNormal">Some history: 3.2 million acres in the upper basin of the Corriente River, the Esteros del Ibera Nature Reserve protects one of the largest freshwater wetlands in Argentina. Inside the reserve is Ibera Provincial Park, covering 1.2 million acres. This area protects species of wildlife that have been previously targeted by hunters. This conservation area is reinforced with 370,000 acres of private land purchased by The Conservation Land Trust (CLT), and fully protects the natural wonders inside. Rincon del Socorro is privately owned, but allows visitors to stay at the hostel. This giant reserve is home to more than 500 vertebrate species and more than 4,000 native plant species.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><h2><a href="http://www.spotadventures.com/trip/view?trip_id=235920">Rincon del Socorro</a></h2> <object codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/swflash.cab" width="400" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.spotadventures.com/swf/spot/widget.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="units=english&mode=1&key=ABQIAAAAo2DXVdg4aCTpANH9-rZLZBQc1cmDkVDuu24mH3cz6NMnkWfnQRTE9-38lo3U1aGK6bV89gulZy_Mhg&tripId=235920&startLat=-28.65598&startLon=-57.43228&mapType=Map&"><embed src="http://www.spotadventures.com/swf/spot/widget.swf" flashvars="units=english&mode=1&key=ABQIAAAAo2DXVdg4aCTpANH9-rZLZBQc1cmDkVDuu24mH3cz6NMnkWfnQRTE9-38lo3U1aGK6bV89gulZy_Mhg&tripId=235920&startLat=-28.65598&startLon=-57.43228&mapType=Map&" play="true" quality="high" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://www.spotadventures.com/">Share your Adventures with SpotAdventures</a><br /><p></p>The most rewarding and eye-opening portions of our stay on the Ibera were the excursions we did into the marshland.<span style=""> </span>Even just outside of the Estancia compound we immediately encountered vibrant and profuse amounts of wildlife all intermingling together in a very complete and balanced food web.<span style=""> </span>On our first nature walk we saw hundreds of Capybara rodents hopping into mud holes, chewing grass, carrying their young on their hairy backs, and generally effecting a very lazy and content attitude.<span style=""> </span>In the sky, trees, and brush we saw birds of every shape, size, color, and biological purpose; some were huge birds of prey, while others darted around eating mosquitoes and bugs, but most were on branches or reeds happily chirping to the gawking gringos walking by.<span style=""> </span>Foxes darted into bushes after giving us curious looks over their shoulders, and <i style="">viscachas</i> (small rodents – a fatter version of a prairie dog) hopped around on their mounded communities chattering away with squeaks and grunts.<span style=""> </span>Perhaps the most impressive site was the Marsh Deer, which was about the size of an elk and had a rack of horns to match.<span style=""> </span>Walking back to the compound, we encountered an armadillo digging his burrow right in the middle of the road, and it actually looked offended about our interruption!<span style=""> </span>The flora and fauna is in a pristine balance here, a perfection and unity of nature that neither of us have seen for quite a long time.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVD2F8cyPc00Nyrd9_xQpFg4pW7qp6U_begJnMFyR52fLqp7rWffznzAj-UXhGrV4-z3mE1kf92Oms5GCmA9xhfXtoUGTQK0FwxtlirD10-M3OradMZEAreZyzQjJqncE8zfxlzEdy_dY/s1600/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+019.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVD2F8cyPc00Nyrd9_xQpFg4pW7qp6U_begJnMFyR52fLqp7rWffznzAj-UXhGrV4-z3mE1kf92Oms5GCmA9xhfXtoUGTQK0FwxtlirD10-M3OradMZEAreZyzQjJqncE8zfxlzEdy_dY/s400/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+019.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551702574609014018" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUioa3SAj0ZndhgZomcwavPJ3zrgZtdY25v8DQr2U05hFEaZfAk85Sd6GooLp-l321CXqDIswY9wYjIlr45ASzgNhxm_H_tRuydBMwjOgfKNtzJrxQxXjAwFT2x7tFIR-3_Dmv_7fooms/s1600/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUioa3SAj0ZndhgZomcwavPJ3zrgZtdY25v8DQr2U05hFEaZfAk85Sd6GooLp-l321CXqDIswY9wYjIlr45ASzgNhxm_H_tRuydBMwjOgfKNtzJrxQxXjAwFT2x7tFIR-3_Dmv_7fooms/s400/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551702573005013138" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiKrLlMmDbIemw4YInM-f3Rd2oeFAQYIZiPjzylYsYSTuhfYe7kdEcrxzlGwOy6iacjelnxOr3apx12ppJTSBwVrgmySzv0ApnUQW24wzjQBFy-Bckm5hKmmD1YaIsCqrvyfEkVFhvxnw/s1600/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+022.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiKrLlMmDbIemw4YInM-f3Rd2oeFAQYIZiPjzylYsYSTuhfYe7kdEcrxzlGwOy6iacjelnxOr3apx12ppJTSBwVrgmySzv0ApnUQW24wzjQBFy-Bckm5hKmmD1YaIsCqrvyfEkVFhvxnw/s400/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+022.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551702585436558722" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaPaV-vDgh7TtiTZoP1TVT1zabLAfvwt8mzTRAXs8N4qHK-QvXVYMqERa_0Bs0IpcFExazWpkochSni9KM2BbEpdbSQ5Kur5qE0DSQk6Hk4U7RTk3EjheE5_InYlSfS42foGKPClCfAw4/s1600/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaPaV-vDgh7TtiTZoP1TVT1zabLAfvwt8mzTRAXs8N4qHK-QvXVYMqERa_0Bs0IpcFExazWpkochSni9KM2BbEpdbSQ5Kur5qE0DSQk6Hk4U7RTk3EjheE5_InYlSfS42foGKPClCfAw4/s400/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551702569876924866" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=""> </span> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""></span>The fragility of this beautiful habitat was made all the more apparent when looking over the fence at the heavyset hooved beasts munching and compacting the ground into a monotonous wasteland.<span style=""> </span>Much like the western United States, the ubiquitous cow is turning beautiful habitat into an inhospitable moonscape.<span style=""> </span>It was depressing to think how many wild animals were being displaced and sacrificed for the abrasive herbivore.<span style=""> </span>Looking at the two sides of the fence we were both stunned by how much of an affect poor land management has on the environment.<span style=""> </span>Though Ivan started to go into one of his introspective angry activist moods about how much he hates cows, he was shown portions of land bought by CLT (Conservation Land Trust – part of the Tompkins conservation movement) that has had the cows removed and is being allowed the chance to heal itself.<span style=""> </span>The land was making a remarkable recovery and gave hope that even abusive cattle ranching wouldn’t mar the landscape forever.<span style=""> </span>CLT still has a portion of land with cattle, which they are using for a ‘control’ in an experiment to compare the affects of continued cattle raising versus damaged land left alone. However, even more exciting than land given a chance to recover, was being shown a future restoration site were the earth will be pushed back into its natural contours and restored with native plants.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Another restorative activity we did was to shadow Jamil, a wildlife biologist working on his PhD.<span style=""> </span>His goal is to reintroduce the Giant Anteater back into the Ibera marsh, where it has been absent for quite some time.<span style=""> </span>We walked through several squishy areas with a radio sensor trying to find the elusive ant vacuum, however it was found a day later in a much farther location (a good thing too since there is a better chance of it mating there!).<span style=""> </span>Jamil uses several remote cameras to monitor their activity, radio collars, and even tranquilizer guns to sedate the animal for tests.<span style=""> </span>We had an eventful afternoon practicing with the tranq-gun, which is amazingly accurate and adjustable.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG7wkA6Dd1pJpNaubOE1KaPd0nYGcHiIgug2o1Ns0gJcsieUbRXqzEu6cwaSQcbmE0BwyJmyx4aGYVpXfEoA8YBkPH1VEhilGTublPZbcjBsRcM-mmunnel52V0qw3mAhs6tKAVt4lqBI/s1600/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+041.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG7wkA6Dd1pJpNaubOE1KaPd0nYGcHiIgug2o1Ns0gJcsieUbRXqzEu6cwaSQcbmE0BwyJmyx4aGYVpXfEoA8YBkPH1VEhilGTublPZbcjBsRcM-mmunnel52V0qw3mAhs6tKAVt4lqBI/s400/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+041.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551703942815283522" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnLqOv__fVmRIxaluhIke4kXX1G-7LubH9cdnLzdGIA6CjSuTuktCELsiifph1PvO0XowAF38cguoPKXh7VUWuKzxI-Lzg8-1cIS0ATqerWXSvQuYAjCWmG3s01qrCLoy7rtsmm4zdWPU/s1600/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+038.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnLqOv__fVmRIxaluhIke4kXX1G-7LubH9cdnLzdGIA6CjSuTuktCELsiifph1PvO0XowAF38cguoPKXh7VUWuKzxI-Lzg8-1cIS0ATqerWXSvQuYAjCWmG3s01qrCLoy7rtsmm4zdWPU/s400/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+038.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551703941227604898" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Out in the field enjoying the sunshine as we track for the Anteaters</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCp5mRj97wVEXr8O0dN0N_UdtFjBVZ7sSambWGbFqtYiqpPg1iLoRHZ-Bf_oG6wA1eAjeiuQsJjkhp1UheGN6MkQokvgVmDZ4WMkgSlpgLYRML-ppG0Ydop_UaYdExKZ1Dc1JuO9VbC0/s1600/kk+16+12+2010+Socorro+021.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCp5mRj97wVEXr8O0dN0N_UdtFjBVZ7sSambWGbFqtYiqpPg1iLoRHZ-Bf_oG6wA1eAjeiuQsJjkhp1UheGN6MkQokvgVmDZ4WMkgSlpgLYRML-ppG0Ydop_UaYdExKZ1Dc1JuO9VbC0/s400/kk+16+12+2010+Socorro+021.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551703957165482050" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Ivan practicing his skills with a tranquilizer gun for the next day's adventure to put a tracking collar around a baby Anteater<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7A19E0w9yMGiFjwJg8oAmG65-7ta1UpHNVdiS3RJKZDNezSSKT7MK7VH7s5hCNON22zWBZBFpInMIaQcGYHVlh0_LuWop8d0UUig-o0nk1V1w5jA3mv8O2k6Osu-eAo74BxwHFjGI5TM/s1600/kk+16+12+2010+Socorro+009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7A19E0w9yMGiFjwJg8oAmG65-7ta1UpHNVdiS3RJKZDNezSSKT7MK7VH7s5hCNON22zWBZBFpInMIaQcGYHVlh0_LuWop8d0UUig-o0nk1V1w5jA3mv8O2k6Osu-eAo74BxwHFjGI5TM/s400/kk+16+12+2010+Socorro+009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551703946300644370" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Kristin had the best shot/aim when practicing with the blow-dart tranquilizer!! Kristin mastered this skill of having large amounts of air in ones lungs and blowing out quickly from her 9 years of playing the clarinet! :)<br /><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Another fantastic outing was spending the day with Sebastian, who is in charge of exotic specie removal (ie: weeds, pigs, axis deer, water buffalo, and other invasive species), as well as control burns and plant restorations.<span style=""> </span>He took us to the Laguna Ibera, a large lake inundated with amazing wildlife.<span style=""> </span>A local at one of the CLT campsites took us around in a small boat to get up-close and personal with alligators, birds, fish, capybaras, deer, and many other kinds of flora and fauna.<span style=""> </span>We got to see 2 species of alligator, which were sunning themselves with one sneaky eye open for potential prey.<span style=""> </span>After an amazing tour of the Laguna, we headed down the road to the visitors center to see some informative exhibits about the riparian habitat, as well as a short nature trail that had some howler monkeys (didn’t see any though…).<span style=""> </span>It was great talking with Sebastian and hearing about the different and wide-ranging challenges of managing thousands of hectares of land.<span style=""> </span>He was really impressed with Kristin’s soil science degree, and Ivan’s dabbling in restoration ecology.<span style=""> </span>He has promised to visit us in the states, and may even stay for a while to learn English and more on restoration management.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vpLRzp-YbrJWEeXAgv5LYg3SbYuYn533yRILApvQk8EjbpLcqDEfrdYzLpL6-joMIr7UCmQb77IWrTE_HArc7nKqlc4VEWc3s9cV7CS0lWks27-PCD4R2i_-4BGjgjN8qjlFjQusOGQ/s1600/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+063.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vpLRzp-YbrJWEeXAgv5LYg3SbYuYn533yRILApvQk8EjbpLcqDEfrdYzLpL6-joMIr7UCmQb77IWrTE_HArc7nKqlc4VEWc3s9cV7CS0lWks27-PCD4R2i_-4BGjgjN8qjlFjQusOGQ/s400/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+063.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551705199589191362" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0l2fYoHDjB1o2TUUwMk14O4GyIFVV0RECUkOqi8vIdTK_G3biXmMu3P93-pGuLZqadbKrdoR8uvw2xBzW3HHGjOk1et_01qHfCrFWykfYcQoPG8lE5AyVakxIUvDhfV6fHlOLbi3gMq8/s1600/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+056.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0l2fYoHDjB1o2TUUwMk14O4GyIFVV0RECUkOqi8vIdTK_G3biXmMu3P93-pGuLZqadbKrdoR8uvw2xBzW3HHGjOk1et_01qHfCrFWykfYcQoPG8lE5AyVakxIUvDhfV6fHlOLbi3gMq8/s400/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+056.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551705192880116130" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fr8CEkXNS20TuCbVaD1WsKqxA4roVpn3nRSn7aSNynObf1fHDmUNGNwDT3b1OSYQPY7OPcKQYGXReeKhK7Xr5dUzAIyCDEEFzFB8e63t7IB0aY4cUvRxjGHGELltn9ylczPgOCc1ZE8/s1600/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+054.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; 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display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMeIyMB3js5YVCXIS3DjmcM9xoLmwNVAynf_6xupr9uQnoobgIds0PLK3yhm8JzVu0I8Rh5CVlGcVWyXPc4jDyrPdukeZji8K_KsldoBah_JeqT19sSXaElXq4qp17GVxLd_5VJqOMdlg/s400/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+085.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551707768852418002" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6nL7FjxYAzmVc4z1UFFAo8K3vvY3CEGg0rDDjLZrgKtltjNZwxJ4vJEbdCieyyhzodkDpkZ-PErlfVkr778nvMG90ALEmpOLlustNbq1xoiZPqrc_MObQP6iVKr72v6NeNbbrMwHnx8/s1600/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+080.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6nL7FjxYAzmVc4z1UFFAo8K3vvY3CEGg0rDDjLZrgKtltjNZwxJ4vJEbdCieyyhzodkDpkZ-PErlfVkr778nvMG90ALEmpOLlustNbq1xoiZPqrc_MObQP6iVKr72v6NeNbbrMwHnx8/s400/Ivan+16+12+2010+Socorro+080.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551707766273953522" border="0" /><br /><br /></a></p>Today we are leaving this beautiful Estanica and heading back to Mercedes to begin our journey into Uruguay where we plan on spending Christmas and the next 10 or so days. <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-45234585466762764682010-12-15T15:30:00.012-03:002010-12-15T18:15:05.440-03:00Iguazu Falls<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo40l6C92aDshSEwwQiIeoViStVqoHBhWUM22W-k7siHFWfxlIbadk0FjyQJOIaVqdJ62VEpzdOsY2ARX1NkmVFeC4oPHNtxThJOrm18QMRcl_1KFgzP1kA7eRvie5AV8Tg3y4O7q9TC4/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo40l6C92aDshSEwwQiIeoViStVqoHBhWUM22W-k7siHFWfxlIbadk0FjyQJOIaVqdJ62VEpzdOsY2ARX1NkmVFeC4oPHNtxThJOrm18QMRcl_1KFgzP1kA7eRvie5AV8Tg3y4O7q9TC4/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550992045496104722" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">On Friday the 10<sup>th</sup>, we left the Laguna Blanca Estancia with Franco and Flaco, who we befriended during our stay at the Estancia.<span style=""> </span>It was nice to share another mate, or 10, with them on the bus ride, as well as some Quilmes beer harmlessly disguised in a thermos.<span style=""> </span>They got off the bus in Goya (Corrientes Province), and we continued for another couple hours to Corrientes Capital.<span style=""> </span>After a few hour layover and some pizza in Corrientes, we took an overnight bus to Puerto Iguazu.<span style=""> </span>After some fitful sleep and an unexpected bus transfer we arrived in Puerto Iguazu at 10 am with some tropical rain and, of course, wonderful humidity.<span style=""> </span>Fortunately, our hostel was just up the road from the bus terminal.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">After some coffee and sandwiches we boarded a bus to the Cataratas.<span style=""> </span>Luckily the rain stopped, which was perfect because it scared away the less adventurous crowds.<span style=""> </span>By noon we were in the park and just about running to the falls we were so excited.<span style=""> </span>Walking down swampy boardwalks towards the falls, we were amazed at how loud it was-- you can hear the falls from over 3 km away!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Hz_XL0WvSfFUxkEvbh4aLIs4IVevbdKyFdB5aUQXDYzL7zs_AggwT2KBh3pmMeWU-vZp9tckF55fpZ8-yru5PPN7D-l-oOjvDBtHqtakQ84Jswrl_8NaXVRVZA4pPIk8W5yKeiLRyHc/s1600/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+106.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Hz_XL0WvSfFUxkEvbh4aLIs4IVevbdKyFdB5aUQXDYzL7zs_AggwT2KBh3pmMeWU-vZp9tckF55fpZ8-yru5PPN7D-l-oOjvDBtHqtakQ84Jswrl_8NaXVRVZA4pPIk8W5yKeiLRyHc/s400/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+106.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550997138003469266" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmm4mjwU1CKuogV5EPolgn8_CXMoLVtypIy7ZW2JU8vabWW4j8M3c91_LbJ-Uu1Q5iPz2Opn7vU4XNL1FqXHW-EMPJO9_x-QXOxZ-Eh9xouIbTuK3LKoa_KgBJb8xdw-_6SCyuPrCv8Y/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmm4mjwU1CKuogV5EPolgn8_CXMoLVtypIy7ZW2JU8vabWW4j8M3c91_LbJ-Uu1Q5iPz2Opn7vU4XNL1FqXHW-EMPJO9_x-QXOxZ-Eh9xouIbTuK3LKoa_KgBJb8xdw-_6SCyuPrCv8Y/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550992051116074450" border="0" /></a></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The first falls we discovered were called “Las dos Hermanas,” which were twin falls cascading right next to each other.<span style=""> </span>While we were initially amazed, they were nothing compared to the falls farther into the canyon...Or the other 270+ falls that make up the enormous Iguazu!!<span style=""> </span>In most parts of the park, the boardwalks would be right next to the falls or even extending over the torrential falls.<span style=""> </span>We were constantly being amazed at every turn by the views, mists, and sounds.<span style=""> </span>Later that day we went to the base of these 2 falls, which made them look even more impressive! The stupendous Kristin got a lot closer, and consequently very wet, while the un-adventurous Ivan stayed back like an old man to keep his camera equipment dry.<span style=""> </span>The power of the water was very humbling, and we could not even fathom how many millions of liters were tumbling down per minute.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdDRT9__6Bf9YnflSq7yjWBNVvgAEDq9M4Y2kkh79IoERBuKO5pwX5i2WGRwqWeKOFgdRBafFVcYKhVOUcr8qg60Oz-0TvNSYNHgs7Jb7-1JeHkb0UGh4oWKiGiD6avFLRQxPdYa_f10Y/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+052.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdDRT9__6Bf9YnflSq7yjWBNVvgAEDq9M4Y2kkh79IoERBuKO5pwX5i2WGRwqWeKOFgdRBafFVcYKhVOUcr8qg60Oz-0TvNSYNHgs7Jb7-1JeHkb0UGh4oWKiGiD6avFLRQxPdYa_f10Y/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+052.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550992063323266114" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PZuFoheXswGwbodX7mDBEJO3llQJgikgczy94CnSWg9kKwdpf0h0JLDsnUSmH0K0NwL-ib876qrKIitWiusohlEnzYJZvMs9TItxkwuTMRK6EesW1g_QfMI-cq-0FMBZiTDbmCJhfmo/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+032.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PZuFoheXswGwbodX7mDBEJO3llQJgikgczy94CnSWg9kKwdpf0h0JLDsnUSmH0K0NwL-ib876qrKIitWiusohlEnzYJZvMs9TItxkwuTMRK6EesW1g_QfMI-cq-0FMBZiTDbmCJhfmo/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+032.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550992042202014930" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFViLKP2ySRbqJAjC-7gyQUyep4wQ544F2JmO0OzZoXXvvzQJxYXHlNuL2grpK-cjDCA7n7Se6At0WXXspnjOlYdhZOibbYNfuWXSDo4aHPdt2D916oUG1tGOC0O22zI4LCdInTmKNHoE/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+036.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFViLKP2ySRbqJAjC-7gyQUyep4wQ544F2JmO0OzZoXXvvzQJxYXHlNuL2grpK-cjDCA7n7Se6At0WXXspnjOlYdhZOibbYNfuWXSDo4aHPdt2D916oUG1tGOC0O22zI4LCdInTmKNHoE/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+036.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550992055847325746" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Something that was a bit disheartening was the turbidity of the water, which was a brownish muddy color.<span style=""> </span>This is caused by deforestation, which inevitably leads to the erosion that carries the topsoil downstream from the fragile rainforest.<span style=""> </span>Of course the reddish-brown water is not unheard of, even in pristine watersheds, but here it was apparent (and documented in historical photos) that the water was tainted by man.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvWxPOu2F_R69L38Syp7UEdE5aBxTps9s9DisHbFFHo-hwHCOxnjb83h-Q4JpmmBS1XF7wvBFd_jo6XSch2DNc1vy2caEG1VD2RYh9u33CxrAhFKO_h9gUY8uYCFENloNLZ6Jq8zg8sk/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+068.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvWxPOu2F_R69L38Syp7UEdE5aBxTps9s9DisHbFFHo-hwHCOxnjb83h-Q4JpmmBS1XF7wvBFd_jo6XSch2DNc1vy2caEG1VD2RYh9u33CxrAhFKO_h9gUY8uYCFENloNLZ6Jq8zg8sk/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+068.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550995138771127666" border="0" /></a><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Also in the park was the diverse flora and fauna.<span style=""> </span>Exotic colored birds flitted and squawked in the lush canopies around us, while other animals eluded us in the undergrowth.<span style=""> </span>The “coati” is a small long-nosed aardvark that frequented the park, and was very cute.<span style=""> </span>Luckily for us, a family of them crossed the path in front of us.<span style=""> </span>The babies would wrestle, climb on mommy, scramble up the nearby limbs and chase bugs, while the mom vigorously burrowed in the humus for ants and bugs.<span style=""> </span>Very entertaining to watch!</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTc5TBCeqsnfCYxl4C_IUL0L_nak7DA_3ZElggA9kcSxen-g0ZFSbE_9k6ckMkHhsaEmHgAYkGl4pb87FQdKldohhB67gJEw4RiRu9Dym0gt9kh2ypLGOoGkFiMtuTt9IiJG0teLeY2A/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+079.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTc5TBCeqsnfCYxl4C_IUL0L_nak7DA_3ZElggA9kcSxen-g0ZFSbE_9k6ckMkHhsaEmHgAYkGl4pb87FQdKldohhB67gJEw4RiRu9Dym0gt9kh2ypLGOoGkFiMtuTt9IiJG0teLeY2A/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+079.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550995137535045266" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Baby Coati playing in a tree</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv_K-EtKzW3gf78RH64JKbGyi0UhqkOrS-Y9FaWXxesSvaSeRH7LyOTJj9cJ7-epRWQY673WHD-xK_hQyU9jMo7yD_sGADChaRz-X2iXEALO7hSpZ3XSHM1XjwWAYhQINwAD_4cnTCKQQ/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+049.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv_K-EtKzW3gf78RH64JKbGyi0UhqkOrS-Y9FaWXxesSvaSeRH7LyOTJj9cJ7-epRWQY673WHD-xK_hQyU9jMo7yD_sGADChaRz-X2iXEALO7hSpZ3XSHM1XjwWAYhQINwAD_4cnTCKQQ/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+049.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550993141627285954" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcrldHCrjLd4uUYngzHa9aWiA4R9tkEhGkY9W9F8qJLbr8Vd-PiXIY6pS7QGMEJoPFaEKAValpWiPD9pVnK0NkwJi4St1T9Bpi97zfoVopjFLS-XAnL4r-mMugXXTOAtr36JO2TaiK9NM/s1600/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+027.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcrldHCrjLd4uUYngzHa9aWiA4R9tkEhGkY9W9F8qJLbr8Vd-PiXIY6pS7QGMEJoPFaEKAValpWiPD9pVnK0NkwJi4St1T9Bpi97zfoVopjFLS-XAnL4r-mMugXXTOAtr36JO2TaiK9NM/s400/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+027.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550994038067461730" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Just another exotic creature we came across in the park...<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilZo9TYGcvAZhlD7mGM92dNCUtuHlVVj2KvV3HKtxot1tA8fpvqWVZAb9OGk0ihnolkUBaPu4yEFGc6xOq085DkP05L3rnshQwswdSJAnKL5EkZ3bW-d0CFkVttc7Y1qBrxdH3onrCrFM/s1600/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+097kk.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 272px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilZo9TYGcvAZhlD7mGM92dNCUtuHlVVj2KvV3HKtxot1tA8fpvqWVZAb9OGk0ihnolkUBaPu4yEFGc6xOq085DkP05L3rnshQwswdSJAnKL5EkZ3bW-d0CFkVttc7Y1qBrxdH3onrCrFM/s400/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+097kk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550993154454084642" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">The finale of the day was taking a small chu-chu train to the upper part of the falls.<span style=""> </span>We walked the last kilometer suspended over water on expanded metal boardwalks to the “Garganta del Diablo,” or “Devil’s Throat.”<span style=""> </span>This is the most impressive waterfall, which is both wider and taller than all the other falls.<span style=""> </span>Here it was almost impossible to take a picture because there was so much misty water jetting around us.<span style=""> </span>Within minutes we were completely soaked, but absolutely in awe of the enormous falls arrayed like a tumultuous horseshoe in front of us.<span style=""> </span>Our pictures will not do justice to these falls and proves that this is truly something that must be seen in person to really grasp.<span style=""> </span>The incredible power and energy here was remarkable.<span style=""> </span>In comparison, Niagara Falls was called a “ripple” in our guidebook, which Ivan thought was an over exaggeration, but in actuality it dwarfs the Canadian falls, like Ivan's height in a Bolivian market ;).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2_yYEnQewzUhceGr2gceLLiK3FmirwImNkFAts_MbqAO1dIoMlYx1zl1bpelAE6-ntt4BSlEUHdHWyyWNIqtJiKWwQTNQMOGwK8bvhL_s1Kql_GP-CxToyJdsFvRXScXRk_arbKb8a8Q/s1600/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+098.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2_yYEnQewzUhceGr2gceLLiK3FmirwImNkFAts_MbqAO1dIoMlYx1zl1bpelAE6-ntt4BSlEUHdHWyyWNIqtJiKWwQTNQMOGwK8bvhL_s1Kql_GP-CxToyJdsFvRXScXRk_arbKb8a8Q/s400/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+098.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550997130479518274" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7r3c3A0SFcoSEKv68GdTh1szcmBixzHJgPX_ey8Ev9B-cHZJrtrpf73MkKGOlw0mtVVjeHQ2QbVo_C6c0pQ5x5wQ5IdMYGGp0CFXhX4SLHy1Vq4Q43n5CVq0k_VD3PjvWu8Xlnr23SA/s1600/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+084.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7r3c3A0SFcoSEKv68GdTh1szcmBixzHJgPX_ey8Ev9B-cHZJrtrpf73MkKGOlw0mtVVjeHQ2QbVo_C6c0pQ5x5wQ5IdMYGGp0CFXhX4SLHy1Vq4Q43n5CVq0k_VD3PjvWu8Xlnr23SA/s400/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+084.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550995162139250354" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieBW5bZuaicLln99iTtykskDACk5s9cj9nvJQNWbJbKGyRQrAcPx_xMcacUEWpGnkDbkG0NlEOed8iHkFNZbDYMJOlpykrdpeGFD9_8AOxMHpxl3PA_Amy5WywQLlocLKJzX3l-4X-Z2g/s1600/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+089.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieBW5bZuaicLln99iTtykskDACk5s9cj9nvJQNWbJbKGyRQrAcPx_xMcacUEWpGnkDbkG0NlEOed8iHkFNZbDYMJOlpykrdpeGFD9_8AOxMHpxl3PA_Amy5WywQLlocLKJzX3l-4X-Z2g/s400/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+089.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550998222571564402" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLDU-kTzbFZVsGHHuYLBy1QWq5_4vZZ84GsoTMuXig2VN2kAy7RNj5HVAPThYYRd0uk21WbQ7rV26BtXlo1fUsFI5KBMtCITbSN6YiEUhcYnPAI-4Ks0qrXq26PYApbTQoJUpNWSq5-NM/s1600/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+085.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLDU-kTzbFZVsGHHuYLBy1QWq5_4vZZ84GsoTMuXig2VN2kAy7RNj5HVAPThYYRd0uk21WbQ7rV26BtXlo1fUsFI5KBMtCITbSN6YiEUhcYnPAI-4Ks0qrXq26PYApbTQoJUpNWSq5-NM/s400/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+085.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550997118726885314" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDgoWFKUQ7oZGBPhlIa2D25TacvxAeB5rGewHfiH0RZgN_GvoMYu7Wf2eieRX0Jp9C0CmVAc0vYgpVzSRkVnmM3kWmk7NxRCjgF_Mw0rvZUeMoulEqOx7HFnxjLBM_j5Bz6mCiqQyGFc/s1600/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+092.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDgoWFKUQ7oZGBPhlIa2D25TacvxAeB5rGewHfiH0RZgN_GvoMYu7Wf2eieRX0Jp9C0CmVAc0vYgpVzSRkVnmM3kWmk7NxRCjgF_Mw0rvZUeMoulEqOx7HFnxjLBM_j5Bz6mCiqQyGFc/s400/kk+12+11+2010+Iguazu+092.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550997110989643474" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">durrrr<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVYLyVKKXDMNZtOpB6PjwElh0SNSw4sNgo7vQakI9GONnMKoHPQ6bcIIVWRtxLH685-VHK4q23A9dBmobiviqm9MYZ-BZS9K4cwv0D8vMmq4YPDOFY06_MLaKvy6gpWA4PxBsVzPsf-Q/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+093.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVYLyVKKXDMNZtOpB6PjwElh0SNSw4sNgo7vQakI9GONnMKoHPQ6bcIIVWRtxLH685-VHK4q23A9dBmobiviqm9MYZ-BZS9K4cwv0D8vMmq4YPDOFY06_MLaKvy6gpWA4PxBsVzPsf-Q/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Iguazu+093.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550995153718818482" border="0" /></a><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">After 6 hours of walking through the park we caught the bus back to town for some delicious parilla and a big salad with a live band to accompany the rhythms of our forks and knives.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The following day we visited an animal sanctuary and got to see a lot of animals from around the Missiones Province.<span style=""> </span>Kristin was very excited to see the colorful toucans up-close, and we were both very impressed with their gigantic beaks.<span style=""> </span>Our favorite though, were the Capuchin monkeys, which were very playful and liked to show-off their acrobatic skills (fortunately they didn’t fling their poo at us..!).<span style=""> </span>Also impressive in the sanctuary were the large birds of prey which they were rehabilitating.<span style=""> </span>However, the funniest, and perhaps most disturbing site, was witnessing two tortoise’s engaging in grunty coitous.<span style=""> </span>Interestingly, the Argentinean tourists became very giddy and childish during this Discovery Channel episode and skipped away with Catholic guilt all over their faces.<span style=""> In the sanctuary, most </span>of the animals have been adversely affected by humans, but are being rehabilitated and eventually reintroduced to their natural habitat.<span style=""> </span>We were very impressed with the quality and professionalism of the facilities, which deservingly boasted a very high rate of success for reintroduction and for their veterinary skills.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ5GQZmesSlDPOHvbHECVedISRItffcqqs5197Fmg89BabVjnF6bmXyv-StBPFu9_MD2NQQ_e-j-TwUwpdtIXOrnJp7ZZuBXVeLopwCPz2fOFvy59MJzOU7_O2_B0Bk0Ms5PCie-xWd90/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ5GQZmesSlDPOHvbHECVedISRItffcqqs5197Fmg89BabVjnF6bmXyv-StBPFu9_MD2NQQ_e-j-TwUwpdtIXOrnJp7ZZuBXVeLopwCPz2fOFvy59MJzOU7_O2_B0Bk0Ms5PCie-xWd90/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551000338047103362" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Toucan Sam's Cousin</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjclSj6IpWQUMjK15eGMYCDTAwAOoVJqac4U8juxRNm5iWxL6q5N2lqlGbelNotm01wpTxbrbtmyvJH5LY18bRwuMRIdPdU-B6tmdlXuJAkAw6w4r8jgshI0ubrvqAnrbpl7tO_Lnb6YB8/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjclSj6IpWQUMjK15eGMYCDTAwAOoVJqac4U8juxRNm5iWxL6q5N2lqlGbelNotm01wpTxbrbtmyvJH5LY18bRwuMRIdPdU-B6tmdlXuJAkAw6w4r8jgshI0ubrvqAnrbpl7tO_Lnb6YB8/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551000887732680402" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1UyD42LoNbmYHEev2uNApaBwHsYgE8MS6MOi1kqnE3bxwVyUxBFoEtvLR5P8yAOwuWMt6tADnRvCg7uyFIrUrkt8g0zQbMaKkT4ZdCkSlkptK2XmFF8BsMSCa7osBTRHXc0Go0DId6gQ/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+010.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1UyD42LoNbmYHEev2uNApaBwHsYgE8MS6MOi1kqnE3bxwVyUxBFoEtvLR5P8yAOwuWMt6tADnRvCg7uyFIrUrkt8g0zQbMaKkT4ZdCkSlkptK2XmFF8BsMSCa7osBTRHXc0Go0DId6gQ/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551000333778986562" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNDz6X2SUieHhhOXHACIXLQWP2b3sjglKusGMlcF2-dONTO6cFJNRURDnanCZtUk3EbwFHQSAwbdAT-opUh7cOUUyXbyzwxOEt7rHGEFyLC2tNEd13rY4e4LnBagJEX70GCz_gF4SQkYs/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+028.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNDz6X2SUieHhhOXHACIXLQWP2b3sjglKusGMlcF2-dONTO6cFJNRURDnanCZtUk3EbwFHQSAwbdAT-opUh7cOUUyXbyzwxOEt7rHGEFyLC2tNEd13rY4e4LnBagJEX70GCz_gF4SQkYs/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+028.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551000330420778098" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzwJnGvIZoHxa5TD6WRemJgbPtat6K3i5ggMOw5qzsug1R8X9nhRhx5njt0cSmBzdrrTLf9Z9DMwQLEnJaxHHPZmYNtFKDR3KRlId1PwgXdQDcqW-AVADGVCY6cvMqe3zy73nXujKQqXQ/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzwJnGvIZoHxa5TD6WRemJgbPtat6K3i5ggMOw5qzsug1R8X9nhRhx5njt0cSmBzdrrTLf9Z9DMwQLEnJaxHHPZmYNtFKDR3KRlId1PwgXdQDcqW-AVADGVCY6cvMqe3zy73nXujKQqXQ/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551000319487636226" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZQAndtFURS4KSzNBCSDXWP9K7Naj4Co-7FIs09k9fmgZyyfr3wfCHlW8t3WWM7TfNqFOzKZpEx9tqrIpaBaqPQvk2LcQXTkSlKk1G96pbiZpk0NamaDaSgPLvldJHemGLZPtf-x2Z2s/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZQAndtFURS4KSzNBCSDXWP9K7Naj4Co-7FIs09k9fmgZyyfr3wfCHlW8t3WWM7TfNqFOzKZpEx9tqrIpaBaqPQvk2LcQXTkSlKk1G96pbiZpk0NamaDaSgPLvldJHemGLZPtf-x2Z2s/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551000320579086722" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The last tourist thing we did was visit the “Hito de Tres Fronteras.”<span style=""> </span>Here you can see the corners of 3 countries that are separated by the Parana river.<span style=""> </span>We were obviously on the Argentinean side, but had a great view of Brazil and Paraguay.<span style=""> </span>Each corner had an obelisk painted with their flags’ colors.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ap6akEdKXu3WuEF8Jgd_q1pQW5pWQ3QcXnNY9jgJ0qTeGBZmw51HCC0oXmYHhyphenhyphenQt-EirvkWETq5fR1nQiLcDuTwB3U5VSZFIn03ZbXmhlW1AUoODWGIxtzZsxPThyphenhyphensi1VrDfX9ZTRZs/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+0399.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ap6akEdKXu3WuEF8Jgd_q1pQW5pWQ3QcXnNY9jgJ0qTeGBZmw51HCC0oXmYHhyphenhyphenQt-EirvkWETq5fR1nQiLcDuTwB3U5VSZFIn03ZbXmhlW1AUoODWGIxtzZsxPThyphenhyphensi1VrDfX9ZTRZs/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+0399.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550999146673798994" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvUvGxVYkCKKfUKbn_E4rcG0rsAI3DoOmLjLS66LBrDnwHqIYhtLfnhyTuUvgFujTFUuDHDgG011eW45FI5z69i52MGAnCziOB8lMR4vQnkNt-qeJjYpxa0bBeJDNPTVUk4d5XeKXJgI/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+047.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvUvGxVYkCKKfUKbn_E4rcG0rsAI3DoOmLjLS66LBrDnwHqIYhtLfnhyTuUvgFujTFUuDHDgG011eW45FI5z69i52MGAnCziOB8lMR4vQnkNt-qeJjYpxa0bBeJDNPTVUk4d5XeKXJgI/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+047.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550999143339265746" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkIeNh30-blOr4Ynzfxas5TfgddLX-dev15rvOo8sMfzo-ZW14mXkJgefV1SyniOEko1hhqCryigP9WxpE4vA2aGqBMx3eZF1e2r1p3Qf237otTkz7u5kZRydnCd9mBH4A9k12FaPB3Xk/s1600/kk12+12+2010+Animals+015.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkIeNh30-blOr4Ynzfxas5TfgddLX-dev15rvOo8sMfzo-ZW14mXkJgefV1SyniOEko1hhqCryigP9WxpE4vA2aGqBMx3eZF1e2r1p3Qf237otTkz7u5kZRydnCd9mBH4A9k12FaPB3Xk/s400/kk12+12+2010+Animals+015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550999139817952162" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvoWSXzfQop-ipe_Oa-cEgXSLBikFtu2cgd1wpElyNfJv3Hezpy8LQYpOez_CW6ezaDfLnmH5j54Hq_5uKy8U-vuKTdshUwzCtOrn9tq8q1Hnot3OAZrv3Wv_1wiwboPUiGOhELHX7aA/s1600/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+045.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvoWSXzfQop-ipe_Oa-cEgXSLBikFtu2cgd1wpElyNfJv3Hezpy8LQYpOez_CW6ezaDfLnmH5j54Hq_5uKy8U-vuKTdshUwzCtOrn9tq8q1Hnot3OAZrv3Wv_1wiwboPUiGOhELHX7aA/s400/Ivan+12+12+2010+Animals+045.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550999135787961282" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Even sportin' Argentine colors!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">After Puerto Iguazu, we are traveling for 1 1/2 days to get to the Estero's del Ibera in the Corrientes province. 22 hours in buses, woot! Going to see some of the worlds most pristine riparian habitat!!<br /></div></div>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-152551050860569222010-12-08T20:49:00.013-03:002010-12-09T08:29:40.743-03:00Laguna Blanca<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWmFWNsBA2IsbZ9qKTI2k5-r_nur99X92P2Ra8FAEvfIjgktsN-yvOGOEVIkoGN5cl__KhkvBC2si29QaVaTjNkxgPCIHZM0SHSeElbzLeoEnDqY3QKEsz7_Ey40hkEypNGoYV2hwzoaQ/s1600/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+182.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWmFWNsBA2IsbZ9qKTI2k5-r_nur99X92P2Ra8FAEvfIjgktsN-yvOGOEVIkoGN5cl__KhkvBC2si29QaVaTjNkxgPCIHZM0SHSeElbzLeoEnDqY3QKEsz7_Ey40hkEypNGoYV2hwzoaQ/s400/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+182.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548465943006576738" border="0" /></a><br />On Monday the 29<sup>th</sup> we took a bus from Rosario to La Paz, which is in the Entre Rios province.<span style=""> </span>Really, we could have made the journey by boat (not actually affordable), but both city’s sit on the Rio Paraná.<span style=""> </span>Our bus broke down along the way so we were late, and our ride had to sit around the tiny bus station for over an hour. <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Esekel, a super cool Argentinean dude, picked us up from the bus station.<span style=""> </span>He his only 2 years older than Ivan, and is loving life here on the Tompkin’s farm.<span style=""> </span>During the 30 minute drive from the bus station, we talked about the differences and affects of conventional agriculture (aka: intensive inputs, trans-genic crops, and chemicals), versus the Organic agriculture we were going to witness at the Laguna Blanca estancia.<span style=""> </span>Ivan was too involved in his Monsanto rant to notice our incredible speed through the cornfields, but poor Kristin was bouncing around the back seat like a fish on land.<span style=""> </span>It was completely dark when we drove up to the compound, so it had a mystical feel, with the beautiful new buildings framed by the bright stars.<span style=""> </span>Even without light, we were already in awe by the beauty and aesthetics of the place.<span style=""> </span>Also, after so many days on the road, and with so many hostels (good and deplorable), we were so grateful for such a cozy room with soft sheets and firms mattresses, a beautiful tiled shower with a waterfall of fresh well water, and even a ceiling fan to cut the heat!<span style=""> </span>Needless to say, but we felt incredibly spoiled!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ZjY_UHt1_FnQko4utjzPJHBXe29-fyIh8oq89gb4JJcKFtxhf-hRjQzyEXogJD1gUU25TcoAGpGvM97ndp3U9ah-91a5qRO-mqf933D8WjzDV7xmzwnx7xXZFyslqydpv_mIc4HtRhc/s1600/kk+11+26+2010+111.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ZjY_UHt1_FnQko4utjzPJHBXe29-fyIh8oq89gb4JJcKFtxhf-hRjQzyEXogJD1gUU25TcoAGpGvM97ndp3U9ah-91a5qRO-mqf933D8WjzDV7xmzwnx7xXZFyslqydpv_mIc4HtRhc/s400/kk+11+26+2010+111.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548467304755658402" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Sunrise on the Estancia<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">The Estancia is owned by Kris and Doug Tompkins, and their partner Eduardo Chorén.<span style=""> </span>It is over 7,400 acres of both beautiful farmland and wild habitat.<span style=""> </span>Not only does it border along the Rio Parana, but it also has its own beautiful lagoon (aka: Laguna Blanca).<span style=""> </span>The farm has over 2000 acres in production, with a focus on organic agriculture, biodiversity, aesthetics, and relationships between people and land.<span style=""> </span>It has really been a treat to get such first-class treatment from the happy employees, as well as a glimpse of a progressive and exemplary large-scale operation.<span style=""> </span>The production is all very new and forthcoming, but we would love to see it 5-10 years from now when it is in full tilt (especially the fruit trees!).<span style=""> </span>In the near future, Eduardo is planning to process wine, beer, dried fruit, olive oil, and other delicious rewards from the land.</p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xNeC3d1omoFMptLcd3YlMrFApob6p_qCDutx1ko2uXfv62QUD0wZI415xEL_RUGfqdmyWhMS33mjReAfap5gV3p-CtpPE_sJQsfRT0tw-NW1eKBgunabwV0-qgXL_vkqRxgx9n0DDXc/s1600/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+143.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xNeC3d1omoFMptLcd3YlMrFApob6p_qCDutx1ko2uXfv62QUD0wZI415xEL_RUGfqdmyWhMS33mjReAfap5gV3p-CtpPE_sJQsfRT0tw-NW1eKBgunabwV0-qgXL_vkqRxgx9n0DDXc/s400/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+143.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548465022362860306" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfj1Z1Ii-ADL0nOlr8Ij1CgSuEUYiXk8lC9LcRaZmi0prvcgZ0HrA67xQfKb7hJlwaWqJD4wXXCJ-ZKKsSyxYxGDDO6u7vipXFaMspNmywjnJAdx-dkP4OCERLKQkonszbcBQCUuCnZMA/s1600/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+033.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfj1Z1Ii-ADL0nOlr8Ij1CgSuEUYiXk8lC9LcRaZmi0prvcgZ0HrA67xQfKb7hJlwaWqJD4wXXCJ-ZKKsSyxYxGDDO6u7vipXFaMspNmywjnJAdx-dkP4OCERLKQkonszbcBQCUuCnZMA/s400/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+033.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548463934753069074" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">KK's cinnamon roll land<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><h2><a href="http://www.spotadventures.com/trip/view?trip_id=235258">Laguna Blanca</a></h2> <object width="400" height="300" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/swflash.cab"><param name="movie" value="http://www.spotadventures.com/swf/spot/widget.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="units=english&mode=1&key=ABQIAAAAo2DXVdg4aCTpANH9-rZLZBQc1cmDkVDuu24mH3cz6NMnkWfnQRTE9-38lo3U1aGK6bV89gulZy_Mhg&tripId=235258&startLat=-31.04338&startLon=-59.84027&mapType=Satellite&"><embed src="http://www.spotadventures.com/swf/spot/widget.swf" quality="high" width="400" height="300" flashvars="units=english&mode=1&key=ABQIAAAAo2DXVdg4aCTpANH9-rZLZBQc1cmDkVDuu24mH3cz6NMnkWfnQRTE9-38lo3U1aGK6bV89gulZy_Mhg&tripId=235258&startLat=-31.04338&startLon=-59.84027&mapType=Satellite&" play="true" quality="high" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed></object><br/><a href="http://www.spotadventures.com">Share your Adventures with SpotAdventures</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Production includes: the 12 tree varieties, wheat, soy, corn, oats, barley, as well as a few other grains.<span style=""> </span>Of course everything is organic!<span style=""> </span>The difference was very obvious, when compared to the HUGE factory farm next to the Estancia, where there were 2 crops: transgenic corn, and soy.<span style=""> </span>Though its size was impressive, the toll it was taking on the land was depressing.<span style=""> </span>Fortunately we were on the healthy side of the fence!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpA068-733lIHy28x0t2sfj9xd_wIym6Z5GFgWaaizd0Y9bWKJorEUx9tyiYcVGIKAxYB4oLPFx7omcYz3SKDiI3RV7elLCItzVXr85OM1HFnIqRWyvvB2Qh3fc0mbSxkKAhh7FdLy1Js/s1600/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+183.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpA068-733lIHy28x0t2sfj9xd_wIym6Z5GFgWaaizd0Y9bWKJorEUx9tyiYcVGIKAxYB4oLPFx7omcYz3SKDiI3RV7elLCItzVXr85OM1HFnIqRWyvvB2Qh3fc0mbSxkKAhh7FdLy1Js/s400/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+183.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548466628354364258" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Both land in production, and corridors for wild animals.</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6pL5KBTGuXLgTugjZe9AnPGxK2UZouYDBqHNObjut0oQaXh49cpYRX-Xsz_w5eawJU54-ysq4kYMTuWPQKlCVPknp-MHG-77tazhr2clCQ44YfK5dZ6vW7X9eW1zdcxLMop6EciFrLx4/s1600/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+015.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6pL5KBTGuXLgTugjZe9AnPGxK2UZouYDBqHNObjut0oQaXh49cpYRX-Xsz_w5eawJU54-ysq4kYMTuWPQKlCVPknp-MHG-77tazhr2clCQ44YfK5dZ6vW7X9eW1zdcxLMop6EciFrLx4/s400/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548463926667048802" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIZ4fVZgo6bcCsbh3qU_ajQqXbOUzcpjREDWe3uB0HLt7Q5y0nTapPJtFGPHUQXKrHmHmUYlI-gaADdPz4Ok0Wk7_pjcFSZAnPso7F_wuYvyeEtYvAO0LtjP0Fm4MLnyt67iMMHMd9X8g/s1600/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+126.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIZ4fVZgo6bcCsbh3qU_ajQqXbOUzcpjREDWe3uB0HLt7Q5y0nTapPJtFGPHUQXKrHmHmUYlI-gaADdPz4Ok0Wk7_pjcFSZAnPso7F_wuYvyeEtYvAO0LtjP0Fm4MLnyt67iMMHMd9X8g/s400/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+126.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548464420422153778" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">One of several <span style="font-style: italic;">barrancas</span> on the property</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOwt6a5ZtE1oGhs1lewGvGvb4UyGZMgDEAMwmpo01_7B16OLttAo-4_6bcz48cMkgc0q_evMRZM_IgU544-uODoTZE9qLgfm6MohNISgvJGXVVi2UENrePx0FLGhYpBH2CUeOLhzldj9k/s1600/Ivan+12+6+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+028.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOwt6a5ZtE1oGhs1lewGvGvb4UyGZMgDEAMwmpo01_7B16OLttAo-4_6bcz48cMkgc0q_evMRZM_IgU544-uODoTZE9qLgfm6MohNISgvJGXVVi2UENrePx0FLGhYpBH2CUeOLhzldj9k/s400/Ivan+12+6+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+028.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548466633242820338" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Wheat sunset<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOwJGnOCe4PiKFXaytJRwe73jS-JTQe7QI0BfIOQ7S1T27CqNGjt-eEeOiry8Mza0LSDGYdB5p2Or310Gw3Y0yK0vBr7z5Y_EAogYQuHdzng71fo4e1TaCnrU6scobjJ2U4YO59fjfw3I/s1600/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+176.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOwJGnOCe4PiKFXaytJRwe73jS-JTQe7QI0BfIOQ7S1T27CqNGjt-eEeOiry8Mza0LSDGYdB5p2Or310Gw3Y0yK0vBr7z5Y_EAogYQuHdzng71fo4e1TaCnrU6scobjJ2U4YO59fjfw3I/s400/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+176.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548465931531337634" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Trees on the <span style="font-style: italic;">mirador</span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRf0Pd0xNoVH-WYT_BfyYKzVKX85dI1CRfqrWbAAXfaHsMOfKqSyX_tNt_R9EUTLbt2RaYMPiKVcTSkr2BbxgnNDs7qj5NtwC7kMgppNWD5on8oCqbGsd_D5FrgAHtdXlcGjfTET9lzks/s1600/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+173.jpg"></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisHXEZa4B_K63JKVGA0zjhzBA9vEyNl1XiBErwEz22KeeYsuVjdEsGW_GiBOr5iSHypAalwwUQiqK7X1Hp1T_fVFZfutuGM6xJDPU1Bo-7iA846sGPZW6aCghiO0NPYn3zrtuXk4Vqoq4/s1600/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+166.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisHXEZa4B_K63JKVGA0zjhzBA9vEyNl1XiBErwEz22KeeYsuVjdEsGW_GiBOr5iSHypAalwwUQiqK7X1Hp1T_fVFZfutuGM6xJDPU1Bo-7iA846sGPZW6aCghiO0NPYn3zrtuXk4Vqoq4/s400/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+166.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548465919812197586" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Kristin by the organic corn - all so pretty!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4i8wm5vyBmEIKRMG56ntgvcqZuGECg9og82zrsKu744ZKjVrpdomywj9BukGtjRxujL9ARuy583gBoKKei5iBg7yl3anJu7v5Um31AnrN_gGD2BSc1XFI0bw3LqGl_ekdU-Ylm41N1u4/s1600/kk+11+26+2010+152+%2528Large%2529.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4i8wm5vyBmEIKRMG56ntgvcqZuGECg9og82zrsKu744ZKjVrpdomywj9BukGtjRxujL9ARuy583gBoKKei5iBg7yl3anJu7v5Um31AnrN_gGD2BSc1XFI0bw3LqGl_ekdU-Ylm41N1u4/s400/kk+11+26+2010+152+%2528Large%2529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548492657601449282" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">gusanitos</span> on the Laguna Blanca Organic corn...<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9zvyJUlo1yx5K3pIb0YichfAconeUS2uhwRJAO5C_ILbmphyna7zJ7qLQdalKx6WX-dMQr9bQc2f_55ishcTeNBMrgJjL_0gG9ySaZ1CEyx2vJoogES3G_azXrCjZJBa_q1v_AWqKzA/s1600/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9zvyJUlo1yx5K3pIb0YichfAconeUS2uhwRJAO5C_ILbmphyna7zJ7qLQdalKx6WX-dMQr9bQc2f_55ishcTeNBMrgJjL_0gG9ySaZ1CEyx2vJoogES3G_azXrCjZJBa_q1v_AWqKzA/s400/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548463920433088930" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Neighbor's trans-genic corn... Kristin says: "Sure, it might look pretty on the outside, but GMO corn is like plastic surgery; it may look good on the exterior, but it sure is ugly on the inside!!"<br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Waking up on the estancia (6am was a bit of a shocker after city life..!) was a treat.<span style=""> </span>The sun was just peeking over the horizon, and the birds were already in full activity.<span style=""> </span>Breakfast, unfortunately for Kristin, isn’t really much in Argentina, so some hard bread and tea was a tough way for her to start the work day.<span style=""> </span>However, the subsequent days we became comfortable in the kitchen and were able to make our own treats (like coffeeee!).<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The first morning we split up, with Ivan hopping on a ¾ ton trailer with 22 smiling workers, and Kristin on a Polaris to analyze soil and collect moths from a light-trap.<span style=""> </span>The workers immediately took an interest in Ivan, and he felt right at home with the farm implements, sweat, and jovial manual laborers.<span style=""> </span>Of course, he still talks like a total Mexican, so his accent and farm verbage weren’t totally understood, but since then he has improved quite a bit and has a lot of fun cracking jokes with the guys.<span style=""> </span>Franco, the main foreman of the frutales section, gave Ivan a really in-depth tour of the 12 different fruit and nut trees, and showed him the ropes.<span style=""> </span>Later, Ivan shadowed Maria Teresa, a really nice Senora and <i style="">inginiera</i>, who is the only woman, but also in charge of watering schedules, pruning, and monitoring of the trees.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHm8WihFcyPWPj5EZjNqhibZV5OR_0Rsc2B-yYVG4ziVQGC0dUlDNVfox0Om3tqUz76b-R28YD3qe0SyNXdcJMSGKYDlTx-xmeMhlH7SFPGNJMzhtYdK84By54qI5tSCBj8ydsblzBIpw/s1600/kk+11+26+2010+067.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHm8WihFcyPWPj5EZjNqhibZV5OR_0Rsc2B-yYVG4ziVQGC0dUlDNVfox0Om3tqUz76b-R28YD3qe0SyNXdcJMSGKYDlTx-xmeMhlH7SFPGNJMzhtYdK84By54qI5tSCBj8ydsblzBIpw/s400/kk+11+26+2010+067.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548467300758777826" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHm8WihFcyPWPj5EZjNqhibZV5OR_0Rsc2B-yYVG4ziVQGC0dUlDNVfox0Om3tqUz76b-R28YD3qe0SyNXdcJMSGKYDlTx-xmeMhlH7SFPGNJMzhtYdK84By54qI5tSCBj8ydsblzBIpw/s1600/kk+11+26+2010+067.jpg"><br /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGAOu8X2K01cEcXChbla6Qy-OChVFGw9RsIVaCyvfzAY88pb77B27EjjhLAlEu_m9398G7-YRkCQzI0-n1VK0WXHhw2fZF993dx7ZWM104qz0kNbX9S1iaTlQMITxnH65etlBNorsoO8Q/s1600/kk+11+26+2010+031.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGAOu8X2K01cEcXChbla6Qy-OChVFGw9RsIVaCyvfzAY88pb77B27EjjhLAlEu_m9398G7-YRkCQzI0-n1VK0WXHhw2fZF993dx7ZWM104qz0kNbX9S1iaTlQMITxnH65etlBNorsoO8Q/s400/kk+11+26+2010+031.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548466645259226178" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Riding back with the guys for some <span style="font-style: italic;">milanesas </span>and rice<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Kristin’s first experience was some one-on-one time with a really nice guy named Gustavo, who spoke only Castellano, and the extent of his English was counting from one to five and expletives he has heard in American movies.<span style=""> </span>Kristin was anxious that her grasp of Spanish (both understanding and speaking) were truly going to be put to the test today.<span style=""> </span>Surprisingly, Kristin was able to understand most of what he said and described (the Italian influence totally helps because they constantly talk with their hands!) and was able to keep up when he fired away questions about California.<span style=""> </span>The first job was to collect bichos (moths) that were caught in a light-trap.<span style=""> </span>The reason being, a particular moth species is really damaging to the organic corn crops.<span style=""> </span>The trap doesn’t control the populations, but it does help to monitor their numbers and determine what organic method would be best to stop their voracious chewing.<span style=""> </span>Later, Kristin convinced Gustavo to let her romp the Polaris to the next destination (she had the need for speed!!): to a soy plot on the opposite side of the estancia where they would collect soil samples.<span style=""> </span>These soil samples are taken at random (20 per plot) which will later be taken to a lab to be analyzed (this made Kristin feel right at home—getting down and dirty!).<span style=""> </span>Basically, we both jumped right into farm life with authentic and incredibly kind Argentineans.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis8kJ6MQ-xGpIF49ORwOmubX6nxRy9BY7VcQ8_yGsIvdQktM1S6eHCeHTheDxz3Fglmv66fHgAVDN3bjjfs3zV9mbjnLZsttVKQe7Y6Zs67tQMZ0uzDjHIpjBQ3ftAFMCd3_84MLsorbY/s1600/kk+11+26+2010+148.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis8kJ6MQ-xGpIF49ORwOmubX6nxRy9BY7VcQ8_yGsIvdQktM1S6eHCeHTheDxz3Fglmv66fHgAVDN3bjjfs3zV9mbjnLZsttVKQe7Y6Zs67tQMZ0uzDjHIpjBQ3ftAFMCd3_84MLsorbY/s400/kk+11+26+2010+148.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548469105729274402" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span>Light trap for the moths</div> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Over the next few days, we were able to get a wide view of everything that happens on the estancia.<span style=""> </span>Ivan’s favorite activity was, of course, beekeeping! His suit was for someone 6 inches shorter and was an absolute oven in the 35+ degree heat, but he still had a blast robbing honey, capturing queens, grafting larvae, and learning a lot of the different techniques used by bee-keepers here.<span style=""> </span>We also harvested some fresh raspberries, which Kristin has put into several delectable desserts from scratch, as well as delicious fresh marmalade.<span style=""> </span>Franco, Ezquel, Flaco, and Ivan were rubbing their bulging tummies with big smiles after kk’s desserts, and Kristin now has a reputation with the other sweet-tooth’s on the estancia.<span style=""> </span>Accordingly, we had to learn how to make Dulce de Leche, which will probably serve us well for a lifetime!! Yummmm.<span style=""> </span>Some other recipes were also taught to us by the friendly cocineras.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV-r603BviYYU1EU3dxfZF2zJeqJzXKem0d8BuZnz0cB9DDQzYtCkoCAM9YZTKJNxYCh-NP-DZbupkLHkf9O3tccFtCBY5O_FZQSqYxZ_PYLUHikXP2oRSfFGS9W0PQwY8-L2yUzL1Jgo/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+beekeeping+004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV-r603BviYYU1EU3dxfZF2zJeqJzXKem0d8BuZnz0cB9DDQzYtCkoCAM9YZTKJNxYCh-NP-DZbupkLHkf9O3tccFtCBY5O_FZQSqYxZ_PYLUHikXP2oRSfFGS9W0PQwY8-L2yUzL1Jgo/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+beekeeping+004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548631754265292306" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Heading out to the bee yard</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOUyXkz2vZIdLIqyDcnxdkNLl6C1sT8e5AV6yXEIXSC-I5auYxgMqvnA1WfdxYdQZFfMI7RhyphenhyphenYPeBnexlL_si5pOhmZUilNEgKCigWO4K9XtTo41NHtS_ntV8MJYhkLhUgz8nysCtNNPU/s1600/kk+12+7+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+034+%2528Large%2529.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOUyXkz2vZIdLIqyDcnxdkNLl6C1sT8e5AV6yXEIXSC-I5auYxgMqvnA1WfdxYdQZFfMI7RhyphenhyphenYPeBnexlL_si5pOhmZUilNEgKCigWO4K9XtTo41NHtS_ntV8MJYhkLhUgz8nysCtNNPU/s400/kk+12+7+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+034+%2528Large%2529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548631743610009202" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Changing out the queen</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwweudiWhT52t_wdSMDmXF4L6LUtUDGcGItMceGCHICY4y7Re0g2TuXnv0h51HSx6sABiP91InX18NVKT0r2eiKls2ev-5fmHlGehlsQkWhnvrvoCs3746AlS6H_2yI71y02fb85h7xY/s1600/kk+12+7+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+015+%2528Large%2529.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwweudiWhT52t_wdSMDmXF4L6LUtUDGcGItMceGCHICY4y7Re0g2TuXnv0h51HSx6sABiP91InX18NVKT0r2eiKls2ev-5fmHlGehlsQkWhnvrvoCs3746AlS6H_2yI71y02fb85h7xY/s400/kk+12+7+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+015+%2528Large%2529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548631738643468386" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Ivan trying his hand at grafting! An incredible feat considering he forgot his glasses!!</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbgurTtp0pfJKY2MyPw9jlFROcyhxr54Hdz1JzdVWIvr3cnZ96y3G2qhEg26WYK37Ms_dnFPVDO6kSlIzLJA4hiZN4siJB0s-eLdKwtnKOGisvULO1drL3UuUtl1QwdDl4UxMOZLbYUug/s1600/kk+12+7+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+029.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbgurTtp0pfJKY2MyPw9jlFROcyhxr54Hdz1JzdVWIvr3cnZ96y3G2qhEg26WYK37Ms_dnFPVDO6kSlIzLJA4hiZN4siJB0s-eLdKwtnKOGisvULO1drL3UuUtl1QwdDl4UxMOZLbYUug/s400/kk+12+7+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+029.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548631734516535362" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">At the mirador, venting the suit!<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">On the following days, we were able to tail different people who were each an expert in their field of study or practice.<span style=""> </span>One day we followed a stone-fruit expert who demonstrated how to prune the young trees.<span style=""> </span>We got to try our hand at some plum, walnut, and pecan trees, where we cut off unwanted growth from the base of the tree.<span style=""> </span>It definitely proved that pruning is a subjective art!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglBzHomz0c0UbUGpwt8ztKeSteCHrYAgfClj3NPTmlcNttrJwgewImrzJSbBH3nE1S7xmc8LjygjfkIh0Qj-Xd-WyiVw0Bq_BQG6mdAgGEm4-lxv8NRh0lCIHsST7_VaLwhcWCZNhhkL4/s1600/kk+11+26+2010+016.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglBzHomz0c0UbUGpwt8ztKeSteCHrYAgfClj3NPTmlcNttrJwgewImrzJSbBH3nE1S7xmc8LjygjfkIh0Qj-Xd-WyiVw0Bq_BQG6mdAgGEm4-lxv8NRh0lCIHsST7_VaLwhcWCZNhhkL4/s400/kk+11+26+2010+016.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548466639490508210" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEvDS6smczV2kt0DO0GAhjD2Ey7IBxhMFfZe9z88fekfunNe7DLdAOe_uMkCh-jzxjM1UArBYDS1H_7GSTiTzVtfOkFapd0QrY7eO896jGvRlHK_zRGkSxoQ76_toldJ7rv5VopB-Fv1M/s1600/kk+12+7+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+036.jpg"><br /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">A real treat was spending a whole day with Don Hector, an organic farmer who truly embodies the agrarian ideal.<span style=""> </span>He rides a bus every other week from Uruguay and stays for a week at a time at Laguna Blanca.<span style=""> </span>His job is very encompassing since he has to analyze soil samples, construct morphological maps, and monitor both beneficial insects as well as pests; and to develop strategies that reduces weeds, retains organic matter in the soil, and prevents erosion during the rain season.<span style=""> </span>During the morning we walked around the fruit trees and looked at the soil to asses its moisture content and organic matter.<span style=""> </span>Kristin was being a smartypants-magu during this section and was able to exchange a whole lot of words that left Ivan feeling like a toothless redneck.<span style=""> </span>He was also very interested in the Van Wingerden avocadoes, and was especially excited to hear about the epic mulching project.<span style=""> </span>After a morning under the intense sun, we gratefully gathered into the cool quincho for some delicious food and stimulating company.<span style=""> </span>After the meal, we spent 2 more hours with Hector as he explained his educational powerpoints that covered the Laguna Blanca Estancia, his own farm in Uruguay, and research from both UC Davis and Berkeley.<span style=""> </span>Kristin was very excited since it showed numerical data of previous soil data, and she was able to discuss and visualize what was taking place on the Estancia over the past couple of years.<span style=""> </span>Ivan was rapt during the section on beneficial insects and progressive IPM techniques, some of which are being used at Ever-Bloom now (but a couple new ideas to bring home!).<span style=""> </span>We have been able to spend some more time with him over the following days, which has been very stimulating, since he is a fountain of agrarian knowledge.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikkeMkm0ZnyQ4cq6TOvwVhzrYo6dbX5FRrFjL__oteKUwO8dE2yXYMYd1fnzVVIIz573fR6Ad4wPsVpNKz-Oh-dDjIKc4z_S_m-FKV5vrtkd6GyA4KFX3qMSeKiK0YhDExMI5W3Zjv-h4/s1600/kk+12+7+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+041.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikkeMkm0ZnyQ4cq6TOvwVhzrYo6dbX5FRrFjL__oteKUwO8dE2yXYMYd1fnzVVIIz573fR6Ad4wPsVpNKz-Oh-dDjIKc4z_S_m-FKV5vrtkd6GyA4KFX3qMSeKiK0YhDExMI5W3Zjv-h4/s400/kk+12+7+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+041.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548469120834945506" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Talking up the soil!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEvDS6smczV2kt0DO0GAhjD2Ey7IBxhMFfZe9z88fekfunNe7DLdAOe_uMkCh-jzxjM1UArBYDS1H_7GSTiTzVtfOkFapd0QrY7eO896jGvRlHK_zRGkSxoQ76_toldJ7rv5VopB-Fv1M/s1600/kk+12+7+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+036.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEvDS6smczV2kt0DO0GAhjD2Ey7IBxhMFfZe9z88fekfunNe7DLdAOe_uMkCh-jzxjM1UArBYDS1H_7GSTiTzVtfOkFapd0QrY7eO896jGvRlHK_zRGkSxoQ76_toldJ7rv5VopB-Fv1M/s400/kk+12+7+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+036.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548469111059610770" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmc1VXnf26gbSSkAkPXt-Z0Gb_7dBZuCMR4dz22Th85dCGyE_hQ5wKPXzGOitiGBZq3bh8Beu6z486ZLZjy1P8VlYv9QGUTXkOPnsHj3h39hA-uQ-55CW7tiTRbRdzNWzV0Im1l6mYnY/s1600/kk+11+26+2010+058.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmc1VXnf26gbSSkAkPXt-Z0Gb_7dBZuCMR4dz22Th85dCGyE_hQ5wKPXzGOitiGBZq3bh8Beu6z486ZLZjy1P8VlYv9QGUTXkOPnsHj3h39hA-uQ-55CW7tiTRbRdzNWzV0Im1l6mYnY/s400/kk+11+26+2010+058.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548467286454000098" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Collecting soil samples!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">During a tour of the property with Esekel, Franco, Flaco, and ourselves, we happened across a group of small pigs.<span style=""> </span>We had been hearing about these nefarious “chancho’s,” but had only seen the damage they incurred.<span style=""> </span>Looking at the little porkers, it was hard to imagine such little piglets could incur so much damage.<span style=""> </span>Out came the 357, and we were in hot pursuit into the trees (minus Kristin who wisely avoided a whole lot of cuts and burrs : ).<span style=""> </span>The smart oinkers disappeared into the brush, but that didn’t stop Ivan and Esekel from going out the following night to try our hand again.<span style=""> </span>Amazingly they popped out in almost the same spot we’d seen them before, but the pigs uncannily zigged and zagged across a tilled field and miraculously avoided harm (even though 2 shots were fired at them..!).<span style=""> </span>On Tuesday night (fortunately before a holiday), Ivan went out with 4 other guys as they charged through the night in a Hilux with searchlights scanning for the tricksters. Unfortunately, after 2 hours of getting bounced around in the bed of the truck, we didn’t see even 1 chancho!! However, we did get to see tons of other fauna, like: deer, foxes, armadillos, owls, huge toads, bats, and some other hoofed animals that we don’t have in the states.<span style=""> </span>It was a very fun, manly, ordeal!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXhyScqsHPeRqo3T3la69wJ_if9xy-AN4pNiNYqwi7CKw5SJAl3eofdd7aHIfJgwNuPOuojTrH97OQRvWSTQ0cmHVV7sEfeJT2Iu29q66as4fMCwECu-2Ny-zGrMBeCIN0uyQ_ZcqfNg/s1600/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXhyScqsHPeRqo3T3la69wJ_if9xy-AN4pNiNYqwi7CKw5SJAl3eofdd7aHIfJgwNuPOuojTrH97OQRvWSTQ0cmHVV7sEfeJT2Iu29q66as4fMCwECu-2Ny-zGrMBeCIN0uyQ_ZcqfNg/s400/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548463923298072450" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRf0Pd0xNoVH-WYT_BfyYKzVKX85dI1CRfqrWbAAXfaHsMOfKqSyX_tNt_R9EUTLbt2RaYMPiKVcTSkr2BbxgnNDs7qj5NtwC7kMgppNWD5on8oCqbGsd_D5FrgAHtdXlcGjfTET9lzks/s1600/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+173.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRf0Pd0xNoVH-WYT_BfyYKzVKX85dI1CRfqrWbAAXfaHsMOfKqSyX_tNt_R9EUTLbt2RaYMPiKVcTSkr2BbxgnNDs7qj5NtwC7kMgppNWD5on8oCqbGsd_D5FrgAHtdXlcGjfTET9lzks/s400/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+173.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548465927575016226" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Overlooking the Rio Parana<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Some Artsy Pictures:</span></span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrguGa8ekrBCqdp475iWtB7B0fNqClmxtVjjKIkJ8JUyV_y1we-qnoLYtOGoPlplKv_xzpvc6sf7PmDCy7VjN5zMn11XvCl17ICvTcjMPtJmxYyUIi6zDmLhyjleLlISb_vvn3LjEvlE/s1600/Ivan+11+30+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+106.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; 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display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimwMWzekQO5TGad5iQskZ3Qlb3s6pnZ-AEDT7dGSc-HMafBHPkN7yRiWFkQUe-D9sTWs-0o6m4TZmSyREZLC_xW79PeOb8gTKxcgRmXWAazdG7SFh3Ko5eDnvz149ezTM2tisRM46R4Ck/s400/Ivan+12+6+2010+Laguna+Blanca+Farm+015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548466631403678258" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal">A follow-up blog of more pictures and our impressions should be up in a few days...</p>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-65185108165454994392010-12-04T12:06:00.006-03:002010-12-05T10:38:49.893-03:00Rosario - The open space cityOur next adventure took place on an overnight bus from Cordoba to Rosario, and arrived in the city at 6 am. The owner of our hostel was a really good sport about being buzzed from bed at such an early hour (he had gone to sleep around 3 that morning...). Kristin took a nap, to recover from the freezing bus ride, and Ivan took a quick stroll around the sleeping city.<br /><br />The first thing we noticed about the city was how incredibly green it was. Every street had lush trees spaced every few meters, and most of the streets had planters. The city also boasts the most open space and parks--more than any other large city in South America! Also, there was a law passed a few years ago that banned unneeded signage: advertisements, bill-boards, and even road signs that weren't necessary--this gave the city a very clean feel, though made navigating it a bit harder!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirsw1FHBe5014DWIURncYtWiA7yNDjSJuONahH0IfneIAQgEbX5FanE6DKsrNFCanFd5v3R-OohuJNcJjxEepBxUZo3YsKSIRlaYdzqad3zNwK6_EoCB3uUFviH20drn9_h6-i22bP0MM/s1600/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirsw1FHBe5014DWIURncYtWiA7yNDjSJuONahH0IfneIAQgEbX5FanE6DKsrNFCanFd5v3R-OohuJNcJjxEepBxUZo3YsKSIRlaYdzqad3zNwK6_EoCB3uUFviH20drn9_h6-i22bP0MM/s400/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547176758034244514" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After recovering from our bus ride, we walked the city and got our bearings of where our hostel was. Only two blocks away was Che's childhood house where he was born and raised! About 5 blocks from the hostel was the vast Parana river which snaked its way along the eastern side of the city (And all the way up to Brazil). The walk along the river was beautiful, since virtually all along the <span style="font-style: italic;">barranca</span> was open park space. Kids cruised around on bmx bikes or skateboards, moms pushed strollers, people were jogging (even in the oppressive heat!), and numerous people enjoying <span style="font-style: italic;">mate </span>(a wooden or steel gourd filled with the Aquifoliaceae (holly) tea leaves, and sucked out with a <span style="font-style: italic;">bombillo</span> straw). We are definitely catching-on to the wonderful and relaxing habit of passing a <span style="font-style: italic;">guampa </span>between friends and each taking a turn sucking the vegetal grassy tasting tea through the <span style="font-style: italic;">bombillo. </span>Along this public thoroughfare, we encountered a huge flag monument that gave tribute to the revolutionaries who fought off the Spaniards and liberated the country. Supposedly, the location of the monument was the very first place the blue and white flag of Argentina was raised by Miguel Belgrano during those turbulent times. In the center of the monument is a huge torch that has obvious patriotic symbolism. (as an aside: after touring through Bolivia, a country with the most violent coups, uprisings, and convoluted leadership, the sudden focused patriotism of Argentina surprised us. We were impressed by the people's uniformity on many issues, and have heard many patriotic buzz-words that we are already very familiar with in the US. If you want to start a shouting contest, tell an Argentinian that the Falkland Islands.. we mean, Las Islas Malvinas... are indisputably British. The wounded pride over those islands runs very deep. After some research and quite a few conversations, it became quite clear that the island never really belonged to the Argentinians, and the British really do have the longest standing claim to it [don't let my hosts know we said this!]. As an example of their fervor, our hostal owner had it tatooed-not on his left posterior cheek-but over his heart, no less!).<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzzdiYBKlVsWwQtDYhSvl2AH2QLqcJ-xL3UOQizdzD0gY3JdlwS-6qnz0xzypCHsLjx5E4ms_0usL4F63-O96dFkjY1xtQ1x2p7nUolpZ9iY9AY9DZ4QmXky6TYQmT5KUtnDXM-LMNI4/s1600/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+011.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzzdiYBKlVsWwQtDYhSvl2AH2QLqcJ-xL3UOQizdzD0gY3JdlwS-6qnz0xzypCHsLjx5E4ms_0usL4F63-O96dFkjY1xtQ1x2p7nUolpZ9iY9AY9DZ4QmXky6TYQmT5KUtnDXM-LMNI4/s400/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547176751293735522" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOXSeQOaoHjpdTKsVtpwy2HFWHZDb1jBHu3ScuyQNmsBcPdRMrSYAD8UrEtc7OPMm59eTGBJi4N1aIItHsi-Qau8xeYjnSNIkDg4wp6AdGO86wSLE3qCTFPAIxFW-2-gS6MpsfHriWTo/s1600/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+013.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOXSeQOaoHjpdTKsVtpwy2HFWHZDb1jBHu3ScuyQNmsBcPdRMrSYAD8UrEtc7OPMm59eTGBJi4N1aIItHsi-Qau8xeYjnSNIkDg4wp6AdGO86wSLE3qCTFPAIxFW-2-gS6MpsfHriWTo/s400/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+013.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547176748099740018" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmk4CJJqHYEOVsGQBsMJs5UYhmNAI5plxNsE6Ng_jgHBf3n_gEhNF9mZfjF5MsWA-qiIaw7HlvecOhLJdigQGoDtxjcswJ6BwzxvZ-SpKisGlN9ZHlDhuh8c3YNE3E5Wff2CMlPljYuqk/s1600/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+016.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmk4CJJqHYEOVsGQBsMJs5UYhmNAI5plxNsE6Ng_jgHBf3n_gEhNF9mZfjF5MsWA-qiIaw7HlvecOhLJdigQGoDtxjcswJ6BwzxvZ-SpKisGlN9ZHlDhuh8c3YNE3E5Wff2CMlPljYuqk/s400/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+016.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547176740732391794" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Our second day in the city was a bit of a downer since it was raining buckets all day. However, we put on our rain gear and walked through the wet streets to a bunch of different parks and historical pit-stops. We even got to enjoy and traditional <span style="font-style: italic;">milanesa</span> and fries. After 4 hours of walking in the rain, we found a great theater to enjoy the evening (only 10$ for 2 tickets and a giant bowl of kettle corn with soda!). The new Harry Potter movie was okay (according to Ivan), but entertaining nonetheless!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEird2JmHeI9MCWakrztpuT7BbnXZfQWtnExQtLCdo1Y5dfzRByLfsk1RFg9XR5a3byT_7IZfdZMZCvgsUUEL3dh7tiMjBsdKYT4IxF4DmyflMN2A1TiwR3jRdKwWxJ6Dh0nD3HhV_oOgGc/s1600/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEird2JmHeI9MCWakrztpuT7BbnXZfQWtnExQtLCdo1Y5dfzRByLfsk1RFg9XR5a3byT_7IZfdZMZCvgsUUEL3dh7tiMjBsdKYT4IxF4DmyflMN2A1TiwR3jRdKwWxJ6Dh0nD3HhV_oOgGc/s400/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547177740297007170" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVXVQlZRatDhf9GrFFKO6nuPTf-Jwvc48Mi16kNJ6XaYLRE3Q5LlkcaE8FyNZMs6jxUnq21OwZvGA8gKelMs2XwQpCYE6iwaixJPRq2E1IP1bKoYmBS-7Rh0b-l0HvDZ8fwOhB7FjEHKM/s1600/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVXVQlZRatDhf9GrFFKO6nuPTf-Jwvc48Mi16kNJ6XaYLRE3Q5LlkcaE8FyNZMs6jxUnq21OwZvGA8gKelMs2XwQpCYE6iwaixJPRq2E1IP1bKoYmBS-7Rh0b-l0HvDZ8fwOhB7FjEHKM/s400/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547177737906972802" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPFStCrmSfe_F0qDKlJlMZG8wmMCysLha-MypOjnhNjHkqZDjzMpvZeIxChivjRlKbMDo4Yhn-bY34F6fLJxyivjLFiTObLr8cc0KqtMqH439atyo2gHZmYNU3vSOMWi0_9EhAYNwHlRs/s1600/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPFStCrmSfe_F0qDKlJlMZG8wmMCysLha-MypOjnhNjHkqZDjzMpvZeIxChivjRlKbMDo4Yhn-bY34F6fLJxyivjLFiTObLr8cc0KqtMqH439atyo2gHZmYNU3vSOMWi0_9EhAYNwHlRs/s400/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547177735368235666" border="0" /></a><br />Nutritious Argentinian cuisine...<br /></div><br /><br />After it's one day vacation, the sun came back to the city with such renewed force, our sandals felt squishy under our feet. As a way of coping with the heat, we decided to take a short boat ride across the river and hang out on the beach. Fortunatley for Ivan, and unfortunately for Kristin (she obviously didn't get the memo to pack her thong bikini), all the women were sporting thong-bikini's, which they openly flaunted down the beach. It was truly uncomfortable seeing this festive butt-floss on mother's who were playing with their children--nothing against liberated moms, but imagine the family pictures!! Also on the river beach was a large group of kite surfers who were jetting all through the windy channel. Ivan is definitely excited to give it a try when he gets home! Some added drama: a large pit-bull attacked a group of the kite surfers and their dog, but was beaten with some drift-wood.... pretty intense!! After some fun in the sun, we returned back to our hostel to escape the heat and hang out with our goofy hostal owner. We gave in and bought a few Chilean Avos to make some fresh guac and share with our fellow hostel friends. To our surprise we weren't disappointed, but maybe we weren't expecting much from the small sunburnt avos. We truly miss the high quality Van Weenie Avos! Later we enjoyed refreshing cold shower, where Ivan discovered that his virginal feet were lobster red (though Kristin repeatedly told him to apply sunblock!!) and now he has a fantastic sandal tan line...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpYGlM3gVTDi7ywCuM7taOxqWXLGnAubd3PkoDe9XQ2xRKxfCgUOl_0uCUBc3s0JkW5t-kacfC9PRlCdiou7Mz-SME8F2zyS65rHUzKJxJeyxDSZbPTjvf9wyMMjrspFUiLN4y2HJ304Q/s1600/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+026.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpYGlM3gVTDi7ywCuM7taOxqWXLGnAubd3PkoDe9XQ2xRKxfCgUOl_0uCUBc3s0JkW5t-kacfC9PRlCdiou7Mz-SME8F2zyS65rHUzKJxJeyxDSZbPTjvf9wyMMjrspFUiLN4y2HJ304Q/s400/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+026.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547178934150629426" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPAFuQqXm_ozYLZ14GLlXnP9cijXXgRBRsIMGUgNXIqIsZMgadkg29U7ya-1jJJgrZqBPfNzTho6xQGfMK7EluwWdrvVQDHh66ugxFGLhtdT0JjPPkPGLmtlh9b77CO_knEGIejUHRu0M/s1600/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+023.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPAFuQqXm_ozYLZ14GLlXnP9cijXXgRBRsIMGUgNXIqIsZMgadkg29U7ya-1jJJgrZqBPfNzTho6xQGfMK7EluwWdrvVQDHh66ugxFGLhtdT0JjPPkPGLmtlh9b77CO_knEGIejUHRu0M/s400/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+023.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547178931562591154" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Later that evening we went to a street market where Kristin bought some new romping clothes for next to nothing--most important, though, were her "work" overalls that have already received some pretty hilarious comments (to be shared in next blog! :).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD6Ra40HFF7F63dyCDVDrgAIMRRjLItyW1nUumKrm4NnweN5jCfi7lGJLzy9-5ZQ1rDNFZfIhyphenhyphenLI9W1KGXR0Yf6Ev8bZKN3dM2tHASTEAIX1mosn_My-yJr1m48FkAXxGWSn9d1hBJJyM/s1600/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+031.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD6Ra40HFF7F63dyCDVDrgAIMRRjLItyW1nUumKrm4NnweN5jCfi7lGJLzy9-5ZQ1rDNFZfIhyphenhyphenLI9W1KGXR0Yf6Ev8bZKN3dM2tHASTEAIX1mosn_My-yJr1m48FkAXxGWSn9d1hBJJyM/s400/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+031.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547178943893723938" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiXhgs1X0r-PGv2hGX9fKFXkdOZj-BF_nkRmvio_DtMqafvITQbAPfuzpq5w01TqgKVsnBhqDbEtxVT0wB8LZUgSXdgt-JnE3r5nXYLeSCvlWXvwWe0TsWaoGXA_VnZrPRPiluWIMYCo8/s1600/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+010.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiXhgs1X0r-PGv2hGX9fKFXkdOZj-BF_nkRmvio_DtMqafvITQbAPfuzpq5w01TqgKVsnBhqDbEtxVT0wB8LZUgSXdgt-JnE3r5nXYLeSCvlWXvwWe0TsWaoGXA_VnZrPRPiluWIMYCo8/s400/kk+11+30+2010+Rosario+010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547178941711110882" border="0" /></a>Another reason why we love Argentina!<br /></div><br />On Monday the 29th, we caught a bus to La Paz, Entre Rios, to start our stay at the Laguna Blanca Farm -- owned by Doug and Kristine Tompkins.Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-71613558316166100562010-11-25T19:07:00.017-03:002010-11-28T10:59:40.015-03:00Tafi del Valle and Cordoba<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQNkKL_BKxzn6Vl-TTwrrpub-X5BqSl3EbXFUfDCTPO_ir_FG6dyKLZQxPGJP6SweS0KIQTnzcbuKjtAtWSn2soA0obwgsarVUqMEbeRSvcf8JEzxwelMyFhlo5VHBOKfsLfK3lRPQs4/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+043.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQNkKL_BKxzn6Vl-TTwrrpub-X5BqSl3EbXFUfDCTPO_ir_FG6dyKLZQxPGJP6SweS0KIQTnzcbuKjtAtWSn2soA0obwgsarVUqMEbeRSvcf8JEzxwelMyFhlo5VHBOKfsLfK3lRPQs4/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+043.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543983834467582562" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Tafi Del Valle<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />This was a super small tourist town for the affluent Argentinians of the neighboring city of Tucuman, where they come in droves on the weekend to cool off and enjoy the amazing local cheese, salami, restaurants, artwork, and charm. A bit of a downer though, the travel agencies insisted tour-guided everything, so it was very difficult to get to any trails to the surrounding mountains, but after asking a handful of locals (very hard to find one who wasn't friend or family of the covetous tour agencies!), we found a great hike up a ridgeline outside of town. Dominic, a fellow tourist we met in Cafayate, joined us for the hike, and later that day we went out for some local wine with him.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiydTBm5O0CHeNDm2gxOomQQAuknqSGvO9BfepHKfB0rQFylkNfC14wbxIxAeutxvfwuA_Mg0Uoj6jN5Gf_Cl1IRAFHfCpeHI9_WicYznUStyXnAm-Tzcsp5_39jggTRRECEtwDzsbjzo/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+033.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiydTBm5O0CHeNDm2gxOomQQAuknqSGvO9BfepHKfB0rQFylkNfC14wbxIxAeutxvfwuA_Mg0Uoj6jN5Gf_Cl1IRAFHfCpeHI9_WicYznUStyXnAm-Tzcsp5_39jggTRRECEtwDzsbjzo/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+033.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543980501684363074" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV0htH0XOBCIxo6Gpr_eWNBfphZm1IAlMR7ksEAZmsrgrpyoJgvCpWD2h-aMeu65nSu4ZAThY_Ahele5wjykx7e1zzJbVq3TXyx1k4g7ZlJvRa7LL4sJvJ1sdfdy6OtBCEN9F6iRLdo7k/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV0htH0XOBCIxo6Gpr_eWNBfphZm1IAlMR7ksEAZmsrgrpyoJgvCpWD2h-aMeu65nSu4ZAThY_Ahele5wjykx7e1zzJbVq3TXyx1k4g7ZlJvRa7LL4sJvJ1sdfdy6OtBCEN9F6iRLdo7k/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543978961239482706" border="0" /></a>Lovin' the Quartz<br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9d582feh9V_upaW1QffRw75nv0RcbTqDreL1q5QXMWHJy1sk6gRYhgjHwHfKrpr02vou4RygMdHwD5eI5yvt7W_c-SEFOgKPA00MnpCkLr_7iVpHKBb2YvpmaQvUpU9XpYiudcTlKvDs/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+012.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9d582feh9V_upaW1QffRw75nv0RcbTqDreL1q5QXMWHJy1sk6gRYhgjHwHfKrpr02vou4RygMdHwD5eI5yvt7W_c-SEFOgKPA00MnpCkLr_7iVpHKBb2YvpmaQvUpU9XpYiudcTlKvDs/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543978963774738226" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The views from the mountain tops were fantastic, and we had a great vantage point of the entire valley (very dry, but finally got some rain the day we left--wish we could see it all green now!). Along the hike we were able to see some goats, sheep, and horses munching on the pampa grass that dotted the side of the mountain. Kristin was thrilled about the different rock formations, but especially the intact quartz veins that criss-crossed the mountain side (in the States people tend to pick them apart for souvenirs). Ivan was visualizing, or more like a form of self-torment, all of the amazing obstacles he could attempt on his bike, if only it were here 7,000 miles away from home.... All in all though, it was really great to finally get a solid hike in, especially after so many days of sheer gluttony: empanadas, steak, etc...<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8d2E_m8uljbydmarg3kuS_mvIiPdbXMtdrBgUND6jJA2ltWQpTHgqSL9vJdEdY8Fr6MtIahvYmZKVLhBaBUPIhAkAKRi9-NXC3bTKMoVRDzc4Eku1EbK91QLvga84unExSS4CorAx5UE/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+022.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8d2E_m8uljbydmarg3kuS_mvIiPdbXMtdrBgUND6jJA2ltWQpTHgqSL9vJdEdY8Fr6MtIahvYmZKVLhBaBUPIhAkAKRi9-NXC3bTKMoVRDzc4Eku1EbK91QLvga84unExSS4CorAx5UE/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+022.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543978977022494018" border="0" /></a>Fire!!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY11MOyd8riMypxz2jcEzGy1wl6gMn_V5odtEgNGN1mOMHE5lOOcKIHzcM6F3Dl_UUveElkqy9Q-o4-90-FDsT0fD7iB-g74EI20qeU4hUX_PKfa1_37seb6E-taaJJ7GH2IeCnihi99Y/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY11MOyd8riMypxz2jcEzGy1wl6gMn_V5odtEgNGN1mOMHE5lOOcKIHzcM6F3Dl_UUveElkqy9Q-o4-90-FDsT0fD7iB-g74EI20qeU4hUX_PKfa1_37seb6E-taaJJ7GH2IeCnihi99Y/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543978970344744274" border="0" /></a>Walking off the empanadas<br /><br /></div>The city itself was super small, but a really great walk. We loved having a strong cup of espresso and <span style="font-style: italic;">media lunas</span> (small croissants covered in a yummy egg-wash and sugar), while reading the local paper or chatting with Dominic. After breakfast we would usually walk the town (invariably find some empanadas, or 12, to eat) and talk to the friendly artists that displayed their work on every corner. During the hot afternoon we would siesta with our books and some fresh fruit, and then venture out later for another walk. After a few nights in this sleepy town we hopped on the bus and drove along Argentina's windiest road towards Tucuman (Ivan pulled through!!). A quick connection and we were in Cordoba -student utopia- by late evening.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Cordoba<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />The Argentinian version of San Francisco: a ton of students, bustling streets, insane taxi drivers, tall buildings, museums/galleries, and some really interesting local exercise routines in beautiful parks. Our first night was pretty rough since we were convinced our taxi driver was going to careen us into a store window or another vehicle - he must have taken Fast and Furious too heart.... we actually remained incredibly composed, since near-death taxi rides were all too common in Peru and Bolivia... At first, the city was very overwhelming, with exuberant students, incredible heat, and noisy bars (it was Sunday, so partying was only till 3:00 am-- a relatively short night) right at our hostel doorstep.<br /><br /><br />There was rain throughout our first day, but we put our rain gear on and tromped through the empty city. Fortunately an all-you-can-eat chinese buffet was open! After, we snuggled up to some books and then cooked a great homemade pizza with a much-needed gigantic salad (don't worry there were many hours in between gorging). The next day we were ready to do some exploring, so we met up with Laura and Mark (who had just come up from Mendoza) and explored an archeology museum and city centers. Later that day we got some fancy new haircuts. Kristin (finally!) cut off her distasteful split ends :) and Ivan almost ended up with a mullet... Kristin asked for a small 3cm trim with small layering, but instead got close to 6 inches taken off and layers up to her chin (possibly a girl version of the mullet! YUK!)... Fortunately her long and luscious locks could handle the chopping, and she still looks like an angel shaped by the gods themselves (according to Ivan, at least {but that's all that matters, right?!}). Ivan's hair, on the other hand, was verifiably hacked to bits. His super hip hippie-do was reduced to an overly thinned out business cut--with a rat tail. Ivan was in disbelief, but was noticeably upset when the <span style="font-weight: bold;">hysterically uncontrollable laughing</span> Kristin told him to turn in the mirror to see the back of his head... Instead of keeping the dangling party-in-the-back extension (to blend in with the other hideous heads in town), he decided to cut it and look like a 14 year old man. Later, we met-up with our British pals for some of Mark's home-cookin' (polenta, and marinara cod, followed by Laura's hand-selected fruit salad. Yum!). They were polite about the haircuts... A super plus that night was the great bottle of Malbec wine they shared. Don Arturo is only sold in Argentina, unfortunately, but the small family winery will be sought out by us later in our travels!!<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHdFbxk_zZCo2XoseMx3P2uqf79qfqXW1OHNeMmY9nkHD7K0O2odDlFzTwkrENxK_OP73LGX7Ke3ROLM-XxksAEGLfDVZke4APLJUN_MBbTitfJZXrpCeXEERsRwiYWxBBkRZcshJHW4k/s1600/kk11.25.2010+010.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHdFbxk_zZCo2XoseMx3P2uqf79qfqXW1OHNeMmY9nkHD7K0O2odDlFzTwkrENxK_OP73LGX7Ke3ROLM-XxksAEGLfDVZke4APLJUN_MBbTitfJZXrpCeXEERsRwiYWxBBkRZcshJHW4k/s400/kk11.25.2010+010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543990523683991010" border="0" /></a>Pretty medicore quality... ;)<br /></div><br />On our third day we woke up early and caught a bus out to <span style="font-style: italic;">La Quebrada de los Condoritos</span>, one of the country's smallest national parks. On our way to the park we stopped off at a small rest-stop that had a condor museum, churros, and most surprising of all - a man dangling a 1.5 kg raw steak at the end of a pole. We got there just in time for front row seats of a condor swooping down from a mountain top and grabbing the steak from the outstretched pole. The force that came off of the grab was incredible, and the large guy holding the stick almost lost his balance. Unfortunately, we were so stoked on our churros, we missed our bus, which drove the remaining 7 km up the mountain without us. After imploring a couple other bus drivers to take us up the hill, we gave up and started walking. Fortunately, a meat-schlepping deity swooped in with his refrigerated truck and brought us up the hill (Ivan was hoping there was only room for Kristin up front, so he would be 'forced' to sit in back with the mountains of salami and queso--his version of paradiso!).<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL5sliXIEKccByRLa2_kWybWxopvz4w6iOKfSQdMZYFLTkH49AefJcq4Vqc0UGKGf8yxY_GsHWtT5xhnBrXMXPmj7gcoyFDupqYpSBzaoB2sOGB7rPjZU37M6Tfn0KrVAjTp5Fin3k7aY/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+038.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL5sliXIEKccByRLa2_kWybWxopvz4w6iOKfSQdMZYFLTkH49AefJcq4Vqc0UGKGf8yxY_GsHWtT5xhnBrXMXPmj7gcoyFDupqYpSBzaoB2sOGB7rPjZU37M6Tfn0KrVAjTp5Fin3k7aY/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+038.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543983830989545490" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGcesy-u4IIIRfemJ81NOpm15ZjXUasMCbBTFmZIRtJLHWoqi40Y2hSkARsBNjnAZmFPIpI8bNLzZSl_gX17CB542C6R_Qwikyub6xfLKxx91UuIccjDR1pDX9OnYRioqfb37_pdxFMQ/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+040+cropped.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGcesy-u4IIIRfemJ81NOpm15ZjXUasMCbBTFmZIRtJLHWoqi40Y2hSkARsBNjnAZmFPIpI8bNLzZSl_gX17CB542C6R_Qwikyub6xfLKxx91UuIccjDR1pDX9OnYRioqfb37_pdxFMQ/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+040+cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543983828341138786" border="0" /></a>Juvenile Condor - but still so big!<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpSwz1X5iM3oG4d3Fh74qh6nDvfVweA7azQe52IajZ2VnEsgPnvDflBhas80FDCUeITD94t3Zx-oI1CCAbYlc2mc8T067Yl2ESYYkdE7g0U1y5xZC7CXDvS9M2GUjMTKZNYur7kRvYgx0/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+047.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpSwz1X5iM3oG4d3Fh74qh6nDvfVweA7azQe52IajZ2VnEsgPnvDflBhas80FDCUeITD94t3Zx-oI1CCAbYlc2mc8T067Yl2ESYYkdE7g0U1y5xZC7CXDvS9M2GUjMTKZNYur7kRvYgx0/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+047.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543983836830176914" border="0" /></a><br /><h2><a href="http://www.spotadventures.com/trip/view?trip_id=234223">La Quebrada de los Condoritos</a></h2> <object codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/swflash.cab" width="400" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.spotadventures.com/swf/spot/widget.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="units=english&mode=1&key=ABQIAAAAo2DXVdg4aCTpANH9-rZLZBQc1cmDkVDuu24mH3cz6NMnkWfnQRTE9-38lo3U1aGK6bV89gulZy_Mhg&tripId=234223&startLat=-31.66553&startLon=-64.69626&mapType=Map&"><embed src="http://www.spotadventures.com/swf/spot/widget.swf" flashvars="units=english&mode=1&key=ABQIAAAAo2DXVdg4aCTpANH9-rZLZBQc1cmDkVDuu24mH3cz6NMnkWfnQRTE9-38lo3U1aGK6bV89gulZy_Mhg&tripId=234223&startLat=-31.66553&startLon=-64.69626&mapType=Map&" play="true" quality="high" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://www.spotadventures.com/">Share your Adventures with SpotAdventures</a><br /></div>The 11km walk through the park was breathtaking. The wind caressed the swaying pampa grass, but stunning rock formations held their ground (the large igneous rocks, contained lots of quartz, feldspar, and orthoclase -- so cool!). Walking along the paths, we made our way to the condor look-out. Unlike Colca Canyon, where the giant condors seemed to elude us, here they were flying everywhere! The young condors (still with their juvenile, white, plumage) were rocketing through the canyon in search of food. The view from the <span style="font-style: italic;">Norte Balcon</span> (see SPOT check-in) had a view of their many nesting sites, as well as their circling flight patterns. It was really amazing when they swooped close, a loud swishing sound could be heard from their giant wingspan ('small' compared to the full-grown adults!).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO8TrgjyAOOvYmgTKr3QA0iQE0qsFOsiVIQgrx9yVPSJMMNcly0HElis5qmtsmdcIvwJEoylCFmldoxMRCQAnApiMQI51RduoDiKDqmguh5Iz1_0WYup0ApijZ7ToQwNlb9ukIM7Mm24Y/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+069.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO8TrgjyAOOvYmgTKr3QA0iQE0qsFOsiVIQgrx9yVPSJMMNcly0HElis5qmtsmdcIvwJEoylCFmldoxMRCQAnApiMQI51RduoDiKDqmguh5Iz1_0WYup0ApijZ7ToQwNlb9ukIM7Mm24Y/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+069.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543986141233943746" border="0" /></a>Swaying like the Pampa<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFW-P-VuChW8R8JMRkK4N_j_ushii1Ugb4RRIK_Qwqt6cJ5nURCCszr5uP3OESQ0QRYoqt6O8ErhIkkg-5_F4xR3egZei8B9WQyNz2YDVZTm4yulGPXk5wsMidKFUzQeXqTo2z5F0y77A/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+059.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFW-P-VuChW8R8JMRkK4N_j_ushii1Ugb4RRIK_Qwqt6cJ5nURCCszr5uP3OESQ0QRYoqt6O8ErhIkkg-5_F4xR3egZei8B9WQyNz2YDVZTm4yulGPXk5wsMidKFUzQeXqTo2z5F0y77A/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+059.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543986128604042114" border="0" /></a>Feeling small, but in the best way!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrWn7STqhnx4bOwM7KixE8AUI9TlIRb-dwvhfOd2nUMVejX7S0vWeuzxev2KY25_dlXLuej0wG37IljpVU0KmfHTB_wC8lyu4LVWMHcVgXOEU2wCaoFiX1qdJtkUAbMy8lmgSVAE-FNJM/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+052.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrWn7STqhnx4bOwM7KixE8AUI9TlIRb-dwvhfOd2nUMVejX7S0vWeuzxev2KY25_dlXLuej0wG37IljpVU0KmfHTB_wC8lyu4LVWMHcVgXOEU2wCaoFiX1qdJtkUAbMy8lmgSVAE-FNJM/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+052.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543986123339489186" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64PiWcQG8W05vBjvfqDLuMvybrbksq6zpaBy_9t8__Ld8ufbxASlp1o3N5y2e5Yqsp1mWs5JygRNwAEZpBoJZA5yVBxtSc0chf6lCekzcKlrqS9WyKdEqn9npCw_cz-IOnBh5pMmAm28/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+050.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64PiWcQG8W05vBjvfqDLuMvybrbksq6zpaBy_9t8__Ld8ufbxASlp1o3N5y2e5Yqsp1mWs5JygRNwAEZpBoJZA5yVBxtSc0chf6lCekzcKlrqS9WyKdEqn9npCw_cz-IOnBh5pMmAm28/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+050.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543983842850442818" border="0" /></a>Look, Argentine ants!!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4IRG_SwnoXxDkSI-QuXmhnxQ-t029DmIQoSWLfJu7UvLfPW8RcLaybV9zFZc4c-hNHozxm1o2Gccm-9khnG_CUR7-qP5tIKTuy_A1ZZUrYr4htjn95wGzHdkRYy7me-pUkRF4q92HutI/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+083.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4IRG_SwnoXxDkSI-QuXmhnxQ-t029DmIQoSWLfJu7UvLfPW8RcLaybV9zFZc4c-hNHozxm1o2Gccm-9khnG_CUR7-qP5tIKTuy_A1ZZUrYr4htjn95wGzHdkRYy7me-pUkRF4q92HutI/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+083.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543986147452577458" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEija7-ct33ckh1wvx1uJpORKxVX8ZOunxPg5vIKTwSB6XLl74gG6oOtbYrsNN09G-2haftvlmVX2FTg2RFcngx0BN0Wknyt1-C_6HfguYQC6ekAEiLHVcaQHVfY5FiByzZIpJKMRVAPRM4/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+080.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEija7-ct33ckh1wvx1uJpORKxVX8ZOunxPg5vIKTwSB6XLl74gG6oOtbYrsNN09G-2haftvlmVX2FTg2RFcngx0BN0Wknyt1-C_6HfguYQC6ekAEiLHVcaQHVfY5FiByzZIpJKMRVAPRM4/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+080.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543986142653500210" border="0" /></a>Condor look-out<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgREVxn_7XPvsrljGMNSeku3Hvc0vEwnGCk7hUsZ2MaBUyzs_CSyxs1wa7qsCmKwVV0-lcah3T1Wtm48_anVemBS9Pp7BV3lN7XiGJmeJXuI1GJVambMhmwOGmIa6NfKaXOSDZYrbZgPnM/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+091.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgREVxn_7XPvsrljGMNSeku3Hvc0vEwnGCk7hUsZ2MaBUyzs_CSyxs1wa7qsCmKwVV0-lcah3T1Wtm48_anVemBS9Pp7BV3lN7XiGJmeJXuI1GJVambMhmwOGmIa6NfKaXOSDZYrbZgPnM/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+091.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543987955080507458" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj55uSOyqN2UbfqxifhnRW_EeE3rWH8Muqk3xQWe3ikuv09bGwVAyLiTI1wkxfu_sXW1HU7B4eS6Vi1s2EOUkvd01BLQsXJosbC1hEdY2mmwU7qV22hTc2huO_sbQeo2yf6kXV7EUlOatw/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+086.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj55uSOyqN2UbfqxifhnRW_EeE3rWH8Muqk3xQWe3ikuv09bGwVAyLiTI1wkxfu_sXW1HU7B4eS6Vi1s2EOUkvd01BLQsXJosbC1hEdY2mmwU7qV22hTc2huO_sbQeo2yf6kXV7EUlOatw/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+086.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543987953419368210" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLcSIvv4XAw5HycQ3WHnmX1HDjuDtR8HmAyn4rFwsDmL1H1VrgRgoEC1TkrP2u_Rim-u0IfeErw4qUkpEqmKCuvkGSXZoP-lMVg-UO_H6vGiYDt1dDOL_9bn4qn_VRq_N3SxGWWp-zDE/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+097.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLcSIvv4XAw5HycQ3WHnmX1HDjuDtR8HmAyn4rFwsDmL1H1VrgRgoEC1TkrP2u_Rim-u0IfeErw4qUkpEqmKCuvkGSXZoP-lMVg-UO_H6vGiYDt1dDOL_9bn4qn_VRq_N3SxGWWp-zDE/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+097.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543987964290323730" border="0" /></a>Ivan found the only bee, on the only flower in the park!!<br /></div><br />After picnicking and hiking for many hours, we waited by the road for our bus, which zoomed by us with the driver giving us a half-hearted apologetic shrug... We tried our thumbs at hitch-hiking (We blame it on our luckless-ness on the haircuts), but fortunately another bus came within an hour--another driver who had fashioned himself as Vin Diesel: evading police and burning some nitrous and oversized dually tire-rubber... What a day!<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnZxy2vnFhki4j7NU2GXnwmxwjQOX5so7HiBoHW34am-fyQ6YFcUcqpIo7VDS9cwK8xm5kn9U6T83V4WgGqFMAuv0tkbkXIqxs-DcBWZvkXDDmm3rymQoNaVQvRVstkBthI-DxK5vY6pE/s1600/Ivan+11+26+2010+104.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnZxy2vnFhki4j7NU2GXnwmxwjQOX5so7HiBoHW34am-fyQ6YFcUcqpIo7VDS9cwK8xm5kn9U6T83V4WgGqFMAuv0tkbkXIqxs-DcBWZvkXDDmm3rymQoNaVQvRVstkBthI-DxK5vY6pE/s400/Ivan+11+26+2010+104.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543987964991303410" border="0" /></a>Hitch-hiking is lame...<br /></div><br />Today we bought 2 bus tickets for an overnight ride to the city of Rosario. For lunch today, we celebrated Thanksgiving, and a goodbye, with our friends Mark and Laura. Like previous dinners, Ivan and Mark shared a large <span style="font-style: italic;">parilla</span> platter with all the typical cuts: <span style="font-style: italic;">tripa, corazon, </span>blood sausage, pork sausage, ribs, liver, and a platter of fries. Kristin enjoyed a <span style="font-style: italic;">bife de chorizo</span> (not a sausage, but more like a gigantic rib-eye), which was super juicy and still moo-ing in the center. After some ice-cream and heart-felt goodbyes we parted our ways-- Hasta California!<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI9o4QWQpAb7ndw19DztbnF0MUGSbJfQHfpAQY0rVOVMVnYzcX9uFTtuiMZ0cK-vIvqPPfo_AEG9_wFMUpq7jSfZtsl9seAoIJdM4K56t6pHsgSiee9IcYSTNJ1Q0NBOG5iGZOcxY2d4A/s1600/kk11.25.2010+014+%2528Large%2529.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI9o4QWQpAb7ndw19DztbnF0MUGSbJfQHfpAQY0rVOVMVnYzcX9uFTtuiMZ0cK-vIvqPPfo_AEG9_wFMUpq7jSfZtsl9seAoIJdM4K56t6pHsgSiee9IcYSTNJ1Q0NBOG5iGZOcxY2d4A/s400/kk11.25.2010+014+%2528Large%2529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543990528244780642" border="0" /></a><br />Parilla Pals!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioGRKwJtRSoBkLITanoSQoEjQhsJqNsFSz2ffWyPzbvj0GfnOQlglZTUhooqZUKfdT5T-IFISHX2zSBFZCllWqZparEu4wGNpx1-KIE3jdWZrzQzyrbRJgdTSUVgaaNOatmLxcXxBUmaA/s1600/kk11.25.2010+012+%2528Large%2529.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioGRKwJtRSoBkLITanoSQoEjQhsJqNsFSz2ffWyPzbvj0GfnOQlglZTUhooqZUKfdT5T-IFISHX2zSBFZCllWqZparEu4wGNpx1-KIE3jdWZrzQzyrbRJgdTSUVgaaNOatmLxcXxBUmaA/s400/kk11.25.2010+012+%2528Large%2529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543990527138456578" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn0L_NUfqV89ofP1mwL-DPJaXRUN-p6PePQgxQn7ZYp_uWTqQ1P0vPuMNSpcV6cqn25oto6z4-tL9CzTRwvCRv0VNkDooZlQvuA6b_8OFw_BQpJesPG7b1XGKmW1UBHSVmBdoKS_E1cxo/s1600/kk11.25.2010+016+%2528Large%2529.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn0L_NUfqV89ofP1mwL-DPJaXRUN-p6PePQgxQn7ZYp_uWTqQ1P0vPuMNSpcV6cqn25oto6z4-tL9CzTRwvCRv0VNkDooZlQvuA6b_8OFw_BQpJesPG7b1XGKmW1UBHSVmBdoKS_E1cxo/s400/kk11.25.2010+016+%2528Large%2529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543990532160611170" border="0" /></a>The Aftermath...<br /></div><br />Time for some new adventures in Rosario!<br />On another exciting note:: We made our Christmas plans! On December 19th we cross into Uruguay to La Paloma and spend a few days sunbathing, surfing and fishing on the white sand beach. Then we will head to Colonial de Sacramento for a few days of wine tasting and riding mopeds! Looking forward to our Holiday aboard.<br /><br /><br /></div></div></div></div>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-42293712922413538042010-11-18T17:02:00.009-03:002010-11-18T23:16:57.136-03:00Wine and Mate in Cafayate<span style="font-family:georgia;">Salta can be summarized by lots of fresh, delicious, abundant, and relatively inexpensive food.</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">Our days consisted of waking up between 9 am and noon, enjoying some amazing coffee, bizcochos with jam and dulce de leche, as well as our books.</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">We would usually chat with the great variety of people at our colorful hostal (from friendly global travelers of France Israel USA Germany Belgium Brazil, Zionists, over-zealous and often enraged hippies, and monarchial aged Argentinean tourists, and the local flavor).</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">At about 2 pm we were ready to start our day, and headed out into the busy streets of Salta.</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">Usually we would venture out to explore the city for a bit, but then peruse different cafes or panederias for a cheap snack.</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">However, by far our favorite part of Salta was cooking our own food: lots of fresh fruit and veggies, as well as an abundance of bread (Ivan was so excited for Mediterranean cuisine that he burnt his gums with the exorbitant amounts of balsamic vinegar he poured liberally on everything…).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:+0;"></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">On our second night, we cooked Caldo de Res for our hostal friends and staff.</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">Fortunately with compromises on the ingredients everything still turned out great, and we even had people scraping the huge cook-pot clean.</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">It was a bit comical how ‘spicy’ they found the recipe, even though we cut back on the heat quite a bit (but we are half Mexican after all…).</span><span style="font-size:+0;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6PHav3U1ruuAUJHGL3cxMPaHHcPk2vHFsDJTnyIQunXAbrR2p3Yg9ryUojp4JnDaPNwxaoYG0snsVVd56PJfs9ZDQnQmRqHUOsMy3z1YRupQ0ALjfCZaniQeMmbr8_g4HkTVIwNx0uA/s1600/KK11.18.2010+005.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540984340094739154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 196px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6PHav3U1ruuAUJHGL3cxMPaHHcPk2vHFsDJTnyIQunXAbrR2p3Yg9ryUojp4JnDaPNwxaoYG0snsVVd56PJfs9ZDQnQmRqHUOsMy3z1YRupQ0ALjfCZaniQeMmbr8_g4HkTVIwNx0uA/s400/KK11.18.2010+005.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia" align="center">Caldo de Rez (and $3.00 magnums)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia">An even greater treat was Veronica’s empenadas.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>The hostal owner brought in enormous bags of meat, flour, onions, eggs, potatoes, and spices that were all kneaded, diced, and stirred by the energetic hostal guests.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>The dough was made by mixing flour water and salt, and then pressed through a spaghetti roller to be cut out into circles.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>From there the chunks of lomo, onion, egg, paprika, and potato were placed in small spoonfuls into the circular empanada cut-outs.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>There we folded and crimped into delicious pillows.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>(Kristin was far better at making the angelic pillows, while Ivan’s were… functional…).<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>They were put into the boiler for a short period of time, and then gobbled up by the slobbering hostal guests.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>Ivan only ate 12+…<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>Definitely going to be making these state-side!<span style="font-size:+0;"><br /></p></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW0S1b8EeUH0RZiW3TjB5uE7WqvGzAk2jLk9vIqR6DXSvJlgHwM1Jyx_6dIcrW5eG8NSJr5H952AhqgfBJX7rhHeXid7gZFJC0BnZMBMloHENYJsZdE9mMWNpJt9uA2VubK2IObDIBhmk/s1600/KK11.18.2010+006.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540984328254078962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW0S1b8EeUH0RZiW3TjB5uE7WqvGzAk2jLk9vIqR6DXSvJlgHwM1Jyx_6dIcrW5eG8NSJr5H952AhqgfBJX7rhHeXid7gZFJC0BnZMBMloHENYJsZdE9mMWNpJt9uA2VubK2IObDIBhmk/s400/KK11.18.2010+006.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia" align="center">Empenada professional</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Fxhz7FUSffwILSnaI4QBLaWPZddQzEiIFdOFuf9JLus8Q66W6c-bftcA8AGxQPvx2obOh0BnDfk4m3KmuLGoYuh8GDYnk66VRvlRTxLVhtMlebMH8XUs7SDIqOn388nL_s5RiSI6BZI/s1600/KK11.18.2010+007.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540984314254607874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Fxhz7FUSffwILSnaI4QBLaWPZddQzEiIFdOFuf9JLus8Q66W6c-bftcA8AGxQPvx2obOh0BnDfk4m3KmuLGoYuh8GDYnk66VRvlRTxLVhtMlebMH8XUs7SDIqOn388nL_s5RiSI6BZI/s400/KK11.18.2010+007.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia">On November 15<sup>th</sup> we took a short bus ride from Salta to the small wine town of Cafayate.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>Though windy and stomach turning, it was incredibly scenic.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>Kristin ogled at the rock formations and the dramatic folding and variegation of the rock structures.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>The river valley and the vegetation was also very unique.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>Of course at the 15 min rest stop we gorged on some steaming empanadas.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" face="georgia">Scenic drive from Salta to Cafayate</p><p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iV9A7VhZZXGWKk8YS4Kr6BENArFWYvS1HoHoor10Ffb-oWg8QSn3PX4Ex6fHJWw7X7E5iktntoIZWbVArg8D32Jg08EviJy86tAj2rYkT1pCqK92g8M2D_nGeovs7wjH_qR3ZzLNGZc/s1600/KK11.18.2010+044.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540984351814975618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iV9A7VhZZXGWKk8YS4Kr6BENArFWYvS1HoHoor10Ffb-oWg8QSn3PX4Ex6fHJWw7X7E5iktntoIZWbVArg8D32Jg08EviJy86tAj2rYkT1pCqK92g8M2D_nGeovs7wjH_qR3ZzLNGZc/s400/KK11.18.2010+044.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhylasNjH4YYEUa7TWvqb_eErnmo4IJLvFVjKrX03uOExtOPmxJ703_ohw2RQ2peshwHmARIRckMeCL5WwIarnlKYKs6UltixZ7wGJ5Y85Ei92jj1QBvfwPCME-pn8aTk-cCWahxzVFtgY/s1600/KK11.18.2010+040.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540984348234735154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhylasNjH4YYEUa7TWvqb_eErnmo4IJLvFVjKrX03uOExtOPmxJ703_ohw2RQ2peshwHmARIRckMeCL5WwIarnlKYKs6UltixZ7wGJ5Y85Ei92jj1QBvfwPCME-pn8aTk-cCWahxzVFtgY/s400/KK11.18.2010+040.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia">Cafayate (pronounced cafa-jha-tay) has been a food-coma inducing pleasure ride.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>Our first evening here we enjoyed a dinner of salad, warm bread, barbequed lomo, and some unique drinking games with their abundant and cheap wine (1 liter for 15pesos = $3.50!!).<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>After a short walk around the balmy beautiful town, we collapsed into comfy beds and slept like baby lambs.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>The following day we went to 4 different winery/bodegas to try some of the regional favorites.</p><p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia"></p><p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia">Eschart was the first winery we ventured into.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>This winery definitely focused on some serious quantity (producing 4.5 million liters of wine from 375 hectacres per year!).<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>The scale of the place was baffling, even if their young wines (2009-10…) did taste a bit like grape juice.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>Every part of the winery was absolutely vast.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>In their defense though, Mark and Laura purchased and shared the Torrontes Reserve, which was unbelievably good.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>Torrontes is the most common white wine grape in the region, which the town is famous for.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>It tastes a lot like an over sweetened French wine, but if done right it is Amazing on a hot afternoon (with some empanadas of course…). We feel as if we are somewhat wine snobs down here, enjoying the wines, but not raving about them. I guess our California palate is just accustomed to other varieties, tannins, etc...</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" face="georgia">Bodacious Bodegas</p><p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKb1Tcp0PTVUPhv_I84JPW1O1CYSmdAzYtS4_c2OKmy3VlHEeVbibuJNRNwk0gf6eMVrnuXJTwDQzBpksG6UgfCgn9H08StEOuuuYb87nDbP1xKFYmdfgIs70jYZSzsedp5I1OwRzt_Vc/s1600/KK11.18.2010+050.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540985553163556930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKb1Tcp0PTVUPhv_I84JPW1O1CYSmdAzYtS4_c2OKmy3VlHEeVbibuJNRNwk0gf6eMVrnuXJTwDQzBpksG6UgfCgn9H08StEOuuuYb87nDbP1xKFYmdfgIs70jYZSzsedp5I1OwRzt_Vc/s400/KK11.18.2010+050.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="right" face="georgia"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg98y9ypV27gad3dp8lXNV03diYsucJhYQ4hmJJ_ukztRhxHNT877YHiRqPFckHM5FFNlI_93BJ8kL1_vzcU01TaQgP8uJHbVIVc7l5a-BEJSv-XAsckyzJ-1n8-UYIRtSWjrDrMEYdgKw/s1600/ivan11.18.2010+013.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540988263895013170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg98y9ypV27gad3dp8lXNV03diYsucJhYQ4hmJJ_ukztRhxHNT877YHiRqPFckHM5FFNlI_93BJ8kL1_vzcU01TaQgP8uJHbVIVc7l5a-BEJSv-XAsckyzJ-1n8-UYIRtSWjrDrMEYdgKw/s400/ivan11.18.2010+013.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" face="georgia">The Organic Press</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="right" face="georgia"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3qwsmndC-zfotDrWnOECzZQ5-KRrYnRoxwfILCH7BbAQuJvfqw5fcEmEA_3eJVOPSzF2tClNO4EzhJoQzfDPPrHY2bSpGNXe5iyjBXg8iq0VrWOgaBAVqBlDHoLjostBvkam3UgdzYVo/s1600/KK11.18.2010+058.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540985544425000706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3qwsmndC-zfotDrWnOECzZQ5-KRrYnRoxwfILCH7BbAQuJvfqw5fcEmEA_3eJVOPSzF2tClNO4EzhJoQzfDPPrHY2bSpGNXe5iyjBXg8iq0VrWOgaBAVqBlDHoLjostBvkam3UgdzYVo/s400/KK11.18.2010+058.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia">After this winery we visited 3 more, all of which were fairly similar.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>Most memorable though was a small ‘artisan’ organic bodega called Nanni.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>We took a short tour of the operation and got a good belly-laugh at their serious assertion that organic wine won’t induce a hangover, irregardless of the quantity.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>We didn’t test their theory since the wine tasted a bit too young for us.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>However, another bodega called Domingo Molino had an amazing cabernet.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>We purchased the 2006 reserve (seriously, one of the ‘oldest’ wines we spotted… and for 60 pesos or 15$), and plan to drink it at a nice Peña (no corkage fee here!!).<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>Afterwards we enjoyed some of the wine we purchased with local salami and goat-cheese.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>Truly, this is our interpretation of Eden!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRp7VcWoi6boke86Sd3URASZ6fFXjP8AoT8n4qnhB0z0hD7phm6-p8cbg2lzACA0MNsGc-HUfybURiyBVK_Dd3LUk02X9EMKimWiKVI7phb_ecoteggO2ZM5G16ny_glwjY0RSpV-LXks/s1600/ivan11.18.2010+006.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540988256017812338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRp7VcWoi6boke86Sd3URASZ6fFXjP8AoT8n4qnhB0z0hD7phm6-p8cbg2lzACA0MNsGc-HUfybURiyBVK_Dd3LUk02X9EMKimWiKVI7phb_ecoteggO2ZM5G16ny_glwjY0RSpV-LXks/s400/ivan11.18.2010+006.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJ2ZHws_Xt_L78fB-_zsXgAm_tJqAt6YobLMMsK4Bls5sYPZg1i00s4A_GPeIYxO6qp-wEKHVW50MIsxhwrcUEK1HeC5M3dj27Fjc_5t8NCGX4H5OdMxcbR_vCH-pxK84j6zAKJnZ1Ag/s1600/ivan11.18.2010+025.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540988277192844546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJ2ZHws_Xt_L78fB-_zsXgAm_tJqAt6YobLMMsK4Bls5sYPZg1i00s4A_GPeIYxO6qp-wEKHVW50MIsxhwrcUEK1HeC5M3dj27Fjc_5t8NCGX4H5OdMxcbR_vCH-pxK84j6zAKJnZ1Ag/s400/ivan11.18.2010+025.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiILvm6IiKRRwlSnSZymZhFTwo_X860EcNhUfF7AE4HrYFbPgcQawy9muSALBnmdVH-WOi0rr7lqw8AsGqliASaFNLZ6wc6tlKRZUvhnbUbDjLujE65R_S_lpq7_mM5tSSdwyNh3P98jLM/s1600/ivan11.18.2010+019.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540988266354739186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiILvm6IiKRRwlSnSZymZhFTwo_X860EcNhUfF7AE4HrYFbPgcQawy9muSALBnmdVH-WOi0rr7lqw8AsGqliASaFNLZ6wc6tlKRZUvhnbUbDjLujE65R_S_lpq7_mM5tSSdwyNh3P98jLM/s400/ivan11.18.2010+019.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia">Another great perk in the wine influenced town of Cafayate was the Helado de Vino (wine ice cream!) More of a wine sorbet. This small ice cream shop specialized in the vino blaco: Torrontes and vino tinto: Cabernet. A very nice treat for the hot afternoons in Cafayate.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSCLv9tUhPVxt7CA-J8Tc1PLeJVIcOQjFEVBbcs6hueryHdEOunq4O8AtxJkxJNAcRECJCDP23guco0MWkQUkc70Cch8XoEggtmo1wop8RqUGo-3GPm9wihdQXgj6xcPI7VK0NLSXLPo/s1600/11.18.2010markandlaura+006.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540989177083617954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUSCLv9tUhPVxt7CA-J8Tc1PLeJVIcOQjFEVBbcs6hueryHdEOunq4O8AtxJkxJNAcRECJCDP23guco0MWkQUkc70Cch8XoEggtmo1wop8RqUGo-3GPm9wihdQXgj6xcPI7VK0NLSXLPo/s400/11.18.2010markandlaura+006.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia">Yesterday we went to a working cheese factory and farm.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>First we got walk with the frolicking goats (happy goats come from… Argentina!). <span style="font-size:+0;"></span>We were fortunate also to see almost every part of their lifecycle: pregnant mommy goats absolutely bulging, timid kids, stinky males, and the chewing herds that moseyed in the alfalfa fields.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>They had just over 400 milk-producing goats that pumped out about 650 liters of delicious milk per day.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>They also had 20 giant milk cows.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>The process was very balanced and holistic, where a neighboring winery would give grape seeds and skins for protein/fiber, and the goats would give their nutrient rich poo-pellets in return.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>The process is almost organic, except Argentina requires the animals to be inoculated with antibiotics twice a year for T.B and Pneumonia.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>Other than that it was incredibly clean (especially the utter-sucking room! – they can milk 400 cows in 2-3 hours!).<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>Probably good Ed and Nadia weren’t on the tour, otherwise they would sell all there assets in CA and start their own cheesy farm here!!<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>After the tour we left with several pounds of cheese which we have been enjoying with our friends here for the last 2 days with our different local wines.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3YtrND85XtX0ZMySGJsHEdjRqsTI9xAZvz0c-Hya2WZXE71slEOZaynTq6lim9D21tcPdb2-IUd8HGGePbTZxeV_gjPwwRdXuicWSS4Y9yc5dYfFgG8b0KrBGUIH7qpyYzL67emaKupA/s1600/11.18.2010markandlaura+032.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540986724334872930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3YtrND85XtX0ZMySGJsHEdjRqsTI9xAZvz0c-Hya2WZXE71slEOZaynTq6lim9D21tcPdb2-IUd8HGGePbTZxeV_gjPwwRdXuicWSS4Y9yc5dYfFgG8b0KrBGUIH7qpyYzL67emaKupA/s400/11.18.2010markandlaura+032.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ebe0VktMuBgwqRlDIBmwdtfNV4TfZc8jcZ1_Px6ECXY7Dp4ukuvKyaFzbZr5L4R_y4Fjahq80xku0YHmU4IVvyMAYGjZ_hWX2mTi4C-1lN-pCE4m4vt2wneUrcuFeZ9MvJ4a1DttdDU/s1600/KK11.18.2010+083.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540986723839998770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ebe0VktMuBgwqRlDIBmwdtfNV4TfZc8jcZ1_Px6ECXY7Dp4ukuvKyaFzbZr5L4R_y4Fjahq80xku0YHmU4IVvyMAYGjZ_hWX2mTi4C-1lN-pCE4m4vt2wneUrcuFeZ9MvJ4a1DttdDU/s400/KK11.18.2010+083.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia" align="center">Milk Sucking Station</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiERuPLh0VtHAIZ3BPfFaz9mscB8lyR5ptfdIyJqY2emniFHk9XxHinoN1Vk9OHosMiKOAEJspXCiglCSrS76ppcnlz7wuiBEuDrB30LYH1Z7P6oRZ7TiqV1bzEZvpDhZFNoCD0zV1DFIU/s1600/KK11.18.2010+096.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540986732694604626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiERuPLh0VtHAIZ3BPfFaz9mscB8lyR5ptfdIyJqY2emniFHk9XxHinoN1Vk9OHosMiKOAEJspXCiglCSrS76ppcnlz7wuiBEuDrB30LYH1Z7P6oRZ7TiqV1bzEZvpDhZFNoCD0zV1DFIU/s400/KK11.18.2010+096.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEl-WukMBNilmSo7ZzSElh0RphlLlmpe-0FVQ1W8GrpjgyS7ww532u_sBBA-Kb98ifXartZz_YtO_oyG8Mp3BmtDZ97x10CZlNVTL3PL_bfPTEgiBNnCAzcqq0S-m7gXgxJ0_rXTyAmGQ/s1600/11.18.2010markandlaura+050.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540986728544760546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEl-WukMBNilmSo7ZzSElh0RphlLlmpe-0FVQ1W8GrpjgyS7ww532u_sBBA-Kb98ifXartZz_YtO_oyG8Mp3BmtDZ97x10CZlNVTL3PL_bfPTEgiBNnCAzcqq0S-m7gXgxJ0_rXTyAmGQ/s400/11.18.2010markandlaura+050.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia">Unsurprisingly we haven’t done any of the hiking we initially intended to (except to bodegas…).<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>Our next stop though we will be in Tafi del Valle, where we will burn off our opulent empanada/queso/bread/vino bellies.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>We will really miss the Casa de Empanadas though, or what Ivan fondly called the Casa de EmpaTodos!<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>We tried everything on the menu, and visited almost every day for lunch….</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia" align="center">12 different empanadas to choose from...</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKDNu51XdnDW5CfWcxm7Iv6kBGVxYpaNqGDcCQKX-700RAydfoNi2xFHr_izRBzXsS7lbzru2DjYkqt3undefftfYgDL2UoQkqNNwfZ0oWqy1OfDXaXzaJodXFexywtbIQdN7sl7W1E4/s1600/KK11.18.2010+048.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540989148734587810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKDNu51XdnDW5CfWcxm7Iv6kBGVxYpaNqGDcCQKX-700RAydfoNi2xFHr_izRBzXsS7lbzru2DjYkqt3undefftfYgDL2UoQkqNNwfZ0oWqy1OfDXaXzaJodXFexywtbIQdN7sl7W1E4/s400/KK11.18.2010+048.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsmH_4TOiZGHHeVY3kIlePAGsPagBK6ue3d6o7NR9frOmwWWx0_fTJ8oHMK00pxGZN95uFXgafkVEMOD4iWTc_awk2D0l0UtaVqNHtTjJUOuXlN-RY1OjEYoPyneWELP5fiumBTZQP6cM/s1600/KK11.18.2010+063.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540989161482634466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsmH_4TOiZGHHeVY3kIlePAGsPagBK6ue3d6o7NR9frOmwWWx0_fTJ8oHMK00pxGZN95uFXgafkVEMOD4iWTc_awk2D0l0UtaVqNHtTjJUOuXlN-RY1OjEYoPyneWELP5fiumBTZQP6cM/s400/KK11.18.2010+063.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: georgia">Next stop, Tafi del Valle! (tah-fee del vah-jheh)</p>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-20349517486662386782010-11-11T12:19:00.014-03:002010-11-11T15:58:36.192-03:00Salar de Uyuni and around<span style="font-family:georgia;">When we got to the bus terminal in Potosi, we knew the trip to Uyuni would be fantastic upon hearing a woman about a meter tall screeching out </span><i style="font-family: georgia;">UYYUUUNIII!!!!</i><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">Her shrill call stuck with us for the remainder of our trip, and we would spontaneously shout it out to each other.</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">As it turns out, Uyuni was a fantastic 4 day adventure with some surreal landscapes, geology and morphology, and the flora and fauna were all new to us (except the llamas!).</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">After the night bus into the city, we crashed into our beds in the hostel, and were ready to go first thing when the alarm went off. </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia">Day 1:</p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia">We arrived on time at the Andes Salt Expedition office only to find that it was still closed.<span style=""> </span>Worried that we may have chosen the wrong tour company, our fears were assuaged when the troupe of employees arrived in a convoy of Toyota Land Cruisers (honestly, we think Uyuni has the absolute highest per-capita amount of these vehicles in the world…. Every other car is one of the 4-wheeling beasts).<span style=""> </span>After meeting Lorenzo, our guide, we loaded up the car, piled in, and plugged the tunes.<span style=""> </span>We immediately took a liking to Lorenzo for his driving and dancing skillz, easy laugh, and broad knowledge of the surroundings.<span style=""> </span>We actually saved some money by getting a Spanish speaking guide, which turned out to be a great choice, and a fantastic way to practice our Spanish.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: georgia;">Our first stop was the train graveyard, which was a collection of British steam trains that fell out of use and are now rusting into the sands outside of the city.<span style=""> </span>It was interesting climbing through all of the different rusted train skeletons.<span style=""> </span>After this stop we loaded up with food and headed out to the salt flat.<span style=""> </span>We all gawked at the endless white flat landscape that stretched farther than our eyes could strain.<span style=""> </span>We arrived at a salt processing area, where salt was piled into mounds with shovels and hoes and left to drain.<span style=""> </span>Once it is dry that press it into bricks and send it away.<span style=""> </span>They also had bags of salt to buy and use for every single meal (things are quite over-salted here!).<span style=""> </span>After this we saw the Ojos del Salar, which are pools of bubbling sulfur and other minerals that are pushed to the surface from a volcano that was over 12km away!<span style=""> </span>After Kristin named the different minerals present, we hopped back into the Cruiser and headed to a Salt hotel (the entire building is made from salt bricks cut from the Salar!).<span style=""> </span>Here we enjoyed an awesome meal of fried llama steaks, quinoa, and a fresh salad, yumm!<span style=""> </span>We also took some of the typical perspective shots that many tourists love to do out on the flats.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1TNLItrwI3FjOkql9eeutHGKbdzVviPOrmunoazpZWWKmLDzy19Ir5kzDnsLfTk2U3I7uoAUKVX1VLypoYkG9WJTGQwvfL3kHZdap4WaSYfBuLi7VuF9DPeVwhT2Bjt9e56dth8vNK0/s1600/DSC_2211.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1TNLItrwI3FjOkql9eeutHGKbdzVviPOrmunoazpZWWKmLDzy19Ir5kzDnsLfTk2U3I7uoAUKVX1VLypoYkG9WJTGQwvfL3kHZdap4WaSYfBuLi7VuF9DPeVwhT2Bjt9e56dth8vNK0/s400/DSC_2211.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538348291511190674" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3UOrYSxAPehpD1rGcOaPYpY3HwKFKTD-nb8UTDs8CBJ7kpLsPWzpYDfWGKn2eOv0Tu1toHb7Kfni57zfqSbKgaycwKwafNHaAnXjW3ozFSifkwf4keMCg3uh_RbRukhs0sDuMseCEZVQ/s1600/DSC_2227.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3UOrYSxAPehpD1rGcOaPYpY3HwKFKTD-nb8UTDs8CBJ7kpLsPWzpYDfWGKn2eOv0Tu1toHb7Kfni57zfqSbKgaycwKwafNHaAnXjW3ozFSifkwf4keMCg3uh_RbRukhs0sDuMseCEZVQ/s400/DSC_2227.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538348285256597346" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5YghBpZkADDAU1Fjw8Pxqm5u4xxwdaPxQeO7XmduzUzU6Y7ktNqmO8evwamlJDWbUaVzHyIFHd6UgH_UVGfJkMDWap0Kz5pKdpfSKzqN2VvcdCitWNrGgRHNgGpZZAN0qwAZCfS8_KZY/s1600/DSC_2264.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5YghBpZkADDAU1Fjw8Pxqm5u4xxwdaPxQeO7XmduzUzU6Y7ktNqmO8evwamlJDWbUaVzHyIFHd6UgH_UVGfJkMDWap0Kz5pKdpfSKzqN2VvcdCitWNrGgRHNgGpZZAN0qwAZCfS8_KZY/s400/DSC_2264.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538348283065752082" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU8oeyRHXIMWH201VaLTwfIE9f9SJUfMQULF-kZ6mwOHEPWtIvYRlOn2iGygYC6hisuN0DhFhZ22-kOO2uh0XmyjfRNKkM4fYnX-xM-dEcj8ihh7ubOI4VxuJEln-1b2s_jybDarOti8w/s1600/KK+11.08.2010+Uyuni+073.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU8oeyRHXIMWH201VaLTwfIE9f9SJUfMQULF-kZ6mwOHEPWtIvYRlOn2iGygYC6hisuN0DhFhZ22-kOO2uh0XmyjfRNKkM4fYnX-xM-dEcj8ihh7ubOI4VxuJEln-1b2s_jybDarOti8w/s400/KK+11.08.2010+Uyuni+073.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538348279381457714" border="0" /></a></p><p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQtYKgS8edbmmGPJUU1jjNpejLBCfJAf2V4Kv2vHA2jZelSevhZTfrNKxsPXF_QsaNkhYzcFCBzX4mtEHeRpqeKKdxDbTQKGOkixBN-4skD13VWGpLmUcglmKe8LMdi_2ufGvtkfItW_Y/s1600/DSC_2275.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQtYKgS8edbmmGPJUU1jjNpejLBCfJAf2V4Kv2vHA2jZelSevhZTfrNKxsPXF_QsaNkhYzcFCBzX4mtEHeRpqeKKdxDbTQKGOkixBN-4skD13VWGpLmUcglmKe8LMdi_2ufGvtkfItW_Y/s400/DSC_2275.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538347743443520034" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Kristin riding in Ivan's Giant Shoe!!</p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1QiYzJAS5RgIhrH8bRYHSsUCQGvX56BKmfK188q1MuG7UZGyT5tZz2mDGmen23jP5VpeeLDrdEjTvNIsjGLbYIZH6KwnuiEyxkiunMRdCfuHetps0_ijUwRmDxkNZ5mIA58JgR0p8XK4/s1600/DSC_2292.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1QiYzJAS5RgIhrH8bRYHSsUCQGvX56BKmfK188q1MuG7UZGyT5tZz2mDGmen23jP5VpeeLDrdEjTvNIsjGLbYIZH6KwnuiEyxkiunMRdCfuHetps0_ijUwRmDxkNZ5mIA58JgR0p8XK4/s400/DSC_2292.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538347735473446626" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Ivan squishing Kristin<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESIrFuqvqWA8DyMq96LGOe5suoNcPPbdkAu-1rdGGeXLTs72lP8ugf9GPL4fBNwJbx3kUAkxWlUrIcKGZMzJBW_bCTtLmm93wst94wdmxm7wWZ6uFOT9XfLozMCpvBgtd-rleGdGL_jM/s1600/KK+11.08.2010+Uyuni+029.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESIrFuqvqWA8DyMq96LGOe5suoNcPPbdkAu-1rdGGeXLTs72lP8ugf9GPL4fBNwJbx3kUAkxWlUrIcKGZMzJBW_bCTtLmm93wst94wdmxm7wWZ6uFOT9XfLozMCpvBgtd-rleGdGL_jM/s400/KK+11.08.2010+Uyuni+029.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538347730417277666" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi83Np3O42VUuCYDjJHChzS7ctq2t_t5EZ4bTYKLxkWHdigV9ZcLSsBDmVo37ByJYLPDHEDlFdQt_HdV6MUjcgVrvcdGzy7UTX7WlllrpY0krwyMw3gc_38IHaNCdjjKgGc_axjBlrb6wo/s1600/DSC_2335.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi83Np3O42VUuCYDjJHChzS7ctq2t_t5EZ4bTYKLxkWHdigV9ZcLSsBDmVo37ByJYLPDHEDlFdQt_HdV6MUjcgVrvcdGzy7UTX7WlllrpY0krwyMw3gc_38IHaNCdjjKgGc_axjBlrb6wo/s400/DSC_2335.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538347729641468146" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Ivan, Kristin, Amy, Laura and Mark<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgig2oulZuQvwut_xs_0XYcpJlBTjOoO8cT5RkwnP5AABlEqZ4cBlH_oaIVpq_e5lVihY-AfHUCI4DQ_scH7972gZSSYRuNf_uyFT0gHZ3RxL9SL_TEqCyUTQlOkyAzYaC0Jh7wc3tzQdQ/s1600/DSC_2543.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgig2oulZuQvwut_xs_0XYcpJlBTjOoO8cT5RkwnP5AABlEqZ4cBlH_oaIVpq_e5lVihY-AfHUCI4DQ_scH7972gZSSYRuNf_uyFT0gHZ3RxL9SL_TEqCyUTQlOkyAzYaC0Jh7wc3tzQdQ/s400/DSC_2543.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538347724320794802" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Ivan taking a hit on the Salar<br /></p><p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbTUQj1LbZJyPHFSG8P_WCVl5AWAJmG9TcNHszNjIUcaOD-1Vma6ksgbw0AaNyj9saQBkblQBqNMoMxNFVjP3V5PKZh8HEl1DAk8uRaKot5sGahhwDXeul-aebmpJu7FDm8MH76PMPseE/s1600/DSC_2579.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbTUQj1LbZJyPHFSG8P_WCVl5AWAJmG9TcNHszNjIUcaOD-1Vma6ksgbw0AaNyj9saQBkblQBqNMoMxNFVjP3V5PKZh8HEl1DAk8uRaKot5sGahhwDXeul-aebmpJu7FDm8MH76PMPseE/s400/DSC_2579.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538343159462739234" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Salt blocks being cut from the Salar, used from construction aka: salt hotel<br /></p><p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4lnRwPbGalyxEP8qLl3qRl94eSwb3jXfd163VkXTr2tGp6b_v_gfHgMUdXqaJB_Lv2a7AQ27uhoIon93W3HSpVYADASfbZu4NfAPlDiz7jacfGP1fGBMSG8-4-zifIYYXkxO_aVDN9Y/s1600/kk+pooping.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 197px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4lnRwPbGalyxEP8qLl3qRl94eSwb3jXfd163VkXTr2tGp6b_v_gfHgMUdXqaJB_Lv2a7AQ27uhoIon93W3HSpVYADASfbZu4NfAPlDiz7jacfGP1fGBMSG8-4-zifIYYXkxO_aVDN9Y/s400/kk+pooping.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538346728291083138" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Kristin dropping an Ivan Bomb!!! PUUUU<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzryPizjgc7QSo-IpVhPZBtLq0TNS7dkdVEWtZh0Ge0eofKCha2BvKjdRABNBZXdfGhECcon_uTS8TbQ-_W5WtJqzrjZOXgCdr5yQB8gclSjRko50Le1s6VKA63OXvmS4iInsMyqA_hM4/s1600/DSC_2559.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzryPizjgc7QSo-IpVhPZBtLq0TNS7dkdVEWtZh0Ge0eofKCha2BvKjdRABNBZXdfGhECcon_uTS8TbQ-_W5WtJqzrjZOXgCdr5yQB8gclSjRko50Le1s6VKA63OXvmS4iInsMyqA_hM4/s400/DSC_2559.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538346721904035682" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqrg-fSEWK-7wwVcKqXHhYAV4K5m2NyoR9ftqPwAPhvhU3z6_z_ri9MJqstbiAucrgE2iUso1iQkodbdK-pBNr83YH-9MQvRhRCs5Dr2WgbdOMWbAokqhy64yW_Y5Zig8lE-K7SrQx3jU/s1600/KK+11.08.2010+Uyuni+032.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqrg-fSEWK-7wwVcKqXHhYAV4K5m2NyoR9ftqPwAPhvhU3z6_z_ri9MJqstbiAucrgE2iUso1iQkodbdK-pBNr83YH-9MQvRhRCs5Dr2WgbdOMWbAokqhy64yW_Y5Zig8lE-K7SrQx3jU/s400/KK+11.08.2010+Uyuni+032.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538346715734035522" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Banana Boat hired us for the day for their next ad<br /></p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal">After stuffing ourselves, we crossed the Salar to a tiny town at the base of the volcano Tunupa (our second SPOT was at the top of this volcano crater).<span style=""> </span>Here we relaxed, played dice and cards, got chased by a very needy baby llama, enjoyed a great dinner (more fried llama!), and had some fun learning British Pub-Master rules and etiquette.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Day 2</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">We got up at 5 am before the sun peeked over the Salar, ate a quick breakfast, and piled into the Cruiser for a bumpy ride up to the volcano crater.<span style=""> </span>The sunrise was absolutely breathtaking (unfortunately our pictures couldn’t capture the magic) and we enjoyed the sage scrub and interesting lichens that covered the mountainsides.<span style=""> </span>We walked the last kilometer up the steep road (very difficult at 5200 meters!!), and were in awe as we crested the edge of the crater and looked at the array of reds, yellows, oranges, browns, and whites that were layered and folded inside the crater.<span style=""> </span>The orangey sun-glow accentuated these colors even more (you can even see these colors from our SPOT satellite!).</p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbVklv10h1tW8sdjxnRpok15UO3xmb8HKXfXE3vK8YcLzzWkWCRU_KwkiUxWp5pfsyi2t8rE6zKvUhIiRRjI95jC6Wuy6zpv6JWWTJcKTIiEYR4-YNWviwoIstQUMQV-2G6BhaN30vRHo/s1600/DSC_2392.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbVklv10h1tW8sdjxnRpok15UO3xmb8HKXfXE3vK8YcLzzWkWCRU_KwkiUxWp5pfsyi2t8rE6zKvUhIiRRjI95jC6Wuy6zpv6JWWTJcKTIiEYR4-YNWviwoIstQUMQV-2G6BhaN30vRHo/s400/DSC_2392.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538346704956091474" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">A beautiful sunrise<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCilS-cMxHlbefvcNdLI8SqiDflBrxcQI97QKfqkeZFmXDnjqqOTnVTFy5KyI9C6ggPSC-q-k3bw1We7udZyFk-Qg1vKAK1woZcpqlrQHn66_5U_frnbvnvEDiXyLEj8OfFUwFl1IONa8/s1600/DSC_2412.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCilS-cMxHlbefvcNdLI8SqiDflBrxcQI97QKfqkeZFmXDnjqqOTnVTFy5KyI9C6ggPSC-q-k3bw1We7udZyFk-Qg1vKAK1woZcpqlrQHn66_5U_frnbvnvEDiXyLEj8OfFUwFl1IONa8/s400/DSC_2412.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538346707048249394" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Beautiful natives<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6MaO8-CQWubzJuR-c5r-hH8XrElIyIE9PWiRrBeAUV7zlWBt5JWnOWj01eN1JGPXQS8Gml6rD4U1WF2NzBNewt-XKqQoNYefB_YTzvRvy4Lqlu423S6vzfvbUGSFbkSTBSu44RQ5pkig/s1600/DSC_2417.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6MaO8-CQWubzJuR-c5r-hH8XrElIyIE9PWiRrBeAUV7zlWBt5JWnOWj01eN1JGPXQS8Gml6rD4U1WF2NzBNewt-XKqQoNYefB_YTzvRvy4Lqlu423S6vzfvbUGSFbkSTBSu44RQ5pkig/s400/DSC_2417.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538344574625249650" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXCYPvxozTWiv9H8Pg73YbN4I4c5uOFoLaW0N17qDpTJ1X_ezfoHbza08xlJH_2KtuVCOJt-kSlttAKHxpksuOQICrxg3baza5HVjZezru_Tp_XYPeNTMI7UUfpQMT-U8LZ2XsfwwFybc/s1600/DSC_2419.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXCYPvxozTWiv9H8Pg73YbN4I4c5uOFoLaW0N17qDpTJ1X_ezfoHbza08xlJH_2KtuVCOJt-kSlttAKHxpksuOQICrxg3baza5HVjZezru_Tp_XYPeNTMI7UUfpQMT-U8LZ2XsfwwFybc/s400/DSC_2419.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538344573316065586" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcyRxJUjbA4O9ZVR00xTJnerb4qYJVKjCnQRG1quG62PX0fqMGMnpw8GEYeLOwBo9STivlExOQ6hxKt5d4_vw4ENHwAy_CU0CsQVRt5YKSD_0MXplYK0qqgIepisdpRCp_wtnOY5Yl_g/s1600/DSC_2422.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcyRxJUjbA4O9ZVR00xTJnerb4qYJVKjCnQRG1quG62PX0fqMGMnpw8GEYeLOwBo9STivlExOQ6hxKt5d4_vw4ENHwAy_CU0CsQVRt5YKSD_0MXplYK0qqgIepisdpRCp_wtnOY5Yl_g/s400/DSC_2422.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538344564493190402" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;font-family:georgia;">Before we could descend back down the mountain, we got our first flat… Ivan had fun pulling off the wheel with Lorenzo, with the car teetering on the very rocky steep road.<span style=""> </span>Nothing those two manly men couldn’t handle though!<span style=""> </span>After replacing the wheel, we descended the rocky slope for a much anticipated lunch of fried pollo, potatoes, and steamed vegetables.<span style=""> </span>Soon after lunch, we headed back onto the Salar to visit some flamingos, llamas, a museum, and a silly rock garden.<span style=""> </span>We were anxious to get to fish island, which has the oldest cactus species in the world!<span style=""> </span>The desert heat was really intense, and the island was shimmering when we drove up to it.<span style=""> </span>It was surreal walking around a small island hillscape covered in cactus and was surrounded by a sea of white.<span style=""> </span>After walking the island, we were happy to grab a cold Pasceña beer and take some more perspective shots on the salt flat.<span style=""> </span>Driving over the salt flat, we crossed to another hotel made of salt.<span style=""> </span>On the way we got our second flat, which Ivan, Mark, and Lorenzo efficiently fixed within 5 min (faster than a Bolivian NASCAR pit-stop).<span style=""> </span>That night we enjoyed sitting around the table for 2 hours with stomachs gurgling like crazy.<span style=""> </span>The soup and Pique Macho were inhaled!<span style=""> </span>That night it got near 0 degree Celsius, but our sleeping bags were up to the challenge.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;font-family:georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVYW6OeFCaQNgxz0B-hNpWdoUxCqqYt4RIwADqDJ2DOwvAmnlcbKRNMPAmfm7htVAeYiuwH6vU4i9AYzDGI5yiCpN7rrk1kdEHOzXFfxbnrexpyJR6E6jGnBJeY6SBs_ko1-8aOq2wO0k/s1600/DSC_2501.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVYW6OeFCaQNgxz0B-hNpWdoUxCqqYt4RIwADqDJ2DOwvAmnlcbKRNMPAmfm7htVAeYiuwH6vU4i9AYzDGI5yiCpN7rrk1kdEHOzXFfxbnrexpyJR6E6jGnBJeY6SBs_ko1-8aOq2wO0k/s400/DSC_2501.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538344559667185458" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0vrtm-rT2OIjmd5apcogGdTh1iuRg5zcbscfUUtF0IO70MdPQWohpI7am3-1Iet64NxVKyYm8DE74Scjur5IzhOQi1M5OBwxdo2eQCefJVtkR-Tw17fQiXCXoO6EyaFz_ePuZwa8MZI8/s1600/DSC_2513.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0vrtm-rT2OIjmd5apcogGdTh1iuRg5zcbscfUUtF0IO70MdPQWohpI7am3-1Iet64NxVKyYm8DE74Scjur5IzhOQi1M5OBwxdo2eQCefJVtkR-Tw17fQiXCXoO6EyaFz_ePuZwa8MZI8/s400/DSC_2513.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538344553049238786" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;font-family:georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyhWQIv15t9Z3wqqq9V3ZgfFudaWo9e36uGfXLo6Jf1zAHWist-jDSgBkPX38mr0C0tcfvgR62agsyu-2gdthuZ8PLmoYUIFk1j_5vxq0tvw-8EoHZB9PL9pIhMfyYbciC0jr20gLzII/s1600/KK+11.08.2010+Uyuni+094.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyhWQIv15t9Z3wqqq9V3ZgfFudaWo9e36uGfXLo6Jf1zAHWist-jDSgBkPX38mr0C0tcfvgR62agsyu-2gdthuZ8PLmoYUIFk1j_5vxq0tvw-8EoHZB9PL9pIhMfyYbciC0jr20gLzII/s400/KK+11.08.2010+Uyuni+094.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538343169911699122" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;font-family:georgia;">Day 3:</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt;font-family:georgia;">The day started off with another flat ten minutes into our journey.<span style=""> </span>Exasperated with the tube-tires, we had to flag down another vehicle to lend us their spare so we could make it to San Juan (only 15min away…).<span style=""> </span>Here, we good naturedly watched Bolivian efficiency, or men hacking at tires with pic-axes to remove the tire from the rim… Worried we would only last another ten minutes, we took bets as to how long the new set of tubes would last.<span style=""> </span>Fortunately, we were all wrong since we didn’t get another flat for the remainder of the trip.<span style=""> </span>This day we covered a lot of distance and saw a great deal.<span style=""> </span>We saw five different Laguna’s with rare flamingos, llamas, and the shy vicuñas around them.<span style=""> </span>Our favorite lagoon was the famed Laguna Colorada, which definitely lived up to its redness (we did our third SPOT check-in here).<span style=""> </span>The redness of the lagoon was from the excess boron accumulated from a nearby source (It was currently being excavated and mined to another town) .<span style=""> </span>When we stepped out of the Cruiser to witness this beautiful lagoon, the chilly wind nearly knocked us over (Hint: Kristin was able to proudly execute Michael Jackson’s famous lean). <span style=""> </span>Later that evening we met 3 students from Oregon working on their PHD’s in geology and volcanism.<span style=""> </span>Kristin thought this was very fascinating, however we did not get a chance to thoroughly chat due to their need to get to bed early. Bummer!!!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkrgzb73ndQFkWcgngGJ99L9gLLoA7Y5AkP9qRm-qZ3VNedb6J8goSH6dQG7IoyUfRXyUeqPB0BkPy3GTyaJyPPPTHjT4mo4dOC-T7MRSeQu7SdKyMu5BKrUalBbB-w3RtBvE0ubS9oSk/s1600/DSC_2623.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkrgzb73ndQFkWcgngGJ99L9gLLoA7Y5AkP9qRm-qZ3VNedb6J8goSH6dQG7IoyUfRXyUeqPB0BkPy3GTyaJyPPPTHjT4mo4dOC-T7MRSeQu7SdKyMu5BKrUalBbB-w3RtBvE0ubS9oSk/s400/DSC_2623.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538343140279714034" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MoGxeA4Co_OZWEeE9hWknrw4uLB3JiW6RH2Y1CtwsyXyTaKpdQRgMzeTpz5AekSRskXggaCOT_1YJ_uYrxmTDqKNgEi3L7bijNbjlWWs-tH2odA3etuOvcVIVJUK4NgaS2WRl8sNrZs/s1600/DSC_2635.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MoGxeA4Co_OZWEeE9hWknrw4uLB3JiW6RH2Y1CtwsyXyTaKpdQRgMzeTpz5AekSRskXggaCOT_1YJ_uYrxmTDqKNgEi3L7bijNbjlWWs-tH2odA3etuOvcVIVJUK4NgaS2WRl8sNrZs/s400/DSC_2635.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538342206161756002" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia; text-align: center;">Vicunas<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3hji7ynqRVHHJGSgu5RsPTx53ajoZVugId1Dwo05xge4Y8X_1bgHQT5Sa55WulFTqXD03MgEv3p0797ZVh_5xA3GiFrUISql6gYy2fYeznNWjMLWHsG4OgYQiusxP0Jt2vg8fB75_oc/s1600/DSC_2698.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3hji7ynqRVHHJGSgu5RsPTx53ajoZVugId1Dwo05xge4Y8X_1bgHQT5Sa55WulFTqXD03MgEv3p0797ZVh_5xA3GiFrUISql6gYy2fYeznNWjMLWHsG4OgYQiusxP0Jt2vg8fB75_oc/s400/DSC_2698.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538342189374548978" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia; text-align: center;">The famous MJ lean, no contraption needed...that's how good KK is<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmHLOm5NDN-NWrg7ibGQbndBgIuYOPhpAtFYNYY-T6yDCWF3Rcno1uh8txBxlpmQc0RDMoMnTWRt4Q6IxGooUPBCXHGDjxMQHdyF_ZGn2vpXH2nYy2Cwfxp2cgf0VdsWHZDZVX6_T-tw/s1600/DSC_2703.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmHLOm5NDN-NWrg7ibGQbndBgIuYOPhpAtFYNYY-T6yDCWF3Rcno1uh8txBxlpmQc0RDMoMnTWRt4Q6IxGooUPBCXHGDjxMQHdyF_ZGn2vpXH2nYy2Cwfxp2cgf0VdsWHZDZVX6_T-tw/s400/DSC_2703.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538342182405102594" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzudbJ1zTx6ojRwCiHWitPwMZpYvWeSPWw8GMUtyA0EHZI7T7d1pQNM3lnWMmcjh9gUhPKGDIhg7MoglLvppXA0t1oOG9CCDjdWrp59187Vy67RU3us-7oRsqvthv8GGzjsNK3KkIenw/s1600/DSC_2707.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzudbJ1zTx6ojRwCiHWitPwMZpYvWeSPWw8GMUtyA0EHZI7T7d1pQNM3lnWMmcjh9gUhPKGDIhg7MoglLvppXA0t1oOG9CCDjdWrp59187Vy67RU3us-7oRsqvthv8GGzjsNK3KkIenw/s400/DSC_2707.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538342181175645346" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia; text-align: center;">A true rare flamingo siting<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia;">Another great site we witnessed was the ACTIVE volcano, which was standing half in Bolivia and half in Chile.<span style=""> </span>It was extremely thrilling to see steam and other volatile gases fuming from the summit of the volcano.<span style=""> </span>From our vantage point, we stood on rounded volcanic rock formations called <i style="">Ramaditas</i>.<span style=""> </span>We were also lucky enough to catch some surf while out on the rocks….hehe</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnXXytj49oMwHeZ5klKPTZwvDM5z_XdzOs1U9A976Ve2xskKkimAGncNxi9WRdLw2DJUnc8p1sq4D89_RsUnQs6saChjy6usq-G4D1aPcD4wJacj29ejx7BlaKNoDwbWJBjHTCqrqjXq8/s1600/DSC_2605.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnXXytj49oMwHeZ5klKPTZwvDM5z_XdzOs1U9A976Ve2xskKkimAGncNxi9WRdLw2DJUnc8p1sq4D89_RsUnQs6saChjy6usq-G4D1aPcD4wJacj29ejx7BlaKNoDwbWJBjHTCqrqjXq8/s400/DSC_2605.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538343152655490162" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia; text-align: center;">The active volcano, the active side only in Chile<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV8amcYYq7CWaqf6C953T8la0neXz__-nNuwSjGRxrhcgyUJRU1JzlTmC9zL7YIQ3ygQh1rN39LWh9GfjdklPJ4weMCqu6ia5GnIe1zUC0-i2ApYoQhvSjEmApC4Wjs6iCM6AawdfRcmM/s1600/DSC_2615.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV8amcYYq7CWaqf6C953T8la0neXz__-nNuwSjGRxrhcgyUJRU1JzlTmC9zL7YIQ3ygQh1rN39LWh9GfjdklPJ4weMCqu6ia5GnIe1zUC0-i2ApYoQhvSjEmApC4Wjs6iCM6AawdfRcmM/s400/DSC_2615.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538343152084769554" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia" style="margin-top: 12pt; text-align: center;">Surfs Up<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia;">Next, we crossed the desolate dessert plains, which were very cold and windy.<span style=""> </span>We stopped at a famous rock formation called <i style="">Arbol de Piedra, </i>famous because it was once a giant rock that was thrown from an erupting volcano and through the years has been eroded and shaped by wind and sand fragments.<span style=""> </span>Pretty incredible since the nearest volcano was over 7km away!!!</p><p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2XF9hlgr-X3xGrTEmv8a-HwB0aSJVDn3rTHObnS7kxYT2RdOHPrXh1ZLx3CU-IX6TLq-YMU6yxSYhmT8EfTFLKCQi1kj3gD9fqqlO4hUGzI_EA1dgtxUYaM8RRteG1fiZAQ09LvPJkE/s1600/DSC_2691.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2XF9hlgr-X3xGrTEmv8a-HwB0aSJVDn3rTHObnS7kxYT2RdOHPrXh1ZLx3CU-IX6TLq-YMU6yxSYhmT8EfTFLKCQi1kj3gD9fqqlO4hUGzI_EA1dgtxUYaM8RRteG1fiZAQ09LvPJkE/s400/DSC_2691.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538342199230719026" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia" style="margin-top: 12pt;">This last night we stopped at a nearby pueblo and were told the temperature would get around -20 degrees Celsius. YIKES!!! We truly put our sleeping bags to the test here. Luckily for us, we survived and had no complaints!!! We awoke at the early hour of 4 am to begin our drive to the geysers.<span style=""> </span>These geysers were all natural and the steam reached temperatures of over 1000 degrees Celsius!! We continued our drive as the sun rose to see the mountains that the famous Salvador Dalhi (the famous explorer and painter) found.<span style=""> </span>A stunning, large mountain range that combined and swirled natural colors into the morphology of the mountains.<span style=""> </span>Maybe he used this mountain range as an inspiration for a painting?!!</p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia" style="margin-top: 12pt;">After a bit of driving we came upon the beautiful thermal springs and rest stop for breakfast.<span style=""> </span>We enjoyed a true Bolivian treat for breakfast, pancakes, yogurt, granola, and tea/coffee.<span style=""> </span>YUM!<span style=""> </span>Afterwards, we were encouraged to enjoy a dip in the extremely hot, natural, thermal springs.<span style=""> </span>However, it became more of a human soup and the cold wind didn’t seem too inviting, so we decided to skip and explore the area.<span style=""> </span>Once Lorenzo returned from the human soup “or thermal spring full of tourist chicas!” we continued down the road to the most southern tip of Bolivia to drop off our British friends as they departed into San Pedro, Chile.</p><p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVYhBvotLxHJbalNRHB_vDAi8BhP9PZvyCIGj2vtfuSHHjY2A5uAJKtnNmMnAkJfsPbHp3Vob2TL8mgnyB4Idd_mA_J8c0kqXbS5NkmIythS48AArkSl5CHDdqZeMZpSpMZBXDXO-GcZM/s1600/DSC_2711.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVYhBvotLxHJbalNRHB_vDAi8BhP9PZvyCIGj2vtfuSHHjY2A5uAJKtnNmMnAkJfsPbHp3Vob2TL8mgnyB4Idd_mA_J8c0kqXbS5NkmIythS48AArkSl5CHDdqZeMZpSpMZBXDXO-GcZM/s400/DSC_2711.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538341273526723826" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5x-tGa4NBlSCwjA_b54cuI1zo9ORAxqHtlCmsViY_2FcWx33jsqFiHmkK6JgOIfTYMOKKLhLkjlxSOuQkqKCqB0J9EVQ8PRGfrOiBEyxBKD3INv4HKOzDwFLq1TbFnU2DXWFe0sJ0kE/s1600/DSC_2728.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5x-tGa4NBlSCwjA_b54cuI1zo9ORAxqHtlCmsViY_2FcWx33jsqFiHmkK6JgOIfTYMOKKLhLkjlxSOuQkqKCqB0J9EVQ8PRGfrOiBEyxBKD3INv4HKOzDwFLq1TbFnU2DXWFe0sJ0kE/s400/DSC_2728.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538341265758303234" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGlfR8MPVlVfu8-PaWiHGdSWvzyAhd9qjSZLYR_-TAhucCSqlxUu-f-QKBpA3eh2wSLRMOqr1ppwVgYJB4EWwgxuu1XeuK3AwFJ-Y8PPssTXki0HTMqbv3PssH0hx0-J-vYDfM0K0zw0/s1600/KK+11.08.2010+Uyuni+129.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGlfR8MPVlVfu8-PaWiHGdSWvzyAhd9qjSZLYR_-TAhucCSqlxUu-f-QKBpA3eh2wSLRMOqr1ppwVgYJB4EWwgxuu1XeuK3AwFJ-Y8PPssTXki0HTMqbv3PssH0hx0-J-vYDfM0K0zw0/s400/KK+11.08.2010+Uyuni+129.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538341255134263874" border="0" /></a><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia" style="margin-top: 12pt;">As Lorenzo, Ivan and Kristin enjoyed the very long drive back to Uyuni, we talked about all sorts of different issues, culture comparisons and the surrounding terrain.<span style=""> </span>We enjoyed another delicious lunch and witnessed some incredible rock formations.<span style=""> </span>After the long, dusty, dirty, drive we were ready for some hot showers!! We said our good-byes to Lorenzo and parted our ways…</p><p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7sdOheaZ5dRIJfK6ZD76ku7J7A05y13ldPCwCQyZ5qHLzHG6jWLNC3lKWv7Gky4c2zGqt4T_NxEitv-HVhu9U6qGyq9baacP8G04sBAnQQfxAKaMro6uIPewIZ-Hga5K4IDUlU4WriPg/s1600/KK+11.08.2010+Uyuni+130.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7sdOheaZ5dRIJfK6ZD76ku7J7A05y13ldPCwCQyZ5qHLzHG6jWLNC3lKWv7Gky4c2zGqt4T_NxEitv-HVhu9U6qGyq9baacP8G04sBAnQQfxAKaMro6uIPewIZ-Hga5K4IDUlU4WriPg/s400/KK+11.08.2010+Uyuni+130.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538341246523080434" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq6hjKCxd-8DcHr-H843MqwZfktsiKJE3IWklyAJx9uKFlMhHdkQKjeJcYKzXdUmnZvHEZqwoSvp7rrBYjtinfrqX844zZHnvQKE41H4xcwkjhzvtyV6Isj3i6CbJE-y0ykXsxtFEy0WY/s1600/KK+11.08.2010+Uyuni+133.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq6hjKCxd-8DcHr-H843MqwZfktsiKJE3IWklyAJx9uKFlMhHdkQKjeJcYKzXdUmnZvHEZqwoSvp7rrBYjtinfrqX844zZHnvQKE41H4xcwkjhzvtyV6Isj3i6CbJE-y0ykXsxtFEy0WY/s400/KK+11.08.2010+Uyuni+133.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538341241002147458" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia;"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia; text-align: center;">The Front Seat Perspective</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxMV5ueAC9KUvOBVSbouUM8YtFuOovlehFZsOLqrM2KJrpFR6wrDnldLT8OFJ2dMcl67u4gkuN5XgYcMhqCM2tW4Sh30pAhed1rx718ghK46QE27u3YhGlIAdTmF66cPJ5dFmhlI1b7g/s1600/DSC_2240.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; 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width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTvejCAj8w1UkIxtdgeFez4KKCootxFm3z4_wsbpYiq7fobEuhF1BmqPpEWIsU_JYwkUtBWvrHzQLc_waE-Jf-jDCKaQjY63xuYvUUqwRRi-2ySP-V_KQRRG4lb7DCGD669_KGhHp59RU/s400/DSC_2642.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538349465684340642" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCA5oS-4T7i6LjTzsPgY70Px0M50bwMiyMXjZKqysCl2ioXAhAeYNesDlzDiZJSOmbsapP_zxDGId84K_4kFwgLHawWxRzHm4NBtxVfgWYePd79ZagGAHufrP7W1GfmNhZkP3JyQsuGO0/s1600/DSC_2660.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCA5oS-4T7i6LjTzsPgY70Px0M50bwMiyMXjZKqysCl2ioXAhAeYNesDlzDiZJSOmbsapP_zxDGId84K_4kFwgLHawWxRzHm4NBtxVfgWYePd79ZagGAHufrP7W1GfmNhZkP3JyQsuGO0/s400/DSC_2660.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538349459447612882" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFL_EEOlJ2Y9eo3WNRdtdhTzXKcMOIaboTBjICB63XtQ1HVdAH-nDkBFWpO2JW3aijRiNn85jfvtBUdbzaH7H3KQpgf-s_S5aQ2lqJPxTve3tDdp9_pROTTvXIGEK_ZHx4ofu20CrsSY/s1600/DSC_2695.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFL_EEOlJ2Y9eo3WNRdtdhTzXKcMOIaboTBjICB63XtQ1HVdAH-nDkBFWpO2JW3aijRiNn85jfvtBUdbzaH7H3KQpgf-s_S5aQ2lqJPxTve3tDdp9_pROTTvXIGEK_ZHx4ofu20CrsSY/s400/DSC_2695.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538349457853531618" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLg21PzclvJPAB4eS9djKZhzJ7LWL_-OC2JzuzxOhDiIyza2N0REesdocvXAdAwPSU-iB5kneY7tt4xi_SZVMddi_y2qR4uwTpoVoFvLyAamLLQNBZvRwmMhWjaEdLHWaFNZb32R2I8w0/s1600/DSC_2746.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLg21PzclvJPAB4eS9djKZhzJ7LWL_-OC2JzuzxOhDiIyza2N0REesdocvXAdAwPSU-iB5kneY7tt4xi_SZVMddi_y2qR4uwTpoVoFvLyAamLLQNBZvRwmMhWjaEdLHWaFNZb32R2I8w0/s400/DSC_2746.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538349453788594178" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia;"></p><h2><a href="http://www.spotadventures.com/trip/view?trip_id=232664">Salar de Uyuni</a></h2> <object codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/swflash.cab" width="400" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.spotadventures.com/swf/spot/widget.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="units=english&mode=1&key=ABQIAAAAo2DXVdg4aCTpANH9-rZLZBQc1cmDkVDuu24mH3cz6NMnkWfnQRTE9-38lo3U1aGK6bV89gulZy_Mhg&tripId=232664&startLat=-20.27486&startLon=-67.11807&mapType=Satellite&"><embed src="http://www.spotadventures.com/swf/spot/widget.swf" flashvars="units=english&mode=1&key=ABQIAAAAo2DXVdg4aCTpANH9-rZLZBQc1cmDkVDuu24mH3cz6NMnkWfnQRTE9-38lo3U1aGK6bV89gulZy_Mhg&tripId=232664&startLat=-20.27486&startLon=-67.11807&mapType=Satellite&" play="true" quality="high" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://www.spotadventures.com/">Share your Adventures with SpotAdventures</a><br /><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12pt; font-family: georgia;">We are now in Salta, Argentina.<span style=""> </span>Excited to taste some fresh beef and wash it down with some good vino!!!Last night we had an absolute blast with Danny, the young and vibrant owner of our cozy hostal. At 10:30 he asked us if we wanted to go on a short 'walk.' This turned into an amazing 3 hour excursion, where we were shown the night life of the city. We were treated in an amazing restaurant where the beer was cold, the live folkloric music was fantastic, and the dancers were very talented. Danny of course got the dancers attention and they dragged us up onstage to dance a number. Fortunately they were very patient and didn't expect to much from us! The singer also kept shouting out 'California!' as we 4 dancers spun circles in front of him. After the incredible fun in the restaurant, Danny insisted we have some Argentinian "munchie food," which was a milanesa sandwich. We all shared this hamburger-like treat in the park and talked about differences between Bolivia and Argentina, as well as life in California versus Salta. We slept in till 11:45 this morning, so I guess we've fallen into the Argentinian lifestyle fairly effortlessly!</p>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-86412689515738816312010-11-09T15:38:00.002-03:002010-11-11T15:09:25.502-03:00Potosi and Mine Tour<a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaqLrAY8O5iQt0GCInONLZ2lVtbMV1R2OUIrIj4qT9AlUQEVBMIgy2XstdIyGdzHdJ857j7-eiVDS9lTLqyskl4ua2BfdpFuNzDAfjC3hMvJ2GrLCUVKG4ByjkIRuM6B86CW-t6EpAP04/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+018.jpg"><br /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Calibri;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">After a short 3-hour bus ride from Sucre, we arrived in Potosi, or the self-proclaimed highest city in the world.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">The elevation was fairly intense at 4200 meters, but also manageable since we have been at some pretty high elevations in Bolivia, and have been chewing the ubiquitous coca leaves.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">The city wasn’t as picturesque as Sucre, but it had a lot of unique characteristics from its mining economy and violent colonial history.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">The downtown was fairly simple, but most impressive was the </span><i style="font-family: georgia;">Casa de Monedas</i> which flanked the main plaza.<span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">The huge colonial fortress stood fairly imposing next to the smaller colorful government buildings next to it.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Farther down the street was the typical labyrinth of market stalls, where most basic merchandise and food could be found.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">On our second night we were very excited to make our own food! We made our own vegetable soup from scratch (which definitely helped Ivan’s recovering tummy…).</span><span style=""> </span></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span lang="EN-US">We happened to be in Potosi during Dia de Los Muertos and Dia de los Santos.<span style=""> </span>The city was fairly quiet on the Saints day, but became quite a party during <i style="">Dia de los Muertos</i>.<span style=""> </span>We visited the cemetery in the morning and witnessed several ceremonies honoring the dead.<span style=""> </span>Interestingly each gravesite (for those who could afford one…) was its own filing cabinet and altar which could be accessed by the family paying their respects.<span style=""> </span>It was very fascinating to see that nearly every gravesite was bedecked with flowers and significant items.<span style=""> </span>Most of the families (especially the men) were looped on the milky <i style="">chicha </i>that was being poured everywhere.<span style=""> </span>Bands could be hired for a song or two which the family would sing along with for the dead family member.<span style=""> </span>Afterwards we enjoyed some excellent coffee and a fun dice game that Mark and Laura taught us at a cozy café.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIk3P60ZZoGleRqN3OM4rbNiU1V-Nq8qwjcoL4CFFGaJ09xo9zpbRGwPCtGuOPWDnXfQLoeBkH32BviSAxidd9TLk7hy3NFrWAwT-2JWeqamwhV77Ya86HaiQ5amCPr1mE5n0_kflYWzM/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+059.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIk3P60ZZoGleRqN3OM4rbNiU1V-Nq8qwjcoL4CFFGaJ09xo9zpbRGwPCtGuOPWDnXfQLoeBkH32BviSAxidd9TLk7hy3NFrWAwT-2JWeqamwhV77Ya86HaiQ5amCPr1mE5n0_kflYWzM/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+059.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537634871718128882" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYpvMredEcTjXbwIU5vVeTFuYjNYfQ9uJJYfvbNvhY5WWXX5EFfqUJUZe6-pghxHisMKAOuzWeHTXFaVv5W4ReWm_Xb1miPajPbQzsNPzSr322ceeZtY5seNrA4qUkezc3N1BpP179jo/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYpvMredEcTjXbwIU5vVeTFuYjNYfQ9uJJYfvbNvhY5WWXX5EFfqUJUZe6-pghxHisMKAOuzWeHTXFaVv5W4ReWm_Xb1miPajPbQzsNPzSr322ceeZtY5seNrA4qUkezc3N1BpP179jo/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537633817664110434" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-o2Jj8gy2GJfqVNB-QOLMU2nImIjKxNOKtMagVtgUIIb9J6zh58ej7Yelmu_SbByFmvO8aL8kG2UUUZZkIEp4MYvaWk2oHoaRywjXTury0XgDlc8eS12_tYXgUM9Wc_PM_Hoq1KH8lrA/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-o2Jj8gy2GJfqVNB-QOLMU2nImIjKxNOKtMagVtgUIIb9J6zh58ej7Yelmu_SbByFmvO8aL8kG2UUUZZkIEp4MYvaWk2oHoaRywjXTury0XgDlc8eS12_tYXgUM9Wc_PM_Hoq1KH8lrA/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537633838493318194" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Main Plaza</p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJH-a_bY_PGpVHaksX6RvIJpR6WYtyDvTPaZNd-8um-6JdiuMLevJc8q1JyUkSiT1hjGJHnQnuVKRLEnAqt3oqohP4NVSowV07vWicitRb0Dbh08doGUw-KmQYHeAgi8GQSVAPGYTsE7E/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJH-a_bY_PGpVHaksX6RvIJpR6WYtyDvTPaZNd-8um-6JdiuMLevJc8q1JyUkSiT1hjGJHnQnuVKRLEnAqt3oqohP4NVSowV07vWicitRb0Dbh08doGUw-KmQYHeAgi8GQSVAPGYTsE7E/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537633830340668050" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">View of Cerro Rico from town</p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAPymR5Fe2ZUlzCRTBkeKlPVMuEMJnTg6kzvDpims_b-6_XawjwlrJKt6SDK9we1bqTsfdhvUez0m-R4EE9uSroIB4IThBKBnBEjqBdYadkPfrIqE7tSFe569zeHKWWKjyrbKqVyNnJc/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAPymR5Fe2ZUlzCRTBkeKlPVMuEMJnTg6kzvDpims_b-6_XawjwlrJKt6SDK9we1bqTsfdhvUez0m-R4EE9uSroIB4IThBKBnBEjqBdYadkPfrIqE7tSFe569zeHKWWKjyrbKqVyNnJc/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537633849186578194" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">On Thursday the 4<sup>th</sup> we did an amazing tour of the <i style="">Cerro Rico</i> mine.<span style=""> </span>We decided to tour with a new company called The Real Deal, where all of the guides were ex-mineros.<span style=""> </span>Our guide Pedro, not Pedo!, was incredibly knowledgeable and had a fantastic sense of humor.<span style=""> </span>He reassured Ivan that his minor Closter-phobia would be manageable in the mine, which would only have a couple spaces where crawling was necessary.<span style=""> </span>We toured with Mark, Laura, their two British friends Tom and Amy, as well as a nice girl from Salt Lake City (whose 5’2’’ height was a huge plus on the tour!!).<span style=""> </span>After suiting up in our very hot rubber suits and boots, we hopped in a rickety van and made our way up to the miners market.<span style=""> </span>Here we bought dynamite, ammonium nitrate to augment the dynamite, potent cane sugar alcohol, and gifts like soda and coca leaves for the miners.<span style=""> </span>It was remarkable how casually and how cheap explosives were sold for!<span style=""> </span>After buying several gifts (and explosives for ourselves!) we headed up to the silver refinery.</span></p><p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJqsARJco0bNe4jcwitqEo71gjLoeRBo6tn3uZD4whHQO-NkSxt6DtZw9ZUFohM3w1kVBe9L84tsCLvvEn7lz9TdIfTZLS5iEfmv5I8YXeYforOihDCqfsN__WiiawQEcGbyynsVkp7T0/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+061.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJqsARJco0bNe4jcwitqEo71gjLoeRBo6tn3uZD4whHQO-NkSxt6DtZw9ZUFohM3w1kVBe9L84tsCLvvEn7lz9TdIfTZLS5iEfmv5I8YXeYforOihDCqfsN__WiiawQEcGbyynsVkp7T0/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+061.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537625055116598146" border="0" /></a></p><p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGwtxsGbpfcGqbVMvhKLnbfk5EKscrK6SuQ4epVbc8XViErW1farG-mWz4vsauXBexGIoK4zij08mI5xLTGSYI2MJRr1bmn138srPesbhKoWpeLcRaWj4EtpYKDrTSy8ZlydM2KT6dfdI/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+012.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGwtxsGbpfcGqbVMvhKLnbfk5EKscrK6SuQ4epVbc8XViErW1farG-mWz4vsauXBexGIoK4zij08mI5xLTGSYI2MJRr1bmn138srPesbhKoWpeLcRaWj4EtpYKDrTSy8ZlydM2KT6dfdI/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537623222479756626" border="0" /></a></p><p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrk7vZeZON5KvdzkcSQn3z9ab4IMPKA1LPrHNU9tQraiXGtWBhJDANJVM3e41cUAgDTc6vsW5t6P9XUpx4tFlUrWVwSbuZpjOg6Rv4NLTWjXZNsAhyphenhyphenTzbD_7Oh7WomHhDpdGHg-BrOqlM/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+025.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrk7vZeZON5KvdzkcSQn3z9ab4IMPKA1LPrHNU9tQraiXGtWBhJDANJVM3e41cUAgDTc6vsW5t6P9XUpx4tFlUrWVwSbuZpjOg6Rv4NLTWjXZNsAhyphenhyphenTzbD_7Oh7WomHhDpdGHg-BrOqlM/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+025.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537623274409048786" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Dynamite for everyone!!!<br /></p><p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB4Np4sqfeCD6XTSChF3Yg00FcXPO371lr_zzIw1EcMdrnIZpkiRUdam7TFw95pdcMo_ZIcOOvpxIvuLdgnIlAaLPH3H0kJwFcncS71YmJPDpYK9kvxBtFZzmK2Vm4XiizhTt7RICFHyo/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+024.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB4Np4sqfeCD6XTSChF3Yg00FcXPO371lr_zzIw1EcMdrnIZpkiRUdam7TFw95pdcMo_ZIcOOvpxIvuLdgnIlAaLPH3H0kJwFcncS71YmJPDpYK9kvxBtFZzmK2Vm4XiizhTt7RICFHyo/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+024.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537623266871986642" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaqLrAY8O5iQt0GCInONLZ2lVtbMV1R2OUIrIj4qT9AlUQEVBMIgy2XstdIyGdzHdJ857j7-eiVDS9lTLqyskl4ua2BfdpFuNzDAfjC3hMvJ2GrLCUVKG4ByjkIRuM6B86CW-t6EpAP04/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaqLrAY8O5iQt0GCInONLZ2lVtbMV1R2OUIrIj4qT9AlUQEVBMIgy2XstdIyGdzHdJ857j7-eiVDS9lTLqyskl4ua2BfdpFuNzDAfjC3hMvJ2GrLCUVKG4ByjkIRuM6B86CW-t6EpAP04/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537623244211573106" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Pedro, our exciting tour guide<br /></p><p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqc7bmk5l8AjhuuuixA4Q_CC6HuvBhe1uS6ImmSyoP3W8HrwVH1xI1UjITCVknG-F_KwyRKwCC8oxH2N_97dufavXFJqMTsqZ36L5W2WzgLn1seq1cPPQh7y8YROQRM7jTpcXeWXX6ik/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+016.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqc7bmk5l8AjhuuuixA4Q_CC6HuvBhe1uS6ImmSyoP3W8HrwVH1xI1UjITCVknG-F_KwyRKwCC8oxH2N_97dufavXFJqMTsqZ36L5W2WzgLn1seq1cPPQh7y8YROQRM7jTpcXeWXX6ik/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+016.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537623236891479074" border="0" /></a></p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The refinery was a very noisy place, where stinky volatile chemicals were mixed into churning mud.<span style=""> </span>The chemicals were inexactly dripped, our poured, into the sludge that came out of a roaring rotary grinder and then beaten with rotating paddles.<span style=""> </span>The overall result of this 3<sup>rd</sup> world cacophony was a very small amount of silver floating on the top of a collection tub.<span style=""> </span>Our guide later told us that the miners seriously refer to their mountain as Cerro Pobre…<span style=""> </span>After all of the effort of the miners and the refinery, very little silver seemed to be made.<span style=""> </span>Kristin cringed as she watched the chemical sludge being poured into a drain with destination unknown.<span style=""> </span>Also to the fact of not knowing if the 20 minutes allotted in the refinery would cause future health problems. <span style=""> </span>Outside of the refinery we talked to some good-natured miners who were thankful for the coca leaves and the cute girls to shamelessly flirt with.</span></p><p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHEksyntXwBbrMOEkG1Q4WUyL0oozRUuRRL8lqBHUk4TLa_lHR9am-e5rZ_FavBD2sCmrAXBgRqFE_L1pPZcFr7GDdfSQbcCQHid3rwWtSH4RoxM9hy7tIwDG1_oZ5jDWBElwtoftN9o/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+052.jpg"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnWzP70ARSWw_NlV0C4BpASSLKpvWyFaOsHZgqWn-ZMX2JvhLwAO7A2oC-1aaKzSoYillfRGRpKB1HajsDrw8QwYoq8BAK6mzyUs9llvkInB423g6UKWb-lanWOgeBnt1dZB3LRq4ME7E/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+045.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnWzP70ARSWw_NlV0C4BpASSLKpvWyFaOsHZgqWn-ZMX2JvhLwAO7A2oC-1aaKzSoYillfRGRpKB1HajsDrw8QwYoq8BAK6mzyUs9llvkInB423g6UKWb-lanWOgeBnt1dZB3LRq4ME7E/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+045.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537625041742300610" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Panning for silver</p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjppUFoTKpJPeEjsDV10gvgf3DC2GMaDkcunMtj9Sm-fZelnbMWJPu_a5Gth_ADbXBfv0bQO2QbEsv2EFWedACkBI7TuVMEzZqh37tOq9gQFTHh6lnnFjPO3KZLynOeu_1sfv3HiHf7Yhg/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+039.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjppUFoTKpJPeEjsDV10gvgf3DC2GMaDkcunMtj9Sm-fZelnbMWJPu_a5Gth_ADbXBfv0bQO2QbEsv2EFWedACkBI7TuVMEzZqh37tOq9gQFTHh6lnnFjPO3KZLynOeu_1sfv3HiHf7Yhg/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+039.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537625031683363490" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBDNs23mBKvcpoHp9Ksa6lbOqpBddlxkwlhHluBJ8QkzWXHCkh8WO-MueNE-z5ihAlZShIFJIUuysTP8z7aGbGrks9Qko2x_XvmBLMpwgZu_RK6-f9jphEHixxMQfnUidyujuJ2dJDxI/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+035.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBDNs23mBKvcpoHp9Ksa6lbOqpBddlxkwlhHluBJ8QkzWXHCkh8WO-MueNE-z5ihAlZShIFJIUuysTP8z7aGbGrks9Qko2x_XvmBLMpwgZu_RK6-f9jphEHixxMQfnUidyujuJ2dJDxI/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+035.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537625021385294738" border="0" /></a></p><p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnWzP70ARSWw_NlV0C4BpASSLKpvWyFaOsHZgqWn-ZMX2JvhLwAO7A2oC-1aaKzSoYillfRGRpKB1HajsDrw8QwYoq8BAK6mzyUs9llvkInB423g6UKWb-lanWOgeBnt1dZB3LRq4ME7E/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+045.jpg"><br /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHEksyntXwBbrMOEkG1Q4WUyL0oozRUuRRL8lqBHUk4TLa_lHR9am-e5rZ_FavBD2sCmrAXBgRqFE_L1pPZcFr7GDdfSQbcCQHid3rwWtSH4RoxM9hy7tIwDG1_oZ5jDWBElwtoftN9o/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+052.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHEksyntXwBbrMOEkG1Q4WUyL0oozRUuRRL8lqBHUk4TLa_lHR9am-e5rZ_FavBD2sCmrAXBgRqFE_L1pPZcFr7GDdfSQbcCQHid3rwWtSH4RoxM9hy7tIwDG1_oZ5jDWBElwtoftN9o/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+052.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537625043923449330" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Sharing coca leaves<br /></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">After the refinery it was time for the actual mine.<span style=""> </span>Our mine was called Mina Rosaria, which is one of the oldest mine shafts.<span style=""> </span>It still had the rock reinforcement from the colonial era (nice because Ivan could stand up straight here!).<span style=""> </span>Once our eyes adjusted, they followed the beam from our headlamps as we picked our way along the muddy floor.<span style=""> </span>All were grateful for the bandanas guarding our heaving mouths from the extreme dust that was floating everywhere.<span style=""> </span>As we made our way deeper into the mountain, the temperature slowly began to rise and the air seemed thicker.<span style=""> </span>After walking through mine shafts that hobbits would have found discomfortingly low, we found the Tio, or Uncle of the mine.<span style=""> </span>The Tio is a bit like the devil, but the indigenous workers say that God is for outside in the sunlight, and the Tio protects them inside the dark mine.<span style=""> </span>Amazingly, since 1982 only 26 miners and 1 tourist have been claimed by the Tio.<span style=""> </span>Here we gave an offering of coca leaves and sugar cane alcohol to the Tio to beseech safe mining, rich ore, happy travels and many girlfriends.<span style=""> </span>After the thanks were made, Pedro insisted we try the alcohol (a mere 96% of ridiculous mouth-numbing potency…).<span style=""> </span>Only a tiny sip was imbibed to appreciate just how much alcohol was needed for miners to alleviate the fact that their job was truly killing them (it was so potent that some of the nasty substance evaporated as we carefully sipped it).<span style=""> </span>With mouths and esophagus’s on absolute fire, we continued on to the newer parts of the mine where miners were still slaving away.<span style=""> </span>Here the mine was very warm, which wasn’t to comfortable in our rubber suits (between 35-40 C).<span style=""> </span>However, before we could begin to lament our sweaty everything, a thundering mine cart rounded the corner with workers pushing the heavy ore at a jog.<span style=""> </span>We quickly jumped against the wall as the cart thundered by with 3 workers leaning into it.<span style=""> </span>Their mouths bulged with coca leaves and shouts in Quechua for us to get our gringo butts out of the way!<span style=""> </span>The entire shaft shook when the cart came by, and its thundering could be heard before we even saw the miners headlamps.<span style=""> </span>Further into the mine (about 1.3 km in!) we found men toiling with the ore.<span style=""> </span>Here they furiously shoveled (at rates that would merit them employment at Ever-Bloom) the dusty ore into big cisterns that were hoisted up to the next level to be carried out of the mine.<span style=""> </span>Ivan and Mark gave the miners a rest and took a turn shoveling the heavy dirt into the large container.<span style=""> </span>Even with fresh arms and backs, they could barely keep up with the incredible pace and expectation of the crew.<span style=""> </span>The dirt stung their eyes and throats, and the elevation and heat didn’t make matters easier.<span style=""> </span>After just 5 minutes of work, both were more than willing to pass the undersized shovels back to the impatient workers.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF2Doo5uoqwBdMjXoZuyKr4FqjtpL4OFAOC_L9peQpKCr78UCiZhggd9JUtlj9w_JCtRNuTwekuLKJcmPyOVuo1BzPRtEj9UW9mipFcaCw4s5iFt_5t7hC8EcP-K1QyjjJtp5BCufXjPo/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+062.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF2Doo5uoqwBdMjXoZuyKr4FqjtpL4OFAOC_L9peQpKCr78UCiZhggd9JUtlj9w_JCtRNuTwekuLKJcmPyOVuo1BzPRtEj9UW9mipFcaCw4s5iFt_5t7hC8EcP-K1QyjjJtp5BCufXjPo/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+062.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537627421393049522" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismVwpyuyagjhbAt9ysrlcK_tkhs2HX2cN6oiLteXeAFPsp5Vw02k9sULQRzY7smb7MaQH30c-1XVCHDQ2stWqxAZx9WZDWGijcX46eLB81NulgybCtkg_Gz2KyS_WBbPxK5JmrVpdVAE/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+064.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismVwpyuyagjhbAt9ysrlcK_tkhs2HX2cN6oiLteXeAFPsp5Vw02k9sULQRzY7smb7MaQH30c-1XVCHDQ2stWqxAZx9WZDWGijcX46eLB81NulgybCtkg_Gz2KyS_WBbPxK5JmrVpdVAE/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+064.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537627428593516562" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">At the mine entrance<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF2Doo5uoqwBdMjXoZuyKr4FqjtpL4OFAOC_L9peQpKCr78UCiZhggd9JUtlj9w_JCtRNuTwekuLKJcmPyOVuo1BzPRtEj9UW9mipFcaCw4s5iFt_5t7hC8EcP-K1QyjjJtp5BCufXjPo/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+062.jpg"><br /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLqtDonR0T_ztM56ACnvbI7UaaU2F9L5P0jv7i5BBepxOGzl3PrCam-almGIYobdK4YepFC0FbQyKAuUtDADCHWQcKuvB4HLbF-idaG_jlkP3_QvyuSNo8Y9_F-TuApynFTVqCzGakwZk/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+070.jpg"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI_H-um3iMwI0Rsh0eQnJY4ZEgOHazwd2_1rzEHd6ImaJ9w4-HhqyZw65oIllRI_NyUEOGJBmHQ9Jo7-Ew5nM1Df3jW9xSB-sKaqxl_fR5slF4B0Yuqfpc3xqpj5WfUb0ESCPe_1EMI8c/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+068.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI_H-um3iMwI0Rsh0eQnJY4ZEgOHazwd2_1rzEHd6ImaJ9w4-HhqyZw65oIllRI_NyUEOGJBmHQ9Jo7-Ew5nM1Df3jW9xSB-sKaqxl_fR5slF4B0Yuqfpc3xqpj5WfUb0ESCPe_1EMI8c/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+068.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537627443575644178" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijrdvU51e3KuRyOlND3HK9g9UmCPSAfoPKrgpS4Res1yjndyyBpaFQYrHxRTTD4cNFc5M6K6tJvAYReU1VTVk4pwvY33X40oWngpI_qZU23SWrMTUFC5ElsDus7SGNtKxtl7KqaofA8Jc/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+074.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijrdvU51e3KuRyOlND3HK9g9UmCPSAfoPKrgpS4Res1yjndyyBpaFQYrHxRTTD4cNFc5M6K6tJvAYReU1VTVk4pwvY33X40oWngpI_qZU23SWrMTUFC5ElsDus7SGNtKxtl7KqaofA8Jc/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+074.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537629238362713618" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Look! Sulfur!<br /></p><div style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEictjV7WIFQsgz6xaI0amnGWa9YZL979KxfRSbOS5o2e7ROcO8wSutHnV35BMRSd7GSeLOzDZpNsS_ICJ4kJIogNRbA09XxMX17Z9wM5xNGBNKW0_3mnnUrnsIAPA70rLGhwXuTSLFUzhs/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+065.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEictjV7WIFQsgz6xaI0amnGWa9YZL979KxfRSbOS5o2e7ROcO8wSutHnV35BMRSd7GSeLOzDZpNsS_ICJ4kJIogNRbA09XxMX17Z9wM5xNGBNKW0_3mnnUrnsIAPA70rLGhwXuTSLFUzhs/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+065.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537627440055275330" border="0" /></a>Colonial mine shaft!<br /></div><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9wrPVkkb03L4yTN_lpU0FxO8DLaLrK5Ce4EIuI5KU7KoYg65YgGkK5CWkxAEOEN4tjNl6JO02RJSkX4OEXzIBZU8g0xN5Qp6pp5mFn0XDthFm3GDxxCme7ZWVsXmt8cNdBlelhovWv8/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+076.jpg"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJZCHQIv8Th8xVGC159ZZrNDk7OCtt75B0rhjbFLFONQ90ZKzfrcE2Usnqq9y46rfjI1up06EKEX6WBP2fKP-x5gehqt9EKtaIBLKzt4Ut344UEo_iUcwvT25FfQJWbwcE-bxJKPI_S18/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+075.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJZCHQIv8Th8xVGC159ZZrNDk7OCtt75B0rhjbFLFONQ90ZKzfrcE2Usnqq9y46rfjI1up06EKEX6WBP2fKP-x5gehqt9EKtaIBLKzt4Ut344UEo_iUcwvT25FfQJWbwcE-bxJKPI_S18/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+075.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537629246356408162" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Tight crawl spaces....<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-eUdMeT98FB9pFdFl_UueENbUMtrtaeydrbgsf6pVrz3gFKOA18HeUDennD__JUIwftndbi935bXKw_q_6c4NT7zAOiSDKup_SxSB1YQjPTgRGHnEpoaEUp6UQvQZ_r2uD-xkrBHiIFA/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+071.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-eUdMeT98FB9pFdFl_UueENbUMtrtaeydrbgsf6pVrz3gFKOA18HeUDennD__JUIwftndbi935bXKw_q_6c4NT7zAOiSDKup_SxSB1YQjPTgRGHnEpoaEUp6UQvQZ_r2uD-xkrBHiIFA/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+071.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537629231265857282" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">El Tio, and his favorite drink...<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLqtDonR0T_ztM56ACnvbI7UaaU2F9L5P0jv7i5BBepxOGzl3PrCam-almGIYobdK4YepFC0FbQyKAuUtDADCHWQcKuvB4HLbF-idaG_jlkP3_QvyuSNo8Y9_F-TuApynFTVqCzGakwZk/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+070.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLqtDonR0T_ztM56ACnvbI7UaaU2F9L5P0jv7i5BBepxOGzl3PrCam-almGIYobdK4YepFC0FbQyKAuUtDADCHWQcKuvB4HLbF-idaG_jlkP3_QvyuSNo8Y9_F-TuApynFTVqCzGakwZk/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+070.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537627452270202674" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;">Ivan's not so favorite drink....</div><br /><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The only thing that shook louder than the mine cart, was the unexpected dynamite explosion.<span style=""> </span>The explosion roared through the mine tunnels and approached us with a wave of dust and gun-powdery smoke.<span style=""> </span>We had to walk and duck through 50 yards of this acrid cloud.<span style=""> </span>Our eyes, throats, and noses burnt as we could hardly pass through.<span style=""> </span>Suddenly, the air cleared and we saw 3 miners sitting and relaxing as they enjoyed their coca leaf lunch.<span style=""> </span>We learned the previous explosion was caused by them and according to Pedro even with the aid of dynamite it takes 6-8 hrs to clear out a cubic meter in the mine. WOW!</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JdKFhhSQ69O0xCrMu0c9xOXeyxATj-GF5FbtNVqSnDHc7pCDXStCCBgo_sZOZNyEu3kkDyzsejhMW_c4dVOhMj_5PcEAuLGVTNwuPVGh9FRBh6wyCoPHHixEzpczUSnxrO0FrOXP8N8/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+080.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JdKFhhSQ69O0xCrMu0c9xOXeyxATj-GF5FbtNVqSnDHc7pCDXStCCBgo_sZOZNyEu3kkDyzsejhMW_c4dVOhMj_5PcEAuLGVTNwuPVGh9FRBh6wyCoPHHixEzpczUSnxrO0FrOXP8N8/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+080.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537629260755005474" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWpJa1wFgmEIT35DqA_i3SZX4Wi0nL2USTMzEMMIP_K-xzE4zpFwIdiKVK91xL1GjIGfBQIycoSjLvlUhjKN2Xecq_znwI0hpRjpoLaN0G5M-lVrI0muf7SnFGwxCnqgl56ockeKoJ3U4/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+094.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWpJa1wFgmEIT35DqA_i3SZX4Wi0nL2USTMzEMMIP_K-xzE4zpFwIdiKVK91xL1GjIGfBQIycoSjLvlUhjKN2Xecq_znwI0hpRjpoLaN0G5M-lVrI0muf7SnFGwxCnqgl56ockeKoJ3U4/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+094.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537630636492485170" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2aioQACsFgA_rQhs3kPSdyFDSxY3IHwNqov6PiecYIDNww8Vt-P1ueeuQHNx9OQdchhhRLXG74gOGfv_iUDDKxBaqG74exQC5KXFFYAC1FLCtSeluWeCzCpdqBboWOz0Ds0vfhGce_k/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+085.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2aioQACsFgA_rQhs3kPSdyFDSxY3IHwNqov6PiecYIDNww8Vt-P1ueeuQHNx9OQdchhhRLXG74gOGfv_iUDDKxBaqG74exQC5KXFFYAC1FLCtSeluWeCzCpdqBboWOz0Ds0vfhGce_k/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+085.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537630622564364146" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Mark and Ivan trying to be manly...<br /></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The miners work 8-10 hours per day and subsist only on coca leaves, water, and soda during their work day.<span style=""> </span>Though there are hundreds of mine shafts, most are divided up between mining co-ops or private companies.<span style=""> </span>The co-op miners work for themselves and are paid by the amount of ore and by its quality, meaning they work whatever hours they want, but are at the whims of market prices and the quality of the ore they toil to extract.<span style=""> </span>In the private mines (much less common), workers are paid a small wage regardless of quality, required to work set hours, but are provided with minimal health coverage for such a dangerous job.<span style=""> </span>Co-ops are more popular because miners have a small chance to strike it rich if they chance upon some silver-laden ore; however, given the mine’s new name Cerro Pobre, the chances of this are very slim.<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">After 2 hours in the mine, we were grateful to be outside breathing fresh air and warmed by the sun.<span style=""> </span>With 2 sticks of dynamite remaining, Pedro had us roll the explosive puddy into a ball which he stuck the 3 foot fuse into.<span style=""> </span>However, just plain dynamite isn’t powerful enough, so he placed that ball into a bag of ammonium nitrate.<span style=""> </span>The fuse lasts for 3-4 minutes before it explodes.<span style=""> </span>Nonchalantly walking down the hill with 2 hissing bombs, Pedro then began a serious of push-ups over the sputtering dynamite.<span style=""> </span>One minute later the impressive bombs exploded throwing dust and debris all around.<span style=""> </span>Impressed we hopped back on the van and headed back into town ready for a cold soda or beer for our parched throats.<span style=""> </span>Definitely an unforgettable experience!! (wish we could upload the video of the explosions!!!)</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRw3hRcqndmzWikLKK0WENPzgCON0OhMONT_N90JVL7JVfowJCqyvdGKSDTkqKpXTBGZtoztzfJdh3mgXYxMej91g-eVQ5W665xKr95MlUpNTjVw4ZPwAGxOhR_LT4NsjWqZ99AU9_s9A/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+102.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRw3hRcqndmzWikLKK0WENPzgCON0OhMONT_N90JVL7JVfowJCqyvdGKSDTkqKpXTBGZtoztzfJdh3mgXYxMej91g-eVQ5W665xKr95MlUpNTjVw4ZPwAGxOhR_LT4NsjWqZ99AU9_s9A/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+102.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537630639680764130" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Bolivian play-dough<br /></p><div style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_sCtCd7yt2seYjAgaIk7_QyJ_fJ4mS6iLpD6iX5Y3ToHLTImrHq-1zRg9muPiDvvS18XT8Uu5Ia90taIHEy69aO-FZgu0s2fhjsaUaITihPMoNRRRqzBMiHHobDNVCVBrgW2lqi7FXoQ/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+108.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_sCtCd7yt2seYjAgaIk7_QyJ_fJ4mS6iLpD6iX5Y3ToHLTImrHq-1zRg9muPiDvvS18XT8Uu5Ia90taIHEy69aO-FZgu0s2fhjsaUaITihPMoNRRRqzBMiHHobDNVCVBrgW2lqi7FXoQ/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+108.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537630679575189906" border="0" /></a>Fire in the hole!!<br /></div><br /><a style="font-family: georgia;" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7BjmnGIEWMS5_n-iadPHgOi59S9pf8thN1Px4K4OoPl_51S_44E-wiOo8c-1RoSo9KeVvZge7xhAUno8K6rdKtVIVzDy7Z1O0qz8S693CJYP0i19RHK_FuHqw5XvCptnF7F9fPOMfQsE/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+106.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7BjmnGIEWMS5_n-iadPHgOi59S9pf8thN1Px4K4OoPl_51S_44E-wiOo8c-1RoSo9KeVvZge7xhAUno8K6rdKtVIVzDy7Z1O0qz8S693CJYP0i19RHK_FuHqw5XvCptnF7F9fPOMfQsE/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+106.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537630667343413026" border="0" /></a> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The following day we toured the Casa de Monedas to see where the imperialist Spaniards made their silver currency.<span style=""> </span>The process was incredibly involved, and almost as difficult as extracting the ore from the mountainside.<span style=""> </span>The giant oak gears (brought from Spain) were turned by 4 mules on the floor underneath.<span style=""> </span>The gears turned different sized rollers, which the silver bars were fed through.<span style=""> </span>Once a specified thickness the coins were cut out and then pressed into their appropriate currency.<span style=""> </span>Each individual coin was said to take 1-3 hours of work.<span style=""> </span>The Casa could hammer out 2,000 coins per day, which were loaded onto armed galleys and shipped to Spain.<span style=""> </span>After the Spaniards left, the Casa de Monedas was used until the 1980’s to print coins of dictators, and ‘democratic’ politicians alike.<span style=""> </span>It was interesting to learn that all the lower Boliviano coins like the 10cent to 2b’s were made in Chile, and the 5b’s coin is made in Canada (it looks exactly like a loonie!).</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzr8UhYZSKdF8ljQzy3udkaoAc1-wr8FRIltWJxGw-CJK4Z7TLRoXJ1rc2Vep-WHgxVZajvFpBsaZQzi73wFY0rzsTRJGiaicelkzgUHxTryYNcH7e8JSeGQwTAxvbUeJEnYYCaV8wf4/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+028.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzr8UhYZSKdF8ljQzy3udkaoAc1-wr8FRIltWJxGw-CJK4Z7TLRoXJ1rc2Vep-WHgxVZajvFpBsaZQzi73wFY0rzsTRJGiaicelkzgUHxTryYNcH7e8JSeGQwTAxvbUeJEnYYCaV8wf4/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+028.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537633863142126930" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAPymR5Fe2ZUlzCRTBkeKlPVMuEMJnTg6kzvDpims_b-6_XawjwlrJKt6SDK9we1bqTsfdhvUez0m-R4EE9uSroIB4IThBKBnBEjqBdYadkPfrIqE7tSFe569zeHKWWKjyrbKqVyNnJc/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+014.jpg"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-o2Jj8gy2GJfqVNB-QOLMU2nImIjKxNOKtMagVtgUIIb9J6zh58ej7Yelmu_SbByFmvO8aL8kG2UUUZZkIEp4MYvaWk2oHoaRywjXTury0XgDlc8eS12_tYXgUM9Wc_PM_Hoq1KH8lrA/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+006.jpg"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM3buyA8J9i95UFjOhRg3uhA520Wa2m1Hai0NeQ3Tq4e_chqJGD8fPvfDRHn5GxKCKln-GhJOJ2_Psmduc8NgOMleztHv-dgPkYVqL6pIyF8D1259mKCz5sjeHhdIRR9Fnr-zCAaBog4I/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+057.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM3buyA8J9i95UFjOhRg3uhA520Wa2m1Hai0NeQ3Tq4e_chqJGD8fPvfDRHn5GxKCKln-GhJOJ2_Psmduc8NgOMleztHv-dgPkYVqL6pIyF8D1259mKCz5sjeHhdIRR9Fnr-zCAaBog4I/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+057.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537634862796395234" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmWVkwasYd7SHG65c5sax_N4wkEvZktw2uUdRS21O5lzo9y66f7G6m0X3jh5Tr7KXj4I2wSJhyphenhyphenGRFD3lokZNymx4Mv29fPDGYX0xqd_Gua8oZkcgzp9tIIyJKJOFMb6s_4uU7kchBbVM/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+054.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmWVkwasYd7SHG65c5sax_N4wkEvZktw2uUdRS21O5lzo9y66f7G6m0X3jh5Tr7KXj4I2wSJhyphenhyphenGRFD3lokZNymx4Mv29fPDGYX0xqd_Gua8oZkcgzp9tIIyJKJOFMb6s_4uU7kchBbVM/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+054.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537634852034149218" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Recognize this lathe, Hunter??<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPpwiIPzQe5fKkDCkUDhNdc4JjXNaovwZdmuxPGoBiQgerSPlo304E0YyhVZODf8l-rqow47FZuZnAkzcby43T8G2t1VXm5P3xBiL0OH4bBCm9FgcnuBsuhkKQiSTi4fXDUDzlXsSRrr4/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+038.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPpwiIPzQe5fKkDCkUDhNdc4JjXNaovwZdmuxPGoBiQgerSPlo304E0YyhVZODf8l-rqow47FZuZnAkzcby43T8G2t1VXm5P3xBiL0OH4bBCm9FgcnuBsuhkKQiSTi4fXDUDzlXsSRrr4/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+038.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537634842844295026" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOfoKNmLh4O9SturWro6-GjqgZ2sfnb3Hrln2YqySdaAl7dcFjntHqng9Byn-Y-5_su8xiNyXyx0N3owIExYlI0ijhwjf03d-DEu8py-IJGBD3MHWrpXaDR0G84SR0U6VjcKBGqHpjWU/s1600/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+031.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOfoKNmLh4O9SturWro6-GjqgZ2sfnb3Hrln2YqySdaAl7dcFjntHqng9Byn-Y-5_su8xiNyXyx0N3owIExYlI0ijhwjf03d-DEu8py-IJGBD3MHWrpXaDR0G84SR0U6VjcKBGqHpjWU/s400/Ivan+11.08.2010+Potosi+031.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537634832791551010" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">After 4 nights in Potosi, we took the evening bus with our 4 British mates to Uyuni for a 4 day tour of the salt flats and beyond….</span></p>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-61850526324709368792010-10-31T11:33:00.000-03:002010-10-31T20:56:41.751-03:00Sucre-maniaOctober 31<sup>st - A Happy Ghoulish Halloweenie to you all!<br /></sup> <p class="MsoNormal">We are soaking in the sights, sounds, smells and culture of the colonial city, Sucre.<span style=""> </span>Since the moment we arrived, we have noticed that Sucre has a more festive and warm vibe than the other cities we have visited in Bolivia.<span style=""> </span>Cars will slow down for pedestrians, the central plaza is well taken care of and most to all the benches are filled throughout the day and evening, siesta (noon-3pm) is taken seriously, parades are common to see in the evening with marching bands and young adults and teenagers dancing in the streets, the weather has been absolutely beautiful (a high of 27C day, low of 15C night) and even the ice cream is great (the best we had in all of SA and usually enjoyed at least once, sometimes twice a day)!<span style=""> </span>According to the Governmental Code, all buildings in the downtown sector must be whitewashed annually, giving the buildings a very clean colonial feeling. Also, all the roofs in Sucre have red tiles, making downtown reminiscent of Santa Barbara.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd69OUKC-IjDJJHQYgOJd5vta6odFtnOlMfxW4ntBu0Asa0re77A7n-Cx-100Ibte4x2qeVM_l_wyWAwWxHcYH5jURecNNK9TnXILMPOZDPq8nMhMfoGVz6Nq7Xd2yOxefeidphZJBBLY/s1600/KK+10.29.2010+005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd69OUKC-IjDJJHQYgOJd5vta6odFtnOlMfxW4ntBu0Asa0re77A7n-Cx-100Ibte4x2qeVM_l_wyWAwWxHcYH5jURecNNK9TnXILMPOZDPq8nMhMfoGVz6Nq7Xd2yOxefeidphZJBBLY/s400/KK+10.29.2010+005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534226269106521074" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-KyQIqumS7FEnK8Q58a9O4yEDUzPiHgpIcEQ_Eo9Ckhe55FLzHwdzGnaVwl2mwtJ6YwUK6DS532fWs7IE26DRj9M84DeCOOH3qlSTLROT4TzjY_b09SlBHRlBv4II7oDxhQ7vrcfBwI/s1600/KK+10.29.2010+006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-KyQIqumS7FEnK8Q58a9O4yEDUzPiHgpIcEQ_Eo9Ckhe55FLzHwdzGnaVwl2mwtJ6YwUK6DS532fWs7IE26DRj9M84DeCOOH3qlSTLROT4TzjY_b09SlBHRlBv4II7oDxhQ7vrcfBwI/s400/KK+10.29.2010+006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534226267695743442" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_35XdbKrePGpA99YnC7M5TaaGNhnb3TOBRIFLoj4pRgxxTE8tO7mwH2lZcGAf8u6B-0xkeLe9gTgtythaBa15dNvQv9LYfTexUGmBuyX5_MNZdIJuwalnTqvzigcpicODdCHyIT4tGck/s1600/KK+10.29.2010+013.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_35XdbKrePGpA99YnC7M5TaaGNhnb3TOBRIFLoj4pRgxxTE8tO7mwH2lZcGAf8u6B-0xkeLe9gTgtythaBa15dNvQv9LYfTexUGmBuyX5_MNZdIJuwalnTqvzigcpicODdCHyIT4tGck/s400/KK+10.29.2010+013.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534226290129691394" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal">Beginning yesterday afternoon, festivities of both Halloween and Dia de los Muertos began with a bang! (LOTS and LOTS of fireworks) The main streets throughout Sucre began filling with locals and tourists with the anticipation of some sort of parade. Around 6pm the marching bands began their circuits, dressed in costume and playing their instruments with full force. The march bands, firework explosions, noise lasted until the wee hours in the morning. Though Ivan did not get to enjoy this festive evening, he was still able to hear the bands and explosions from the balcony at our hotel (see why below).<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">After visiting<span style="font-style: italic;"> Casa de la Libertad</span>, we learned that Sucre is the official capital in Bolivia, but holds no power, expect for an ineffectual Supreme Court.<span style=""> </span>In the mid-1800s, the established oligarchy of the New World decided it no longer wanted to be beholden to the crown of Spain.<span style=""> </span>These white, wealthy lawyers and aristocrats incited a civil war in which the poor masses had no choice but to fight a bloody war against the Spaniards.<span style=""> </span>Bolivia was the very first uprising against Spain, but Argentina was the first country to gain true independence from Spain.<span style=""> </span>So sadly, once the Spaniards were out of Bolivia, the purported freedom fighters continued the harsh tradition of <span style="font-style: italic;">La Meta</span> or indentured servitude for the population that just won their war.<span style=""> </span>The museum estimated that in Potosi alone 9,000,000 miners perished in a 300-year period of forced labor and abysmal conditions.<span style=""> </span>Bolivia’s painful inception is still ever present in the country of today where there has been a new president on average every year and a half (even though they are supposed to be 5 year terms…oops!) ((Though this country is a little less than 100 years younger that the USA, it has had 22 more Presidents…wowzers!!)) Ironically, Bolivia’s yellow, red and green flag is very similar to the Spanish flag, which had held the dominion over them for so many years.<span style=""> The </span>tradition of corruption is why the political power is in La Paz, rather than remaining in Sucre.<span style=""> </span>The silver industry and tin industry began a north and south feud for political sway.<span style=""> </span>Tin or La Paz, won this tug-of-war and took unequal power for themselves (and rewrote the constitution...).<span style=""> </span>Sucre still proudly, though somewhat lamely, declares that it is the “true” capital of Bolivia.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Another interesting piece of information is the new law that was passed that is a controversial attempt to stop all forms of racism and prejudice.<span style=""> </span>The law was inspired by a similar one passed in Venezuela, which prohibits anyone from using any racial or prejudicial epithets.<span style=""> </span>For example: If in a fit of road rage (which is extremely common) you call someone a “<span style="font-style: italic;">cholo de mierda</span>” (their version of the N-word) and if a policeman would overhear this (or one of the road raggers tattletale) would result in not only in jail time, but a substantial fine.<span style=""> </span>((*Ed’s colorful mouth would not survive in Bolivia* Bolivia has forced a “Hagis filter”!)) This law has many people countering that it is a violation of free speech and undemocratic.<span style=""> </span>Perhaps this is why the President of Iran has visited the Country 3 times in the past year…(as a funny aside, Iran funded a public hospital in a poor district in La Paz, however the Catholic nurses are REQUIRED to wear the black berka’s at all times…what a confusing world we live in!)</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">During one of our adventures though the city, we spotted a flyer for volunteering to teach English and learn Spanish.<span style=""> </span>We ventured to the school, which happened to be a block away from our hotel, and signed up.<span style=""> </span>Kristin decided to take 3-hour one-on-one Spanish lessons for a few days, while Ivan would volunteer to teach English to children (2 students) for an hour lesson on Thursday and help set-up for a Halloween party Friday.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Kristin thoroughly enjoyed her Spanish lessons, and had a close bond with her professor as they would both exchange cultural similarities and differences in Spanish.<span style=""> </span>Many subjects included childhood, family, relationships, university, politics, religion, homosexuals, corruption, traveling, etc…literally all encompassing lessons.<span style=""> </span>Kristin was able to bring back many interesting facts, insight and knowledge to share with Ivan after her daily lessons.<span style=""> </span>Her teacher was very encouraging as he said her Spanish conversation was much better than she led on to believe.<span style=""> </span>Kristin would like to continue classes in a future city as well as continue practicing with both locals and Ivan.<span style=""> </span>These few, but extremely enriching lessons will serve to be a platform for building more of the Spanish language, which Kristin is finding to be quite beautiful.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The English lesson that Ivan gave was small and informal, but the students were bright and fairly engaged.<span style=""> </span>The teacher that Ivan was working with handed him the reins immediately and with just seconds to look at the workbook started the one-hour lesson.<span style=""> </span>Ivan was able to teach them numbers and different foods.<span style=""> </span>For some reason, the boy was so excited to learn the word “dog biscuit” that he fell backwards in his chair.<span style=""> </span>Towards the end of the hour, the very shy, young girl opened up and asked many great questions.<span style=""> </span>The next day, Ivan’s substantial height difference was exploited for several hours to help hang Halloween decorations for the upcoming evening party.<span style=""> </span>It was fun working with the kids to prepare for a dance party that meant so much to them.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3gMNeTFx9rdijMg94DupAnwYgXNgrPQ9jNKUyTLGTyevftRstH_XVlVbkbCm0DsZjKgPQ9uYf729pCz2AU7nn8hzPttjqbvtchBSW41lg3gAyJtHvD7lKrd7bg-p6dREK4f1Xgid2Cc/s1600/KK+10.29.2010+021+%28Large%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3gMNeTFx9rdijMg94DupAnwYgXNgrPQ9jNKUyTLGTyevftRstH_XVlVbkbCm0DsZjKgPQ9uYf729pCz2AU7nn8hzPttjqbvtchBSW41lg3gAyJtHvD7lKrd7bg-p6dREK4f1Xgid2Cc/s400/KK+10.29.2010+021+%28Large%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534360915111475618" border="0" /></a><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">FOOD! COMIDA! FOOD! COMIDA!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Primer Parte</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">We planned this trip, to not only be enriched by the South American people and sights, but to be fully versed in the language of eating! We have been spoiling ourselves with food from the beginning, but this past week in Sucre, we have really taken it up a belt notch!!!<span style=""> </span>At the start of almost every meal, we have enjoyed a wide range of homemade soups.<span style=""> </span>One of our favorites is a chicken-based quinoa vegetable soup. Very hardy and healing like Mom intended.<span style=""> </span>A local’s breakfast favorite is the <span style="font-style: italic;">Saltena</span>.<span style=""> </span>The saltena is a larger version of the <span style="font-style: italic;">empanada</span>, usually stuffed with chicken chunks, cooked egg and beef stew and thoroughly enjoyed by both of us.<span style=""> </span>Recently, we found a bustling Dutch restaurant that not only had great coffee (thankfully!), but fantastic cruquets with fries! Of course, we ordered a large beer to go with it.<span style=""> </span>(MUUUY HOLANDES!)<span style=""> </span>Then the other night, Ivan experienced true dinner fondue for the first time!<span style=""> </span>Ivan giggled like a small child while throwing the tender raw meat chunks and veggies into the flaming hot oil on our table.<span style=""> </span>A glass of wine and four platters of veggies, meat and cheese later, Ivan and Kristin could hardly stand <span style="font-style: italic;">(no cabemos ni un alfiler</span>) as they paid for their delicious meal ($12).<span style=""> </span>The next evening was an even bigger treat, a recommendation by Kristin’s Spanish professor to go to a local French Restaurant.<span style=""> </span>Initially, Ivan was very skeptical after experiencing the inhospitable food of Paris that was served with a profound frown and flaring nose.<span style=""> </span>However, the meal was phenomenal!! Kristin started with the creamy, festive pumpkin squash soup (on par with Lorelei's festive soup! YUM), which quickly became her new favorite, while Ivan enjoyed his hardy beef noodle soup.<span style=""> </span>Accompanying the soup were endless breadbaskets, this may not seem like a big deal, however, typically you are lucky to receive more than 4 pieces of bread in your basket during one sitting.<span style=""> </span>To continue, the suave French Restaurant also included REAL olive oil on the table –a real treat for us since most restaurants offer only cheap oil vegetable oil!!!<span style=""> </span>Next came<span style=""> </span>the main course, Kristin ordered the popular Filet Mignon with bits of rosemary cheese and chives stuffed inside and reduced in red wine and mushroom and Ivan ordered the chicken reduced in white wine and mushrooms.<span style=""> </span>Also, a half bottle of Campos de Solana, a local Bolivian wine shared between the two.<span style=""> </span>This meal is on par with many fancy restaurants in found in Santa Barbara or Sacramento,<span style=""> </span>the only difference being, we paid a whopping $24 for everything!<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV0-6_yCAvd5Fv6mAe4boHtYx0fEyazc7FZdRoGBsJdIUoM3wpKMYknOM3quXQaMM5L247vRwgFUVWkOTY2bQMyXH3eIpAG3IArNroniVJVMxCnLq-WSQv1kOLYz3z_E-dMLkPah7SIBQ/s1600/KK+10.29.2010+008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV0-6_yCAvd5Fv6mAe4boHtYx0fEyazc7FZdRoGBsJdIUoM3wpKMYknOM3quXQaMM5L247vRwgFUVWkOTY2bQMyXH3eIpAG3IArNroniVJVMxCnLq-WSQv1kOLYz3z_E-dMLkPah7SIBQ/s400/KK+10.29.2010+008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534226292896205106" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4cQkFBy5WZIIRgR_v8uc9lidoAZMhZAqSc0gAz_8-g_spz6HqiWK0zG4oCX-KOeUzJfnlxTmYe3-fW4UL4y_obNSb7Vih3nLSBFgZSBr2KR69UWRBgRI5FJ3swNFjSSzdruOzSl4VCPQ/s1600/KK+10.29.2010+009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4cQkFBy5WZIIRgR_v8uc9lidoAZMhZAqSc0gAz_8-g_spz6HqiWK0zG4oCX-KOeUzJfnlxTmYe3-fW4UL4y_obNSb7Vih3nLSBFgZSBr2KR69UWRBgRI5FJ3swNFjSSzdruOzSl4VCPQ/s400/KK+10.29.2010+009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534226283472228514" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ivan (<span style="font-style: italic;">el aguasfiesta</span>) has caught yet another food-born illness, completely proving that the raw cheese is laced with poison (saying this with conviction as his stomach is turning and tossing around on the cheap mattress) Lesson learned…again…</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">On Monday, if Ivan is feeling better, we will be heading to Potosi, the highest city in the world and silver mining capital! (we are finding that we are going to so many places that claim they are the “highest”, “largest”, “deepest”, “smallest”, etc…in the world…exciting, YES!).</p>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-79871249594972402252010-10-27T14:38:00.000-03:002010-10-27T16:03:16.342-03:00Hardcore buses and dinosaursOctober 25th we hopped on the 7:30 pm bus (that predictably left at 8:30). We are only mentioning this bus ride because we think it has and will be the most intense 3rd world bus we will EVER experience. Within 25 min of leaving the station (a zoo of speeding buses and milling people), we stopped, or actually the bus driver stopped, for a 30 min dinner that only he enjoyed while everyone was too fearful to dine themselves (in fear of being left behind). Once we were back on track Ivan was able to talk to a local coca farmer about his business, which was super fascinating. Apparantly there are 4 <span style="font-style: italic;">cosechas </span>per year, and a 50 pound bag will earn the farmer 1,000 bolivianos, or $2.85 per pound (pretty good money for a small time farmer). Even more interesting, was that his crop wasn't for chewing or tea, but rather the popular <span style="font-style: italic;">cocaina</span>. Bolivia is actually the biggest producer of the leaves, which all make there way to Colombia to get processed (CNN and Reagan drilled the rest of the story into common knowledge). As a shameless aside: going for drugs at the "source" is not only expensive, impossible, and unethical, but so futilely American...<br /><br />Anyways, the bus bounced on, and the humidity and accompanying BO kicked to dizzying levels, but we tried to get some hard to reach z's anyways. This was basically impossible, since the bus route was on an off-road track, and we found ourselves involuntarily headbanging and bouncing in our seats. Fortunate for Kristin, the evil bus deity found it necissary to keep her on her toes and flung a heavy bag onto her stomach right when she fell asleep... It didn't help that it was Ivan's bag... An hour later that SAME bag flung one seat farther and smacked Ivan square in the face. awesome...<br /><br />To make the bus ride even more memorable, Ivan had the ONLY seat that couldnt recline, and was broken, so it constantly tried to spill him out into the isle. Not too easy to sleep under such back bending circumstances... Though every seat was taken by adults, there were about 10 kids who were passed out in different contortions on the dirty bus isle (along with a dog and small lamby). Ivan wasnt able to stretch out his feet, unless he wanted to plant his shoe on a poor childs face. (Kristin didnt even have the option with a fully reclined seat in front of her, and had a teenager snoring and sliding into her seat. The sly Bolivian cuddle technique...<br /><br />At 6:00 am the bus suddenly stopped, and everyone was allowed to go out and relieve themselves for a quick 2 min. Ivan ventured out, and saw a very desperate urinating melee, with men, women, and children using their appropriate biological urinating endowments with fury... It was a mess, but what a relief!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmNJxgRmG3knRnMjDHOy_BKI2KafwQWkzrBA-E853jJq4lJ8W09d5VmDNNvx6UZ51GyYBtpAIZxrr3LjoZAjDDpDx3iezR3DGTsQyU4Cx5uE7YG-MfskeYPS05tlAiGs6G-Epzy56zbE/s1600/poopppp.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 321px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmNJxgRmG3knRnMjDHOy_BKI2KafwQWkzrBA-E853jJq4lJ8W09d5VmDNNvx6UZ51GyYBtpAIZxrr3LjoZAjDDpDx3iezR3DGTsQyU4Cx5uE7YG-MfskeYPS05tlAiGs6G-Epzy56zbE/s400/poopppp.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532800183742365522" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWaBMlV1wWA2RoHMa0G0QvTlORSdrVicXDr1cbVPiLqwuUs2XCTR3uY47CTdRmYkaD5okSlhQxH1Qh4hzVkLbdQeJ-5WwRiQdUqtcAOBGXFrBq7X8U9UVaV2Z3j42XKjLXOF_U0-w07VA/s1600/10.27.2010+004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWaBMlV1wWA2RoHMa0G0QvTlORSdrVicXDr1cbVPiLqwuUs2XCTR3uY47CTdRmYkaD5okSlhQxH1Qh4hzVkLbdQeJ-5WwRiQdUqtcAOBGXFrBq7X8U9UVaV2Z3j42XKjLXOF_U0-w07VA/s400/10.27.2010+004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532796514443441010" border="0" /></a><br />At 7:30 am we arrived in Sucre, stumbled into a taxi, and then into our squeaky taco shaped bed. When we awoke, we started to tour the beautiful (and very colonial) city of Sucre. The main plaza is really great, and the city has a productive and safe feel to it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnd2zp1KMZLke9dyWddpMj-8_MDR__A72X3HnQqbMXD3KhTzDYkHKeV8ZWoybNN7s1V8_86k6ca9E_p8g-N4Z8RiLT3EUeh95kdYyV-3tYNJLpPLDvD-WLzAfeWB8BbQM6zknsDtEOKtM/s1600/10.27.2010+027.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnd2zp1KMZLke9dyWddpMj-8_MDR__A72X3HnQqbMXD3KhTzDYkHKeV8ZWoybNN7s1V8_86k6ca9E_p8g-N4Z8RiLT3EUeh95kdYyV-3tYNJLpPLDvD-WLzAfeWB8BbQM6zknsDtEOKtM/s400/10.27.2010+027.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532796518198201682" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3RAOrqGV-XbB_L_8Mys-3WfA5MgOAPVkNHiNwwjalxAxgk9VwnVHKTRMG19dnnwLi5mUkuzXgSi6T9S1rJ3eu3NskMOL56bsfe04F3v_FCfFsBfhLfxStVy_4AssugDmKuRMAHEkzno/s1600/10.27.2010+001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3RAOrqGV-XbB_L_8Mys-3WfA5MgOAPVkNHiNwwjalxAxgk9VwnVHKTRMG19dnnwLi5mUkuzXgSi6T9S1rJ3eu3NskMOL56bsfe04F3v_FCfFsBfhLfxStVy_4AssugDmKuRMAHEkzno/s400/10.27.2010+001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532796514146089602" border="0" /></a><br />Today we went to the worlds largest collection of dinosaur (bird and reptile) footprints. We learned we were witnessing tracks from the Cretaceous Period over 70 million years ago, when the herbivores and carnivores roamed the chalky CaCO3 lands. There were 5,000 footprints from over 150 different animals on this surface. The largest footprints were guessed to be from a dino that was 35 m long and 19 m tall. YIKES! The footprints were on a vertical surface due to the continental uplift that happened millions of years ago from the Nazca Plate in the Pacific. This upward movement and folding is also why we have the Andes Mountains<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8T3O55fHSK9pd4NddFide6dbqAz4SP063fbr5Zva7OWWHFdi2i7BRwBT3nlvinjoGW-9ohQzy5bE9NTGlPvLlzA_WKtNvLfcGJ0YyHs9STP7TESWZTFTrt_AgtecDS4uP6J-u6XrF8dI/s1600/10.27.2010+017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8T3O55fHSK9pd4NddFide6dbqAz4SP063fbr5Zva7OWWHFdi2i7BRwBT3nlvinjoGW-9ohQzy5bE9NTGlPvLlzA_WKtNvLfcGJ0YyHs9STP7TESWZTFTrt_AgtecDS4uP6J-u6XrF8dI/s400/10.27.2010+017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532796582378774802" border="0" /></a><br />Ohh so fierce!!<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid8fQwuqYftM_FH6_eymDpH9_UQ04jUtlxu6gtd5rxxoLPSfZ5ttTMzlkkQ4kken2CV6FB0JX66UfJgE-kJjrdpKzA8wDgHnhkDYx3RFD4A5Ge45ZBhACbj7OkCjk3pW3MxGYq9DivELc/s1600/10.27.2010+007.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid8fQwuqYftM_FH6_eymDpH9_UQ04jUtlxu6gtd5rxxoLPSfZ5ttTMzlkkQ4kken2CV6FB0JX66UfJgE-kJjrdpKzA8wDgHnhkDYx3RFD4A5Ge45ZBhACbj7OkCjk3pW3MxGYq9DivELc/s400/10.27.2010+007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532797428099428786" border="0" /></a><br />Prints from mama and baby carnivore<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_cuDPvRMysgmdl5yChazXTiTEGLoLDJ_b_cJPipxCsIBImYJPKPAZNrI4vajw1MYuM1e8AyodAz_uswV_sgo8glR9iFqj59hHn303ZVQNGnJ92rAA5GgzevBu-0IpIwtq02sQmhxTPkI/s1600/10.27.2010+018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_cuDPvRMysgmdl5yChazXTiTEGLoLDJ_b_cJPipxCsIBImYJPKPAZNrI4vajw1MYuM1e8AyodAz_uswV_sgo8glR9iFqj59hHn303ZVQNGnJ92rAA5GgzevBu-0IpIwtq02sQmhxTPkI/s400/10.27.2010+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532797425864215794" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xqrcn5424Po6Z9cG9Xl5fp52jyXxbOzxxYWLmmbIE6OxVJTAbnbDVFzVSXYLpoFVSq6_VjzhyphenhypheniVqSEDeUZLio3zBMb8YqyU8QLokxujuG1WJFJ73jg42K8SIo6XJBnnP9rHN1Pr1Y6s/s1600/10.27.2010+019.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xqrcn5424Po6Z9cG9Xl5fp52jyXxbOzxxYWLmmbIE6OxVJTAbnbDVFzVSXYLpoFVSq6_VjzhyphenhypheniVqSEDeUZLio3zBMb8YqyU8QLokxujuG1WJFJ73jg42K8SIo6XJBnnP9rHN1Pr1Y6s/s400/10.27.2010+019.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532796600590122866" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHTb8zvNE8SZn_H6LtvEzsFRNUyP7VJuwUd_6OB67pMTqFAc6_s4RS5b5Pg3eCTap2HeRQblO-3FnaViKVOpujbZQ8E1hb4u7ITo4j1kZnudmzQUotU6RhJw-ist7AZwEW_I-Cvoy3I4k/s1600/10.27.2010+003111.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHTb8zvNE8SZn_H6LtvEzsFRNUyP7VJuwUd_6OB67pMTqFAc6_s4RS5b5Pg3eCTap2HeRQblO-3FnaViKVOpujbZQ8E1hb4u7ITo4j1kZnudmzQUotU6RhJw-ist7AZwEW_I-Cvoy3I4k/s400/10.27.2010+003111.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532797423218869810" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8TjPG3cOwsA3OCcOQbwnsSrNPSB6pfC4jEy3FezAtG91_7-XGH5Sb68ZVBtaIIP6XVKzKpqBxS_v77b0t0Z2EWQa9bYJeQLRBPqVwIVwIQUHZoL_YnU3EWdMEkjFAVxMBCTGwhAM8H0I/s1600/10.27.2010+003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8TjPG3cOwsA3OCcOQbwnsSrNPSB6pfC4jEy3FezAtG91_7-XGH5Sb68ZVBtaIIP6XVKzKpqBxS_v77b0t0Z2EWQa9bYJeQLRBPqVwIVwIQUHZoL_YnU3EWdMEkjFAVxMBCTGwhAM8H0I/s400/10.27.2010+003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532797420766004146" border="0" /></a>Ivan dodging some Dino-doody<br /><br /></div>The dino prints were discovered by the enormous cement factory on site 25 years ago. The minerals that they were excavating changed and weren't ideal, so the company moved to another part of the mountain. As a consequence of this, the prints were preserved and were slowly revealed to the amazed workers who were excavating nearby. Today there is a fairly large exhibit and looks upon the varied prints that criss-cross the adjacent hillside.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDjgCwBJOxZZdz0ubL7RxXGPFaqwJsnRMiW-Pucl934TIP4c1xwL39eUFmKfktZtE38syhsYozy_Y24BWsW5SuUauLkzIlKh1kLPkivvRil99hxsQLCcX2sVEmOvZtdjPeMyu7W-1nAGI/s1600/10.27.2010+006+%28Large%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDjgCwBJOxZZdz0ubL7RxXGPFaqwJsnRMiW-Pucl934TIP4c1xwL39eUFmKfktZtE38syhsYozy_Y24BWsW5SuUauLkzIlKh1kLPkivvRil99hxsQLCcX2sVEmOvZtdjPeMyu7W-1nAGI/s400/10.27.2010+006+%28Large%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532798382125531762" border="0" /></a><br />It was an incredible feeling witnessing these large tracks from millions of years ago. Even though couldn't get close to the wall of footprints we daydreamed the size of these animals as the marched, ran, ambled and fought across the lands swinging their tails.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ZBaTLUbC6a2RmCsu5fsmZzLgDgTlE35HUKPRQ7PtuHyeh5p6dq8FrK7HkwwK87dc0gDkIbAk-QGNIE9OKtU3_67iPScFihhYMT1kuFi6nZ4xYj20PtDNBdDDwtC-a7vo0Mt-zJAsTVk/s1600/10.27.2010+006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ZBaTLUbC6a2RmCsu5fsmZzLgDgTlE35HUKPRQ7PtuHyeh5p6dq8FrK7HkwwK87dc0gDkIbAk-QGNIE9OKtU3_67iPScFihhYMT1kuFi6nZ4xYj20PtDNBdDDwtC-a7vo0Mt-zJAsTVk/s400/10.27.2010+006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532797420928976274" border="0" /></a>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-15877851914115744322010-10-25T14:28:00.000-03:002010-10-25T15:52:29.405-03:00Cochabamba - City of Valleys<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWijyPajZ9kZi28flPw6DbX0Ad9aoysvZfZBrVECzuZ1QWPFWfxjfYPsT2PFiqYTtmil-qFGEkSl3Xf6-i4Uq8xjnThvwBMW_A2OmF6C33CLf3W9O14qvWHT1168GZb1dAMzesAwqBtq8/s1600/10.23.2010+027.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWijyPajZ9kZi28flPw6DbX0Ad9aoysvZfZBrVECzuZ1QWPFWfxjfYPsT2PFiqYTtmil-qFGEkSl3Xf6-i4Uq8xjnThvwBMW_A2OmF6C33CLf3W9O14qvWHT1168GZb1dAMzesAwqBtq8/s400/10.23.2010+027.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532048478868829186" border="0" /></a>Main Plaza<br /><br /></div><span style="font-family:courier new;">Our stay</span> in Cochabamba wasn't too adventurous, but made mellow by health constraints...<br />However when we first arrived, we enjoyed a sunny day in the local mercado. We experienced all the unique smells and flavors. Ivan got a watch (finally!), and Kristin found some stretch pants. We enjoyed some fresh smoothies (a daily fave), bought some local fruit, some Chilean Cabernet, and the questionable cheese wedge. The market was a bustling hub of activity and was the center of the towns commerce (we never once saw a supermarket or even a small grocery store). Later that evening, Ivan opened the wine with his leatherman (no easy feat! :) ) and we headed off to a spectacular music performance by a very famous Bolivian folk-music band called Savia Andina. The 6 man band amazed us with their guitar harmonies, cochanga strumming, and of course the beautiful zampona reed flute. The concert was 2 hours of some of the most amazing music we have ever heard (it made Los Lobos look like clumsy school girls). We bought their entire discography for $1.00 too! The crowd was also very much a part of the musical performance and were compelled to clap with the complex rhythms. Definitely our best night out for music or enrichment.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhorr0C0hFq1KsxgpaRp92D_GcO26yJVsCLLZlu_KELzxhNNeERpWuJOB2aTMtI3x5itHiXVEoDU3EpZ65lG2OBYkPV4f3If-PNJ5nRHBSySjYZz5rjN46cnFq8R-98Q1fs5SvyTQ93Pnw/s1600/10.23.2010+021.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhorr0C0hFq1KsxgpaRp92D_GcO26yJVsCLLZlu_KELzxhNNeERpWuJOB2aTMtI3x5itHiXVEoDU3EpZ65lG2OBYkPV4f3If-PNJ5nRHBSySjYZz5rjN46cnFq8R-98Q1fs5SvyTQ93Pnw/s400/10.23.2010+021.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532048516199585266" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE97G4_2tOchYiPxNbjq6blMqcnCqlD26Y2y1tU2XRSr5bZAbDwhoW_BnyK_w3GVVn59_2TXP_8y09ZpcBoVZP2xw3XiIaqqPxm-MprgmwE55-JQyRTlM6LlC74P5cWpybqoo4RfVLgBg/s1600/10.23.2010+011.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE97G4_2tOchYiPxNbjq6blMqcnCqlD26Y2y1tU2XRSr5bZAbDwhoW_BnyK_w3GVVn59_2TXP_8y09ZpcBoVZP2xw3XiIaqqPxm-MprgmwE55-JQyRTlM6LlC74P5cWpybqoo4RfVLgBg/s400/10.23.2010+011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532048501314399586" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">A beautiful boy in a beautiful theater!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGhLiCU909HkHlQa8xzrfgmlGERt5cHxTuD9y7PlmSFNn-UPXMeWJGzwCMmFkbEIsjRghXR9IqWhLR48pJBORL-R9eOIk2_l_fsZCt_1-3JA4XuDtyq2eNeU68ESRnGTb6lf99_fQxBKY/s1600/10.23.2010+023.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGhLiCU909HkHlQa8xzrfgmlGERt5cHxTuD9y7PlmSFNn-UPXMeWJGzwCMmFkbEIsjRghXR9IqWhLR48pJBORL-R9eOIk2_l_fsZCt_1-3JA4XuDtyq2eNeU68ESRnGTb6lf99_fQxBKY/s400/10.23.2010+023.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532048492000966930" border="0" /></a><br />The Zampona!<br /></div><br /><br />Unfortunately, the following day Ivan was bulldozed by a very nasty stomach flu (perhaps caused by the innocent looking cheese, or the spicy empanada...). So the next 3 days really weren't remarkable other than nurse Kristin babying the fallen giraffe, and way too much bad daytime TV. When we could venture out into the harsh daylight, we decided to take a trip up the gondola to jumbo-Jesus and enjoy the panoramic sunset. A plaque claimed its the largest in the world, but 2 Brazilians were adamant that the one in Rio is far bigger (Ivan agreed, since a cab driver that day said Bolivia is the only land-locked country in the world... Paraguay their neighbor is too, but erroneous!!). The enourmous statue was pretty cool, and was over 40 meters tall and took 7 years to construct. Their was a wedding at the top, and whole lot of entanlged couples. The sunset was incredible and silhouetted the city beautifully. Be prepared to see a whole lot of J-Dawg....he was our photo MAN<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4_iHzg3GJL_MG8uVfgZtB12XkxTxpLMUc8xLZUY3lpsNgz5ghyJO_YDxFZZCcOYyVyzgMn4dyCsUM_zFC4VRuJWQCit7MH9dPDrWFIBw52y6xzPy_AK2B-nFgfKz8k4ALqT9dSBCTtg/s1600/10.23.2010+029.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4_iHzg3GJL_MG8uVfgZtB12XkxTxpLMUc8xLZUY3lpsNgz5ghyJO_YDxFZZCcOYyVyzgMn4dyCsUM_zFC4VRuJWQCit7MH9dPDrWFIBw52y6xzPy_AK2B-nFgfKz8k4ALqT9dSBCTtg/s400/10.23.2010+029.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532051891616023106" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguFD4cev5kXg9kwPVGgJ6tBB0AST3UXuganudiijBpzy6moiZEdFbhw5PMMyVhmFR98l1Yw5EWJuZp7nV54_CtimkM9xMEyFOWI6WE2XFnESNSVOVWeCqaD7RohZnwIt_E_KCBXCcaPh4/s1600/10.23.2010+037.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguFD4cev5kXg9kwPVGgJ6tBB0AST3UXuganudiijBpzy6moiZEdFbhw5PMMyVhmFR98l1Yw5EWJuZp7nV54_CtimkM9xMEyFOWI6WE2XFnESNSVOVWeCqaD7RohZnwIt_E_KCBXCcaPh4/s400/10.23.2010+037.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532051883061720002" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZpjTxQPSYrzz6z-vnVb9pkw5gtwC9cdT8GH7zrSR347VhPbcDOweUJUy-U9_DIl3z7ISzU-NhBAIg5IgLzg4tNI11Yl__xERA-mJXbBkYGdNuUOR-DZF9XB685e0-tPJf3dJWyEQI83A/s1600/10.23.2010+005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZpjTxQPSYrzz6z-vnVb9pkw5gtwC9cdT8GH7zrSR347VhPbcDOweUJUy-U9_DIl3z7ISzU-NhBAIg5IgLzg4tNI11Yl__xERA-mJXbBkYGdNuUOR-DZF9XB685e0-tPJf3dJWyEQI83A/s400/10.23.2010+005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532049598642300546" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9o7j2dxDDDPCpyvT4kv4PdHLPL8AozUbxLC6IgHk3e8ixfJIU7KdzINsi9fjh0E88ggjLlz4QPgO2oqEBuAQ_GcRNd1rrFaTQx6dpQARdhBZOUP-xtqS2_M2tyKg9ozkdDPz1u-6gQZo/s1600/10.23.2010+031.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9o7j2dxDDDPCpyvT4kv4PdHLPL8AozUbxLC6IgHk3e8ixfJIU7KdzINsi9fjh0E88ggjLlz4QPgO2oqEBuAQ_GcRNd1rrFaTQx6dpQARdhBZOUP-xtqS2_M2tyKg9ozkdDPz1u-6gQZo/s400/10.23.2010+031.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532049589131030978" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisEaZONkWXMh1bGzs13oYD16imfP8GSDHB2mn79rkjNKK48Vo-LrEUZflh4GUfW8ezExQ4X3zT-DwTT6Z2xXnE8RY99OHr7nQ1ErKhVHQcw_S_T3G_5eCNqczonvqEfgT2LUC82RcST6A/s1600/10.23.2010+010.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisEaZONkWXMh1bGzs13oYD16imfP8GSDHB2mn79rkjNKK48Vo-LrEUZflh4GUfW8ezExQ4X3zT-DwTT6Z2xXnE8RY99OHr7nQ1ErKhVHQcw_S_T3G_5eCNqczonvqEfgT2LUC82RcST6A/s400/10.23.2010+010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532049581980535090" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeaEclRRgAsQtSxhAgy00sTjWNeVLdlT1js0O-liAhTgNO6RbtrjEkzAVchUi73ooDbwLXphuOPxJ21UEhW8cPv-nFBVmll7-_Wx_tvFoP51ujqdCIHBYDsInE2zMQWvVHNU1s4fQj3c/s1600/10.23.2010+016.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeaEclRRgAsQtSxhAgy00sTjWNeVLdlT1js0O-liAhTgNO6RbtrjEkzAVchUi73ooDbwLXphuOPxJ21UEhW8cPv-nFBVmll7-_Wx_tvFoP51ujqdCIHBYDsInE2zMQWvVHNU1s4fQj3c/s400/10.23.2010+016.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532049570405102706" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3SLMoAat_YoBkl6A9nNtHfjPXfN9q_zdRcT4fURFdQcRXeLvjgshCFUNqZchdu5KP3xwi_MVM8n4PkcBTBio5P8iTOBgkbH8XROkpV-rOnUoAMLNXiM19YNkM2S5_plJFLwGC9jqII8/s1600/10.23.2010+041.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3SLMoAat_YoBkl6A9nNtHfjPXfN9q_zdRcT4fURFdQcRXeLvjgshCFUNqZchdu5KP3xwi_MVM8n4PkcBTBio5P8iTOBgkbH8XROkpV-rOnUoAMLNXiM19YNkM2S5_plJFLwGC9jqII8/s400/10.23.2010+041.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532049560795008706" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Other than that, not a whole lot has happened... Well, we did encounter a very rude and residentially challenged individual in the main plaza today who simply got up from the bench next to us (he had that one alll to himself...), stepped over to our bench and told us that he wanted to sleep there. After asking him what the difference between the two benches was, he told us he didn't want to look at us and commenced to lay down and started to stretch his feet out over Kristin. We got up and Ivan politely told him he was crazy, and in response we got an emphatic "come mierda!" A good laugh for the morning, and had quite a few locals gawking (I think they were more surprised by how calm we took it). Too much leaded gasoline exposure, maybe?<br /><br /><br />Tonight we are catching a cramped 10 hour bus ride to the beautiful town (and sort-of secondary capital--look it up, its convoluted) Sucre. The next blog should be about the Dinosaur footprints!!.Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996110859724900157.post-86314953175441263682010-10-18T18:04:00.001-03:002010-10-18T20:05:32.460-03:00Cholitas wrestling: a locals Sunday family event !!Last night, we joined our traveling and fellow Inka Trail friends, Mark and Laura for some tasteful Bolivian entertainment. A must see when in La Paz! The night started with an eventful taxi ride, Ivan, Laura and Kristin in back, the taxi driver, his wife and Mark crammed in front. After a block of driving the taxi driver realized he could not shift too well with his plump pumpkin wife sitting on top of the shifter....so he graciously threw her in the trunk for the 20 minute ride up the hill.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifM81As9F7rQvvVTC4brkdMTeTNIem8d2DQeHkm0D1sxq5va5lEzXsXxiCzeEujM-Tq3SYjAACrHBl6gR984fd3JTZheqHhlf2175Hwusw25IUJcjicy4YAnDHBpFkEgNADxIuB2QPIIA/s1600/10.17.2010+003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifM81As9F7rQvvVTC4brkdMTeTNIem8d2DQeHkm0D1sxq5va5lEzXsXxiCzeEujM-Tq3SYjAACrHBl6gR984fd3JTZheqHhlf2175Hwusw25IUJcjicy4YAnDHBpFkEgNADxIuB2QPIIA/s320/10.17.2010+003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529522186701474162" border="0" /></a><br />At the very top of the city, we stepped out into the muddy mayhem (of locals snacking on chicharrones and cars honking and zooming by) and into the rowdy arena with the wrestling ring in the center.<br /><br />After a couple of snacks the speakers erupted with the Rocky theme song, "Eye of the Tiger" and the announcer jumped into arena to welcome the first contenders. The first match consisted of 4 luchadors all dressed in crazy costumes, spandex and masks (think movie: nacho libre). The first two (obviously to be favored by the crowd) were in more heroic costumes, while the second two had Slipknot music and black, dark and beaked masks. Flipping each other over their shoulders and flinging each other over the ropes, the heroic team was clearly winning, when suddenly the ref turned on them and team evil started to play dirty to win. The fight suddenly turned around and (though it looked fake until one of the members of team Awesome tackled an evil guy outside of the ring and the careened to the concrete floor) team Awesome won!! The unfortunate "evil" beaked man was definitely limping off of the arena floor...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXea4St8RXlxfj3ezdoBQcOE9uCHO3nPmGtp_kPXG0KXtqw4zr_v46MNV41_2zC01Qm3zb45l7DJPDlIeklOkU-Q1VpJ5Xmnlc-kvdKDz-Nty_eMZdM_cXC2cD42EzvFv3Bmeik1hm_Y/s1600/10.17.2010+007.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXea4St8RXlxfj3ezdoBQcOE9uCHO3nPmGtp_kPXG0KXtqw4zr_v46MNV41_2zC01Qm3zb45l7DJPDlIeklOkU-Q1VpJ5Xmnlc-kvdKDz-Nty_eMZdM_cXC2cD42EzvFv3Bmeik1hm_Y/s200/10.17.2010+007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529524982357821090" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrlYWYLtEuv6MkhSiEUNAEkzjZSX2CbEElDWIHeibjluNhZ3eAj9Jhv-OTrvjkh7wwkCOXly1OfC_mnzySENTEys9HYGwh2Y-NuSVYZ4wnCPaIJ6eL3CwnmDY6coIPPculMB4bYPGnss/s1600/flying.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrlYWYLtEuv6MkhSiEUNAEkzjZSX2CbEElDWIHeibjluNhZ3eAj9Jhv-OTrvjkh7wwkCOXly1OfC_mnzySENTEys9HYGwh2Y-NuSVYZ4wnCPaIJ6eL3CwnmDY6coIPPculMB4bYPGnss/s320/flying.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529521036072601554" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9RTha1B7hdwyMmfd_3rKG4mlRlWYbtvmI7obohyphenhyphen4V7-2eE_OQJUAC-3mQA8EBR09Oow_a0jXDZcK909hLXQS6mMc1Umuft5GWqjvqQ-fZIPsw4YMh4vD8p8r4Cw1dwbsZPEc1P00Q11A/s1600/10.17.2010+026.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9RTha1B7hdwyMmfd_3rKG4mlRlWYbtvmI7obohyphenhyphen4V7-2eE_OQJUAC-3mQA8EBR09Oow_a0jXDZcK909hLXQS6mMc1Umuft5GWqjvqQ-fZIPsw4YMh4vD8p8r4Cw1dwbsZPEc1P00Q11A/s320/10.17.2010+026.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529518281519955218" border="0" /></a><br />The second fight was between a "Cholita," or a woman who was dressed in traditional country garb with a beautiful embroidered shawl, versus a fascist looking dictator in fatigues. The referee and the fascist quickly ganged-up on this woman, and she was soon being 'bloodied' on the arena. While we knew this was all theatrics, we were both mortified seeing a young girl completely convinced that this woman was being gang beaten by 2 men. Fortunately she 'won' the fight, but we're sure this girl was scarred for life. A shame so many people bring their sweet, young children to shows like this...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ5iQNw0CvyZe5RHaTy3HqbcIj9XzhFGabEvcjq-C2TdziMZV_5RTWJ7ncM9i1stID6WJZLm4-vsJPXaw_h2ny0hHH5RDz-nA3Txtaiemtt3T9G9VqGBNuTI4RoXv58jDDMF5F6B_O0BE/s1600/10.17.2010+057.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ5iQNw0CvyZe5RHaTy3HqbcIj9XzhFGabEvcjq-C2TdziMZV_5RTWJ7ncM9i1stID6WJZLm4-vsJPXaw_h2ny0hHH5RDz-nA3Txtaiemtt3T9G9VqGBNuTI4RoXv58jDDMF5F6B_O0BE/s320/10.17.2010+057.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529518275247913682" border="0" /></a>A doggy pile with the dictator in fatigues on bottom and the 2 gringos who jumped in the ring to "help" the cholita underneath her<br /><br /></div>The next fights were of a clown versus "Jenny de Dos Caras." This was hillarious because the clown would blow his whistle in unison to his movements (i.e while he was doing push ups, summer-salts, etc...) to make fun of Two Faced Jenny and challenge her to copy. The following fight was between two portly "Cholitas" who energetically battled it out. The show lasted for about 3 hrs and was more entertaining as the fights went on, the crowd riled up, music got louder and the costumes and theatrics increased!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNfgOJL73wxlHQ7LPLvDLAi6SQmM-oEBfZLblsOjZLDCBc_A5ItHfE54VmYe0qyAK3N3JMpZvMK5JtyUVSExtWRaXFZr4yWjlH11Osi0ONO52OZH8TA3abAdo0NyXbMRAw1b_sbEcOsek/s1600/10.17.2010+071.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNfgOJL73wxlHQ7LPLvDLAi6SQmM-oEBfZLblsOjZLDCBc_A5ItHfE54VmYe0qyAK3N3JMpZvMK5JtyUVSExtWRaXFZr4yWjlH11Osi0ONO52OZH8TA3abAdo0NyXbMRAw1b_sbEcOsek/s320/10.17.2010+071.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529518278841746818" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Two faced Jenny got angry and smashed the fence down between the ring and the crowd. She chased her opponent into the crowd and smashed his head into the pilars...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoUHWZoePmKwIWuz8GmXimJ-yvTaaE8kcWrvt7IdxD2PBzwiipb4JTX-5gH-PPftt39QZMVXy1N9kjp0OTCx97s0oOsXREsBsNrtAHV7VwKJPxVUSgVS-IN2aShQLUBbklPh462tbZj8/s1600/10.17.2010+076.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoUHWZoePmKwIWuz8GmXimJ-yvTaaE8kcWrvt7IdxD2PBzwiipb4JTX-5gH-PPftt39QZMVXy1N9kjp0OTCx97s0oOsXREsBsNrtAHV7VwKJPxVUSgVS-IN2aShQLUBbklPh462tbZj8/s200/10.17.2010+076.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529524987701287170" border="0" /></a>Don't worry the blood is fake<br /><br /></div>All in all it was some interesting entertainment that we definitely won't need to experience anytime soon, but glad we were able to get a taste of "local family" Sunday entertainment in La Paz. (Note: don't bring children under the age of 12) After the show we grabbed some yummy thai food, a beer and ice cream sundaes with Mark and Laura and reflected on the crazy show.<br /><br />Tomorrow we are leaving La Paz and on our way to Cochabamba. A small, quaint town east of La Paz, known for its art and music scene. Side note: Kristin is learning to play the Zampona, a hollow bamboo like flute, with two rows of reeds (7 and 8) that you blow over to make noise. Maybe a possible cafe performance in the future ;)Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073811697362383967noreply@blogger.com2